Transcripts For CSPAN3 First Ladies Influence Image - Julia

CSPAN3 First Ladies Influence Image - Julia Grant July 12, 2024

Garden spot of orchids. Growing up in a slave holding family, she ended up as the spells of the commanding general at the u. S. Army during the civil war. She and he was ulysses as grant shared 37 years together that included the hardships of war, the tribes of politics and eight challenging years in the white house. Welcome to our program, our continuing series first ladies influence an image. Tonight, the life of julia grant. Lets introduce you to our two guests of the table, a member of our Academic Advisory Panel for this year, we are delighted to have him here. Hes a Longtime White House a story in and the author of the president s house. Bill, its so great to see you. Pam is a historian at the ulysses as Grant National Historic Site and st. Louis majority and working on a biography of julia grant. Lets start with you, we last left the cities with the johnson,s after impeachment. And the politics with the radical republicans and the reconstruction, so set the stage for us as the grants come into the white house. Well, grants election started off with a campaign, let us have peace. So people were really looking to grant to kind of bring some peace and quiet to the white house and to the nation after the war and then the years of the Johnson Administration so those who are grants initial efforts as he took office. And those are the themes that we brought who were looking at his inaugural, the themes that he struck when he spoke to the nation for the first time . And he also had the added advantage of being a hero, famous even in the south if he wasnt beloved. But everywhere else. 1 million young men trying to imitate his stance, the stance he had and he was widely pop people and clean, it was clean nothing dirty attached to him, so i think he was a natural. But the president was ready for it, in other words. Talk about the first lady herself. She had been the wife of a general, so that brings some skill sets along with it. What did she bring to the role in the white house . She brought an incredibly strong supporting role to the president there. Their lives had been that way. She ultimately was very supportive of him but she was supportive to him and they wanted to represent in the white house the ideal american family, and they werent there but this huge portrait was brought in and hung in the bedroom. The white house had been open to the public since jeffersons time, and they put this in the red room, the suits picture of the grand family to the public could see it on the tours. This was their home, and where they lived. So this whole symbolic home that julia grant developed. Since youre working on a biography, what kind of woman was she . She was very outgoing and warm, in some way they were opposite and had some similarities as well, both had a fondness of riding horses and reading. She was a very likable person, and you get that not only from contemporaries of hers but from her own memoirs as well. Would be fair to say that she was a better politician of the two . She could be very politically astute in some of her dealings with cabinet members and their wives and public but she would most often differ to the political realm. She seems to be very protective of her husband to and she was not hesitant to give her opinion on things. She seems to be a woman who cut her cloth, as they used to say exactly what does that mean . She knew what she wanted to do, what you want to accomplish in the rest of the stuff could be arranged. She was unusual in the fact that she had been educated at that timeframe, so she completed Something Like 15 or 16 years of schooling. Yes, shes gone to a Neighborhood School as a young child with her siblings and then to a female academy in the city of st. Louis, a boarding school that she attended until about age 18. The Grant Administration is a two term or and it was full of so many stories, it was hard for us to find just a few to put on the screen, to give you a sense of what it was like. In 1870, president grant was successful and having the 15th amendment to the constitution ratified, giving people the right to vote regardless of race, of course still not women. And then an 1871, the force acts were passed. That was anti kkk legislation. It was something that president grant was much involved in and that was to protect voters in the south against the rising work of the kkk. 1873, and will talk more about this later, the panic of 1873 a big downturn that resulted from some of the policies of the administration, and the battle of little big horn was fought. That is just something during that administration. As he brings on his, cabinet the story of the granite ministration is that they were no strangers to political patronage, so for both of you, what kind of advisers did he surround himself with and how involved was julia in that process . Most of the people that a grant appointed, at least two his cabinet, he either knew of or new personally, for example wash burn, a former congressman of illinois. He had been appointed secretary of state and as a thank you for having supported through the war. And others were Business People that he thought would do the best job, some of them said not to be so, trustworthy as they had placed in them. What kind of tone did they set . At first, grant made the decisions himself, and i think that caused some friction with congress, especially numbers of his own party who expected him to consult with him and his selection of cabinet members, and he made his decisions entirely on his own. I think the whole theme of the era was success, great success. It was before the panic of 1973, and they came from not a lot and had gained a lot. He was attracted to those kind of people, and they were to. And they entertain them, they associated with him and it was certainly a more loose supervision by the government over what the politicians did. And the idea was that he would be the chief executive. It was called the executive mansion, and was onstreet talk. But executive mansion, this is where the executive of the great nation lived and the congress was the board that