First Ladies: Influence & Image is a 35-episode American television series produced by C-SPAN that originally aired from February 25, 2013 to February 10, 2014. Each episode originally aired live and looked at the life and times of one or more of the first ladies of the United States. Episodes featured interviews with historians, journalists, and other experts; included footage of locations significant to the featured first lady and interviews with several contemporary first ladies; and incorporated calls and tweets from viewers. C-SPAN has archived all video from the series to its website. It was produced in cooperation with the White House Historical Association, and was hosted by C-SPAN co-CEO Susan Swain.

In April 2015, PublicAffairs Books published the companion book First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Swain and C-SPAN. The network began re-airing the TV series on C-SPAN3 in April 2015.

Background and production

The series was executive produced by Mark Farkas, who also produced C-SPAN's series on presidents, unsuccessful candidates and the Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates of 1858, and feature documentaries on the Capitol, White House and Supreme Court. The idea for the series came from Richard Norton Smith, a presidential historian and former head of five presidential libraries. Norton Smith and historians William Seale, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn and Edith Mayo served as the show's academic advisors. Producer Andy Och, a video journalist, visited historic sites significant to the first ladies. Farkas and Och spoke with historians, archivists and curators. The show was hosted by C-SPAN co-CEO Susan Swain. Peter Slen hosted the program on Eleanor Roosevelt and co-hosted programs on Mamie Eisenhower, and Edith Wilson.

With First Ladies: Influence & Image, C-SPAN featured the history of the first ladies in chronological order during two seasons broadcast over the course of one year. Season 1, featuring Martha Washington through Ida McKinley, ran from February 25, 2013 to June 10, 2013. Three months later, the following season ran, featuring Edith Roosevelt through Michelle Obama, from September 9, 2013 to February 10, 2014. C-SPAN devoted most of the 90-minute episodes to a single first lady, but some early programs covered several within one broadcast. The Eleanor Roosevelt episode was 2 hours long.

The live broadcasts included commentary from in-studio historians, journalists and experts, as well as calls and interaction from viewers and social media users, and pre-recorded on-location footage at historical sites of significance to the featured first lady. The first season relied mainly on letters and written materials to provide insight into the first ladies’ lives. As the second season moved into modern times, the broadcasts included audio and video of the women.

First Ladies: Influence & Image delved into how FLOTUS' role has evolved since the 18th century. The series aimed to underscore how the presidents' wives—who were respectively fashion icons, advocates for their husbands, advisors and champions of their own causes—impacted political, social and White House history.

