ELEANOR ROSALYNN SMITH CARTER
Born:
Plains, Georgia
1927, August 18
Plains, Georgia
1927, August 18
Marriage:
18 years old; on July 7, 1946 at the Plains Methodist Church, Plains, Georgia, to James Earl "Jimmy" Carter (born October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia), recent Annapolis Naval Academy graduate; Rosalynn Smith and Jimmy Carter met through her friend, his sister, Ruth Carter; Rosalynn Smith refused Carter's initial marriage proposal of December 1945, considering it too soon in their dating, but accepted his second proposal two months later; as a navy engineer and commissioned officer, Carter's career dictated the life and location of his new wife and their subsequent children, who followed him from base to base; for the first seven years of the marriage, they lived in Norfolk, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New London, Connecticut, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, San Diego, California, and Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:Few presidential candidates' spouses had the level of familiarity with the domestic and international issues and problems that shaped a national campaign as did Rosalynn Carter in 1976, when her husband won the Democratic nomination. For about two years prior to his candidacy, along with other members of their family, Rosalynn Carter traveled throughout the United States to help raise the public profile of her husband. Sometimes traveling alone or with just one companion, she actively sought media coverage for her husband's candidacy, sometimes appearing unannounced at local radio or television stations to speak about his views on the issues. She also became the first candidate's wife to declare a campaign promise of her own: if she became First Lady, she would assume the responsibility for guiding legislative reform on behalf of the nation's mentally ill.
At the 1977 Inauguration, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter revived an Inaugural precedent performed only by Thomas Jefferson in 1801; after the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Building, they walked down Pennsylvania Avenue back to the White House. Wishing to make the Inaugural Ball a more populist celebration, they also reduced the cost of tickets. She later disclosed that she had influenced Carter to include a paragraph on American families in his Inaugural Address.
Perhaps no First Lady had a more overtly political role during a presidential campaign than did Rosalynn Carter as the incumbent during her husband's 1980 re-election. With the President confined to the White House during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the First Lady registered his candidacy in the New Hampshire primary and made policy stump speeches as his representative throughout the winter and spring 1980 primary season. She organized her effort as the convention approached by keeping information cards on undeclared delegates whom she sought to persuade to support Carter over his challenger, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In the general election, the First Lady spoke at large rallies against the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, who defeated Carter on election day.
First Lady:January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981
49 years old
Rosalynn Carter was a political activist First Lady who publicly disclosed the fact that the President consulted her and sought her advice on his domestic and foreign affairs decisions, speeches and appointments. Traveling the nation at length, Rosalynn Carter also served as a liaison of current information between the President and the American public she encountered, providing him with reaction to Administration policy from the citizenry and providing them with explanations of that policy. A consequence of this was her unprecedented attendance at Cabinet meetings where she heard policy discussion first-hand and took notes on issues that she would subsequently carry to the public. She and the President maintained a Wednesday business lunch in the Oval Office to discuss Administration policy on issues that she had taken on as a spokesperson or on legislative matters of concern to her. She was also not averse to disagreeing with the President's final decisions; most often her bone of contention was that Carter did not make decisions or announcements with a sense of timing that always served the Administration's political purposes including issues such as New York City budget cuts, the Panama Canal treaties, and Middle East negotiations.
18 years old; on July 7, 1946 at the Plains Methodist Church, Plains, Georgia, to James Earl "Jimmy" Carter (born October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia), recent Annapolis Naval Academy graduate; Rosalynn Smith and Jimmy Carter met through her friend, his sister, Ruth Carter; Rosalynn Smith refused Carter's initial marriage proposal of December 1945, considering it too soon in their dating, but accepted his second proposal two months later; as a navy engineer and commissioned officer, Carter's career dictated the life and location of his new wife and their subsequent children, who followed him from base to base; for the first seven years of the marriage, they lived in Norfolk, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New London, Connecticut, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, San Diego, California, and Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:Few presidential candidates' spouses had the level of familiarity with the domestic and international issues and problems that shaped a national campaign as did Rosalynn Carter in 1976, when her husband won the Democratic nomination. For about two years prior to his candidacy, along with other members of their family, Rosalynn Carter traveled throughout the United States to help raise the public profile of her husband. Sometimes traveling alone or with just one companion, she actively sought media coverage for her husband's candidacy, sometimes appearing unannounced at local radio or television stations to speak about his views on the issues. She also became the first candidate's wife to declare a campaign promise of her own: if she became First Lady, she would assume the responsibility for guiding legislative reform on behalf of the nation's mentally ill.
