National Archives This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
Which two first ladies met their husbands through local newspapers? Who was the first First Lady to make regular nationwide radio broadcasts? Which First Lady cared for wounded soldiers in her husband’s command? Who was originally a Broadway actress before becoming the First Lady?  If you’re looking to learn more about the past First Ladies who have helped lead our country, you’re in the right place. Take a look at our full set of biographies. Then, quiz your friends.

Learn More About Each First Lady


  1. Martha Dandridge Custis Washington
  2. Abigail Smith Adams
  3. Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
  4. Dolley Payne Todd Madison
  5. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
  6. Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams
  7. Rachel Donelson Jackson
  8. Hannah Hoes Van Buren
  9. Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
  10. Letitia Christian Tyler
  11. Julia Gardiner Tyler
  12. Sarah Childress Polk
  13. Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor
  14. Abigail Powers Fillmore
  15. Jane Means Appleton Pierce
  16. Harriet Lane
  17. Mary Todd Lincoln
  18. Eliza McCardle Johnson
  19. Julia Dent Grant
  20. Lucy Ware Webb Hayes
  21. Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
  22. Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
  23. Frances Folsom Cleveland
  24. Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison
  25. Frances Folsom Cleveland
  26. Ida Saxton McKinley
  27. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt
  28. Helen Herron Taft
  29. Ellen Axson Wilson
  30. Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
  31. Florence Kling Harding
  32. Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge
  33. Lou Henry Hoover
  34. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
  35. Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman
  36. Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower
  37. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
  38. Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson
  39. Patricia Ryan Nixon
  40. Elizabeth Bloomer Ford
  41. Rosalynn Smith Carter
  42. Nancy Davis Reagan
  43. Barbara Pierce Bush
  44. Hillary Rodham Clinton
  45. Laura Welch Bush
  46. Michelle Obama
  47. Melania Trump