The Kennedys

First Ladies You Mightn’t Know Were Irish, from Jackie Kennedy to Dolley Madison

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, so the saying goes. The leaves of presidential family trees certainly prove this, especially when the definition is widened to include those popularly known as “Scotch-Irish,” a general term which usually (but not… Read More ›

Mamie, Jackie, Lady Bird & Pat: Thanksgiving & Four First Ladies of the Mid-Century

From Thursday, November 20 until Sunday November 23, 2014, the National First Ladies Library Blog is running a four-part series pegged to the upcoming holiday, “Thanksgiving and Mid-Century Modern First Ladies.” Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Pat… Read More ›

Jackie Kennedy & JFK, Jr., Unique Mother & Son: A Photo Essay

Twenty years ago today, one of the 20th century’s most legendary Americans and perhaps the world’s most iconic woman died. Despite dying just two months shy before qualifying for Social Security benefits, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’s associative identification in the… Read More ›

First Ladies in China: Jackie Onassis Kidnapped, Pat Nixon’s Coat, Lou Hoover’s Pistol & Other Tales

On March 19, First Lady Michelle Obama became the fifteenth American First Lady who journeyed to China, six of whom went as incumbent First Ladies. She will be there until March 26. In telling the stories of her fourteen predecessors… Read More ›