At the 1977 Inauguration, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter revived an Inaugural precedent performed only by Thomas Jefferson in 1801; after the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Building, they walked down Pennsylvania Avenue back to the White House. Wishing to make the Inaugural Ball a more populist celebration, they also reduced the cost of tickets. She later disclosed that she had influenced Carter to include a paragraph on American families in his Inaugural Address.
Perhaps no First Lady had a more overtly political role during a presidential campaign than did Rosalynn Carter as the incumbent during her husband's 1980 re-election. With the President confined to the White House during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the First Lady registered his candidacy in the New Hampshire primary and made policy stump speeches as his representative throughout the winter and spring 1980 primary season. She organized her effort as the convention approached by keeping information cards on undeclared delegates whom she sought to persuade to support Carter over his challenger, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In the general election, the First Lady spoke at large rallies against the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, who defeated Carter on election day.
First Lady:January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981
49 years old
Rosalynn Carter was a political activist First Lady who publicly disclosed the fact that the President consulted her and sought her advice on his domestic and foreign affairs decisions, speeches and appointments. Traveling the nation at length, Rosalynn Carter also served as a liaison of current information between the President and the American public she encountered, providing him with reaction to Administration policy from the citizenry and providing them with explanations of that policy. A consequence of this was her unprecedented attendance at Cabinet meetings where she heard policy discussion first-hand and took notes on issues that she would subsequently carry to the public. She and the President maintained a Wednesday business lunch in the Oval Office to discuss Administration policy on issues that she had taken on as a spokesperson or on legislative matters of concern to her. She was also not averse to disagreeing with the President's final decisions; most often her bone of contention was that Carter did not make decisions or announcements with a sense of timing that always served the Administration's political purposes including issues such as New York City budget cuts, the Panama Canal treaties, and Middle East negotiations.
ANNE FRANCES "NANCY" ROBBINS DAVIS REAGAN
Born: 6 July 1921
Sloane Hospital, Flushing, Queens, New York
*Nancy Reagan was the ninth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives; the others were Elizabeth Monroe, Hannah Van Buren, Julia Tyler, Abigail Fillmore, Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, Frances Cleveland, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy and Barbara Bush.
Sloane Hospital, Flushing, Queens, New York
*Nancy Reagan was the ninth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives; the others were Elizabeth Monroe, Hannah Van Buren, Julia Tyler, Abigail Fillmore, Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, Frances Cleveland, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy and Barbara Bush.
Marriage:30 years old, married 6 March 1952
to Ronald Reagan (born 6 February 1911, Tampico, Illinois, died 5 June
2004, Los Angeles, California), Screen Actors Guild president, film and
television actor, former radio sports announcer at the Little Brown
Church, North Hollywood. After a honeymoon at the Mission Inn, in
Riverside, California and Phoenix, Arizona, the Reagans lived in a
series of homes, settling in a modern home in the Pacific Palisades
section of Los Angeles, built and provided for by General Electric, the
company for whom Ronald Reagan served as a national spokesman. The GE
house was outfitted with all of the company's state-of-the-art
technology.
Husband's First Marriage:
Ronald Reagan first married on 26 January 1940, January 26 to Sarah Jane Mayfield, known professionally as "Jane Wyman" ( born 5 January 1917, died 10 September 2007)
Husband's First Marriage:
Ronald Reagan first married on 26 January 1940, January 26 to Sarah Jane Mayfield, known professionally as "Jane Wyman" ( born 5 January 1917, died 10 September 2007)
Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:Although
Nancy Reagan preferred to campaign with her husband rather than on her
own, during the 1980 primaries she began to make her own appearances and
make remarks that reflected her husband's views on issues; it reflected
a growing role of candidates' spouses and was similar to the one
Rosalynn Carter was simultaneously playing in the primaries. In the 1984
presidential campaign, Nancy Reagan was especially helpful during the
last of a several televised debates. After concluding that the President
had done poorly in a previous debate, she urged his advisors to no ask
him to memorize endless statistics. They did as she suggested and he
proved more effective in the ensuing debate.
Inauguration day 1981 was the first one held on the west front of the Capitol Building, a decision favored by the Reagans since it meant the ceremony was facing the rest of the nation, as opposed to those of the past which faced towards the Atlantic Ocean. Media attention focused on the high cost of tickets to attend the 1981 Inauguration Ball and other invitation-only events, contrasting it with the 1977 Carter Inaugural which had more public events than any in previous history and Inaugural Ball tickets selling for $25 to guests. However, tickets to the 1981 Reagan Inaugural Ball were of comparative cost to those before the 1977 Carter Inaugural Ball.
