--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet…" description: "\"“Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly used—have so reveled in the White House or developed such a proprietary feeling about it. “Eight hap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png" --- # Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly… ![“Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly used—have so reveled in the White House or developed such a proprietary feeling about it. “Eight happy years I spent there—so happy!” Julia would reminisce. “It still seems as much like home to me as the old farm in Missouri, White Haven.” quote by Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png) > ““Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly used—have so reveled in the White House or developed such a proprietary feeling about it. “Eight happy years I spent there—so happy!” Julia would reminisce. “It still seems as much like home to me as the old farm in Missouri, White Haven.”” [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Julia’s deep affection for the White House reflects how personal spaces become extensions of identity **In simple terms:** Home can become a personal sanctuary even when it’s a public place Key Takeaway Recognize the emotional ties to your environment Themes home identity place attachment Mood nostalgic reflective Type historical personal When to use this quote - political memoirs - historical tours - personal storytelling Key Concepts public office personal history emotional geography Questions to Reflect On - What makes a place feel like home? - How do personal memories shape public roles? A Different Perspective Romanticizing political spaces can ignore broader responsibilities ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [First ladies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-ladies/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [“MELLICK, ANDREW D., JR. 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But the job remains undefined, frequently misunderstood, and subject to political attacks far nastier in some ways than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-truman-daniel/first-ladies-are-doing-a-lot-but-the-job-remains-undefined-frequently/) [Margaret Truman Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-truman-daniel/) > [“You might think lunchtime at Willing would be different from other high schools. 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Rusher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-rusher/) > [First Ladies have always been held like specimens under a media microscope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/first-ladies-have-always-been-held-like-specimens-under-a-media/) [Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/) > [Almost all first ladies have had tremendous power on personnel issues, whether the public realized it or not, whether it was Barbara Bush or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-dee-myers/almost-all-first-ladies-have-had-tremendous-power-on-personnel-issues/) [Dee Dee Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-dee-myers/) > [Mrs. Johnson was one of our most important First Ladies. Quietly but firmly, she advised LBJ on rhetoric, strategy, and personal relations and helped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/mrs-johnson-was-one-of-our-most-important-first-ladies-quietly-but/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) ## More by Ron Chernow > [“In other words, Julia still believed in the beneficial effects of tobacco long after her husband had likely died from it. Even grimacing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/in-other-words-julia-still-believed-in-the-beneficial-effects-of/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Right before his inauguration, he received a Quaker delegation and asked them to nominate Indian agents from their members. “If you can make Quakers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/right-before-his-inauguration-he-received-a-quaker-delegation-and/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Grant roomed with Fred Dent, who also singled out Grant as “the clearest headed young man I ever saw . . . He always wanted to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/grant-roomed-with-fred-dent-who-also-singled-out-grant-as-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [The richly cadenced prose is hypnotic, the research prodigious, the analysis acute, the mood spellbinding, and the cast of characters mythic in scale. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-richly-cadenced-prose-is-hypnotic-the-research-prodigious-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Hamilton has often been extolled as the exponent of a rational foreign policy based on cool calculations of national self-interest. But his April 14…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/hamilton-has-often-been-extolled-as-the-exponent-of-a-rational/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“While the folks at home embraced him as an improbable hero, Washington was denigrated in England as a reckless young warrior and in France…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/while-the-folks-at-home-embraced-him-as-an-improbable-hero-washington/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“the immorality of slavery became patently clear that spring. He had acquired from Colonel Dent the mulatto slave named William Jones who had worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-immorality-of-slavery-became-patently-clear-that-spring-he-had/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“As his life steadily unraveled, he pawned his gold watch and chain for $20 on December 23, 1857, to purchase Christmas presents for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/as-his-life-steadily-unraveled-he-pawned-his-gold-watch-and-chain-for/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Grant had overwhelmingly won the electoral vote, and had garnered the largest popular majority of the century, nearly 56 percent of the vote, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/grant-had-overwhelmingly-won-the-electoral-vote-and-had-garnered-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“The chief quartermaster on the West Coast, Robert Allen, an old friend of Grant’s, learned he was holed up in a cheap miner’s hotel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-chief-quartermaster-on-the-west-coast-robert-allen-an-old-friend/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Returning to his Manhattan town house on Christmas Eve, Grant, sixty-one, pivoted to hand the driver a holiday tip when he slipped on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/returning-to-his-manhattan-town-house-on-christmas-eve-grant-sixty/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“When he bet Julia that she wouldn’t dare to descend into the mine, located seventeen hundred feet below, it roused her fighting spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/when-he-bet-julia-that-she-wouldn-t-dare-to-descend-into-the-mine/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Consequential