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First Ladies are a very big part of our community. First Ladies appear often for social commitments. Many first ladies have helped the United States become better. Two examples are Eleanor Roosevelt and her love for people who were less fortunate and Hillary Clinton who helped with education. Below are biographies of a few first ladies: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor was very happy the day her very own husband was elected president. No one exactly liked Eleanor when she moved to the White House. As a child, Eleanor's parents had both died. Her mother died when she was eight, and her father died two years later because of an alcohol problem. Eleanor was thought of as being an ugly duckling, but people said as she grew up she was considered more of a swan but not exactly one yet. Franklin proposed to Eleanor and they got married not long after. Franklin's mother, Sarah Roosevelt, tried to spoil Eleanor but, Eleanor did not let it get to her. Since Sarah was trying to spoil Eleanor she and Franklin ran to Albany in the middle of Franklin's term of state senator. When Franklin was running to be reelected Eleanor was working behind the scenes to have him win his title as president. As first lady, Eleanor's care for people who were less fortunate than she was.
Dolley Madison was a well respected lady. She was married to John Todd, a Quaker lawyer who died in 1793 of yellow fever in Philadelphia. One of her sons also caught yellow fever and died. After they died, she moved to Washington with her other son. She knew many people in Washington like George and Martha Washington. When she was in Washington, she met a man named James Madison. They fell in love and were married on September 15, 1794. It was a sad and happy time, happy because she married a good man, but sad because she could no longer be a Quaker. Everyone liked Dolley Madison because she would have open house entertainment, which meant lots of people from different political parties could come and have fun at the capital but they could not talk about politics. She was a kind lady too and did not gossip with anyone. When James Madison became president, they moved to the palace (a nickname for the White House) and had lots of parties. But in 1814 there was a war which almost destroyed the Palace. Dolley had to hide from the enemy and came back when the British fleet retreated from Washington. She stayed in Washington until the end of James' presidency and then they went to Montpelier to retire. Andrew Jackson, to show his respect let Dolley have a seat on the floor of the House of Representatives. As Dolley got older she found that she had money problems so she sold off Montpellier except for the family cemetery and sold the remaining Madison papers. Even though she was poor the people in Washington did not forget her. They helped her a lot. Dolley Madison died on July 12, 1849. President Zachery Taylor and lots of important government officials gave her an aard after she died.. She now holds a place in history as a great patriot.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was born to John Bouvier III, a wealthy stockbroker, and Long Island socialite Janet Lee. She attended Miss. Chapin's School in New York, Miss. Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, and Vassar. Jacqueline Kennedy was a beautiful lady. She met John F. Kennedy when she was working for the Washington Times Herald and was assigned to interview him. They fell in love and were married in 1953.They had a really big wedding. Jaqueline Kennedy did not have any interest in politics and did not want to be in the spotlight but the photographers loved taking pictures of her. In 1960 John F. Kennedy became the 36th president of the United States. Jaqueline Kennedy had two children a daughter named Caroline who was born in 1957, and a son named John F. Kennedy Jr. who was born in 1960. Jaqueline Kennedy did not like the public spotlight at all and protected her children from being in the public spotlight too. The photographers believed that the first family was very interesting to photograph and they tried as much as they could to get photos of the family. Mrs. Kennedy put a playroom on the third floor to keep the kids out of the public. Even though Mrs. Kennedy did not like to be in the spotlight she went with the President on a political trip to Texas in November of 1963. When they were riding through Dallas in an open convertible waving to the public,a gunman shot and killed the president as they drove. Three days later the President was buried and Jacqueline Kennedy was very brave standing there with her children. After she left the White House she tried to protect the children from the press but they always seem to want to photograph her family. She was a very good mother and wife and lived until she was 65 when she died on May 19th, 1994. Today people still talk about the Kennedy's and a lot about Jacqueline. |
