And it really is. American history tv is featuring cspans original series at 8 00 eastern on sunday nights throughout the rest of the year. Cspan produced the series in cooperation with the White House Historical association through conversations with experts and questions from cspans audience, we tell the stories of americas 45 first ladies. Now we look at two administrations led by widowed president s and the women who serve as first ladies. We begin with Rachel Jackson and Emily Donelson. This is about 90 minutes. Rachel was not a fan of anything that took Andrew Jackson away from the hermitage. Her preferences apparently didnt strongly influence him but rachel was always the thing that he would come back to. She ran the plantation or the farm and kept everything in order. Everybody loved her who worked there or was enslaved there. She might not have been like Abigail Adams but she could write a nice letter and she had nice jewelry. She was not as frumpy as she was reputed to be. The only problem with it was they got famous. As he rose in politics, that was an ugly sore. She was called names. The campaign was so bitterly fought but that in faction went all out completely calling her a whore. They just used every piece of garbage they could find, and rachel was good garbage for them. She dreaded going to washington and made the statement, id rather be a doorkeeper in the house of god then live in that palace. well, she never did. Before he left to go to washington, she died. In 1828, Emily Donelson rachels niece was 21 years old and she became the white house hostess. Emily was perfect. For all of the negatives washington had to say about Andrew Jackson, they loved emily. She received education in the fine arts of being a lady, how to sew, how to embroider, music, proper table manners, proper etiquette, and it was that kind of education that enabled her when rachel suddenly died to slide right into the role of white house hostess. The women all liked her and as it was to happen, the womens opinions meant more than people thought, but she entertained beautifully, she was polished, she know exactly how to be best. Its emily that jackson has a falling out with over the peggy eaton affair. Jackson never lost his affection for her. He just couldnt deal with this kind of going against his will in his own home. Susan swain for 12 years, 1829 to 1841, no president s wife served as first lady. In this program, well learn about two administrations led by widowed president s and the various women who served as their first ladies. Up first on cspans first ladies influence and image Andrew Jacksons presidency, a story of personal politics tragedy, gossip and washington , societal ambition. Thanks for being with us in our continuing series on the lives of americas first ladies produced in cooperation with the White House Historical association. Tonight, the interesting jacksonian era. Here to tell us more about that time period and the women who served in the white house to support the president s are two guests. First, michael henderson, a jacksonian america historian and in his past, he served as the superintendent of the Martin Van BurenNational Historic site. Michael, welcome to our series. Pat brady is back at our table. She is a first ladies biographer and historian. Her biography of Rachel Jackson is called a being so gentle the frontier love story of rachel and Andrew Jackson. Michael henderson, help people understand the volume, the amount of change that Andrew Jackson brought to washington when he went to white house. Henderson oh, good heavens, i mean, jackson is the first westerner. You know, weve had virginia president s from the old south before that. Jackson is someone completely different, grew up, you know, in the frontier. And the change is enormous. Socially, the change is enormous. Even though hes a planter, hes not of the old planter class of the south that the previous president s had been from, and nor was he, you know, like a new englander either. This is a westerner and he brings very different values and very different ambitions to the white house. Susan swain were going to learn that even though he was a widowed president , the ghost of his former wife its described hung over the white house throughout his years there. Why is that . Pat brady because she was the woman of his life. He loved her. She was his touchstone. And when she died just a few months before he went to be inaugurated, he was bereft, he really was. He spent all of his time thinking about her and her memory and having her pictures portraits in his bedroom so he could think of her and it just really changed the way the First Administration went. Susan swain well, we need to delve into the campaign of 1828 to really understand the presidency that ensued. So, 1828 was a year of what in campaigning for this presidency, how did it changed . Michael henderson so, well, it was the first time that we didnt have a majority of electors. So, by the constitution, the whole election was given over to the house of representatives. So, you have these multiple, you know, competing factions in the house of representatives. You have crawford from georgia and you have henry clay, you have calhoun, you have jackson. Jackson actually won the popular vote, but he didnt win the electoral college. So, when the politicking was going on in the house of representatives, there was an opportunity to make deals. And one of the deals that was probably made was that henry clay would become the Vice President and adams would win the election. And that was seen as a corrupt bargain. And so, once we come out of that election, the whole buildup to the next election is that was a corrupt bargain. Susan swain ok, i need to clarify. You just described 1824, setting the stage for 1828. Michael henderson yes, sorry, yes. Susan swain yes. So, the 1828 campaign was basically old enmities brought together again. So, how did the 1828 play out . Pat brady well, in 1824 jackson wasnt quite sure