A 2013 - 2014 original C-SPAN feature series telling the stories of America's First Ladies - from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama -
through conversations with top experts, video tours of historic sites, and questions from C-SPAN's audience.

America's First Ladies — from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama
Harriet Lane
First Lady: 1857 - 1861
Click the list to watch videos
  • Jane Pierce and Harriet Lane Program
  • Harriet Lane's marriage and death of children
  • Entertaining in the White House
  • William Seale on Harriet Lane
  • Brief introduction to James Buchanan and Harriet Lane
  • James Buchanan and Harriet Lane's relationship
  • Harriet Lane's bedroom at Wheatland
  • Role as White House Hostess
  • Entertaining at Wheatland in Pennsylvania
  • Style and fashion
  • Life after White House and death of family members
  • Richard Norton Smith on Harriet Lane
  • Contribution to Children's Hospital
  • James Buchanan Memorial

Biography

Harriet Lane

James Buchanan
Author Philip Shriver Klein on state dinners in the Buchanan White House: “Harriet’s task was perhaps the most difficult, for members of all political parties came to these dinners, and it was a matter of some delicacy to achieve the right order of precedence without seating mortal enemies next to each other...She managed her part with great cleverness and tact.”

Born - May 18, 1830 in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania

Parents - Elliot Tole Lane & Jane Buchanan Lane (James Buchanan was her uncle)

Married - Janurary 11, 1866 to Henry Elliot Johnston

Children - James Buchanan (1868 – 1881),
Henry Elliot Jr. (1869 – 1882)

Post White House residence - Wheatland, Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.

Died - July 3, 1903 in Narragansett, Rhode Island

Click here to see full bio of Harriet Lane

 
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