First Children

Gallery

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President Abraham Lincoln and his youngest son Tad look at an album of preeminent photographer Mathew Brady's photographs on February 9, 1864 in Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress
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Ellen Wrenshall Grant, daughter of President Ulysses S. Grant, and her husband Algernon Sartoris, a well-to-do English singer. Their wedding was held in the East Room of the White House on May 21, 1874. Nellie, as Ellen was more commonly known as, was 18 years old at the time of the marriage.
Library of Congress
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President Rutherford B. Hayes, First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes, two of their children (likely Frances and Scott), and their friends enjoying an evening of entertainment in their library, or what is now known as the Yellow Oval Room, located on the Second Floor of the Executive Mansion. At the piano is Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz. This 1880 engraving, possibly tinted by P. Hall Baglie, was based on a sketch by Georgie A. Davis and appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.
Library of Congress
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Four generations of First Lady Caroline Harrison's family in 1889. Left to right: Caroline Harrison; her grandson Benjamin Harrison McKee; her daughter Mary Scott Harrison McKee; her granddaughter Mary Lodge McKee; and her father, the Rev. Dr. John Scott.
Library of Congress
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Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, in the White House Conservatory. The conservatory and greenhouses were removed in 1902 to build the West Wing, which was constructed partially as the result of President Roosevelt needing a separate workspace away from his large family.
Library of Congress
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Archie Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, on his pet horse, named Algonquin, in front of the West Wing in 1903.
Library of Congress
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President William Howard Taft and his children riding horseback circa 1909. Charles Taft, the president's younger son, is on the left of the photo with Helen, the Tafts' only daughter, on the right.
Library of Congress
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Jessie Wilson, daughter of President Woodrow Wilson, on her wedding day, November 25, 1913. Jessie married Francis Bowes Sayre, a Harvard-educated lawyer who would go on to serve as the United States ambassador to Siam, now known as Thailand, and assistant secretary of state during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The two were married in the White House and their first child, Francis Sayre, Jr., was born there as well.
Library of Congress
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President Woodrow Wilson holding his first granddaughter, Ellen McAdoo. Eleanor Wilson McAdoo, her mother, was the youngest daughter of President Wilson. In 1914 she married Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo, who served nearly the entire Wilson administration.
Library of Congress
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The Coolidge family and one of their dogs standing at the bottom of the steps leading to the South Portico. The dog is possibly Rob Roy, one of the Coolidge's white collies. Standing from left to right, are: youngest son Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (who would die a week after this photo was taken), President Calvin Coolidge, First Lady Grace Coolidge, and older son, John Coolidge.
Library of Congress
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s grandchildren, Sistie and Buzzie Dall playing on a slide on the South Lawn. Their given names were Eleanor and Curtis, but the press gave them the nicknames of Sistie and Buzzie. The two children lived in the White House with their mother and grandparents when their parents divorced, and their grandmother, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, had slides, sandboxes, and swings constructed on the South Lawn for the children.
Library of Congress
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower with his grandchildren, Anne and David Eisenhower, and Vice President Richard Nixon with his daughters, Julie and Tricia Nixon, at the inaugural parade on January 21, 1957.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, Jr. enjoy a picnic on the South Lawn.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Caroline Kennedy and other classmates in the Solarium. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy set up a school for Caroline and around twenty other children in the Solarium of the White House. The Kennedys and the other parents paid for the teacher's salary and the school met all District of Columbia regulations.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, receives a certificate announcing her as a lifetime member of the Nature Conservancy in 1965 in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on the White House Grounds. She received the honor for her leadership in the Youth for Natural Beauty and Conservation campaign.
White House Historical Association
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Luci Baines Johnson tries on her wedding dress in the Lincoln Bedroom. Luci married Patrick Nugent at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. on August 6, 1966.
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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President Lyndon B. Johnson stands with his growing family in the Rose Garden. From left: First Lady Lady Bird Johnson; the Johnson's eldest daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson; President Johnson; the Johnson's younger daughter, Luci Baines Johnson, holding her newborn son, Patrick Lyndon; and Patrick Nugent, Luci's husband.
Courtesy of Henry & Carole Haller and Family
