First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role

by Jeanne E. Abrams

How the three inaugural First Ladies defined the role for future generations, and carved a space for women in America

America's first First Ladies--Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison--had the challenging task of playing a pivotal role in defining the nature of the American presidency to a fledgling nation and to the world. In First Ladies of the Republic, Jeanne Abrams breaks new ground by examining their lives as a group. From their visions for the future of the burgeoning new nation and its political structure, to ideas about family life and matrimony, these three women had a profound influence on one another's views as they created the new role of presidential spouse.

Martha, Abigail and Dolley walked the fine line between bringing dignity to their lives as presidential wives, and supporting their husbands' presidential agendas, while at the same time, distancing themselves from the behavior, customs and ceremonies that reflected the courtly styles of European royalty that were inimical to the values of the new republic. In the face of personal challenges, public scrutiny, and sometimes vocal criticism, they worked to project a persona that inspired approval and confidence, and helped burnish their husbands' presidential reputations.

The position of First Lady was not officially authorized or defined, and the place of women in society was more restricted than it is today. These capable and path-breaking women not only shaped their own roles as prominent Americans and "First Ladies," but also defined a role for women in public and private life in America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, American History, Presidents, Biography Memoir

328 pages, Hardcover

Published March 6, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 inspiring stars to First Ladies of the Republic! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This was another recommendation from my friend, Marialyce! Thanks for a great read!

Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison, the United States’ first three First Ladies, were responsible for shaping the important role, especially as the presidency itself in a young nation was also in its infancy stage.

There was a fine line walked for these women in supporting their husbands and serving as their best confidantes, while also bringing respect to their new roles, and in what they believed to be a stark contrast to the royal values from which the US was separating.

What I loved most about this book was that it was not just about being “First Lady.” It was also about defining new roles for women in a new America. Overall, this was a fascinating read for me, and I highly recommend it for fans of history, especially early US history.

Thank you to Jeanne Abrams, NYU Press, and Netgalley for the ARC. First Ladies of the Republic is available now!

For this and other reviews, please visit my shiny new blog www.jennifertarheelreader.com

[Marialyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading about our wonderful first ladies in our new nation was a wonderful insight into the bravery, loyalty, and courage these ladies possessed. From Martha Washington, to Abigail Adams, to Dolley Madison, these women infused their knowledge, their dignity, and their willingness to see that this new nation started off with their best foot forward. It was amazing to read about even though they lacked the ability to vote, they were ladies who were quite instrumental in their husbands' lives as well as the decisions they made.

There were some things that I learned about these ladies, things that made me proud and gave me a sense of what service to one's country really meant. These women gave up a lot to stand by their husbands often having to do their best in order to foster relationships with foreign countries, diplomats, and people from opposing parties, who thought of our nation as a babe in arms and perhaps felt that they could take advantage of this fledgling country. They were wise, accomplished, and showed a type of gentility that laid the groundwork for the position of First Lady. They gave to the position honor and oftentimes, they became the person sought out in not only social settings but also one to get the President's ear. Each of their husbands seemed to value them not only as a wife but also as a confidant seeking their wise counsel on how to best chart a course for our new nation.

To these ladies, America owes a debt of gratitude. They all gave up quite a bit to champion both their husbands and the new nation that they all dearly loved.

Thank you to Jeanne E. Abrams, NYU Press, and NetGalley for providing this reader with a well written, informative novel.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I began reading about the First Ladies while designing my original quilt Remember the Ladies. I have read many biographies and general books on these amazing women.

The wives of our presidents are not elected. They have no job description. Some come to the White House unwillingly, although some did push their spouse into office. They face the deepest public scrutiny and share with their husbands both fame and criticism.

The first First Ladies had the hardest (unpaid) job: everything about the office of the presidency had to be invented. And a lot of it fell on the ladies, for they handled the social networking. If the president and his lady appeared to ape European courtly traditions they were accused of being monarchists and anti-Democratic. But we could not appear to be backwoods rubes to the foreign ambassadors, either.

First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role by Jeanne E. Abrams shows how these women responded to the challenge of creating a Democratic social style for the presidency.

Martha and George Washington were revered figures when George became the first president. Don't think they were exempt from criticism! The political in-fighting and party politics started up right away. Like many presidential couples, the Washington's personalities balanced each other. George could be stiff, but Martha was beloved by everyone, America's sweetheart-- "the mother of our country."

