Bibliography of United States presidential spouses and first ladies

The following is a list of works about the spouses of presidents of the United States. While this list is mainly about presidential spouses, administrations with a bachelor or widowed president have a section on the individual (usually a family member) that filled the role of First Lady. The list includes books and journal articles written in English after as well as primary sources written by the individual themselves.

Works listed here are cited in the notes or bibliographies of scholarly sources. Each is published by an academic or major press, written by a recognized expert, or substantially reviewed in scholarly journals; borderline cases are omitted. A selection of primary sources are included. Many of the books below carry their own bibliographies; see the Further reading section for other bibliographies, and the External links section for historical sites, academic sites, and museums.

Citations follow APA style. Book have citations to academic journal or mainstream published reviews when available. For books only partly about the subject, relevant chapter or section titles are provided when useful and available. Translators of the original-language edition are included when possible. In cases where a title or name has appeared with more than one English spelling, the most recent published form is used and a footnote documents any earlier title under which the work appeared.

Several presidents were unmarried for all or part of their administration. Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Chester A. Arthur, and Martin Van Buren were widowed prior to becoming president and remained unmarried during their administration; in these cases, family members acted in the place of First Lady and White House host. John Tyler, Benjamin Harrison, and Woodrow Wilson's wives died while they were in office. Tyler and Wilson both remarried during their presidency, while Harrison remarried three years after leaving office. James Buchanan was a lifelong bachelor and never married. Grover Cleveland entered the White House as a bachelor, but married while in office. Because this list also serves as a bibliography of first ladies, in these cases, when someone regularly filled the role of White House hostess and informal first lady while the president was unmarried, an entry is provided.

General works Books Abrams, J. E. (2018). First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role. New York: NYU Press. Anthony, C. S. (1991). First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power (2 vols.). New York: William Morrow and Co. Beasley, M. H. (2005). First ladies and the Press: The Unfinished Partnership for the Media Age. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. Black, A. M. (2019). The First Ladies of the United States of America. Washington D.C.: White House Historical Association. Brower, K. A. (2015). The Residence: Inside the Private World of The White House. New York: HarperCollins. ——. (2017). First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies. New York: HarperCollins. Burns, L. M. (2008). First Ladies and the Fourth Estate: Press Framing of Presidential Wives. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press. Caroli, B. (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. New York: Oxford University Press. Gullan, H. I. (2001). Faith of our Mothers: The Stories of Presidential Mothers from Mary Washington to Barbara Bush. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans. Hendricks, N. (2015). America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Marton, K. (2001). Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History. New York: Pantheon. Schwartz, M. J. (2017). Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Sibley, K. A. S. (2016). A Companion to First Ladies, (Wiley Blackwell Companions to American History). Chichester, MA: Wiley Blackwell. Swain, S. (2016). First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women. New York: PublicAffairs. Truman, M. (1999). First Ladies. New York: Random House. Watson, R. P. (2004). Life in the White House: A Social History of the First Family and the President's House. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Wead, D. (2004). All The Presidents' Children: Triumph And Tragedy In The Lives Of America's First Families. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Journal articles Black, A. (2001). The Modern First Lady and Public Policy: From Edith Wilson through Hillary Rodham Clinton. OAH Magazine of History, 15(3), pp. 15–20. O'Connor, K., Nye, B., & Van Assendelft, L. (1996). Wives in the White House: The Political Influence of First Ladies. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 26(3), pp. 835–853. Parry-Giles, S., & Blair, D. (2002). The Rise of the Rhetorical First Lady: Politics, Gender Ideology, and Women's Voice, 1789-2002. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 5(4), pp. 565-599. Sheeler, K. H. (2013). Remembering the Rhetorical First Lady. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 16(4), pp. 767–782. Watson, R. (1997). The First Lady Reconsidered: Presidential Partner and Political Institution. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 27(4), pp. 805–818. Watson, R. (2001). The "White Glove Pulpit": A History of Policy Influence by First Ladies. OAH Magazine of History, 15(3), pp. 9–14. Watson, R. (2003). "Source Material": Toward the Study of the First Lady: The State of Scholarship. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 33(2), pp. 423–441.

Specific works Martha Washington Martha Washington, née Dandridge; (born June 2, 1731 died May 22, 1802); (in position April 30, 1789 March 4, 1797); The wife of George Washington.

Books Berkin, C. (2009). Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence. New York: Vintage Books. Brady, P. (2014). Martha Washington: An American Life. New York: Penguin Books. Bryan, H. (2002). Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty. New York: Wiley. Chadwick, B. (2007). The General & Mrs. Washington: The Untold Story of a Marriage and a Revolution. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks. Fraser, F. (2015). The Washingtons: George and Martha. "Join'd by Friendship, Crown'd by Love". New York: Knopf. Norton, M. B. (1980). Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 17501800. Glenview: Scott, Foresman & Co.

