First Ladies of the 19th Century

American presidents have shaped the course of global affairs for generations, but as the saying goes, behind every great man there’s a great woman. While the First Ladies often remain overshadowed by their husbands, some have carved unique niches in their time and left their own lasting legacy. Dolley Madison helped establish the role of the First Lady in the early 1800s, Eleanor Roosevelt gave voice to policy issues in a way that made her a forerunner of First Ladies like Hillary Clinton, and Jackie Kennedy created glamorous trends that made her more popular than her husband.

Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton may have been the most politically active First Ladies in American history, but Abigail Adams was the first to act as political advisor for her husband and the first to be dubbed “Mrs. President”. Indeed, Abigail was politically inclined to degree highly unusual among women of the 18th and 19th century, and she had originally impressed her future husband John because she was so well versed in poetry, philosophy and politics. Abigail was also very progressive, championing women’s rights and abolition long before they became widely held views even in traditionally liberal Massachusetts.

While her time as First Lady was important, Abigail Adams remains one of the most recognized and respected First Ladies in American history due to her voluminous correspondence with John when they were separated throughout the American Revolution, as she remained in Massachusetts while John found himself in the thick of politics during his time in the Continental Congress and over in France. In addition to providing a comprehensive account of the inner workings of both politics and the home front during that important chapter in history, the letters also demonstrated the strong intellectual and emotional bond the two of them shared, allowing historians a glimpse of just how influential Abigail was on her husband’s ideology and decision making. As the acclaimed historian Joseph Ellis noted, the nearly 1200 letters between the couple “constituted a treasure trove of unexpected intimacy and candor, more revealing than any other correspondence between a prominent American husband and wife in American history.”

After the Constitution was ratified, George Washington went about setting all the precedents for the role of the presidency, establishing traditions like the Cabinet. But the role of being the First Lady of the United States was defined by the wife of the 4th president. James Madison may have been the Father of the Constitution, but his wife Dolley all but defined the responsibilities and customs of being the president’s wife. Dolley had served as an informal First Lady for the widowed Thomas Jefferson, but when her husband entered the White House in 1809, Dolley went about furnishing the White House to such an extent that much of the style and items she chose were still in place when Mary Todd Lincoln became the First Lady in 1861. Dolley also became a folk hero of sorts and the center of a colorful legend that had her saving Gilbert Stuart’s priceless painting of George Washington just ahead of the British while her husband was denigrated for fleeing as Washington D.C. was burned.

In addition to being instrumental in decorating the White House, Dolley Madison also set the standard for the First Lady’s traditional hosting and ceremonial duties. 150 years later, Jackie Kennedy was largely credited for helping boost her husband’s popularity during their time in the White House, but the same could easily be said about Dolley, who was renowned for her social graces and her hospitality. Having helped boost her husband’s popularity during his presidency, Dolley went about maintaining his legacy after 1836, collecting and organizing the papers and notes of the Constitution’s most influential drafter, and eventually selling them to the government in full.