Thanks for being my guest today. It was a real pleasure to talk with you. Thank you on youre always a gentleman. You im bill harris. Im the acting director here at the fdr president ial library museum, and were so happy to see you here this morning. I cant tell you. Were always happy to see people but after two years it is so wonderful to have this event back and to have it in person and also to have cspan here with us as well again. Theyve always been very good and covering this event and were very thankful for that. I just in addition to welcoming you here. Its just like to note that fdr. I always love it when i get to to sort of channel the former president the late president and say that he i know would be happy to see everyone here today because he had hoped this institution would become a place that would welcome scholars and writers and to see good friends and former and current participants in the program is also really nice. So i want to very quickly go over the format some of you may know it and you may hear this over and over again today, but therell be about a 30 minute talk from the author then well have a 10 minute or so period of question and answer and then afterwards well go up to the new deal store where there will be a book signing and youll be able to get a copy of the book with the signature from from the author and because were on cspana would like this is different from other rooms if you could queue up at the microphone when you have questions and and then ill just sort of single when that periods over and when we can move on so now i would like to introduce our author don carlton. Hes written the governor in the colonel dual biography of William P Hobby and oviedo called hobby and i think i said i always grow up saying her name my mothers from houston saying her name is obeda, but its oviedo vita. So thats wow. Thats 55 years of getting that wrong, but we can always learn care we so don is the director of the Briscoe Center down a former American History down at university of texas at austin. We were just talking thats right across from the lbj library, which is a another great library. He has an extensive career. Hes served as a chief researcher and advisor for former cbs news. Anchor Walter Cronkites bestselling memoir a reporters life, and thats a very nice work right there. He was also an executive producer of pbs documentaries when i rise in cactus jack which we have a relationship with with Vice President garner here lone star on capitol hill. He also served as a historical advisor and commentator for several documentary films including including jfk breaking news in the president s photographer. Hes also written 12 books and one of them as an alabamian selma the civil rights photographs of Spider Martin, i would highly recommend Spider Martin being amazing photographer from news local newspaper down there who some remarkable photos at the time. Hes also written flash of light wall of fire japanese photographs documenting the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. His most recent book is we were here for that today about the hobbies is amazing. I always point this out before i turn it over to you is i love a book as an im an archivist about background. Thats well. Well researched, i believe you have around 2,000 footnotes or so in that work. Yeah. Like that. Well, it just shows you the the detail and the effort that goes into these works. So theyre never to be underestimated and its really fantastic book and wonderful to have a dual biography. I think thats a really special way to handle it too. So ill be quiet and turn it over to our author don carlson. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, im going to do my best to stay within the time limit here. In fact, i even brought my im going to be such a good boy that i even brought my my clock here so or my my alarm clock is a better way to put it. Thanks for that introduction. I appreciate it. And i just want to also do a shout out quickly to the president ial libraries. It just ive done two books where i based my research on the resources here as well as other president ial libraries and as the director of the Brisco Center university of texas at austin and setting next door to the lbj library, we do a lot of we partner with a lot in the programming and various things and mark lawrence, who is the director of the lbj library is a colleague of mine in history at ut austin and my good buddy mark up to grove who is the president of the lbj foundation he works very closely with us as well. So i just want to do a shout out to them and also just to the president ial libraries system in general. Its a great resource. Okay, so my new book the governor and the colonel is a is he mentions a dual biography of governor . William p hobby senior. Hes the governor in the title and ovita cup hobby. Shes the colonel. Together they were one of the most influential couples in texas history. And while oviedo was one of the most important women in the us during much of the second half of the 20th century. I should say that i want to take a few minutes here for you to just doubtful to me that probably you know, who these people are. I may be lucky did have i do have one person here. So i just want to take a few minutes quickly to give you a very brief biographical sketch of both of these people. So and then ill go back to more of a relationship to the roosevelt between them. We dont know vita hobbies live stories stretch over more than a century. Their careers intersected with many important aspects of the history of american Politics News media the development of the city of houston and being the