As the wife of the first Vice President, Abigail Adams became very close to Martha. When John Adams became president, Abigail followed Martha's pared-down, understated formality. Abigail was a very different personality, of the highest intelligence and not afraid to speak her mind. She was an important sounding board for John. Frail health plagued her and when her health required her to retire to the Adams home in Quincy, John sorely missed her counsel.

Thomas Jefferson's wife had tragically died during the war after she fled from their plantation shortly after giving birth. His daughter Patsy sometimes played hostess. Sometimes his Secretary of State's wife Dolley Madison stepped in. Jefferson downplayed his elegant and sophisticated taste with a forceful display of anti-elitism, welcoming guests in bedroom slippers.

With the intellectual James Madison's election, his younger wife Dolley Madison took the capital by storm. A brilliant extrovert with a high social IQ, she notched the style up a few ratchets. Her 'squeezes' included all of Washington, bringing together political enemies, men and women. Dolley had high style, refined and dignified but with real bling. Well, she wore pearls instead of diamonds, so we give her that. When Dolley died her funeral rivaled that of George Washington's!

Each woman advanced the role of First Lady, including politically for their influence on the president, their ability to tweak the granting of political office, and by promoting causes. All three valued the traditional role of women but also understood that it was women who determined social manners.

This book is a nice introduction to these ladies and their influence.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As I used to be a history major, I am always curious to learn about aspects of history I didn't study in class. American history, for the most part, fall into this category. I'm quite interested in gender studies as well as the 18th and 19th centuries, which is why First Ladies of the Republic intrigued me.

It followed Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison, focusing on how these three women had to follow their husbands, who were elected presidents, and had to assume a complex job, which hadn't been invented yet. While explaining who they were, as well as the political context during their husbands' presidency, First Ladies of the Republic shows how these women responded to the challenge of creating the role of the first lady, walking a thin line between what they knew of the European queens and what the American society wanted in their leaders. In their different ways, these three women advanced the role of First Lady, as well as had some influence on the president, defended a few causes, organised important social events and used their position to help their family gaining positions of power.

First Ladies is an in-depth and insightful book that made me learn a lot more on the beginning of the American Republic, the personalities of the first three first ladies and how they shaped this role, and women's roles at that time, whether it was among society or their family. It was a bit dry at times and harder to follow than previous history books I have read, it might me due in part to the writing, or the amount of information I had to digest with every page. In any case, it was quite a good history book!

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book got repetitive, especially during the chapters on Abigail and Dolley which is problematic because Abigail is given the most coverage. And we get it, Dolley was social. No need to keep beating us over the head with it. Full review to come.

[Samantha]

A worthy introduction to these ladies and their impact on the formation of US politics.

[annalynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept of this book is fine; however, this book should have been a 25 page article. The author does a good job explaining how Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison shaped the role of First Lady, but also includes extraneous information that does little to add to the book. Furthermore, this book is poorly edited. While there are plenty of misspellings and missed punctuations, the content was not edited either. The book is extremely repetitive. As some of the other reviews explain, the author uses the same pieces of evidence repeatedly.

The author obviously prefers Abigail Adams to the other two women. Furthermore the author did not have enough information to devote a chapter to Martha Washington and her chapter ended up being Abigail Adams view of Mrs. Washington. This book would have been far more effective if it was a focused discussion on Abigail Adams with references to how she looked to Martha Washington for ideas and how Dolley Madison further changed their shared role.

Finally, the author repeatedly mentions that she is considering these women and their actions in accordance with their time period. However, the author repeatedly mentions that Abigail Adams had feminist ideas but then backtracks to say she was not a feminist. Ultimately, the book would have been far more effective as a focused academic article.

[The History Mom]

This book delves into the three first First Ladies, Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison, and how they created the role of First Lady in the fledgling country. It’s a really fascinating read and perfect for those who want to understand how the role of First Lady was created by these Founding Mothers.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this Arc.

This is a detailed history of the lives of three of the first ladies of the USA. That is Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison. When I say detailed I mean it. This was a really in depth look at the lives of these women and how they shaped the position of the First lady.

It was good to see that even back wetthen they still found a way of been heard and seen. They were not "flower girls" you know, who stood behind the woman man of the hour and looked pretty.

I learnt a lot about history (mostly about politics) which I was not counting on but was a welcome surprise. Something else that I learnt from this book was that I have a lot of patience. Honestly this book was dull. It went on and on it felt a thousand pages long. I can't even remember the number of times I checked to see if I was almost done.

