Elizabeth Kortright Monroe (June 30, 1768 – September 23, 1830) was First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

 from 1817 to 1825, as the wife of James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

, fifth President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

, who held the office for two terms.
Born in New York in 1768, Elizabeth was the daughter of Lawrence Kortright, an officer in the British army who had made a fortune privateering during the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

, and Hannah Aspinwall. She acquired social grace and elegance at an early age.