A First Lady A Day: Jackie

Well I had to do this one sooner or later. It very hard to even have an original thought, much less express anything new, about someone whose style has been discussed, written about, photographed, and analyzed to the nth degree for 48 years. She is a Fashion Icon. A real one, not one of those people who did a popular clothing ad once, or wore a costume designer’s cute clothes on a television show

A First Lady a Day : Pat

You know, I have respect for Pat Nixon. The Nixon years are ones I lived through and frankly, don’t feel any nostalgia for. Waaaay too much trauma. But she was a hard worker. Went to Vietnam and flew into a combat zone. Held it together in tough circumstances, played the hand she was dealt. She knew what it was to have to work for living and to pay her own way. A classy lady. Bio: http://

A First Lady a Day: 1861, 1865

This may be the most difficult installment of this series. Mary Todd Lincoln. Talk about a Complex Personality. On the plus side: Bright, well educated, polished, supportive of her husband’s career, believed in Lincoln when few others did. Deeply loved her husband and children. On the minus: high strung and high maintenance, jealous, given to occasional inappropriate outbursts. A compulsive

A Commercial Interruption

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First Lady a Day: 1965

Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson, best known as Lady Bird. Today, she would be called an environmentalist. She was active - big supporter of Head Start and Vista. Lady Bird was made of sturdy stuff. To be married to LBJ, and survive with personality intact, one would have had to be. I always though she got a bum rap. Being First Lady after Jacqueline Kennedy was a tough act to follow under the best of

A First Lady a Day - Helen in 1909

Christmas break is over and we come back with Helen. Yes, we are still in the 20th C. That’s Helen Taft. A woman who wanted the job if ever there was one. She had been First Lady of the Philippines while her husband William Howard Taft was the Governor. Apparently she liked the job, and had ambitions for more. Even her official White House bio ( and these are always kind) refers to her

A First Lady a Day: Caroline, or 1889

You are wondering - who’s Caroline? Carrie Harrison. Lovely woman, well dressed. Elegant, yet fun loving. I have seen some of her clothes at the President Benjamin Harrison Home in Indianapolis. Very, very nice. And the house is great too - right downtown, easy to get to. Go if you have a chance. They had a spiffy display on the third floor when we were there - Death in the White House. She was