White house is a president ial spouse and i wish him well. Those are three of the first ladies we will be exploring. Good evening, and thanks for well do a preview of season two. Joining us to set the stage are two of our academic advisors of the series. Im going to start with a recap of how we left things after season one. We start with the woman who set the stage for everyone. Over that time, how did the role of first lady change . You have to look at how it remained the same, and that was the woman as hostess for the nation. I think the role grew to encompass preserving the white house, crafting an image for her husbands administration, and i think a growing recognition of the position of the United States in world affairs, so you have someone looking to revamp the white house in a major way to make it a residence were as the chief executive of a major power. I would add there are three distinct individuals who defined it. The biggest difference is those opinions matter. That reflects the enormous impact of the media. The biggest difference is everyone recognizes it is a job. It was seen first and foremost in traditional domestic terms. There are a number of ladies who defined the role and attracted harsh public criticism. The surprise would be if they did not have a public profile beyond wife and mother. Also worth noting, weve been talking about the evolution of the american woman. Women could not vote. No, but a were very active in political affairs. They going to reform movements. The whole Progressive Reform Movement brings women into politics in some vital ways, even though they cannot vote. Part of what happens and into reform and how can we get this modified, that increases the impetus for their involvement. In some ways, the parallel would be they cannot vote, but there are ways to assert their influence. That remains a tightrope. First ladies have access to a wider audience. They sell more books than their husbands. Their popularity is higher because they are not mired in day to day politics. They have become political assets, but they are carrying this it is a double edged sword. Welcome be looking at video and audio. We are going to be looking at video and listen to audio. We are going to start with first Lady Michelle obama. We have a clip where she talks about her impact on the world. You grow into this role. My sense is you never get comfortable if you are always pushing for change. Youre never done. Theres never a time where you feel, i can do this all the time. Youre always changing. You have to be flexible and open to evolve. That was recorded during the first administration. She is the first African American first lady. As she approaches the role, is she building on the traditions . I would say in the causes she has chosen to champion, she has been very carefully selective that would benefit the american nation. She has to choose very wisely what she wanted to support. In many ways she is building, but you have to change with the role every day. In 2008, there were those who saw her as a controversial figure. Maybe a little harsh. If you think back to hillary clinton, by the end of her eight years her cause was saving americas treasury, which was about as middle of the road as you can get. I think that is another kind of politics every first lady has to deal with, how they are perceived by the public, and how that affects their choices and image making. Thats an important part of the job. He always talks about her comparative popularity. How does that affect the president . I think it helps enormously. It softens whatever image he had. Looking like a good family man never hurt anybody. Where did it start . First ladies have been able to avoid a polarization that has engulfed this town and the presidency. In so many ways Eleanor Roosevelt is the starting line in terms of her presence she was a polarizing figure, but she had enormous style. She published books. Somewhere between 20 and 25. A long addition left the te house, she was always she was always in the forefront. We happen to have a clip. She is soliciting public donations to the red cross. If we turn away from the needs of others, we unite ourselves, and we must try to defeat. Remember, the gift must be based on your ability to give. Nobody can be the judge of what you are able to do. Thats not the historic Eleanor Roosevelt. Thats the Eleanor Roosevelt ,erforming the traditional job the par she dreaded before she ever fielded. The Eleanor Roosevelt who made history and polarized the country was the Eleanor Roosevelt who wanted to see Marion Anderson perform at the lincoln memorial, even though she was denied, which we do not find controversial. Marion anderson, african the fact is a first lady was in the middle of that controversy. That setr predecessors and set her apart from the red cross promoter. Did she come into the role, or did she grow into it . She had been in the Movement Since she was out of high school. Its not correct she only started when she got out of the white house area did a white she was very practice and politics even before she went into standing in for franklin in new york state when he had polio. She had been an activist in the womens movement, the labor movement, and