Born: 1947

When Laura Welch and George W. Bush were introduced at a dinner in Midland, Texas, they proved the theory that opposites attract. She was a reserved 30-year-old schoolteacher and librarian with a passion for books. He was a gregarious 31-year-old oilman who liked a good time. Within three months, they were wed. Like George, Laura had grown up in Midland, where her father was a homebuilder. But while George went east to study, Laura majored in education at SMU, then earned a masters in library science at the University of Texas. She led a largely private life as a wife and mother of twin daughters until her husband’s gubernatorial win thrust her into the public eye.

As First Lady of Texas, Laura Bush focused on the cause of education. She launched an early childhood development initiative to help ready kids for school, and started the annual Texas Book Festival to raise money for public libraries. She used the statehouse to promote family literacy much as her mother-in-law, former First Lady Barbara Bush, used the White House. When George W. entered the 2000 Presidential race, Laura proved an able and popular campaigner, giving the opening address at the GOP convention. In the years since he was first elected, Laura has emerged as a strong, but discreet, First Lady, who wields no small influence as her husband’s most trusted confidante. Calm, quiet and self-possessed, Laura Bush has been called her husband’s “check and balance.”

Forty-Third President
George W. Bush

Born: 1947

The oldest child of a homemaker and a businessman, Hillary Rodham grew up in a comfortable Chicago suburb. A Goldwater Republican in the early 60’s she became a Democrat at Wellesley College, where she was student body president and commencement speaker in 1968. At Yale Law School, she focused on children’s issues and dated classmate Bill Clinton, a Rhodes scholar who aimed to be President. They wed in 1975 and had a daughter. While Bill pursued Arkansas politics, Hillary practiced at a Little Rock law firm. She supported his political ambitions and was a key advisor, chairing the state’s Education Standards Committee when he was Governor.

As First Lady, Hillary initially assumed a high profile policy-making role, leading the Administration’s 1994 effort at broad health care reform. When that failed, she turned to a more traditional “women’s issue” — the welfare of children and families. But her own marriage came under embarrassing public scrutiny when her husband was impeached for lying about his illicit relationship with a young intern. Whatever her marital woes, Hillary staunchly opposed the 1998 attempt to remove her husband from office. Then, when a Democratic Senator from New York announced he’d retire in 2001, Hillary established residency there, ran for the seat, and won — becoming New York’s first woman Senator and the only First Lady to win elective office.

Forty-Second President
William J. Clinton

Born: 1925

Barbara Pierce enjoyed a happy childhood in affluent Rye, New York. After boarding school and one year at Smith College, she wed high school beau George Bush in 1945, soon after the young naval pilot was shot down over the Pacific. Moving to Texas so George could enter the oil business, Barbara eventually had six children. When her daughter died in 1953, Barbara was shattered, but George helped her through. She was at his side when he went to Congress in 1967 and wherever else he went after that: U.N. Ambassador; Liaison to China; Republican National Committee chair; C.I.A. Director; Vice-President; and President.

Barbara loved her life in politics. In 1974 when China was just opening to outsiders, she explored Peking by bicycle and later lectured on the experience. She volunteered in local hospitals and aided the Republican party. Convinced that most social issues would resolve themselves if children were properly educated, Barbara launched a campaign to eradicate illiteracy when George became Vice-President. She brought the issue with her to the White House and gave it top priority. An enormously popular First Lady, Barbara was blessed with a wry sense of humor and complete self-confidence. She didn’t mind her wrinkles or white hair; she loved being a grandmother. Above all, she was genteel, gracious, and discreet — and for these qualities Americans admired her. Year after year, she led the President in the polls.

Forty-First President
George H.W. Bush

Born: 1921

Nancy Reagan was born in Queens, New York, her father a salesman who left when she was two. Nancy lived with relatives until her mother, an actress who performed with touring shows, wed a physician and moved her daughter to his Chicago home. Adopted at 14 by her stepfather, Nancy majored in drama at Smith College, then landed roles on Broadway and later in Hollywood. There she met actor Ronald Reagan, a divorced father of two. They wed in 1952 and eventually had two children. Over time, Nancy swapped acting for domesticity while Ronald branched out into politics, becoming California Governor in 1967. Fourteen years later, his conservative message of less government and more enterprise struck a national chord and Americans elected him President at 69.

