There was a time when the best a mother might hope for in terms of her daughter rising to the heights of political power was to be married to the President of the United States.
There is no known image of the first American woman who had the experience of witnessing this happening, Juliana Gardiner in 1844, following the elopement of her daughter Julia to incumbent widower President John Tyler, but eleven other mothers would also share this experience. And as medical care improved through the twentieth century, more of them had the pleasure of being known as the President’s Mother-in-Law.
Among the last twelve First Ladies, eight such women were able to share the glory with the women who raised them.
Not that they all were pleased about their daughters living in the great white mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue. Regardless of how high a pinnacle their sons-in-law reached, two of them could never reconcile themselves to the idea that their daughters had married well: the moms of Grace Coolidge and Bess Truman.
Here, then, on Mother’s Day is a glimpse at those women who lived to see their daughters grow up to be First Ladies.
Categories: First Ladies
Tags: Bess Truman, Hillary Clinton, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Laura Bush, Mamie Eisenhower, Michelle Obama, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter
Hi Carl,
I never knew that Mrs. Goodhue never approved of her son-in-law – as for President Truman, I always thought he deserved some sort of medal for having to live Mrs. Wallace – she sounded dreadful and just mean.
David//Chicago
David – I actually seem to recall that those were the very words of someone else who knew President Truman, or perhaps it was someone who worked on the domestic staff in the White House who said it that way exactly. Thanks for writing.
Great article for Mother’s Day. I loved seeing the photos as I have not seen most of these moms before. Thanks for finding them.
You are welcome – some are rather surprising I thought. The affectionate display among the Victorian Frances Cleveland and her mom, and the informality of Jackie versus her mom. Thanks for writing.
Harry Truman (paraphrasing him) at the death of his mother-in-law Madge Gates Wallace wrote that he found mother-in-law jokes unfunny because “I’ve had a good one.” By all accounts Madge was a dragon lady where Harry was concerned, and coldly referred to him as “Mr. Truman” until her dying day. Now her fine home in Independence is a tourist attraction…because “Mr Truman” lived there!
I’m sure there were many a time when his patience was tested and we know that Bess Truman on at least one occasion snapped at her own mother for the disrespect she showed him as President, if not as a person. Thanks for writing.