Biographies of George Washington with significant information about Martha Washington Chernow, R. (2010). Washington: A life. New York: Penguin Press. Flexner, J. T. (1965). George Washington (4 vols.). Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Journal articles Watson, R. (2000). Remembering Martha. OAH Magazine of History, 14(2), pp. 54–56.

Primary sources Fields, J. E. (1994). Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Martha Washington letters. Collaborative project of George Washington's Mount Vernon and the Center for History and New Media. Washington, G. (1997). George Washington: Writings (Library of America Founders Collection) (J. H. Rhodehamel, Ed.).. New York: Penguin Random House.

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams, née Smith; (born November 22, 1744 died October 28, 1818); (in position March 4, 1797 March 4, 1801); The wife of John Adams. The mother of John Quincy Adams and grandmother of Charles Francis Adams Sr.

Books Akers, C. W. (2007). Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary American Woman (3rd edition). New York: Pearson Longman. Barker-Benfield, G.J. (2010). Abigail and John Adams: The Americanization of Sensibility. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Ellis, Joseph J. (2010). First Family: Abigail and John Adams. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Gelles, E. B. (2009). Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage. New York: William Morrow. ——. (2010). Portia: The World of Abigail Adams. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ——. (2017). Abigail Adams: A Writing Life. New York: Routledge. Gullan, H. I. (2001). Faith of our Mothers: The Stories of Presidential Mothers from Mary Washington to Barbara Bush. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans. Holton, W. (2009). Abigail Adams: A Life. New York: Free Press. Kaminski, J. P. (Ed.). (2009). The Quotable Abigail Adams. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Keller, R. S. (1994). Patriotism and the Female Sex: Abigail Adams and the American Revolution. Brooklyn, N.Y: Carlson. Levin, P. L. (2001). Abigail Adams: A Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press. Nagel, P. C. (1987). The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters. New York: Oxford University Press. Norton, M. B. (1980). Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 17501800. Glenview: Scott, Foresman & Co. Whitney, J. (2013). Abigail Adams. London: Harrap. Withey, L. (1981). Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams. New York: Atria Simon & Schuster.

Biographies of John Adams with significant information about Abigal Adams McCullough, D. G. (2001). John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Journal articles Crane, E. (1999). Political Dialogue and the Spring of Abigail's Discontent. The William and Mary Quarterly, 56(4), pp. 745–774. Crane, E. (2007). Abigail Adams, Gender Politics, and "The History of Emily Montague". The William and Mary Quarterly, 64(4), third series, pp. 839–844. Damiano, S. T. (2017). Writing Women's History Through the Revolution: Family Finances, Letter Writing, and Conceptions of Marriage. The William and Mary Quarterly, 74(4), pp. 697–728. Forbes, A. (1936). Abigail Adams, Commentator. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 66, pp. 126–153. Gelles, E. B. (1979). Abigail Adams: Domesticity and the American Revolution. The New England Quarterly, 52(4), pp. 500–521. Gelles, E. B (1987). A Virtuous Affair: The Correspondence Between Abigail Adams and James Lovell. American Quarterly, 39(2), pp. 252–269. Gelles, E. B. (1988). The Abigail Industry. The William and Mary Quarterly, 45(4), pp. 656–683. Gelles, E. B. (1996). Bonds of Friendship: The Correspondence of Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 108, pp. 35–71. Gelles, E. B. (2006). The Adamses Retire. Early American Studies 4(1), pp. 1–15. Holton, W. (2007). Abigail Adams, Bond Speculator. The William and Mary Quarterly, 64(4), third series, pp. 821–838. Hutson, J. (1975). Women in the Era of the American Revolution: The Historian as Suffragist. The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, 32(4), pp. 290–303. McCullough, D. (2001). Abigail in Paris. Massachusetts Historical Review, 3, pp. 1–18. Musto, D. (1981). The Adams Family. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 93, pp. 40–58. Ryerson, R. (1988). The Limits of a Vicarious Life: Abigail Adams and Her Daughter. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 100, pp. 1–14. Shields, D. S., & Fredrika J. T. (2015). The Court of Abigail Adams. Journal of the Early Republic 35(2), pp. 227–235.

Primary sources * Adams, J. (1997). John Adams: Writings (2 vols.) (Library of America Founders Collection) (G. S. Wood, Ed.). New York: Penguin Random House. Adams, J., Cappon, L. J. (2012). The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. Adams, J., Adams, A., & Shuffelton, F. (Ed.). (2004). The letters of John and Abigail Adams. New York: Penguin Books. The Adams Family Papers. The Massachusetts Historical Society.

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson