Louisa Catherine Adams (; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the first lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of her husband John Quincy Adams. She was born in England and raised in France. Her father was an influential American merchant, and she was regularly introduced to prominent Americans. After her family returned to England, she met John Quincy Adams in 1795, and the two began a tenuous courtship. They married in 1797 after being engaged for a year, beginning a marriage of disagreements and personality conflicts. She joined her husband on his diplomatic mission to Prussia, where she was popular with the Prussian court. When they returned to the United States, her husband became a senator and she gave birth to three sons. John was appointed minister to the Russian Empire in 1809, and they traveled to the Russian Empire without their two older sons, against Louisa's wishes. Though she was again popular with the court, she detested living in the Russian Empire, especially after the death of her infant daughter in 1812. She lived in the Russian Empire alone for a year while John negotiated the Treaty of Ghent. When he asked her to join him in 1815, she made the dangerous 40-day journey across war-torn Europe.

The Adamses lived in England for two years before returning to the United States when John was appointed Secretary of State. Louisa became a prominent cabinet wife and regularly hosted important guests in her home. She worked to build connections for her husband's 1824 presidential run, allowing for his victory. She was unsatisfied in the White House, where she became reclusive and grew distant from her husband. She instead took to writing, producing plays, essays, poems, and an autobiography. She wished for retirement after her husband lost re-election, but he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. She took a more active interest in politics, supporting abolitionism and greater rights for women in society. She was widowed in 1848, and she had a stroke in 1849 that left her with limited mobility. She died on May 15, 1852, at the age of 77, and Congress adjourned for her funeral, the second time a woman was honored in this way.

She was the only foreign-born first lady of the United States until 2017, when Melania Trump became first lady. Her tenure as first lady is not as well studied as other parts of her life, due to her reclusiveness and the limited records she kept at the time. Still, she is generally rated in the upper half of first ladies by historians.

Early life (1775–1788)

Louisa Catherine Johnson was born in London on February 12, 1775. She was the second daughter of American merchant Joshua Johnson and Englishwoman Catherine Nuth. The Johnsons were an influential family in American politics, with Louisa's paternal uncle Thomas Johnson being one of the signers of the 1774 Continental Association. Little is known of her mother's life prior to her marriage. Louisa's parents may have only married ten years after her birth, potentially making Louisa the only first lady of the United States to be born out of wedlock. She lived a comfortable life as a child in which all of her needs were seen to.

Louisa's father supported American independence, and the Johnsons left England in 1778 in response to the American Revolutionary War. They moved to Nantes, France, where they lived for the next five years. While in France, Louisa attended a Catholic boarding school. She performed well in school, becoming proficient in music and literature, and she learned to speak French fluently. Such was her immersion in French that she was later forced to relearn English. Her self-esteem suffered, and she kept a distance from her peers. The resulting dispute grew to the point that it was addressed by the presidential cabinet. Even when separated, they rarely wrote to one another, and the communications they did share were emotionless. Adams was regarded by contemporaries as the "most traveled woman of her time", as well as a painting of her by Edward Savage. For some time the painting was still owned by Adams's great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Henry L. Mason, and was loaned to the museum seasonally. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery holds several portraits of Louisa Catherine Adams, including a silhouette and a portrait on an ivory necklace.

Historian polling

Since 1982 Siena College Research Institute has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American 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. Consistently, Adams has been ranked in the upper-half of first ladies by historians in these surveys. In terms of cumulative assessment, Adams has been ranked:

  • 14th-best of 42 in 1982
  • 16th-best of 37 in 1993
  • 16th-best of 40 in 2020

In the 2014 survey, Adams and her husband were also ranked the 19th-highest out of 39 first couples in terms of being a "power couple".

Family tree

Select writings

Autobiographies

  • The Adventures of a Nobody