Tonight! Live Talk Examines First Ladies Who Endured ‘Infidelities, Strokes and Assassinations’

FLARE program features an interview with author Craig Smith on his new book that explores how America’s first ladies weathered such hardships.

Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children leave the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 25, 1963, just days after her husband President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr. (2nd row) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy Lawford (hidden), Jean Kennedy Smith (3rd Row), Peter Lawford. (Credit: Abbie Rowe/National Archives and Records Administration)

The First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) presents a virtual discussion at 7 p.m. EST on Monday, July 14, with author Craig Smith on his new book First Ladies: Enduring Infidelities, Strokes and Assassinations. Diana Carlin, FLARE vice president and professor emerita of communication at Saint Louis University will moderate the discussion.

In Smith’s 25th book, he surveys the lives of 42 first ladies from Martha Washington to Melania Trump. The book focuses on hardships—illnesses, assassinations and infidelities—these women…