First Lady of the United States and provided elite women with opportunities to play backstage political roles. Both Martha Washington and Abigail Adams were treated as if they were "ladies" of the British royal court. Dolley Madison popularized the First Ladyship by engaging in efforts to assist orphans and women, by dressing in elegant fashions and attracting newspaper coverage, and by risking her life to save iconic treasures during the War of 1812. Madison set the standard for the ladyship and her actions were the model for nearly every First Lady until Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s. She traveled widely and spoke to many groups, often
First Lady of the Bedchamber keeper of the sovereigns stole or official robe. When the sovereign was female, the post of Groom of the Stoles was given to the First Lady of the Bedchamber. This created some confusion between the office of First Lady of the Bedchamber and the office of Mistress of the Robes, who was originally in charge of the queen's robes or "stoles". The result was a blur between the offices of First Lady of the Bedchamber and Mistress of the Robes, who were often combined during the 17th-century and 18th-century, until a strict organisation was finally set between them in the