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 kn