Abigail Adams has been lauded by historians and at least one president, Harry Truman, for her grit and keen insight. As the second of the first ladies, Abigail experienced firsthand the fight for a nation and the establishment of America. In fact, it was perhaps the Revolutionary War that shaped who she would become as…

Dolley Madison, wife of the fourth president, James Madison, had more than a few things in common with the “first” first lady, Martha Washington. Dolley, like Martha, was a young, widowed mother when she married the man who was to become president of the United States. She was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, to…