Living First Ladies of the United States

This is the list of all of the living First Ladies of the United States at each moment in US history. The following women have been recognized by The National First Ladies' Library as "First Lady".

Table

Statistics

• During two periods in United States history, there have been eleven women alive to have been First Lady. It occurred in the late 1880s, the first for 448 days between June 2, 1886 and August 23, 1887, the second for 114 days between March 4, 1889 and June 25, 1889.

• There have been sixteen Presidencies during which a living First Lady has not died (including Grover Cleveland's second term 1893–1897), the most recent being the Presidency of George H.W. Bush. Conversely, during the Presidency of Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) there were as many as five deaths of First Ladies, the last one being his wife Caroline Harrison. The longest streak of Presidencies without a death of a First Lady is three, as no First Lady died during the terms of L.B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, a total of more than 14 years.

• The longest period between deaths of First Ladies was 16 years and 359 days, between the deaths of Eleanor Roosevelt on November 7, 1962 and Mamie Eisenhower on November 1, 1979. The shortest was 15 days between the deaths of Lucy Webb Hayes on June 25 and Julia Gardiner Tyler on July 10, 1889.

• Four times, in 1836, 1852, 1889 and 1918, have two or three First Ladies died in the same year. Three died in 1889: Lucy Webb Hayes, Julia Gardiner Tyler and Priscilla Cooper Tyler.

• The only woman who acted as First Lady for two different Presidents was Dolley Madison, a friend of widower Thomas Jefferson, who acted occasionally in that role during 1801–1809. When her husband James Madison was inaugurated in 1809 she became the regular First Lady for eight more years.

• There has been only one presidency when three women acted as First Lady, that of John Tyler 1841–1845. The first First Lady was his first wife Letitia Christian Tyler who died on September 10, 1842. Tyler's daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler then served as First Lady until June 26, 1844 when Tyler married his second wife Julia Gardiner Tyler.

Oldest living First Lady