Meryl Ann Butler responds to the flurry of media misinformation around Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich and presidential patterns of citizenship, courtship and age issues.

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Presidential Patterns in Citizenship, Courtship and Age

There’s been a flurry of misinformation tossed about in the media lately, which attempts to position Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich outside the parameters of “presidentiality.” These comments have ranged from mentions of the fact that Elizabeth is a British citizen, to their short courtship, to the age difference between her and Dennis. And, recently, when Hannah Storm interviewed Dennis and Elizabeth on NBC’s The Early Show, she erroneously said to Elizabeth, “You would be the first, First Lady at such a young age.” This is quite simply, not true.

So here are some actual facts that show how “in step” Dennis and Elizabeth are with other presidential couples.

Youthful First Ladies

Elizabeth Kucinich, at the time of the January, 2009, inauguration, will be just 31 years old, but this would certainly not make her the youngest First Lady. This is exactly the same age that Jacqueline Kennedy (b. July 28, 1929) was at her husband’s inauguration on January 20, 1961.

But two other First Ladies were younger than Elizabeth and Jacqueline.

Julia Gardiner Tyler (b. May 4, 1820) became First Lady at age 24. She married President John Tyler (b. March 29, 1790) on June 26, 1844. He was the first president to marry in office. (His first wife died earlier in his term.)

The Tylers had a 30-year difference in their ages, just slightly less than Dennis and Elizabeth’s 31-year age difference.

According to http://www.firstladies.org/, “between 1841 and 1844, Julia received (marriage) proposals from no less than two Congressmen, one Supreme Court Justice, and one from President Tyler.” Former First Lady Dolley Madison (b. May 20, 1768) took credit for the matchmaking that resulted in their marriage. The site goes on to describe Julia as ”flirtatious … and very daring for her day …” Renowned for her beauty, she was dubbed, “The Rose of Long Island.” She introduced the polka to Washington society and had the Marine Band play “Hail to the Chief” when the President entered the room for special occasions.[1]

Frances Folsom Cleveland (b. July 21, 1864) was even younger. She became First Lady at age 21, when she married President Grover Cleveland on June 2, 1886. There was a 27-year difference in their ages. Theirs was the first and only wedding of an American president to take place in the executive mansion. The birth of their first child, Ruth (born during the four years between their two terms of office) created a national sensation. But Ruth was a sickly child, who only lived to the age of 12. According to her obituary, “She was known to the nation as ‘Baby Ruth’ during her White House years.”  Many products were named after her, and it has been popularly believed that Curtis Candy Company’s Baby Ruth candy bar was named for her as well, although there has been speculation to the contrary.

Some First Ladies were not the wives of the presidents. They were relatives or close friends, who served as hostesses for widowed or unmarried presidents, or in cases where the First Lady’s health prevented her from assuming that role. For instance, Harriet Lane was First Lady for her beloved, bachelor uncle, President James Buchanan, whom she called, “Nunc” and who raised her after she was orphaned.  She was only 26, but according to firstladies.org, she “nonetheless fill(ed) the difficult position of First Lady with a grace, elegance, and aplomb of a woman much older and much more experienced … In her will, she donated her invaluable art collection to the Smithsonian, which eventually became the nucleus of the National Gallery of Art.”

American Citizens or Not?

All of our First Ladies born before 1776 were British citizens, of course. These include Martha Washington (b. June 2, 1731), Abigail Adams (b. Nov. 11, 1744), Dolley Madison (b. May 20, 1768), Elizabeth Monroe (b. June 30, 1768), Louisa Adams (b. Feb. 12, 1775), and Anna Harrison (b. July 25, 1775) who was a First Lady, but never actually served, as her husband died after only 31 days in office, before she was able to move to Washington.

First Lady Louisa Johnson Adams was born in London, although she spent most of her childhood in France. She was four when she met 12-year-old John Quincy Adams in 1779, while he and his father were guests at the Johnson home. When she was 22, she and John Quincy, who was in Europe as a diplomat, were married in London on July 26, 1797.  “The wedding of the President's son to a British-born subject attracted national press back in the United States,” the Boston Independent Chronicle's September 14, 1797, edition stated, noting that, "Young John Adams' Negotiations have terminated in a Marriage Treaty with an English lady…" (firstladies.org).  Louisa saw America for the first time in 1800, when she was 25 years old.

According to firstladies.org, “Hannah Hoes Van Buren (was) the first President's wife to be born an American citizen, in 1783. All First Ladies before her were British Subjects.” However, since Hannah died 18 years before her husband became President, she never served as First Lady. Her husband, born in 1782, was the first President to be born an American citizen. President Van Buren designated his daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, to serve as hostess for the White House, and she is included in firstladies.org’s list of First Ladies.

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

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897, 22nd and 24th Pres.) First Lady, Frances Folsom Cleveland

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963, 35th Pres.) First Lady, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969, 36th Pres.) First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson

Meryl Ann Butler would like to thank Gail Davis for her exceptional editorial support. 

SOURCES

Clip from the Early Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsY2pYFnB6o (added to YouTube on Nov 4, 2007)

America’s First Ladies: Private Lives of the Presidential Wives. Diana Dixon Healy. 1988.

Dolley Payne Todd Madison

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=4

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/dm4.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/presidents/madison/dolley_3

http://moderntimes.vcdh.virginia.edu/madison

Louisa Adams:

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=6

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/la6.html

Hannah Van Buren

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=8

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_the_first_President_born_an_American_citizen

Julia Gardiner Tyler

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=11

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/jt10.html

Margaret Taylor

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=13

Harriett Lane

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=16

Francis Folsum Cleveland

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=23

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Cleveland

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/fc2224.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9403E6DB143DE631A2575BC0A9679C946597D6CF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Cleveland

Jacqueline Kennedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/jk35.html

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=36

Lady Bird Johnson

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=37

http://www.pbs.org/ladybird/earlyyears/earlyyears_documentary.html

Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich

www.dennis4president.com/

http://www.myspace.com/elizabethkucinich

http://www.myspace.com/denniskucinich

www.myspace.com/kucinich2008

http://www.youtube.com/denniskucinich

www.youtube.com/kucinich2008

http://www.myspace.com/denniskucinich

http://www.youtube.com/elizabethkucinich

http://www.youtube.com/denniskucinich

www.myspace.com/kucinich2008

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1030-04.htm

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.