Daring Rescue: The Life of First Lady Elizabeth Monroe

Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, wife of James Monroe, our fifth president, made a dramatic entrance into history by risking her life to save the Marquessa deLafayette from the guillotine during the French Revolution. Traveling alone in a carriage through the streets of Paris, enroute to a prison, she held little promise that she herself would not be imprisoned. Twenty-three years later, Elizabeth became one of our new nation's First Ladies, setting the stage for the elegance that would define future hostesses of the White House.