Transcripts For CSPAN3 Modern First Ladies Part 2 20240622

They didnt know the holocaust was coming, but it was not done. Grace throws herself into helping get ready for world war ii. During world war ii, is a real volunteer, a spotter in North Hampton and that kind of thing. She did take a more active role in her post white house years. Then even though you have rationing, she doesnt get to plymouth much during the war, she seems the homestead going in plymouth, has an interest where her husband grew up and where he was sworn in. She decides to donate it to the state of vermont, if they will buy the birthplace. She was quite active as a preservationist, i like to see it that way. She lived until 1957. She did accomplish many of her goals after being first lady. She did, i would say, be brave, coming out with that stand. I know weve had a lot to talk about, and im afraid well have to ask gary if we can get to lou. She picked up where she left off prewhite house, which was to get engaged with a lot of the organizations that she had been involved in. She took another stint as the National President of the girl scouts of america. She moved back to a home she built in palo alto as the stanford campus, and there became involved and created friends of music, to bring musical concerts and Quality Music to that part of the country. She was selected to be on many college boards. The list is very long. Just two quickly, a womans college, and the alma mater of a subsequent president , richard nixon. She served on the board. She was active in the american the aauw, American Association of university women. Eventually, at some point, she decided she was going to have to start declining requests because she served on quite a number of boards, including the red cross. She also maintained her motoring fun, her camping out, sleeping on the hard ground. Took her granddaughters on a camping trip where they road horses into the remote parts of the Desert Southwest in the early age of the 60s. She said, i dont need a sleeping bag or tent. Im looking forward to sleeping on the hard ground. She continued to have a very active and vibrant life. Thank you. We have hit time. Are we allowed to do at least one or two questions . I think we can take two questions, if theyre brief. Thank you, gary. As to florence harding, i just wondered if sherry would have any comments about mrs. Harding being involved with the media. She got involved with a medium. She was interested in specialism, as a lot of people were during the time period in which she lived. I know famously, shes always made a big thing of she consulted madame marcy in washington, d. C. All of Washington Society women were going to madame marcys, as well. Madame marcy later claimed she predicted boom for the president , which is really easy to do after the fact. You know, it was done as a recreation. It was something kind of fun to do, like going somewhere and having someone read cards for you. It was a fun thing to do for a lot of women in society. It was the thing of the time, too. It really was. Another question . One more. I would like to know if harding would have won the electi election, if women would have been allowed to vote. We did a symposium about this a couple years ago. We investigated very closely, both the harding campaign and the cox campaign, his opponent. We asked a couple political scientists that very question. Did, as a rumor, always has said, did women vote for him because he was a good looking guy . Is that why, you know, all these women swarmed to him . They found there was really justification for that. There was no swell to the republican party. They tended to vote as their husbands did. A lot of women, even though many could vote in the 1920 election, some could not, particularly in the south, because of the registration requirements. Often they said, you have to register six months before the election. They didnt get the vote until august. That wasnt going to work. So there wasnt theres no real evidence that the women particularly made the difference in that election. They certainly added to the vote total. If that makes sense. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [ applause ] our coverage of president ial candidates of the iowa state fair continues all week. Former Texas Governor rick perry is running for the 2016 republican nomination and will take the traditional Des Moines Register soapbox stage. Later, a couple candidates visit the first of the nation primary state of new jersey. John kasich calls a town call meeting in se lalem. Chris christie also answers questions at a town hall meeting in salem, live at 7 p. 00 p. M. O wednesday. More history tv and the conference on modern first ladies. The Ohio State University at mare yo marion and the National First ladies cohosted the event. This is bridging the gap. Its my honor to present the executive director of the National First Ladies Library, patricia krider. [ applause ] thank you very much. Im very happy to be here today, and be here in marion this weekend. On behalf of the National First Ladies Library and the First Ladies National Historic site, were thrilled to be part of this symposium. My job here this afternoon is to talk to you about some of these first ladies that followed lou and grace. They paved the way for future things to come. Im going to be talking about Eleanor Roosevelt through pat nixon. The evolution of the role of the first ladies has never taken a straight upward path. Its always been kind of two step poor waforward, one step b. The reason for that is because not all first ladies served the role in the same way. There is no defined role, so they can do with the role whatever they choose, which is a good thing. Because they can do whatever fits their personality. Whatever fits their interests. You have to remember that first ladies come from very, very different backgrounds. Very