She accompanied James Monroe to Paris (James Monroe was minister to France from 1794-1876 but remained in France a few months after he was recalled due to slow communication) where she gained a popularity that allowed her to save the life of the imprisoned Marie-Adrienne Lafayette, the wife of a French revolutionary leader and assistant to the U.S. during the American Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette, on January 22, 1795.

She is known for restoring a formal hosting style in the White House and drawing from her European experience in doing so.