"She is the only permanent power in Washington. All of us are transient."

She may not have been as eloquent as Abigail Adams, but Dolley Madison, America's fourth First Lady, gets her own chance to shine March 1 in the American Experience series on PBS. The 90-minute program, which airs at 9:00 pm Eastern TIme, is based on the writings of Dolley and is interspersed with quotations from her and her famous and less-than-famous-contemporaries. Cokie Roberts and a host of historians narrate this fascinating story of the woman who helped create the culture of Washington, D.C., and of the young United States of America.

Dolley grew up in the school of colonial hard knocks. The family struggled after her Quaker father went bankrupt, a consequence of his freeing his slaves and relocating the family from North Carolina to Philadelphia where he attempted to set up a business. Dolley lost her husband, John Todd, Jr., and her youngest son to yellow fever when she was still in her early twenties.

This installation of the American Experience series shows us the playful yet grounded side of Dolley Madison, long renowned as a gracious hostess and the woman who invented the role of First Lady. (Editor's note: The term "First Lady" had not yet come into use during the time of James Madison's administration but since has come to be applied to the wife of any president, past or present, or to the chief hostess in the White House if the president is unmarried. See the National First Ladies Library.)

We watch her wistfully thinking of love as she giddily recounts stories of her numerous Quaker girlfriends marrying outside the church or (gasp!) even eloping. Dolley herself had no shortage of suitors, and we admire her even more as we are told that despite the many men who hoped to woo her after her first husband's death, she chose the political genius, father of the Constitution and Federalist Papers, future Secretary of State, and future President of the United States, the bookish James Madison, for her husband.

The Madisons were proof that opposites attract. Dolley was, in the immortal words of one of the narrators, "a babe," and James was a short man with a very serious side (and 17 years her senior). The American people can consider themselves lucky that this pair had such a strong influence in shaping the character of the recently formed United States of America.

The theme of this special is that Dolley Madison's highly evolved emotional intelligence made her remarkable. When her husband James became President in 1809, Dolley set about furnishing the newly completed White House. She knew to stay away from anything smacking of royalty, and instead chose more playful styles. With end tables, velvet curtains, and Greek-inspired designs she set the tone of what the recently formed office of the presidency should reflect: egalitarianism, optimism, and pragmatism. She knew that the White House was a symbol of executive power and that royal purple and gold-plated furniture would send members of Congress and the American people the wrong message. One more thing: every piece of furniture she commissioned was made in America.

Pages: 1 2