Nancy’s initial image as First Lady was as a style setter, petite and immaculately dressed in designer clothes; decorating the White House; purchasing expensive china. But later she focused on substantive issues, especially drug abuse, telling young people to “just say no.” Nancy was always protective of Ronald, but she became even more so after the attempt on his life. He trusted her and she wielded no small influence, encouraging his friendship with the Soviet leader Gorbachev. After Ronald retired and was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease, Nancy became active in the search for a cure.

Fortieth President
Ronald W. Reagan

Born: 1927

Rosalynn Smith grew up in Plains, Georgia, the oldest of four children of an auto mechanic and a seamstress. After losing her father at 14, she helped shoulder the household burdens while still graduating valedictorian of her high school class. She spent one year at college, then wed Plains’ Annapolis midshipman Jimmy Carter in 1946. Rosalynn loved being a Navy wife, living in new places and starting a family (she eventually had four children). She was crushed when Jimmy was called back to Plains in 1953 to run his family’s peanut farm. But she pitched in at the office and eventually ran the operation while Jimmy rose in Georgia politics. When he became Governor in 1971, she led the effort to overhaul the state’s mental health system. By the time he became President, the Carters were used to working as partners.

As First Lady Rosalynn broke new ground by attending her husband’s cabinet meetings and acting as his emissary to foreign heads of state during a 1977 solo mission to Central and South America. Expanding on her earlier work in mental health, Rosalynn chaired a Presidential Commission that spurred passage of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1977. And she worked for a variety of other causes, ranging from women’s rights to the problems of the elderly to the plight of refugees in Thailand. After leaving the White House, she has continued her activism at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

Thirty-Ninth President
Jimmy Carter

Born: 1918

Betty Ford was a new kind of First Lady; gutsy, independent, and forthright. Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Betty aspired to be a professional dancer. She took classes at Bennington College, then spent two years in New York City studying with choreographer Martha Graham and supporting herself as a runway model. Returning home, Betty taught dance, started a troupe, and eventually became a fashion buyer. After a five-year marriage ended in divorce, she met lawyer and aspiring politician Gerald Ford. They wed in 1948, just before Jerry won the Congressional seat he would hold for the next 25 years. The Fords moved to Washington and Betty raised four children while Jerry rose in Republican politics.

A year after Jerry replaced Spiro Agnew as Nixon’s Vice-President, Nixon himself resigned and the Fords were thrust into the White House. Betty’s candor was a tonic to a nation wary of political figures. Other First Ladies had held political views that differed at times from their husbands’ but they didn’t express them publicly. Betty did. She was an outspoken proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment and the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. She was equally forthcoming about personal challenges, such as her 1974 battle with breast cancer, and years later, her treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. In 1982, she helped found the Betty Ford Center for others in recovery.

Thirty-Eighth President
Gerald R. Ford

Born: 1912
Died: 1993

Thelma Ryan was born the night before St. Patrick’s Day. Right then her Irish father, who worked in a Nevada silver mine, decided he’d call her “Pat.” Childhood ended early for Pat. Her mother died and her father developed lung disease, and Pat assumed responsibility for herself and two brothers. She attended school and held down paying jobs in her free hours, at first doing chores on the family’s California farm and later working as a sales clerk, teacher’s aide, movie extra, janitor, and bank clerk. After college, Pat became a teacher in Whittier, where she met Richard Nixon, a young lawyer whose industry rivaled her won. A man with lofty ambitions, “Dick” was not one to take no for an answer. He wooed Pat till he won her. They wed in 1940 and had two daughters.

Pat did not share her husband’s love for politics, but she believed in being a supportive wife and worked dutifully on all his campaigns. As First Lady, Pat accompanied Dick to the Soviet Union and China, earning the respect of reporters as an intelligent and candid spokeswoman for the President. She also made solo visits to Africa and South America. Pat liked to open the White House. She made it wheelchair accessible and launched garden tours and evening Christmastime tours, and she continued with the restoration Jackie Kennedy began, carefully adding hundreds of important pieces to the collection. But Watergate took a heavy toll on Pat, who stoically stood by her husband throughout his ordeal.

