Welcoming its first executive in 1842, the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion is the second-oldest continuously occupied governor’s residence in the United States. The Mansion is both a public building open for tours and the private residence of the governor and his family. In this unique book, readers are invited to explore the entirety of the building, from the attic to the garage and everything in between. The Mississippi Governor’s Mansion: Memories of the People’s Home is the first book of its kind dedicated to images and stories about the Governor’s Mansion. The volume reveals Governor Phil Bryant’s profound respect for the office he holds and his deep appreciation for the National Historic Landmark in which he resides. Through his personal, often touching reflections, Governor Bryant pays tribute to former governors, their families, and the many public servants who have dedicated their lives to taking care of this beautiful Greek Revival masterpiece. More than sixty elegant watercolor paintings by noted Mississippi artist Bill Wilson accompany the governor’s stories. Wilson captures the beauty and majesty of the home, its furnishings, and the restored historic grounds. The volume also features a personal foreword by First Lady Deborah Bryant inviting readers into her home, an artist’s statement by Wilson, and a brief historical essay written by Mansion curator Megan Bankston.

Designed by Atlanta architect A. Thomas Bradbury and opened in 1968, the mansion has been home to eight first families and houses a distinguished collection of American art and antiques. Often called “the people’s house,” the mansion is always on display, always serving the public. Memories of the Mansion tells the story of the Georgia Governor’s Mansion—what preceded it and how it came to be as well as the stories of the people who have lived and worked here since its opening in 1968. The authors worked closely with the former first families (Maddox, Carter, Busbee, Harris, Miller, Barnes, Perdue, and Deal) to capture behind-the-scenes anecdotes of what life was like in the state’s most public house. This richly illustrated book not only documents this extraordinary place and the people who have lived and worked here, but it will also help ensure the preservation of this historic resource so that it may continue to serve the state and its people.

Once in a Lifetime reveals the broad range of Elise Varner Winter's activities as first lady of Mississippi during the term of her husband, Governor William F. Winter (1980–1984). Drawn from her personal journal, which she kept daily, this account includes the frustrating moments as well as the exhilarating ones, from keeping house to visiting the White House. The position of a state's first lady is one of the most public of roles. Yet few people know what a first lady actually does. In Elise Winter's memoir, her sense of history, her talent, and her perseverance to record her activities and observations provide a unique opportunity for the reader to understand what life in the Mississippi Governor's Mansion was really like on a daily basis. This book reveals her traditional roles—planner of elegant dinners, sophisticated hostess, hands-on gardener, and steward of the Mansion and its historic collection of antique furniture and decorative arts. But she emerged as a modern first lady, intensely interested in public education and in the state penitentiary, for which she developed several important initiatives. She recounts fascinating events from Governor Winter's administration, its tensions and its accomplishments, such as passage of the Education Reform Act, a success in which Elise Winter played an indispensable role. Many of the issues of thirty years ago remain critical today—insufficient funding for education, budget deficits, prison overcrowding, and the need for prison reform. Elise Winter observes everyone and everything with a fresh eye for detail and describes them all with honesty, clarity, and simplicity. Her observations reflect her intellect and insight, as well as her sense of humor. This is a woman's story, a human story, about hopes and doubts, about setting high standards and sometimes feeling inadequate, and about the imperative of continual efforts to make her state a better place for all who live there.

We End in Joy: Memoirs of a First Daughter offers an extraordinary perspective on public life in an intimate account from the daughter of a highly controversial southern governor and a widely beloved first lady. Angela Jordan enjoyed a comfortable and quiet life in Vicksburg, the small southern town in which she was reared. She was a thirty-five-year-old mother of three daughters, and a woman with a politically liberal bent, when, against all history's odds, Mississippians elected her conservative Republican father, Kirk Fordice, governor in 1991. Suddenly fate threw the whole Fordice family into the glaring lights of public life. They made headlines, enlivened the 6 o'clock television news, and provided fodder for every dinner table conversation and robust political speculation around the Southeast. As the Governor and First Lady Fordices' longstanding marriage dissolved slowly and publicly over two terms in office, everyone with a newspaper subscription or a cable connection watched the train wreck and high-profile betrayals. In honest, direct, sometimes poignant, and often funny prose, the author offers a rare glimpse into a profoundly complex family and its painfully public fall from grace. Though the book is the story behind the headlines of one of Mississippi's prominent families, Jordan's narrative will also resonate with anyone who has experienced humiliation, divorce, or loss, whether public or private. Through it all, Jordan finds a story of joy ascendant, and the wonder of discovering that in the deepest sorrow, light and love always shine through.

"Welcoming its first executive in 1842, the Mississippi Governor's Mansion is the second-oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States.The Mansion is both a public building open for tours and the private residence of the governor and his family. In this unique book, readers are invited to explore the entirety of the building, from the attic to the garage and everything in between. The Mississippi Governor's Mansion: Memories of the People's Home is the first book of its kind dedicated to images and stories about the Governor's Mansion. The volume reveals Governor Phil Bryant's profound respect for the office he holds and his deep appreciation for the National Historic Landmark in which he resides. Through his personal, often touching reflections, Governor Bryant pays tribute to former governors, their families, and the many public servants who have dedicated their lives to taking care of this beautiful Greek Revival masterpiece. More than sixty elegant watercolor paintings by noted Mississippi artist Bill Wilson accompany the governor's stories. Wilson captures the beauty and majesty of the home, its furnishings, and the restored historic grounds. The volume also features a personal foreword by First Lady Deborah Bryant inviting readers into her home, an artist's statement by Wilson, and a brief historical essay written by Mansion curator Megan Bankston."--Provided by publisher.