First Ladies’ Records at the Presidential Libraries

This past fall, the world said farewell to Rosalynn Carter. Tributes to her long, influential life recalled her passions, accomplishments, and her time as First Lady. Mrs. Carter served as one of President Carter’s most trusted advisers and was a champion of women’s rights, human rights, and mental health. She challenged expectations of a First Lady’s role when she attended Cabinet meetings and major briefings. In fact, she created the office of First Lady in the East Wing of the White House, forever altering the role of the President’s spouse.

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library holds records that tell her amazing story, including the Records of the First Lady’s Office; the papers of her press secretary, Mary Hoyt; and the Carter Family Papers. These collections contain correspondence, memoranda, agendas, menus, briefing papers, telephone logs, speeches, press releases, clippings, and reports that detail her responsibilities and accomplishments as First Lady of the United States.

The National Archives, through its Presidential Libraries, preserves and makes available an expansive collection of records that document the story of modern First Ladies and that have fueled decades of scholarly debate on the role of First Ladies and their influence. 

Eleanor Roosevelt's remarkable life and work is documented in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in roughly 400 collections. Most significant is the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, a collection of nearly three million pages that feature Mrs. Roosevelt in direct conversation with thousands of people writing from across the broadest spectrum of identity, power, and privilege, discussing political activism, women's enfranchisement, civil rights, wartime mobilization, and much more.

Her post–White House correspondence documents her continued public engagement as well as her work with later Presidents, leadership in human rights and international peacekeeping, and direct mentorship for key figures of the next generation. With this multiplicity of voices represented, it is one of the greatest collections of women's political and social advocacy of the 20th century. 

Mrs. Roosevelt operated without a large, formal staff. More than two decades later, the First Lady’s staff had grown and become more structured and the records evolved to reflect this change. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library holds the records of the First Lady’s Press Office. Notable materials in this collection relate to Pat Nixon’s official visits abroad to China, Russia, and the Middle East. When she went to Peru in 1970 after an earthquake, she became the first First Lady to travel abroad as the President’s official representative. 

Betty Ford had a short tenure as First Lady, but she made an outsized impression on the nation. Her honesty and directness were evident from the earliest days of the Ford Administration, when she made public her breast cancer diagnosis. The collections at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library cover a wide range of issues, from the traditional First Lady activities, such as support for the arts and White House entertaining, to more substantive issues and events, such as breast cancer awareness, reproductive rights, equal rights, and addiction and recovery.

The William J. Clinton Presidential Library holds extensive records related to Hillary Clinton’s appointment to chair the Health Care Task Force, her role in health care reform and women's and children's issues, her famous speech “Women's Rights Are Human Rights” at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and her run for the U.S. Senate in 2000. A wealth of material can be found in files from the Office of the First Lady and in many speechwriting and policy staff documents. In addition, the library has digitized her schedules and made them available online.

The women who have stepped into the White House as First Lady have defined and redefined the position with their own personalities and interests. One day a “First Gentleman” will further shape expectations of a Presidential spouse. The holdings at the Presidential Libraries reflect the evolution of an important, unique, and iconic role in American history.