WARNING: The following contains spoilers for American Horror Story: Double Feature Episode 10, "The Future Perfect," which aired Wednesday on FX.
Though generally well-regarded by history, Mamie Eisenhower remains a minor figure at best: a respectable First Lady eclipsed over time by the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy. American Horror Story: Double Feature put her front and center in its outrageous alien conspiracy story, which likely left a lot for viewers scrambling for her biography. As it turns out, a good deal of what the show reveals is true. It's just so heavily mixed in with the bizarre elements that telling the two apart can be difficult.
American Horror Story's version of Mamie is very much a villain, albeit in ways that don't come close to objective reality. She's an active conspirator with the aliens looking to harvest and experiment on humans, believing it in the long-term best interests of the country and the planet. She's disabused of the notion in horrifying fashion at the end of Season 10, Episode 10, "The Future Perfect," by which time she has lived beyond her years and watched her legacy come to be taken for granted. So what facts about her did the show include along with its secret deals with Greys and penthouses in Area 51?
Mamie Eisenhower Really Loved Pink
American Horror Story reveals a First Lady mad about pink, most notably in the dress she wore in Area 51. (Ironically, with the historic sections of "Death Valley" shot in black and white, viewers didn't get to see the pink until the final episode). This is based on real life. The actual Mamie Eisenhower was a consummate hostess, and her fondness for the color reverberated into the larger culture. She wore a pink gown to her husband's inauguration, which set fashion trends, and the prominence of White House gatherings and diplomatic functions led to "Mamie pink" becoming a staple of wallpaper, bathroom fixtures and other household accoutrements.
Mamie Eisenhower Really Had Beef with Other First Ladies
As it tends to do with its characters, American Horror Story presented Mamie initially as a kind and sweet woman, if a little stodgy. That soon revealed itself to be a façade hiding cruel indifference and surprising pettiness, particularly about other First Ladies. Her dialogue on the show includes jealous remarks about both Jackie Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt, contrasting her initial grandmotherly warmth. The show split the difference with the real-life Mamie. In real life, she held great respect for Eleanor Roosevelt and reportedly kept a picture of the woman on her mantle next to her family's. Jackie Kennedy was a different story, and multiple biographies of both women reveal how Mamie gave the incoming First Lady the cold shoulder after John F. Kennedy defeated Ike's vice president Richard Nixon in the 1960 election.
Mamie Eisenhower Really Made Holidays Grown-Up Friendly
The show's version of Mamie Eisenhower presents her as the savior of national celebrations: making birthdays, Halloween and other get-togethers an event for adults as well as kids. Her tragedy is that she doesn't care about the cheer and happiness it brought to so many people, only that the world seems to have forgotten her role in it. Both have roots in real life, though both were exaggerated for dramatic purposes on American Horror Story.
Mamie's hostess skills translated into a love of birthday parties, and she organized extravagant Christmas celebrations in the White House during her tenure there. Under her direction, the White House was decorated for Halloween for the first time in 1958, all of which helped elevate those traditions in American public consciousness. But here, too, signs of the real Mamie Eisenhower's less flattering side appeared. While she may have originated Halloween celebrations in the White House, the Kennedys – who had two young children and celebrated Halloween very publicly with them – really made the tradition take off.
To see Mamie's very fictional alien alliance, all 10 episodes of American Horror Story: Double Feature are on Hulu now.