First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives

Informationen zum Autor Margaret Truman won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her ongoing series of Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let us into the corridors of power and privilege, and poverty and pageantry, in the nation's capital. She was the author of many nonfiction books, including The President's House, in which she shares some of the secrets and history of the White House where she once resided. Truman lived in Manhattan and passed away in 2008. Klappentext "Fascinating. . . . First Ladies is a wonderfully generous look at the women who! often against their wishes! took on what Truman calls 'the world's second toughest job.' "--The Christian Science MonitorWhether they envision their role as protector! partner! advisor! or scold! First Ladies find themselves in a job that is impossible to define! and just as difficult to perform. Now Margaret Truman! daughter of President Harry Truman and an acclaimed novelist and biographer in her own right! explores the fascinating position of First Lady throughout history and up to the present day.With her unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady! Ms. Truman reveals the truth behind some of the most misunderstood and forgotten First Ladies of our history! as well as the most famous and beloved. In recounting the charm and courage of Dolley Madison! the brazen ambition of Florence Harding! the calm! good sense of Grace Coolidge! the genius of Eleanor Roosevelt! the mysterious femininity of Jackie Kennedy! and the fierce protectiveness of Nancy Reagan! among others! Margaret Truman has assembled an honest yet affectionate portrait of our nation's First Ladies--one that freely acknowledges their virtues and their flaws. Chapter 1 THE WORLD'S SECOND TOUGHEST JOB A few months after Bill and Hillary Clinton settled into the White House, they invited me and my husband, Clifton Daniel, down from New York to have dinner and stay overnight with them. I said we were perfectly willing to stay in a hotel. We did not want to intrude on the rare hours of relaxation a President and First Lady have in their hectic lives. Nonsense, Hillary replied in her direct way. We like to have company. It was one of my most pleasant nights in that historic house, where my mother and father spent eight tumultuous years and where I alternated between being full-time and part-time boarder. We slept in the Queens' Bedroom, with its majestic canopied bed, rose-tinted walls, and graceful eighteenth-century couches and chairs. A procession of reigning queens have stayed there, as well as Prime Minister Churchill and other heads of state. Its present elegance is light-years away from the run-down White House the Trumans inherited in the spring of 1945. I remember crying myself to sleep on my first night in the place, it all looked so shabby and second rate. A cadre of creative First Ladies, starting with Jacqueline Kennedy, are responsible for this transformation. Occasionally, when the pressure got to him, my father used to call the mansion The Big White Jail. I was amused to hear that Bill Clinton shares this salty sentiment. At one point during our evening of fine food and lively talk, he wryly suggested the place should be a line item in the budget as part of the federal penitentiary system. Hillary smiled agreement at this presidential grousing, as Bess Truman had in her now distant days. This is the perfectly normal reaction of any two human beings who find themselves in what someone has called eighteen acres under glass. It does not imply any lack of affection for the President's house. In fact, as we talked past midnight, I could see that Bill Clinton's fascination with the history of the place equaled Harry Truman's. Living in the White House is a unique experiencea fantastic compound of excitement and tension and terror and pride and humility. Above...

Autorentext
Margaret Truman won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her ongoing series of Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let us into the corridors of power and privilege, and poverty and pageantry, in the nation’s capital. She was the author of many nonfiction books, including The President’s House, in which she shares some of the secrets and history of the White House where she once resided. Truman lived in Manhattan and passed away in 2008.

Klappentext
"Fascinating. . . . First Ladies is a wonderfully generous look at the women who, often against their wishes, took on what Truman calls 'the world's second toughest job.' "
--The Christian Science Monitor
Whether they envision their role as protector, partner, advisor, or scold, First Ladies find themselves in a job that is impossible to define, and just as difficult to perform. Now Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman and an acclaimed novelist and biographer in her own right, explores the fascinating position of First Lady throughout history and up to the present day.
With her unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady, Ms. Truman reveals the truth behind some of the most misunderstood and forgotten First Ladies of our history, as well as the most famous and beloved. In recounting the charm and courage of Dolley Madison, the brazen ambition of Florence Harding, the calm, good sense of Grace Coolidge, the genius of Eleanor Roosevelt, the mysterious femininity of Jackie Kennedy, and the fierce protectiveness of Nancy Reagan, among others, Margaret Truman has assembled an honest yet affectionate portrait of our nation's First Ladies--one that freely acknowledges their virtues and their flaws.

Zusammenfassung
“Fascinating . . . First Ladies is a wonderfully generous look at the women who, often against their wishes, took on what Truman calls ‘the world's second toughest job.’”—The Christian Science Monitor

Whether they envision their role as protector, partner, advisor, or scold, First Ladies find themselves in a job that is impossible to define, and just as difficult to perform. Now Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman and an acclaimed novelist and biographer in her own right, explores the fascinating position of First Lady throughout history and up to the present day.

With her unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady, Ms. Truman reveals the truth behind some of the most misunderstood and forgotten First Ladies of our history, as well as the most famous and beloved. In recounting the charm and courage of Dolley Madison, the brazen ambition of Florence Harding, the calm, good sense of Grace Coolidge, the genius of Eleanor Roosevelt, the mysterious femininity of Jackie Kennedy, and the fierce protectiveness of Nancy Reagan, among others, Margaret Truman has assembled an honest yet affectionate portrait of our nation’s First Ladies—one that freely acknowledges their virtues and their flaws.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1
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THE WORLD’S SECOND TOUGHEST JOB
 
A few months after Bill and Hillary Clinton settled into the White House, they invited me and my husband, Clifton Daniel, down from New York to have dinner and stay overnight with them. I said we were perfectly willing to stay in a hotel. We did not want to intrude on the rare hours of relaxation a President and First Lady have in their hectic lives. “Nonsense,” Hillary replied in her direct way. “We like to have company.”
 
It was one of my most pleasant nights in that historic house, where my mother and father spent eight tumultuous years and where I alternated between being full-time and part-time boarder. We slept in the Queens’ Bedroom, with its majestic canopied bed, rose-tinted walls, and graceful eighteenth-century couches and chairs. A procession of reigning queens have stayed th…

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