she was probably one of the few first ladies who came into the white house with political constituencies of her own separate from her husband. Has that happened since then . Where was she unique . Or was she unique . Maybe hillary. On a much more modest scale. Ine got away with things. Terms of conflict of interest. Personal radio broadcast. She was proud she drew bigger audiences than her husband. She commercialized the role of first lady. People would come down on her in reference to the film clip we saw tom a we saw,one of the things i thought was interesting about her is she was into the media at the time, on theularly the radio. Night of pearl harbor, franklin is addressing the congress and eleanor is the one on the radio address to the American People. And talking about we are going to do whatever we have to do to win. Change. A dramatic role that illustrates her ease in but also herdia. Audience that is waiting to hear what she has to say. You often hear the times make the man or the woman. Her husband served longer than the other administration. Depression and world war ii, the public was eager to hear from the white house. She rose to the occasion. She was seen as the conscience of the administration. She was to the left of fdr. It made it easier for him to govern. Eleanor becomes his contact with and he can tell everybody else, i cannot do anything without my wife. I cannot imagine another first lady being entrusted with in 1940, fdr decide he wanted another Vice President and it was kerry wallace. Henry wallace. The party did not want Henry Wallace. Who does he sent to the convention . Eleanor roosevelt. She goes to the convention, and she totally recast the mood of Henry Wallace old his nomination to her will stop owed his nomination to her. It just suggests the clout and stature she had. Franklin was seeking at third term, which was unheard of. He did not go to the convention unless he looked too selfaggrandizing. He sent eleanor what he was not in the position to do. Weber talk off. About the personal lives. We know there are so many biographies, but it sounds like their political partnership. Who knows, nobody ever knows the inner workings of a she was surprised when he died. She was furious when she found out her daughter had connived to bring her girlfriend to the itite house when she was away. Is a mistake to simply say after that affair that it was essentially political arrangement that they had. Its complicated. Lets bring the voice of two what has beenadies. Happening lately is that there are quite a few living former first ladies, and they get together to talk about their job. This is barbara bush and Roslyn Carter talking about being first lady. The first lady is going to be criticized if she does too little or too much. I think you have to be the best you can and so what. I dont know whether the public wants the first lady to make policy. The first ladies do projects and things like that, but i did not think there is any doubt first ladies have influence on husband. They are close to them and talk to them all of the time and have the president year. The president s ear. That is all it takes. First barbara bush. What you need to do and so what, it seemed cavalier for political family to say so what. She was very aware there were things she could not discuss and policies she could not promote as first lady. Abortion rights was the big one and equal rights was the other. Politics on women she promised her would not talk about. Views conflict with that of the party. She knows she cannot do it. We had a first lady comfortable talking about abortion. The party had changed. She could not do it. She never dreamed she would be first lady. Betty ford. There were extraordinary circumstances. She said be yourself. On the one hand, there are tensions between the east and west wing. Sometimes it is overtly hostile. There was a challenge from the right with runway can ronald reagan. The majority thought she was stepping over the line, and they were in for a surprise. Betty had a huge following, particularly among women and womens issues. Barbara bush really did seem to say so what. It works better in the white house than anywhere. There was a quote, i dressed fine. I just dont look so good. People just chuckled. Many feel a kinship. She was a first lady many considered stylish. They were very different women. Ironically, each one worked at the time. Barbara bush came across as the first grandmother. She helped create that image. Roslyn carter, she is implying we have the best interest of our therefore, we can be interest advisor. She got burned like abigail she went as his ambassador which are not turn out to be as well received as they had hoped. She attended cabinet meetings. They had a close partnership, but there were some things she did not do again. Her Mental Health initiatives oneery controversial. Thing about the carters is they were not of washington. 