First Lady Profile #2--Julia Grant!

Life was not easy for the Grants; he seemed to be unable to succeed at anything that was nonmilitary-farming or working in his father's leather goods shop-and the family was often nearly destitute.  Through all the hard times, though, the bonds of affection between Ulysses and Julia and between them and their four children remained strong.  Then the Civil War broke out, and Ulysses returned to the army.  Though a disaster for the rest of the nation, it brought an end to the Grants' financial difficulties and led them to the White House.--Diana Dixon Healy

--What impressed me most about Julia Grant was her strong bond with her husband and family.  She had faith that Ulysses would be successful some day, when no one else did.

Although Ulysses was unsatisfied at work, he was content with life at home.  Julia Grant was gifted with a cheerful, optimistic nature.  She created a home atmosphere that was relaxed and lighthearted.  Economic hardship had not changed her happy personality or shaken her faith in her husband.--Christine A. Fitz-Gerald

FACTS:
--She was born on January 26, 1826 in St. Louis, Missouri.  She was the 5th of 8 children.
--Her family was wealthy, and they owned 2 homes, along with some slaves.  A country home called White Haven and a city home in St. Louis.  Julia was sent to boarding school at the age of 10 until she was 17 when she returned to White Haven.
--Julia's brother was roommates with Ulysses at West Point.  They fell in love and wanted to marry, but her father didn't approve.  He said that if they still wanted to get married after waiting 2 years, he would allow it.  Ulysses ended up fighting in the Mexican war, so the 2 years ended up becoming 4 years.  They finally married on August 22, 1848.  Ulysses's family didn't come to the wedding because they objected to him marrying into a family that owned slaves.

--Julia gave birth to four children: Frederick, Ulysses (Buck), Ellen (Nellie) and Jesse.
--Ulysses was lonely in the military having to be away from his family so often.  He decided to retire and come home.  This led to a lot of struggles for the Grant family.  They had a home called Hardscrabble, but in 1857 all their crops failed and Julia's mother died.
--They tried real estate, but that failed as well.  So, they moved to Galena, Illinois.

--In 1860 the Civil War started and Ulysses was once again back in the military.  In August, he was promoted to general.  Julia often visited Ulysses during the war, sometimes with her children, and sometimes alone.
--Once, Julia was almost kidnapped by confederate soldiers on a visit.
--She dealt with criticism from numerous places.  Her father supported the south during the war and was very upset that his son-in-law was fighting for the north.  Julia was upset about all the criticism of her husband in the newspapers as well.
--Yet, despite his critics, Lincoln was impressed with Ulysses and promoted him to general-in-chief of the Union armies in March of 1864.
--Julia had always known that Ulysses could accomplish a position such as this and was very happy.  They would be famous from this point on for the rest of their lives.

--Mary Lincoln did not like Julia, thus they did not get along well at all.  It was because of this that the Grants didn't join the Lincolns at Ford's Theatre the night Lincoln was assassinated.
--The Grants were so popular that the presidency was almost a given, and Ulysses was elected president in 1868 and served 2 terms.  Julia enjoyed being first lady immensely.  She redecorated the White House, since it had fallen into disrepair during the war.
--The Grants' daughter Nellie was married in the White House in May of 1874.
--Both of Grant's terms in the White house were marred by corruption.  While Ulysses was honest, many of the men he appointed were dishonest and greedy.  He may have excelled in the military, but he wasn't necessarily equipped to be president.

--After the White House, the Grants traveled around the world from 1877-1879, making Julia the first former first lady to do this.  They were treated like royalty wherever they went. 
--They then settled in a mansion in New York City.  Yet, because of a bad business deal, they ended up losing most of their fortune.
--In 1884, Ulysses got throat cancer and was dying.  He scrambled to finish his memoirs so that Julia would be taken care of after his death.  He finished within weeks of his death on July 23, 1885 at the age of 63.
--His memoirs brought in a lot of money and Julia was well taken care of until her death on December 14, 1902 at the age of 76.  She wrote her own memoirs, but they weren't published until many years later in 1975.

My Julia Grant Books:
-Julia Dent Grant--Christine A. Fitz-Gerald
-The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant: Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant
-America's First Ladies--Diana Dixon Healy
-First Ladies--Betty Boyd Caroli
-First Ladies of the White House--Nancy J. Skarmeas

Previous Profiles:
-Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady Profile #1--Eleanor Roosevelt!

There was once a young woman, born in 1884, who grew up in the old aristocratic society of New York City and its more exclusive environs.  She conformed to her caste's attitudes toward minorities, women, marriage, and her place in the world.  Yet by the time Eleanor Roosevelt died in 1962, she was known as the First Lady of the world and the champion of African Americans, Jews, women, the young, the poor--virtually all who ever needed a champion.--Diana Dixon Healy

--I love learning about and studying the U.S. Presidents and the First Ladies.  I have a lot of books about them, many from used book sales and thrift stores.