different lifestyles. They come from all over the country. So they dont all have the same interests, and they dont have the same causes. They dont have the same way of doing the role. Some first ladies served much longer than others. We have Eleanor Roosevelt, who served a little over 12 years. She had a lot of time to do a lot of things. Then we have other first ladies who get not even four years. Really, when we look at first ladies, we have to remember that were only seeing a small sn snippit of their lives, generally four to eight years. Thats what people focus on. Many of these first ladies, women, had an active role before they become first lady and then after. What im going to do is i am going to give you brief facts on each of the first ladies before i start getting into their history. Eleanor roosevelt, anna Eleanor Roosevelt roosevelt was born in new york city, and she was born to wealthy parents. They died within two years of each other when eleanor was just under 10. She was raised by her maternal grandmother. Theodore roosevelt was her uncle. As far as education, she had private tutors. She went to a convent school. She went to a Girls Academy in london. But she had no college. Having no college was a regret that she had her entire life. She marmarri married her fifth. She had five sons and one daughter. She became first lady at 48 years old, and she served, like i mentioned, a little more than 12 years. Unprecedented, never happened before, will never happen again. And she died at age 78. Shes buried in hyde park, new york. Eleanor roosevelt was a phenomenal woman. Difficult for any first lady to live up to eleanors accomplishments. She was the eyes, ears and legs of fdr. She took full advantage of the way that was paved by florence and by grace and by lou. And what most people dont realize is that the social activism of eleanor started well before she married fdr. Because of her position in life, she had the ability to be a volunteer, to be involved in activities. When she was a young woman, she volunteered at settlement houses in new york city. She was involved in various organizations. She became an inspector. Shed go into the homes of the garment workers, to see what their Living Conditions were. She promoted exercise for particularly the women that were in the industry, because they lived in cramped quarters and worked in cramped quarters. She put together programs of dance and cal sthet ithet ca stettics. They worked on bettering the Living Conditions, of particularly the workers in the garment industries. In 1920, when fdr was the Vice President ial candidate, eleanor went on a 1920 Whistle Stop Campaign tour with him. But interestingly enough, she never made any speeches at that time. Its 1920. Women are just getting the right to vote. She considered this to be a social boundary not yet to be crossed. By the 1940s, all of this had changed. Eleanor was out there, she was a tireless come pain leless camp. She was everywhere, doing everything. 1940, shes the first first lady to address a national convention, when fdr is nominated for his third term. Eleanor supported so many causes. Just a numerous number of causes. She didnt go into the white house saying, this is going to be my cause. She went into the white house and said, im going to do as many things as possible by word and by deed. She was involved with the red cross. Both during world war i and world war ii. She became active in Democratic Party politics. She was involved with a lot of women organizations. The women union trade league, and the league of women voters. Organizations that encouraged women to become interested and involved in politics, and know what was going on politically. She was an early champion for civil rights for africanamericans, and she was always an advocate for women. She was always an advocate for american workers. For poor and young people. She supported governmentfunded programs for artists and writers. And she encouraged her husband to put for women in federal positions. She was always interested in global peace. During world war ii, she worked extensively in war efforts. She continued her work with the red cross. She wanted to bring european refugees to the united states. She promoted issues that were helpful to the american troops. She encouraged volunteerism on the home front, and she championed women who were employed in the defense industry. Eleanor, she took advantage of all the media that was available out there. She was a writer. She was a public speaker. She was a media figure. She held press conferences. She had 348 press conferences in total. She would have press conferences for women reporters only. Men reporters were banned. And the effect of this was that the newspapers and the Radio Stations and the magazines, who wanted to cover her press conferences, they were forced to continue to employ women reporters. Eleanor actually was instrumental in pushing that role of women reporters to the professional level. She was a magazine columnist. She did many, many weekly and monthly magazine columns. She was a radio host. The evening of december 7th, 1941, the attack on pearl harbor, she went on the radio and she made a personal call for all the mothers, like herself, who had children who would now be called into active service. She was a lecturer and a public speaker. In her 12 years as first lady, she gave an estimated 1400 speeches. No other first lady published more books while first lady than Eleanor Roosevelt. She permitted all of her public appearances to be filmed by newsreel companies. And she got tons and tons and tons of public correspondence. Surprisingly, she answered personally a lot of those. Those that she couldnt answer, she had outlets by which she would transfer those, so those people would get some kind of a personal response. Her activism continued after sorry. Her activism continued