Presidents and First Ladies

This section includes books and journal articles focusing primarily on particular presidents and/or first ladies. While some presidents and first ladies have inspired more written accounts than others--some for their culinary sensibilities, others for a lack of them--presidential food, in good taste or bad, is of perennial interest. Each of these books and article focus primarily on one or a few administrations. They include historical studies, memoirs by professional cooks and other accounts.

The following materials include links to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are included when available.

Books
Articles

Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen by Rae Katherine Eighmey
Call Number: TX715 .E3368 2013
ISBN: 9781588344557
Published/Created: 2014
This book provides an insight into the everyday life of one of our nation's favorite presidents. The foods that Lincoln enjoyed, cooked, or served are also translated into modern recipes so that authentic meals and foods of 1820-1865 are possible for home cooks.
American Food by Evan Jones
Call Number: TX715 .J76 1990
ISBN: 0879513543
Published/Created: 1990
In "Another debt to Jefferson," the author discusses the founding father's contributions to American gastronomy.
American Grown by Michelle Obama
Call Number: SB466.U7 W4835 2012
ISBN: 9780307956026
Published/Created: 2012
The story of Michelle Obama’s White house Kitchen Garden and other gardens across the United States.
The Bush Family Cookbook by Ariel De Guzman
Call Number: TX715 .D28 2005
ISBN: 0743287762
Published/Created: 2005
This collection of more than 200 recipes is accompanied by photos and anecdotes assembled by former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush's personal chef.
The Carter family favorites cookbook by Ceil Dyer
Call Number: TX715 .D9773
ISBN: 0440016783
Published/Created: 1977
Cooking for Madam by Marta Sgubin; Nancy Nichols; Foreword by John F. Kennedy
Call Number: TX714 .S49 1998
ISBN: 0684850052
Published/Created: 1998
Marta Sgubin came to the United States in 1969 as governess to Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, Jr. She went on to become personal chef in the Kennedy-Onassis household.
Coolidge-Country Cookbook by John A. Waterhouse (Editor); Kathleen E. Donald (Editor); Foreword by Florence Coolidge
Call Number: TX715 .C7862 1988
ISBN: 0962084301
Published/Created: 1988
Put out by Friends of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation.
The Culinary Lives of John and Abigail Adams by Rosana Y. Wan
Call Number: TX715 .W2379 2014
ISBN: 0764346695
Published/Created: 2014
A historical cookbook documenting the diverse cuisine enjoyed by John and Abigail Adams over the course of their 54-year marriage. Bibliography: p. 141-148.
Dining at Monticello by Damon Lee Fowler, Editor
Call Number: TX715 .D58422 2005
ISBN: 1882886259
Published/Created: 2011
Combines recipes, background essays, and illustration to provide a view of the renowned hospitality offered at Thomas Jefferson's table. Essays are followed by 75 recipes found in the family manuscripts.
Dining with the Washingtons by Stephen A. McLeod, Editor
Call Number: TX715 .D58664 2011
ISBN: 9780807835265
Published/Created: 2011
Explores the menus, diet, and styles of entertaining that characterized the home of the nation's principal founding father by drawing from a wide range of sources, including memoirs, diaries, plantation documents, archaeological research, and the personal correspondence of the Washington family and their visitors . Foreword by former White House executive chef Walter Scheib. Includes historic recipes adapted for today's kitchens by culinary historian Nancy Carter Crump.
Dwight D. Eisenhower: general, president and cook by Edward and Candace Russoli
Call Number: E836 .R825 1990
Published/Created: 1990
A tribute to President Eisenhower, with recipes, stories and photographs.
The economy administration cook book by Susie Root Rhodes and Grace Porter Hopkins, editors
Call Number: TX715 .R48
Published/Created: 1913
The section on "Leaves from the Wilson family cook book" has recipes from that administration. Also in includes "recipes from nearly four hundred and fifty of the most notable women of our land to-day."
Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan by Peter Schifando and Jonathan Joseph
Call Number: E878.R43 S35 2007
ISBN: 9780061350122
Published/Created: 2007
During the course of President Reagan's two terms in office, the Reagans hosted fifty-five state dinners and hundreds of other events. Bibliography: p. 222-223.
Five-Star Favorites by Eisenhower Medical Center Auxiliary, Cookbook Committee Staff (Contribution by)
Call Number: TX715 .E35 1974
ISBN: 0307487180
Published/Created: 1974
From Hardtack to Home Fries by Barbara Haber
Call Number: TX360.U6 H33 2002
ISBN: 0684842173
Published/Created: 2002
