You Might Also Like
-
Bio
Elizabeth Monroe
Elizabeth Kortright was born in New York on June 30, 1768, daughter of an old New York family. Her father, Lawrence, served the Crown privateering during the French and Indian War and made a fortune. He took no active part in the War of Independence; and James Monroe wrote to his friend Thomas Jefferson in Paris in 1786 that he had married the
-
Bio
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter promised a government “as competent, as compassionate, as good” as the American people. His achievements were notable, but in an era of rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and increasing world crises, he found it difficult to meet Americans’ high expectations.James Earl Carter Jr. was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Peanut farming, talk of politics, and the Baptist
-
Bio
Abigail Adams
Inheriting New England’s strongest traditions, Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744 at Weymouth, Massachusetts. On her mother’s side she was descended from the Quincys, a family of great prestige in the colony; her father and other forebears were congregational ministers, leaders in a society that held its clergy in high esteem. Although Abigail did not receive a formal educ
-
Bio
John F. Kennedy
On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot to death as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected president; he was the youngest to die. Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, son of financier Joseph Kennedy and his wife Rose, on May 29, 1917. Grad
-
Bio
Louisa Adams
The first first lady born outside the United States, Louisa Catherine Adams did not come to the United States until four years after she had married John Quincy Adams. Louisa Catherine Johnson was born in London on February 12, 1775, to an English mother, Catherine Nuth Johnson, and an American father—Joshua Johnson, of Maryland—who served as United States consul after 1790. A ca
-
Bio
Letitia Tyler
Letitia Christian was born on a Tidewater Virginia plantation on November 12, 1790, to Mary and Colonel Robert Christian. Although she was not formally educated, Letitia learned all the skills of managing a plantation, overseeing enslaved people, rearing a family, and presiding over a home that would be John Tyler’s refuge during an active political life. They were married on March 29, 1813—his
-
Bio
Julia Tyler
Julia Gardiner was born in 1820 to Juliana MacLachlan and David Gardiner, descendent of prominent and wealthy New York families.1 Julia was trained from childhood for a life in society; she made her debut at 15. A European tour with her family gave her new glimpses of social splendors. Late in 1842 the Gardiners went to Washington for the winter social season, and
-
Bio
Claudia Johnson
Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas, on December 22, 1912. She was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Taylor and Minnie Lee Pattillo Taylor. Her nickname, “Lady Bird,” came from Alice Tittle, a nursemaid who remarked that she was “as purty as a lady bird.”1 After graduating high school, Lady Bird attended St. Mary’s Episcopal School for Girls, a junior college in
-
Bio
Hannah Van Buren
Hannah Hoes was born on March 8, 1783 to Johannes Dircksen Hoes and Maria Quakenbush. Cousins in a close-knit Dutch community, Hannah Hoes and Martin Van Buren grew up together in Kinderhook, New York. Evidently he wanted to establish his law practice before marrying his sweetheart — they were not wed until 1807, when he was 24 and his bride just three months younger. Apparently th
-
Bio
Abigail Powers Fillmore
Abigail Powers was born in Saratoga County, New York, on March 13, 1798, while it was still a frontier out-post. Her father, a locally prominent Baptist preacher named Lemuel Powers, died shortly thereafter. Courageously, her mother, Abigail, moved on westward, thinking her scanty funds would go further in a less settled region, and ably educated her small son and daughter beyond the
-
Bio
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore became president upon the death of Zachary Taylor in July 1850. Born in upstate Cayuga County, New York on January 7, 1800, Fillmore as a youth endured the privations of frontier life. He worked on his father’s farm, and at 15 was apprenticed to a cloth maker. He attended a local school where he met Abigail Powers, who was 19 years old at
-
Bio
Patricia Nixon
Thelma Catherine Ryan was born on March 16, 1912, in Ely, Nevada, to Katherine and William Ryan Sr. Born on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, her father nicknamed her his “St. Patrick’s Babe.” The moniker “Pat” stuck with her for the rest of her life.1 After graduating from high school, Pat attended Fullerton Junior College and the University of Southern Cal