Synopses & Reviews
As his previous books
Presidential Anecdotes and
Presidential Campaigns clearly proved, Paul F. Boller, Jr. has a remarkable eye for the telling detail that humanizes history and gives it life. In this new book, he brings that gift to bear on the women our Presidents married, and the result is a biographical feast--at once funny and poignant, dramatic and illuminating, covering every First Lady from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan.
In these vivid and entertaining pages, we encounter the trend-setter Dolley Madison's "unfortunate propensity to snuff-taking"--a propensity that soon had Washington's other women doing the same. We learn that Mary Todd Lincoln held such harsh opinions of some of her husband's appointments that he felt compelled to tell her, "If I listened to you, I should soon be without a cabinet." We meet Edith Wilson in a Red Cross canteen after America's entry into World War I, dispensing candy and cigarettes to the doughboys departing for France. We find Eleanor Roosevelt on the night of FDR's election to his first term, lamenting, "Now I'll have no identity," and then going on to become the greatest of all the "Woman Doers" to occupy the White House. And we hear Lady Bird Johnson's advice to her two young daughters prior to a State Dinner in honor of the President of Sudan: "Read all you can in the encyclopedia about the Sudan. And don't drink any of the wine at dinner."
In the manner of his earlier books, Boller devotes a chapter to each of his subjects, featuring an incisive biographical essay followed by a selection of revealing anecdotes. The book portrays a diverse group of women--shrinking violets, passionate partisans, spotlight-loving hostesses, and devoted helpmeets who remained silent in public but actively advised their husbands in private. Once again, Boller delightfully demonstrates how much the institution of the presidency and all that surrounds it tells us about ourselves as a people and our life as a nation.
Review
"Remarkably fresh event to those of us who collect White House anecdotes as a hobby....Boller's deep insight into their lives and personalities...[adds] new historical detail to White House folklore."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
Synopsis
As his previous books
Presidential Anecdotes and
Presidential Campaigns clearly prove, Paul F. Boller, Jr. has a remarkable eye for the telling details that vitalize and humanize history.
Presidential Wives brings that gift to bear on the women our Presidents married by offering a poignant, amusing, dramatic, and illuminating biographical feast which covers every First Lady from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan.
These vivid and entertaining pages offer encounters with Dolley Madison, whose "unfortunate propensity to snuff-taking" eventually had Washington's other women doing the same; Mary Todd Lincoln, whose harsh opinions of so many of her husband's appointments led him to tell her, "If I listened to you, I should soon be without a cabinet"; and Eleanor Roosevelt, who lamented on the night of FDR's election to his first term that she would no longer have her own identity and then became the greatest of all the women activists to occupy the White House.
As with his earlier books, Boller devotes a chapter to each of his subjects, including a biographical essay followed by a selection of revealing anecdotes. Portraying a diverse group of women--shrinking violets, passionate partisans, spotlight-loving hostesses, and devoted helpmates who remained silent in public but actively advised their husbands in private--Boller once again delightfully demonstrates how much the institution of the presidency and all that surrounds it tell us about ourselves as a nation.
About the Author
About the Author -Paul F. Boller, Jr., is Professor of History, Emeritus, at Texas Christian University.