How Much Do You Know About U.S. First Ladies? Quiz

Answer: Abigail Adams

Abigail, nee Smith, Adams was the wife (and third cousin) of President John Adams. They moved into The White House in Washington D.C. in 1800 and finished out the president's term living there.
He was defeated in his bid for re-election by Thomas Jefferson.

Abigail Adams was born November 22, 1744 and died of typhoid fever weeks short of her 74th birthday, on October 28, 1818. She was the mother of six children, including John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) who would go on to become the sixth President of the United States.

Answer: Abigail Powers Fillmore

Abigail Powers was born in upstate N.Y. In 1826, she married Millard Fillmore whom she had met seven years earlier when she was a schoolmarm in New Hope, N.Y. and Millard was one of her students. (He was her oldest student and their ages were just one year apart). Together they would have a son and a daughter.

After attending the inauguration of Franklin Pierce on a blustery Washington day, she caught a cold that turned into pneumonia. She died just 26 days after leaving the The White House.

Answer: Edith (Mrs. Theodore) Roosevelt

Edith Kermit Carrow was born August 6, 1861 in Norwich, Ct. She was the second wife of the president who believed you should "Speak softly and carry a big stick", Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th Chief Executive. She served as First Lady from 1901-1909.
She grew up next door to the Roosevelt family and was a guest when Teddy wed his first wife, Alice, who died two days after giving birth at age 22.

Edith was given the middle name of Kermit as a tribute to her younger brother who died at just six months old, one year before she herself was born.
She and Teddy got hitched on a foggy day in London town, England, in March 1886 and came back to America where they took up residence at Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, N.Y. She passed away at age 87 on September 30, 1948.

Answer: Eliza Johnson

Eliza McCardle was born October 4, 1810. She became first lady when her husband, V.P. Andrew Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States on April 15, 1865 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. She and Andy got hitched on May 17, 1827 when she was 16 years old and he was 18.

She was the youngest of all the future first ladies to get married. During her tenure in office (April 15, 1865-March 4, 1869) she suffered from poor health and most of the official social duties were performed by her oldest daughter Martha, who was 37 when the Johnson Presidency began. The 17th President died July 31, 1875 and Eliza died just a few months later on January 15, 1876.

Answer: Frances Cleveland

Frances Clara Cleveland became the 23rd first lady June 2, 1886 after her husband, Grover, defeated the incumbent, President Chester Arthur to become the 22nd President of the United States. Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in his re-election bid in 1889.
She became the 25th first lady when Cleveland reclaimed the office in 1893.

Frances Cleveland was also the youngest First Lady, beginning her initial tenure at the age of 21.

Answer: Anna Harrison

Anna Harrison, the ninth first lady was born July 25, 1775 and began her tenure at the age of 65 years and 222 days on March 4, 1841.
Number 43, Barbara Bush, born June 8, 1925 was 63 years, 226 days old when her tenure began January 20, 1989.
Mrs. Truman and Mrs. Harding were both 60 (as was Margaret Taylor).

Answer: Thelma "Pat" Nixon

Both Pat Nixon and Lady Bird Johnson were born the year the Titanic went down, 1912. "Tricky Dick" Nixon's wife was born on March 16 and Mrs. Johnson was born later in the year, on December 22.
Betty Ford didn't arrive until 1918 and Ronald Reagan's Nancy was born in 1921.

Answer: Florence Harding

She was also the first to own a radio and started the somewhat unusual custom, at the time, of inviting Hollywood stars to visit the big White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Born on the Ides of August, 1860 in Marion, OH she was a piano teacher who was instructing, among others, the sister of Warren Harding. The rest, as they say, is history. Her tenure as First Lady began March 4, 1921 and ended abruptly when the president died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923.

Answer: Anna Harrison

Anna was married to William Henry Harrison. He died of pneumonia just a month after being sworn in as our ninth president. Officially her tenure is recorded as being 31 days.
Lucretia Garfield's tenure of six and a half months is the second shortest. It ended with Charles Guiteau's assassination of President James Garfield on September 19, 1881.
Letitia Tyler and Jackie Kennedy had tenures of 17 and 22 months respectively.

Answer: Lucy Hayes

Lucy Ware Webb was born in Ohio on August 28, 1831. She was sometimes referred to as "Lemonade Lucy" because of her strong support of the temperance movement. She married the future 17th President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, December 30, 1852 and served as First Lady from March 4, 1877-March 4, 1881. She died of a stroke June 25 1889. Contrary to popular belief, it was the president who banned booze from the White House; Lucy merely supported him. After the initial first day celebration, the "rule" was broken only once. In 1877 Russian Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich visited and wine was served. Now THAT'S trivia!


Interesting note: She was also the first First Lady to gain a college degree. She graduated from Wesleyan Women's College (now more familiarly know as Ohio Wesleyan College) in 1850.