Abigail Adams was an important figure, having been wife to one president and mother to another. Her letters back and forth to husband John Adams reveal a smart and observant woman and historians often use her correspondence to fill in the blanks of Revolutionary War-time life. She accompanied John Adams on his diplomatic posts and provided support and advice to him (they spoke often of philosophy and politics) as well as assisting Martha Washington in leading colonial high society.

http://www.whitehousehistory.org/history/white-house-first-ladies/first-lady-abigail-adams.html