The First Lady

Overview Essay: The Ongoing Evolution of the Position of First Lady

Remarks and Statements by the First Lady

Education Background of the First Lady (Since 1900)

Martha Washington

Abigail Adams

Martha Randolph

Dolley Madison Elizabeth Monroe
Martha Washington Abigail Adams Martha Jefferson Randolph Dolley Madison Elizabeth Monroe
04/30/1789 -
03/04/1797
George Washington

03/04/1797-
03/04/1801
John Adams

03/04/1801-
03/04/1809
Thomas Jefferson

03/04/1809-
03/04/1817
James Madison
03/04/1817-
03/04/1825
James Monroe
         
Louisa Adams  Emily Donelson  Sarah Jackson Angelica Van Buren Anna Harrison 
Louisa Adams Emily Donelson Angelica Van Buren
03/04/1825-
03/04/1829 
John Quincy Adams

03/04/1829-
11/26/1834
Andrew Jackson

11/26/1834-
03/04/1837
Andrew Jackson
11/27/1838-
03/04/1841
Martin Van Buren
03/04/1841-
04/04/1841 
William H. Harrison
         
Letitia Tyler  

Julia Tyler

Sarah Polk Margaret Taylor Abigail Fillmore
04/04/1841-
09/10/1842 
John Tyler
06/24/1844-
04/04/1845 
John Tyler 
03/04/1845-
03/04/1849 
James Polk 
03/04/1849-
07/09/1850 
Zachary Taylor
07/09/1850-
03/04/1853 
Millard Fillmore
         
Jane Pierce  Harriet Johnston Mary Lincoln  Eliza Johnson  Julia Grant 
03/04/1853-
03/04/1857 
Franklin Pierce
04/15/1865-
03/04/1869
James Buchanan
03/04/1861-
04/15/1865 
Abraham Lincoln 
03/04/1857-
03/04/1861 
Andrew Johnson 
03/04/1869-
03/04/1877
Ulysses S. Grant
         
Lucy Hayes  Lucretia Garfield  Mary Arthur  Rose Cleveland Frances Cleveland
03/04/1877-
03/04/1881
Rutherford B. Hayes
03/04/1881-
09/19/1881
James A. Garfield
09/19/1881-
03/04/1885
Chester A. Arthur 

03/04/1885 -
06/02/1886 
Grover Cleveland

06/02/1866 - 03/04/1897;   
03/04/1893 - 03/04/1897
Grover Cleveland
         
Caroline Harrison Ida McKinley Edith Roosevelt  Helen Taft   Ellen Wilson 
03/04/1889-
10/25/1892
Benjamin Harrison

03/04/1897-
09/14/1901
William McKinley

09/14/1901-
03/04/1909 
Theodore Roosevelt
03/04/1909-
03/04/1913 
William Howard Taft
03/04/1913-
08/06/1914 
Woodrow Wilson
         
Edith Wilson   Florence Harding   Grace Coolidge Lou Hoover   Eleanor Roosevelt 
12/18/1915-
03/04/1921
Woodrow Wilson
03/04/1921-
08/02/1923
Warren G. Harding

08/02/1923-
03/04/1929 
Calvin Coolidge

03/04/1929-
03/04/1933
Herbert Hoover
03/04/1933-
04/12/1945 
Franklin D. Roosevelt
         
"Bess" Truman Mamie Eisenhower  Jacqueline Kennedy "Lady Bird" Johnson "Pat" Nixon

04/12/1945-
01/20/1953 
Harry Truman
01/20/1953-
01/20/1961 
Dwight Eisenhower
01/20/1961-
11/22/1963
John F. Kennedy
11/22/1963-
01/20/1969
Lyndon B. Johnson
01/20/1969-
08/09/1974 
Richard Nixon
         
“Betty” Ford Rosalynn Carter  Nancy Reagan  Barbara Bush  Hillary Clinton  
08/09/1974-
01/20/1977 
Gerald Ford
01/20/1977-
01/20/1981
Jimmy Carter
01/20/1981-
01/20/1989 
Ronald Reagan
01/20/1989-
01/20/1993 
George H.W. Bush
01/20/1993-
01/20/2001
William J. Clinton
         
Laura Bush Michelle Obama Melania Trump   Jill Biden  
 
01/20/2001-
01/20/2009
George W. Bush
01/20/2009-
01/20/2017 
Barack Obama
01/20/2017-
01/20/2021 
Donald J. Trump
01/20/2021-
present 
Joseph R. Biden
 

Keywords:  First Lady, First Ladies, FLOTUS, U.S. First Ladies, First Ladies of the United States