Presidential Wives essays

Presidential Wives essays Throughout American history, most chief executives have had a lady by their side. Two Presidents were widowed before their election, three had wives who died in the White House, and several lost their wives after winning office . Only two bachelors have been elected to the Presidency in over 200 years, James Buchanan in 1856 and Grover Cleveland in 1884 (Cleveland married during his first term ). Taking all of these occurrences into account, women have only been absent for thirty-two of the 215 years that this country has been using the presidential system. One cannot write off this number as mere coincidence when the troubles faced by those lone bachelors are taken into account. The public criticism that was directed at both men suggested that Americans expect their Head of State to come with a partner. This, the most striking point of a Presidents private life, has much to do with how well a man can perform the duties of President of the United States. There is no doubt of t he impact that a First Lady can have on the election of and strength of the President. Some of the ladies that embody the qualities of the First Lady are Dolley Madison, Lucy Hayes, Jackie Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton. Born in 1768, Dolley Payne Todd Madison grew up in a Virginian Quaker Community. She married at 21, but soon lost her first husband and a young son to illness. It was when she moved to Washington to aid her mother in the running of a boardinghouse that she was introduced to James Madison. Madison was nearly twenty years her senior and several inches shorter than the beautiful Dolley, but she took a liking to him and referred to him as the great little Madison (Caroli, p13). The two were married in 1794. After the marriage, both Dolley and James seemed to blossom. Now free of Quaker laws, Dolley began to wear colorful, expensive clothing and learned to entertain. James, who was once described as always looking like &qu...