Transcripts For CSPAN3 First Ladies Influence Image - Jane Pierce Harriet Lane 20240712

U. S. Marine veteran alan clark on serving two tours in cory ko between 1950 and 1953. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. Shes probably the most tragic of all the first ladies. Hated politics with a passion. This couch is one piece they took to the white house. They had eight rooms they had to furnish with their personal furniture. When she did arrive, she basically holed up and spent much of her time writing letters to her great son. She calls him my precious child, i must write to you even though you are never to see it or know it. A very pointed letter by a grieving mother. They were on a train from boston and there was a terrible accident. The train ride was very devastating for the family. Axel rod broke onkaqa the train he did not survive the crash. She concluded this was god gods that the loss of her son was gods punishment. The house was too much for jane to take care of. I dont think she was interested in housekeeping. She wasnt capable of taking care of a house. He appears himself as a failure in the office and she was glad to leave the place. It was probably the unhappiest of all presidencies. Good evening and welcome to cspan dles first ladies influence and image. On this program, we learn about the final first ladies of the antebellum era. First, we learn about jane pierce. This was lhzdefined by overwhelg loss. By the time she and her husband arrived at the executive mansion, they had lost all three of their young sons and this reluctant first lady finds herself crippled by grief. For the next 45 minutes, well delve into jane pierce and to help us understand more about her, meet our guests, ann covell, author of jane means appleton pierce. Welcome. Set the stage for this conversation. 1852. What are the issues that bring Franklin Pierce white house . The political situation was dire at that time. There were problems between the north and south, the slavery issues and the Democratic Party to which he belonged was slit and there was a situation where they were having to find a nominee for the president ial election but didnt want anybody from the south because of the slavery situation. Pierce appeared to be the best bet as a nominee at that time and mainly because of his reputation as a marvelous racken tour, but he had remained popular with the south and it was felt that there was a good chance that he would be able to win that nomination. There was a great deal of politicking around that time. But he was nominated on the 48th ballot. That was the situation that he found himself in. Well despite the ballots to get him the nomination, he won the white house in an overwhelming landslide. Tell us about the woman we describe d as a reluctant first lady. C influences . If she had any, they were negative. She came into the white house. She was a 47yearold lady who it is wellknown hated politics. She was deeply depressed at the death of her last surviving son, especially under the terrible circumstances in which he died. Her influence within the white hou house. She didnt come to the white house after a time, she didnt attend the inauguration. But she said i will have morning bunting around the house. And such was her influence with her husband that he agreed to it. He accepted that it would only last for a year. The mourning period lasted for two years. As far as influencing is concerned, he did manage to influence the powers that be that she need ed a new, luxurios bathroom on the seblgd floor where the family lived so yes, she influenced that. But as far as any other influencing is concerned, i find they were all negative and they made the white house a good place. So how did this woman who hated politics with a strong father who was the president of bowden college, a wellknown preacher in his time, she was deeply fundamentalist herself. Shhow did he get matched one a politician . I dont really know. I think they just fell for each other. My research does tell me they really did think about each other on sits attract, i suppose. They were opposite completely and utterly. My theory is something that happened in her childhood. When she was 17 years old and she came home more confident than ever and had visited her uncle and aunt in boston at the lawrences with her mother and she was showing a different game to them and she was talking to them about a man who should have been made mayor in her town and hadnt been. He just didnt like it. Then she said to her uncle, amos, who was very, very important to her. Why dont you stand for mayor . The whole family laughed at her and said how ridiculous and even her uncle amos laughed at her and i think, my personal opinion is, that a 17yearold girl is stepping out into the world, was suddenly put u down by all these people she loves best in the world and sure im not a psychologist, obviously, but im sure that could have had a lasting impression on her and maybe he thought to herself, im neva never going to talk politics again. Before we get to our first video, i want to ask about your own interest in jane pierce. Youre british and how did this most reluctant and shy of first ladies who spent her first two years essentially hibernate ng the first two floors of the white house attract your attention . Because i felt when i first heard about this lady that shes a very selfish person. She didnt help her husband in in way, shape r or form. I thought there must be a reason behind all this. What on earth is it . I also felt for they are because she lost three of her sons. She was someone i found who was extremely fond of Young Children and she was made to be a mother. And here she was a mother without a child to love. And that got to me. I decided i wanted to get to know this ladylady. There had to be more. So in the end, did you conclude she was or was not selfish . She was to a certain extent but there were extenuating circumstances i believe. Well, to learn more about the story of jane, were going to learn more about this tragic death of their third son. The first two died early in life, and benny, she doted upon. Were going to travel to her sisters home in andover, massachusetts where we learn about the summer white house and more importantly, the death of their we beloved son, benny, which takes place as they travel to washington for the inauguration. This is andover, massachusetts. Home to john and mary aiken. Mary was janes sister. They were very Close Friends throughout life and mary was there for jane at the most important times in her life. Jane and franklin came to andover to visit the aiken family. They came here with their son, benny, to visit the cousins. Mary and john had children and franklin and jane became very close and attached those children after their son passed away. The family stayed at 48 Central Street, the summer white house. Its called that because8 n Franklin Pierce would come visit his wife in andover. Jane would stay with her central at 48 Central Street and he would come visit them in the summers in particular. Its believed the administrative staff stayed at 47 Central Street just across the road from them. Jane and franklin were staying in andover because there had been a death in the family. Their, janes uncle, amos lawrence, had died. The they went to boston to atepid the funeral. They went to pack their things to head to concord to get ready to move to the white house. Unfortunately, the train ride was very devastated for the family. They were about a mile outside of and cover. An axel rod broke on the train and it slid down the embankment. Benny was a child, moving about, but this was within fivexy minus of the train ride beginning and when the train rolled down, he was hit in the back of his head very severely and did not survive the crash. The services for benny took place at mary aikens house. They went to concord to bury benny, but jane did not attend. She was very grief stricken and could not make it to the final procession of the funeral. Jane was very sick most of her life. Shes been referred to as tu burke lar and probably died of a lung disease or tuberculosisstbd died at andover. The extenuating circumstance you describe her beloved only surviving child dying right in front of her eyes. Anyone can preesh how devastating. How didfrey she take