Programs

Date of first broadcast(with link to video)First Lady profiled(with link to First Ladies page)PresidentGuestsFebruary 25, 2013Martha Washington (First Ladies)George WashingtonPatricia Brady, Richard Norton SmithMarch 4, 2013Abigail Adams (First Ladies)John AdamsEdith Gelles, C. James TaylorMarch 11, 2013Martha Jefferson Randolph (First Ladies)Thomas JeffersonCatherine Allgor, Edith MayoDolley Madison (First Ladies)James MadisonMarch 18, 2013Elizabeth Monroe (First Ladies)James MonroeDaniel F. Preston, Richard Norton SmithLouisa Adams (First Ladies)John Quincy Adams Amanda Mathews, Richard Norton SmithMarch 25, 2013Rachel Jackson (First Ladies)Andrew JacksonPatricia Brady, Michael Douglas HendersonHannah Van Buren (First Ladies)Martin Van Buren April 1, 2013Anna Harrison (First Ladies)William Henry HarrisonEdna Greene Medford, Taylor StoermerLetitia Tyler (First Ladies)John Tyler Julia Tyler (First Ladies)April 8, 2013Sarah Polk (First Ladies)James K. Polk Paul Finkelman, Conover HuntMargaret Taylor (First Ladies)Zachary TaylorAbigail Fillmore (First Ladies)Millard FillmoreApril 15, 2013Jane Pierce (First Ladies)Franklin Pierce Ann Covell, Feather Schwartz FosterHarriet Lane (First Ladies)James BuchananApril 22, 2013Mary Lincoln (First Ladies)Abraham Lincoln Richard Norton Smith, Rosalyn Terborg-PennApril 29, 2013Eliza Johnson (First Ladies)Andrew JohnsonJacqueline Berger, Kendra HinkleMay 6, 2013Julia Grant (First Ladies)Ulysses S. Grant William Seale, Pamela SanfilippoMay 13, 2013Lucy Hayes (First Ladies)Rutherford B. Hayes Allida Black, Thomas CulbertsonMay 20, 2013Lucretia Garfield (First Ladies)James A. Garfield Carl Sferrazza AnthonyEllen Arthur (First Ladies)Chester A. ArthurMay 27, 2013Frances Cleveland (First Ladies)Grover Cleveland Annette Dunlap, Taylor StoermerJune 3, 2013Caroline Harrison (First Ladies)Benjamin Harrison Edith Mayo, William SealeJune 10, 2013Ida McKinley (First Ladies)William McKinley Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Richard Norton SmithSeptember 9, 2013Edith Roosevelt (First Ladies)Theodore Roosevelt Stacy Cordery, Kathleen DaltonSeptember 16, 2013Helen Taft (First Ladies)William Howard TaftJane Hampton Cook, Lewis GouldSeptember 23, 2013Ellen Wilson (First Ladies)Woodrow Wilson John Milton Cooper Jr., Kristie Miller Edith Wilson (First Ladies)September 30, 2013Florence Harding (First Ladies)Warren G. Harding David Pietrusza, Katherine SibleyOctober 7, 2013Grace Coolidge (First Ladies)Calvin CoolidgeCynthia Bittinger, Amity ShlaesOctober 14, 2013Lou Hoover (First Ladies)Herbert Hoover Emily Charnock, Annette B. DunlapOctober 21, 2013Eleanor Roosevelt (First Ladies)Franklin D. RooseveltAllida M. Black, Douglas BrinkleyOctober 28, 2013Bess Truman (First Ladies)Harry S. Truman Nicole Anslover, William SealeNovember 4, 2013Mamie Eisenhower (First Ladies)Dwight D. Eisenhower Marilyn Irvin Holt, Edith MayoNovember 11, 2013Jacqueline Kennedy (First Ladies)John F. Kennedy Michael Beschloss, Barbara A. PerryNovember 18, 2013Lady Bird Johnson (First Ladies)Lyndon B. Johnson Betty Boyd Caroli, Cokie RobertsNovember 25, 2013Pat Nixon (First Ladies)Richard Nixon Mary Brennan, Timothy NaftaliDecember 2, 2013Betty Ford (First Ladies)Gerald Ford Steven M. Ford, Richard Norton SmithDecember 9, 2013Rosalynn Carter (First Ladies)Jimmy Carter Jay E. Hakes, Grace Elizabeth HaleJanuary 13, 2014Nancy Reagan (First Ladies)Ronald Reagan Carl Cannon, Judy WoodruffJanuary 20, 2014Barbara Bush (First Ladies)George H. W. Bush Jeffrey A. Engel, Myra GutinJanuary 27, 2014Hillary Clinton (First Ladies)Bill Clinton David Maraniss, Gail SheehyFebruary 3, 2014Laura Bush (First Ladies)George W. Bush Ann Gerhart, Mark UpdegroveFebruary 10, 2014Michelle Obama (First Ladies)Barack ObamaLiza Mundy, Krissah Thompson

Other media

PublicAffairs Books published First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women, written by Susan Swain and C-SPAN, on April 14, 2015. The work pairs historians together to discuss the lives and legacies of the first ladies. A companion piece to the TV series, the book features historians' takes on the first ladies' personalities, marriages, passions and legacies. Kirkus Reviews said the 496-page book portrays where each first lady came from "and what was truly important to her".

C-SPAN and the White House Historical Association each launched websites to tie in with the series. The sites include essays, educational materials, videos, photographs and historical documents.

References

External links Official White House Historical Association site