Swanson has been described as being heavily influential in her husband's political career, having campaigned heavily for his re-election campaigns to Congress, his election to the Governorship, and his run for the United States Senate.[5][9]
As first lady, Swanson became widely known for hosting lavish social functions at the Executive Mansion. Outside of Virginia, she also served as hostess at many Washington, D.C. social functions.[10] During her time as first lady, she served as hostess for a royal visit by Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland (representative of Oscar II) in 1907. He remarked, "never have I seen such beauty, such grace."[11]
She was described as a person of "unusual social prestige" who was also a talented farmer, raising tobacco on her family's 650-acre plantation in Spotsylvania County.[12] She also raised Virginia ham and chickens on the plantation and was an accomplished painter of porcelain.[13][14][4]
Swanson frequently hosted public receptions at the Executive Mansion for members of the general public and military veterans, particularly former Confederate soldiers.[10][15] In 1903, she and her husband took a six-week European trip with Thomas Martin and his wife. In 1907, she was the official hostess of the Jamestown Exposition which received national news coverage.[16][17]
Swanson was a lifelong sympathizer to the cause of the Confederacy in the United States, and was a long-time member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, attending many of their conventions and events.[18]
She was featured on the cover of the Atlanta Georgian and News Society magazine in 1911, where she was described as a "popular" and "prominent figure" in Washington, D.C. political and social circles. Her social activities were widely covered in regional and national newspapers.[19][20][21] She was an attendee of the 1912 Democratic National Convention, of which her husband was chairman of the Virginia delegation.[2] In 1914, she was the patron of a benefit for the industrial educational fund for the Virginia mountaineers.[22] The Evening Argus described her as "a leading figure in the social life of Washington."[23]
Swanson was a close acquaintance and friend of Mary Custis Lee and Helen Taft Manning.[10][19] While she was herself influential in political circles, Swanson opposed women's suffrage and shared with a newspaper her belief that "home is the place for woman and that her power is centered there and not in a public career. We reign in our homes and we influence our husbands, and this is mission enough for the most ambitious. Every woman has a vote if she does her duty."[24]
She served as regent of the Dorothea Henry Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was delegate to its continental congresses. She was also a member of the Colonial Dames of America and the Society of the Descendants of Colonial Governors.[25] In 1913, she was a breakfast guest alongside First Lady Ellen Axson Wilson.[26] In the same year, Swanson ran for president of the Congressional Club, a membership organization of the spouses of members of Congress.[27][28] She also contributed recipes to the Economy Administration Cookbook.[29]
Swanson was active in the Second inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, and was member of a committee to represent Virginia in the inaugural parade.[30] During World War I, Swanson was involved in various activities to aid in the war effort. She did volunteer sewing for the American Red Cross and made surgical dressings.[31] Swanson was also a trustee and board member of the Southern Relief Society, including serving for a time as the organization's vice president.[32]
In July 1907, Swanson narrowly survived an apparent assassination attempt of either herself or Judge Alton B. Parker, with whom she was sitting on a train ride to Richmond.[33][34]
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