4 years later, they fell victim. Americans periodically decide every four years they want someone else. The steep learning curve. Here we have a 21stcentury example. Roosevelt had to learn the proper procedures, all that that is notumption. The same as learning the legislative process specific policy issues or things we might associate with a first lady. At the smithsonian, they did a series on first ladies. One of the things she said was she did give policy advice. They said, wait until the second term. She said, im glad he didnt always follow my advice. We always talked about the postwhite house years and how they live their lives. How are they doing . I think they are doing pretty well. After you hit midcentury, very often what you see as the causes of first ladies becomes so inclined, she keeps that image for the rest of her life. We could talk about barbara bush and her commitment to literacy and foundation, but her commitment to sobriety and helping people who are addicted i think theres a whole line of first ladies who keep that image and do things with it. They have a much wider range. One thing is by the creation they continue to raise money. The libraries were originally academic institutions. Beginning with jimmy carter, who reinvented the role of ex president will stop ex president. In some ways they created a platform. Former president see their years out of office as an extension after years in office. That is totally different from the 19th century, and it spills over. We are going to look at another type of partnership, a first lady intensely involved in politics and advising her husband. This is an audio clip of Lady Bird Johnson. [audio clip] would you like to wait quite now . Yes. I am ready. You looked like a reliable guy. The closeups are much better than the distance once. I will say it is better than the distance once. During the statement, you got a little aggressive. There was a considerable hick up in drama and interest when the questioning began. Your voice was noticeably better, and your facial expressions are noticeably better. I thought your answer was good. The answer on vietnam was good. I really did not like one answer, because i think i heard you say, and i believe you have actually said out loud that you do not believe that. So i do not think you can very well say that when it is convenient. She is a tough critic. I am glad that she is not here critiquing us. Lbj, he was never a television president. And i have heard it said from people that Lady Bird Johnson became much more pointedly critical of his performances when she knew he had been with another woman. Who knows if that is really the case, but that is interesting commentary. Lbj, one of the president s who recorded all of his phone calls. And we have to thank Lady Bird Johnson for making those available. The idea was they would be sealed for 50 years after the president s death, and the director of the johnson library, who had been a president ial speechwriter and enjoyed both johnsons, he went to mrs. Johnson, maybe in the 1980s or early 90s, whenever they opened it, and they moved that up. So scholars could have access. Cspan listeners. It has altered the johnson posthumous reputation. We should say that all of them are on our website, and you can hear realtime president ial power. It is the johnson we almost never saw. Lady bird johnson. Yes. Which of the other modern first ladies were that much of a political partner . Interested in the mechanics of how their partner was presenting themselves. Remember from the autobiography, she was on the campaign trail fairly early on in the process. What other first ladies have that much interest in the electoral process . In an interview, he starts off by saying, you can ask me anything you want, and he says, all right. You did not look very good today. And i know for a fact because of my current work that when he talked to Nelson Rockefeller for ce president , 1975, he said she said you are a damn fool for doing it. That is the betty ford candor. That is what he treasured. I think her input was very important in that same way, what she thought about the nixon pardon. And how she said, you know, if we do not do this, the country is going to continue. She had tried unsuccessfully to get a woman on the supreme court, but she did get a woman on the cabinet. We know from her own words that she was a significant lobbyist. That is the first job of the first lady in the modern era. You made reference when we talked about Eleanor Roosevelt about her command of all of the media available at the time. The dawn of the 20th century. We will listen to hoover making radio remarks about this. What i want to do is use this as a launching pad to talk about the media and how it changed and how it changed the world. Listen. [audio clip] i am very glad. [indiscernible] this is a first, the first time america saw and heard a sitting first lady, so there we have the film, and as the century progressed, radios and television, and today the internet and then social media, how has this changed the role, and how have first ladies used the burgeoning mass media to affect their time in the white house . I think hoover was very aware that this was something as first lady, and she had set up in the white house and even at camp rapid dan, the studios where she could practice talking with the she was veryple. Well aware of how this will be added as a way to communicate with the American People and how important that was. She is a transitional player. A pretty remarkable