First Ladies: In Their Own Words

First Ladies from Lady Bird Johnson to Melania Trump talked about the role of the First Lady, their time in the White House, and the issues important to them.

in this episode, you'll hear from the 44th First Lady, Michelle Obama.   Making history as the United State's first African-American First Lady, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born in 1964. The Chicago native was the younger of two children. Following her brother Craig, she studied at Princeton University, graduating in 1985 with a degree in sociology and a minor in African-American studies. She received a law degree from Harvard in 1988.  With Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20th, 2009, Michelle Obama became first lady, serving in that role for President Obama's two terms. The couple left office on January 20th, 2017.

Born Laura Lane Welch in 1946, the Midland, Texas native grew up as an only child. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a degree in education and taught second grade for two years. Then she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a master's degree in Library Science in 1973.  Her work as a librarian continued, first in the Houston Public Library system and then in the Austin Independent School District, where she stayed until 1977.  That same year she met George W. Bush at a backyard barbecue of their mutual friends.  They were married in November of 1977.  In 1981, the two welcomed fraternal twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara.

Born Hillary Diane Rodham in 1947, the Chicago, Illinois native grew up the oldest of three children.  She graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 and then Yale Law School in 1973. While at Yale, she met fellow law student Bill Clinton and the two married in 1975.  During the 1970s, Hillary Rodham Clinton worked as a lawyer and a law professor at the University of Arkansas Law School. She continued her professional career while the First Lady of Arkansas between 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. In January 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first lady when Bill Clinton took office as president.  First Ladies from Lady Bird Johnson to Melania Trump talked about the role of the First Lady, their time in the White House, and the issues important to them.

Born Anne Frances Robbins in 1921, the New York City native moved to Maryland early in her childhood and later settled in Chicago. Her mother's second husband adopted her there, and she became Nancy Davis.   During the 1940s and '50s, Nancy Reagan was a Hollywood actress, starring in films such as The Next Voice You Hear and Donovan's Brain. In 1952, she married fellow actor Ronald Reagan, who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Ronald Reagan later successfully ran to be Governor in California, and Nancy Reagan was the first lady of the state from 1967 to 1975. And later, when Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, she was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. First Ladies from Lady Bird Johnson to Melania Trump talk about the role of the First Lady, their time in the White House, and the issues important to them.

In this episode, you'll hear from the 39th First Lady of the United States…Rosalynn Carter.  Born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith in 1927 in Plains, Georgia, she married the future president in 1946.  She was First Lady of Georgia from 1971-1975 and First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 when Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 after defeating the incumbent President Gerald Ford.

In this episode, you'll hear from the 38th First Lady of the United States, Betty Ford.     Born in 1918 in Chicago, Betty married then congressional candidate Gerald Ford in 1948. Together, they raised four children as Mr. Ford rose to prominence in Washington.     President Ford, who came to office in the wake of President Nixon's Watergate resignation, lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter.

In this episode, we focus on Lady Bird Johnson, the 36th First Lady of the United States.  Born in 1912, Lady Bird Johnson grew up in Texas and married Lyndon Johnson -- a young congressional aide with big ambitions-- in 1934.

There's been much more recognition of the historic contributions of America's first ladies in recent years. Join us as C-SPAN takes you through the White House experiences of eight First Ladies starting with Lady Bird Johnson and ending with Melania Trump.  Using material from C-SPAN's award-winning biography series, First Ladies, and original source material from C-SPAN's video library, you'll listen to reflections of these first spouses explaining how they used their platform to address issues important to them.  First Ladies In Their Own Words. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts starting March 5th.