First Lady Bestsellers

Helen Taft was the first American First Lady to have her memoirs published during her lifetime. Tafts Recollections of Full Years was published in 1914, and covered everything from her childhood to her time spent in the Philippines with her husband, who was then Governor-General there, along with her time in the White House.

By the time Eleanor Roosevelt published her account of her years in the White House with her husband in 1949, she had already published a book about her early life and spoken to the public through frequent press conferences, a monthly column in Womans Home Companion magazine and a daily newspaper column, My Day. This I Remember, which covered Roosevelts life from 1921 through 1945, addressed Roosevelts time in the White House with depth and insight. But that wasnt where Eleanors story ended: the former First Lady later published another 14 books on various topics.

In 1989, former First Lady Nancy Reagan published My Turn, an attempt to set the record straight about her time in the White House. In the book, Reagan addressed her relationship with her husband and her children, their power dynamic while he was in office and her belief in astrology. The book spent 14 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, peaking at number one.

Bush family matriarch Barbara Bush published her memoir in 1994, and took the opportunity to have her say. Bush attacked prominent Democrats and a few conservatives as well, going so far as to call Pat Buchanans 1992 Republican convention racist. Bush also admitted that she and her husband deviated on some political issues, including abortion rights she believes abortion should always be an individuals choice, while her husband opposed abortion in all but the rarest of cases. Bushs book spent 20 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and reached number one, a feat her husbands 1999 book All the Best, George Bush, never achieved.

Hillary Clinton was among the more controversial First Ladies in American history because of her efforts to assert her independence from her husband personally and politically not to mention the colossal failure of her attempt at a healthcare overhaul. Clintons memoir glosses over the biggest scandal of her life Monica Lewinsky only gets three pages. However, Clinton does not hesitate to address the challenges of what she refers to as derivative power she had a tough time becoming simply the wife of someone else. Living History spent 17 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and reached number one when it was published in 2003. But it did not outsell Bill Clintons My Life, which was published the following year.