after fdr died. She was appointed by president truman for a position at the united nations. She was the only woman among the five american delegates. She continued to be very active in the Democratic Party, but she resisted all efforts to get her to run for herself. She was continuing to be a very, very strong supporter of civil rights. Our next first lady is bess truman. Or be poor bess, has to follow eleanor. Bess isnt born in new york city. Shes born in independence, missouri. Her father dies when bess is about 18. Her mothers family was wealthy but independence, missouri, standards. She attended high school and finished high school. Bess married harry at age 34, and they had one daughter, margaret. Bess was a worker. She worked in harrys business. She worked in his senate office. She became first lady at 60 years old. Then she died at age 97. She is, to date, the first lady who has lived the longest. Shes buried at the truman president ial library in independence. Bess truman didnt want to be first lady. When harry accepted the nomination on the Vice President ticket, she asked him, she said, harry, what are you going to do if the president dies . Then youll be president. Was not happy. He accepted that nomination as Vice President without consulting her. You can see here in the photo that, you know, bess doesnt look real happy. Bess couldnt compete with Eleanor Roosevelt, and she didnt want to. When she becomes first lady, she asks, do i have to give press conferences . When she found out that she didnt have to, she cancelled the one that was already scheduled. She never gave one. Never gave a press conference. Shed answer written questions. Sometimes, when she was asked spontaneously, a question, she would answer that. Again, bess is a very different woman than Eleanor Roosevelt. Even though she kind of has a wealthy family, shes a working woman. Her husband has a business, and she works there unpaid. Shes the manager, accountant, a salesclerk when she needs to be. She didnt have the luxury of volunteering for causes. When harry is in the senate, she actually works in his office. Shes a clerk, and she answers mail and she answers the phone. She edits committee reports. Shes very active in that way. Finally, during the senate years, she starts becoming in some organizations, like the congressional club. During world war ii, she becomes involved with the uso. She doesnt want this to be an honorary membership. Shes there at the uso working in washington, d. C. , very, very frequently. Family meant everything to bess. Bess and harry and margaret were known as the three plus ka timu. They were always together. Barbara bush at one time said bess took care of harry. People will say that bess truman didnt do anything as first lady, and that wasnt true. She just took a more traditional role. She reinstituted the white house social season that had been interrupted during the war. She helped in planning all these social events, from state receptions to teas to musicals. She was very, very interested in the history of the white house. She was the honorary president or chairwoman or member in many, many, Many Organizations like the girl scouts, the Women National democratic club, the washington Animal Rescue leagues. She was also the honorary chairman of the american red cross. She also continued Fund Raising Efforts that had been started by the roosevelts for the march of dimes. She would willingly greet leaders of all different organizations and pose for photos, and let those photos be published. She would attend Charity Lunch ons, because she knew her presence would increase ticket sales. The end of world war ii, she signed a housewives pledge of voluntary food rationing for the white house. She did this as an example for americans to do the same, so food donations could be sent to europe, where they were so short of even the simple staples. Bess, somewhat unwillingly, accompanied truman on his whistle stop tour in 1948. Again, no speeches, but she would stand out at the end of the train, and she would wave, just content to be by harrys side. In 1948, it was found that the white house was in bad shape. Structurally unsound, to the point that something had to be done. There were a lot of support supporters that said the white house should be just torn down and then a replica should be rebuilt. Bess strongly believed that at least the four original outer walls should be saved, and then that could be used as the shell for rebuilding the white house. Thats what happened. During the time the trumans lived at the blare houir house, across the street from the white house. Bess was visibly thrilled to leave the white house and return to missouri. Jonathan daniels, a former press secretary to president roosevelt, said bess truman is a lady unchanged by the white house and determined always to remain always what she is. Next, we have mamie eisenhower. She was born in boone, iowa. Her father was a successful businessman. He moved around a lot. Her mother was a housewife. The family moved frequently because of her dads business. He had a high school and finishing school education. Mamie married Ike Eisenhower when she was 19. He was already in the service. The couple moved 33 times in 37 years. They had two sons, one died under age 4. She was 56 years old when she became first lady. She was first lady for about eight years. She died at age 82, and she is buried in abilene, kansas. Mamie wasnt interested in politics, but she would do anything to help her husband get i elected. So if the politics of the people said, mamie, will you pose . She would pose. Mamie, how about posing in pink pajamas . Shed do it. In anything to get him elected. She was always very, very willing. She loved the thrills and the trials of the campaign. She always went along with ike on his Campaign Trips. She would wear the ike jewelry happily. She was energetic, and she