Amy S. Greenberg is the George Winfree Professor of History and Women's Studies at Penn State University. A leading scholar of the history of nineteenth-century America, she has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Philosophical Society, among others. Her previous books include A Wicked War and Manifest Manhood.
"Sarah Polk comes alive in these pages, with Greenberg expertly
illuminating the intersections of the public and private, providing
readers a refreshing new way to look at 19th-century American
political and social history. This is a highly recommended
work."
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "A must read for those who
wish to understand why elite women have always stood at the center
of Southern conservatism. Amy Greenberg's remarkable biography of
Sarah Polk will change the way we talk about political power. A
First Lady dismissed as 'idle, ' and shielded from the harsh world
of partisan combat, she was the first White House mistress to wield
real power; one who was considered by her husband a genuine
partner. She did not claim equal rights for women, but used her
inside knowledge and class stature to fashion herself as a
political player who did not threaten the divine order of the
sexes. In assuming the role of a deferential female, Sarah Polk
exercised greater power than any other woman of the antebellum
era."
--Nancy Isenberg, author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold
History of Class in America and coauthor of The Problem of
Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality
"Though largely forgotten, this concise but thorough biography
brings [Sarah Polk] back into the light. An illuminating study of a
nontraditional female powerhouse."
--Kirkus "More social history than biography, [Lady First] traces
Polk's steadily growing expertise in charming, manipulating, and
exerting pressure to abet her husband's political career, which
made for lasting change in Democratic Party policies... [A]n
in-depth, telling account of a largely overlooked woman who was
able to effect profound influence while working within the
constraints of her time and place."
--Kathleen McBroom, Booklist "Admirable... Ahead of her time but
critically aware of how she had to act within her time to wield
power, Sarah Childress Polk was the most influential first lady in
the century between Dolley Madison and Edith Wilson. 'Private
interactions within their powerful partnership, ' Ms. Greenberg
acknowledges of James and Sarah, 'strongly suggest that he thought
her his equal.' By all accounts, she was that and more."
--Walter R. Borneman, The Wall Street Journal
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