First ladies: presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic American women

Martha Dandridge Washington / Patricia Brady, Richard Norton Smith

Abigail Smith Adams / Edith Gelles, C. James Taylor

Martha Wayles Jefferson / Catherine Allgor, William Seale

Dolley Payne Madison / Catherine Allgor, Edith Mayo

Elizabeth Kortright Monroe / Daniel Preston, Richard Norton Smith

Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams / Amanda Mathews, Richard Norton Smith

Rachel Donelson Jackson / Patricia Brady, Michael Henderson

Hannah Hoes Van Buren / Patricia Brady, Michael Henderson

Anna Symmes Harrison / Edith Mayo, Edna Greene Medford

Letitia Christian Tyler, Julia Gardiner Tyler / Edna Greene Medford, Taylor Stoermer

Sarah Childress Polk / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt

Margaret Smith Taylor / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt

Abigail Powers Fillmore / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt

Jane Appleton Pierce / Ann Covell

Harriet Lane / Ann Covell, Feather Schwartz Foster

Mary Todd Lincoln / Richard Norton Smith, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn

Eliza McCardle Johnson / Jacqueline Berger, Kendra Hinkle

Julia Dent Grant / Pamela Sanfilippo, William Seale

Lucy Webb Hayes / Allida Black, Tom Culbertson

Lucretia Rudolph Garfield / Carl Sferrazza Anthony

Ellen Herndon Arthur / Carl Sferrazza Anthony

Frances Folsom Cleveland / Annette Dunlap, Taylor Stoermer

Caroline Scott Harrison / Edith Mayo, William Seale

Ida Saxton McKinley / Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Richard Norton Smith

Edith Carow Roosevelt / Stacy Cordery, Kathleen Dalton

Helen Herron Taft / Jane Hampton Cook, Lewis Gould

Ellen Axson Wilson, Edith Bolling Wilson / John Milton Cooper, Kristie Miller

Florence Kling Harding / David Pietrusza, Katherine Sibley

Grace Goodhue Coolidge / Cyndy Bittinger, Amity Shlaes

Lou Henry Hoover / Emily Charnock, Annette Dunlap

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt / Allida Black, Douglas Brinkley

Elizabeth (Bess) Wallace Truman / Nicole Anslover, William Seale

Mamie Doud Eisenhower / Marilyn Irvin Holt, Edith Mayo

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy / Michael Beschloss, Barbara Perry

Claudia (Lady Bird) Taylor Johnson / Betty Boyd Caroli, Cokie Roberts

Patricia Ryan Nixon / Mary Brennan, Timothy Naftali

Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Ford / Richard Norton Smith

Rosalynn Smith Carter / Jay Hakes, Grace Hale

Nancy Davis Reagan / Carl Cannon, Judy Woodruff

Barbara Pierce Bush / Jeffrey Engle, Myra Gutin

Hillary Rodham Clinton / David Maraniss, Gail Sheehy

Laura Welch Bush / Ann Gerhart, Mark Updegrove

Michelle Robinson Obama / Liza Mundy, Krissah Thompson.