Helen Herron Taft - First Lady

First Lady

As First Lady, she was the first wife of a president to ride alongside her husband down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day (heretofore the outgoing chief executive had accompanied the new president). Two months after entering the White House, Mrs. Taft suffered a stroke, impairing her speech. She never fully recovered. With the help of her sisters, however, she entertained moderately. She received guests three afternoons a week in the Red Room.

The social highlight of the Taft administration was the silver wedding anniversary gala (June 19, 1911) for some 8,000 guests.

In her most lasting contribution as First Lady, Mrs. Taft arranged for the planting of the 3,000 Japanese cherry trees that grace the Washington Tidal Basin; with the wife of the Japanese ambassador, she personally planted the first two saplings in ceremonies on March 27, 1912.

In 1912, she attended the Democratic National Convention, taking a front-row seat in order to deter speakers' criticism of her husband.

Prohibition was a major political debate at the time. Mrs. Taft was a Wet, so White House guests were entertained with alcohol during her time as First Lady. The former president opposed prohibition during his presidency and much of his time as Chief Justice, but was himself a teetotaler and during his last years wrote letters in support of Prohibition's objectives. With Taft's appointment to the Supreme Court, Mrs. Taft became the only woman to be both First Lady and wife of a chief justice.

She died on May 22, 1943, and was buried next to the president at Arlington National Cemetery.