woman. She did not do more of that. Did not do a she lot of selfpromotion. Her whole agenda even more than his was redefined by the great depression. It is almost as if she took the veil. She had been such an activist, a public figure, and life in the white house was pretty dour, and she slipped into the pretty traditional role of protecting her husband. I think that she did continue her commitment, however, to advocacy for women, and she did that through the girls clubs and promoting what today we would call physical fitness, and she was very committed to those, but that did not have in that particular time period a political connotation in the way it would now. She just thought this was something that was important to do and that women, girls growing into womanhood should be prepared for the realistic world, and she talked about what is the role that young women can play for the depression, and so forth, which you saw a little bit of there. As we cover the arc of american history, we saw that as the media grew, they understood that the first family was of enormous interest, selling newspapers and magazines. How did first ladies grasp the power they had to shape their image . Bess truman, who did not have press conferences, in some ways turning the clock back, and, someone who never expected to be in the white house, she had an enormous influence with the one man that counted, and she never asserted herself. I have nothing to say to the public, another thing she would say. On the other hand, Jacqueline Kennedy was not a political first lady, and yet, she created an indelible impression. And, boy, did she know how to wield power . Watch the cbs at the white house, as 50 million or 60 Million People did that night. It was a turning point. It was a highlight, in the Successful Use of the media, to fashion a nonpolitical image, which nonetheless had political effect. And today, it is 24 7 social media and now unmediated access to what is happening in the white house. How has that changed the world . I think you have to be very careful of every word that comes out of your mouth or is typed by your fingers in some way. I think you just have to be on your toes every moment. It is more intimate. Michelle obama goes across the river to virginia, shocking shopping at a target store, and all of a sudden, there are photos. First ladies themselves are learning to harness this power. They will have to learn how to harness it, or they will be contradicted. Become victims. Can you think of any examples in history who fail to harness it and then became victim . It is something simpler. I am not a great fan of social media and the narcissistic, but, you know what . It is interesting, because the Popular Culture evolves, and in the 1950s, mamie eisenhower, although seen as very much a traditional figure, she was every bit as much a fashion role model, a cultural icon as Jackie Kennedy was just a few short years later. And the next administration. Everybody copied her bangs. Television was the internet of its day. She was always on the best dressed list, which looks a little strange to us now, post jacqueline, but in her day, she was thought to be one of the most bestdressed women in america, and she continued to make the best dressed lips, listing top american make that bestdressed lists. Ike had real health problems. It made it easier for the first lady to drop to adopt the more traditional protective stance. Mamie eisenhower perhaps lesserknown. We found in the first series, there were quite a few that we introduced people to. Who are the gems . The unknown gems . Grace coolidge. The best first lady you know nothing about, you know . We can all agree, scratching our heads how she ever stayed married to him, a very difficult man in many ways. Controlling. After his death, she bobbed her hair and went up in an airplane. But she was as warm and outgoing as he was dour and reserved. And her nickname was sunny, which will give you an idea of her personality. Now, who else would be on your list . Probably Edith Roosevelt. Everybody knows about teddy, and Everybody Knows about eleanor and franklin, but i think mrs. Roosevelt, who really in many ways set off the modern first ladies role for the 20th century. People know very little about her. This is another category, which is first ladies who are burdened with media images that may have very little to do with who they really work. And toink of pat nixon. Some degree nancy reagan. She had a very tough time of it for the first two years she was here, and i think, frankly, with the passage of time, people realize just how great a role she played behind the scenes, with some very good advice in Personnel Matters and other things. One of the other things we will be able to do is not just being with the first ladies but also some children of the white house. We have a clip of one of the children. This is ford. As family you know well, having worked on the ford library creation, and we will listen and talk about intervention. Dad led that intervention, and, you know, my memory of that is we walked in the door that morning, all the kids, and dad surprised mom, and he took her hand and said, betty, we are here because we love you. The kids want