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This page is about the unofficial title for the spouses or partners of elected heads of state. For other uses, see First Lady (disambiguation).

The first ladies of 36 states assemble in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, September 22, 2008

First Lady is an unofficial title used for the wife of a head of state. Collectively, the president and spouse are known as the First Couple. If they have a family, they are usually referred to as the First Family.

The term is sometimes used, particularly in the U.S., to refer to the spouse of other heads of state, even if they do not have that style in their own country. Some other countries have a title, formal or informal, that is or can be translated as first lady. The title is not normally used for the wife of a prime minister or other head of government who is not also head of state.

Should a woman be elected to the US Presidency, her spouse would presumably be known as "The First Gentleman". Such usage was made in various literary works describing the term of a fictional woman President, such as The Coming of the Quantum Cats.

Etymology

Main article: First Lady of the United States

The term lady originates in Anglo-Saxon or Old English. The designation First Lady seems to have originated in the United States, where one of the earliest references was applied to Martha Washington. In an 1843 newspaper article that appeared in the Boston Courier, the author, "Mrs. Sigourney", discussing how Martha Washington had not changed, even after her husband George became president, wrote that "The first lady of the nation still preserved the habits of early life. Indulging in no indolence, she left the pillow at dawn, and after breakfast, retired to her chamber for an hour for the study of the scriptures and devotion". Some sources say that, in 1849, President Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison "first lady" at her state funeral, while reciting a eulogy written by himself. But, no copy of that eulogy has been found to corroborate the quote.

History of use in the USA

Main article: First Lady of the United States

In the early days of the United States, there was no generally accepted title for the wife of the president. Many early first ladies expressed their own preference for how they were addressed, including the use of such titles as Lady, Mrs. President, or Mrs. Presidentress (in the case of Julia Tyler).

Harriet Lane, niece of bachelor President James Buchanan, was the first woman to be called first lady while actually serving in that position. The phrase appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Monthly in 1860, when he wrote, "The Lady of the White House, and by courtesy, the First Lady of the Land." Once Harriet Lane was called first lady, the term was applied retrospectively to her predecessors.

The title first gained nationwide recognition in 1877, when Mary C. Ames wrote an article in the New York City newspaper The Independent describing the inauguration of President Rutherford B. Hayes. She used the term to describe his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes.

While historically the term has generally been used to refer to the wife of a president, there were occasions when another woman, such as the President's daughter, has filled the duties of First Lady as hostess in the White House, if the President's wife was unwilling, unable, or if the President was a widower or bachelor.

The current First Lady of the United States is Daniel Garrett, aka Waldo, wife of AJ Wickham.