Transcripts For CSPAN3 First Ladies Influence Image - Sarah Polk Margaret Taylor Abigail... 20240712

Podcasts. Sarah polk was very up on diplomacy and her strong suit happened to be intelligent political discussion. She made no bones about the fact she really took an interest in politics. And that she was her she grew up in a political household in tennessee. Her father was a local politician, so she grew up loving politics. She married james after he won a seat in the legislature because she would not have married him if he had been content to be a clerk. Unfortunately for james k. Polk, he died just three months after leaving the white house, and sarah began a 42year widowhood. Polk place became somewhat of a shrine to her husband, and she would invite anyone who wanted to to come for a visit to see the objects they had collected through their long and illustrious political career. She lived there for many years on her own, and during the civil war, generals on both sides would come and visit her to pay their respects to her. A very interesting commentary on what a beloved status she still held. Mq she was, you know, earnest about her husbands work. She went to every post she could go to with him. He went through the arduous journey. The hardships were terrible. She was very well liked in the diplomatic community. They had met all kinds of people, friends and enemies and others, and they had to mas ieh things work and work out. They were very experienced people. Frankly, they were more sophisticated than what was around them. She very much felt that women should develop their minds and cultivate scholarship as much as men. Pretty path breaking at that point in our history for a first lady to do. We know today that first ladies have causes. Literacy and reading would have been Abigail Fillmores cause. This bookshelf was part of the First White House library. She1 xa much preferred a roo with a good book to standing in a receiving line making mindless chatter. We know that abigail was a very wonderful seamstress. We do have her quilt here, a very colorful quilt. She was one of the true intellectuals. She loved reading. She was very caught up on politics. And liked very much being a part of all of the cultural accoutrements that came with living in washington. Welcome to cspan series first ladies, influence and image. In this program, well meet three first ladies. One, her husbands trusted political advise. The next, a steadfast generals wife, and the third, a teacher who established the First White House library. They served in the 1840s and early 50ss the country continues to grow and tensions continued to mount over the issue of slave re. To introduce us toa abigailms÷y adams, and abigail fillmo fillmore, we have paul finkelman, and hes the author of a biography of y. 9pfillmore. James k. Polk is sometimes described as the least known influential president. Would you agree with that, and why . Well, he certainly is not very well known. And hes certainly important. When he was nominated for president , he had no public office. He had twice lost the governorship of tennessee. Before that, he had been a oneterm governor, and before that, he had been a member of congress. So he was a lawyer practicing law in tennessee. And he was what is known as the dark horse candidate, the first dark horse candidate. He had hoped to get the Vice President ial nomination. Thats what he was pushing for, and suddenly, in a deadlocked convention out of nowhere, polk is the president ial nominee. Most people dont know who he is. He becomes president , and almost immediately, puts us in a position to have a war with mexico. He pushes for the war. He is prepared to declare war on mexico, and in fact, sends troops, including Zachary Taylor, who will be the next president , he sends Zachary Taylor to the Mexican Border in an area that is disputed in all areas of law says belongs to mexico but polk says is american land. While taylors troops are there, he goes to his cabinet and they vote on a saturday afternoon to ask for a declaration of war against mexico. That night, he gets a message because it takes a long time to get information from mexico to washington. That night, he gets a message that taylors troops have been in combat. He rewrites his message to congress saying american troops have been killed on american soil. Abraham lincoln would later give a speech known as the spot speech in which he would say, show us the spot where it took place because it wasnt on american soil. He gets us into war with mexico. We acquire mexico. All of this is very important. And it also means the complete blowup of all of the compromises and pushes the country head long into what will ultimately be secession and civil war, but wen dont kno anything about him. His wife is also secretly, when you do modern historical surveys of influential first ladies, his wife is always in the top tier. Why is that . She was truly a political partner with her husband. They did not have children. At a time when women were expected to be mothers. And hearth and home, keepers of the faith, but she was very much her husbands beloved equal and his partner. She never went too far within the boundaries of what a proper victorian or Early Victorian lady should be in the 19th century. But everyone knew thathqvj the shared an office in the private apartment. She was active in discussions at the many state dinners they had. And he would ask her to mark newspapers and articles for him to read. She was a sounding board. Franklin pearce, before he became president , told her told her husband he would much rather talk politics with