Bibliography of United States presidential spouses and first ladies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of works about the spouses of presidents of the United States. While this list is mainly about presidential spouses, administrations with a bachelor or widowed president have a section on the individual (usually a family member) that filled the role of First Lady. The list includes books and journal articles written in English after c. 1900 as well as primary sources written by the individual themselves.
The books included here were selected because they were either published by an academic press or major nationally known publisher or were reviewed in mainstream academic journals.[lower-alpha 1] These works are generally intended for an adult audience; works specifically intended for a youth or children are not included.
Several presidents were unmarried for all or part of their administration.
- Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Chester A. Arthur, and Martin Van Buren were widowed prior to becoming president and remained unmarried during their administration; in these cases, family members acted in the place of First Lady and White House host.
- John Tyler, Benjamin Harrison, and Woodrow Wilson's wives died while they were in office. Tyler and Wilson both quickly remarried during their presidency.
- James Buchanan was a life long bachelor and never married.
- Grover Cleveland entered the White House as a bachelor, but married while in office.
Because this list also serves as a bibliography of first ladies, in these cases, when someone regularly filled the role of White House hostess and informal first lady while the president was unmarried, an entry is provided.