In the chapter on "Home cooking in the FDR White House," Haber, an authority on women's history and food history, discusses food at the White House during the tenure of Eleanor Roosevelt's housekeeper Henrietta Nesbitt.
In the Kennedy Style by Letitia Baldrige
Call Number: TX737 .B38 1998
ISBN: 0385489641
Published/Created: 1998
Written by Jacqueline Kennedy's Social Secretary, this book tells the story of how the First Lady transformed White House entertaining. Includes five original menus and over thirty-five recipes by White House chef Rene Verdon.
An Invitation to the White House by Hillary Clinton; Cheryl Merser
Call Number: F204.W5 C58 2000
ISBN: 0684857995
Published/Created: 2000-11-29
This is a book about the life of the White House, its cultural and political history and its importance to Americans. There is a look at the Clinton residency with views of state dinners and recitals. It includes over 300 photographs, menus and recipes from the kitchen.
LBJ's Texas White House by Hal K. Rothman
Call Number: E847.2 .R68 2001
ISBN: 1585441414
Published/Created: 2001
The Johnson Ranch, to which LBJ took foreign dignitaries and national political leaders and to which he himself returned often while in office for renewal and perspective, represented the "real" America to many of its visitors. The chapter on "A slice of real America: showcasing the ranch during the presidency" describes LBJ's culinary diplomacy at the ranch.
Martha Washington's Book of Cookery by Karen M. Hess
Call Number: TX705 .M368
ISBN: 0231049307
Published/Created: 1981
A transcription of two 17th-century recipe books owned by Martha Washington complete with explanations of all terms & techniques necessary to follow the recipes.
The Presidential cookbook; feeding the Roosevelts and their guests. by Victoria Henrietta Kugler Nesbitt
Call Number: TX715 .N505
Published/Created: 1951
Mrs. Nesbitt was hired as White House Housekeeper by Eleanor Roosevelt. Her plain and frugal meals have become a well-known chapter in presidential food history.
Provisions & politics by James K. Polk Memorial Association
Call Number: TX714 .P8 2003
ISBN: 0972870709
Published/Created: 2003
Recipes honoring First Lady Sarah Childress Polk, from the James K. Polk Memorial Association.
Sangamon County historical cookbook : a taste of Lincoln's era
Call Number: TX714 .S2825 2002
Published/Created: 2002
A compilation of recipes from 1838-1887 with stories and facts by and about Lincoln arranged in chronological order.
Statesmen's dishes; and how to cook them
Call Number: TX715 .S797
Published/Created: 1890
"Practical autographic recipes by Mrs. Benjamin Harrison...and more than two hundred other women prominent in official and social life at the national capital".
The Taste Is in My Mouth A Little... by Wayne C. Temple
Call Number: TX715 .T21265645 2004
ISBN: 1878044419
Published/Created: 2004
Includes the author's considerable research on Lincoln's "victuals and potables," and a reproduction of of Miss Leslie's Directions for Cookery, known to have been used by the Lincoln's in their Springfield home. Includes bibliographical references.
Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book by Marie Goebel Kimball
Call Number: TX715 .K498 2003
ISBN: 0813922143
Published/Created: 2003
This cookbook contains a collection of recipes from Thomas Jefferson's table. Originally published 1938.
Thomas Jefferson on Wine by John Hailman
Call Number: TP547.J44 H36 2009
ISBN: 9781604733709
Published/Created: 2009
An in-depth look at a founding father's lifelong interest in wine, this book explores the third president's fascination with wine from his student days at Williamsburg to his lengthy retirement years at Monticello, often using Jefferson's own words. Bibliography: 431-437.
Walter Jetton's LBJ Barbecue Cook Book by Walter Jetton with Arthur Whitman
Call Number: TX840.B3 J4
Published/Created: 1965
The food for most of LBJ's barbecues was prepared by Walter Jetton, the self-proclaimed "Barbecue King" from Ft. Worth.
What She Ate by Laura Shapiro
Call Number: CT105 .S465 2017
ISBN: 9780525427643
Published/Created: 2017
Six remarkable women and the food that tells their stories. The book includes a chapter on Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady and employer of Henrietta Nesbiit, generally recognized as the worst cook in White House history.
White House Chef by Francois Rysavy, as told to Frances Spatz Leighton
Call Number: TX731 .R9
Published/Created: 1957
A memoir by the White House Chef during the Eisenhower administration.
The White House Chef Cookbook by René Verdon
Call Number: TX715 .V43
Published/Created: 1968
Verdon was Executive White House Chef from 1961-1965.
White House Family Cookbook by Henry Haller; Virginia Aronson; Foreword by Betty Ford
Call Number: TX715 .H179 1987
ISBN: 0394556577
Published/Created: 1987
More than 250 First Family recipes along with stories from Chef Haller's days as Executive Chef at the White House from 1966-1987.