sarah polk than with james polk. And yet, the women of the time accepted her. She was very pious, very religious. Very strict presbyterian. She did not allow dancing in the white house. She got rid of hard liquor. But they had wine, of course, and brandies, with the frequent dinners they had. And she was not a prude. But she was very much a woman who knew what she wanted and set her rules out, and everyone had to play according to those rules. And she was respected for it. She was very, very popular. Well, to introduce you to the polks, my video, were going to take youulb2 to the polk ances home. The house that the polks lived in together no longer exists, but this Historic Site contains much of the history of the family. Well take you there next. This is the inaugural fan. Its an incredible piece of history. It was a gift from president polk or president elect polk to his wife, sarah. She carried it with her on the day of his inauguration. Its gilt paper with a bone styles ornately carved and it features the lithographic images of the first 11 president s from washington all the way through james k. Polk. She carried it with her throughout the festivities of the inauguration in the spring of 1845. The back is as beautiful as the front. And features a lithographic image of the signing of the declaration of independence. The polks came into the white house a young vibrant couple, but amidst the Democratic Party that was widely split. One of the reasons james k. Polk said he would run for a single term only and then step down. Sarah polk used her white house and her time as the president s wife to enhance her husbands political prestige. Dining in the polk white house was a serious affair. Twice a week on tuesdays and fridays, mrs. Polk would entertain 50 to 75 people coming to dinner. The china that they used was beautiful. The polk china is considered some of the most beautiful of the white house china. It features the president ial seal embossed along the side band, the dinner set is white embossed with gold. They had a tea set that was blue and a dessert set in green. Youll often read that mrs. Polk didnt allow alcohol in the white house. Its not exactly the case. She stopped the serving of whiskey punches at public levees in the polk white house, but wine was one of the biggest bills during their years there. One of the more interesting objects in the collection sort of speaks to sarah and5 ability with music as well. We have a music book that has handwritten notations, and one of the songs featured inside is the song t i want to ask to the hail to the chief, because theres a lilt controversy thats erupted with our last program with the tylers who are claiming they introduced hail to the chief. Is there a definitive answer on that . I wont touch it. I dont care. You dent care. There you go. It came about in the 1840s. Its possible that the tylers used it and the polks then confirmed its use. Its antiquarian silliness to worry about Something Like that. Theres so many more important things to talk about. You drew the contrast with julia tyler, who brought dancing to the white house. Who ended their her brief tenure, eight months as first lady, by throwing a huge party as they left the white house. Was sarah polk more in touch with the times . Sarah polk was, a historian called it an imperial presidency, meaning that the couple thought the office of the presidency and the white house as the official executive residence needed to be highly respected. V  protocol and so on. It was a very liberal approach. You could come with an introduction to any of their receptions. Because polk was a democrat. But at the same time, she dressed, he dressed, people were well dressed. There were more formal dinners. There were multiple courses, and it was considered an honor to be at the white house. Basically, sarah polk said dancing at the white house is not dignified. And she was known for her frugality. The president still making a 25,000 a year salary and expenses for the White House Events have to be paid out of that salary. How was her frugality seen by washington and the American Public . I can do that. She reorganized the staffing at the white house. And sarah polk was very well organized woman. And what she did was, she hired a sort of a steward. They brought in their own servants and got rid of some of the paid staff at the white house. House. She then got her stewardsa deals with the various vendors, grocers and so on, in the washington area. And if they gave them significant discounts, they would give them the royal seal, as it were. And so they the first endorsement by the white house, right . Svtap r t ha by her majestys whatever, you know, the american version of that. But, you know, if you want us to buy all of your rolls for all of our white house dinners, which were a lot, then by god, you have to give us a discount, and it worked. And they were very, very frugal in that way. Always during the entire time they were married. Just to clarify, when you say she brought in her own servants, these were slaves . I was about to say she owned those servants. And thats important to understand. That they come the polks come from very wealthy circumstances. And they are slave owners, and they bring a lot of assets with them. So again, they could afford to be president just as john tyler could afford to be president. We have a quote from her, and i would like to have you put this into context. She writes, if i should be so fortunate as to reach the white house, i expect to live on 25,000 a year and i willbvlf neither keep house nor make butter. That echoes modern first ladies and