She wrote to her husband constantly during his many long absences from home on government business, keeping up his morale.
No woman could have been better prepared for the position of first lady than Mrs. Adams. The years she had spent with her husband during his government missions in @Paris and @London had taught her a great deal about social and political life. For example, she was the first American woman to be presented at the @British @Court.
In 1800, the capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, then a town in the wilderness. Mrs. Adams was the first president's wife to live in the new executive mansion. This was not exactly a pleasure, though, as the building that would be called the White House was unfinished, damp, and uncomfortable. Although she complained privately, Mrs. Adams made the best of the situation. All told, though, she was happy to leave public life in 1801, although her husband bitterly resented it. They returned to their home in Braintree, where they enjoyed 17 years of peace and companionship.
Thomas Jefferson had no official hostess. @Martha @Wayles @Skelton, a noted Virginia beauty, had died 19 years before her husband became president, and of their six children, only two daughters lived. Duties were shared by his surviving daughters, Martha Jefferson @Randolph, the wife of @Thomas @Mann Randolph, and @Maria Jefferson @Eppes (known as @Polly), who was married to John @Wayles Eppes. @Dorothea (Dolley) @Madison, wife of Jefferson's secretary of state, and other wives of his cabinet members also helped run the White House's social affairs.
By all accounts, Jefferson was a good father. He carefully supervised his daughters' schooling, manners, and dress. Mrs. Randolph took a more active part in the social life of the White House than her sister. Her extensive travels and years of education abroad, and her association with her father and his friends, had prepared her to be mistress of the White House. Mrs. Eppes, the beauty of the family, was very frail.
After Maria Eppes' death, Mrs. Randolph and her family moved into the White House to help ease Jefferson's grief. They all accompanied President Jefferson to @Monticello, his beautiful house in Virginia, on his retirement. There Mrs. Randolph acted as her father's companion and hostess.
Dolley Madison later became an actual first lady, and of them all, none has had a greater reputation for grace and charm than she. These qualities made her one of the best-known American women.
Dolley Madison was brought up in the @Quaker faith. Her first husband died in the yellow-fever epidemic in 1793.
