First Friends by Gary Ginsberg (New York: 12), 2021.

'First Lady' is a well-known expression for the wife of a leader, especially
the wife of a U.S. President. Recently, there has even been use of expressions
such as 'First Bloke', to describe the husband of a female leader, as in Australia
in the recent past.

However, this book focusses on people who are less familiar, 'First Friends',
a key friend/confidante/muse of U.S. presidents. Ginsberg chooses nine
presidents across a wide span of time from Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton.
I started by reading about the most recent presidents, as they were most familiar
to me. However, I did not really know any of the 'first friends'. so it was interesting
to find out about their very contrasting lives and relationships with presidents.
Each was certainly different, as indicated here:

Thomas Jefferson: James Madison.    Madison was the only one to become president himself.
Franklin Pierce: Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Hawthorne was probably the most 'famous' friend, as a well-known writer.
Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed.   Perhaps the friendship where the wealthier background was most that of the
                             friend rather than the president.
Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House.   House, who was not really an actual 'colonel', played a huge role in U.S foreign
                             policy around the First World War.
FDR and Daisy Suckley.            Suckley was the only female 'first friend'.
Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson.   Jacobson was a friend from boyhood who played a key role in encouraging
                            Truman to recognise the State of Israel.
John F. (Jack) Kennedy and        The only 'first friend' who was a foreigner. Ormsby-Gore, later Lord Harlech,
David Ormsby-Gore              was British and symbolises the interplay between the U.S. and U.K. in the
                            'Special Relationship'.
Richard Nixon and Bebe Rebozo      Perhaps the most mysterious relationship between two people with more
                            different different backgrounds than the other relationships and long periods
                            of silence!
Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan      The only African-American 'first friend' and very much a relationship of
                            equals in areas such as charisma and networking capability.

It might seem strange that a U.S. President, who has so much interaction with others, whether aides or leaders
of other countries, needs such a person. However, there is a saying: "It can be lonely at the top." and there is
a need to be for someone who the holder of this position can really have confidence in. In some of the
relationships, advice about policy was extremely important, but in two (FDR/Daisy Suckley and Richard Nixon/
Bebe Rebozo) it was more an escape from politics.

The only relationship that did not endure to the end was that between Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House.
Others ended prematurely, with the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy, but many ended in great sorrow.
As Harry Truman said about Eddie Jacobson, "Eddie was one of the best friends I had in this world. He was
absolutely trustworthy. I don't know how I am going to get along without him." (p.233) John F. Kennedy's
widow, Jackie, gave David Ormsby-Gore a book of poetry, including these words from Percy Shelley:
"Friendship...a deer balm. A smile among dark frowns; a beloved light.
 A solitude, a refuge, a delight."  (p.272)

See my previous featured book.