As I said this book was very detailed and it had so much information to go through. I don't even know who would want to read this page by page cover to cover. It could be helpful if you are doing research on the topic or if you are a serious history nerd but still...

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book contained some interesting history, it suffered from some confusing time hops and too much repetition. There was too much telling and not enough showing, especially in the case of Abigail Adams, (Yes, we KNOW she was really smart you don't have to keep telling us that.)

Two points were made very effectively: 1.) behind each of these great men there was most definitely a great woman. 2.) these three 18th century men were smart enough to actually listen to their wives, and even admit to others that they needed their wives' political advice and social expertise. And that is a large part of what made them great.

The book did make me think about what makes for successful "power couples" and how that dynamic has been revised in the modern world. We see the same partnerships today, it's just that the gender roles are much more fluid. But there is nearly always a person who is "out front" and another behind the scenes who is managing everything else! The relationship, like those of the three presidential couples, can often be more equal than it would appear on the surface, and is both an efficient and powerful combination if, like these three presidential couples, both partners show respect for each other's roles.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, insightful, and an interesting approach to yet another in a long line of books about the founding fathers' wives. I was pleasantly surprised at the information I learned in this book. Abrams successfully explained how Washington, Adams, and Madison shaped an important, albeit not elected, figurehead role at a time when there was no reference for them to follow in the world. I would recommend this to readers with numerous interests because the book seems to have something that could interest any reader.

[Barb reads......it ALL! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Author Abrams obviously researched these women vociferously. The women (especially Martha and Abigail) were vividly portrayed and their contribution to our history is no small thing.

[Zachary Hadsell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though The United States of America gained their independence and established their own republican government, the new nation was condescended to and snubbed by the prevailing world powers of the day, especially Britain and France. How could royal society possibly consort with the likes of the backwoods Americans with their homespun clothes and primitive architecture? America would have to prove itself to be dignified and relevant not only on the battlefield but also in the drawing room. Enter the First Lady.

Martha Washington came from genteel Virginian society and grew up as a British citizen, as well as her husband George, and was trained from a young age in matters of running a household and maintaining the social manners that befit a dignified society. When the political turmoil of her time thrust the reticent Martha into the highest ranks of global political society she rose to the occasion and set a precedent that showed other nations how respectable American society could be. Much of the credit and praise of those times goes to the Founding Fathers for their public contributions, but Abrams shows us how a crucial piece of their work relied on the relationships they built amongst each other and with foreign dignitaries. These relationships weren’t cultivated in a statehouse, but rather at the theater, the dinner table and gala events. It was up to Martha Washington to schedule and run these events in such a way that welcomed dubious dignitaries while also maintaining domestic honor. No small task.

Abigail Adams carried the torch forward from Martha during her four year stint as First Lady. While Abigail was certainly more intellectually minded and politically interested than her predecessor, her Puritan background also led her to eschew the “putting on of airs”. Still, Abigail knew what her position required of her and she did remarkably well at maintaining the dignity of her family’s position in the world of foreign and domestic politics.

And finally we have Dolley Madison. Dolley was a consummate entertainer and hostess, maintaining friendly relationships with just about everybody. “Everybody liked Dolley Madison because Dolley Madison liked everybody.” She brought taste and class to American society, being the first First Lady to reside in the White House (except for Abigail’s very brief stay there). She decorated and procured art, dishes, furniture, and chefs who put America on par with their foreign contemporaries.

Abrams helped me to appreciate all of the work and importance that these women brought to America’s development as a new nation and she made some astute observations along the way; particularly in regards to the way John Adams and Thomas Jefferson carried themselves in light of their political convictions. John Adams held a more aristocratic view of society that held the common citizenry in low regard and advocated for the rule of society by the educated and talented upper class, the “natural aristocracy”. Jefferson, meanwhile, held a more democratic view in which the distinctions of power between aristocracy and common men were torn down and equalized. And yet, as Abrams points out, these men held contradictory views about how to carry themselves in light of their political philosophies! Adams hated royal courts, theaters and fancy dinner occasions, yet believed in the merits of aristocratic rule. At the same time Jefferson loved fine French furniture, art, and a genteel form of socializing that was reserved for aristocrats, yet pushed for democratic rule. This was an astounding insight to me.

Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised at how insistent Abrams was at not allowing these women to be interpreted by a modern 21st century lens. Instead she considered the world in which each of them lived and gave the 18th century context to their various views on suffrage, woman participation in political affairs and family life. Abrams correctly states that these women were not feminists in the modern sense of the word but rather that they exuded the most excellent examples of what it meant to be a woman given the social conventions and cultural understandings of their day. They operated in, and accepted, the patriarchal hierarchy of their times but by no means did they allow it to diminish their abilities as strong and able women.