this grief the white house, approach her responsibilities there . Is well, she cast aside her responsibilities, really, but fortunate fortunately, franklin had a and she had a mentor, that was her aunt, abigail kent. Who took over her duties. The white house is in mourning. We learned how incredibly social washington is. So here, we have a critical time in the country and a white house in mourning, does it have a political impact . He appeared to have great difficulty informing his cabinet at that time. Perhaps, the fact he didnt have jane around him as he had in previous problems they had together and also, he was mourning deeply, grieving deeply for benny and himself and the feeling is, he. I could not puts whole heart and soul into the job of being president of the United States and that a lot of people do feel that that delayed the establishment of his cabinet. As it happened, when he did establish the cabinet, it ran for the whole term, which was the first time that a cabinet had run for whole four years so he did workjpc well in the end together, but its that sort of situation that did upset his way of working and to a g< large t extent. Zpl when you read about her religious views, she believed as i understand it in a punitive god. That there were retributions for actions. How did she process the death of their child . Did she blame herself . Franklin for it . How did she put that into perspective with her own religious views . She thought it was god sort of punishing them for some misdemeanor. I think she did tend to blame because he had not kept her aware of the circumstances of his nomination. When he did eventually inform her of the nomination, he r reassured her he wouldnt get elected. He said im a dark horse nominee, i wont get elected. I think she felt he was being punished death of benny and she drew u away from him and that made things completely worse. If both had come together, talked it through, they would have saved themselves a lot of unhappiness. We should tell people that pierce had walked away from politics because ofv . Eu his cons for jane. He resigned his senate seat, went back to the family home and essentially turned down appointments for presidency. So she felt he had left politics for good. Yes, except for the local politics. She accepted that he need ed to continue with his politics and so he did. When he went back to New Hampshire. She didnt mind that because she saw him every night. Now one interesting aspect of this is that she was up on the second floor, the family quarters of the white house, but she was trying to seek some understanding of this. I understand that it was a burgeoning Spiritualist Movement in the United States around that time and that she in fact, sought out some spirl eventuitu lway. My understanding was that she did not seek them out, they arresearch that the let that she wrote to benny were not in any way mystical or spiritual under the influence of these spiritualists. They were really a way for her to express her great grief. And she wrote the letters and i think modern psychologists would agree with that action because they do say now, if youre grieving, youve got some terrible trouble, write it down and it helped. And it does. Its a proven fact nowadays. I dont know suggest it to her if anybody did, that she should write out these thoughts about her sorrow and his passing, but whoever did and even if she thought it out herself, it was good because it must have helped her. You can send us a tweet, use the hash tag first ladies. Post a question or comment on our facebook page. Weve got a conversation started there. Or you can phone us and here are our phone lines. If you live in the eastern or central time zones out west, mountain pacific, 2025853831. First our guest referred to letters written to jane pierces dead son. Were going to learn about that next. Were going to travel to the New Hampshire Historical Society which holds the papers of the family and see two important letters in understanding the story of jane pierce. This was written by benny when he was 11 years old in june in 1852 at the time Franklin Pierce was nominated for president at the Democratic National convention in baltimore. . L they had been in boston waiting for news. Benny knowing how much his mother disliked politics, said i hope he wont be elected for i should not like to live in washington and i know you would not like to either. So this an indication of the problems that pierce is going to have with his wife and child. As he ran for president in 1852. This is the most famous letter that jane pierce wrote it was written to her dead son. He had died in january of 1853 in a train wreck in andover, massachusetts and sometime after that, she was in her great grief, she sat down and pencilled this letter to her dead son. In which she calls him my precious child, i must write to you although you are never to see it or know it. Its written in pencil. And it survives today. A very poignant letter written by a grieving mother who lost all of her children. Sxwl so you agree with that analysis because of the use of pencil and writing the letter, x published. It wasnt, no. Or seen by anybody else she was 12en in gena letter writer . Did she write to relative sns. Oh, she did, but increasingly, her writing became worse and worse and they were hardly legible in the end, but yes, she was a prolific letter writer, particularly to her mother. And what portrait can you help us understand in reading her letters and doing your research, a little bit more contour into this woman as you came to know her doing the research you did . Ive express ed i thought sh was selfish and seemed hook on being ill. They were usually code. She would have a cold at the drop of a hat, actually, if she didnt want to go anything, shed say im sorry, ive got a cold coming on or i have a cold or im going to have a koold. Dgl she used her supposed ill health when she didnt want to do anything. She was very fond of her mother and of her sister, mary, but didnt seem to write very much to her sister, francis for some reason. Neither did francis write to her. They used to get in touch through their mother. Will you tell francis this or dont forget to tell jane that. For some reason, there wasnt a Good Relationship as far as letter writing was concerned. But jane, why she had this peculiar need to control her family, which is what she was doing by referring to her decreasing health, i cant pha fthome unless it was just a pro she had not to do thingsp]wc sh wanted to do. She simply controlled her family in almost every family letter, and indeed letters to friends, there was always a concern about jane. How is dear jane . Is her cold any better . There was never any, and although she had treatment like blood letting, which was a favorite treatment in those days, there was never any diagnosis made and she lived to quite a good age inbtp her 60s, which was a good age in the 19th century. And it was at that stage, where she was diagnosed as a but prior to that, no diagnosis had been made at all. So the impression i have got of jane is that she used the illness to get her own way and she was going to have it her own way. Which ever happened. We have a question from phillip watching us in long beach, california. Hi, phillip, youre on the air. Welcome. Thank you very much for putting me on the air. We talked, you guys talked about how gloomy things were in the the white house, right . Didnt pierces Vice President k die during the administration as well. Yes, within three months of being Vice President and they didnt have another Vice President after that. So yes, youre quite right, phillip, which added, may i say, to janes depression. She thought that doom and gloom and death was all around them. How did she occupy her time . She was fortunate in that her whole family rallied and much to they did come and see jane and spend time with her. Particularly her sister, marys children, whom they were both very fond but he hardly went to see her so he was grateful the family visited. He didnt have that dare i say of having to go into a morbid environment. He had enough to think about. So yes, she wrote letters. Didnt have many friends unfortunately, but she did have this wonderful famry who kept her going and that always seemed to be somebody there. I was reading, she