baking of cookies. Like Hillary Clinton and cookies. Right. Its actually the context of it is someone said, i think ill vote for mr. Clay. His opponent in the president , because they say that his wife keeps a good house and makes her own butter. That was sarahs retort. And by kl god, she did live on 25,000 a year, and she did not keep house. She ran a house. And she did not make butter. But she made sure that butter was made efficiently, and that the place was run. Looks like you had something you wanted to say. I was going to say, slave mistresses dont make butter unless they choose to make butter because they enjoy the handycraft of making butter. Its important to see this for sarah polk and Margaret Taylor. I want to tell folks this is an interactive program. You can see were working Facebook Comments and tweets in already. We also want to take your telephone calls. Well taput the number on the screen and take your phoned in questions as well throughout our program on the three first ladies were featuring on this part of our series. You know, Dolley Madison has been an element of our series from the very beginning. This is her last hurrah. Yes, it is. What was Dolley Madisons role with the polk white house . Dolley madisons role was, of course, she had come back to washington, and sarah polk and dolley became very close, and she mentored sarah, and sarah also fed dolley. Which was important because she was 6wvz broke. Treated her as the grand dame and honored her in all of their entertainment. They were the two war first ladies. War of 1812 and 30 years later, the mexican war. There are many, many parallels between Dolley Madison and sarah polk. The sense of self, the sense of fashion, the understanding the role of the first lady in conveying of the you know, of sort of indirects that would support her husbands presidency. And by the way, its not easy to be a first lady during a war. There were many, many detractors but, i mean, polk went in and said im going to do the following things in four years,z and by god, he did. This is also in the 1840s, the first time we have photography. Yes. We have a fabulous photograph to show you on screen right now which brings together a number of these characters all in one place. Here is the polks and there is Dolley Madison, the second from the screen right, and we have an opportunity here to see harriet lane, who served as a white house hostess later on, and sarah polk, and Dolley Madison with james k. Polk. Photography as a political tool, how do politicians absorb this new technology and begin to use it for their benefit . Well, theyre just beginning to figure this out. And you really dont get it, i think, until the 1850s and maybe the 1860 election when photography is everywhere. Now, it is almost a novelty in the 1840s. Its not all that terrific. First of all, you have to sit for a long time. Its not a single shot click and your picture is there. You have to actually sit there rigidly and not move while the photograph is being taken. So i think theyre moving towards photography. Whats much more important, i think, than photography is still the very sophisticated linotype and the sophisticated art in newspapers. So you get Wonderful Campaign posters being done for when polk runs, for example, courier who will later become courier and i ives, does a Campaign Poster for polks opponent, clay. A picture of henry clay. So theyre using that kind of technology. Photography, i think, you probably want to save for the film wars and beyond. We also have the first known photograph of the white house in this time period, which were going to show next. We are, i should say, working with the White House Historical association throughout the series. So as we look at this white house in 1846, i think thats the date on the photograph, sarah polk brought some innovations to the white house. Central heating and gas lighting. She didnt actually bring them. Lets say they arrived. And central heating and gas lighting, she did hold out when they put in the gas lights andq insisted the oval room at the white house be left with candlelight. When they turned on the gas lights, of course, when they shut down the gas for the night, the whole white house during a reception went dark, yet the oval room was still lit with the beautiful candle lighting. There was experiments, but it ultimately saved the president ial family a lot of money because they;n had to hea the white house out of that 25,000 salary. And so these efficiencies did come in starting with the polks. Well, earlier, but mainly the gas. Central heating in the white house must have been a great innovation. Central heating in the white house must have been a joke. Why do you say that . I dont think you would have been very warm. Better than the alternative. You got it. You wonder, though, because a nice warm fireplace in the right room keeps that room warm. True. True. Again, what were what youre getting at, which is always true for the white house, for every presidency, is the technology is going to change polk up there. He was sitting stiff. Thats what you had to do when you got a photograph taken. I just saw a picture of john kennedy with his fist in the air and you could see the fist shaking in the air. We have no sense of personality in these photographs. In fact, we get a bad sense of personality. With he get that these people are absolutely stiff and frozen and have no personality. They are dead. Or they used a brace. Yeah. Theyre not smiling. You dont smile in these pictures. It is too hard to smile that long. Twitter, what was sarahs educational background that allowed her to be so