Emily Donelson

Emily Tennessee Donelson was born on her father's farm in Donelson, Tennessee. Her father, John Donelson, was the brother of Rachel Donelson Jackson, the wife of future President Andrew Jackson. Unlike many girls of her day, Donelson was afforded a formal education. She studied at Nashville Female Academy in Nashville, with her niece Mary Ann Eastin, and was considered an accomplished student. Her early life was spent in rural Tennessee, and she had little exposure to politics or urban social life.[2]

On September 16, 1824, seventeen-year-old Donelson married Andrew Jackson Donelson, who was her first cousin and a ward of their mutual uncle and aunt, Andrew Jackson and Rachel Jackson. The couple had four children: Andrew Jackson Donelson Jr. (1826-1859), Mary Emily Donelson (1829-1905), John Samuel Donelson (1832-1863), and Rachel Jackson Donelson (1834-1888).[3] Three of her children were born while the Donelsons lived at the White House.[4] Donelson was close to her parents-in-law, who considered her a daughter of their own.[5]

Prior to Andrew Jackson's inauguration as president, his wife Rachel Jackson asked Donelson to accompany her to the White House and assist her in the role of first lady of the United States.[6] The Jacksons had maintained a similar arrangement with Donelson at The Hermitage, their plantation in Tennessee. When she died shortly before the inauguration, Donelson took on the responsibility in its entirety.[6] Jackson asked Donelson to take over all the responsibilities of the White House hostess, which she did with the aid of her niece Mary Ann Eastin.[1] She moved to the White House at the age of 21 with her husband, who served as Jackson's presidential aide.[4]

Donelson proved popular in Washington society.[6] Though she was not as well traveled or well educated as would have been expected of a White House hostess, her age was considered a valid excuse.[7]^: 42 Her inexperience in social custom was sometimes noted, but she was celebrated for her kindness as a hostess and her proficiency in dance. Despite her lack of experience, the president trusted her judgement regarding etiquette at the White House, allowing her to make decisions in such matters.[2]

The first months of Jackson's administration marked a period of mourning for his wife. The unofficial period of mourning ended when Donelson hosted a New Year's party at the White House on January 1, 1830.

During the Petticoat affair, Donelson had sided with the group that wanted to snub the Eatons. When Jackson confronted Donelson, she relented somewhat and included Peggy in White House functions, but Donelson extended to her the basic courtesies and nothing more. The situation came to a head when the Eatons declined Jackson's invitation to a White House dinner in early 1830. When Jackson inquired why they had declined his invitation, Peggy cited Donelson's cold treatment. The feud was complicated further when the president asked Donelson to visit Eaton and invite her to her child's christening. This request provoked Donelson into leaving the White House.[2]

Donelson and the president traveled to the Hermitage for a vacation in the summer of 1830. By then the rift between the President and Donelson had grown so great that Donelson refused to stay at the Hermitage, instead choosing to stay at her mother's house. When Jackson returned to Washington, Andrew Jackson Donelson accompanied him, but Emily did not. Jackson asked her to come back and resume her duties. However, she refused to do so as long as Jackson continued to insist on Peggy Eaton's acceptance in the White House.[8] Donelson returned to the White House in 1832. She became sick during Jackson's second term, and she gave up the position of acting first lady in 1834.[4]

Beginning in 1834, Sarah Yorke Jackson, President Jackson's daughter-in-law, served as the White House hostess.[1] There are conflicting accounts about Donelson's absence from the White House during the three years that Sarah Yorke Jackson served as hostess. A cohort of scholars believe that the cause was her treatment of Peggy Eaton, while others argue that it was her worsening tuberculosis.[1]

Donelson's health began to deteriorate in 1836. In June of that year she went to recuperate at Poplar Grove (later named Tulip Grove), her plantation adjacent to the Hermitage. Her health continued to decline, and she died that December at the age of 29 of tuberculosis.[9] She reportedly died looking out the window waiting for her husband to come home.[10]

Donelson became the first in a long line of young acting first ladies in the 19th century.[7]^: 40

In the 1982 Siena College Research Institute asking historians to assess American first ladies, Donelson and several other "acting" first ladies were included. The first ladies survey, which has been conducted periodically since, ranks first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. In the 1982 survey, out of 42 first ladies and acting first ladies, Donelson was assessed as the 26th most highly regarded among historians. Acting first ladies such as Donelson have been excluded from subsequent iterations of this survey.[11]