List of memoirs by first ladies of the United States

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Helen Taft

Thirteen

first ladies of the United States have written a total of twenty-two memoirs. The first lady is the hostess of the White House, and the position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, with some historical exceptions. Every memoir by a first lady published in the 20th and 21st centuries has been a bestseller, at times outselling those of their presidential husbands.[1][2]

In the early 1800s, Abigail Adams had her correspondence published as Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, and Louisa Adams "made several attempts at an autobiography", though she never sought to publish them.[1] The Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison, Wife of James Madison, President of the United States were published in 1886 but were actually edited by Lucia Cutts and written by Dolley Madison's niece Mary Cutts.[note 1][4]

Helen Taft was the first to have memoirs published during her lifetime, in 1914.[1] Memoirs by presidential spouses were uncommon until the 1970s; in the decades after Taft, only Edith Wilson, Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lady Bird Johnson wrote and published their memoirs.[2] Coolidge had her memoirs published in the 1930s as several articles in The American Magazine.[4] Most first ladies have written and published at least one memoir about their life since Betty Ford's publication of her first memoir in the late 1970s.[2]

Early published memoirs focused on relatively trivial matters, often largely focusing on the first lady's personal life. Helen Taft's memoirs were described by

Molly Thayer, Jacqueline Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.[4]

Memoirs written by Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter and Barbara Bush also outsold the memoirs of their husbands.[1] My Turn by Nancy Reagan, published in 1989, was nicknamed My Burn for its "vengeful" coverage of Reagan's life, particularly in the White House. The book sold very well, remaining on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than three months.[6][8] Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming was published in 2018. She received over $60 million in advance of publication, and the book had sold over 11.5 million copies as of November 2019.[9][10] There has been speculation that Melania Trump is writing a memoir or in talks to do so.[11][12]

Memoirs

Title First lady Publisher Year Identifier Note
Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant Julia Grant
Putnam Publishing Group
1975
OCLC 1362819
[note 2]
Recollections of Full Years
Helen Taft
Dodd, Mead & Company
1914
My Memoir Edith Wilson Bobbs-Merrill Company 1939
OCLC 300015696
This is My Story Eleanor Roosevelt
Harper & Brothers
1937
This I Remember Eleanor Roosevelt
Harper & Brothers
1949
On My Own: The Years since the White House Eleanor Roosevelt
Harper & Brothers
1958
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt
Harper & Brothers
1961
OCLC 241967
[note 3]
A White House Diary Lady Bird Johnson
Holt, Rinehart & Winston
1970
OCLC 247688211
The Times of My Life
Betty Ford
Harper & Row
1978 [note 4]
Betty: A Glad Awakening Betty Ford Doubleday 1987
OCLC 624464837
[note 4]
First Lady from Plains Rosalynn Carter
Houghton Mifflin
1984
OCLC 608350043
Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life Rosalynn Carter Random House 1987 [note 5]
Nancy: The Autobiography of America's First Lady
Nancy Reagan HarperCollins 1980
OCLC 5613799
[note 6]
My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan Nancy Reagan Random House 1989
OCLC 19921006
[note 7]
Barbara Bush: A Memoir Barbara Bush Scribner 1994
OCLC 733651482
Reflections: Life After the White House
Barbara Bush Scribner 2004
OCLC 57355785
Living History Hillary Clinton Simon & Schuster 2003
OCLC 961885123
Hard Choices Hillary Clinton Simon & Schuster 2014
OCLC 900303720
What Happened Hillary Clinton Simon & Schuster 2017
Spoken from the Heart Laura Bush Scribner 2010
OCLC 669262090
Becoming Michelle Obama Crown Publishing Group 2018
Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself
Jill Biden
Flatiron Books
2019 [note 8]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ According to Stuart Leibiger, "Many historians (including myself) have cited the Memoirs and Letters of Dolly Madison: Wife of James Madison, President of the United States [...] without realizing that the volume was actually written by Dolley's niece, Mary Estelle Elizabeth Cutts, and published without attribution."[3]
  2. ^ Grant tried but was unable to secure a publisher for her memoirs during her lifetime.[5]
  3. ^ Compiled material from her first three autobiographies with additional chapters[13]
  4. ^ a b Written with Chris Chase[14][15]
  5. ^ Written with husband Jimmy Carter[16]
  6. ^ Written with Bill Libby[17]
  7. ^ Written with William Novak[18]
  8. ^ Published before becoming the first lady[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fehrman, Craig (May 21, 2010). "First Lady Lit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015..
  2. ^
    Smithsonian Magazine. Archived
    from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  3. .
  4. ^ from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant". National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  6. ^ from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Memoirs of Mrs. Wilson". The New York Times. March 12, 1939. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  8. JSTOR 23249745
    . Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "Michelle Obama's book is set to become the best-selling memoir in history". Reuters. March 27, 2019. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020 – via NBC News.
  10. ^ Superville, Darlene (November 19, 2019). "Michelle Obama signs 'Becoming' copies on book's anniversary". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Mahdawi, Arwa (December 1, 2020). "Operation Rebrand Melania: What can we expect from the first lady's rumoured memoir?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Zoellner, Danielle (November 28, 2020). "Melania Trump 'in discussions about writing her own memoir'". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Laski, Marghanita (August 3, 1962). "Eleanor Roosevelt's autobiography – archive, 1962". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  14. from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  15. ^ "Betty — A Glad Awakening". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  16. from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  17. from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  18. ^ "My Turn". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  19. ^ Jensen, Erin (May 7, 2019). "Jill Biden writes of marriage with Joe, 'totally shattering' death of son Beau in new book". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2021.

Further reading

  • Wertheimer, Molly Meijer, ed. (2004). Inventing a Voice: The Rhetoric of American First Ladies of the Twentieth Century. .