KEUKA PARK — In the spring of 2022, Anita McBride, former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, visited Keuka College to share her perspective on U.S. first ladies.
The pink and white blooms of the cherry blossom tree often herald the arrival of spring. But in Japan, the cherry blossom is also a well-loved symbol of fleeting beauty, nostalgia and loss.
Smithsonian Books, The National Portrait Gallery
By definition, the office of first lady plays a supporting role in American politics. That makes information about some of the most influential women in United States history difficult to find. But in the new book
First Ladies of the United States, from Smithsonian Books, author Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, the National Portrait Gallery s senior historian and director of history, research, and scholarship, aims to highlight the women of the White House through insightful essays into their lives set alongside 84 gorgeous portraits that further reveal their characters.
“First ladies are super important to the history of the country, but to say they’ve gotten second importance to the president isn’t even coming close to how under-researched their lives are,” DuBois Shaw tells Mental Floss. “First ladies don’t have sites in the way that presidents do, and so while presidents have these libraries and foundation centers, first ladi