Biography

A favorite of Andrew Jackson, "Lizzie" lived in the White House for a time to please him. After she married Samuel Phillips Lee, a naval officer, in 1843, she often wrote to him keeping him up to date not only on family matters but also on local and national politics, much of which were gathered through the comments of her father, editor of the Democratic organ, the Globe, and her brothers, Montgomery Blair, postmaster general under Lincoln, and Francis "Frank" Preston Blair, Jr., a general in the Civil War. Also, her political interests included serving as her father's amanuensis and sometime ghostwriter of his speeches.

Beside being an avid follower of the political scene, Elizabeth Blair Lee spent most of her time raising her only child, (Francis Preston) Blair Lee born in 1857, meeting the obligations of a large extended family, and participating in the busy social scene in Washington and Maryland. She also served for many years as a director of the Washington City Orphan Asylum. An intelligent and astute woman, she was keenly interested in the events of the day. Living just across the street from the White House in Washington (in what is now the Blair House), she was acquainted with many of the nation's most influential men and their families.