When we consider the laxity and licentiousness of some of the so-called nobility, and the freedom of royal personages in their accepted code of morals, we realize that the life at the White House at Washington, makes for all that is pure in social life, having had no breath of scandal attaching to it in all the years since its establishment, and having set an example of moral righteousness for all the homes in the country at whose head it stands. The individuality of each hostess has left its imprint upon the history of her time from the pomp and ceremony of Martha Washington’s régime, to the greater freedom from restraint of that of “Dolly Madison.” We hear also of the extreme “simplicity” of Jefferson’s administration and the social festivities which marked Mrs. Grant’s residence at the White House. Mrs. Polk abolished dancing, while Mrs. Hayes banished wine, from their entertainments. Mrs. Fillmore founded the library, for of books there were none when she was installed as mistress of the White House; and Mrs. McElroy marked the administration of her brother, Chester A. Arthur, with the acme of refined hospitality. The list might be prolonged, but instances enough have been cited to show that while the women who preside over the nation’s home at Washington, must conform to certain accepted rules of etiquette, there is left sufficient scope for each to display individual tastes and characteristics, without in any way lowering the tone of the social life of the Executive Mansion. The author who has with marvelous industry and good taste, written these condensed biographies of our country’s most eminent women, deserves the thanks of all; yet such short sketches as are embodied in this volume, can give but little knowledge of facts concerning lives with so much interest attaching to them that a history of each would offer absorbing entertainment to the lover of biography, but they can serve to enlighten every intelligent reader sufficiently to arouse a desire for more information relating to these women, famous in the story of their country’s social and political events, and to awaken a feeling of pride that these queens of a republican court have no peers in any foreign realm. _Margaret E. Sangster_ Martha Washington FIRST PRESIDING LADY 1789-1797