Born: 1885
Died: 1982

Bess Wallace and Harry Truman met as children in Sunday school in Independence, Missouri. For Harry it was love at first sight, but Bess was not so smitten. Many years would pass before she wed her ardent suitor at age 34, years in which she enjoyed a privileged upbringing, excelled at tennis, attended finishing school, and, after her father’s suicide, helped run her mother’s house. By the time Bess wed Harry in 1919, her independence was well established. It didn’t help that Harry, who’d been a farmer, had no head for business. When he briefly operated a haberdashery (it went under), she was his bookkeeper. She held the purse strings throughout their marriage, and was always one of his most influential advisors.

Elected to the Senate in 1934, Harry hired Bess as his office assistant. She advised him on speeches and campaign strategy, but preferred Independence to Washington. Upset when Harry became the Vice-Presidential nominee in 1944, she was stunned when FDR’s death made him President. A reluctant First lady, the antithesis of her predecessor, Bess abhorred publicity. Though she fulfilled her hostessing duties, her larger role was behind the scenes, advising Harry on everything from cultural exchange programs to the atom bomb. During his 1948 whistlestop campaign across America, Harry would jokingly introduce his wife and daughter as “the Boss” and “the Boss’s Boss.” It must have struck a chord.

Thirty-Third President
Harry S. Truman

Born: 1884
Died: 1962

Eleanor Roosevelt had a sad childhood despite her New York City family’s wealth and prominence. Her mother was a beauty disappointed in Eleanor’s looks, and her father, Teddy Roosevelt’s brother, was a loving but unreliable alcoholic. Both died before Eleanor was 10, when she joined her strict grandmother. At English boarding school Eleanor gained confidence and purpose, returning home and volunteering at a New York settlement house. Her idealism impressed Franklin Roosevelt, her fifth cousin. They wed in 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt giving the bride away. With five children and a domineering mother-in-law, Eleanor drew strength from community work. As Franklin became immersed in politics, so did she, linking him to his party and the public after he contracted polio in 1921.

By the time Eleanor got to the White House, she was used to being Franklin’s “eyes and ears,” going where his legs couldn’t take him and reporting what she saw. But she went further as First Lady, becoming an indefatigable champion of the poor and the powerless. A demoralized America loved her for it and even her enemies admired her devotion to social justice. An early advocate for American blacks, Eleanor helped bring minorities and women into the Democratic party. She wrote a daily column, held press conferences, and tirelessly toured the nation. During World War II, she visited U.S. troops in Europe and Asia. After Franklin’s death in 1945, Eleanor remained a leader in human rights.

Thirty-Second President
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Born: 1874
Died: 1944

Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover were kindred souls. They were born the same year in Iowa, both imbued with a Midwestern devotion to hard work and honest ambition. They also shared a passion for business, science, politics, and the great outdoors. Indeed, it was their mutual interest in geology that brought them together at Stanford University where Lou was the first woman to earn a geology degree. After marrying in 1899, Lou joined “Bert” on his mining expeditions around the world. They lived in China during the Boxer Rebellion, England, France, Russia, Burma, Egypt, Australia, Korea and Japan, with their two sons in tow. Fluent in five languages, Lou translated a significant Latin text on metals.

A millionaire by World War I, Bert turned to public service. After running the food relief program in Europe, he became Commerce Secretary, then President. For her part, Lou urged the nation’s women to become active in all aspects of American life — politics, sports, charity, work, and homemaking. She practiced what she preached. Lou headed the Girl Scouts, catalogued White House treasures, gave to the needy and designed a Presidential retreat. She also overcame her aversion to the press and used the radio to mobilize voluntary support for the poor during the Depression. But the Hoovers’ own dogged self-reliance prevented them from favoring the type of massive federal assistance the American majority wanted, and got in the next election.

Thirty-First President
Herbert Hoover

Born: 1879
Died: 1957

A cherished only child from Burlington, Vermont, Grace Coolidge was her husband’s alter ego. While he was taciturn and frugal to a fault, she was fashionable, generous, and gay, far more attuned than Calvin to the styles and mores of the Jazz Age. After college, Grace taught deaf children in Northampton, Massachusetts. There she met Calvin, a lawyer and aspiring politician seven years her senior. They wed in 1905 and as Calvin rose in state politics, Grace raised their two sons. During his tenure in Boston as Lt. Governor and Governor, he left his family in Northampton to save on expenses. A legendary tightwad, Calvin’s one indulgence was buying stylish clothes for his wife.

