Margaret “Peggy” Mackall Smith Taylor (1788-1852), wife of 12th President Zachary Taylor, was born on September 21, 1788. She was the first, First Lady to be born an American citizen.
Short and Sweet Courtships
Dennis and Elizabeth had a brief courtship. They met in early May of 2005, and both say it was “love at first sight.” They married just over three months later on August 21st. But their courtship wasn’t the shortest in presidential history.
Lyndon Baines Johnson proposed to Lady Bird Taylor at the end of their first date on August 31, 1934, and they married just 10 weeks later on November 17, 1934. According to a PBS documentary, “(Lady Bird) met the brash, young congressional aide at a party in Austin, two months after (her) graduation. LBJ immediately asked her to breakfast the next morning at the Driskill Hotel … (they) spent the day together and talked for hours. By sundown, LBJ said he wanted to marry her … Just 10 weeks after they met, Lady Bird was Lyndon Johnson's wife. She called (her father) Captain Taylor and said, "Last night, Lyndon and I committed matrimony."
Dolley and James Madison weren’t very far behind in the short courtship arena. They met officially in late May of 1794, when James Madison asked his friend Aaron Burr to introduce them. Dolley was 26 and James was 17 years older, a generation apart in colonial times. (When Dennis and Elizabeth met on May 4, 2005, she was 27 and he was 58.)
Dolley and James seem to have fallen for each other immediately, but kept it a secret or, at least they tried! Rumors found their ways to Martha Washington, who questioned James about it. He denied it. Nevertheless, they married three and a half months later, on Sept. 15, 1794.
Biographies of the Madisons frequently mention how blissful their relationship was. Dolley said, "our hearts understand each other." Similarly, Elizabeth and Dennis have characterized their happy relationship as a “meeting of souls.” Elizabeth says, “People who see us together understand–they see our connection.”
Clearly, neither differences in age, circumstances of birth, nor brevity of courtship stands in the way of powerfully linked partners, who follow their hearts in service of the people.
Chronology of the Presidents and First Ladies mentioned above, with years served:
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809, 3rd Pres.) Widowed. The First Lady role was filled by Dolley Madison (wife of Sect’y of State, James Madison) and Jefferson’s daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph.
James Madison (1809-1817, 4th Pres.) First Lady, Dolley Payne Todd Madison
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829, 6th Pres.) First Lady, Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams
Martin Van Buren, (1837-1841, 8th Pres.) His wife Hannah died before he served and he was a widower for the remainder of his life.
John Tyler (1841-1845, 10th Pres.) First Ladies, Letitia Tyler (who died during his term) and Julia Gardiner Tyler (who married him during his term.)
Zachary Taylor (March 4, 1849 - July 9, 1850, 12th Pres.) First Lady, Margaret “Peggy” Mackall Smith Taylor
James Buchanan (1857-1861, 15th Pres.) First Lady, niece, Harriet Lane