fourth largest city in the country world war is one and two and the president ial administrations of fdr Dwight Eisenhower and lbj. And my book documents two lies remarked marked by remarkable success in business Politics Government and good works and their lives reflected as shared purpose to use their considerable talents and influence. To benefit their communities their state and their country. It took me more than 700 pages not two thousand. Ive missed count. I miscounted it. Took me more than 700 pages to tell their dual stories and if that seems excessive, please remember that its actually two books in one two biographies. So you get texas and 19. Excuse me, 1878. He moved his with his family to houston where he got a job at the houston post when he was 17 years old after making a name for himself as a reporter and editor. He was lured beaumont, texas in 1907 to serve as editor and publisher the Beaumont Enterprise beaumont was the center of the oil industry in texas in that period of time as were spindle top was discovered. As a boomtown in other words in 1914 after gaining statewide attention in texas because of his skillful use of his newspaper to gain support for making beaumont, texas a deep water port. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of texas. When the legislature impeached james poff ferguson, and thats another story. Actually, they also removed him. They didnt just impede him. While the legislature impeached governor james Paul Ferguson in 1917, or when will became governor of texas and he served out the remainder of fergusons term and then was elected to be governor of texas to his own term in 1918, and he served until 1921. His remarkable record as governor, which i get into in great detail in the book included signing the texas law that allowed women to vote in the states primaries, and he also later played a key role in the passage of the 19th amendment when well retired from office. He returned to the houston post to serve as its managing editor eventually also owning the paper. After his first wife willie died in 1929. He married miss ovieda culp who was a 24 year old from killeen, texas who was 27 years younger than will. By the time of their marriage oviedo was already wellknown and state politics and political affairs. She was the daughter of a member of the Texas Legislature and oveda served as the 20 year old parliamentarian of the texas house of represent. Before she was old enough even to vote. In the early 1930s. She barely lost an election to serve as a texas including that houston. And she was actively involved in support of several other political campaigns in texas including that of us senator tom connelly. Will an oviedo quickly forged an intimate personal and professional relationship that led to their ownership of the houston post and they became pioneers of the broadcast industry in texas will help create one of the first radio stations in texas kprc radio and he and oviedo together eventually started another television. I television station. I should say kprc tv, which is was one of the earliest television stations in texas after oviedo worked with will during the 1930s to bank to houston post one of the most influential newspapers in texas. She took her place on the National Stage as the founding commander of the Womens Army Corps during World War Two now, ill say more about that in a moment. After the war however oveda returned to texas and reassumed her position as editor of the houston post. In 1952. She played a decisive role in helping Dwight Eisenhower when the republican president ial nomination. And she led the Organization Democrats for eisenhower that helped carry, texas and other Southern States giving eisenhower his victory. In 1953 shortly after eisenhower was inaugurated. He appointed oviedo as the secretary of the newly established department of Health Education and welfare more better known as agw no longer existing now, its been split up. Thus she became only the second woman in us history to serve on a president ial cabinet the first being of course, Francis Perkins as secretary of hew she oversaw the development and the distribution of the sauk polio vaccine and she got into as much trouble as falchi over the current vaccines. It was quite a controversy. She resigned in 1955 to return to houston because of wills declining health as i say there was 27 years difference in their ages will died in 1964 and the city of houston named its Municipal Airport and his honor Hobby Airport continues to carry his name today. Some of you may have passed through there at some point. Oveda, and will had very Close Relationships not casual very Close Relationships with House Speaker sam rayburn Nelson Rockefeller real some rockefeller was her deputy at hew and they worked very closely together and years even later after hew they worked together. And also of course lyndon b johnson. During lbjs presidency oviedis served on several important task forces, including one that sent her to vietnam during the war and another that led to the creation of pbs and npr. She was very active in that as well. She sold to houston post in 1983. She saw the handwriting on the wall very early in this newspaper the situation and she also sold kprc tv in 1994. Ovieda died in 1995 at the age of 90. Because were here at the roosevelt president ial library today. I want to say i want to talk now about the relationship between the hobbies and franklin and illinois roosevelt. Of course, im skipping tremendously a lot of stuff while still governor of texas in the fall of 1920. Will hobby this is governor hobby will hobby traveled all over texas