The Harding-Coolidge victory of 1921 brought the Coolidges to Washington where Grace quickly became the darling of capitol society. Her warmth and humor then charmed the nation after Calvin inherited the Presidency. By poking fun at Calvin’s famous reserve, Grace made him appear more likeable. But she herself avoided politics, becoming a symbol of compassion even as her husband earned a reputation for steadfast indifference to social causes and the growing gap between rich and poor. Calvin’s win in 1924 was overshadowed by the recent sudden death of his teenage son. Though both Coolidges put up a brave front, they were relived to retire to Northampton at the end of the term.

Thirtieth President
Calvin Coolidge

Born: 1860
Died: 1924

Florence Kling took after her father, a rich and iron-willed Ohio entrepreneur. He taught her business and sent her to music school, but at 19 she eloped with ne’er-do-well Henry DeWolfe and bore her only child. Divorced at 25, Florence was teaching piano when she fell in love with the glib and handsome, but hopelessly malleable Warren Harding. Five years her junior, he published the local newspaper, the Marion Star. With their marriage in 1891 Florence could at last put her business acumen to use. As circulation and advertising manager she boosted the Star’s revenues and its profile until it was one of the most influential dailies in the state. Then she turned her energies to Warren’s political career, promoting his 20-year rise to the White House.

First Lady at 61, Florence had her work cut out for her. Warren was woefully unsuited for the Presidency and both Hardings suffered from illness and stress. Moreover, a fortune teller had given Florence the unsettling advice that her husband would die in office. But “the Duchess,” as Warren called his wife, forged ahead, ignoring her husband’s infidelities, his drinking parties (it was Prohibition), his cronyism, and focused on work, helping veterans, meeting the public, and cultivating the press. She was with the President when he died on a trip out West, just as the scandals of his Administration were coming to light.

Twenty-Ninth President
Warren G. Harding

Born: 1872
Died: 1961

Edith Bolling grew up in a small Virginia town where her father settled after losing his plantation in the Civil War. Starting over as a rural lawyer and judge, he barely managed to support his 11 children. With money scarce, Edith received little formal education but she was a quick study and learned from those around her. At 18, she met Washington jeweler Norman Galt while on a visit to her sister. She married him at 24 and bore their only child who lived just days. A widow at 36, Edith’s inheritance allowed her to continue a sophisticated lifestyle complete with trips to Europe and haute couture. She was visiting the White House at age 43 when she met the recently-widowed President, 58-year-old Woodrow Wilson. Sparks flew and the couple wed in 1915.

As First Lady, Edith was her husband’s biggest booster and a plucky role model for a nation at war. She led conservation drives, raised funds, and volunteered for the Red Cross. Behind the scenes, she learned the Allies’ secret code and deciphered dispatches from the front. Edith accompanied Woodrow to the Paris Peace Conference, and after his crippling stroke in 1919, she rigidly controlled access to his sick room. Determined to protect his fragile health, she picked which matters to present to him when. After leaving the White House in 1921, Edith and Woodrow had three more years together. She survived him by 37 years.

Twenty-Eighth President
Woodrow Wilson

Born: 1860
Died: 1914

Ellen Axson and Woodrow Wilson shared a common heritage. Their fathers were both Presbyterian ministers in the South. Ellen grew up in Rome, Georgia, the oldest of four children. She helped raise her siblings after her mother died, but her passion was art. At 22, she went to New York City to study at the Art Students League. Besides painting, she took in lectures by social reformers and volunteered at a mission school. She also kept up a correspondence with 25-year-old Woodrow, a lawyer she’d met at her father’s church who was off pursuing his Ph.D. After marrying in 1885, Woodrow taught at successive colleges while Ellen raised their three girls. Sharing her husband’s interest in public policy, she contributed ideas for his speeches at Princeton and later in politics. He considered her his greatest advisor.

