In the eight decades between the birth of our nation and the secession by South Carolina that eventually led to the Civil War, Washington D.C. was still a small town. The wives and female relatives of the Congressmen and Senators regularly entertained and served as hostesses for large receptions and foreign delegations. Their friendships crossed the party lines of their husbands, and close relationships developed between families from both parties. It was not uncommon to see them sitting beside their husbands during debates and votes in both houses of Congress. 

Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 so fractured the nation that the day after his Inauguration, the new President had to be smuggled into the White House in the wee hours of the morning under tight security. Mary Todd Lincoln would never enjoy the camaraderie enjoyed by the “belles” of Washington. Considered coarse and countrified, she was snubbed even by women of her husband’s party. Lincoln’s anti-slavery stance so enraged the South that within three months, South Carolina had seceded, quickly followed by four other states. These secessions influenced other southern states until it became clear that a civil war was imminent. The Republicans from the North upheld Lincoln’s anti-slavery stance, but the Southern Democrats were so enraged, feeling threatened by losing their slave labor force that the Union believed to be doomed. In that brief period of time, these friendships among the women began to fray and then tear apart. 

"If it were a requirement for an author to provide a curriculum vitae to write about the women of influence during key historical events in America, Cokie Roberts would outclass all candidates for the job."

Next to the Revolutionary War, no other single event in American history has been more written about, portrayed in books, movies and television, or memorialized in print, museums, art and music than the Civil War. Yet it is only a few women, such as Clara Barton, Sojourner Truth and Mary Todd Lincoln, whose names remain familiar.

Cokie Roberts previously contributed the well-researched and fascinating untold histories of the largely unsung “women behind the men” of the founding fathers in FOUNDING MOTHERS, followed by LADIES OF LIBERTY, a personalized continuation of the influence held by the women who remain household names, such as Martha Washington, Betsy Ross, Abigail Adams, and so many others who played significant roles in the formation of our country.

In CAPITAL DAMES, Roberts has delved into the proliferation of personal letters and archived diaries of women such as Elizabeth Lee (Mrs. Robert E. Lee), Julia Grant (Mrs. Ulysses Grant) and Varina Davis (the second wife of Jefferson Davis). These written documents reveal not only those close ties prior to 1860, but what occurred as the threat of civil war loomed.

It could be said that Roberts figuratively teethed on Washington politics. Her father, the late US Congressman Hale Boggs, served nearly 15 terms in the US Congress, and was the Democratic House Majority Leader. He entered politics shortly after his daughter was born and served until his death in a plane crash in Alaska in 1951. Her mother, Lindy Boggs, filled his seat, the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana; she served eight terms and then went on to be the US Ambassador to the Holy See.

Roberts chose a different path --- as a journalist --- but with her Washington connections has stuck close to what she knows: politics. She is married to journalist and author Steven V. Roberts and currently is a regular contributor to ABC News and NPR. She was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress for her contributions to American history.

If it were a requirement for an author to provide a curriculum vitae to write about the women of influence during key historical events in America, Cokie Roberts would outclass all candidates for the job. Read CAPITAL DAMES (or any of her books), and I’m betting you’ll agree.