Almost First Ladies
Women who almost became First Lady of the United States, being married to major party candidates who lost the general election
List activity
93 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
13 people
- Ann Romney was born on 16 April 1949 in Bloomfield, Michigan, USA. She has been married to Mitt Romney since 21 March 1969. They have five children.
- Cindy McCain was born on 20 May 1954 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. She is a producer, known for The Luckiest Man: Life with John McCain, KPNX-TV Channel 12 (1953) and Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (2020). She was previously married to John McCain.
- Teresa Heinz Kerry grew up in Mozambique's capital, Lourenço Marques (now called Maputo). Her father, José Simões-Ferreira, was an oncologist and tropical disease specialist, and "Teresinha" (her nickname in Portuguese) led a privileged existence. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Romance Languages and literature from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She graduated from the Interpreters School of the University of Geneva before moving to the United States to work at the United Nations as a translator. She is fluent in five languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian and her native Portuguese.
She married ketchup magnate and U.S. Senator John Heinz in 1966, and they had three sons. She became a United States citizen after marrying Sen. Heinz and retiring from her U.N. translator job. She met Sen. John Kerry in 1990, after Heinz introduced them. (This was the only known time that Teresa and John Kerry met while she was married to Heinz). After John Heinz died in a airplane accident in 1991, Teresa inherited his $500 million fortune. She and John Kerry ran into each other again at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a United Nations-sponsored environmental summit. They were married in 1995.
Heinz Kerry currently manages several Heinz foundations, disbursing money to various social and environmental causes. Heinz Kerry is beneficiary of her late husband's trusts, making her extremely wealthy in her own name, and a powerful trustee of Heinz family wealth.
Ironically, Teresa was a registered Republican for most of her voting life. In the early 2000s, she changed her registration to Democrat. Should Senator Kerry be elected President, Teresa will be the second foreign-born first lady. - Tipper Gore was born on 19 August 1948 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She has been married to Al Gore since 19 May 1970. They have four children.
- Elizabeth Dole was born Salisbury, North Carolina, during The Great Depression. Her parents, John Van Hanford and Mary Ella Cathey, were the owners of a successful floral business and the family didn't suffer the financial hardships of so many around them. Her parents were believers in striving for excellence and friendly competition, and instilled those beliefs in Elizabeth and her older brother, John. Nicknamed Libby, she showed leadership traits from an early age and in school was a high achiever. She attended Duke University and excelled there, also, becoming Student Body President. Then she attended Harvard, at a time when few women did, and earned a Master in Education and then a law degree from Harvard Law School.
After graduating, she moved to Washington, D.C., and found work for the government. Her first White House job was as a staff assistant in the Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare. In 1968 she was appointed legislative assistant to Betty Furness, Consumer Affairs Advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1973, she was appointed by President'Richard Nixon' to the Federal Trade Commission.
Shortly before her appointment, she met U.S. Senator Bob Dole at the 1972 Republican National Convention. They were initially friendly acquaintances, but a friendship ensued, which gradually became a courtship, and they married in 1975. They immediately became on of Washington, D.C.'s premier power couples. In 1980, Bob Dole ran for President for the first time, but was too preoccupied with Senate duties to campaign extensively, and his candidacy fizzled out quickly. That year, Ronald Reagan was elected President.
Elizabeth Dole quickly became a visible member of the new Reagan Administration. Elizabeth played a prominent role in the transition to the Reagan White House. In 1981, she was appointed Soecial Assistant for Public Liaison, in charge of carrying the Administration's communications to business and labor groups. In 1983, Reagan appointed her as U.S. Secretary of Transportation. During her four years in this post, Elizabeth Dole was an active, accomplished Secretary. She promoted intitatives regarding air bags for automobiles, brake lights on the rear windshields of cars, and improved airline safety
In 1987, her husband launched anther Presidential campaign, and she resigned to help his campaign. Though it showed initial promise, it imploded after the he lost the New Hampshire primary to then-Vice President George Bush, who went on to win the general election. Elizabeth Dole went on to serve in the Bush administration as Secretary of Labor, which she was appointed to in 1988, immediately after the election. There, she helped pass an increase in the minimum wage. And while she wasn't considered an ally of organized labor, they did credit her for being accessible. In late 1990, she resigned to become President of the American Red Cross, and assumed that post in February of 1991. She took an unpaid leave of absence as her husband ran for President again in 1996. This time he won the nomination, but was defeated in the general election by President Bill Clinton. In that election, voters thought more highly of her than of First Lady Hillary Clinton, but her husband ran a lackluster campaign and was heavily outspent. In retrospect, analysts were surprised he didn't lose by a wider margin than he did.
She returned to the American Red Cross in 1997, but resigned in 1999 to seek the Republican Presidential nomination. She was noted as the first woman to be a credible candidate for President, but her campaign was completely overshadowed by overwhelming Republican for then-Texas Governor George W. Bush, and she dropped out of the race a few months later and endorsed Bush. She decided not to serve in this Presidential administration and retired to private life. But in 2001, elderly U.S. Senator Jesse Helms announced his retirement. In the autumn of that year, Elizabeth Dole explored running, and with the wholehearted support of her husband, she ran. Initially the heavy favorite to win, she was thrown on the defensive and lost ground in the polls to former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles. But in October of 2002, she rebounded and won the election. In 2005, she was appointed by her fellow Republican Sentators to Chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to help more Republicans win U.S. Senate elections in the 2006 elections. However, the 2006 elections were a major setback for Republicans and Democrats regained control of the U.S. Senate. In the Senate, Dole complied a conservative record and maintained a high profile in Washington, D.C. However, she did not frequently visit North Carolina, and took for granted her high personal approval ratings. As the year 2008 approached, Bush had become highly unpopular even in conservative states like North Carolina and Democrats saw an opening. Democratic state Senator Kay Hagan entered the race, and the novelty of two credible women candidates running against each other in the South gave Hagan free publicity. Democrats funded Hagan heavily and she quickly pulled even with Dole in the polls. By September, the race had become increasingly hostile, with numerous negative ads airing across the state. In the 2008 elections in North Carolina, Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama surprised everyone by narrowly winning the state, and Dole was defeated for reelection. She has indicated that this is her last campaign and that she will now retire to private life. - Kitty Dukakis was born on 26 December 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. She has been married to Michael Dukakis since 20 June 1963. They have two children. She was previously married to John Allen Chaffetz.
- Joan Mondale was born on 8 August 1930 in Eugene, Oregon, USA. She was married to Walter Mondale. She died on 3 February 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Eleanor McGovern was born on 25 November 1921 in Woonsocket, South Dakota, USA. She was married to George McGovern. She died on 25 January 2007 in Mitchell, South Dakota, USA.
- Muriel Buck Humphrey was born on 20 February 1912 in Huron, Beadle County, South Dakota, USA. She was married to Max Brown and Hubert H. Humphrey. She died on 20 September 1998 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Margaret Johnson Goldwater was born on 8 July 1909 in Muncie, Indiana, USA. She was married to Barry Goldwater. She died on 12 December 1985 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
- Frances Dewey was born on 7 February 1903 in Sherman, Texas, USA. She was married to Thomas E. Dewey. She died on 17 July 1970 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Edith Willkie was born on 6 August 1890 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She was married to Wendell Willkie. She died on 16 April 1978 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
- Mary Baird Bryan was born on 17 June 1861 in Perry, Illinois, USA. She was married to William Jennings Bryan. She died on 21 January 1930 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.