This book is about 50% history of the times these women lived in and the other 50% dedicated to their biographies. Overall a splendid read.

[Tom Hartung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeanne E. Abrams' 2018 book First Ladies of the Republic is about America's first three First Ladies — the wives of the first four presidents — Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison. Third president Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha Jefferson died years before he was elected, so she is not included in the book.

In those days women could not vote or hold office, but that does not mean these first three First Ladies were passive bystanders. Reading this book made me appreciate how each of them approached their positions with a combination of humility and pride, and gave me a sense of how each of them brought their own unique talents to help build our country.

As the nation's first First Lady, Martha Washington's hospitality set a standard for her successors. In Chapter One the author writes that "When Martha was present at social occasions, the ambiance was markedly improved." Furthermore she was "especially sensitive to the needs of former Revolutionary War soldiers" when "they came to visit" [p.73].

In Chapter Three Jeanne tells of how the second First Lady Abigail Adams had an "ever-present taste for her 'dish of politics'" due to a number of factors. These include Abigail's "own keen intellect and ever-curious mind" and "her father William Smith," who "had been a prominent Congregationalist minister" as well as "her maternal grandfather, John Quincy, an active politician" [p. 199].

Chapter Four opens describing how Dolley Madison "drew upon elements her predecessors had introduced " yet took it one step further "by astutely expanding her sphere of influence through intentional social interactions." Jeanne goes on to write this was only natural for Dolley, because she had "a charismatic personality almost from birth" [p. 203].

America's first four presidencies saw the creation of two political parties, and a sharp divide quickly developed between them. George Washington is the only president who did not belong to a party, but by the end of his administration the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties were well established — and deeply divided.

Jeanne writes of how the newspapers of the day supported either one party or the other. In this respect — with most politicians and observers in just one of two echo chambers, where the truth is often more subjective than objective — the hostile political climate of the time was much like ours today.

This leads to another thing I got from reading First Ladies of the Republic, the idea that anyone wanting to see peace between the two political parties should be looking at the candidates' spouses every bit as closely as the candidates. Near the end of First Ladies of the Republic, the author offers the following summary.

As has been noted, the ability of elite political women such as Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison to host and socialize with political players from both sides of the aisle in "quasi-public parlors" made them pivotal actors in the early republic arena. They were often able to diffuse some of the significant polarizations between opposing parties.
 — From First Ladies of the Republic, by Jeanne E. Abrams, p. 259.

Having read this book, it is obvious to me that the right First Spouse could go a long way towards healing the deep divisions in today's political landscape.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading First Ladies of the Republic, and am giving it four of five stars. Having enjoyed this introduction, I will be reading more about these women and some of their contemporaries right away.

[toria (vikz writes) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The publisher of this book kindly let me see a copy of of this work, hoping for an honest review. What do you think of when you hear the phrase American political history? Who are the people you think of? I’m guessing that you think of; the founding fathers, followed by a succession of white, male, presidents. This book seeks to rectify this by looking at the women who shaped Washington, America, and the world. It looks at the wives of the first presidents; Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison.

It outlines; their lives, how they met their husbands, their role within their partners' journey to power, their feelings towards their role of first lady, their relationships with each other and the ways that they shaped Washington.

The works only flaw lies in its structure. At times, it gets repetitive. Each first lady gets her own section, outlining her biography. However, since many presidents served in the administration of their predecessor, many of their stories overlap and repeat. With the end of one narrative being repeated in the middle of the next narrative. For example, you are told the story of Martha Washington, which was a really interesting read, but then part of the narrative was retold in the story of Abagail Adams when John Adams became Washington's vice president. This narrative flaw had a negative impact on the readability of the work. But, that said, I am really glad that I read this book.

This book is a useful addition to a cannon of historical literature whose main aim is to celebrate Womens' contribution to the world. In addition, it is a valuable contribution to the Political history of the USA. I recommend it to history geeks like myself.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, but was left a little disappointed and underwhelmed. The content and references, such as quotes from letters, were interesting, but the way it was presented made it difficult to finish.

My biggest complaint is the format made it tiresome to read, with overly long chapters without any breaks. The entire book is only four chapters sandwiched between an introduction and conclusion. I wish modern non-fiction writers would keep readability in mind when writing and formatting their books, as this is an issue I see in much of the non-fiction I read.

