List of First Ladies of the United States
The First Lady of the United States of America is officially the hostess of the White House. This ministry is exercised normally by the wife of the President of the United States, however, the Office may, in certain cases, to women who are not the wife of the President, be passed, for example, if the President bachelor or widowed, or if the wife of the President is unable to perform the duties.
The Office of the First Lady is not an elected official, in contrast to the presidency. Also, it carries no duties with them. Nevertheless, the First Lady attends many public events, often instead of the president. Traditionally, the First Lady has her own staff, which consists of the Secretary for Social Events, White House Chief of Staff, the head gardener and the chef.
According to the Archives of the First Ladies, there were forty-five First Ladies and forty-six terms. This discrepancy is because Grover Cleveland's First Lady Frances Folsom as her husband this office two non-contiguous periods of office time held and is thus counted twice.
Next was Michelle Obama, wife of the 44th President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009 for the 46th First Lady of the United States and thus replaced the previous incumbent Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd President George W. Bush.
Currently there are five former First Ladies alive: Rosalynn Carter, wife of the 39th President Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, the wife of the late 2004 40th President Ronald Reagan, Barbara Bush, wife of the 41st President George HW Bush and mother of 43rd President George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, the wife of the 42nd President William J. Clinton and Laura Bush, wife of George W. Bush.
As the first First Lady of the United States is the wife of George Washington, Martha Washington, from 1789 to 1797. The President John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson had two First Ladies, respectively, as both were married again in their terms of office after the death of their first wives. The wives of four U.S. presidents had already died at the time of her husband's Inauguration: Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, wife of Thomas Jefferson; Rachel Donelson Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson; Hannah Hoes Van Buren, wife of the 8th President Martin Van Buren, and Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, wife of the 21st president Chester A. Arthur. In one case, a woman was the official First Lady, though she was not married to the President: Harriet Lane, niece of the 15th President James Buchanan, took office because her uncle had his life not married.
In 2007, the United States Mint issued a series of 10 dollar gold coins, each showing a portrait of a first lady. If there is no official First Lady was in a presidency that the front of the coin shows a typical symbol of freedom and the back of a scene from the life of each president. This applies to the Presidents Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren and Buchanan, but not on Chester A. Arthur, as on this coin the suffragette Alice Paul is to see what is supposed to represent the conservative era of President Arthur.