Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnson,
niece of lifelong bachelor James Buchanan, acted as First Lady from 1857 to 1861. An orphan after the death of her father when she was 11 years old (her mother had died two years earlier), she requested that her favourite uncle, James Buchanan, be appointed her legal guardian. After the sadness of the Pierce administration, the capital eagerly welcomed its new "Democratic Queen" to the White House in 1857. Harriet was a popular hostess during the four years of the Buchanan presidency. Women copied her hair and clothing styles (especially when she lowered the neckline on her inaugural gown by 2.5 inches), parents named their daughters for her, and a popular song ("Listen to the Mockingbird") was dedicated to her. While in the White House, she used her position to promote social causes, such as improving the living conditions of Native Americans in reservations. She also made a point of inviting artists and musicians to White House functions. For both her popularity and her advocacy work, she has been described as the first of the modern first ladies, and her popularity at the time is compared to that of Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. The Presidential Yacht was named for her and pressed into service during the Civil War—the first of three ships to be named for her, one of which is still in service today. As sectional tensions increased, she worked out seating arrangements for her weekly formal dinner parties with special care, to give dignitaries their proper precedence and still keep political foes apart. Her tact did not falter, but her task became impossible--as did her uncle's. Seven states had seceded by the time Buchanan retired from office and returned with his niece to his spacious country home, Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Drink:
Black Hawk Cocktail
1 oz Canadian Club Whisky
1 oz Sloe gin
.5 oz Fresh lemon juice
Drinkability - 3.5
Drunkability - 4
Taxic Diversity - 5
Accessibility - 3
Priority for Conservation - 1
From the First Ladies, no host given
No comments:
Post a Comment