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We’ve all heard that behind every great man is a great lady. But society still celebrates the men. I think it’s time we give these incredible First Ladies their due! Check out these best books about first ladies to learn more!
Lady Bird Johnson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, Mary Todd Lincoln– we’ve all heard these legendary first ladies’ names. But, how much do we actually know about them? We often wonder– who were these incredible women who stood behind our nation’s leaders? Beyond their public smiles, how much did these first ladies actually help steer the country? Perhaps more importantly, what personal dreams did they sacrifice to take on such a demanding role? To explore these answers, I’ve gathered some of my favorite stories here in this list of the best books about first ladies. But I know there are still more.
To be honest, I grew very overwhelmed in the options while writing this post. There are so many incredible books out there. I obviously could only share a few, but I’d love for you to share more of your own recommendations as well! So please, feel free to add your own favorite books about First Ladies in the comments!
Loving Eleanor by Susan Wittig Albert
History remembers Eleanor Roosevelt as a trailblazing First Lady who moved far ahead of her time. Her quotes alone are legendary. But was there one area of her life where she couldn’t be true to herself?
In Loving Eleanor, Albert portrays the deep bond between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena ‘Hick’ Hickok. I was super excited to include this on the best books about first ladies list.
When AP political reporter Lorena Hickok—Hick—is assigned to cover Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the wife of the 1932 Democratic presidential candidate, the two women become deeply, intimately involved. Initially, their relationship sparked with mutual romantic passion, but it soon matured through stormy periods of enforced separation and competing interests. Over time, that intensity warmed into an enduring, encompassing friendship that lasted until both women passed away in the 1960s.
In Loving Eleanor, New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert reconstructs the gripping bond between Hick and Eleanor during the upheaval of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War.
The narrative centers on Hick’s personal perspective. Hick portrays Eleanor as a complex and contradictory woman. As the nation’s First Lady, Eleanor constantly balances her public duty with her private family obligations. Ultimately, the story uncovers her deepest struggle: a powerful, human need to care for others while desperately seeking care herself. Throughout the novel, Hick emerges as an accomplished journalist who eventually sacrifices her thriving career to support the woman she loves. Consequently, as Eleanor evolves into the legendary “Eleanor Everywhere” and becomes a global leader, Hick must navigate the shadow of the White House. To survive this shift, she works to forge her own independent, productive life outside of Eleanor’s massive public role.
Drawing on extensive research in the letters that were sealed for a decade following Hick’s death, Albert creates a compelling narrative: a dramatic love story, vividly portraying two strikingly unconventional women, neither of whom is satisfied to live according to the script society has written for her. Loving Eleanor is a profoundly moving novel that illuminates a relationship we are seldom privileged to see and celebrates the depth and durability of women’s love.
And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Of course, no list of the best books about first ladies would be complete without the iconic Jackie O. Many would call her the most legendary first lady of all time, largely because of her world-famous sense of style. Furthermore, the highly romanticized fairytale of the Kennedys’ courtship and marriage continues to captivate readers decades later. But what was Jackie’s life really like? Thornton takes us behind the scenes to see an intimate portrait of her life.
While few of us can truly claim to be the authors of our fate, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy realizes she has no other choice. Consequently, with the eyes of the world watching, Jackie uses her effortless charm and keen intelligence to carve a permanent place for herself among the great men of history. In the process, she weaves a fairy tale for the American people by perfectly embodying the roles of a senator’s wife, a devoted mother, and a First Lady—ultimately becoming a queen in her own right.
But all reigns must come to an end. Once JFK travels to Dallas and the clock ticks down those thousand days of magic in Camelot, Jackie is forced to pick up the ruined fragments of her life and forge herself into a new identity that is all her own, that of an American legend.
Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln by Janis Cooke Newman
Mary Todd Lincoln was one of the most controversial first ladies in history and on this best books about first ladies list. She was the first President’s wife to earn the title First Lady. And yet, she was also committed into an insane asylum. Newman does an amazing job portraying a sympathetic and well-researched view of Mary Todd Lincoln’s life.
A fascinating and intimate novel of the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, narrated by the First Lady herself.
Mary Todd Lincoln is one of history’s most misunderstood and enigmatic women. She was a political strategist, a supporter of emancipation, and a mother who survived the loss of three children and the assassination of her beloved husband. Beyond her political role, Mary Todd Lincoln famously ran her family into deep debt and even held seances within the White House walls. Eventually, her behavior led to her being committed to an insane asylum—and it is at this exact breaking point that Janis Cooke Newman’s debut novel begins.
From her room in Bellevue Place, Mary chronicles her tempestuous childhood in a slaveholding Southern family and takes readers through the years after her husband’s death, revealing the ebbs and flows of her passion and depression, her poverty and ridicule, and her ultimate redemption.
Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight by Julia Sweig
It’s recently been alluded to that Lady Bird Johnson was instrumental to LBJ’s administration and presidency. But this book really pulls back the curtain and reveals just how much she contributed.
In the spring of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson had a decision to make. Just months after moving into the White House under the worst of circumstances—following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy— he had to decide whether to run to win the presidency in his own right. He turned to his most reliable, trusted political strategist: his wife, Lady Bird Johnson. The strategy memo she produced for him, emblematic of her own political acumen and largely overlooked by biographers, is just one revealing example of how their marriage was truly a decades-long political partnership.
Although many consider Lady Bird Johnson the most underestimated First Lady of the twentieth century, she actually served as one of the most accomplished political figures of her era and often acted as her husband’s secret weapon. While she managed the White House during years of national upheaval—navigating both the civil rights movement and the escalation of the Vietnam War—Lady Bird intentionally projected a sense of calm. Consequently, following the glamorous Jackie Kennedy, the public often viewed her as a “traditional” First Lady.
In truth, however, she proved to be anything but old-fashioned. For instance, she became the first woman to run the East Wing like a professional office, spearheading her own policy initiatives and launching the most ambitious national environmental effort since Teddy Roosevelt. Furthermore, as the women’s liberation movement began to take hold, she hosted professional pioneers like Jane Jacobs and Barbara Ward at the White House. Through these actions, she encouraged women everywhere to pursue their own careers, even while she modeled a unique leadership style centered on supporting others.
Where no presidential biographer has understood the full impact of Lady Bird Johnson’s work in the White House, Julia Sweig is the first to draw substantially on Lady Bird’s own voice in her White House diaries to place Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson center stage and to reveal a woman ahead of her time—and an accomplished politician in her own right.
I hope you enjoy reading more about these incredible first ladies! Who is your FAVORITE First Lady? Did you like this book list? Check out more HERE!
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