was a very int lekkal woman. Highly educated. Next question comes from bonnie. Youre on the air. Hi. Thank you for taking my call. This is intrigue iing. I collect album frs the 1840s and 1850s of written by a harrison. Coming from senacincinnati aftes death frequently, the letters and albums that i do have im not a member of that family, however, i have several of the letters and albums handwritten. Journals and frequently similar to mrs. Pierce in the older women, elders of the family, there is the serious concern and doom and gloom just in general attitude toward who has deceased of what. And of courtuberculosis was a c ailment in cincinnati. I find the prompting she may have had to write about her deceased child may have come on her. I had seen only one, but do see a letter from mrs. Harrison, the daughterinlaw, who went to the white house with william henry, one of her sons did die upon coming home after coming home from wg in the white house and she had written a small letter. It is main the papers here. Thanks. Im going to jump in because we understand your comments here, which is writing to the deceased relative would have been somewhat common at the time. Yes. Shes made a very good point. A related question from john on facebook. He wants to know was jane criticized for herm 9 connecti with spiritualism. Not to my knowledge. I havent seen any[6 criticism except the only criticism i did ÷n about were the spiritualists making themselves known to her. Could have done without that. Feeb feeby is watching us in danville, virginia. Thank you for taking my call and a comment, i have a friend that fits in the same mold as jane pierce. We call her a convenient inova l. I do arrange r for the rentals at ore local museum and we have a Hospice Group that is going to be having a a workshop for telling, walking people through the process of keeping the journal writing to their deceased ones or their family members that are in hospice care so i thought it was kind of interesting thats something that was done 150 years ago and people are still doing it today. Would you agree . Before we go to our next s d studio, you mentioned that abby hostess. Who was she . She was well, she had been a friend of jane during their childhood and danger years. She was of the same generation but janes uncle and thomas married her and so she game baime not just a friend, but her aunt. And they were very close. For her next video, wee going to take you to concord, New Hampshire. This time to the pierce mans to see some of her whoite house artifacts and the loss of another of her sons, franklin robert. Franklin pierce had just finished serving in the congress. He served two terms in the house and full term in the senate. He resigned from the. T seat ie senate about a year earlier to move back to concord to be with jane. And raise their two children children here. Were in the dining room here. The family would have their main meal at noon. She didnt intentertain a lot i her private home. This couch belonged to jane pierce. This was one piece they took to the white house. They had eight rooms thoed furnish with their furniture so this was one of the pieces that took to the white house with them. This table was known in janes trs family as the white house table. They had to borrow some furniture to take to the white house with them. U character according to her letters and they were devastated by his death and jane was in mourning for quite a long time over frankies death. With only one child now was too much for jane to take care of. I dont think she was interested in housekeeping particularly. I just think she wasnt capable of cataking care of a house. Peter went off to fight the mexican war in 1847 and they sold the house when he came back in 1848 then lived in a boarding house again in concord andtq ld in a a boarding situation for the rest of their life. We return to washington in the story of the white house because a fairly amazing thing. At least to my ears, seemed to happen, which is two years into this darkness and mourning and reclusive life on the second floor of the white house, she comes out of it. How did that happen and what was this new jane pierce like . It happened because that was the end of the mourning period. Normally, it would have been just 12 months mourning but jane being jane she took two years to get over the problem that that she had over bennys death. She wasnt exactly a new jane. V events in the white house during the first two years. Afternoon tea i think it was when people could come in and see her and speak with her. She did atepid most of them and this is evidences by a man called h hoover who was the martial of the district of columbia. During that time. He wrote to an article called mary whiten who had written about first ladies and she lived during the time of jane pierce. And it is evidence that she did in fact attend these friday meetingzfh meetings. But when the mourning period finished perhaps it was a relief to her, i dont know, but she did attend more and more and even attended the president s levies which she had on the first day afternoon. Zb next is a question from tony in shaker heights. Thank you for taking my call. I know pierce was a good friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne and i think hawthorne wrote his campaign biography. Im curious what was hawthornes relationship with jane and hawthorne himself could be moody and reclusive. Thank if your question and timely because u certain biographies suggest it was hawthorne and irina davis, who were two of the very wellknown characters who helped with her reintroduction to society in washington. Yes. Didnt have a Good Relationship with her because he didnt like her. He wrote the biography for franklins connection. I we could change his wife. It wasnt a Good Relationship but he was never good to her. He helped her as much he could. U he did his best to maintain the relationship because she was the wife of one of his best friends. As we said early, the country was coming apart at the seams. The Republican Party was about to emerge in reaction to the politics and we have some of the key events of the Pierce Administration to show you some of the issues the president was grappling with while he had these family issues at home. They include an 1853 the gattis purchase. 1854, the treaty of the kansas nebraska act which well learn more about and the canadian reciprocity treaty. 1854 and 1856, something called bleeding kansas and the first Republican Party National Meeting happened this year in pittsburgh, pennsylvania in response to the national politics. So its interesting that jane pierce became very involved in the slavery issue. .  i think youre referring to the situation where nancy, her aunt, whose husband was dead by then. But he had a relative, he was the leader of the antislavery movement. He had been in court and found guilty of a misdemeanor. Every pro slavery area at that time. He was threatening to take robinson to court and if found guilty, which was likely in that state at that time, he would be hanged. So nancy had written to jane to make a plea to try and save dr. Robinson from this fate. By then, she was beginning to s see, they met a few times a day. Had an opportunity to speak to him about i. Listened carefully then telegraphed to the appropriate person and dr. Robinson was freed. I dont know of any other incident where she might have been useful and persuasive with regard to this situation. Do we know that her husband and she had differing views on slavery and abolition . He was, well they were both antislavery, but he saw the sense of having slaves in the south. That wcarl, youre hxiuon. Ive read Franklin Pierce had a drinking problem. I dont know if it was during his potsy or after. But if so, hutch of an influence were the loss of his children and wifes frequent illnesses contribute to the drinking problems if thats true . Thank you. After hed left the senate and came wak to live in concord, he gave up alcohol. When he went to the mexican wall, we hear he probably took up alcohol again. His father had been a tavern keeper and had, he spent a lot of f time with his father so thats b probably where he took up the traidrinking habit. I think that after the mexican w war, he didnt let jane see him drink, but he kept on drinking. I think it