--My goal is to visit every single Presidential home and museum some day.  So far, I have been to 8:

Dwight Eisenhower
Gerald Ford
Abraham Lincoln
Harry Truman
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
Herbert Hoover
Ulysses S. Grant

--I thought I would do a series of profiles on first ladies, and collect the books that I own about them.  I'm starting with Eleanor Roosevelt since I own quite a few books about her.

--I may not agree with some of FDR's policies, but I love the woman that Eleanor Roosevelt was.  She revolutionized the role of first lady.  She advocated for the poor, African Americans and women.

FACTS:
--She was born on October 11, 1884 in New York.  She was named Anna Eleanor by her parents Anna and Elliott Roosevelt. Elliott Roosevelt was the younger brother of Teddy Roosevelt, making Teddy Eleanor's Uncle.
--She was given the nickname "Granny" by her mother, but her father called her, "little golden hair".
--Her mother died when she was 8 of diphtheria, and her father, an alcoholic, died 2 years later from an alcohol related illness.  She was sent to live with her Grandmother.
--She had an unhappy childhood, but flourished when she was sent to a boarding school in England called Allenswood at the age of 15.

--She married Franklin Roosevelt (a distant cousin) on St. Patrick's day in 1905 at the age of 20.  Her Uncle, then President Teddy Roosevelt gave her away at the wedding.
--Her Mother-in-law, Sara was very controlling.  She even bought adjoining townhomes so that she could come over to Franklin and Eleanor's house whenever she wanted.
--Eleanor gave birth to 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl.  The boys were James, Franklin, Elliott, Franklin Delano, John and the girl was named Anna.  The first Franklin died as an infant.  
--Franklin got elected to the New York State Senate and then became assistant secretary of the navy.  Both of these positions enabled Franklin and Eleanor to move away from Sara.

--World War I enabled Eleanor to stop doing things she hated, like having dinners and teas as social events.  Instead, she was able to jump into volunteer work full-time.  She worked in a canteen at the railroad, the Naval League, visited the naval hospital, worked for the Navy Red Cross and the Navy Relief Society.
--During this time, Eleanor learned of her husband's affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer, and was crushed.
--Franklin was stricken by polio in 1921.  His mother wanted him to become an invalid and retire to Hyde Park.  But Eleanor was finally able to stand up to her mother-in-law and fought for Franklin to continue to be active in politics.  Eleanor had this to say about Franklin's illness:

It made me stand on my own two feet in regard to my husband's life, my own life, and my children's training.

--In 1928, Franklin was elected Governor of New York.  This provided a new set of opportunities for Eleanor.  She began traveling and speaking out against segregation in the south.  She taught at a girls' school called Todhunter.  She traveled with her husband to inspect state hospitals and prisons.  She also became active in the women's division of the Democratic party, the Women's Trade Union, and the League of Women Voters.  A historian had this to say about Eleanor:

She became famous not as FDR's wife, but as a major political force to be reckoned with.

--In 1932, Franklin was elected President of the United States.  Eleanor broke all the rules/traditions of what the first lady's role was.  She didn't allow the Secret Service agents to follow her, and instead carried a pistol for protection.
--She held her own press conferences with only women reporters present.  The White House Press Corps called her: "God's gift to newspaperwomen".
--She was the first First Lady to travel across the country.  She traveled and spoke all over the country and didn't shy away from controversial topics, such as child labor in sweatshops.  She gave 70 speeches a year.
--In 1936, she started writing a daily newspaper column entitled, My Day.  By the time of her death she had also written 500 magazine articles and 23 books.
--She fought for women's rights and encouraged them to get involved in politics.  She also fought against racism/prejudice against minorities.


 --She resigned from the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) when they wouldn't rent space to the African-American opera singer Marian Anderson.  She ended up having Anderson sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where 75,000 people attended.

--During World War II, she visited soldiers to boost morale.  In the end, she visited 400,000 soldiers and traveled 23,000 miles.  And she didn't just drop into the hospitals.  Admiral Halsey said when she visited the hospitals:

She went into every ward, stopped at every bed and spoke to every patient.

--On April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died.  Eleanor was asked by Franklin's successor, Harry Truman to be one of three U.S. delegates to the United Nations.
--She continued to speak out for human rights and civil rights, and to fight for what she believed in.
--She died on November 7th, 1962 at the age of 78.

My Eleanor Roosevelt Books:
-Anna Eleanor Roosevelt--Dan Santow
-You Learn by Living--Eleanor Roosevelt
-This I Remember--Eleanor Roosevelt
-Eleanor: The Years Alone--Joseph P. Lash
-Eleanor and Franklin--Joseph P. Lash
-America's First Ladies--Diana Dixon Healy
-First Ladies--Betty Boyd Caroli
-First Ladies of the White House--Nancy J. Skarmeas
-Who's Who of Women in the Twentieth Century--Jean Martin