Founding Mothers
The Women Who Raised Our Nation
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Narrated by:
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Cokie Roberts
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By:
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Cokie Roberts
About this listen
Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Eliza Pinckney, Mary Bartlett, and Martha Washington, proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.
Social history at its best, Founding Mothers unveils the determination, creative insight, and passion of the other patriots, the women who raised our nation. Cokie Roberts proves beyond doubt that like every generation of American women that has followed, the founding mothers used the unique gifts of their gender (courage, pluck, sadness, joy, energy, grace, sensitivity, and humor) to do what women do best, put one foot in front of the other in remarkable circumstances, and carry on.
©2004 Cokie Roberts (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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John Quincy Adams was the last of his kind - a Puritan from the age of the Founders who despised party and compromise yet dedicated himself to politics and government. The son of John Adams, he was a brilliant ambassador and secretary of state, a frustrated president at a historic turning point in American politics, and a dedicated congressman who literally died in office - at the age of 80, in the House of Representatives, in the midst of an impassioned political debate.
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Best narrator of all the audio books I've listened
- By grimm79 on 12-12-17
By: James Traub
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Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
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After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
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You Never Forget Your First
- A Biography of George Washington
- By: Alexis Coe
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Alexis Coe
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have listeners - including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads - inhaling every word.
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You Never Forget Your Worst
- By Wm Cole on 02-27-20
By: Alexis Coe
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Eliza Hamilton
- The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton
- By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Fans fell in love with Eliza Hamilton - Alexander Hamilton’s devoted wife - in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical Hamilton. But they don’t know her full story. A strong pioneer woman, a loving sister, a caring mother, and, in her later years, a generous philanthropist, Eliza had many sides - and this fascinating biography brings her multifaceted personality to vivid life.
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Eliza Deserves Better
- By jmn89 on 12-20-19
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
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Washington
- A Life
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 41 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
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A sad day when my book was done!
- By ButterLegume on 12-13-10
By: Ron Chernow
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Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
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A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
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The Last Founding Father
- James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In this lively and compelling biography, Harlow Giles Unger reveals the dominant political figure of a generation. A fierce fighter in four critical Revolutionary War battles and a courageous survivor of Valley Forge and a near-fatal wound at the Battle of Trenton, James Monroe (1751 - 1831) went on to become America's first full-time politician, dedicating his life to securing America's national and international durability.
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Readable, but more hero worship than history
- By Elaine Martin on 12-22-10
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An Imperfect God
- George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America
- By: Henry Wiencek
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Abridged
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Washington was born and raised among Blacks and mixed-race people; he and his wife had blood ties to the slave community. Yet as a young man he bought and sold slaves without scruple, even raffled off children to collect debts (an incident ignored by earlier biographers). Then, on the Revolutionary battlefields where he commanded both Black and White troops, Washington's attitudes began to change.
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Excellent handling of one part of Wahington's life
- By buffaloboy on 05-20-04
By: Henry Wiencek
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A Perfect Union
- Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
- By: Catherine Allgor
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, incisive portrait of the early days of the republic—and the birth of modern politics hen the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of American politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's newly minted capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain in 1812, Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband James.
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A great first lady!
- By Anna Walker on 04-04-11
By: Catherine Allgor
What listeners say about Founding Mothers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Jody R. Nathan
- 06-03-04
Interesting, but not engrossing
I found these stories interesting, but not compelling. What I found most interesting was the relationships between the ladies mentioned in this book. But, it was a little hard to follow, and I put it down several times. I enjoyed the author's reading. But I was not inspired to find out any more about these women, which was surprising to me, since I very much like American history.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Debbie Rooney
- 04-15-07
Founding Mothers
This was a refreshing perspective on the formation of our country. After reading "Benjamin Frankin", "John Adams", and "Alexander Hamilton" it was nice to read a book about the women behind the men.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- CH
- 02-26-05
excellent!
She brings these ladies to life. Showcases their strength, dedication, and courage, inspite of the era of inequality they lived in.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Emily Carbonetti
- 10-11-19
Excellent!
Having the story of the founding mothers was made greater by the narration of Cokie Roberts herself! I really enjoyed listening to this book and learned so much!
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- Gustella
- 01-02-12
Great read
There would be no founding fathers if were not for these courageous group of women. Educational and entertaining. Well read by Ms Roberts.
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- Booklover
- 12-15-19
expectations unfulfilled
I wanted to love this book... for the subject and the author and the audiobook reader. I found it all rather flat, unexciting and kind of dull. I had hoped for more... creatively it felt like a bloodless recitation of facts. what did delight me was how so many letters have survived through the centuries. And what really hit home was how self centered and self indulgent the founding fathers were.
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Overall
- Lawrence
- 08-02-04
Pretty good
Cokie Roberts enlightens us about the role of women in early America. Unfortunately, they were relegated to third class citizenry but a few set the standard for future generations. Roberts writes well and does a nice job of narrating the book with enjoyable quips that added to "a change of pace" when the text needed it. At times, the text dragged and needed additional content.
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Overall
- KBoat
- 03-02-07
Loved the History
This was a really good book with history of women that made a huge impression and difference on early American society. Every girl should know about these women. I think Cokie Roberts should not have been the narrator though. I love her commentaries, and would recognize her voice anywhere, but she was not the best person to present her book.
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- AmazonCustomer
- 02-21-18
Runs slow
First of all, why Ms Roberts is it abridged. The parts that are most interesting were the parts not read. (Shame!)
The non fiction book is about how the women who played a very important support staff to the soldiers, the members of Congress and the signers of the Declaration of Independence. These women ran the family, businesses, the farms, plantations, organized women guild to raise money or make clothing for the soldiers.
These same women would then leave home in winter to spend it with their husbands in the camps only to leave pregnant.
These same women would have their homes bombed, seized, searched and hide what they can from the British.
Cokie Roberts was the narrator on her own book and felt it necessary to slightly chuckle at her own jokes. (Not funny. Please let me decide).
The story was interesting as long as Ms Roberts kept it to the women and something new that most wouldn’t people didn’t know. The last 1/3 of the book, I felt was an abridged portion of my high school text book, and slowed the book down to a crawl.
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- Tonya Skelly
- 04-18-16
My new favorite book!!!
Would you listen to Founding Mothers again? Why?
Yes...yes! So well done by Cokie and so well written.
What did you like best about this story?
I like that it was chronological. I love learning about our Founding Fathers and greater detail is painted as you get to know the women behind them.
Which character – as performed by Cokie Roberts – was your favorite?
All of them!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Indeed...but it was parceled out in a few days.
Any additional comments?
This book was recommended by two people and it was even better than they described!
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