Women of the White House: A glimpse into the world of America's first ladies through portraits

"A woman's public role is to sit beside her husband, be silent and be sure her hat is on straight," former US first lady Bess Truman once said.

Hardly the kind of quote today’s Instagram generation would seize on – but there was another side to Bess, wife of Harry S Truman.

Behind the scenes she was nicknamed The Boss and wrote many of her husband’s speeches during his White House years between 1945 and 1953.