was enthusiastic on the Campaign Trips. Ike would finish his speeches by saying, how would you like to meet my mamie . That was her cue to come out and smile and wave. Mamie viewed her role as first lady as being simply the wife of the president and the hostess of the white house. She was very, very popular. She had firsthand knowledge of womens struggles during the war, since she was a military wife. In the 1950s, she represented what most middleaged, middle class women liked. Home, family, entertaining, a good personal appearance. Mamie was a very good organizer. She had all those years as a military wife. She had all those moves that she had to choreograph. So she looked at the household of the white house and she kind of took control of that. She managed it and improved white house operations. She said, of course, being mistress of the white house is a terrific responsibility, and i am truly grateful for my army wife training. She knee how to manage a large staff, and she could be very demanding. She kept a real friendly approach and treated everyone like family. Mamie loved to entertain at the white house. The eisenhowers entertained a Record Number of heads of state. Even the president had to get her approval if he wanted to use any of the rooms of the mansion, because she controlled the schedule. They hosted or mamie hosted the First White House performance of musical theater music. Selections from hit shows then on broadway. That was one of her favorites. Then there was another side of mamie. When the president had his heart attack in 1955, she took charge. She took over the flow of work to the president. Everything had to go through her to be reviewed. Visitors, meetings. She limited his schedule based on medical advice. She strictly managed his diet. She played a similar role when he had an operation in 1956, and then in 1957, he had a mild stroke. He was supposed to attend a state dinner, and she wouldnt let him do it. She convinced Vice President nixon he had to attend in his place. Because of the president s health issues, his heart issues, mamie became very aware of heart disease. She became very, very actively involved in the American Heart Association. She became chairman, both on a local and national level. She remained involved with the American Heart Association for a number of years. She was credited by the head of the American Heart Association with drastically increasing the monies that came into that organization, and also drastically increasing the number of volunteers that they had. Because of her years with the military, she understood all the problems that they had, and she liked to help with causes related to the military. She worked with hundreds and hundreds of army wives across the country to raise funds for a military Retirement Community in washington, d. C. Originally, it was called the army disstaff home. When it was dedicated in 1962, it was renamed and called knollwood. Jackie kennedy. Jackie was born in southampton, new york. Society parents who were divorced. She had a wealthy stepfather. She had a very good education. In addition to her high school, she went to college. Vassar. She went to france. George washington university. She got a b. A. In french literature. Before marriage, she was the washington time herald inquiring camera girl. She was the first first lady to be born in a hospital. She married jfk at age 24. Her second marriage at age 39. One daughter and three sons. One son died at two days old. She was 31 when she became first lady. She was first lady less than three years. She died at age 64, and she is the only first lady to date thats buried in Arlington National cemetery. Jackie kennedy really wasnt appreciated for the things that she did. Maybe thats because of her age. 31 years old. She was much younger than any of the first ladies that weve talked about so far today. Those first ladies became first ladies mid40s, late 40s, 50, 60. Jackie was 31 years old. She was young. She was beautiful. She was raising and burying children. What could she possibly know . But she was very well educated, and she was very, very intellige intelligent. She spoke spanish, italian and french fluently. She wasnt really interested in politics, but she was willing to help with the campaign. What people need to realize is that when the campaign of 1960 was going on, she was pregnant and it made her active role kind of limited. But she did make calls for kennedy, and she did give speeches in spanish and italian. She recorded campaign spots in spanish, encouraging votes for jfk. Theres jackie doing some speeches in spanish. About the 1960 election, jackie said, i cast only one vote, for jack. It is a rare thing to be able to vote for ones husband for president , and i didnt want to dilute it by voting for anyone else. She went on many foreign trips. Some with jfk, some by herself. She was always very, very popular. When she went with jfk to france, jfk said, im the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to paris. She dazzled with her knowledge of french history, literature and art. It was said, i have more confidence in your country. She met khrushchev. They wanted people to shake jfks hand. He said, i want to shake her hand first. On her own, she went to goodwill ambassador trips to pakistan and india. The Prime Minister was captivated by jackie. He broke protocol and went to the airport to meet her. The president of pakistan gave her solder. On the motorcade from the airport, over 100,000 people lined the streets, waving american flags and showering the cars with rose petals. One of her biggest projects, of course, was the white house renovation project. She wanted to redecorate the family rooms. She also wanted to historically restore the public rooms. After the huge renovation during the trumans time period, bess truman actually didnt do a lot to redecorate the white house. They