YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST

 



America holds great respect for the First Lady. The woman dubbed "The First First Lady," Dolley Madison, elevated the position to how we see first lady today - hostess, ambassadress, model of American womanhood. Dolley Madison embodied America's fighting spirit, saving important American artifacts the White House was engulfed in flames. She lived through personal and professional turmoil and held herself as a beacon of early American history. Dolley Madison was a bastion of American independence.


Dolley Payne, born in a log cabin in 1768, lost her father at an early age. Her mother turned their home into a boarding house. Statesman Aaron Burr resided there; he and Dolley would remain friends for the rest of their lives. In 1790 she married John Todd, a Philadelphia lawyer. She and Todd had two sons, but in 1793 John Todd and their baby son died of yellow fever. Family friend Aaron Burr gave Dolley and her son financial support, and introduced her to James Madison. Madison, 17 years Dolley's senior, had retired from politics to run his family's plantation. They married in 1794, and made their life at the Madison family plantation.

Thomas Jefferson asked Madison to be his secretary of state. As Jefferson was a widower, Dolley Madison would fill in as hostess during White House social events. When Madison became President in 1809, Dolley became the official first lady. Dolley was raised Quaker, so she could not dance at White House events ; nonetheless she loved celebrations and throwing parties. Dolley updated the White House's interior, giving it a sophisticated, uniquely American look. She held Wednesday evening drawing room salons. Dolley Madison made the White House Washington D.C.'s hip place to be.


In 1812 the British declared war on the United States. As the British closed in, torches raised, intent on burning the White House, Dolley  ordered servants to remove a framed copy of the Constitution and the Gilbert Stuart Portrait of George Washington. When James Madison left the White House the family moved back to the Madison plantation. After the death of James Madison Dolley sold the plantation to pay off her son's gambling debts. She sold James Madison's papers to congress. She remained in D.C. the rest of her life. In 1849 at age 81 she became the first first lady to be photographed. She fundraised to build the Washington Monument with Abigail Adams and Eliza Hamilton. Dolley Madison created the modern day role first lady, the first among many.


SOURCES :

Dolley Madison. Wikipedia.

Dolley Madison. whitehousehisory.org.


FURTHER MEDIA :

PODCASTS : 

Graham, Beckett / Vollenweider, Susan, hosts. "Dolley Madison." The History Chicks, Episode 5, Wondery, 24 March 2011.


VIDEOS : 

Dolley Madison ~ Drunk History



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