List of memoirs by first ladies of the United States

The First Lady of the United States is the hostess of the White House. The position is traditionally filled by the wife of the President of the United States, with some historic exceptions. Twelve First Ladies have written memoirs, and several others have had their correspondence published. Every memoir by a First Lady published in the 20th and 21st centuries has been a best seller, at times outselling those of their presidential husbands.[1][2]

History
The title page of Recollections of Full Years by Helen Taft.

Abigail Adams had her correspondence published as Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams in the early 1800s, 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 written by Lucia Cutts.[3] Julia Grant was the first to write and attempt to publish her memoirs, writing The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant in the 1890s after the death of her husband, Ulysses S. Grant. However, she never found a suitable publisher for them before her death in 1902, in part because she had unrealistic expectations of their value. The memoirs were eventually published in 1975.[4] Helen Taft was the first First Lady to get her memoir published during her lifetime.[1] After Taft, several First Ladies wrote their own memoirs, including Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lady Bird Johnson.[2] In the 1930s Grace Coolidge published her memoirs as several articles in The American Magazine.[3] Memoirs by presidential spouses were uncommon until the publication of Betty Ford's in the 1970s. Since then, every First Lady has written and published at least one memoir about their life.[2]

Early published memoirs focused on relatively trivial matters and were aimed at women, for instance, Helen Taft's memoirs were described by The New York Sun as "bright, witty, delightfully entertaining reminiscences," upon publication. Edith Wilson's were criticized for focusing on clothing and social events. Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote four autobiographies, marked a shift in the content of the memoirs, writing more about political issues and less on her personal life. Lady Bird Johnson condensed a dictated two-million-word transcript into 300,000 for A White House Diary, which outsold her husband Lyndon B. Johnson's memoir.[5] In the 1960s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was involved in editing two books by Molly Thayer, Jacqueline Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.[3]

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.[5][6] Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming was published in 2018.[7] She received over $60 million in advance of publication, and the book has sold over 11.5 million copies.[8][9]

List
Note: Only publication information for the first edition is given.
TitleFirst LadyPublisherDateIdentifier Note(s)
The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent GrantJulia GrantPutnam Publishing Group1975ISBN 9780399113864 [note 1]
Recollections of Full YearsHelen TaftDodd, Mead & Company1914 OCLC 1071952821
My MemoirEdith WilsonBobbs-Merrill Company1939 OCLC 300015696
This is My StoryEleanor RooseveltHarper & Brothers1937OCLC 1222392544
This I RememberEleanor RooseveltHarper & Brothers1949OCLC 1222358304
On My Own: The Years since the White HouseEleanor RooseveltHarper & Brothers1958OCLC 1007583041
The Autobiography of Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltHarper & Brothers1961OCLC 241967 [note 2]
A White House DiaryLady Bird JohnsonHolt, Rinehart & Winston1970ISBN 0030852544
The Times of My LifeBetty FordHarper & Row1978ISBN 978-0-06-011298-1 [note 3]
Betty — A Glad AwakeningBetty FordDoubleday1987ISBN 978-0-385-23502-0 [note 3]
First Lady from PlainsRosalynn CarterHoughton Mifflin1984ISBN 9780395352946
Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your LifeRosalynn CarterRandom House1987ISBN 9780394558585 [note 4]
Nancy: The Autobiography of America's First LadyNancy ReaganHarperCollins1980ISBN 978-0-688-03533-4 [note 5]
My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy ReaganNancy ReaganRandom House1989ISBN 0-394-56368-9 [note 6]
Barbara Bush: A MemoirBarbara BushScribner1994ISBN 978-0-02-519635-3
Reflections: Life After the White HouseBarbara BushScribner2004ISBN 978-0743255820
Living HistoryHillary ClintonSimon & Schuster2003ISBN 978-0-7432-2224-2
Hard ChoicesHillary ClintonSimon & Schuster2014ISBN 978-1-4767-5144-3
What Happened Hillary Clinton Simon & Schuster 2017 ISBN 978-1501175565
Spoken from the HeartLaura BushScribner2010ISBN 9781439155202
Becoming Michelle Obama Crown Publishing Group 2018 ISBN 9781524763138
Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself Jill Biden Macmillan Publishers 2019 ISBN 9781250182340

See also

Citations

Notes
  1. Grant tried but was unable to secure a publisher for her memoirs during her lifetime.[4]
  2. Compiled material from her first three autobiographies with additional chapters.[10]
  3. Written with Chris Chase.[11][12]
  4. Written with husband Jimmy Carter.[13]
  5. Written with Bill Libby.[14]
  6. Written with William Novak.[15]

References
  1. Fehrman, Craig (May 21, 2010), "First Lady Lit", The New York Times, retrieved March 30, 2015.
  2. Sánchez, Bianca. "The History of First Ladies' Memoirs". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  3. Anthony, Carl (May 18, 2016). "First Ladies as Author". The National First Ladies' Library. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  4. "The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  5. Brockell, Gillian. "Julia Grant couldn't find a publisher for her memoir. Michelle Obama got paid millions for hers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  6. Fehrman, Craig (2012). "Reagan and the Rise of the Blockbuster Political Memoir". American Literary History. 24 (3): 468–490. doi:10.1093/alh/ajs031. ISSN 0896-7148.
  7. Haring, Bruce (February 25, 2018). "Michelle Obama Memoir 'Becoming' Set For November Release". Deadline.
  8. "Michelle Obama's book is set to become the best-selling memoir in history". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  9. "Michelle Obama signs 'Becoming' copies on book's anniversary". AP NEWS. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  10. Laski, Marghanita (3 August 1962). "Eleanor Roosevelt's autobiography – archive,". the Guardian. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  11. Howard, Jane (2018-12-21). "Notes From the Book Review Archives (Published 2018)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  12. "Betty — A Glad Awakening". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  13. Carter, Jimmy; Carter, Rosalynn (1987). Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-388-7.
  14. Quinn, Sally (1980-05-01). "Nancy Reagan On the Road To the Realm". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  15. "My Turn". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 2020-11-21.

Further reading
  • Wertheimer, Molly Meijer, ed. (2004), Inventing a Voice: The Rhetoric of American First Ladies of the Twentieth Century, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 9780742529717.
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