politically savvy and an equal to her famous husband . One of the most advanced education for a woman her day. His father was a great believer in educating women. They were educated at academies in nashville and then he sent them to the Salem Academy in winstonsalem which is Salem College today. She was unusually educated for her time. And i think that atmosphere encouraged her to speak her mind and participate in discussions. She grew up in a political household. This next question on twitter is one that well answer by video. Dave murdoch, did sarahs way prevent her from lavish gowns . Again back at the polk Historic Site and then well talk with you about this. Youve done some work on sarah polks gowns. Lets watch. How sarah looked was important to her, i think, certainly from a stand point of how she looked and how she was perceived by the public. I think she saw it also as a reflection on the presidency itself. She was known for having beautiful dresses and looking incredible in a white house that was equally beautiful. The blue dress is called a robe deshambra purchased in france by mrs. Polk and worn by her late in the administration. Its basically a robe. Its the undressed dress costume of a first lady if she was taking visitors before she was properly dressed this is the dress she would wear. The white dress is also a ball gown made in paris, france. V cut in the center. It was a style she used again and again. We get the indication that she found a style she liked and thought she looked good in and kept with it. But its a beautiful gown in silk and satin. And it has a great deal of lace attached it to as well. And mrs. Polk, again, always a frugal woman often purchased dresses and would buy material to go along with them and enhance them and change the way they looked. Instead of having to buy five or six gowns, she would buy a single gown and extra material to make them look differently. Mrs. Polk was a master at 5 00 he ses risin accessories. She had handbags and jewelry was of the american mode in the 19th century. Thought to be rather unamerican for women to wear precious gems and semiprecious stones. She would wear gold and silver and french paste and enamel wear. The head dresses are rare. So few of the headdresses survived. Theyre made out of silk and satin. We have a wonderful collection of headdresses. Then one unusual piece, a turnin which by the 1840s would have fallen out of fashion but, of course, Dolly Madison was still alive and a regular visitor to the polk white house. We wonder if she didnt adopt that style after mrs. Madison. Conover hunt is the author of the cover story in the white house historykc÷ magazine which published by the White House Historical association showing youve done a lot of work on her approach to fashion and what it symbolize for her. She had a well established sense of style from her childhood. She grew up with silk and satins. During the white house years, of course, she dressed elegantly for evenings and receptions but in the summer of 1847, they sent an order to paris for gowns for the first lady which was not the unusual style and all of the invoices survived and so did the gowns which is amazing. Sort of the top designers in paris were asked to make some gowns for mrs. Polk. And this was usually done by a commercial agent that they had h jacob l. Martin was the agent in paris. And sow got the order. He immediately found a good friend that went around the paris shops and found a shop that made three gowns which you one at the smithsonian is another of the the pink one and the blue gown survived. But it was very unusual for her. Now this order for clothes, lots of accessories cost about 450. Dolly madisons order in 1911 cost 2,000. The pink gown you saw had had more lace on it which is now taken off. Fwha but that cost 100. The green gowns were about 25 made by seamstresses in washington. But, of course, the fabric would have been extra. She was trying to find that sweet spot between frugality and image. She did it so well. Everyone said she was beautifully dressed. She had beautiful deportment. She carried herself like a lady, acted like a lady and very gracious. The same time were learning about sarah polk and her modern approach to being a political partner, what is happening to women at large in the United States . Whats going on with women overall . Are they beginning to ask for more presence, power in society. 20 or 30 people at seneca falls are. Its important to have some perspective on what is happening to women at this time. For most american women, not much has changed. And not much is being asked. The most important changes for women, the cutting edge of women in politics is coming out in the antislavery movement. So in the north you have thousands and thousands of women who are politically active, really for the first time in American History. Starting in the 1830s, there is the great petition campaign. And literally hundreds of thousands of petitions show up in washington asking congress to annex texa because it was seen as a great slave state which it was. And many of these petitioned were gathered by women. So what you get is women actively participating in politics to change america for the better. The other great Womens Movement is the temperance movement. Theyre active in movements to prevent prostitution. And these are things that are, of course, are closed to considering domestic but its out in the public space. Someone like sarah polk with the exception of temperance would have been appalled at what they were asking for. Eventually, of course, by 1848, some of the abolitionist women are asking for