First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role

Abrams (history, Univ. of Denver; Revolutionary Medicine) builds on historian Catherine Allgor's work on Dolley Madison (1768–1849) in this exploration of the role of first lady in the early American republic. Few scholars have tackled the subject since Allgor's Parlor Politics, and Abrams provides a much-needed new approach to understanding the significance of the position that Martha Washington (1731–1802), Abigail Adams (1744–1818), and Madison once occupied. Abrams deftly investigates the way each woman supported her husband as both wife and political confidant, while providing historical evidence that each were publicly influential in a society that demanded they remain relegated to the private sphere. Perhaps most importantly, Abrams gives life to Martha, Abigail, and Dolley, illuminating the importance of their position to American history and explaining the nuances of early republican life for these women. Abrams is careful to address the tendency to use anachronistic terms (i.e., feminist) to describe the women.