Ellen was First Lady for only 17 months before she died at 54 of Bright’s disease. But in that time, she accomplished much. Appalled by the slums in Washington, Ellen motivated Congress to enact housing reform — the Alley Dwelling Act of 1914. She also continued painting (her work was well-received by experts), and promoted the crafts of the Appalachian women. And, within a six month period, she held White House weddings for two of her daughters.

Twenty-Eighth President
Woodrow Wilson

Born: 1861
Died: 1943

Helen “Nellie” Herron and Will Taft seemed destined to become man and wife. Both were raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, by political families with ties to the White House. As a teenager, Nellie visited the Hayes White House and thought of becoming First Lady one day. Ever ambitious, Nellie was a 22-year-old teacher when she organized a weekly literary discussion group and invited 25-year-old Will, a fledgling attorney, to join. Three years later, they wed. While Will rose in judicial office, Nellie raised three children and helped found Cincinnati’s symphony orchestra. But she aspired to a larger stage and was thrilled when Will became America’s first Governor in the Philippines in 1900. In the course of four years, Nellie explored the Far East and became an accomplished hostess, much appreciated by the Filipino people. On a visit to Japan, she fell in love with the many flowering cherry trees.

Back in America, Will came under consideration for a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. He favored the appointment, but his wife did not, preferring a run for the Presidency. When he won the White House, Nellie was happier than he. Unfortunately, a few months later, she suffered a stroke and took a year to recover. Besides resuming the social duties she loved, Nellie influenced several cabinet appointments. But her most lasting contribution was planting the beautiful Japanese cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin.

Twenty-Seventh President
William Howard Taft

Born: 1861
Died: 1948

Edith Carow and Theodore Roosevelt grew up in neighboring brownstones on New York City’s posh Union Square. Two years apart, “Edie” was best friends with Teddy’s sister and often visited the family at their summer home in Oyster Bay. In 1880, Edie attended Teddy’s wedding to a beauty he’d met at Harvard, Alice Lee. When Alice died in childbirth in 1884, her grief-stricken husband took their baby, Alice, to a Dakota ranch to heal. He returned to New York in 1885 and married Edie the next year. She was private and reserved, he was flamboyant and loved the spotlight, but together they made a perfect pair. Edie provided five sturdy children (she also raised Alice), a stable and well-organized domestic life, intelligent but never intrusive company, and an intrepid spirit that rivaled Teddy’s own.

McKinley’s assassination thrust the Roosevelts into the White House. Teddy at 42 was already a celebrity because of his exploits in the Spanish-American War, but now the public was fascinated with his boisterous family as well. Determined to protect their privacy, Edie organized access, hiring a social secretary, fashioning protocol, and supervising media relations. The construction of a new office wing enabled her to renovate the White House living quarters, and she hung portraits of the First Ladies, including her own, downstairs.

Twenty-Sixth President
Theodore Roosevelt

Born: 1847
Died: 1907

Growing up in Ohio as the privileged daughter of one of the town’s leading families, Ida Saxton was attractive, confident and strong-willed. After completing school and a grand tour of Europe, she went to work at her father’s bank and met newcomer William McKinley, a lawyer three years her senior. Right away she took to calling him “Major” because of his rank in the Union Army. They wed in 1871, but Ida’s happiness was short lived. Within five years, she lost her two children, her mother, and her health, developing epilepsy and depression. An invalid for the rest of her life, she nonetheless accompanied William throughout his political rise — as Congressman, Governor and President. For his part, William did everything possible to satisfy Ida’s needs. He campaigned for President from his Ohio front porch so she could be nearby. A docile man, McKinley was influenced by others — his monied supporters, the newspapers, his wife. She urged him to retain the Philippines following the Spanish-American War so the native peoples could be Christianized.

As First Lady, Ida received guests, but held a bouquet to discourage tiring handshaking. She sat next to William at dinners so he could cover her face with a handkerchief if she had a seizure. But mostly, she knit slippers, donating hundreds of pairs to charity. When William was shot and fatally injured in his second term, his first worry was how Ida would be told.

Twenty-Fifth President
William McKinley