During her father's presidency from 1850 to 1853 she often served as White House hostess, in part due to her mother's illness.

A native of Buffalo, New York, she studied at a private school in Lenox, Massachusetts.

She spoke French fluently and was conversant in Spanish, German, and Italian.

She accompanied him to a variety of public functions, notably including the widely promoted train and steamboat Grand Excursion of June 1854.

Her sudden death a few weeks later, from cholera at age 22, is thought to have contributed to her father's decision to come out of retirement and resume his political career.