Profiles all the first ladies from the first to Laura Welch Bush, detailing the childhood and education, family life, presidential years, and achievements of each first lady.
Gr 7 Up-Watson does indeed achieve his objective of providing readers with "concise yet thorough" profiles of our nation's first ladies. His introduction offers an overview of the many and varied duties of this role and its evolution followed by chronological entries on the "official hostess" during each presidency. While in most cases this was a spouse, it was occasionally a daughter or niece. Entries include a discussion of the subject's early years; marriage (if a wife); family life; and, except for Laura Bush, the presidential years and legacy. The author provides glimpses into the personality of these women and offers interesting tidbits of information about each one. Each entry concludes with a short bibliography. A black-and-white reproduction or photo accompanies most of the entries. A well-organized, up-to-date resource.
Lana Miles, Duchesne Academy, Houston, TX
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Forty-four women are treated in the volume--but not the same forty-four that are found in Salem's
American First Ladies. There is an entry, for example, for Emily Tennessee Donelson and Sarah Yorke Jackson, who both served as hostesses for Andrew Jackson; but not for Rachel Jackson, his wife, who died several weeks before his inauguration. This small volume provides the most in terms of introductory information: birth and death dates and places; presidential birth and death dates, political party, and terms of office; dates and places of marriage; and names and dates of children. Biographical essays are shorter than those in the other First Lady volumes. Each includes a portrait and a brief bibliography. Appended are lists of First Ladies' formal education, states of birth, and ages on becoming first lady; as well as information on the four women who predeceased their husband's terms. A subject index is supplemented by an "Index of First Ladies and Presidents."
Which to choose? Salem's American First Ladies is the most attractive of the four titles, leavening its text with sidebars and more and larger illustrations. Other pluses are the topical essays and Salem's usual uniform approach to organizing content. Routledge's scholarly American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy and Facts On File's First Ladies offer the most in-depth discussions, although in both cases readers may be put off by long stretches of dense text unbroken by subheadings or illustrations. The smallest book, First Ladies of the United States: A Biographical Dictionary, has some unique features, but $49.95 seems a lot to pay for a volume this size (9 " x 6") when there are other options. Consider this a supplemental purchase. Academic libraries will want the Routledge volume for its research-oriented bibliographical essays. High-school and public libraries should consider the accessible Salem publication. The Facts On File entry is a solid, less expensive alternative. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Watson (political science, Univ. of Hawai'i, Hilo; The Presidents' Wives, 1999) has compiled a literate and concise collection of brief biographical sketches of the first ladies, introduced by an eight-page reflection on the job. The book is current an entry on Laura Bush is included but the biographies are short: Eleanor Roosevelt gets seven pages of text; Abigail Adams, six. Watson also sketches the four wives who did not live to join their husbands in the White House and, cursorily, the women who served in their place. Each entry begins with a listing of vital statistics (e.g., other marriages, number of children), then goes on to describe in a couple of paragraphs "early years," "marriage," "family life," "presidency," and "legacy," followed by a short bibliography. Helpful appendixes, each a single page, list each woman's formal education, birthplace, age on becoming first lady, age at marriage, and length of marriage. This compact dictionary serves its purpose. Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
