UPDATE: A few weeks ago I was reading an issue of Life Magazine on books.google.com that had an article about the Kennedys campaigning in Michigan. Reporters asked Mrs. Kennedy several questions including how tall she was. She said 5'7", the same number she told Vogue Magazine. I emailed Firstladies.org which lists her height at 5'8". They referred me to the Kennedy Library. The Kennedy Library emailed and said they split the difference and listed it as 5'7 1/2".
- Martha Washington - Less than 5'
- Abigail Adams - 5'1"
- Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
- Dolley Madison - 5' 6 1/2"
- Elizabeth Kortright Monroe - About 5'
- Louisa Catherine Adams - 5' 6"
- Emily Donelson
- Hannah Hoes Van Buren
- Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
- Letitia Christian Tyler/Julia Gardiner Tyler - 5’3"
- Sarah Childress Polk
- Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor
- Abigail Powers Fillmore - 5'6"
- Jane M. Pierce - 5’4" or 5’5"
- Harriet Lane
- Mary Todd - 5'2"
- Eliza McCardle Johnson
- Julia Dent Grant
- Lucy Webb Hayes - 5'4"
- Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
- Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
- Frances Folsom Cleveland - 5'7"-5'8"
- Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison - 5'1"
- Ida Saxton McKinley
- Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt - 5'7"
- Helen Herron Taft
- Ellen Axson Wilson -5'3"/Edith Bolling Galt Wilson -5'9"
- Florence Kling Harding -5'6" - 5'7"
- Grace Goodhue Coolidge 5'5"
- Lou Henry Hoover - 5'8"
- Eleanor Roosevelt - 5'11"
- Bess Wallace Truman
- Mamie Doud Eisenhower - 5'1"
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - 5'7 1/2"
- Lady Bird Johnson - 5' 6"
- Pat Nixon - 5'5"
- Betty Ford - 5'5.5"
- Rosalynn Carter - 5'5"
- Nancy Reagan - 5'4"
- Barbara Bush
- Hillary Rodham Clinton - 5'4" or 5' 6"
- Laura Bush - 5'4" or 5'6"
- Michelle Obama -5' 11"
8 comments:
Martha Washington! Way to represent the under-5's!
Thought you'd be interested in this article about Martha Washington.
If Hillary Clinton's 5'8" then I'm 5"8" and I'm not 5'8". Therefore, Hillary Clinton is 5'4".
There. Those geometry proofs weren't for nothing.
I saw a life-sized cardboard cutout of Hillary, McCain and Obama during the primaries and you're right--Hillary is 5'4"!
Betty Ford - 5'5.5"
Actually, Michelle Obama is 5' 11". She states that herself in an interview with Barbara Walters.
Looking at the same presidents' height article on Wikipedia I noticed they did mention at the end that Eleanor Roosevelt was the tallest first lady at 5' 11". I then added the information about Michelle Obama. Check out the video of the "The View" where Michelle Obama speaks with Barbara Walters and others. Wiki Answers also states that both Michelle Obama and Eleanor Roosevelt are/were 5' 11". One site stated that Eleanor was 5' 11 1/2". I tried to find confirmation of this and even in her autobiography Eleanor doesn't say how tall she was. Don't know the source of this information.
I don't think Wikipedia's lack of an article on the heights of first ladies is sexist but due to a lack of data. Until suffrage women's heights were private or revealing it would be circumspect whereas the physical attributes of the men would be an issue in their election and imortant as the discrepancy between the heights of winning presidents and loser shows. Later many tall women, such as Eleaneor R, would be embarrassed by their height.
My apologies! I see there is a lot of data on the First Ladies library site. I see now what you mean - unfortunately, I think the presidents heights article is more interesting to more people and may have been written for that reason. It also helped establish the correlation (not necessarily the causation) of height and success in elections. Does the same correlation exist with First Ladies?
One last thought - thank you for doing this. It needed to be done.
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