ran the country. That was over simplifying it the idea. You know the inside the white house like nobody else, and we have some video of what is now called the white house treaty room, well show people that. And that was the room that grant used for his cabinet, and were looking at the pictures right now. Can you tell us a little bit about the room . They purchased the table, in 1971 is i remember. In philadelphia. And it has been in the white house ever since. It was carried through the administration, that room was a sitting room and lincoln made it into a Reception Room where you took reports and then Andrew Johnson took it in as a cabinet room and grant refurnish did as a cabinet room. With other things you see here, that sofa in the back, and other things were in the house at that time. It was a grubby or room than it is today and lots of political memorabilia. President grant was known to smoke up to 20 cigars a day, is that right . He had picked up that happened during the civil war when one of his victories he was sent cigars in appreciation, and had many he started smoking them on a very regular basis. We invite your participation in our program, thats what makes it work for us every week. We do it in a number of ways. You can call us, and hear our phone lines, two zero two five eight five, if you live in the eastern or central time zones. If you live in the western or part of the United States, mountain pacific time, 200 to 381 5581. Join the conversation and you can tweet us. Use the hashtag first ladies and we will include some of our questions and comments and our conversation. Julia grant, by all account loved life in the white house and here is, similar to the one we use in the outset, my life in the white house was like a bright and beautiful dream. How did she approach her time there . She considered herself hostess to the nation, and was doing her best to ensure that she acted in the manner that the public would have received very well. She did compare her time there and i think that was more a reflection of the first time that the family spent years together without separation. Because of his work, right . Clearly she wanted to make this a model house for the nation and other first ladies that felt that way to. But it was part of grants program, and they entertained lavishly, very lavishly, not in a fancy sense, but in an elegant sense. She handled that very well herself. Grant brought his own cronies and as much as he could and those diplomatic man that he had served bake roast beef slices and apple pie with cheese on it, and the diplomats were horrified. But julia let him go. And hired valentino, a well known chef in new york and he came there and turned it into a very cosmopolitan table. Flowers, costumes, and she was very stringent about rules. All the white house staff were just in business suits, they had to be in full dress and they had to stand at attention. Theres a story she tells that a woman would come to the womans noon receptions, and if you did not wear a house, feud were part of the house party. If you did, you are an outside gassed. And women from time to time would go and mrs. Grant said they never repeated that a second time. How is this received by the nation . One of the other things that was happening was that there was quite a burgeoning press corps and lots of coverage of the couple in the white house. There was a lot of people describing him, there were descriptions of what he did. He and his friends lived across Lafayette Park and would get in races, on their cell keys with their horses and as you know, grant was absolutely a horseman to his sole. His father dealt and horses and was raised that way. Grant new horses, so we had quite a staple. He brought his own coachman to the white house, and he stayed there until the automobile took over as head of the staples. He was a black man who was very grand looking, and managed the stables for the staff. Graham would spend time but the eloquent equipage was part of it, but the public liked it. It looked successful and peaceful and, of course, the accumulation of successful friends, which was easy to do was one of the sad things. He trusted people that he should not have trusted. I think, too, the fact that, as you said, the family was there and so while there was this opulence on one level, it was very down to earth in the fact that what the four Young Children at home. Julia for example closed off the backyard so the children could play. Help people understand the economy of the United States. Were they still reeling from the war . It was just his brightest it was, but you go up in the mississippi and there was some pretty horrible powers in georgia as well, not all blamed on sherman, its the collapse of the party because the english went to canada. The laps of years, and the brocade, the new orleans flourished. So, it was not all like gone with the wind. It was coming back, but it was a different culture. It would not be agricultural, or have agriculture fluorescents until later. The mississippi was in a great Big Industrial revolution, and tell us more about what was happening there. They became a continuation of war, and expansion, and they were getting ready for the centennial of the nation and showing off the advances that had been made in the past hundred years. Most of those were technological advances to the new modern technology, transcontinental is bringing people closer together, going cross country. Theres a few of those, big things happen during the grand presidency, as pam mentioned. