John Long Routt was born in 1826 in Eddyville, Kentucky. He married Hester Ann Woodson in 1845 in Bloomington, Illinois. They had five children. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War. Hester died in 1872 and John married Eliza Pickrell, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Pickrell and Mary Ann Elkin, in 1874 in Decatur, Illinois. They had one daughter. John was appointed territorial governor of Colorado in 1875. He also served as state governor and mayor of Denver City.

First Lady from Plains, first published in 1984, is Rosalynn’s Carter’s autobiography, covering her life from her childhood in Plains, Georgia, through her time as First Lady. It is “a readable, lively and revealing account of the Carters and their remarkable journey from rural Georgia to the White House in a span of ten years” (The New York Times).

The nation's leading expert on first ladies explores the fascinating life and times of one of the most unconventional and powerful women of the 20th century.

A hilarious parody memoir for the beloved Veep character portrayed for seven seasons by Emmy-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Born and raised deep in the American heartland of God-fearing suburban Maryland, young Selina Eaton learned to love her country and her fellow man from her parents, Catherine, a sportswoman, dog lover, and philanthropist, and Gordon, or “Daddy” as she always called him, a businessman and entrepreneur. From an early age, Selina, an active, curious, happy-go-lucky child, showed an uncanny ability to relate to others and to solve their real-world problems with real-world solutions. In this she was inspired by her idol: feminist, humanitarian, stateswoman, and first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt maintained a lively relationship with many prominent figures of her time, including Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, Albert Schweitzer, and probably Pablo Casals. She inspired countless women to break out of the established roles for women in society, among them the pioneering aviatrix Amelia Earhart, with whom she flew several times. Dubbed the “Queen of the Air,” Amelia Earhart captivated the nation both with her bravery, skill, and daring when flying her planes and when challenging society’s hidebound attitudes as to what constituted a proper place for women. America mourned when she disappeared mysteriously somewhere in the Pacific during an attempted around-the-world flight in 1937. Speculation continues to this day as to Amelia’s ultimate fate, even as hope has faded that she may yet be found alive. With wit, wisdom, eloquence, and fearless honesty, Selina Meyer reveals for the first time what really goes on in the halls of power, including the ultimate hall, the White House. It’s all here: the triumphs, the tragedies, the personalities, and the momentous events that have shaped our times, brought together in a page-turning tale told as only Selina Meyer could tell it. Selina Meyer’s compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other president’s memoir ever written. First Woman: A Woman First would be a fitting title for a book about Selina Meyer, Eleanor Roosevelt, or Amelia Earhart, but in this case, it is about Selina Meyer.

Content to be a wife & mother, Miriam had a drastic change in lifestyle when her husband became governor in 1915. Impeached & barred from holding state office, he cleverly decided that his wife should run in 1924. "Ma" & "Farmer Jim" did battle with the Ku Klux Klan for the executive office. First woman in the United States elected governor in her own right, "Ma" Ferguson served a second term in the 1930s. The novelty of a woman governor made her, & the fashionable clothes she wore, newsworthy. Narrative, photographs & costumes in color chronicle Governor Ferguson's triumphs & defeats. In an exciting format designed for both young people & adults, the book fills a need for biographies of outstanding women. Book One, CLARA DRISCOLL: 'SAVIOR OF THE ALAMO.' (0-9269001-0-9) $14.95 each. Smiley Originals, P.O. Box 99, Smiley, TX 78159; Phone 800-584- 3655, FAX 210-587-6113.

Lucy Webb Hayes was the first president's wife to be referred to in the press as "The First Lady." Partly due to his wife's influence, President Rutherford B. Hayes established a temperance policy for White House entertaining that led to the derisive nickname for her of "Lemonade Lucy." This kind of public attention indicates the increasingly visible role the wives of presidents came to play in the post-Civil War years, and Lucy Hayes was the "first lady" so well suited to and well equipped for this role.--From book jacket.

The made-in-Hollywood marriage of Ronald and Nancy Reagan was the partnership that made him president. Nancy understood how to foster his strengths and compensate for his weaknesses-- and made herself a place in history. Tumulty shows how Nancy's confidence developed, and reveals new details surrounding Reagan's tumultuous presidency that shows how Nancy became one of the most influential first ladies in history. -- adapted from jacket

Once in a Lifetime reveals the broad range of Elise Varner Winter's activities as first lady of Mississippi during the term of her husband, Governor William F. Winter (1980–1984). Drawn from her personal journal, which she kept daily, this account includes the frustrating moments as well as the exhilarating ones, from keeping house to visiting the White House. The position of a state's first lady is one of the most public of roles. Yet few people know what a first lady actually does. In Elise Winter's memoir, her sense of history, her talent, and her perseverance to record her activities and observations provide a unique opportunity for the reader to understand what life in the Mississippi Governor's Mansion was really like on a daily basis. This book reveals her traditional roles—planner of elegant dinners, sophisticated hostess, hands-on gardener, and steward of the Mansion and its historic collection of antique furniture and decorative arts. But she emerged as a modern first lady, intensely interested in public education and in the state penitentiary, for which she developed several important initiatives. She recounts fascinating events from Governor Winter's administration, its tensions and its accomplishments, such as passage of the Education Reform Act, a success in which Elise Winter played an indispensable role. Many of the issues of thirty years ago remain critical today—insufficient funding for education, budget deficits, prison overcrowding, and the need for prison reform. Elise Winter observes everyone and everything with a fresh eye for detail and describes them all with honesty, clarity, and simplicity. Her observations reflect her intellect and insight, as well as her sense of humor. This is a woman's story, a human story, about hopes and doubts, about setting high standards and sometimes feeling inadequate, and about the imperative of continual efforts to make her state a better place for all who live there.

"While the Woman's Rights convention was taking place at Seneca Falls in 1848, First Lady Sarah Childress Polk was wielding influence unprecedented for a woman in Washington, D.C. Yet while history remembers the women of the convention, it has all but forgotten Sarah Polk. Now, Amy S. Greenberg's riveting biography brings Sarah's story into vivid focus. We meet Sarah as the daughter of a frontiersman who raised her to discuss politics and business with men. We see the savvy and charm she brandished to help her brilliant but unlikeable husband, James K. Polk, ascend to the White House. We watch as she exercises truly extraordinary power as First Lady: quietly manipulating elected officials, shaping foreign policy, and directing a campaign in support of America's expansionist war against Mexico. And we meet many of the enslaved men and women whose difficult labor made Sarah's political success possible. Lady First also shines a light on Sarah's many contradictions. While her marriage to James was one of equals, she firmly opposed the feminist movement's demands for what she perceived to be far-reaching equality. She banned dancing and hard liquor from the White House, but did more entertaining than any of her predecessors. During the Civil War, she worked on behalf of the Confederacy even though she claimed to be neutral. And in the late nineteenth century, she became a celebrity among female Christian temperance reformers, while she struggled to redeem her husband's tarnished political legacy. Sarah Polk's life spanned nearly the entirety of the nineteenth century, and her legacy, which profoundly transformed the South, continues to endure. Comprehensive, nuanced, and brimming with invaluable insight, Lady First is a revelation of our eleventh First Lady's complex but essential part in American feminism."--Dust jacket.