were on their way out, and she said, im going to leave that up to someone else. Jackie kennedy took this on. She went all over washington, all the government warehouses, trying to find pieces of furniture that had been stuck there over the years. Each family could come in and decorate the way they wanted. They needed to raise funds because there was no Government Funds for this. She came up with the idea of the guidebook, that was sold. It was very, very successful, to raise funds for this redecoration. She solicited all over the nation for people to donate historical furniture and artistic items. Then she worked to make sure there was a law passed, that those donated items became a permanent part of the white house collection. Then she also succeeded in getting a new position created, the white house curatocurator. She was a proponent of the arts. She used the white house to showcase the arts. She hosted performances of opera, ballet, shakespeare and modern jazz, all performed by american performers. She was instrumental in the creation of what was the Natural National cultural center, which is now the Kennedy Center for the performing arts. Of course, the whole country watched and mourned after the assassination. She impressed the nation with the way she held up after that assassination. President johnson said, i shall never forget her bravery, her Lady Bird Johnson, born claudia, born in karnak, texas. Her fil father was a wealthy landowner. She had a high school education. She went to the university of ba inat austin and has a history and ba in journalism. She married Lyndon Johnson at the age of 21 years old and had two daughters. She ran his Congressional Office the age of 21 and had two daughters. She ran his Congressional Office. She purchased and managed an mae austin radiod station. She owned and managed large ranching properties. Lady bird became first lady when she was 50 years old. She was first lady for a little over six years. D at the she died at age 94, and shes buried at the lbj ranch in texas. Lbj went into the navy in 19411942, during world war ii,r and while he was in the navy, ed lady bird ran his Congressional Office. She answered correspondence. She coped with political en problems in his district, and s she gave special attention to any of his constituents who visited washington and visited his office. Lady bird johnson, with an inher ten tans from her mother, purchasedu apt small Radio Station in aust, texas. It was in terrible financial condition. L new close to bankruptcy. She took over that station. Foun she hired all new onair staff. She found commercial sponsors. She kept the financial accounts. She even cleaned up the building itself. She served as the manager, and then she was a chairman. This later became a con glomrant for the media. By the time they sold it in the 80s, it was huge and provided the family with substantial earnings. Then mrs. Johnson took some of the funds, investments, and she invested it into large ranching operations. She alsoarly managed those. She was an early civil rights advocate. She was so strongly inigne supp of the civil right act, that she was there when lbj signed that bill. She was the only woman in the room in 1964 when he signed gly that. She also was very strongly interested in an advocate of women seeking higher education. Most known for the Beautification Programs. The Beautification Program ssin wasnt justg. Planting flowers. The Beautification Program was very encompassing. Care of urban life, cleaning up the highways. L there were environmental ark elements. There were pollution control elements. There was National Park conservation elements to what she did. Part of the Beautification Program was, first of all, the committee for a more beautiful capital. They started in washington, d. Cl they started with cleaning up the urban areas and cleaning upn around the a National Mall and making it a nicer place for lt c people to visit. Then there was the highway beautification act, which was w very difficult. Part of that was to get rid of billboards along the highways. Ts there were organizations that e were very strongly in support of those billboards. She really had a fight on her re hands. Then she took discover america , trips to the National Parks to raise awareness of National Parks, and to help clean them uo and get visitors to go to the National Parks. She also was involved in project head start. That was part of lbjs war on poverty. It wasgi programs to help preschool, underprivileged with children. Tools they would ery su need to be prepared to go to school with their peers. Hono this was a veryra successful program. She was approached to be an honorary chair of the program. She said, i will work on head start, but i dont want to just be an honorary chair. I want to actually work on it. Very successful program, like i mentioned. It justh celebrated its 40th yr in business, or since it was established, in 2005. In 1964, Lady Bird Johnson went on the first solo organized Campaign Trip by a first lady. She went on what they call the lady bird special. It was a very, very organized train trip that took four days,n went through 40 southern states. They had all kinds of Different Things printed up, as you can see here. Postcards, whistles, matches, banners, menus at the different stops. Well hats. She wasnt always well receivedc again, shest. Doing this train trip through the southern stater who are not happy about the civil rights act. And she wants to get support for lbj so he can be reelected. Toa some of the stops shes may booed and heckled and quoted ath one stop saying now youve had your say, may i have mine and d. Because of her warmth she was able to win over a lot of people to herself and to her husband. Nw when the train trip ended in new orleans, lbj joined her and gave her a lot of credit for helping him win those very difficult southern