First Ladies

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this first part in a projected two-volume history of the first ladyship we're shown the unique role of the presidents' wives and the heritage of certain customs indigenous only to that role. Ending with Jacqueline Kennedy, this installment focuses on the degrees of power wielded by those women, some (such as Edith Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt) evidently missing it when their incumbency ended. The author makes history entertaining by intertwining different eras, examining the post-public lives of the women, underscoring a feeling of ``sorority'' and dwelling intensely on those first ladies who prominently represented their times. Anthony, former speech writer for Nancy Reagan, provides a comprehensive, instructive view of women who, though unelected, render service to their country in diverse ways. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC alternate. (Sept.)

Library Journal

There are so many histories and biographies of the first ladies that it is difficult to imagine the need for another, even though this projected two-volume study will cover 1789 to the present. Yet Anthony, a former speechwriter for Nancy Reagan, has an entirely new take on the first ladyship: he shows it to be an institution unique to American society because from its very beginning it afforded the individual incumbents--women--enormous, very real political and social power of their own, separate from and independent of that of the President. Replete with exhaustive archival research and interviews with living first ladies and family members, this is an awesome work of scholarship written in an easy style. Anthony has detailed the lives, concerns, and influence of the first ladies and demonstrated the importance of each one to those who followed her. Essential for scholarly and popular biography collections. --Susan E. Parker, Harvard Law Sch. Lib.

School Library Journal

YA-- Anthony likens the First Ladies to a select sorority in this splendid history that defines the political and social power inherent to the position. He presents a thorough, well-written, and well-documented volume that provides some interesting insights.