their mother back. I want my wife back. Tough. Is tough, hard, hard work. A lot of tears. A lot of crying. More raised voices and denial, not denial, and it goes back and forth. And it was a war, and dad never gave up. He said, betty, we love you. Trust us. She did the work. That moment, that morning, nobody ever thought thered be something called the betty ford center. We were strictly fighting to get our mom back. Dad was fighting to get his wife back, so to see the other side of that, months, years later, for her after she had had sobriety for a while, sold comfortable enough to put her name on a Treatment Center and to see that Treatment Center today, about 90,000 people have gone through there. Nonprofit. And her mission of Affordable Health for those who needed to transform their lives, to get healthy, to get sober, she was very proud of that. In a nutshell, that sums up one of the real differences between the 19th century and the 20th century. Can you imagine having that degree of intimacy, that degree of knowledge of the intimate life of a first lady of a president ial family, projecting it into millions of homes, having millions of people care . That connection that the media allows to happen, the emotional bond, adulation, and the opposite, something foreign to the 19th century. You also listen to that, and we are reminded that we talk about these folks who are enormous public figures, but they are human beings, living personal lives, as well. And how did that play out with some of the other women we are going to be looking at . I am thinking pat nixon. I have always thought of pat nixon as a tragic figure. I do not think she was ever given enough credit for what she did during the nixon administration. She basically picked up Jacqueline Kennedys restoration of the white house, and wanting to bring back original paintings and pieces of furniture, and it is pat nixon that brings back more antiques, art, and original furnishings into the white house than any other first lady, but most people know nothing about that. They think of Jacqueline Kennedy immediately, but they know almost nothing about the role pat nixon played, and i think that she was in her later years so overshadowed i what happened with the nixon resignation that it was very difficult for her, and i think his handlers in the white house did not have a proper appreciation of what an asset she could have been all through the nixon administration. Yes, we know that for a fact. The classic east wing west wing rivalry, probably reached a zenith or a depth during the nixon years. People, the haldermans, they were not on very good terms with mrs. Nixon, and they certainly did not appreciate what she could be, the asset that she was and could have been. She is a mona lisa. That is very true. She is a very enigmatic figure. And you do not get much until julias book. The book is wonderful. I remember asking the people close to her, the word shy was often used, and someone who knew her very well said she was not shy. She was selfeffacing, and there is a difference between the two. What a selfeffacing modern first lady is often a contradiction. Referring to the victorian painting lady. We had a number of first ladies who struggled with life in the white house. Struggled with life and death and loss. And politics. I do think generalizations are dangerous, but i do think in the modern era, we think of the president and first lady, that they are a political partnership. Together. That was not the case at the time of franklin or james beard, in the 19th century. Or even Martha Washington and george. Yes. Certainly, she rose to that occasion, but i do not know that she ever thought, well, who would have thought when they got married that there would be a revolution . A change of government. Her famous line of a prisoner saying anything else, and i am sure that every person sympathizes with that. So it has become a more accessible prison, if i can use that, and, perhaps, in some ways much more visible, invaded by the media. Much more theatrical. Much more scripted. And unscripted. At the same time. You referenced pat nixon and the contribution she made to the white house itself, and that is another role, the partnership with the white house. Thank you, jacqueline. And that is a final theme that i wanted to return to, which is the first lady or the first family are custodians of the white house. Some responsible for an enormous change greeted talk about what she did to the white house. It is very simple. She turned it into a home, as opposed to an office building. The white house you see today is partly Jacqueline Kennedys and pat nixons, but Edith Roosevelt, it was Edith Roosevelt, because they had lots of children, and they were all rambunctious, and and a rambunctious husband. Exactly. She divided there are people before Edith Roosevelt. But she creates the west wing. She clearly defines the residence from a working office area. But then the residence, it dates back George Washington could have walked into the Teddy Roosevelt white house and recognized it. Out went the stainedglass windows and the victorian bric abrac. And it became much more elegant. I think both she and Teddy Roosevelt were aware of the image, to