First ladies haven't always been married to the president.

U.S. History

W hile the role of first lady is traditionally filled by the president's spouse, other family members have stepped in several times in U.S. history. Though there's no constitutional requirement to have a first lady, it's always been the tradition, and in cases where the president has been widowed or unmarried, someone else has always filled the role. The first instance was Martha Jefferson Randolph, the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson took office in 1801, he had been a widower for about 20 years, so Martha took on the first lady duties, which at the time largely entailed hosting social events. Future First Lady Dolley Madison also lent an unofficial hand during the Jefferson administration while her husband, James, was serving as secretary of state.

Another unique case was the presidency of Andrew Jackson, whose wife, Rachel Donelson Jackson, died just months before his 1829 inauguration. Jackson asked his niece Emily Donelson to be first lady, though she was later replaced by his daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson. This began a tradition of daughters-in-law acting as first ladies to widowed presidents, including Angelica Van Buren (to Martin Van Buren), Jane Harrison (to William Henry Harrison), and Priscilla Cooper Tyler (to John Tyler).

Later, from 1857 to 1861, Harriet Lane acted as first lady to her uncle James Buchanan, who was a lifelong bachelor. Widower Chester Arthur and then-bachelor Grover Cleveland, meanwhile, enlisted the help of their sisters Mary Arthur McElroy and Rose Cleveland, respectively. In the two most recent examples, presidents' daughters filled the role for their widowed fathers. Mary McKee was first lady to Benjamin Harrison from 1892 to 1893, and Margaret Wilson served as Woodrow Wilson's first lady from 1914 to 1915. Since then, the role has been exclusively held by the president's spouse.

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By the Numbers

Age of the youngest first lady (Frances Cleveland)

Days served by the longest tenured first lady (Eleanor Roosevelt)

4,422

Did you know?

A pair of panda bears were gifted to Pat Nixon.

During a historic visit to China in February 1972 with her husband, Richard Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon sat next to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai at a dinner. During their conversation, Mrs. Nixon talked about going to the Peking Zoo to see pandas, and remarked about a cute cigarette box featuring panda iconography. After listening to her express adoration for these creatures, Zhou responded, "I'll give you some," and gifted two giant pandas to Mrs. Nixon and the American people. In April, the pandas — Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing — arrived at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., marking a symbolic moment in the easing of relations between the two countries. In return, the U.S. sent two musk oxen to China as a goodwill gesture. On April 20, Pat Nixon attended the dedication ceremony, and spoke about the "panda-monium" that was running wild. The two pandas lived long lives into the 1990s, attracting hundreds of visitors daily.

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