Inauguration day 1984 marked two swearing-in ceremonies, neither of which were held on the Capitol Building steps; the first was traditionally considered "private" since it fell on a Sunday was held in the Grand Foyer of the White House and the "public" one held the following day was forced inside the Capitol Building Rotunda due to extremely cold temperatures, the first ever held at that site. Although the Reagans did not follow the Carter precedent of walking down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1981 or 1985, it was a tradition that was resumed by their successors.
Inauguration day 1981 was the first one held on the west front of the Capitol Building, a decision favored by the Reagans since it meant the ceremony was facing the rest of the nation, as opposed to those of the past which faced towards the Atlantic Ocean. Media attention focused on the high cost of tickets to attend the 1981 Inauguration Ball and other invitation-only events, contrasting it with the 1977 Carter Inaugural which had more public events than any in previous history and Inaugural Ball tickets selling for $25 to guests. However, tickets to the 1981 Reagan Inaugural Ball were of comparative cost to those before the 1977 Carter Inaugural Ball.
Inauguration day 1984 marked two swearing-in ceremonies, neither of which were held on the Capitol Building steps; the first was traditionally considered "private" since it fell on a Sunday was held in the Grand Foyer of the White House and the "public" one held the following day was forced inside the Capitol Building Rotunda due to extremely cold temperatures, the first ever held at that site. Although the Reagans did not follow the Carter precedent of walking down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1981 or 1985, it was a tradition that was resumed by their successors.
First Lady:1981, January 20 - 1989, January 20
59 years old
When Nancy Reagan first became First Lady, her focus was on creating a home in the White House; rather than use government funds to redecorate as well as renovate the floors, doors and other hardware, she sought private funds to underwrite the work. In preparation for the required entertaining, she also carefully tested the meals that were to be served and also told U.S. New & World Report that she hoped to have new china ordered since there had been much breakage in the fifteen years since the Johnson set had been inaugurated. Rather than being purchased with federal appropriations, the cost of the new china set was entirely underwritten by the private Knapp Foundation. The combination of the redecorating, new china set, more formalized entertaining style than the Carters, in addition to her attendance of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of England in 1981, and her acceptance of free clothing from designers (thus unwittingly violating the new Ethics in Government Act of 1978) led to the creation of a public relations dilemma. Contrasted in print and broadcast news with the 1981 economic recession, high unemployment and homeless families, the so-called "Queen Nancy" caricature was created and even occasionally invoked by Democrats as a means of criticizing the Administration. In addition, much as there had been some suggestion of a regional bias against the LBJ's Texan background and the Carters' rural background in the national media, primarily generated from the eastern seaboard, there was suggestion of one against the Reagans' southern California ties and entertainment industry careers.
With her intended work on the house and the patterns set for entertaining completed, Nancy Reagan began to focus in mid-1982 on the public issues and projects about which she intended to raise consciousness. Although she continued her support of the Foster Grandparents program, Nancy Reagan’s primary project was promotion of drug education and prevention programs for children and young adults. To this end, she traveled nearly 250,000 miles throughout the U.S. and several nations to visit prevention programs and rehabilitation centers to talk with young people and their parents, appeared on television talk shows, taped public service announcements, and wrote guest articles. At one California school, when Nancy Reagan had asked the children what the best and most immediate response should be when they were offered drugs, there were shouts of "just say no." The catch-phrase "just say no" soon proliferated through the popular culture of the 1980's, eventually adopted as the name of a loose organization of clubs formed in grammar, middle and high schools in which young people pledged not to experiment with the harmful drugs. In April 1985 Mrs. Reagan expanded her drug awareness campaign to an international level by inviting the wives of world leaders to attend a White House conference she hosted on youth drug abuse. In October of that year, during the U.N.'s 40th anniversary, she hosted thirty international First Ladies for a second such gathering. When President Reagan signed the October 27, 1986 "National Crusade for a Drug Free America" anti-drug abuse bill into law, she considered it a personal victory and made an unprecedented joint address to the nation with him on the problem. In October 1988, she became the first First Lady to address the U.N. General Assembly, speaking on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.
