Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[Eva Elisabeth]

Jackie again?

[RJNorton]

That is a superb guess, Eva, but it was not her.

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: During their marriage this First Lady's husband was also interested in other women. Although married, he once wrote to another lady:

"I love you more than all the world and have no hope of reward on earth or hereafter, so precious as that in your dear arms..."

[Jim Page]

Hint #1: During their marriage this First Lady's husband was also interested in other women. Although married, he once wrote to another lady:

"I love you more than all the world and have no hope of reward on earth or hereafter, so precious as that in your dear arms..."

Ah, Roger, that leads me to think the first lady in question might be Florence Harding, who some suspect may have murdered her husband and, later, their doctor, by poisoning.

--Jim

[Gene C]

I'll second Jim

[Anita]

I'll guess Dolly Madison.

[RJNorton]

Good try, Anita, but Jim and Gene are correct. Good job! I believe it is known that Harding had more than one affair, but the most (in)famous one was with Carrie Fulton Phillips. He wrote her many letters some of which are quite explicit in nature.

Both of you gentlemen win the same prize Laurie did - best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

[Jim Page]

Thanks, Roger! Same to you and yours and all the other residents of this blog.

A little story about the Hardings. In the mid-1970s I looked into the Hardings to see whether there might be an interesting book in it. I contacted several folks in Marion, Ohio, whom I thought might be good sources and I did so in a professional and respectful manner.

Wasn't long before an attorney for some of the Harding family contacted me, in a very nice way, to ask if I could put away those plans for a few hundred years. So I dropped the whole idea.

--Jim

[RJNorton]

Which First Lady gave this advice?

"...do not allow the baby to walk too soon or she will become bowlegged."

[Eva Elisabeth]

That does sound like a very old-fashioned advice. So I start trying at the very beginning, the (#2)Adams (since the Washingtons had no children if I remember correctly)?

[RJNorton]

Excellent guess, Eva, but it was not Abigail Adams.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Oh my, all the time I was sure I've read this advice more than once, but the "she" was distracting. But you didn't speak of a presidential daughter being the advised baby, and it just hit me that Mary wrote that to Mary about Mary! (And this kind of advice was so typical for her...)

[Anita]

You beat me to it Eva. It was Mary Lincoln.

[RJNorton]

Both of you ladies are absolutely correct, and you both win best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

[Jim Page]

For some reason, that quote reminds me of the silly, expensive, and probably worthless orthopedic shoes (and sometimes even braces!) that toddlers and young kids used to have to wear when I was young. I was lucky enough not to be subjected to those.

I'm willing to bet that 98% of the kids wearing them didn't need them and didn't benefit from them, but it was a health fad of the early-to-mid 1950s.

--Jim