Dolley Madison: Decorating the White House

Dolley Madison was 41 years old when she became First Lady in 1809…

But…

For eight years prior to 1809, she served frequently as de facto FLOTUS for President Thomas Jefferson, a widower. Even prior to the Jefferson Administration, Dolley Payne Todd, a young widow, served as hostess in her mother’s boarding house in Philadelphia – a place that housed then-Secretary of State Jefferson, plus a senator and several congressmen.

Once she married then-Congressman James Madison, she opened their Philadelphia residence for entertaining, and quickly became the most prominent hostess in government. And the most glamorous. Shedding the plain Quaker gowns and bonnets of her first twenty-five years, she dazzled the town with her style and good taste.

Dolley knew all the movers and shakers along with their wives and distaff members of Washington society. Margaret Bayard Smith credited her with “all the elegance and polish of fashion”…