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 as a grant for coming into the white house, 1870, the establishment of the National Weather service sent an issuing of their first forecast. The great chicago fire happened at an 1872, the First National park was established in yellowstone and, as we just said, the philadelphia centennial celebrations. How big deal was . This huge. Absolutely huge. It was almost like a worlds fair would have been. People from all over the world attended it, but it was really a time for america to shine and really show that it was coming into its own as a world power. And mrs. Grant loved it. She brought two things for the white house with public money, one was a shield that showed characters from miltons paradise lost and a more enduring peace, i dont know after that. But it was a centerpiece so she brought a silver centerpiece, which was about this big and it shows the dog and cat tailed weeds and the canoe in the middle of it, lounging on a bare skin rug. And that was the new centerpiece for the white house she bought at the fair. And that is still in the silver closet at the white house. So, the julia grand have any hired assistance who helped or at the white house . How were first ladies staffed at this point . There was no social secretary. Usually, the guys got together and it was the president and mrs. Grant and their friends would come over for a tea party and they would fill out the blanks usually. She had mary mueller as the housekeeper, the one who traveled to europe with her . I think so. She called her a most excellent woman. And i dare say she helped with some of that. But most of the social duties, there might be a clerk from the office that would help, but there was no social staff until Theodore Roosevelt. Heres the question about their days preceding coming to the white house who wants to know, grants family was often close by during the war in washington d. C. Did julia has a presence in washington before the election . I would say, yes. Yes. Because grant was still head of the army after the war and for a short while the secretary of war. She talks about the receptions that she held, that they held in their home in d. C. And that it was a natural progression into the white house. Dont you think she was one of those women that attracted people . She was a personable woman and she cared about people. When someone had a hard time with something, she went to them. She was a nice person, and people were attracted to it. One of the interesting stories that i read, the illusions to tension between a mary lincoln and julia grant, julia grant would come during the war years, certainly a general, but it looked as if there was some bit of competition that Murray Lincoln might have felt between the two. I want to read you this one paragraph. He writes, on a number there occasion, julia was in a military camp when mary lincoln visited. She imperiously committed julia to leave the room as its done and royal courts. Mary order julia to back away from her so that julian never turned her back on the first lady, as if the first lady were a clean and julia emir commoner. Its a humiliating treatment was intended to provoke an outbreak, mary lincoln failed at it. She later denied she had any ill feeling about her treatment at the hands of the first lady. Im not familiar with that particular story. It couldve happened during the steam boat ways. And shes very kind and her recollections, but when they were dictated, it was years later and mrs. Lincolns tragedy, it happened. But there were problems. She was very jealous of lincoln, and women and lincoln. I think theres absolutely no reason for that, but she was. And she would be very ugly to people who said that they made a remark once, there is a feisty horse and said he knew a feisty horse like that to keep up with your husband. Words to that effect. Mrs. Lincoln said, what do you mean by that . We are going to see videos of a few of the grants preserved sites, and you work at one of them. How many are there altogether . There are several homes that are owned and operated by either the National Park service or the various states they are located in, grants tomb and all of the battlefields have connecting site, and then there are some that are no longer there. The first one is in illinois. Two modern ears, the sounds fairly shocking, but because of his great achievement in the war, when he came home, people built and gave to him a fully furnished house. How was that viewed in the day . Was that considered ethically appropriate to do . Apparently so. It was welcoming a hero and. Look at the british and wellington. It was done, the houses were given to people at various places. Its unusual to see an American History but it was certainly done with him. He had to sell most of them for money. We are going to bring the Illinois House and this is where the grants lived in the years after the war and before coming to the white house. Lets take a look, because it sets the stage for their presidency. This home was a gift that 13 businessmen from melina purchase to give to the grand family, in appreciation for his service during the war. Julia mentions and her memoirs coming up the hill and being prevented this lovely villa that she said was furnished with everything good taste could offer. Now, the parlor. Which was the entertainment part of the home, and we all know that julia was an avid entertainer, she loved it. The family spent quite a bit of time here in the parlor also. We know that mrs. Grant and their daughter ellen played the piano, so you can imagine the family sitting here, the other boys here listening to their sister and mother play some songs for them. Theyve entertained and here, and julia and maybe ellen played a little song for their guests. Grant launched his president ial campaign from his headquarters, which was in downtown the lena. The day after his election, gradually opened up their home at the parlor here for people, townsfolk to file through and congratulate both of them on his election in the next step of their lives. This is the general and mrs. Grants bedroom. The bed is the oldest piece that we have in the house, probably the most personal. This is the original that they brought to glean with them from white haven, putting down some roots here angelina, and they left it here. Even throughout all their travels and the white house, this was always here for them when they came back. This is called a lab book. It has misses u. S. Grant on it, it was julias. And she probably kept papers, pens, her correspondents in here for when she was either writing letters, or receiving them and kept them stored in here. Religion was very important for mrs. Grant. Her grandfather was a methodist minister, so growing up it was important to her and she instilled that i

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