to the election outcome were the many private contacts in the capital between southern Democrats and Hayes’s northern Republican supporters. At Wormley’s Hotel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/consequential-to-the-election-outcome-were-the-many-private-contacts/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“The trial wasn’t the finest hour of American justice as the treatment of the prisoners seemed medieval in its barbarism. Almost all of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-trial-wasn-t-the-finest-hour-of-american-justice-as-the-treatment/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“he warned that progressive accumulation of debt “is perhaps the NATURAL DISEASE of all Governments. And it is not easy to conceive anything more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/he-warned-that-progressive-accumulation-of-debt-is-perhaps-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) [Explore all 276 Ron Chernow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) ## More First ladies quotes > [Mrs. Johnson was one of our most important First Ladies. Quietly but firmly, she advised LBJ on rhetoric, strategy, and personal relations and helped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/mrs-johnson-was-one-of-our-most-important-first-ladies-quietly-but/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [“Given my druthers now, I’d prefer a snapshot of Warren Harding’s wife, “the Duchess,” who recorded the smallest offenses in a little red notebook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/given-my-druthers-now-i-d-prefer-a-snapshot-of-warren-harding-s-wife/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [First ladies throughout our history have been expected to be adoring wives and perfect mothers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalynn-carter/first-ladies-throughout-our-history-have-been-expected-to-be-adoring/) [Rosalynn Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalynn-carter/) > [ I think the fact that she \[Eleanor Roosevelt\] was a woman probably in those days would have been an additional criticism, although first ladies… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-rusher/i-think-the-fact-that-she-eleanor-roosevelt-was-a-woman-probably-in/) [William A. Rusher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-rusher/) > [ You \[future first ladies\] will feel that you are no longer clothing yourself, you are dressing a public monument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/you-future-first-ladies-will-feel-that-you-are-no-longer-clothing/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Almost all first ladies have had tremendous power on personnel issues, whether the public realized it or not, whether it was Barbara Bush or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-dee-myers/almost-all-first-ladies-have-had-tremendous-power-on-personnel-issues/) [Dee Dee Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-dee-myers/) > [First Ladies have always been held like specimens under a media microscope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/first-ladies-have-always-been-held-like-specimens-under-a-media/) [Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/) > [We all know what happens to first ladies who shoot their mouths off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/we-all-know-what-happens-to-first-ladies-who-shoot-their-mouths-off/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [“You might think lunchtime at Willing would be different from other high schools. That everyone would be welcome at any table, united by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jensen/you-might-think-lunchtime-at-willing-would-be-different-from-other/) [Melissa Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jensen/) > [First ladies are doing a lot. But the job remains undefined, frequently misunderstood, and subject to political attacks far nastier in some ways than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-truman-daniel/first-ladies-are-doing-a-lot-but-the-job-remains-undefined-frequently/) [Margaret Truman Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-truman-daniel/) > [The good diarist writes either for himself alone or for a posterity so distant that it can safely hear every secret and justly weigh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-good-diarist-writes-either-for-himself-alone-or-for-a-posterity/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Previous first ladies seemed to feel the need to wear a sort of uniform, whereas Michelle Obama likes fashion and is very comfortable in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-wintour/previous-first-ladies-seemed-to-feel-the-need-to-wear-a-sort-of/) [Anna Wintour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-wintour/) > [Historically, the most favorably viewed figure in any administration is the first lady, regardless of her husband's popularity. That is largely because first ladies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/historically-the-most-favorably-viewed-figure-in-any-administration/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [“I regretted what a serious teenager I'd been: There were no posters of pop stars or favorite movies, no girlish collection of photos or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-regretted-what-a-serious-teenager-i-d-been-there-were-no-posters-of/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [No matter how different our First Ladies have been - and as individual women they have ranged from recluses to vibrant hostesses to political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-truman-daniel/no-matter-how-different-our-first-ladies-have-been-and-as-individual/) [Margaret Truman Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-truman-daniel/) [Browse all 25 First ladies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-ladies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly used—have so reveled in the White House or developed such a proprietary feeling about it. “Eight happy years I spent there—so happy!” Julia would reminisce. “It still seems as much like home to me as the old farm in Missouri, White Haven.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ron Chernow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet-commonly-used-have-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "First ladies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet-commonly-used-have-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/ron-chernow-1189_first-ladies_few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet_1141915.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t yet commonly used—have so reveled in the White House or developed such…” — Ron Chernow", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ron Chernow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Few First Ladies—and the name wasn’t...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet-commonly-used-have-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/few-first-ladies-and-the-name-wasn-t-yet-commonly-used-have-so/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```