Perhaps Nancy Reagan's largest and most important work as First Lady, however, was her role as the President's personal protector. Part of this role grew out of the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on his life. Forever afterwards, Nancy Reagan made it her concern to know his schedule: in what public venues would he be speaking, before what groups, at what time, as well as with whom he would be privately meeting. In time, her concern to protect her husband's personal well-being led her to consult an astrologer to attempt to discern precisely what days and at what times would be optimum for safety and success, and which slots were to be avoided because potential dangers as reflected in the astrological readings. Both Reagans admitted that the President had a tendency to trust all those who worked for him, while the First Lady tended to perceive those who, in her words, might "end run him," essentially using their positions to further their personal careers or agendas rather than that of the President and the Administration. The President's long-time aide Michael Deaver also served as a trusted and important advisor to Nancy Reagan and he often approached her when he felt a problem might be developing. To this end, Nancy Reagan effectively supported decisions to replace various personnel, including the likes of National Security Council member William P. Clark, and the hiring of others such as Secretary of State George Schultz.
59 years old
When Nancy Reagan first became First Lady, her focus was on creating a home in the White House; rather than use government funds to redecorate as well as renovate the floors, doors and other hardware, she sought private funds to underwrite the work. In preparation for the required entertaining, she also carefully tested the meals that were to be served and also told U.S. New & World Report that she hoped to have new china ordered since there had been much breakage in the fifteen years since the Johnson set had been inaugurated. Rather than being purchased with federal appropriations, the cost of the new china set was entirely underwritten by the private Knapp Foundation. The combination of the redecorating, new china set, more formalized entertaining style than the Carters, in addition to her attendance of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of England in 1981, and her acceptance of free clothing from designers (thus unwittingly violating the new Ethics in Government Act of 1978) led to the creation of a public relations dilemma. Contrasted in print and broadcast news with the 1981 economic recession, high unemployment and homeless families, the so-called "Queen Nancy" caricature was created and even occasionally invoked by Democrats as a means of criticizing the Administration. In addition, much as there had been some suggestion of a regional bias against the LBJ's Texan background and the Carters' rural background in the national media, primarily generated from the eastern seaboard, there was suggestion of one against the Reagans' southern California ties and entertainment industry careers.
With her intended work on the house and the patterns set for entertaining completed, Nancy Reagan began to focus in mid-1982 on the public issues and projects about which she intended to raise consciousness. Although she continued her support of the Foster Grandparents program, Nancy Reagan’s primary project was promotion of drug education and prevention programs for children and young adults. To this end, she traveled nearly 250,000 miles throughout the U.S. and several nations to visit prevention programs and rehabilitation centers to talk with young people and their parents, appeared on television talk shows, taped public service announcements, and wrote guest articles. At one California school, when Nancy Reagan had asked the children what the best and most immediate response should be when they were offered drugs, there were shouts of "just say no." The catch-phrase "just say no" soon proliferated through the popular culture of the 1980's, eventually adopted as the name of a loose organization of clubs formed in grammar, middle and high schools in which young people pledged not to experiment with the harmful drugs. In April 1985 Mrs. Reagan expanded her drug awareness campaign to an international level by inviting the wives of world leaders to attend a White House conference she hosted on youth drug abuse. In October of that year, during the U.N.'s 40th anniversary, she hosted thirty international First Ladies for a second such gathering. When President Reagan signed the October 27, 1986 "National Crusade for a Drug Free America" anti-drug abuse bill into law, she considered it a personal victory and made an unprecedented joint address to the nation with him on the problem. In October 1988, she became the first First Lady to address the U.N. General Assembly, speaking on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.
Perhaps Nancy Reagan's largest and most important work as First Lady, however, was her role as the President's personal protector. Part of this role grew out of the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on his life. Forever afterwards, Nancy Reagan made it her concern to know his schedule: in what public venues would he be speaking, before what groups, at what time, as well as with whom he would be privately meeting. In time, her concern to protect her husband's personal well-being led her to consult an astrologer to attempt to discern precisely what days and at what times would be optimum for safety and success, and which slots were to be avoided because potential dangers as reflected in the astrological readings. Both Reagans admitted that the President had a tendency to trust all those who worked for him, while the First Lady tended to perceive those who, in her words, might "end run him," essentially using their positions to further their personal careers or agendas rather than that of the President and the Administration. The President's long-time aide Michael Deaver also served as a trusted and important advisor to Nancy Reagan and he often approached her when he felt a problem might be developing. To this end, Nancy Reagan effectively supported decisions to replace various personnel, including the likes of National Security Council member William P. Clark, and the hiring of others such as Secretary of State George Schultz.
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