Every First Lady in American History

Mr. Beat goes through the accomplishments and legacies of every single First Lady in American history.

Sources/further reading:
A Companion to First Ladies by Katherine Sibley
The Presidents Fact Book by Roger Matuz

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#ushistory #firstladies #socialstudies

0:00 Introduction
0:13 First Lady of the United States
2:25 Martha Washington (1789-1797)
2:47 Abigail Adams (1791-1801)
4:22 Elizabeth Monroe (1817-1825)
5:46 Emily Donelson
6:01 Petticoat affair
6:52 Abraham Van Buren
7:17 Anna Harrison (1841)
7:46 Letitia Tyler (1841-1842)
8:24 Julia Tyler
8:53 Sarah Polk
9:31 Margaret Taylor (1849-1850)
10:07 Abigail Fillmore (1850-1853)
11:00 Jane Pierce (1853-1857)
11:53 Harriet Lane (1857-1861)
12:29 Mary Todd Lincoln (1861-1865)
12:59 Eliza Johnson (1865-1869)
13:24 Julia Grant (1869-1877)
14:01 Lucy Hayes (1877-1881)
14:37 Lucretia Garfield (1881)
16:07 Rose Cleveland
17:28 Caroline Harrison (1889-1893)
18:05 Ida McKinley (1897-1901)
18:36 Edith Roosevelt (1901-1909)
19:16 Cecil Spring Rice
19:27 Helen Taft (1909-1913)
20:21 Ellen Wilson (1913-1914)
21:14 Edith Wilson (1915-1921)
22:22 Florence Harding (1921-1923)
23:02 Grace Coolidge (1923-1929)
23:34 Lou Hoover (1929-1933)
23:51 Eleanor Roosevelt (1933-1945)
25:21 Elizabeth Truman (1945-1953)
25:44 Mamie Eisenhower (1953-1961)
27:13 Claudia Johnson (1963-1969)
27:30 Pat Nixon
28:30 Betty Ford (1974-1977)
30:08 Barbara Bush (1989-1993)
31:38 Laura Bush (2001-2009)
32:08 Michelle Obama (2009-2017)
32:51 Melania Trump (2017-2021)

[iammrbeat]

Who is your favorite First Lady? Which of these First Ladies should I make a video about?
And a shout out to MY first ladies, Mrs. Beat and my daughters, for helping me make this video.

Also, obligatory sponsorship information:

Errors in the video:
I accidentally said that JFK was assassinated on 11/21/63 instead of 11/22/63.
There's a typo on the Abigail Adams picture. She was in the White House beginning in 1797, not 1791.

[MadMike]

This guy is the most teacher looking teacher to ever teacher.

[SANDYMILLER]

Betty Ford. She was fearless. She has saved millions of lives by admitting she had breast cancer and drug dependency. She is and was truly amazing.

[JJMcCullough]

I once listened to a podcast with a historian who had studied the Polks, and she said that Sarah Polk was the most insufferably self-righteous and holier-than-thou woman in American history. The two of them were incredibly convinced of their own moral goodness.

[pom]

You really gotta feel for Jackie Kennedy she had experienced the most terrible losses so close to one another and john’s death happened so quickly she was still stained with his blood while funeral procedures were being carried out

[angelcastaneda]

I still love the fact you did this video Mr. Beat. Mrs. Carter has sadly passed away, what an amazing American love story 🇺🇸

[nickfisher]

I would like to suggest an addition to this series: what every president did after their presidency

[noncreativeguy]

When Kennedy was assassinated, my grandmother sent a letter to Jackie and got a handwritten letter and card sent back. She still has it today!

[angrypkeyp]

Time stamps for the video
2:29 Martha Washington
2:47 Abigail Adams
3:08 Martha Jefferson [ died 19 years before Thomas Jefferson became president]
3:16 Patsy Jefferson daughter of the president
3:36 Dolley Madison
4:23 Elizabeth Monroe
5:00 Louisa Adams
25:45 Mamie Eisenhower
31:38 Laura Bush
23:04 Grace Coolidg
34:23 Sponsership
2:28 Video Starts
8:53 Sarah Polk
9:32 Margaret Taylor
10:04 Mary Elizabeth Bliss [ Acting First Lady]
10:07 Abigail Fillmore
11:00 Jane Pierce
11:52 Harriet Lane [ Niece of the president]
12:29 Mary Todd Lincoln
12:59 Eliza Johnson
13:26 to 34:23 sorry guys I can’t timestamp rest of it because I have to sleep I live in india

