They are an amazing group of women, says Krider, who has come to know them quite well. "Some were very instrumental in their husbands' careers. Dolley Madison, for example. Her husband was very shy — very intelligent, but very shy. And it's said that she was the one who brought people to him so they could hear his views. She was his right hand. The same with the Coolidges. People recognize Grace as the one bringing people to shy Calvin."

The first ladies have also done a lot of humanitarian work, she says. "Lucy Hayes worked for better conditions for orphans. Mary Lincoln went into the hospitals to read to soldiers, but she didn't want it publicized."

Nor have first ladies been without controversy, says Krider. Pretty much everyone liked Martha Washington, but from Abigail Adams on, first ladies have attracted varying degrees of both animosity and approval.

Some people thought Abigail was too outspoken. Margaret Taylor was from Tennessee, and rumors spread that she smoked a corncob pipe. During the Civil War, Mary Lincoln was looked at with suspicion because of her Southern roots. Edith Wilson was accused of secretly running the government after her husband had a stroke. Eleanor Roosevelt had her detractors.

When it came to politics, the wives were often tarred with the same brush as their husbands. Said one of Grover Cleveland's political foes: "I detest him so much, I don't even think his wife is beautiful."

But, says Krider, "They come under intense scrutiny. Many of them have commented on how much living in the White House is like living in a fish bowl. But as I learn more about them, I've come to admire their differences as well as their accomplishments."

In honor of Presidents Day, the Deseret Morning News salutes our nation's first ladies and offers a chance to see what you know about them — and to learn a bit more.

---

First Ladies Quiz

(Answers below)

1. Match the following first ladies with their husbands:

a. Anna Tuthill Symmes

b. Sarah Childress

c. Eliza McCardle

d. Julia Dent

e. Edith Kermit Carow

f. Edith Bolling Galt

g. Margaret Mackall Smith

h. Abigail Smith

i. Lucretia Rudolph

j. Abigail Powers

1. Zachary Taylor

2. Ulysses S. Grant

3. Millard Fillmore

4. James K. Polk

5. James A. Garfield

6. William Henry Harrison

7. Andrew Johnson

8. Woodrow Wilson

9. John Adams

10. Theodore Roosevelt