got heavier at his most unhappiest types, but i dont think it was as a result particularly of their circumstances. I think he had been drinking any way. This unhappy white house was doomed to be a oneterm presidency. Can you tell us any more about why pierce lost the white house . It was, hed signs the kansas nebraska act. And that was a very unpopular thing to do. Douglas drew it up. Steven a. Douglas. Yes. But franklin signed it. If hesigned it, yopg i dont think he would have lost his popularity was he was deemed to be b a good politician but did that he shouldnt have done perhaps. That, James Buchanan and also douglas put their names forward as nominees for the presidency. Which meant that franklin wouldnt have had the twothirds majority that he needed to be renominated and he knew that with the three nominees like that and on the 17th ballot, James Buchanan won the nomination and the election for president. Next up is mary. My name is mary and i believe that jane pierces mothers name was memes and she was born, jane was, in b on, new jersey. Can you tell me if thats where the memes were from . No, they werent. The memes family to which jane belonged originated from ireland where memes i think it was freddic in immigrated to america and alongside him came his son, robert memes. And robert was a weaver. He brought his loom over with him and became quite famous for making good quality irish cloth. As a result of that, he made a little bit of money and decided that set a business in New Hampshire and just by sheer luck, chose amherst and went to New Hampshire and became very rich, very famous. As a very good entrepreneur and thats where that memes family came from. With the loss of the white house for thepxb pierces, how they spend their post white house years . First six months, they stayed with the form er secretary of state and then James Buchanan, who likedexlq Franklin Pierce, didnt like his politics, but he liked him very much, respected him, also felt very sorry for the situation of james deteriorating and illness. And so he said would you like a trip over to the modera and if you do, you can go for six months and you can go and be so jane hemmed in hard and she wasnt going to go but her aunt, mary, decided that she must go. So they got her to go. So after they went, unknown to her and together with webster, franklin organized a european trip which happened to take two years but he first wednesdnt to dramatically and went horse riding and hardly ever had a cold. From being 85 pounds in weight, rose to 100 pounds in weight and loved every minute of it and wrote a letter to her sister during that time to say i cant believe who i was when i was in the white house. Im a completely different person. And so thats where they went for the first six months. And jane improved tremendously as did franklin because he didnt have the worries of the state. Then they set off on their wonderful european tour. Towards the endzbnu of that tou she started being ill again. And she was disappointed. She said its disappointing after such a long time of being well. And when they eventually got back to concord in New Hampshire, franklin bought a farm. She became so ill that she went to live with her sister in and, mary, where benny had been taken after the accident and she died there. And where is she buried . Shes buried in the shes in the same cemetery oh, ive forgotten the name of it. Concord, New Hampshire, the pierce family grave site. We have video of it right now. Together. The whole family is all together. Thats right. Thatq[etj our story of jane pierce. But in our next segment of first ladies, influence and image, well learn more about the Buchanan Administration. Well introduce you to harriette lane, who at the age of 27 joined her uncle, James Buchanan, who was the only bachelor president in the white house to serve as his official hostess. Well educated and world traveled, she became a popular figure in an otherwise tenuous time. And well tell you more about her in this video. Harriet lanes a unique figure. She was 27 years old and the niece of our only bachelor president , James Buchanan. We have ak not a play thing owned by miss lane, but rather created to look just like her when she was the first lady. She had been well trained. She had learned discretion3mqro her diplomat uncle. And one of harriets great admirers was Queen Victoria. This was a gift that the queen gave harriet. Its a beautiful scrolled gold bracelet. And inside, it has her name, harriet lane, and the date of 1857 when she received the gift. The japanese delegation came to the white house in 1860 and they came bearing all types of gifts. Beautiful little shoes, paper folded objects, origami, a little dictionary. Miss lane and her friends found all of these things very intriguing. The great social triumph of the Buchanan Administration would be the first visit by prince of wales, the future edward vii and harriet presided over that. She would wear full gowns with many layers of ruffles, she was alsojc known for her low 6f neckline. That was something that was not quite in fashion in america yet, but people started copying her. Some of her garments created a bit of a scandal, because she was showing quite a bit of skin. Harriet was young and stylish. She became a celebrity. She, in some ways, is a woman of her time, in other ways, a precursor to the modern first lady. And to tell us more about harriet lane, we have two women at our table who have both been students of the american first ladies, meet feather schwartz foster. One of her books is called the first ladyst, an intimate portrait of the ladies who shaped america. And ann covell is with us, she has another book. We just had a doom and gloom white house and in comes the buchanans. What was the atmosphere in the buchanan white house . The atmosphere, the political atmosphere was just terrible. It really was. Buchanan got to be president , personally, i think, he had been a contender for about 12 years. He was very well known and had been in politics for like 40 years. He was an old man by the time he got to be president. Now, careful, how old was he. About 65. So definitely an older man and i think that he got elected president because he had been out of the country for four years during the Pierce Administration, so he didnt get tainted with a lot of the politic and the ugliness and the divisiveness that had been going on. Were they looking again for a compromise candidate . They were looking for somebody who was they used the word available a lot. And that does not mean that he had Nothing Better to do. It meant that he he would be acceptable all the way around. And what was the spirit of his white house . Even with all of this strife in the country . I think the best way to put it is that politically, he was a dud. He ranks down at the very bottom of the barrel, but socially, it was brilliant. Atmosphere in the white house was brilliant. I dont think there had been anything like it since Dolly Madison. We had a little flurry with julia tyler, but she was only around for eight months. And past that, the white house didnt really sparkle. Under buchanan, it sparkled. Well, the woman responsible for coordinating the social life in the white house was harriet lane. Who was harriet lane . She was the niece of James Buchanan. His wing. When her father died, i think that he, he was made made it her made her guardian, i believe. Yeah, buchanan was the guardian. Both her parents died, i think, by the time she was about 9 or 10. And he was her guardian. And he took care of a bunch of nieces and nephews. He was a bachelor. For the pennsylvanians out there, we should mention, he was pennsylvanias only president. From lancaster. Lancaster, pennsylvania. And we will be visiting the home that he built in lancaster, pennsylvania, as this segment continue skpps a reminder that we would like you to be involved. This is more fun when you ask questions. So you can do they by calling us. Mountain and pacific time zones, the number iseb 202281. And you can post on facebook. Well take your questions. So there was a sort of reading about this, a pigmallian kind of approach between the uncle and the niece. He was determined to shape her into a proper kind of young woman. He took very good care of her. He had a very affectionate relationship