use a very overused phrase, the imperial presidency, that the United States had, in fact, arrived on a world stage, and they needed a kind of classical setting in which to conduct politics and diplomacy, and that is how they set up the white house, as this kind of stage for him to, you know, wield power. Or reimagine the white house. Of course, in todays money. It has changed a little bit in the dollars. The other influential custodians of the white house, the trumans. They had to move out for the construction. And the time in the blair house. All of the entertainment was, their formal entertaining was in washington hotels, because there was no world that they could entertain. You both the referenced Jacqueline Kennedy, and for our younger viewers, they may not know what the reference is. Jacqueline kennedy, when she went for her tour with mainly eisenhower came away appalled. The white house looked like a third rate hotel. And she decided out of pride it was patriotism. She wanted to restore the house, bring back the best of the past, and make it a showcase. And that was, i think, a way to exert a kind of cultural influence that was commensurate with the status of the United States in the 1960s. I mean, the economic power, the military power, and i think jacqueline saw that to go along with it was needed the cultural influence of the United States. And a stage, again, for her husbands conduct of politics and diplomacy. I was thinking even more than jfk, who we really think of as the First Television president , and a president whose style, with kind of an ironic twist, was absolutely perfect for tv, but she was a real tv star. She was the one who imaged the administration. One of the things we have been doing all along the way is gathering the material and putting it on our website, which is available at c span. Org firstladies, and these programs have been highly interactive. We have a twitter feed and a facebook page. And we mix in some of those comments, as well. Both of you have had major professional careers, very interactive. You are always speaking and taking questions. What are some of the most frequently asked questions about first ladies . I would say the question i am asked most is who is my favorite sometimesand why . Who is the worst first lady was mark and sometimes was merrily been really crazy . Yes, i got that question, was she a raving, crazy lady . Or was she really as bad and burdensome on the president as legend would have . Our twitter feed and Facebook Comments were much more new nuanced, and we do invite those watching to be part of this process, as we are learning history together, and take part by making telephone calls, and we will have phone numbers on the screen, and you can send us a Facebook Comments, send us a twitter comment. So what was your answer to was mary lincoln really crazy . I said from her symptoms, todays doctors would probably diagnose her as manic depressive. They would probably put her on lithium, send her to a 12step program, and she would fit right with modern society. Chicago to the betty ford center. She could go to the betty ford center. How about that . And your question your answer to who was the worst first lady . We will pass over that. There are are some questions that just because they are asked do not have to be answered. We have more videos as we ran out of time, and this is our first first lady of the series. This is Edith Roosevelt post white house but still involved. Lets listen. [no audio]p] she is there speaking in support of herbert hoover. It is such an odd appearance. You do not think of her as being politically active in the years following. It suggests that internal family dynamic. Remember, the high part about the roosevelts, they did not always get along. It is remarkable that on the eve of the election that everybody realize was a loss, she would go to a republican venue to affect a breach. With the other roosevelt. They wear a Different Party but is adjusted part of royalty and family. I do not think of Edith Roosevelt as a party a partisan figure. It is a characteristic. Section forw was a fdr. I am losing my voice will stop im losing my voice. T are you looking for to 42 forward to . Growth in the role and influence and continuing professionalization of the office of the first lady. And much better media savvy. A growth if possible but the change unavoidably. Clearly aia is dominant, increasingly dominant criteria for every first lady but in the end, the biographical, human stories. To there not limited 19th century are 20th century or media, but how these people in the veryrevail rough world of politics. Which they may or may not have aspired to be a part of. And the history that they influenced in the process. As nancy reagan said, it is a bully pulpit. And you will be an idiot not to , that is aething new very 20th century think. The first presidency has been a bullpens for longterm but the first lady likewise. Our academic advisors for this really interesting series. For this interesting series. We are learning a lot along the way, and we invite our viewers to take the journey with us. Lots of learning, lots of interesting women ahead, and we hope you will be with us. Inc. You. You thank you