that he was ready to be president , he wasnt quite sure he was the right man. And, however, when he won the vote and then it was stolen from him, then he knew he was meant to be president , and that election he thought had stolen the peoples presidency. When he came out in 1828, he came out fighting. Michael henderson yes. Susan swain and whats interesting about the campaign in so many ways, it was really a presage of modern campaigning and the fact that he and his surrogates were out on the stump as it were. And i read that as many as 800,000 more americans voted in that election than had in the previous. Michael henderson yes. Susan swain how did he do that and how did he thought of that idea of campaigning . Michael henderson well, a lot of it was the growing development of an Actual National party that Martin Van Buren had been working on in albany and had been working on with people in the south particularly in virginia. And this is also a period of great technological change. So, we have railroads and we have newspapers and we have all kinds of sort of new communication methods that are coming to bear as well as a much larger electorate. So, we have basically almost general white male suffrage in all of the states. So, there are more people voting, theres more interest in voting, and theres more opportunity to hear about it. Pat brady and more western states voting. Michael henderson absolutely. Pat brady more western states have come in. Susan swain and Rachel Jackson became an issue in the 1828 campaign. Is this the first time that in our early countrys history that people targeted the wife of the president ial candidate in the campaign . Pat brady to the extent that it happened. Now, Abigail Adams had taken some hard hits from the press as well, being referred to as madam president , president first. So, that sort of thing, it happened. But this was the first time that someone actually went out attempting to find dirt, found what they thought was dirt and publicized it widely. Susan swain who was that person that went out looking for dirt . Pat Brady Charles hammond. He was in cincinnati and he hated jackson and wanted to see jackson go down, and he didnt care what it took. When he found out that shes been divorced, he really despised her. He was very rigorously fundamentalist. Susan swain it was a moral issue for him. Pat brady it was a moral issue for him. He really thought that she would disgrace the white house. Susan swain how did John Quincy Adams play into this campaign against Rachel Jackson . Michael henderson well, adams didnt, you know, he didnt really what am i trying to say . Pat brady he didnt do it, but he did not stop it. I mean, hammond was one of his party hacks. He did not come down on it. He sort of sat back and said oh , my goodness, you know, look at that charles hammond, isnt he amazing. Susan swain and we saw in the open political cartoons that were all targeted, and was this a new phenomena . Pat brady yes. And then to call a lady whod been married for 36 years a whore, an adulterist, a bigamist, that was unprecedented. Michael henderson yes. Susan swain and so, people later on, well get into more detail, but the crux of the story is what . What was the criticism against her and we learned that hammond had a moral reason, but what in fact was she accused of doing . Pat brady she was accused of being married before she met jackson. Michael henderson she was a bigamist basically. Pat brady she was, in fact. She was married before very unhappily to a man who treated her and her family very badly. Her whole family hated him. And out west, they didnt believe that you had to stick by your man for 50 years if he was horrible. They believed in dissolving an unhappy marriage. And so, they did. Susan swain and also criticism of her and this western frontier, lack of class, lack of class. Pat brady she smoked a pipe. That sums it up. And she had an accent. She had a tennessee accent she did not have an east coast accent susan swain were opponents concerned about what the image for the new country would be the made it to the white house . Michael henderson yes. I mean, theres a strong class issue that runs through all of this, and its difficult to talk about it in a country that supposedly doesnt have class. But theres certainly is a strong class issue to it and would this person be virtuous enough to represent the United States and is this person gentile enough to represent the United States. Pat brady exactly. Susan swain so, the great tragedy is after this really go sit for us vociferous campaign, he went to the white house and she is preparing to go with him and then what happens . Pat brady she dies. She really at first thought she wouldnt go. She just thought the situation was too volatile that people might be rude to her, they might snub her, by people i mean other women. And so, she thought about not going. And then they decided that that would be admitting that they were wrong which they did not believe they were wrong. And so, she decided to go and then on december 22nd, she died of heart attack. Susan swain and was buried in the dress that shed planned to wear. Pat brady you know, white satin gown that she planned to wear to the inaugural ball. Susan swain well, this is our first video tonight and well have videos throughout taking you to places and introducing the people who know more about the life and can show you some of the artifacts of the jacksons. Were going to take you to the hermitage, their home in tennessee, and learn more about the totems that Andrew Jackson carried throughout the rest of his life that honored rachel. [video clip] we dont know what kind of Health Rachel was in overall but its apparent that throughout the fall of 1828, her health was not very good. But the campaign for president that jackson was going through had a huge effect on her health. This is a letter that jackson wrote on the day that rachel actually died, december 22nd 1828, hes writing to his friend, Richard