Thirty-Seventh President
Richard M. Nixon

Born: 1912
Died: 2007

Lady Bird Johnson overcame shyness to become one of America’s most active First Ladies. Daughter of a wealthy Texas farmer, she was the family baby and only girl. Nicknamed Lady Bird at two, she lost her mother at five. Often left alone, she sought comfort in the beauty of the landscape. After graduating college in 1934, she met Lyndon, a flamboyant 26-year-old congressional aide, and married him two months later. She financed his first Congressional campaign in 1937, then ran his House and Senate offices when the military (1941) and heart attack (1948) kept him away. She also managed their broadcasting business and raised their two daughters. Emboldened by a public speaking course, Lady Bird campaigned hard for the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960. In 1963, she watched Lyndon take the oath of office aboard Air Force One after JFK’s assassination.

As First Lady, Lady Bird strove to “beautify America,” focusing attention on the country’s precious natural flora and the dangers posed by unchecked development. She spurred legislation to keep billboards off national highways and plant wildflowers instead. She also worked for passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, promoted the Head Start program and used her position to open doors for women in government. Widowed in 1973, Lady Bird remained active in civic endeavors in her hometown of Austin, Texas, where in 1982 she founded the National Wildflower Research Center.

Thirty-Sixth President
Lyndon B. Johnson

Born: 1929

Died: 1994

Jackie Bouvier grew up in “society” in New York, Newport and northern Virginia. Although Catholic, Jackie’s parents were divorced. Her father, a handsome Wall Street broker and bon vivant, was also a spender and a drinker. But he and Jackie, his firstborn, adored each other. Raised by her mother and wealthy stepfather, Jackie rode horses, went to prep school, studied in Paris, was “Debutante of the Year,” and graduated college. She was a Washington news photographer when she met Jack Kennedy, a rich and handsome Congressman 12 years her senior. They wed in 1953, Jack by then a Senator and aiming higher. Jackie helped his campaigns, writing a “Campaign Wife” column and meeting with the press, but her heart’s desire was children. She bore four, but only two survived.

First Lady at 31, Jackie brought youth, beauty and exquisite taste to the White House. Her first priority was her little ones, whose antics delighted the nation. But she also undertook the historic restoration of the White House, helped preserve Lafayette Square, and pushed for government funding for the arts. A glamorous hostess, Jackie invited leading artists and intellectuals to the White House and charmed statesmen around the world. Supremely dignified throughout the ordeal of her husband’s assassination, she then left political life but never escaped the spotlight. Wed to tycoon Aristotle Onassis from 1968 till his 1975 death, Jackie then became an editor in New York. She died at home at 65.

Thirty-Fifth President
John F. Kennedy

Born: 1896
Died: 1979

The decade of the 1950’s was the most domestic in U.S. history as soldiers returned from the war to build homes and families in record numbers. It was fitting, then, that war hero Dwight Eisenhower should bring to the White House a woman who perfectly embodied the qualities women aspired to in the post-war years. Mamie Doud was a homebody, content to remain in her husband’s shadow, supportive, gregarious, a lively hostess, a fine housekeeper. Born into a wealthy Iowa family, Mamie grew up in Denver, where she attended finishing school, and spent winters in San Antonio. There the popular debutante met Dwight, a young Army officer stationed nearby. They wed in 1916 and had two sons. The death of the eldest at four was a lifelong blow to both parents.

A loyal Army wife, Mamie followed her husband from base to base, from France to Panama to the Philippines. While Ike led the Allied troops in World War II, Mamie remained in Washington and became popular with reporters. A great asset to her husband during both his Presidential campaigns, Mamie kept a low profile as First Lady, avoiding controversy and focusing on entertaining, decorating (her favorite shade was pink), and fundraising for charities like the American Heart Association — particularly after Ike suffered a serious heart attack in 1955. Despite her worries for his health, Mamie supported Ike in his desire for a second term, then gladly retired with him to Gettysburg.

Thirty-Fourth President
Dwight D. Eisenhower