First Ladies (Guild America Books) - Hardcover

Betty Boyd Caroli holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from New York University and is Professor of Women's History at the City University of New York. She is the author of Roosevelt Women, Immigrants Who Returned Home, and Inside the White House. She is also co-author of Today's Immigrants: Their Stories (OUP, 1989).

Being First Lady is probably the hardest unpaid job in the United States. The thirty-six First Ladies (some of them daughters or other relatives) have been a highly varied group. Three have married an incumbent President; three have died in office. Caroli takes a look at each of them and their effect on the job, and also examines the ways the role of First Lady has changed over the years as American society and public expectations have changed. A ranking of the First Ladies by historians is included. Though not intended to be an in-depth study of either the First Ladies or the institution, this is an interesting and thoughtful overview that will appeal to a variety of readers. Nancy C. Cridland, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.