with her. He loved her dearly. She loved him dearly. He was like a father figure to her. And he sent her to the best schools. She had the best things. She was not an object. She could have just about anything that she wanted. And he saw to it that she was trained to be exactly what she was. A brilliant social success. Well, one of the influences on her education was when her uncle was appointed ambassador to great britain, your home country. And she, in fact, met the queen. She did. Tell us what you know about her experiences there and why she so charmed Queen Victoria. Well, its unusual that somebody should charm Queen Victoria in such a way, but she certainly did. I think it was her youth and her effervescence. And she was such a change in this rather stiff royal court. And i know, you know, having read about her, she she you know, she was a very happy girl, wasnt she. She was a delightful lady. Delightful girl. And even the prince of wales and he was only 18 years fell under her spell. Well, they were somewhat contemporaneous at that point, age wise. She was about 10 years older than him. She was about 28 by then. But certainly, Queen Victoria thought she was wonderful. And she gave her the official title of an official title, which wouldnt normally be given to a niece. It would only be given to the wife of an ambassador. And is it true that Queen Victoria was so taken that she tried to make a match with a british subject so she would stay in the country . I think im not sure that popular, but they both thought very highly of harriet and harriet enjoyed her time on the continent a lot. She learned a lot. She really grew over there. Well, the home that James Buchanan built in lancaster, pennsylvania, he was quite a successful lawyer and made a lot of money. And he built a big house, which he named wheatland. And we are going to visit to the wheatland mansion next, explore her life there, as well as see some of the items from the white house that were brought there as we learn more about her style and her approach to being the white house official hostess. Here we are in harriet lanes bedroom at wheatland. And this room is furnished in a way that is very similar to the way it might have been furnished when she was living here. The eq furnishings you see tod the eq furnishings you see tod after her marriage in 1866. Behind me, youll see her original wardrobe, and this is a piece where she would have stored her beautiful gowns, her european gowns that she purchased from paris. She was well known throughout the country for fabulous clothing. She had a penchant for european fashions. Handmade for her in paris and the dress here was actually designed by the fashion house werth of paris and worn later in life. But her signature style as first lady differed fairly radically from this dress here. She would wear full gowns with many layers of ruffles, white berthas at the neck. And she was also known for her low neckline, that was something that was not quite in fashion in america yet, but she brought it to the forefront of fashion and people started copying her. Now, some of her garments created a bit of a scandal, because she was showing quite a bit of skin. But it caught on and all of the ladies adopted this fashion. They copied her hair, her jewelry, and her general fashion sense. Now, over to the right here, we have a small doll that was not a play thing owned by miss lane, but rather created to look just like her when she was the first lady. And the doll is wearing her signature style of gown with the white bertha and lots of tulle and lace. In front of me is a beautiful rosewood mahogany bed that she had specially made to accommodate her uncle James Buchanan. This bed is rather long for the time. He was a very tall man, so she wanted to make sure he was comfortable. This is something she commissioned specifically with her beloved uncle in mind. We also have many pieces in the room that are both American Made and european made, reflecting not only her pride of country, but also her interest in european pieces, as well. We have her prayer bench, which is hand embroidered and holds her mothers book of common prayer, which miss lane used throughout her life. And also a small writing desk that she would use to sit and write letters to friends and luckily, its a portable writing desk, as she spent much of her time traveling to friends and family throughout the country. So on facebook, rachel smoier asks, was harriet lane truly more fashionable than first ladies or was it the development of photograph that made her a fashion trend setter . Oh, no. I think photography, of course, helped, because it was able to be reproduced rather than just a portrait, you know. But she was a fashion trendsett trendsetter, absolutely. She looked good in clothes. She had a nice figure. She was buxom, but she wasnt fat. She made a lovely appearance. I think the only detrimental thing i ever read about harriet lane is some people thought she was a little stiff, maybe a little too formal. But with the political situation being what it was during those times, i think she needed to be. I want to explore this topic a little bit more, because in the first ladies weve learned about to date, they were either enormously popular in washington or not. This location was washington, d. C. Harriet lane, as i understand it, was floor across the country. She was popular. So this suggests the rise of Media Coverage of the white house. Is that a part of what was going on . I think so. Previously, first ladies were never mentioned in the press, because it wasnt protocol to talk about and give ladies names and so many first ladies remain unknown to this day, really. Simply because nobody knew who they were in those days. And the press certainly didnt feature them in any way. So now they began featuring them and people like to read about them. They began featuring and she was good copy. She liked to dance. She was supposedly a good dan r dancer. She gave a lot of parties. She was an elegant hostess. And she dressed well and she had a lot of friends. Bethany johnson on twitter asked, did harriet lane play an instrument . If so, which . I believe she played the piano or the piano forte or something that she did. Now, were these parties, and i understand that the buchanans, because of his wealth, they got an appropriation from congress to throw them, but he supplemented ic6ey because the liked to entertain so much. I dont even know if he got an appropriation. I know that there was not a budget for entertainment. But used it from their salary. They used it from their salaries. So he supplemented that salary most of the president s did. So but did he use these for politicking . Was he, in fact, trying to bring together the north and the south . Oh, absolutely. Was that successful . I dont think anything was successful in those days. Tensions were so high that it was very, very difficult. But he used it as effectively and as efficiently as just about anybody else could. It really was. The white house really vancouver, washington. Hi, marjory. Youre on. Welcome to the conversation. Thank you. Comment and question. Last september, my daughter and a family friend and i visited the James Buchanan house. And among the things we learned was about harriet lane and her endowment so that a handbook for a manual of pediatric house officers could be used. My daughter, a pharmacist was like, oh, my gosh, this book ive been referencing for years was for a first lady. That was kind of fun. It was obviously from the tour why harriet lane was interested in so many things. It wasnt clear wh9koeu she hadh an interest in empathy and advocacy for native americans. I wonder if your guests might dont think before she got to the white house she showed anic there were some indian chieftains who came to the white house to visit and i think they made a great impression on her and she became interested in Indian Welfare and she was interested in their education. And she was interested in their medical wellbeing and health. Which was very it was a proper thing for her to be interested in. Nobody is going to be objecting care of people who were sick. So it was certainly a good thing for her to be. The indians did, they thought of her as their great white mother. You responded when the caller responded about visiting