# Is Melania Trump going to be the first immigrant First Partner in the White House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543 "2016-11-11T22:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/1 "2016-11-11T22:10:22Z")
And if not, who was? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/2 "2016-11-11T22:14:49Z")
[From here](http://www.firstladies.org/facinatingfacts.aspx) > [@](#): > > Louisa Adams, 1775-1852 > John Quincy Adams’ wife was the only first lady born in a foreign country—England. She played the harp, wrote satirical plays and raised silkworms. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/3 "2016-11-11T22:15:33Z")
No. Louisa, wife of John Quincy Adams, was born in England. Ninja’d! Okay, I remember reading that she used the silk from the silkworms for her own dresses. “She also found refuge from political life by raising her own silkworms and harvesting her own silk, which she used in her personal sewing.” [http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=6](http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=6) She was also the mother of the first American citizen born in Russia, a daughter named after herself. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/4 "2016-11-11T22:23:20Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > No. Louisa, wife of John Quincy Adams, was born in England. > > **Ninja’d! Okay, I remember reading that she used the silk from the silkworms for her own dresses.** “She also found refuge from political life by raising her own silkworms and harvesting her own silk, which she used in her personal sewing.” [http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=6](http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=6) > > She was also the mother of the first American citizen born in Russia, a daughter named after herself. [From here.](https://www.kumikookoon.com/silk-facts.php) > [@](#): > > • 2,500 - 3,000 kookoons are used in making just one yard of woven silk fabric. That’s one hell of a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/5 "2016-11-11T22:37:34Z")
All of the early first ladies were not born in the USA because the USA did not exist prior to 1776. They were born in a British colony. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/6 "2016-11-11T22:43:07Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > All of the early first ladies were not born in the USA because the USA did not exist prior to 1776. They were born in a British colony. But neither were they immigrants (w/ the exception of JQA’s wife). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/7 "2016-11-11T22:54:46Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > All of the early first ladies were not born in the USA because the USA did not exist prior to 1776. They were born in a British colony. That’s nice. What does that have to do with the question posed? Do you actually think that this is news to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/8 "2016-11-11T23:10:34Z")
While she will not be the first immigrant First Lady, she will be the first who speaks English as a second language. (Hannah Van Buren would have been the first, but she died before her husband became President.) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/9 "2016-11-12T07:18:41Z")
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams was born in London, but her father was the American Consul. Her mother was English. The Adams family objected to her foreign birth until they got to know her. And her manners remained a bit “Continental” in the rough around the edges Washington City. Her family had also lived in France. (I just read a biography of John Quincy Adams & came to respect him quite a bit. But marriage to him was no easy task for a gently raised lady.) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/10 "2016-11-12T07:43:29Z")
FWIW, she’s also the first third wife. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/11 "2016-11-12T08:10:25Z")
And the first trophy wife. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/12 "2016-11-12T11:31:51Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That’s nice. What does that have to do with the question posed? Do you actually think that this is news to anyone? I actually learned some history and unknown facts from this thread, thanks to factoids that were related to others directly answering the OP question. Go SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/13 "2016-11-12T11:53:08Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > FWIW, she’s also the first third wife. Come to think of it, Trump also has more divorces than all his predecessors put together. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/14 "2016-11-12T12:03:53Z")
> [@APB](#): > > Come to think of it, Trump also has more divorces than all his predecessors put together. Add Giuliani and Gingrich and you can look at an Administration that sets a record for most ex-wives. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/15 "2016-11-12T16:35:22Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > I actually learned some history and unknown facts from this thread, thanks to factoids that were related to others directly answering the OP question. Go SDMB. Me too. The fact that people who were born before 1776 in what is now the USA were born in a British colony wasn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/16 "2016-11-12T17:29:20Z")
> [@APB](#): > > Come to think of it, Trump also has more divorces than all his predecessors put together. But Nancy Reagan was the first first lady to get married while already pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/17 "2016-11-12T19:33:29Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > And the first trophy wife. Second. Frances Folsom, age 21, married sitting president Grover Cleveland, age 49. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-melania-trump-going-to-be-the-first-immigrant-first-partner-in-the-white-house/771543/18 "2016-11-13T02:08:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > FWIW, she’s also the first third wife. Seeing this thread got me to wondering about that. Glad I decided to read through before starting a new thread. :smack: