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AMERICA’S FIRST LADIES ,
by Betty Boyd Caroli (Reader’s Digest, 224 pages, $29.95).
With the aid of two hundred photographs and artworks, Caroli’s book spotlights the women who have taken on the role of America’s first ladies. The author demonstrates that the wives of the presidents have been scrutinized since the day in May 1789 when Martha Washington (1731-1802) stepped off the presidential barge at the tip of Manhattan to join her husband. She examines why some of these women have been called”Mrs. President,” “First Acting Man,” and “Co-President,” and reveals which of the first ladies have been the most under-appreciated by succeeding generations and which have been the most admired.