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For millions of Americans, Nancy Reagan was the always-smiling and admiring presidential spouse who stood by her man. This book strikes a balance between the images of adoring helpmate and manipulative manager, showing us the woman behind the stereotypes and offering an objective understanding of her place in the history of presidential wives.

For most first ladies, their years in the White House are their sole claim to fame. For one - Hillary Rodham Clinton - that tenure was just another step in a remarkable political career. This book provides a look at arguably the most polarizing first lady in history and undoubtedly the most prominent American woman of our time.

Wife of one president and mother of another, Barbara Bush was an outspoken first lady who looked more like her constituents than did her predecessors. This title reveals a woman who was more of a success as first lady than her husband was as president - who in many ways was the public face of the George H W Bush administration.

Rosalynn Carter - the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt - was sometimes called the second most powerful person in United States. This biography of Rosalynn Carter examines how this activist first lady became a lightning rod for controversy when she took on roles that some considered inappropriate.

Florence Kling Harding has come down through history as one of our most scorned first ladies. This book offers a full treatment of Florence as first lady rather than as mere supporting actress in the Harding administration. It also describes how Mrs Harding supported racial equality, and maintained a lifelong interest in preventing animal cruelty.

An authoritative dual biography of the two wives of Woodrow Wilson. Presents a rich and complex portrait of Wilson's marriages, first to the demure Ellen Axon Wilson and then to the controversial Edith Bolling Wilson, as well as his relationship with a "dearest friend," Mary Allen Hulbert Peck.

Nancy Beck Young presents a documented study of Lou Henry Hoover's White House years, 1929-1933, showing that, far from a passive prelude to Eleanor Roosevelt, she was a true innovator.

Mamie Doud Eisenhower was a president's wife who seemed to most Americans like the friend next door. This biography captures the winning personality that made Mrs Eisenhower an important part of both her husband's success and her cultural milieu, and relates how her experience as an army wife better prepared her for the White House.

First Lady Betty Ford will long be remembered for her active support of the Equal Rights Amendment, her struggles with breast cancer and substance abuse, and her later involvement with the addiction treatment center that bears her name. But perhaps more than these, Betty Ford will stand as a paragon of candor and courage, an outspoken woman whose public positions did not always conform with those of her husband. An independent, free spirit who regularly ranks among the most-admired First Ladies, Betty Ford is considered by many to be the most outspoken since Eleanor Roosevelt: she spoke her mind publicly and frequently, sometimes sending the president's political advisors running for cover. This is the first book to address the successes and failures of her advocacy, the effect of her candor, and the overall impact of her brief tenure as First Lady. John Robert Greene traces Betty Ford's problems and triumphs from her childhood through her husband's entire political career, including his controversial presidency, which thrust her into an unrelenting media spotlight. He then tells how she confronted her personal demons and became a symbol of courage for women throughout the nation. Contrasting the sometimes harsh assessments of historians with the respect in which she continues to be held, Greene examines Betty Ford's outspoken opinions on abortion and women's rights and suggests that her views hampered Gerald Ford's ability to forge a coalition within the GOP and may well have been a factor in his presidential defeat. Afterwards, as the author highlights, Betty Ford remained a role model for people suffering from addictions and personal pain, and made seminal contributions in the fieldof public advocacy for women's health issues and substance abuse. The Betty Ford Center especially stands as a lasting tribute to her foresight and caring. Greene concludes that, while Gerald Ford wanted to restore an aura of honesty to the presidency, in many ways it was h