the right to vote for women. And that, of course, is a long time in coming. But its beginning at this time. Ted is on the phone from jackson, mississippi. Hi, ted. Whats yourr6a question . Hi. Yes. Id like to know i une like know who ran against james polk when running foraw[f president e polk play a part in getting her husband elected . Thanks very much. Kentucky and he ran for president twice before this. Clay believes its his turn to become president. He expects it will be a cake walk to the presidency. Because no ones heard of polk. But clay makes a number of mistakes during the campaign. And in the end in a very close oddly enough, he carries tennessee. But polk carries new york and that puts him into the white house. The issue of a president ial campaign at that time is very different from what we see today. It was considered proper for the candidate to be called to office. The campaigning, active campaigning went for state offices like the governor. But the candidates did not show up at the nominating conventions. And afterward, when they were drafted and they accepted the nomination, there were letters little stump speaking. No stump peaspeech at all. Sarah was her husbands Campaign Manager for his congressional campaigns and gubernatorial campaigns. But during the president ial campaign, it was very much basically a lot of them said whatever you do, dont say anything. When he ran for congress, he would canvas the state. He went all over the state like no one ever did before. One wonders what was going on in his mind when nominated for president he had to sit home and essentially do nothing except write a few letters. Next is a question from mary in little rock. Hi, mary. Hello. I heard somewhere that barbara bush is related to the polks and she used their Dinner Service while her and george bush was in the office. Is that true . Ico dont know. Good question. As our series progresses, especially as we get to barbara for you. Were goeg ing to go back in ti now. You told us that sarah polk is from a wealthy family in tennessee. How did she and james k. Polk meet . They ran in the same circles. Probably through either through Andrew Jackson or through her own fathers familyy polk graduated from the university of North Carolina and then went into law and studies in nashville and became clerk of the legislature. And they met there or they met at Andrew Jacksons because the polk girls were often at the jacksons home. Certainly jackson is known or we think that he advised polk to marry her. This is who you need as a wife, he would say. It commonly said she wouldnt marry him unless he ran for office. Of course he did and won and they were married in 1824. So Andrew Jackson played a  matchmaker here . He and his wife did not have any children of their own. Jackson would write to sarah and call her my daughter. And patricia asks it is true that a nicknametxb for sarah po is the spanish madonna . Yes. Where did that come from . She had extremely dark hair and olive skin. They thought she looked european. Exotic. Now the jacksons had no children. But actually sarah and james k. Polk also had no children. What was the impact of having of being freed up from housework and not having to do that and her ability to become a political partner . I think theyrs breezed into that through the years when they realized they were not going to have children. By the same token, they spent a lot of time with nieces and nephews. And sarah, as first lady, brought her nieces into the white house to help her with entertaining and returning calls because she didnt return calls. That was a change in tradition. When she was a widow, she had a niece and then a great niece who lived with her. James i can also add, ah. They had children, she would have hadnk slaves that raced tised the chi or did all the typers. The she would have had slaves when the children were infants. The notion of the purd burden o families very different. In fact, they have to raise her own children withoutp the helf a houseful of slaves to do the work for her. So sarah and james come to congress in washington. What is washington like at that time . And how involved was she in listening to congressional debates and she was very actively involved. He went for his first term in the Congress Without her. And never thried that again. She didnt like being left home alone at all. The congressman lived in a boredi boardinghouse and established a mess, several different elected officials living together and sharing meals and a parlor and so on. They did that for years. Until he became speaker. And then they had to have larger apartments. But she attended the sessions of congress. She was very, very, you know, attentitive to the issues of the day. And the elected members of congress knew who were in the mess with her knew she was a very tuned in congressional wife. James k. Polk makes it to nd speaker of the house. How does that happen . Speaker of the house. He loses the first time and he loses to a man who will later run for president in 1860. And then in the next time around, he manages to win. Jacksonian politics. Polk is jacksons man in the house of representatives. When jackson has a strong majority, polk gets to be speaker of the house. We have seen the ascendancy of the presidency, the ascendancy of congress. At this point in our history, which branch of government has moren power . So being speaker is important . Being speaker is not as powerful as being president. We should understand that. But in terms of the politics of america, more he alters the dynamics. It reverts back, say, when john tyler becomes president. Hes a