The following articles focus on the topic of White House chefs. To locate articles online, there are many subscription databases that can be helpful. All databases available at the Library of Congress can be located and and accessed via our Eresources Online Catalog.

Calmes, Jackie. "U.S. and Russia focus on trade with burgers on side."
New York Times, June 25, 2010, v.159, p. 10
Fabricant, Florence. "Nixon in China, the Dinner, Is Recreated."
New York Times, Feb. 25, 2011
"The First Lady’s favorite menus and recipes."
Includes menus and recipes from Jacqueline Kennedy.
Redbook, Aug. 1961. v.117: 50-57, 88
"Food Fit for a President: J. K. Polk’s Southern favorites."
The Ladies’ Home Journal, May 1982, v. 99:48-56
Hendrix, Steve. "Brilliant beyond all precedent: The first White House state dinner for the king of Hawaii."
President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia, held the first formal White House state dinner in 1874 to honor David Kalākaua, the king of Hawaii. Washington Post, April 25, 2018
"Home circle at the White House, the domestic life of President Arthur."
Ohio Farmer, Aug. 12, 1882, v. 62: 90
Kimball, Marie. "Feast Days at Monticello."
McCall's, Nov. 1955, v. 83: 42-47
Michaud, John. "Sheila Hibben." Cookbook writer and journalist Sheila Hibben, a well-known expert in American culinary history, served briefly as culinary advisor to the FDR White House. She was soon replaced by Henrietta Nesbitt.
The New Yorker, Nov. 16, 2010
"Nixon's China Détente." During his historic trip to China in 1972, President Nixon attended an elaborate banquet for 600.
Newsweek, Special Commemorative Issue, Autumn, 2012.
Scofield, Mary Ellen. "The Fatigues of His Table: The Politics of Presidential Dining During the Jefferson Administration." Discusses the politics of presidential dining during the administration of Thomas Jefferson.The presidential dinner records are deposited in Boston's Massachusetts Historical Society.
Journal of the Early Republic, Fall 2006, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p449-469. 21p.
Shapiro, Laura. "The First Kitchen." Discusses food culture in the White House during the time of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the influence of White House housekeeper Henrietta Nesbitt.
The New Yorker, Nov. 22, 2010, v. 86: 74-80
Smith, Andrew. "The First Suppers: a tradition of inaugural meals."
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 14, 2009
Steinhauer, Jennifer. "Trump Kicks Away Obama Traditions Even at the Dinner Table." Mr. Trump's approach to dining and nutrition is clearly not the most significant of policy changes, but it has left a notable mark on the culture of the White House and the nation’s capital.
The New York Times, Dec. 14, 2018
Straithmore, Muriel. "Mrs. Woodrow Wilson is gifted in the art of cooking".
Table Talk, March, 1913, v. 28: 121-124

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Presidents and First Ladies