website inaugural formation incumbentsince body post incumbent residence image article_title style
-lsb- http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first_ladies/ first ladies -rsb- martha washington april 30 , 1789 january 20 , 2009 the united states first lady michelle obama white house michelle obama 2013 official portrait.jpg list of first ladies of the united states
 mrs. obama
list of first ladies of the united states

the first lady of the united states is the hostess of the white house .
the position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the united states , but , on occasion , the title has been applied to women who were not presidents ' wives , such as when the president was a bachelor or widower , or when the wife of the president was unable to fulfill the duties of the first lady herself .
the first lady is not an elected position ; it carries no official duties and receives no salary .
nonetheless , she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president .
traditionally , the first lady does not hold outside employment while occupying the office .
she has her own staff , including the white house social secretary , the chief of staff , the press secretary , the chief floral designer , and the executive chef .
the office of the first lady is also in charge of all social and ceremonial events of the white house , and is a branch of the executive office of the president .
according to the white house and the national first ladies ' library , there have been forty-five first ladies and forty-six first ladyships .
this discrepancy exists because grover cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the twenty-second and the twenty-fourth president ; his wife frances folsom cleveland is also counted twice .
following barack obama 's first inauguration on january 20 , 2009 , his wife , michelle obama , became the forty-sixth official first lady , succeeding laura bush , wife of former president george w. bush .
there are five living former first ladies : rosalynn carter , wife of jimmy carter ; nancy reagan , widow of ronald reagan ; barbara bush , wife of george h. w. bush ; hillary clinton , wife of bill clinton ; and laura bush , wife of george w. bush .
the first first lady was martha washington , married to george washington .
presidents john tyler and woodrow wilson had two official first ladies ; both remarried during their presidential tenures .
the wives of four presidents died before their husbands were sworn into office but are still considered first ladies by the white house and national first ladies ' library : martha jefferson , wife of thomas jefferson ; rachel jackson , wife of andrew jackson ; hannah van buren , wife of martin van buren ; and ellen lewis herndon arthur , wife of chester a. arthur .
one woman who was not married to a president but who is still considered an official first lady : harriet lane , niece of bachelor james buchanan .
the other non-spousal relatives who served as white house hostesses are not recognized by the first ladies ' library .
in 2007 , the united states mint began releasing a set of half-ounce $ 10 gold coins under the first spouse program with engravings of portraits of the first ladies on the obverse .
when a president served without a spouse , a gold coin is issued that bears an obverse image emblematic of liberty as depicted on a circulating coin of that era and a reverse image emblematic of themes of that president 's life .
this is true for the coins for thomas jefferson , andrew jackson , martin van buren and james buchanan 's first ladies , but not the coin for chester a. arthur 's first lady , which will instead depict suffragette alice paul .