Keith call. And in the letter, he described the onset of rachels illness, her final illness. And he says that she was a few days hence suddenly violently attacked with pains in her Left Shoulder and breast and such was the contraction of the breast that suffocation was apprehended, i mean, it was clear that she was in very serious condition. But he talks about getting ready to go to washington like hes just assuming shes going to get better and off well go. But unfortunately, she did then pass away later in the day. In the case we have a cap, according to the stories of her death, jackson called for her to be bled when she died. Jackson was a big believer in heroic medicine, medicine that you know, basically if it didnt kill you would cure you. And so, even though she was clearly not alive anymore, he asked the doctor to bleed her and supposedly theres a small stain on this cap that the little blood that did come out when the doctor tried to bleed her. And we have a lancet as well which is what they wouldve used to cut open. Then some things about his mourning, a black calling card that jackson had printed suggesting that hes in deep mourning, a poem that was published and then later printed on silk talking about the death of mrs. Jackson. And then a book that was given to him by a friend of his, mrs. Rutledge that has a long inscription in it and its a book called the mourner comforted, you know, to help him read things that would help him along. Jackson was completely devastated. And for her to die just as he was actually preparing the plans to get on this steamboat and go to washington was just more than he could almost deal with. This pendant was painted while he was in washington after rachels death and he had it with him pretty much all the time, either in his pocket, on a beaded chain or strap that he could wear around his neck, on his bedside table at night so that he could see it in the morning when he awakened. And she was with him pretty much all the time even though she had passed away. This is a book that was very important to jackson. This would have been rachels song book and she made this crossstitch cover for her books so that it would keep the book nice. So after her death, jackson kept a number of things like this very close at hand so he could refer to them, another way of keeping rachel close. Jackson had this habit, after rachelle died, of purchasing or using or keeping things that reminded him of her. This is the central hallway of the hermitage mansion. Although the house burned after rachels death, jackson insisted that they repurchase the same wallpaper that rachel had chosen for this space. She had liked it, it reminded him of her and he wants it here. This is jacksons bedroom and after rachels death, she was never far away from him. He kept many mementos of her around. And in the early 1830s, he had a portrait that was a special favorite of his, copied so that he can have it hanging over the fireplace where it would be the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing he saw at night. According to the traditions, stories that were passed down in the family, he would go out to her tomb every evening about sundown and just spend some time out there, either thinking about her or thinking about the problems of the day and wanted the feeling of her close by or something. Susan swain well, i want to tell you that this program is interactive and we welcome your participation and theres lots of ways that you can do that. First of all, you can call us and our phone lines are 2025853880, if you live in the eastern or central time zones. If you live out west, our numbers are 2025853881 thats the mountain and pacific time zones. You can send us a tweet, but if you do, use the hash tag first ladies or you can go to cspans Facebook Page and we have a conversation running with viewers about this program. And you can ask questions there. So heres a tweet from Sheldon Cooper who writes, even though rachel never made it to washington d. C. Did she have , plans for what the jackson life would or should be like there . Pat brady she did. And it would have been much like their visits there. She did not like extensive entertaining. She was very religious. And what she like to do was to go and hear the leading preachers of the day. Have family and friends alike around her in the white house. I think it would have been a very domesticated white house. Susan swain and the same person asked another question but its a good time to ask. Given her public scrutiny, did any famous dignitaries attend her funeral . Do we know the answer to that . Pat brady no, she was buried two days after she died. So given the way news traveled and people traveled in those days, no one could have made it, but all the local dignitaries, all the businesses in town, all the church bells tolled, everything closed down and there was a huge attendance at her funeral but not people from away. Susan swain well, its time to step back and tell a little bit of the love story as you call it, the great love story between rachel and Andrew Jackson. First of all, who was Rachel Donelson jackson . Pat brady she was the daughter of one of the first families of tennessee. She and her whole family came to tennessee via a thousand mile river trip in which many people on the trip died. They were on a flat boat and they survived. And they were some of the earliest white settlers and her family was quite prominent in the area. Really, she was part of the gentry of tennessee. Susan swain and we have a question by twitter of someone wanting to know, how unusual it was for someone at the age of 24 to be on their second husband . Was that considered unusual at that time . Michael henderson well, not particularly. People died all the time. And particularly on the frontier and you really couldnt live alone. I mean, most people remarried because you needed to have the support in order to live. Susan swain and so, the difference here was that they divorced. Pat brady r