While I mostly enjoyed this book, I feel the title is completely misleading; while we do learn about the First Ladies from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden [with a brief look at the first ever Second Gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, who, imo, deserved more than the blip he received], this book is really Dr. Jill Biden's story. Now, while I find Dr. Biden's story intriguing [I really admire her and all she's accomplished], I was here for ALL the modern First Ladies, and I'd rather have read a full biography of just Dr. Biden, and then a more fleshed-out book about all the modern First Ladies; instead we get this weirdly fractured story with Dr. Biden at the forefront and the others just shoved in when fill was needed [at least that is how it felt to me]. It just felt so disrespectful to the others [whom all had their own spectacular accomplishments] , as their stories felt rushed for the sake of Dr. Biden's story. I wanted so much more from this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katie Rogers, and Crown Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this great insight into the modern First Lady of the United States, Katie Rogers explores where the last few women to hold the title have taken the position and what they have done during their husband’s tenure as president. Rogers also explores how the role has changed since its inception by Martha Washington, with a focus on First Ladies since the 1990s and the election of Bill Clinton. The first book on the topic to heavily feature Dr. Jill Biden, this book is a mix of personal and political, as both are heavily entwined in the role of First Lady. Rogers also speculates on the future of the role and its possible shift to a more gender-neutral title like First Spouse or First Partner or First Gentleman. A mix of interviews and independent research, this is a deeply personal look into the most recent First Ladies and their triumphs and struggles in the role as well as their relationships with their husbands and with other presidents and First Ladies. Rogers’ book is a well-written and excellently researched look into the East Wing and the world as the top partner in the United States government in the last thirty years.

This book traces the evolution of the role of the modern day First Lady of the United States with a focus on the current First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.
I enjoyed reading this book, specifically the interviews that the author held with President Biden and President Obama. However, to be honest, I believed that the book was going to be about the role of the First Lady starting back several decades ago and then leading up to the current day and how Dr. Biden has changed the role for a more modern woman, but the book really just focuses on Dr. Biden. I don’t believe the blurbs of the book really explained the content accurately.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for a review copy.

This ended up being a bit of a bait-and-switch in terms of what I thought I'd be reading and what I got. The full title of the book and the promotional blurbs for it all sell the concept of looking at the modern history of the role of first lady, leading up to Jill Biden. But there's a _lot_ of Jill Biden content. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely gives the book a shorter shelf life in 2024 than it could possibly have if it went a little broader.

The sections where the book is best is where it dives into the predecessors of Dr. Biden in the role, talks about how they navigated the waters of the (unpaid) office, and how that mirrors the current first lady. This is good - great, even! - since it shows how things have been changing for almost a quarter of a decade. I don't understand the decision to limit this to the current century and starting in the 2000s - it shoots the thesis statement in the foot, and the book even starts with some brief glimpses at pre-2000s first ladies that easily could have each gotten a chapter of their own. Start in 1900! Give me more Eleanor Roosevelt! Give me more Jackie Kennedy! DEFINITELY give us more Rosalyn Carter, who barely gets mentioned here and had influence on what the first lady could do. There's been so much more evolution than gets covered here, and it'd give more opportunity to compare and contrast.

The chapters where we're just talking about Jill Biden are nice, and have some more exclusive insight than I've seen elsewhere, but there's less for the book to discuss when it doesn't have something to show historical change from. There's a great book here, but it's sawed off one leg and settled for fine.

A fascinating eye opening look at the role of First Lady.Jill Biden today’s First Lady strong independent continuing her independent career.first to continue her independent life.This was a well written intimate look at previous First Ladies the way they handled this position.#netgalley #crown

American Women is a superb book and Katie Rogers allows readers to take a look at a key figure in politics that is largely glossed over: the First Lady. From Eleanor Roosevelt to Jill Biden, the First Lady has played a key role in the country and Rogers hones in on the history and importance of this title throughout American history from WW2 to modern day.