So many paragraphs and chapters were redundant, it felt like the book could have been half the length and still would have sufficiently covered the material. The author spent the majority of the book talking about Abigail Adams, even in the two chapters that were about other women. Perhaps the author should have just written about Adams as a second and first lady.

Lastly, this is probably more of a personal pet peeve, but when reading about historical figures, it's a given that most people are living and acting within the social norms of that time. I felt like the author was too heavy-handed in reminding us that, while these were powerful women, they did not experience the kind of social and political equality we have in the 21st century and thus their power was limited. Yes, we know that, they were living between 1750 and 1830, just write about what they were able to do and the influence they could exert within the norms of that time.

Tldr; the book could have been a long article and would have better communicated the information it wanted to cover. I probably will not read another book by this author.

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I wouldn't really classify this book as a biography, although I did enjoy little mini-biographies of the first three First Ladies. (Thomas Jefferson was a widower when he was elected president, so the position of First Lady was pretty much vacant during the 8 years he was in office. Hence there's kind of an 8-year gap in the narrative of this book.) It's more a history of the First Lady Job, for which there is famously still no real job description. The book contains chapters on Martha Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison. (There are two Adams chapters because Abigail learned a lot from her position as the first Second Lady of the US during John's eight years as vice president.) With a little bit of background for all of the women, the focus of their chapters was on the years their husbands were president, and how they filled the position of First Lady during that time. (The title "First Lady" was not used much until the late 19th century.)

These chapters were pretty fascinating. My take-aways included:

* George and Martha Washington could really do no wrong. Most of the country adored both of them. I recalled the song from "Hamilton," "One Last Time," which honored Washington as having the courage and foresight to know when to quit and go home, even as the country wanted him to run for a third term as president. Abigail Adams realized she had mighty big shoes to fill once John was elected president.

* It's clear the current political polarization that the US suffers is not the first time that's happened. Already by the time of Adams's presidency, things had gotten pretty nasty between the Federalists (Adams) and the Republicans (Jefferson). There was quite a lot of vitriol in the press about how much the "Washington Court" should emulate European courts, where kings and queens reigned. You can't be TOO showy and look and act like royalty!

* I think, of the three, Abigail Adams is probably the most well-known because of the amazing amount of letters she wrote that are still preserved. She was quite the behind-the-scenes mover and shaker.

* James Madison was president during the War of 1812 against England. That was not the subject of this book, though I found all the discussion of the overlaps very interesting.

* Dolley Madison was much younger than her husband, and lived 32 years after her husband left office. Her activity and reputation after leaving Washington is described a little -- that was interesting too.

I couldn't rate this book higher because I found the 44-page Introduction a real slog. Through it and the rest of the book, I got tired of the repetitive hammering home of the point that "the women's first priority was their family, and then supporting their husbands -- their focus was never to take an active role in politics themselves."

[Sharon McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read a book about the revolution and the beginnings of our nation from a woman's perspective. I did learn a few things here but the repetitiveness was not necessary.
After reading other wonderfully written books about John and Abigail Adams this book made it obvious that not only were the Adams such a strongly unified couple, but that there was more readily available materials for writers to research in regards to the Adams private as well as social lives.
The author does state that Martha destroyed a lot of her correspondence and maybe that is why there seems to be less written about her and George's private lives, but the book should have been titled Abigail Adams' views of the role of First Lady of the Republic.
There is so much reference to what Mrs Adams thought, saw and wrote about.
I would have liked to learn more about Dolley Madison, as well, other than she was the most social of the three first ladies.
I did enjoy a lot of the book and learned quite a few new things I did not know prior to reading this.
Like that fact that Martha took the initiative to fight for her own property and business affairs after losing her first husband. She was ahead of her times for doing this.
It could have been edited a little better to give each First lady an equal amount of story time carried throughout the book. Too many times the same facts and details were brought up. It is unnecessary to be told these things over and over again.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a serviceable look at the first three ladies who served as the models for the job of First Lady of the United States. The book is divided into three sections, one for each woman. Each is well known to us. Martha Washington was our premier First Lady and crafted the job to her own liking. Abigail Adams did much the same, though she took a more active role in discussing politics with her husband. Dolley Madison reigns supreme as a heroine of the War of 1812 and continues to be one of the most enduringly popular first ladies.

