From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking backstairs look at the White House, The Residence, comes an intimate, news-making look at the true modern power brokers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the First Ladies, from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
One of the most underestimated—and challenging—positions in the world, the First Lady of the United States … First Lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House. Now, as she did in her smash #1 bestseller The Residence, former White House correspondent Kate Andersen Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources—from residence staff and social secretaries to friends and political advisers—to tell the stories of the ten remarkable women who have defined that role since 1960.
Brower offers new insights into this privileged group of remarkable women, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. The stories she shares range from the heartwarming to the shocking and tragic, exploring everything from the first ladies’ political crusades to their rivalries with Washington figures; from their friendships with other first ladies to their public and private relationships with their husbands. She also offers insight as to what Melania Trump might hope to accomplish as First Lady.
Candid and illuminating, this first group biography of the modern first ladies provides a revealing look at life upstairs and downstairs at the world’s most powerful address.
more
It’s obvious the author has done a lot of research to be able to share as much as she does about the lives of the country’s First Ladies. I learned many interesting facts about these fascinating women and their relationships with their husbands. Several of them had a strong influence on what goes on in the Oval Office. It was also fun to find out about the actions they took to try to experience some freedom from the confines of the White House. And I enjoyed reading about how most of them support one another even after leaving the White House. A very interesting behind-the-scenes look at some very unique women.
What is life in the White House like for the First Lady? Here is your chance to find out. The First Ladies have been as varied as their Presidential husbands. See the challenges these women faced in the spotlight, and who they were when the bright TV lights were turned off. Nancy Regan ran the White House like a general. Betty Ford hid from the stress in booze. Some projected a public image very different from reality, others were the same in private as they were in public. In this book, we get to see them as the White House staff did. Very enjoyable.
This book details the White House lives of modern First Ladies from Jackie Kennedy through Michelle Obama. Each woman is profiled from the time their husbands became involved in politics and continues through their time as a “Former First Lady”. Some of the women became quite close, while others seem to simply tolerate their peers. Each woman brings their own attitude and charm to the White House and each has her own triumphs and hurdles. They all belong to a special “sisterhood” that no one else could completely understand.
Brower gives the reader a no-holds bar look at these ladies. It is at time scandalous and at times you are humored with some of their antics. I’m not sure how much the author’s own political ideals were coming through. There were some women she seemed harder on than others, but none of them were shown as flawless and often quite the opposite. Being the wife of a President cannot be an easy job and after all, these women are human. Most did not ask or want to be a First Lady, but they have all handled the job with their heads held high. It will be interesting to see what the future holds and to see if there some day might be a First Husbands edition of this book. The book could also have been a little more cohesive. It did bounce around some and was not always chronological as you would expect it to be. I still enjoyed it thoroughly.
Enjoyed this book very much. Always learn a lot when I read this type of book.
Felt like the bias of the author toward certain First Ladies was evident. She obviously did not care for others. Also I had the audio book and the slowness and intonations of the narrator were distracting. Maybe it would have been better if read from print.
The First Ladies are varied and different but all admirable in their own way. It was interesting that the author clearly had favorites.
Very well written. A thoroughly enjoyable book, easy to listen to while driving to work.
This book was a really great introduction to the modern first ladies. I know a little bit about Jackie, Hillary, Laura, and Michelle, but I learned new things about them and was introduced to Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush. A lot of the other reviewers mentioned that they didn’t like how the book was organized–that the author jumping around to different first ladies and different time periods constantly was difficult to follow, but I didn’t mind how this book was written. I can’t really imagine how else it could be organized…the format would be pretty repetitive if it was in chronological order going through each first lady’s family life, conflict with the West Wing, struggles leaving the White House etc. The order in which this book was written shows what it means to be a first lady in general with examples from each lady’s life–not a biography of each person–so I think the format fits the function of the book. I’m not political at all and I don’t usually read nonfiction, so this book was surprisingly an easy read for me. It wasn’t dense and at times I didn’t want to put it down. The only reason why I’m giving this book 3 stars is because I feel like this book was really biased. It was obvious the author didn’t really like Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, or Michelle Obama. She seemed to idolize the women who exemplified traditional femininity (which is fine!). My only complaint is that the author was either overwhelmingly negative whenever a woman did anything besides decorate the White House or she completely left out real contributions these women made. I’m sure Jackie Kennedy had a lot more to her than just someone who decorated the White House and was a fashion icon; I was looking for a little more depth from this book than just the usual fan-girling of Jackie Kennedy’s glamour. Everyone already knows how fashionable she was, but her editor career and her photography career were never really discussed at all. Brower was really negative about Michelle not really wanting to be a First Lady and made almost no mention about her White House garden or healthy eating campaign. I think that these women giving up their careers, supporting their husbands whole-heartedly, being great mothers and presenting a dignified image to the public (all traditionally feminine qualities) are great qualities and they should be highlighted but I feel that what this book lacked was also more of an unbiased discussion of what these women to make a real positive impact on her husband’s administration, her life, and this country.
I enjoyed reading about things that the 1st Ladies have gone through. I learned a lot about their personalities and influences on their Presidential husbands.
Lots of good information
It was bland
Strangely enjoyed it very much. I liked how it jumped around to different women.
Written in an interesting way juxtaposing the First Ladies by topic and time period instead of chronological narrative.
Interesting to find out about these women behind their president husbands.
I normally only read fiction, but I read the author’s previous book about White House staff and enjoyed it so I decided to give this one a go. I’m glad I did. I read it by the pool on vacation, and it gave me lots of interesting tid bits of info to talk about over dinner. Any time an author can shed light on the women in history I’m happy. I was very much surprised by which First Ladies were close with each other. There were certainly a lot of strong women behind the US Presidents.
Excellent reading. Great information about the First Ladies and the parts of their life we did not see before. Highly recommend!!
This is not the first book I have read about first families but it provided another view of the first ladies covered.
New information on famous ladies and their interactions with each other. Interesting reading but no revelations.
Interesting insights, but I would prefer a chronological approach. It seemed to be repeating similar information about individual first ladies numerous times. It got a bit tedious to read.
A true guilty pleasure!