very weak president. And so being speaker of the house was important. Kocf3f1 o just as its important today. Well, it sounds like from this quote that sarah polk had had a view of this. The speaker if the proper person and with thep b correct idea os position has even more influence over legislation and in directing the policy of the parties, then the president says she. The polk particularly when he became president , was a powerful president and in terms of waging war, he pulled a lot of power into the executive branch. But henry clay is the one we all think of as building the job of the speaker of the house, the man who ran for president forever. But its through the years the speakers job grows. The presidency grows in power. It ebbsvcd, and flows. The balance of power is the key to the whole thing. Nobody just ever completely runs away with it. And it was set up so that that could not happen. Our next video demonstrates the role of sarah polk as the wife. The traveling desk is really indicative of sarahs life with james k. Polk mainly as his help mate. James k. Polk had no staff either as a congressman or even as president of the United States. So sarah took a hands on attitude towards being his wife. The traveling desk, they traveled to washington twice a year and tripped that could take 30 days going one way from columbia, tennessee, to washington, d. C. And shes, of course, communicating with her family and friends back home which meant she wrote tens of thousands of letters during her lifetime. The traveling desk i think is indicative of communication and the time period. The portraits are painted by ralph earl when james and sarah were in washington as congressman and lady. Sarah was a help mate to him throughout his political career when he was writing speeches, he would get her opinion and critique them for him. Daily she would read the newspapers and underline passages she thought important for him to read. She was a regular fixture in congress. This is a great time to hear speeches of politicians like henry clay and Daniel Webster are giving the greatest speeches in this time period. She was right in the middle of all of it. Very much a part of the political career. So 14 years a member of the house of representatives, the last four speaker of the house. To this day, the only speaker of the house to becomek5 presiden. Sarah played the part of one of the official hostesses in washington. Congress would enact a memorial to the outgoing speaker of the house thanking him for his service. When james k. Polk Left Congress to run as gov . Tthe congress was so widely divided, they refused to do that. The in the newspapers, a number of politicians wrote poems in honor of sarah at the time she left. Instead, one of them was the United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph story who wrote a long poem. Today we would be amaced at a speak amazed]tsor ahp speaker of the e stepping down to run for governor. Why did he do this . I think being speaker of the house is something you didnt do for a really long time in those days. Will congressional careers are often quite short in the 19th century. And three or four terms in washington is probably enough. Again,cue÷ think of the arduousk year. Its a lot of work. Its a lot of effort. And being the governor is somewhat easier. Its less expensive. You are home. And being thj governor is a good way to build a career. Polks eye is on thez3l6wdu vicepresidency. He doesnt think hes ever going to be president. Well but he thinks he could be Vice President. Next. He could be Vice President next. And then you know aej t and the pathway to the white house. The vicepresidency is not a good pathway to the white house. Since thomas jefferson, only Martin Van Buren made it to the presidency. The hi. My question is i know theyre from tennessee. How did sarah actually what did she actually think of slavery and was she a kind slave master . The james k. Polk in his will made an expression that he hoped that when she died she would free the slaves. As it turned out, she told the plantation before the civil war. But the issue of slavery was not really brought to the forefront during either in their marriage or during his administration. It became much more critical with the two with the administrations that follow polk. Well, imys. Think in some wa thats not true. Go ahead. The politics of america from the 1830s to the 1860s is swirling around slavery all the time. Yeah. The opposition to the mexican war which polk starts and which we did not have to have, the opposition to the mexican war in part comes from northerners who see it as a vast conspiracy to steal mexico so that slavecjqp< owners could have some place tn go and southerners say as much. They say we want mexico because we want a place for slavery to spread to. Slavery is on the table. Being a slave owner very good for the polks. I suspect that she treated her slaves as kindly as or as the labor and the support from the slaves she wanted. Heath is in franklin, tennessee. Your question . Caller yes. A hero of mine is a nephew of sarah polk named general polk. He served with general patrick clayburn. And he tried to get the confederacy, he petitioned the confederate government to end slavery and get africanamericans to fight for the south. He was wounded several times during the war. At some point he was sent behind lines and allowed to stay in colombia, tennessee. He would eventually run the ku klux klan out of merry county. But sarah polk, i heard, somehow, kept him from going to Union Prison Camps when any other confederate prisoner would have been sent to Union Prison