September 17, 2026 | Keuka College | Keuka Park, New York

What does the U.S. Constitution say about the role of First Lady?

Absolutely nothing.

Yet for more than two centuries, America's First Ladies have occupied one of the nation's most visible and influential positions—without a constitutionally defined role, official powers, or even a prescribed set of responsibilities.

In celebration of Constitution Day, historians and authors Christopher J. Leahy and Sharon Leahy will explore this fascinating constitutional absence and the ways America's First Ladies helped define the role for themselves.

Drawing extensively from their forthcoming biography, Presidentess: The Life of First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler, the Leahys will examine how the spirited and politically astute Julia Gardiner Tyler used ceremony, publicity, access, persuasion, and her proximity to the presidency to shape an influential role that existed nowhere in the Constitution.

The program will also consider the larger question of how the role of First Lady evolved through precedent, personality, public expectation, and the women who occupied it.

C-SPAN's American History TV is scheduled to be at Keuka College to record the program.

Presidentess: The Life of First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler will be published by the University Press of Kansas on September 29, 2026.

Additional event details and time to come.