U.S. First Ladies: Julia Grant

Brief biographies and portraits of wives, sisters, daughters, nieces, and other relatives of Presidents who have served as White House hostesses, from Martha Washington to Hillary Clinton.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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. One of the most underestimated—and challenging—positions in the world, the 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 a detailed and insightful new portrait of one of the most-watched first ladies of all time, Hillary Clinton, asking what her tumultuous years in the White House may tell us about her own historic presidential run . . . and what life could be like with the nation’s first First Husband. 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.

Julia Dent Grant wrote her reminiscences with the vivacity and charm she exhibited throughout her life, telling her story in the easy flow of an afternoon conversation with a close friend. Mrs. Grant was raised the pampered daughter of a Missouri planter, and she later remembered her girlhood as an idyll that she wished could have lasted.

Many of the anecdotes she relates give fascinating glimpses into a very troubled period of American history. A dramatic reminiscence recounts the night that Lincoln was assassinated. Mrs. Grant insisted that she and her husband turn down an invitation to the theater in favor of returning home. It saved her husband’s life: he had also been marked for assassination.

Throughout these memoirs, which she ends with her husband’s death, Mrs. Grant strives to correct the misconceptions she believed were being circulated about him. She wanted posterity to share her pride in this man, whom she saw as one of America's greatest heroes.