campaigning for the Cox Roosevelt president ial ticket . And then in 1928 will was a member of the texas delegation to the democratic parties National Convention in houston. Where he first met and was deeply impressed with fdr. In 1932 the hobbies supported House Speaker cactus, jack garners nomination as the president ial candidate for the democratic party. But they readily they readily shifted their support to fdr and actively campaigned for the roosevelt garner ticket the editorial page of the houston post in the post was a very influential paper. They they endorsed fdr and ovita actually raised a great deal of money for the campaign in texas Eleanor Roosevelt who ovieda had not yet met rodeo vita a letter of appreciation that read in part quote oviedo. I am so glad to hear that you are doing such good work for us in the campaign and i very much appreciate your doing it. When fdr ran for a second term in 1936 the hobbies close relationship with houston businessman Jesse H Jones who was fdrs Reconstruction Finance Corporation head as well as later secretary of commerce that relationship led to ovetas first meeting actual meeting with eleanor. The roosevelts visited five different cities in texas in 1936 to celebrate this centennial of the texas revolution. And undoubtedly also helping after yours Reelection Campaign ever the roosevelts first. Stop was in houston. Thats thanks to jesse jones and thats where the president dedicated the San Jacinto Monument which was built as part of the 1936 celebration. The hobbies accompanied the president ial party on a boat trip up to houston channel from downtown houston out to the battleground and this takes a little while to get to get there from downtown. So oviedo connected herself with with eleanor and she and eleanor set together on the boat trip going and coming and they had an opportunity to have a very long visit and chat without with each other and got to know each other on that boat trip the next day the hobbies joined the president and his entourage and dallas, texas for the president s speech at the cotton bowl which had attracted about 50,000 people afterwards the private plane taking jesse jones in the hobbies from dallas to houston burst into flames in the air and was forced to make a crash landing in a cotton field south of dallas. Ovieda who was miraculously unheard except for some bruises had to pull her stunned husband out of the flaming wreckage. On unfortunately one of the pilots died but everyone else survived news of this accident quickly made its way to president roosevelts train as it passed through indiana on its way back to washington from texas Eleanor Roosevelt when she heard this quickly dispatched a telegram that vita got immediately. She dispatched it from the president ial train and ill call part of it the president and i were distressed to see that you were slightly hurt in the plane accident. It must have been a terrifying experience and i hope that neither of you suffered anything serious. It was very nice to see you in texas, and i hope we will meet again before too long. Unquote Eleanor Roosevelts hoped to covita before too long would be fulfilled in a way that neither one of the women could have predicted at the time. Will an ovieda became disenchanted however interestingly enough with fdr did during his second term because of his attempt to pack the supreme court, which was very unpopular in texas. It was also in popular with his Vice President john nance garner. As a result for the first time in both of their adult lives the hobbies decided they could not support the 1940 democratic president ial ticket instead. They actively supported they didnt go neutral. They actively supported Wendell Wilkie his nomination. However, and it seems like an ancient time on me, you know a long time ago that didnt exist. However after roosevelt won reelection. The hobbies put aside all political partisanship and printed a series of editorials in the houston post calling on all texans to unite behind the president and support other countries preparations for war. Ovita cobb hobby became a National Figure in the summer of 1941 when the War Department recruited her to serve as head of the newly established womens branch of the armys Public Relations bureau. The bureaus mission was to respond to the armys syrias Public Relations problem. Resulting from the first peacetime military draft wives mothers sisters girlfriends of draftees were flooding the War Department with letters expressing deep concern about how their loved ones were being treated by the army. The army was clueless about how to handle this. This was something they had never dealt with and of course, there were no women and the leadership of the army or in the army period so someone decided and i think it was general marshall. That they badly needed a woman to with professional, you know Communications Experience and skill to direct a campaign for the army to educate women about the necessity for building up the military to defend against foreign threats oveda came to the armies attention and first place because of her prominence as one of the only female members of the american Newspaper Publishers association, and as well as a lot of publicity that she had gained and her efforts to make the houston post more popular to women readers and actually got in, you know National News as she was doing as a shocking news. The newspaper was trying to appeal to women and she did that so she got her name well known in washington ovetas success at organizing and managing the army special Public Relations branch during the 1941 impressed secretary of war Henry Stimson and general