the buchanan house. It refers to her donations to the john hopkins hospital. And the pediatric unit that she set up. Well talk more about that later, because that happened after she got out of the white house. In a mark of how popular she became, a ship was named after her. A question from jenny weber, harriet lane had a u. S. Navy ship named after her. It was coast guard, actually, i thin think. How did she get this honor. And i heard she got into trouble for throwing a party on the ship and questioned, is that true . How they named the ship after her, i do not know. The United States. Invited some friends of hers to have a party on the ship and nunk, as she called her uncle, got wind of this and he hollered at her. Not for having a party. He was perfectly happy that she had a party, but the ship was public property. And he felt that she was she should not abuse public property. Very straightlaced about her not accepting gifts, other than like flowers or a box of candy or something, but he didnt want her to accept any kind of gifts. This is a nice segue to our next video, which is, again, traveling to wheatlands. And here well learn more about the parlor and learn about harriets entertaining style. Here we are at wheatland in beautiful lancaster, pennsylvania. This is the home of president James Buchanan and his niece, harriet lane. In the spring of 1848, just a month before harriets birthday, they moved here. And this is the place that she would call home until the age of 36, when she married and moved to baltimore. Were entering the parlor here at wheatland, and this room is a very special room, because this is the social hub of the home. This is a place where hater lane,daqn as a hostess, might s tea to friends and guests, write letters to her friends. Its the room where the family lives, where they spend time together, play games, sing. Just enjoy each others au[xco. Very much like we would use a family room today. Here we have harriet lanes piano. This was a gift from her uncle, James Buchanan. Its manufactured by the Chickering Company of juboston. And this is probably purchased some time in the mid to late 1860s. Now, as you see, we have her music book here and this is embossed with her name on the front. And this book contains a number of her favorite pieces, including italian classics and we also have some2mpk patriotic songs in here. And one ofo8  her uncles fav things to do was to sit in this parlor on a sunday afternoon and listen to his niece play the religious hims. He was a very devout presbyterian. And to listen to those hims was something that brought a great amount of joy to him. Now, harriet lane was very enthusiasm about all things european. And when her uncle was selected as minister in the court of st. James, she was simply over the moon about the idea that she might get to accompany him as his companion. Now, upon presentation to Queen Victoria in the court of st. James, miss lane made a great impression. She had manners, poise, dignity, and the queen was very impressed with her. As a result, the two of them formed a very interesting friendship that would continue throughout both of their lives. Now, besides me here, i have this bracelet. The queen gave harriet. Its a beautiful scrolled gold bracelet. And inside, it has her name, harriet lane, and the date of 1857, when she received the gift. And behind me here, we have a lithograph of Queen Victoria and also her husband, prince albert. And these were a diplomatic gift presented to president James Buchanan and his niece harriet lane as first lady during their time in the white house. And whats special about these is that they actually hung in the white house and then were brought back here to their home at wheatland. Well, harriet lane spent quite a bit of time traveling her uncle, James Buchanan, they also entertained International Visitors during their time at the white house, as well. One of the most interesting groups that they had visit them was the japanese delegation. The japanese delegation came to the white house in 1860 and teyw came bearing all types of gifts. What we see here are some of the things they brought, beautiful little shoes, paperfolded objects, origami, this is a little dictionary in japanese. And miss lane and her friends found all of these things very intriguing. While were learning about diplomatic visits, patricia on facebook asks, is it true that future king edward vii at the white house. This visit by the prince of wales was described as one of the great successes of the administration. Huge. Huge success. Why . It was the prince of wales. It was the son of the reigning monarch. They hadnt had anybody over here. And he was, i guess, the highest rank i ranking foreign person that ever came here. Everybody knew Queen Victoria. They all knew about the prince actually, he went to canada. And buchanan knew Queen Victoria and said, listen, as long as hes in the neighborhood, come on down so he did. And they invited him and he stayed at the white house. And she beat him at bowls. At what . The game, bowling. Yeah, she beat him. That protocol to have the prince of wales to be vanquished in a competitive game . Not really. He probably just didnt play very well at all. Probably the first time he lost at anything. Probably lets take a call from president buchanans hometown, lancaster, pennsylvania. Caroline is watching us there. Hi, caroline. Caroline, you are on the air, welcome. Thank you. I would like to know how harriet lane is his niece, in what realm. Is it his brothers wife, his sisters daughter . Sister. His sisters daughter. Yeah. In fact, over the course of his lifetime, it seems that he took care of a lot of children. He did. I think he had one brother and about 4 million sisters. He came from a very large family and he did very well in life and he managed to support in some way or other, i think, maybe about 15 or 16 different nieces and nephews. But he had a lot of sisters. While were talking about president buchanans personal life, there is a story about why hes a bachelor. He did have a great love interestw in his life. They say that when he was a young man that he was engaged to a woman. And it didnt work out too well. Depends on what book you read, it didnt work out for a lot of different you know. And the engagement was broken and she later, not all that much later, died. And some suspect that she committed suicide. And the relationship between buchanan and his former intendeds family was really they wouldnt let him come to the funeral or anything else like that. Just how much he loved her, how much was true, how much was embellished, we probably will never know. Do you have anything more to add to that story . Not really. Yes, she was. My understanding is that her father had discovered he had apparently been thrown out of college, some misdemeanor, and my understanding is that her father discovered the reason for his being thrown out of college. This is buchanan . Buchanan, yes. And tackled him about it. Then told his daughter, ann. Ann sort of had a few words with buchanan about it, and we can only guess at what it was what the secret was. And they split up. And she apparently did commit suicide. Yes, she committed tnzvsuici. So he devoted himself to politics and raising his many nieces and nephews. Nieces and nephews. May i . There was a rumor as well that he had a short fling with juliette tyler, before she became miss tyler. Which i find incredible. But this is in one of the books ive recently read. When julia tyler was in washington before she married the president , she was very, very popular. Was she . Yes, she was. She had flings, whatever that means today, with a lot of different much older men. She seemed to attract a lot of older men, but whatever went on between julia and buchanan was really negligible. Skpluand ultimately married 0 years her senior who became president. Yes. The next call is from barbara in brook haven, pennsylvania. Good evening, barbara. I, too, remember hearing the story when i visited wheatland about a brokenhearted buchanan, whose fiancee, who livid in philadelphia, jilted him. And it had something to do with her familysf4mp objection to h. So apparently he was just so brokenhearted, there was never anyone else for him. Story from a tour guide when i went through wheatland. Well, thank you