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Created during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, the Children's Garden is small, secluded, and private. This image shows impressions left from the handprints and footprints of the presidential grandchildren in the garden.
White House Historical Association
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Julie Nixon Eisenhower conducts a tour of the White House for sight impaired and partially blind children on July 18, 1969. Eisenhower, the daughter of President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, is seen showing the group a bust of President George Washington in the Cross Hall.
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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President Richard M. Nixon's eldest daughter, Tricia Nixon, smiles as a costumed child gazes into the fun house mirror in the Entrance Hall at the White House Halloween carnival. The event was held for local children in the Washington, D.C. area in 1969.
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Newlyweds Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox join family members and their wedding party in the Blue Room of the White House in 1971. Tricia's parents, President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, stand near Tricia, along with their younger daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower.
Courtesy of Henry & Carole Haller and Family
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Susan Ford washes her car in the driveway that leads under the North Portico of the White House in 1974.
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Susan Ford dances with a member of The Outerspace Band at her high school prom, which was held in the East Room of the White House in 1975.
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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First Lady Rosalynn Carter listens to her daughter Amy practice the violin in the Center Hall of the Second Floor residence in the White House.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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President Jimmy Carter plays with his daughter Amy and grandson Jason in their tree house on the South Lawn in 1977. Amy was the youngest of Carter's four children and lived at the White House throughout her father's presidency.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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White House butler Eugene Allen (left) and maître d'hotel John W. Ficklin (right) bring out a cake during a party in the East Room to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mickey Mouse in 1978. The event was hosted by Amy Carter, daughter of President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who invited local children with disabilities to the celebration.
Courtesy of Henry & Carole Haller and Family
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President Ronald Reagan builds a snowman with his grandson Cameron in the Rose Garden in 1985. Alongside of them, Michael Reagan, the president's son, plays in the snow with his daughter Ashley.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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First Lady Barbara Bush shares a seat with her grandson, John Ellis “Jebby” Bush, Jr. at a screening in the White House Family Theater in 1989. President George H.W. Bush enjoys some popcorn immediately to their right.
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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President George H. W. Bush and his son Marvin enjoy a game of horseshoes at the White House Horseshoe Pit in 1989.
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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President Bill Clinton at his desk in the Oval Office while his daughter Chelsea and cat Socks share a moment in 1994. Later that day, the president took Chelsea to Georgetown for some last-minute Christmas shopping.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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A cake created by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier in 1996 for Chelsea Clinton, President Bill Clinton's daughter. The cake celebrated Chelsea's 16th birthday, featuring a chocolate jeep and faux driver's license. Mesnier designed the on-the-nose cake after Chelsea mentioned wanting a driver's license and a car for her 16th birthday. This photo comes from a collection of personal photographs taken by Chef Mesnier during his time at the White House, where he worked for six different administrations from 1979-2004.
Collection of Roland Mesnier
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President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea walk on the South Lawn of the White House in 1996. A Marine One helicopter can be seen in the background.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Jenna Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, President George W. Bush, and Barbara Pierce Bush pose for a family photo in 2004.
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Malia and Sasha Obama attend the White House Turkey Pardon ceremony with their father, President Barack Obama, in 2015. President Barack Obama pardoned Abe, who he jokingly titled "TOTUS," or "Turkey of the United States," and also extended a pardon to an alternate turkey, Honest. Malia and Sasha humored him in laughing at what the press would hail as a slew of "dad jokes" about the two turkeys.
White House Historical Association

About this Gallery

What was it like to grow up in a home where some of the most important political decisions are being made at the same time as you are trying to pass your driver's license exam? We all remember our childhood firsts, but for most of us, these quintessential memories did not take place in one of the country's most famous homes—the White House. In this collection, explore what life has been like for some of the nation's First Children.