Lou Henry Hoover

Lou Henry Hoover (March 29, 1874 – January 7, 1944) was the wife of President of the United States Herbert Hoover and served as First Lady from 1929 to 1933.

Lou Henry was born in Iowa, and grew up in California. Marrying her engineer husband in 1899, she traveled widely with him, including to Shanghai, China, and became a cultivated scholar and linguist. A proficient Chinese speaker, she is the only First Lady to have spoken an Asian language. She oversaw construction of the presidential retreat at Rapidan Camp in Madison County, Virginia. She was the first First Lady to make regular, nationwide radio broadcasts to the American public. She died of a heart attack in 1944.

Lou Henry Hoover in Joe Steele
As incumbent First Lady, Lou Hoover attended the 1933 presidential inauguration. Lou Hoover was dressed as if she were about to meet the King and Queen of England. Conversely, her successor, Betty Steele, looked like she'd picked up her outfit from the Montgomery Wards' catalog.