Camps. Ive heard that she was afforded power because the unions people just respected her so much. Okay. Thank you. Im going to jump in right there. Because our time is short. Its important to say james k. Polk announced he would be a one term president and we will get to your question. The civil war does come. And sarah polk is a widow. How long does james k. Polk live after leavivi f three months. So what thoohappens to sarahk and during the civil war . She became a widow. She wore widow weaves until she died at the age of 88. The house they purchased and fixed up for the retirement was a shrine to her husband. He had she only went to church but she received people. During the civil war, she did not take sides. The mayor came to her and said, you know, the union is coming into the city. What should i tellzae the gene Union General . She said, you may tell him that i am at home. So he came to call. The con fed ratroops respected. She was completely neutral and isolated herself into that period prior to the civil war. And people put their artifacts in storage at polk place to preserve them. And she just went right on through. And she earned a great deal of respect for that. From both sides . From both sides. Do you have any more comments . No. Only that the contrast, of course, would be with president tyler who becomes a member of the confederate government having once taken an oath to support the constitution of the United States. In that sense, the contrast i think with sayer polk is revealing. Jenny standard webber on facebook who apparently portrays her as in the library in canton, ohio. Mrs. Polk lived more than 40 years as a widow. Did she continue to be involved in politics after the presidency . No, she did not. She would speak about her husbands time any honors sent to her she would accept on his behalf. But she was not a÷ys active political player sfwlchlt political player. We have one more video. James k. Polk was a promised one term president. Of as such, after four years, james and sarah polk were going to retire. And while they were in washington still in the white house, as they were outfitting the white house as part of that restoration, they took the opportunity to purchase things for polk place that home in nashville they were going to retire into. They purchased all the things in new york city. They picked the finest American Furniture being made at the time. They are ro they are rose wood framed and red velvet. They would ring the rooms with these little chairs. As they had guests, they would bring them out into the room. We have some interiors of what it looked like around her death in 1891. The house is still filled with objects they had collected throughout their political lives together. For james k. Polk, he died three months after leaving the white house and sarah began a 42 year widowhood. Every new years day she held a levy for the state legislature as a body. Polk place became a shrine to her husband. She would invite anybody that wanted to to come to the house and see the objects they collected. Patricia lyn scott said when i visited nashville, i was surprised by all the plaque theres. Years later i visited the childress home outside of nashville. Why would they allow those buildings to be torn down . Projess. Thats just i worked in Historic Preservation for 40some years. If we didnt have a need to preserve buildings, i wopt uldn be in the field. But there are periods, the polk home was torn down in nashville. And the great niece kept the artifacts until they could find a home and thats what the museum in colombia is. But montpelier, in private hands for years and really not saved until the 80s, the 1980s. These things go on and on all the time. The homes of the president are deemed to be the most important. Fwhut some cases you have multiple homes that one president lived in. As we say goodbye to Dolly Madisons influence, sheldon cooper, we cant do a program without dolly in it. Sheldon says as influential as she was on future firstjqka la did sarah polk provide guidance to future first ladies . Yes. For 50 years after she was alive, you see, until the early 90s. Dolly died in 49. And so sayrah was the embodymen of the elegant proper first lady after dolly died. The respect passed down with her. Yes. The. So building on that, the question is what is sarah polks legacy . Ill let her answer that since she wrote a great deal on sarah. I think that james k. Polk probably might not have been able to achieve his ambitious one term agenda without her help. She certainly kept the white house running because he literally worked himself to death. And she handled his legacy well after his n unfortunate early death. We have most of the legacy is his. The first postage stamp, permanent treasury department, the almost doubling the size of the United States. And many things to be thankful for. The first ladies themselves are not so much innovators as they are they embrace the aspects of the american character that the public needs. And i think that she did it very, very well. The election of 1848 brought the taylors into the white house. As we continue our program tonight, were going to learn more about Zachery Taylor and more importantly for our first lady series tonight, his wife Margaret Peggy taylor. But it is a grief stay in the white house. The it will be about ten minutes worth of exploration here. Tell us the set the stage for the 1848 election. Polk is leaving office. He chose to be a onenhus president which probably was good because he probably would not have gotten the nomination again and he probably would have been defeated. He was not very