Nellie Taft

First LadiesAmericansWomen1800s1900s
Written By Heather Rogers, America's Preeminent Presidential Doodler

FIRST LADY TO WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT // #27

  • Spent time in the White House as a teenager (her dad was friends with President Rutherford B. Hayes) and it was life-changing

  • Determined only to marry someone “destined to be President of the United States”

  • Taft wanted her to be his “senior partner”

  • Suffered a terrible stroke a couple of months into his term; had to take a year off from First Lady duties

  • She banned facial hair for everyone working in the White House… with one exception

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Nellie Taft
Heather Rogers, America's Preeminent Presidential Doodler

Heather isn’t a historian, an academic, or an impartial storyteller… but she has read more than one book about every U.S. president. Out of spite. She was dubbed America’s Preeminent Presidential Doodler by one of her favorite authors and she’s been repeating it ever since. When she’s not reading or doodling history books, she’s a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.

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