Hello friends, welcome.

So glad you're here with me today.

And you know what?

First lady Sarah Polk was no ordinary woman.

And she was just unusual for her time.

She's still unusual by today's standards.

And that makes her time as first lady even more fascinating.

So today I'm going to give you five reasons why Sarah Polk is unique in the constellation

of America's first ladies.

Let's start again.

I'm Sharon McMahon.

And here's where it gets interesting.

In 1839 a letter was sent from a man in Washington DC to a woman in Nashville, Tennessee.

The opening line was, I miss you more here than any living person and profit more by your

information in regard to most things.

What sounds like a love note was actually a sincere note of respect from a United States

Supreme Court justice to his friend Sarah, the wife of Tennessee governor James Polk.

One of Sarah's biographers describes her as a woman who managed the trick of excelling

in the male sphere of politics without seeming to threaten anyone.

Women would write that she was very impressive and made them feel at ease.

And men were willing to tell Sarah things that they wouldn't tell other men.

And so here's my reason number one.

...