The book can drag a bit in the narrative. The author maintains that the salons of European nobility/aristocracy weren't the hotbeds of political action that history would have us believe. That sort of thing was much in evidence in the early days of the USA, with these three women at the forefront of that argument. I'm not sure how successful the argument is, but it's intriguing nonetheless. I did find that the author quoted other authors' works heavily throughout. This was most notable in the section on Dolley Madison. Catherine Allgor's biography of Dolley is quoted extensively.

A good look at our early first ladies.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at how the first three First Ladies helped to create the role of the First Lady. It also looks at how women could play a political role through their influence and other activities in a time period when they did not have the right to vote.

Abrams discusses the development of manners and protocol for the new republic, something I would not have immediately thought was that important but with more thought realize would be in the beginning of a republic and the importance to differ from royalty while at the same time able to garner respect from foreign powers. Even the dress and address, which they themselves did not control, became important points of contention between the developing political parties and divergent views of the path of the country. These three women were the forefront of how that tradition would develop.

There was some repetition that I found a bit annoying and did not seem to reinforce her arguments. There was also some substance lacking in the Dolly Madison section but overall it was an interesting and educational read.

[Kieran Healy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one. I knew this book was going to be trouble when it started with a meandering, 40-page introduction. When there's 250 pages of reading and nearly a 5th of it is an introduction that does nothing to set up a thesis or even clearly summarize what the book is about, that is not a good start. It seemed like this would be a nice dive into the iconic original first ladies so I went on ahead. Instead, it felt as if it were mostly a summation of their parties. I felt like I wasn't learning anything new. Halfway through Abigail Adams, I got bored and stopped reading. This is unacceptable when discussing one of the most prolific, intelligent women in U.S. political history. I could tell that by the time it got to Dolly Madison I'd just be reading about her fun outfits and charming personality. No thanks.

Repetitive quotes, unclear focus. Disappointed.

[Anni Welborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, I found these biographies of the early First Ladies to be very informative. The book provided valuable insights into the lives and politics that shaped these ladies. I enjoyed the book very much and highly recommend it.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an Inofrsmtive book concerning the lives of three influential women: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison. The author intertwines their stories in a compelling narrative. Out of the background Information is run of the mill facts, but Abrams focuses on the ladies' time as wives of the presidents. She details the activities of each lady as well as the precedence each established. Overall, Abrams' work is a welcome contribution to the scholarship of women in early America. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I won't lie, this book sat on my Kindle for months before I read it because I was worried I wouldn't like it. Don't get me wrong, I love the Revolutionary War, but I wasn't sure how dry the book would be or whether I would be in the right headspace for it. I was so wrong! I thought that it was a relatively quick read for the subject matter, and it was very interesting. You don't see a lot of books talking about women during this time period, so it was refreshing to hear a new take on them.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read regarding the first three women who found themselves thrust into the role of First Lady. Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison are fascinating subjects, and I enjoyed learning more about them. My only complaint is that the writing was often repetitive and had the feel of an academic paper rather than a nonfiction book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharyn Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a serious, just the facts please, history buff, I’d give this book four stars. It’s a book full of facts, interesting information, and tidbits about the founding of our nation and the First Ladies who helped shape the presidency. As the saying goes, we’ve come a long way, baby! Seeing the struggles for women and their status in society in what was to become the greatest nation on earth made me thankful that I am living today and not then. For any serious student of history, in general, and the presidency and First Ladies, in particular, this book is a gold mine! Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

[Twoshades · Rating 2 out of 5]

My original excitement to read this book was soon diminished after reading the chapter on Martha Washington. I felt like this was the ladies of the Republic through the lens of Abigail Adam's. I further wish that the author highlighted specific ways in which the women shaped policy within their roles and examples of Martha, Abigail, and Dolly doing so. I enjoyed learning more about this period from a different perspective, but I also just feel like this book really missed the mark for me.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book a lot, especially a female viewpoint of the American Revolution. It is, at times, repetitive (though I feel like this is often due to the overlapping time periods portrayed). While a bit dry due to its occasional textbook-like narrative, I appreciated all there was to learn about these First Ladies.

[Katherine L · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was somewhat enjoyable in places, but it is wordy and very repetitive within chapters. If the same ideas weren’t repeated so often the book wouldn’t be half as long, or maybe the author would have had room for more interesting details and descriptions of these women. As it is I don’t think I learned anything new about them.

[Barbara Dalton · Rating 2 out of 5]

First Ladies of the Republic

I felt this book felt more like a text book than an informative book. Several portions were repeated a lot and the author sometimes included additional people who did nothing to
enhance the story of the first ladies which were the subject of the book.