Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities - Book Review

Dec 2, 2011
Toby Welch

The White House has Housed Amazing Women - Hokatah

Ladies is a masterfully written book about the first 29 First Ladies of the United States, women married to some of the most powerful men in history.

The modern First Ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy onward have had numerous opportunities to express themselves. Many have written their own memoirs, appeared on talk shows, and let the world see into their lives. It's the First Ladies who came before Jacqueline that are more of a mystery and are the basis of this fascinating book.

The Ladies

Ladies tells the story of each of the first 29 First Ladies from Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower. Each story is unique and shares a different facet of the woman. The stories aren't merely a chronological telling of their lives but rather a journey of the major ups and downs they went through. My personal favourite was Mary Todd Lincoln; she suffered with criticism of being overweight, something modern women feel deeply. Although considering she topped out at 130 pounds at her heaviest, the criticism was unjust.

Jane Appleton Pierce suffered atrocities beyond imagining. While many of the Ladies lost children, Jane's journey as a mother was especially excruciating. She lost her first two sons when they were babies. When she was nearly 40, Jane had another son and she devoted her life to Bennie. But when the boy was eleven-years-old, he was crushed to death when a train derailed and Bennie was pinned between two cars. Jane never recovered from the tragedy.

Frances Folsom Cleveland had arguably one of the most interesting relationships with a President. Frances lost her father when she was a young girl and her "Uncle Cleve" took on responsibility for Frances and her mother. He kept them in a fitting lifestyle and when Frances was 19, he made it clear that his intentions were to be her suitor. Her mother gave Frances the speech about love growing with time. While Frances didn't want a middle-aged husband, the lure of being a First Lady was too great to deny and she married the man who had cared for her since before she was old enough to have memories.

Chronic kidney disease sidelined Florence Kling DeWolfe Harding when she was a newlywed. She was unable to perform her "wifely duties" so her husband took on numerous lady companions. Florence suffered emotionally from his blatant indiscretions and contemplated divorce but didn't want to be a double divorcee. She threw herself into a new life where she made treating herself well priority number one and running the newspaper she and her husband owned number two.

Point of View

The unique thing about this book is that it is told from the point of view of each of the women, as if they were speaking directly to the reader. The voice and tone are personalized for each of the Ladies. Using this view point makes for a very entertaining read.

Research

It is evident from the first paragraph that an extraordinary amount of research went into every page in this book. It's not surprising as the author is a presidential historian and drew from the knowledge in over 1,000 volumes of presidential material to assemble this book.

Summary

For anyone who has even a passing interest in history or the presidency or amazing women, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities. The stories and the superb storytelling will keep you drawn in.