Product Description

Letitia Baldrige is well known for her bestselling books on etiquette and is a much sought-after commentator on American style. Now, she writes of her life as a tenacious and successful woman who worked behind the scenes in some of the most exciting places after World War II and at the height of America's international glory.

The romance of Baldrige's first job in Paris with American Ambassador David Bruce's wife, Evangeline, is only the beginning of her lively tale. From working with Clare Booth Luce in Rome in the early 1950s to becoming the first woman executive for Tiffany & Co. to being the social secretary in the Kennedy White House, Baldrige has led a glamorous, high-spirited life, and A Lady, First shares a wonderful vicarious experience of her adventures.

Letitia Baldrige is a joy to read—she is stylish, chic, and always polite, and she manages to be a feminist and a lady at the same time. Like Katharine Graham and Liz Smith, she has lived her life among celebrities and history makers and has the stories to prove it. She continues to be an inspiration as the founder of Letitia Baldrige Enterprises, one of the first companies in the world to be founded and run by a female CEO.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #788902 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-15
• Released on: 2001-10-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 292 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In her effervescent memoir, Baldrige, ambassador of etiquette, writes, "I disliked unfulfilled passions." She graduated Vassar in the mid-1940s and then, blessed with means, moxie and a voracious appetite for learning, she pursued her passions and led a life that was anything but ordinary for women at that time. Joining the U.S. Foreign Service in her 20s, she served in Paris as social secretary to Evangeline Bruce, the American ambassador's wife, and later to the U.S. ambassador in Rome, Clare Boothe Luce. These two women, Baldrige says, were among her greatest teachers. She tells of her subsequent work as the first female executive at Tiffany's under Walter Hoving, until the White House beckoned in 1960. For three years, she worked feverishly as social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy until, overworked and contemplating the advice of Joe Kennedy, she quit. She soon opened her own, hugely successful PR firm in Chicago and then moved to New York, marrying in her mid-30s and having two children. With her plate already overflowing, she took on volunteering, lecturing, writing for newspapers and magazines, and writing books on etiquette and her experiences. A life lived so fully and at such a frenetic pace is scarcely to be believed at first, until one takes into account Baldrige's spirited will and work ethic. "I had always thought I was Wonder Woman without the steel bra." Readers may be disappointed by the gentle nature of the gossip and lack of scandal, but Baldrige's insight, humor and vivid encounters are sure to enthrall. Baldrige is an exemplary role model for women because she opened doors by refusing to accept that they were closed. (Oct 15) Forecast: If this sells, which it should, it will be not for revealing any secrets about Jackie Kennedy but for Baldrige's own admirable life.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Many know that Baldrige was Jackie Kennedy's White House social secretary and that she is the author of numerous etiquette and style books (e.g., Letitia Baldrige's Complete Guide to the New Manners for the 90's, 1990). What may not be so widely known is how she obtained the credentials to qualify for the White House position and become known as the late 20th century's etiquette expert. When she was fresh from a graduate program in international relations in Geneva, Baldrige served as the social secretary to ambassador and Mrs. David Bruce in Paris from 1948 to 1951 and then to the indomitable Clare Boothe Luce, ambassador to Italy, from 1953 to 1956. In this memoir, Baldrige tells in humorous and self-deprecating style about her service in those high-powered households. She fondly recalls memories of her White House years and the Kennedy family and relates many details of her subsequent career in public relations and publishing. Mainly an entertaining memoir with little discussion of international affairs, this book will appeal to library patrons who know Baldridge from her etiquette and amusing books. She is detailed but not bitter when describing the real lack of opportunity for women with her credentials. Recommended for public libraries. Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Baldrige, best known as Jacqueline Kennedy's social secretary in the White House and as a nabob of manners, updates her 1968 autobiography, Of Diamonds and Diplomats, although readers of that volume will find much of its contents simply repackaged here. Baldrige has a way of presenting herself as a lucky kid from Oklahoma who worked her way up in the world, and though she did work hard at everything she did, her family had plenty of social connections, if not always the money to go with them. She met Jackie Bouvier at Miss Porter's boarding school, but before that piece of networking landed the White House job, she worked for the wife of the U.S ambassador to France and then for Clare Booth Luce and Tiffany's. Baldrige, who has written several other books on etiquette and entertaining, is full of amusing anecdotes and advice that will be most useful to those living a glitterati-filled lifestyle. For the rest of us, it's still fun reading about how Tish did it her way. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

An Interesting and Amazing Woman
Tish Baldridge has led an interesting and amazing life. She wasn't blessed with great wealth or beauty yet she managed to live and work on the upper echelons of American political and social society in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and onward.
Baldridge takes you through her beginnings in the midwest, her education at Miss Porter's and Vassar as one of the less financially advantaged students, her life in Paris and Rome working for such trend setters as Clare Booth Luce, her days at Tiffany, her years in the White House with Jackie Kennedy, and her life after.

Here's what is great about this book and her story: her life didn't begin and it didn't end with her association with Jackie Kennedy. Camelot fans will get great glimpses into those years from her vantage point. But there is a lot more to this book...

I would highly recommend this book to women who love biographies on the Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn set. I also would recommend this book to women who enjoy the story of a self-made woman and a survivor and anyone interested in the social history of this era. I would not recommend this book to most men and I would caution all readers to note that this is a book filled with details of food, flowers, gowns, and jewels and not policy making or congressional bills. You learn about the parties that Jackie Kennedy went to in the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis not about the policy nuances behind the crisis.

I gave this book as a present to several female friends and they loved it.

Tish, we hardly knew ye
Yes, this book is a rehash of Diamonds and Diplomats but with one huge difference. In D&D Ms. Baldridge was not entirely frank. Since many of the people she wrote about in that book were still alive she had to sugar coat the truth considerably. Now, with Lady First she is free to set the record straight.

She explains fully for the first time why she really left the White House and although she clearly adored Clare Booth Luce she's now free to show that working for her was no picnic.

Also, we get a superior picture of the author herself. Bold or pushy, if you prefer she charted her own course and made her own dreams come true whether it was to get herself to Paris or into the CIA or to be the first American female tourist in Yugoslavia after WWII.

If you think of Leticia Baldrige as just being the etiquette lady or you only remember her from her White House stint then this book will will show you an entirely different side.

Left me wanting more
Some might say that _A Lady, First_ is a rehash of Ms. Baldrige's book, _Of Diamonds and Diplomats_. However, the author has reflected on her life then and has written this book for twenty-first century readers. The stories are familiar, but they have been expanded to include so much that is of historical significance and that makes it worth reading.