Still, the number of politicians has not noticeably declined. Nor are we the first  generation to take a more than passing interest in the personal lives of our elected leaders. Convinced that historical perspective might be the best answer to the Gotterdammerung tone that the discussion sometimes takes, I decided to explore the roles of women in the lives of the first group of American politicians to win fame -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and James Madison. Collectively, most historians agree, these are the founding fathers, the men who made the greatest contribution to the birth of the nation.

      I was soon watching a young George Washingt