{"product_id":"nellie-taft-the-unconventional-first-lady-of-the-ragtime-era-9780060513825","title":"Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom critically acclaimed presidential-family historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony comes the first biography of Helen Herron Taft  the unconventional wife of the twenty-seventh President of the United States who  in an era before Eleanor Roosevelt  was overt about her power and saw to it that her husband both aspired to  and won  the highest office in the land. On the morning of William Howard Tafts inauguration  Nellie Taft publicly expressed that theirs would be a joint administration by shattering precedent and demanding that she ride alongside her husband down Pennsylvania Avenue  a seat previously held for the outgoing President. In addition to her passion for entertaining  this progressive First Lady was an advocate for higher education and partial suffrage for women  initiated legislation to improve working conditions for federal employees  and created Washingtons famous grove of blossoming cherry trees. She smoked  drank  and gambled without regard to societal judgment. During Tafts time as the governor general of the Philippines  she broke racial and class boundaries. Nellie Tafts fate was ultimately bound to larger events  including the Titanic sinking and Teddy Roosevelts creation of the Bull Moose Party. Drawn from previously unpublished diaries  a lifetime of love letters between Will and Nellie  and detailed family correspondence and recollections  Anthony develops a riveting portrait of Nellie Taft as one of the strongest links in the series of women -- from Abigail Adams to Hillary Rodham Clinton -- often critically declared \"co-Presidents.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647020228661,"sku":"ByrdShop_0060513829","price":24.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780060513825.jpg?v=1781685850","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/nellie-taft-the-unconventional-first-lady-of-the-ragtime-era-9780060513825","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}