very much for that. Heres a question from wallace lee. Please tell the audience that president buchanan was originally from mersersberg, pennsylvania, born and raised and moved to lancaster as an adult. Its discerning to say hes from lancaster. They dont wish to recognize his upbringing. Do you have something against mercersberg. No, he was born in mercersberg. And chose lancaster for his law practice . He chose it to be his adult home. Now, is it true that as he was setting his stage for these many runs for the presidency that he would use that place as an entertaining spot for members of azqbcongress. Oh, sure, it was a lovely home. Washington, they would come to wheatland. He invited people to come to wheatland and it was a nice piece of property. Lancaster, pennsylvania, is the site of her next caller, whose name is linda. Linda, youre on. Hi. Thank you very much, i appreciate it. I just wanted to ask if you could elaborate on harriet lanes wedding, where that took place and any interesting details that might have been as a result of that. Okay, thank you so much. Harriet lane did not get married untilfu long after the white house. She got married about six or seven years after she left the white house she was 35 years old or 36 years old when she got married. Buchanan was very happy about it. She married a man named henry johnson. He was a banker. Some people say he was a lawyer. May have been a lawyer first and then a banker, but he was a banker. And he was well to do. She had known him for years and they always seemed to like each other and i guess, maybe, by that time, it was time for her to get married. And buchanan is very, very happy about it, because he died a year and a half later, so he probably knew that he was getting on in life and this way harriet would be settled. And then they moved to baltimore and they lived in baltimore. I want to leave the white house years. Because you called it a failed nation, obviously, the nation was about to split apart, South Carolina was about to secede, but heres a quick look at america by the 1860s. The population there was 33 million in 31 states, 35 growth since the 1850 census. There were 3. 9 million slaves, about 13 of the population. And the largest cities in the country at that time were new york city, philadelphia, brooklyn, new york, and baltimore, all in the northeast. Harriet lane was, was she also a political adviser to the president . And if so, it didnt turn out so well. You know, it all depends on what you mean by advice. Was she a political adviser in the sense of Abigail Adams . No. I think she was a little bit more in the Dolly Madison vein of the socially helpful to him. She was subservient. He trained her to listen well and to observe and to take note of what was going on and to form opinions, but she was usually quite quiet about expressing her opinions, which was one of the reasons that she was very popular is because she didnt do anything wrong. Heres a question from christopher coco, how have the duties and positions of First Washington to this day . It sounds like theres a lot of similarities, really. And it depends on the individual first lady as to how involved they get . It does. Actually, i think that the first three first ladies, martha, abigail, and dolly were far harder working and more actively involved in their husbands lives and their careers. And then my own opinion was that when we stopped being colonies and started being a country, maybe by the 1800s or so, that generation, growing up, and they were growing to be more promine prominent. We were very prosperous and men wanted their lives to have all sorts of lovely things and crat catered to them a lot more. They didnt have to work quite as hard. And the ladies at that time, they started, i guess, being frailer. They were frailer probably until after the civil war. Well, speaking of the civil war, as were marching as a nation towards it, heres some of the key events of the Buchanan Administration, that one term in the white house. 1857, the key dred scott decision on slavery. 1878, the lee compton constitution. The pony express was established in 1860. We saw the first japanese delegation visited the white house. And in 1861, the creation of the Confederate States of america. So this white house was dealing with enormous problems, but not very effectively. How did they try to bring parties together . I think ill have to defer to your knowledge. They entertained a lot. They had two dinners a week for 40 people at each dinner. How did they keep fights from breaking out . Tensions were at an alltime high. They were at a tremendous alltime high. And harriet wore another hat. Not only was she hostess, but she was very actively involved in the protocol of it. And she would spend hours working on the seating plans. Yapt sit next to you, and whos going to be over here . And she worked very, very hard at that. And fortunately, she knew all the players. She knew all of these different congressmen, so she knew how to put them and where to put them and she worked very hard at it. Did she attend debates in the congress . Occasionally. Occasionally. Next is another lancaster, pennsylvania, call. You can see their favorite son is interesting people tonight. This is chris on the line. Go ahead, please. Caller yes, during the time that harriet lane was in the house at wheatland, can you tell us how many people were in the house . How many family members as well as how many staff were in the white hou house at wheatland. I dont know. Do you know . They had miss millie, who was the housekeeper. That was miss hettie, the housekeeper. And i know they had a steward, because when they first went to the white house, miss hettie wanted to take control and harriet didnt want that so hettie had to go back to wheatland and they brought over a steward from there. So they had at least two ib5xst. They did have some staff there. I dont know how many of their family members actually lived there. I know he had a couple of nephews that he had at the white house serving as hi secretary and aides. So that was very common among the early president s to bring in relatives. And just to underscore the people that work for them in the wheatland were paid. They were not oh, yes. They were not in any sense slaveholders. No, no. Donna in pocatello, idaho, welcome to the conversation. Donna, go ahead, please. Welcome. Caller i have a small world story for you. Okay. Caller i taught first ladies for several years in our Elder Program here. And when i got to James Buchanan, a friend of mine came and she said, i have something to show everybody. She showed everybody her ring, huqxfs family, but this is fiancee. Does she have any proof of that . Its interesting to go all the way to pocatello, idaho. And i hope before you discuss the show, her tragic family, losing her husband and both of her sons and also the legacy. She left a lovely estate and did a lot of good. Yes, indeed, we plan to. So James Buchanan loses the white house to abraham lincoln. Next Weeks Program will be a full two hours on the lincoln administration. And as we mentioned, South Carolina had seceded. So what were the postwhite house years like for harriet lane . Well, she went back to wheatland with her uncle for about five years or so and then she married henry johnson. And they moved to baltimore, where he was a banker and he was quite prominent and well to do. And they had these two sons, and unfortunately, harriet had about 15 decent years as mrs. Johnson. Both of her sons died young. Within a year of each other. I think they were like 12, 13. They were young boys. Shes another one who lost both of her children, too. Indeed. And about a year and a half after the boys died, her husband died. So harriet is now around 50ish and she is aljkp widow on her o. And she moves back to washington, d. C. And she gets to be a little bit like dolly. She gets invited to the white house for just about every time theyre going to be having a big deal. She gets invited and no partys a party unless shes there and she does a lot of good. She really does. Well take a call and talk a shis charles in wheatland, pennsylvania. How about that . Theres a town named after the estate. Youre on the aroair, charles. Good evening. The town is wheatland, pennsylvania. I dont know if your panel there has heard