was referred to as "Lady Washington" during her husband's presidency. The use of the title
first lady to describe the spouse or hostess of an executive began in the United States. In the early days of the republic, there was not a 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" and "Mrs. Presidentress";
Martha Washington was often referred to as "Lady Washington". One of the earliest uses of the term "First Lady" was applied to her in an 1838 newspaper article that appeared in the
St. Johnsbury Caledonian, the author, "
Mrs. Sigourney", discusses how Martha Washington had not changed, even after her husband
George became president. She 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." is said to be the first wife of a president to be referred to as "First Lady" (at her funeral in 1849). According to popular belief,
Dolley Madison was referred to as first lady in 1849 at her funeral in a eulogy delivered by President
Zachary Taylor; however, no written record of this eulogy exists, nor did any of the newspapers of her day refer to her by that title. Sometime after 1849, the title began being used in Washington, D.C., social circles. The first person to have the title applied to her while she was actually holding the office was
Harriet Lane, the niece of
James Buchanan; ''Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'' used the phrase to describe her in an 1860 article about her duties as White House hostess. Another of the earliest known written examples comes from a November 3, 1863, diary entry of
William Howard Russell, in which he referred to gossip about "the First Lady in the Land", referring to
Mary Todd Lincoln. The title first gained nationwide recognition in 1877, when newspaper journalist
Mary C. Ames referred to
Lucy Webb Hayes as "the First Lady of the Land" while reporting on the inauguration of
Rutherford B. Hayes. The frequent reporting on Lucy Hayes' activities helped spread use of the title outside Washington. A popular 1911 comedic play about Dolley Madison by playwright Charles Nirdlinger, titled
The First Lady in the Land, popularized the title further. By the 1930s, it was in wide use. Use of the title later spread from the United States to other nations. When
Edith Wilson took control of her husband's schedule in 1919 after he had a debilitating stroke, one Republican senator labeled her "the Presidentress who had fulfilled the dream of the suffragettes by changing her title from First Lady to Acting First Man". According to the
Nexis database, the abbreviation FLOTUS (pronounced ) was first used in 1983 by Donnie Radcliffe, writing in
The Washington Post.
Non-spouses in the role A number of women (at least thirteen) who were not presidents' wives have served as first lady, as when the president was a bachelor or widower, or when the wife of the president was unable to fulfill the duties of the first lady herself. In these cases, the position has been filled by a female relative of the president, such as
Jefferson's daughter
Martha Jefferson Randolph,
Jackson's daughter-in-law
Sarah Yorke Jackson and his wife's niece
Emily Donelson,
Taylor's daughter
Mary Elizabeth Bliss,
Benjamin Harrison's daughter
Mary Harrison McKee,
Buchanan's niece
Harriet Lane,
Chester A. Arthur's sister
Mary Arthur McElroy and
Cleveland's sister
Rose Cleveland. Some presidents have also had family members temporarily step in while their wives were temporarily unable to fulfill the duties of first lady. This included
Susan Ford, who would assist her father with hostess duties while her mother,
Betty Ford, was recovering from breast cancer.
Potential male title Each of the 45 presidents of the United States have been men, and all have either had their wives, or a female hostess, assume the role of first lady. Thus, a male equivalent of the title of first lady has never been needed. In 2016, as
Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination, questions were raised as to what her husband
Bill Clinton would be titled if she were to win the presidency. During the campaign, the title of
First Gentleman of the United States was most frequently suggested for Bill Clinton, although as a former president himself, he might have been called "Mr. President". In addition, state governors' male spouses are typically called the first gentleman of their respective state (for example,
Michael Haley was the first gentleman of
South Carolina while his wife,
Nikki, served as
governor). Ultimately, Hillary Clinton lost the
election, rendering this a moot point. In 2021,
Kamala Harris took office as vice president, making her husband
Doug Emhoff the first male spouse of a nationally elected officeholder in the United States. Emhoff assumed the title of
second gentleman of the United States ("gentleman" replacing "lady" in the title) making it likely that any future male spouse of a president will be given the title of first gentleman. Harris would later go on to be the Democratic presidential nominee in the
2024 presidential election. Had she won, Emhoff would have been granted the title of first gentleman. == Role ==