Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[L Verge]

(10-15-2017 07:56 PM)Steve Wrote:  I stand by my Martha Washington answer. The images of her wedding shoes on the Mt Vernon website sure seem purple to me:

http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washin...ashington/

As for the inaugural dress question, $46,000 for a dress seems excessive, even for today. If it's not Jackie Kennedy, my first guess would be Nancy Reagan since she had been an actress and designers routinely loan them extravagant overpriced dresses for Red Carpet events. However, your "deep pockets" comment gives me pause on that. The two richest Presidents of the late 20th century were Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton. I'm going to go with Lady Bird Johnson.

I apologize, Steve, I did not see your first post, and Martha was indeed the lady with purple wedding shoes. As for Florence Harding being the first First Lady to gain the right to vote, I took that from the website on First Ladies.

As for the expensive Inaugural gown, you should have stayed with Nancy Reagan. Her gown may have been on loan (2nd Inaugural, btw), but that was not cited. There was mention, however, of Lady Bird not caring for expensive clothes, especially with all that was happening during that time.

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Just found this reference to Mrs. Clinton's inaugural attire that might change the answer as to who wore the most expensive gown: New Yorker Sarah Phillips, who designed Hillary Rodham Clinton's 1993 inaugural gown, puts the full cost of that violet beaded lace sheath in the range of $50,000, with the Presidential Inaugural Committee paying $10,000 and Phillips and the workshop covering the bulk of the costs. Phillips isn't sure whether Clinton herself paid anything toward the dress, but the Smithsonian's website describes the gown as a ``gift of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Presidential Inaugural Committee.''

Oh, the games that politicians and their ladies can play...