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Also by Susan Swain:

First Ladies, April 2015
Hardcover / e-Book

FIRST LADIES
By: Susan Swain

Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women

Public Affairs
April 2015
On Sale: April 14, 2015
496 pages
ISBN: 1610395662
EAN: 9781610395663
Kindle: B00PWX7UCG
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List

Non-Fiction Biography

A look inside the personal life of every first lady in American history, based on original interviews with major historians

C-SPAN’s yearlong history series, First Ladies: Influence and Image, featured interviews with more than fifty preeminent historians and biographers. In this informative book, these experts paint intimate portraits of all forty-five first ladies—their lives, ambitions, and unique partnerships with their presidential spouses. Susan Swain and the C-SPAN team elicit the details that made these women who they were: how Martha Washington intentionally set the standards followed by first ladies for the next century; how Edith Wilson was complicit in the cover-up when President Wilson became incapacitated after a stroke; and how Mamie Eisenhower used the new medium of television to reinforce her, and her husband’s, positive public images.

This book provides an up-close historical look at these fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the White House, sometimes at great personal cost, while supporting their families and famous husbands—and sometimes changing history. Complete with illustrations and essential biographical details, it is an illuminating, entertaining, and ultimately inspiring read.

Media Buzz

PBS News Hour - May 4, 2015