feisty first ladies

Martha Washington, who opposed her own husband's presidential election; to Abraham Lincoln's eccentric wife, Mary; to rebellious daughters like Patti Davis who were the tabloid fodder of their day

Mary Todd Lincoln loved to shop and had seances in the White House.

Mamie Eisenhower slept until noon and never missed an episode of As the World turns.

It is reported that Eleanor Roosevelt, while First Lady, kept a gun in the glove compartment of her car, as she drove around because she refused constant Secret Service protection. Also, Eleanor served hot dogs to the Kings and Queens of England when they visited.

Dolley Madison threw the best parties in Washington, The girl knew how to throw a party. From the moment she stepped foot in the White House, the stiff, humorless receptions of her predecessors became a thing of the past. At Dolley’s affairs, people mingled, joked, laughed, and treated themselves to ice cream. She was vastly more beloved than her dour and stolid husband, James. It was said that she had no enemies, and even the people who loathed her husband adored her. She stayed in the White House right up until the British showed up at its doorstep and managed to save a few precious items. It's even said that the British commander, Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, was more interested in capturing her than the executive mansion, and took her seat cushion from the dining room so that he could come away with something to remember her. Before he had the building torched, of course. After she left the White House and her husband passed away, it was customary for each new President to pay her a visit, gaining a kind of approval from the most loved woman in America.

Or take Frances Cleveland, wife of Grover. Her relationship with her husband would be considered scandalous in this day, and certainly was in hers - she was twenty-seven years younger than her husband, who had been her legal guardian when she was a child. Much to the nation's surprise, he went from being "Uncle Cleve" to "Beloved Husband." But that bit of creepiness didn't stop the nation from loving her. In an age before byzantine copyright law, her name and image were already being used to sell all kinds of household goods. Ever eaten a Baby Ruth candy bar? It was named after the Clevelands' daughter, who was, for her short life, the most popular baby in America.

Bess Truman was so unimpressed with the Washington D.C.'s cleaning establishments that she insisted on having her laundry mailed home to Kansas City for washing.

First Lady Lou Hoover was once the National President of the Girl Scouts of America.

Edith Wilson (second wife of Woodrow Wilson) was related to the famous Native American, Pocahontas.

Barbara Bush got her trademark gray hair at quite an early age. Unfortunately, the cause was tragic. In 1953, the Bushes’ first daughter, Robin, contracted leukemia. The little girl spent eight months in a New York hospital, attended by her parents, until she died. By the time of Robin’s death, Bar’s hair had gone gray. The change likely didn’t bother her much, though; the former first lady had a great sense of humor about her appearance. A master of self-deprecating humor, she once said of her predecessor, Nancy Reagan, “As you know, we have a lot in common. She adores her husband; I adore mine. She fights drugs; I fight illiteracy. She wears a size three … so’s my leg.”