[mariekesslerkaminski]

My favorite story about Eleanor Roosevelt is that she and Amelia Earhart once ditched a WH party to Fly Amelia’s plane around the DMV… but I would also say that Jackie Kennedy’s best moment was the absolute strength she showed after her son and then, shortly after, her husbands death considering there wasn’t much of a formal plan in place

[robertpizor]

Gotta list some of my favs right here:

1) Jackie Kennedy - in addition to the grace and dignity after the assassination, also an incredible diplomat. Well worth her own solo vid in my estimation

2) Eleanor Roosevelt - enough said.

3) Louisa Adams - read a biography of her recently and find her to be criminally underrated.

4) Jane Pierce - what a comeback after all the loss and tragedy she experienced!

5) Lucretia Garfield - fighting for equal pay while tending her wounded husband = queen.

6) Ida McKinley - admire anyone who has to cope with the stress of being a first lady while battling a disability.

7) Pat Nixon - maintained dignity and class through all that Nixon put her through.

8) Grace Coolidge - so cool on a personality level. Would love to hang out with her. She'd be a blast.

9) Lou Hoover - love a polyglot.

10) Rosalynn Carter - humanitarian work is always a bonus for me.

All would be worth a solo vid, but my pick would be Jackie.

[bowlergamertv]

Your wife and daughters are the best thing in this video, they always crack me up especially the ending.

[ron]

Mr beat you forgot that Sarah Polk also basically invented the ‘hail to the chief’ song for James Polks arrival at the White House and the traditional tune sticked since then and Sarah was also one of the longest post-lasting First Ladies to live more than 40 years after James Polk death.

[RyansRockin]

29:03 Unfortunately as of just a few hours ago, this is no longer true, with the oldest living First Lady now being former President George W. Bush’s wife, Laura Bush. Condolences to the widowed Jimmy Carter, and the Carter Family. My thoughts and prayers are with you. R.I.P. to an amazing First Lady. 🕊️🪦🌹🙏🏼

[TheSicBric]

This channel is definitely one of my favorites. The quality, while not perfect, is unique to the channel. Even if he gets SUPER famous, I hope he never changes the look of his videos.

[ChrisTheFreedomEnjoyer]

Fun fact: Pat and Richard Nixon were married in the historic Mission Inn in my hometown of Riverside, California. The room they were married in is now a bar called the Presidential Lounge, featuring cocktails named after the various presidents who have visited the Mission Inn.

[victoriabaker]

I loved this. Given the limited time you were able to get information out there. I have read books on the First Ladies because it’s a pretty intense non paying job. I have a lot of favorites. Grace Coolidge because of her funny personality & all of her animals, her work with the deaf was what drew me to her first. I respect Martha Washington for the courage & strong independent person she was. The slavery issue is a big detraction, I can’t fully reconcile that. Eleanor Roosevelt was someone that made the office more than hostess. Her intelligence & compassion are inspiring given the many roadblocks she encountered. I have more. Thank you!

[nessesaryschoolthing]

It's funny that Lucy Hayes was the first first lady to have a college degree when a previous first lady was as school teacher. Shows how different the path to becoming an educator is nowadays compared to way back then.

[markaltenhoff]

Lady Bird Johnson is my personal favorite. She was the epitome of southern hospitality and Texan congeniality, and was the perfect counter to her husband’s more brash personality. Plus, she loved nature and flowers, and was one of the true modernizers of the position of First Lady!

[candicehoneycutt]

I definitely have a soft spot for Mary Lincoln. She was a very sweet lady who didn't get the help she needed and was dragged by the media for her outbursts, which she did apologize for afterwards according to several people. She did overspend a little bit, but not nearly as much as some historians would have you believe. People like to throw around that 300 pairs of gloves at once thing, but ignore that at least half of them were in her husband's size. One of Lincoln's associates who managed the money was the one who really blew through it like he had a coke problem, and he let her take the fall for it.

Far too many people take Herndon's very biased negative portrayal of he at face value, but if you read anything he didn't write, you get a very different perspective. She was the kind of person who nursed her neighbor's baby when she couldn't breastfeed, and started a fundraiser for a little boy who had been hurt in an accident.