June FLOTUS birthdays
June is tied with October for the most First Lady birthdays. (Coincidentally, October is tied for first place as the birthiest month for presidents, too. With November though. Presidentially speaking, June is disappointing.)
There are two sets First Ladies who share birthdays. And they’re both in June! (There’s only one pair of presidents who share a birthday.)
Not only that, but one of the sets of First Ladies who share a birthday also share a death day! 🤯 Martha Washington and Helen Taft (“Nellie”) were born 130 years apart on June 2 and died 141 years apart on May 22. (Once again, Learning Plunge coming through for me!)
It’s also the only month (as far as I could see?) that a president and First Lady share a birth month… Barbara and George H.W. Bush!
I was excited to dive in, until I realized Jill Biden was one of the birthday babies. It’s a lot easier to get away with a terrible drawing of Rachel Jackson or Ida McKinley than it is with Jill Biden. Too late to turn back now.
June 2, 1731: Martha Washington
June 2, 1861: Helen Taft
June 3, 1951: Dr. Jill Biden
June 8, 1847: Ida McKinley
June 8, 1925: Barbara Bush
June 15, 1767: Rachel Jackson
June 30, 1768: Elizabeth Monroe
If you prefer by birth order:
June 2, 1731: Martha Washington
June 15, 1767: Rachel Jackson
June 30, 1768: Elizabeth Monroe
June 8, 1847: Ida McKinley
June 2, 1861: Helen Taft
June 8, 1925: Barbara Bush
June 3, 1951: Dr. Jill Biden
A few random things about this group:
Rachel Jackson died after the election but before her husband was president.
In the strictest of senses, she was not First Lady.
In the loosest of sense where I make the rules around here and I want to talk about everyone who was married to a president (during, before, or after the presidency), I’m including her.
Her niece Emily Donelson filled in as First Lady. It’s worth noting that Emily was born June 1, 1807.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham
Nellie Taft
first First Lady to ride with her husband on inauguration.
the only person married to a president and a Chief Justice.
Barbara Bush
attended most of her husband’s baseball games at Yale, even when pregnant with W. In his words: “Fortunately for her, the stadium included a double-wide seat behind home plate designed for former law professor William Howard Taft.”
One of two to be both First Lady and mother of a president (Abigail Adams was the other).
Dr. Jill Biden was
the first SLOTUS to keep working full time (she taught English at Northern Virginia Community College).
Jill Biden and Barbara Bush both:
wrote children’s books
served as Second Ladies before becoming First Ladies
Age married
Teens
Elizabeth Monroe was just 17 when she married 27-year-old James
Barbara Bush was 19 when she married 20-year-old George
20s
The Jacksons were both 24 (smallest age difference between POTUS and FLOTUS … he was born March 15).
Martha Washington was 27 when she married 26-year-old George.
Ida McKinley was 27 when she married 23-year-old William.
Ida Taft was 25 when she married 28-year-old William Howard.
Jill Biden was 23 when she married Joe, who is nine years older.
2nd marriages
Martha Washington
Her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, was almost twenty years older.
They were married seven years, until his death.
She enjoyed her freedom — and her rare power. Without any male relatives, her wealth was actually hers.
She wasn’t interested in suitors until the hot, broke hero George Washington came along.
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts
Rachel Jackson
She married her first husband, Lewis Robards, at 17.
He was an asshole — incurably jealous and suspicious, constantly accusing her of sleeping around. Meanwhile, there were rumors of his infidelity … likely forcing himself on enslaved women. He was also possibly physically abusive.
She met Jackson, and well… it’s unclear exactly what happened but she took charge of her life instead of continuing to live with the monster she married.
Details are a little fuzzy, but it’s possible she thought they were divorced when she married Jackson.
The 1828 presidential campaign was dirty — with rumors spread about Rachel (bigamy, adultury, and worse…). A newspaper in Cincinnati even claimed Jackson’s mom (who had been dead half a century) was a prostitute.
Rachel died shortly before they were to move to Washington, DC.
Jackson blamed her death on JQA.
Full transparency: Jackson’s team spread rumors about John Quincy Adams, too. His wife wasn’t American. He had a billiard table. Both of which were true. But still. Also, he “procurred a woman” for Czar Alexander. Not true.
Jill Biden
Briefly married in the early 70s.
Like George Washington, she married someone who lost their spouse and helped raise their children.
Unlike the Washingtons, the Bidens had a child together.
