Michelle Obama, 41st First Lady of the United States - Try 44th

So, it turns out we're both wrong. :)

I had been updating the display names according to a list in a book, but apparently the official source is the White House Historical Association, and their numbering is as follows:

1. Martha Washington
2. Abigail Adams
3. Martha Jefferson
4. Dolley Madison
5. Elizabeth Monroe
6. Louisa Adams
7. Rachel Jackson
8. Emily Donelson
9. Hannah Van Buren
10. Angelica Van Buren
11. Anna Harrison
12. Jane Harrison
13. Letitia Tyler
14. Julia Tyler
15. Sarah Polk
16. Margaret Taylor
17. Abigail Powers Fillmore
18. Jane Pierce
19. Harriet Lane
20. Mary Lincoln
21. Eliza Johnson
22. Martha Johnson Patterson
23. Julia Grant
24. Lucy Hayes
25. Lucretia Garfield
26. Ellen Arthur
27. Mary Arthur McElroy
28. Rose Cleveland
29. Frances Cleveland
30. Caroline Harrison
31. Ida McKinley
32. Edith Roosevelt
33. Helen Taft
34. Ellen Wilson
35. Edith Wilson
36. Florence Harding
37. Grace Coolidge
38. Lou Hoover
39. Eleanor Roosevelt
40. Elizabeth Truman
41. Mamie Eisenhower
42. Jacqueline Kennedy
43. Claudia Johnson
44. Patricia Nixon
45. Betty Ford
46. Rosalynn Carter
47. Nancy Reagan
48. Barbara Bush
49. Hillary Clinton
50. Laura Bush
51. Michelle Obama
52. Melania Trump
53. Dr. Jill Biden

So if there's no objection, I'll re-do the display names for all of these women and get the numbering correct.

(Tagging Tamás Flinn Caldwell-Gilbert since he works on political profiles, and Erica Howton since she works on historical women. They could both have good input to guide us.)

And yes, to the "single guys" point -- there have been daughters and nieces who've served as First Lady, which is why the WHHA has a greater number of women than other lists. I think that actually makes a lot of sense, and certainly helps to avoid accidentally erasing women who held the position but weren't married to the president.

A doctorate's a doctorate -- "Dr." doesn't imply a medical degree -- so since that's how her name is always styled, and since that's how the WHHA recognizes her, we should stick with it. None of the previous First Ladies had a doctorate, which is why they don't have it.

Nothing from that particular website is usable -- it's a non-profit organization, not an official government office -- but I believe most of our profiles have these portraits through other means.

I think the reason we use the numbers is because we use them for presidents and other dignitaries, and also just saying "First Lady of the United States" can sound like present-tense. But I'm open to whatever we all agree on. I kinda like using the numbers because they help mentally "place" these women in the historical timeline, but again, I'm open to whatever.

I think that now that we have an “official” list of First Ladies, we really should use that numbering, and also post the whole list in the project. Well done, Ashley.

I totally forgot about the renumbering. I'll get on it today!

Before I go too far, does this format work for everyone:

Martha (Dandridge) Washington, 1st First Lady of the United States

I'd especially appreciate input from Erica Howton since she always has a good handle on these things!

I believe our preference has been to use "United States" instead of "USA" for government types (and adjacent ladies :)) since "USA" wasn't in use until later on, while "United States" always has been. I'm seeming to remember a conversation about that but the memory is hazy.

I think they’re the same (U.S. and U.S.A.).

Both of these abbreviations can be correct. The difference between them (whether to use periods or not) is just a matter of style. The Associated Press Stylebook prefers the abbreviation U.S. with periods.

Is it correct to say US or USA? However, there is a growing trend to drop the periods in such abbreviations. Thus, the abbreviations U.S. and US are both in common use as nouns or adjectives, while U.S.A. and USA are both used as nouns. The newspaper USA Today is popular outside U.S. borders.

Wikipedia writes it out as United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama

I like Martha Washington’s styling as you did it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Washington

Obviously not using the numbering yet.

So start numbering with Abigail Adams? That would work for me.

Abigail as 2nd First Lady.

...and we only have to get to the third president before realizing that our "First Spouses" project doesn't actually work for this purpose, because Martha (Jefferson) Randolph, 3rd First Lady of the United States was Jefferson's daughter, not wife. There are going to be several nieces coming up, too.

We need a new "First Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States" project for those to actually serve in the role.