of it. Its really a suburb of youngstown, right across the state line and its named after the estate. It was originally an old canal town, the canal going from pittsburgh through youngstown area and then to erie, and then theres the Wheatland Tube company, which is a very large producer of tubes and iron,9e p cetera. So, the only question i have, im wondering if there are any other towns named after the estate of a president. I think this is rather unusual. Thanks very much. That is a detail question. Do you know the answer . I know there are a couple of mt. Vernons. And mount pooentpelier. Thats true. Well turn to wheatland and learn more about harriet lanesx postwhite house years. Unfortunately, harriet lanes life was marked by tremendous loss. And for such a buoyant and remarkable woman, it can tell us a lot about her by seeing all of the different tragedies that marked her life, beginning early in life with the loss of both of her parents, several young siblings, and when she reached adulthood, the loss of her three siblings, who had also reached adulthood with her, also followed by the death of her beloved uncle, James Buchanan, and shortly thereafter by the deaths of her two young sons and her husband, ultimately. And as you can see here, i have harriet lanes jewelry box, which would have held many trinkets and beautiful jewels, lots of them used on happy occasions and parties and galas, but some of them used for those more intimate and also very sad occasions, when she was grieving. I have some pieces of morning interesting. This first one is a mourning locket that contains the hair of her mother, her father, and three of her siblings. Its very unique that the locket closes into a little ball. And as the wheel turns, there are little glass plates and under each plate is the hair of one of her family members and its engraved with their name and the date of their death. And this piece here is a locket that is woven with a little pattern of hair from three of her young nieces and nephews. And its a very beautiful little locket. And then on the back, we can see more hair. And then the engravings of their names and the dates of their death. On this piece is a very interesting locket in that it opens on two sides and on the first side, we can see a deguerre type of her sister, mary lane baker, who died very prematurely. As she was returning from england, she came home to the news that her dear sister had died. And on the other side, this is a very artsy photograph taken some time near the end of his life, but he was also a young man who died unfortunately just after president buchanans inauguration. He had been set to serve as the personal secretary to the president and died of an unfortunate case of dysentery that affected many people who had stayed at the National Hotel in washington. Now, this last piece is a mourning bracelet that harriet created to commemorate her uncle, James Buchanan, and its a beautiful cameo on the front, but when you turn it around, you can see a lock of his hair behind the glass plate, ferns cut from the grounds of wheatland on the day that he died, and within the band are enscribed his last words, which were uttered on june 1st of 1868, and it says, oh, lord, almighty, as thou wilt. This is a very special piece. The words are hidden in the band. From the outside, it appears to be an ordinary, ordinary piece of jewelry. This painting is an image of harriet lanes two young sons, James Buchanan johnston and henry eliot johnston jr. Sadly, this is a memorial portrait, because both boys died as young teenagers, from what we now know to be rheumatic fever. Both boys became ill around the staple time. One died in the United States and one died after harriet and her husband took him to france to seek a cure and Better Climate with mineral waters. But boys are portrayed against a rocky seascape to symbolize their death and dressed in their beth clothes and posed with their favorite possessions, to show them as they would have been in life, as a memorial for their mother to remember them by. And as we wrap up our program here, our caller asked us to make sure we talked about her white house years and the issue she got involved in and there are many. She and her husband together created one of the first homes for invalid children, which is called the harriet lane home for invalid children. It is now still part of Johns Hopkins in its current incarnation. She was quite an art collector. And her Art Collection was donated to the smithsonian and became the foundation for the National Gallery of art in washington, d. C. She was involved with the creation of st. H albins scho still quite an influential school here in washington, and very involved in the preservation of her uncles memory through the James Buchanan memorial. And we have a picture of that. You earlier called it a failed presidency, but its quite a memorial that we have here in the Meridian Park area of washington, d. C. As we close out, a question for both of you. Were trying to understand with each of these ladies their influence on the country and the role that they had and how important it was. Where would you put harriet lane in the pantheon of first ladies in terms of her importance. Both of you . Second. Second . I would put her right below if she were mrs. Buchanan instead of a niece of buchanan, i think she would be second to dolly in the 19th century. And you say the same . I still think she should be second, even though she is miss lane and not mrs. Buchanan. Why is that . Why do you come to that conclusion . Well, the influence she had on people and everybody loved her. And she brought tranquility, i think, is the word i think of to the role of first lady, after the last few, the previous three presidencies, sheches just a great girl and everybody loved her. I want to say thank you as we close out to the white house president ial historical association, our partners in this series and many of the photographs and other things guests on this program on jane pierce first and harriet lane, ann covell, and remember, both of our guests have books available that you can read more about these first ladies. Fosters who is author of first ladies an intimate portrait of the ladies who shaped america. I have a copy right here. Thanks to both of you for being with us and thanks to you for being our audience this evening. If you enjoyed watching first ladies, pick up a copy of the book first ladies, influence and images. Now available in paperback, hard cover, or p1x as an ebook. First ladies, influence and image, on American History tv, examines the private lives and the public roles of the nations first ladies, through interviews with top historians. Tonight, we look at Mary Todd Lincoln and eliza johnson. Watch first ladies influence and image tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. On cspan3. American history tv, on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the weekend. Coming up sunday beginning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern, were marking the 70th anniversary of the korean war, live on washington journal and American History tv, with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist charles hanley, author of ghost flames, life and death in a hidden war, korea, 1950 to 53. And sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern. Real america features a series of u. S. Government korean war films, starting with to help peace survive. A 1974 Defense Department orientation film for soldiers assigned to south korea. And at 7 00 p. M. On oral histories, u. S. Marine veteran alan clark on serving two tours in korea between 1950 and 1953. Exploring the american story, watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. All right, folks. Welcome we couldnt be more happy that youre all here to join us at the center for colorado womens history and were so happy that there is a center for colorado womens history. Im michael erickson, the education coordinate here and i love setting things up like this. And we couldnt be more happy and honored to have charlotte wasteman here join us. Now, of course, many of you probably already know her and her partner here are coauthor, jill teigen, definitely wrote this wonderfully illustrated book, beautiful book that definitely is worth any penny. So whats cool to