Military spouse
Martha Washington stayed with General Washington at camp during Revolutionary War winters.
James Monroe was a Revolutionary War hero, too. He was injured in the war. He was only 17 at the time; they weren’t a couple yet.
8-year-old Jackson was a courier for the militia during the Revolutionary War; he was captured. Very heroic after the War of 1812 ended, but he didn’t know the war was over.
America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick, by Bob Crawford
McKinley served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
George H.W. Bush served in the Navy during World War II.
June 19
Martha’s daughter (“Patsy”) died during a seizure on June 19. She was just a toddler when her mom married George Washington and 17 when she died.
The Tafts got married on June 19. During his presidency, they celebrated their silver anniversary with a party. She invited 6,000 guests — including relatives of every president dating back to 1861.
(The Monroes and Bidens also married in June, but not this particular day in June.)
Saved someone’s life
I was so excited about this commonality — both Ida McKinley and Elizabeth Monroe saved someone’s life!
I thought.
Though I have a distinct memory of reading that Ida saved a boy’s life as he was falling off a carriage, resulting in injuries that impacted the rest of her life… I must have made that up. No doodles to support it. And I found no info online about it.
But I do know that Elizabeth Monroe was credited with saving Adrienne de La Fayette from the guillotine.
Height difference
1' 2'' separated the Washingtons
1' 1'' separated the Monroes (Elizabeth was “statuesque” … but a tiny statue. One that’s not five feet tall.)
1' 1'' separated the Jacksons
Not sure how tall Ida McKinley was; the rest had an uninteresting height difference not worth mentioning.
Health
Three of these women had significant health issues that hindered their ability to perform First Lady duties. (That feels like it’s said with judgment… it’s not intended that way.)
Elizabeth Monroe suffered from an unspecified chronic illness. Her eldest daughter filled for her when needed.
After visiting her dad’s good friend President Hayes at the White House, Nellie Taft decided she would only marry someone “destined to be President of the United States”. She was more excited about the presidency than Taft was. Two months into the presidency, she suffered a stroke and had to take a year off.
Ida McKinley suffered from seizures.
Political party
I’m taking some liberties here… not all of these women would have been affiliated with a political party. In those cases, I’m using their husband’s party.
Federalist
Washington
Democratic-Republican
Monroe
Democrat
Jackson
Biden
Republican
McKinley
Taft
(During Prohibition, she was wet and he was dry)Bush
Same blog different doodles
Searching my computer for doodles of these birthday ladies to draw, I found not one… not two… but three on one spread from Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park!
None of these presidents, nor Jessie Wilson, Leon Czolgosz, or Ed Park were born in June. Kind of a bummer. I’m a June baby though and I guess I’m on the page, even if I’m not.
The women highlighted in pink: born in June
The men highlighted in blue: married to someone born in June
Flip through the rest of the doodles, if you want.
Children
Martha Washington: 4; two died quite young; she outlived them all. Her son Jacky died two weeks after Cornwallis surrendered.
Elizabeth Monroe: 3; her son died as a baby
Rachel Jackson: 0 biological, but they “adopted” their nephew and were guardians to several others. Andrew Jackson adopted an orphan named Lyncona. Sure, he first made Lyncona an orphan. It’s a batty story.
Ida McKinley: 2 daughters; neither made it to adulthood
Nellie Taft: 3, including Senator Robert Taft (President Truman’s nemesis; Truman would go to the bathroom and order they activation of the waste disposal system whenever he flew over Taft’s state).
Barbara Bush: 6; her daughter Robin died tragically died of leukemia before she was 4 years old.
Dr. Jill Biden: 2 stepsons and one daughter (who shares a birthday with Barbara Bush).
‘Til death do us part
George Washington died in 1799; Martha died in 1802.
Elizabeth Monroe died in 1830; James died the following year.
Rachel Jackson died in 1828, just a few weeks before they were to head to the White House. Andrew blamed his opponent for her death. Though the closest in age of all presidential marriages, he outlived her significantly — the longest separation in this list. He died June 8 (Ida McKinley’s birthday) 17 years later.
Of this batch, the Jackson’s are the only graves I’ve visited so far. They’re buried at The Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee.
William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 while in office. Ida died less than six years later.
William Howard Taft died in 1930 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. When she died in 1943, she joined him.
Barbara Bush died in April 2018 and George died a few months later, in November. They were outmarried only by the Carters, in terms of the length of their marriage — 73 years and 101 days.
One set shares a b-day and a d-day