The Health Of The First Ladies: Medical Histories From Martha Washington To Michelle Obama - Plot & Excerpts
Mrs. Taft coveted the presidency for her politically unambitious husband, William Taft. However, it was Mrs. Nixon’s husband, Richard, who strove inexorably towards the presidency while his wife occupied a supportive, but not a leadership, role in his political ascendancy. Nellie came from wealth; Pat’s family was, at best, lower middle class. Future first lady Taft was conspicuous in political maneuvering; Pat Nixon remained in the background. Two similarities pair first ladies Taft and Nixon in this chapter. Both suffered disabling strokes, one as she commenced her White House responsibilities, the other soon after her husband resigned the presidency in disgrace and she was attempting to reestablish her personal life. Both smoked cigarettes at a time when this habit was unfashionable for women. They were not the only first ladies to do so, but they were the ones to suffer the medical consequences of this habit. Helen Herron (Nellie) Taft: A Formidable But Frustrated First Lady “Given four years of good health and sustained hard work, she might have reshaped the role of the first lady decades earlier than Eleanor Roosevelt or Lady Bird Johnson did.”1 Family Background and the Early Marriage Years Helen Herron, born July 2, 1861, was the third of eight surviving children of the upper-middle class Herron family of Cincinnati, Ohio.
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