well liked when he left office. It is true he started a war which was successfully won. But when it was over, he didnt want to have peace. He fired his envoy to mexico and his envoy to mexico negotiated a peace treaty after he what fired and sent it back to washington. Polk was forced to bring a treaty to congress that he did not actually want to signe have congress ratify but he was forced to do it. During the war, he became very jealous of the k cj ery, very successful general Zachery Taylor. So he demoted taylor and put by general Winfield Scott over him. So when the war ended, polk is leaving. And taylor is the great hero of the war. Taylor never voted in an election. Taylor had never done anything political. He had been a career military officer for his entire life. His wife margaret smithtaylor, peggy taylor as shes known, had traveled with her husband to some of the most remote military bases in the country. She had been a military wife, the wife of a man who started as lieutenant and ended up as a major general. Almost unknown other than that he said over and over again, he supported henry clay. Henry clay, of course, lost to polk. And henry clay believed that it was his time to win, 1848 was going to be a wig year. Clays party is the wig party. Clay thinks hell win. Then out november where, taylor gets the nomination. And clay is absolutely devastated that he doesnt get and in addition to taylor getting the nomination, a completely obscure, almost unheard of person who is nominated and the most obscure person ever to be nominated for president at the time. He gets the wos6qarential nomination. You have this strange axis of taylor who is a louisiana sugar planter5w1 running with philmo. Currently teach at Albany High School where he was living and next year i will be a visitor at lsu, a law school in louisiana. So im the embodyment of the albanysbabaton rouge ax it as welwel axis. Dont discount that mexican war brought us all of the western southwest. California, new mexico, et cetera. He was the commander in chief. He acted like it. And if it upset Winfield Scott who had quite a temper and Zachary Taylor, so be it. But as it turned out that, is what history recorded. We greatly expanded the United States during that time. And we got those properties for very, very little. In terms of history of real estate, polk rates high. On to Zachary Taylor. Only if you think that going to war with a country to steal half their country an appropriate and legitimate thing to do. Significant numbers of americans believed that the mexican war was purely a land grab. And Many Americans including john c. Calhoun who is a great defender of slavery, believed that mexican war was a huge] mistake because calhoun predicted correctly that once you had the mexican war, you would open up again the question of slavery in the territories and that would cause a catastrophe which it does. Zachary taylor old rough and ready. A couple points. The last southernerbnaf elected 64 years and the last president to hold slaves while he was in office in the white house. But his partner in all of this was Margaret Peggy taylor. What do we know about her . She was not particularly keen on beingz the first lady let her daughter do a lot of the entertaining. And it was such a brief amount of time that they were in office that what else can i say . He was inaugurated in march of hnu1849. Taylor dies in july of 1850. 15month period in the white house and she doesnt want to be there. She retreats to the upstairs of the who us . She retreats to the upstairs of the white house. Oddly enough, like her predecessor, she came from a political family. One of her aunts was married to a three term governor of maryland. One of her cousins was married to reverend johnson of maryland. She came from a very, very wealthy family of maryland planters. She grew up most of her early years in the washington, d. C. And Northern Virginia area. But among other things, one of the playmates was knelly who was the granddaughter of martha washington. So this is somebody who has been around politics as well. But the opposite of sarah polk, she doesnt want to be involved in politics. She didnt want her husband to run for president. Heres a snapshot according to the census of america ink od 1850. As the president is serving. The population was a 23 million and there were now 30 states in the United States. That is a 36 growth since the last census. Slaves in the United States yxx9mbered three million or 13. Of the population. And the largest cities in the country in 1850 were new york city, baltimore, and boston. Washington, d. C. , we learned throughout the searries ries tr gossip. The gossip about peggy taylor is much p like rachael jackson. She was a pipe smoker and didnt bring any style and substance. That is different than what paul described. What is the truth about her . She didnt smoke a pipe. Lets start with that. The pipe smoking is utter nonsense. In fact, all of her people that were close to her say she was nain fact allergic to smoke and nobody smoked around her. The problem is she is a military wife who traveled from base to base. Shes gone now she lived in some style even on the bases because these were nice houses. The taylors were very wealthy. They had lots of slaves. They had a plantation in louisiana. Some of the slaves would travel with them when they went to bases. But she was not a high society woman. She was not a woman that wanted to be around a crowd. And this was not a world that they felt at all comfortable with. And im sure when she got to washington and dealt with the gossip and parties, she simply felt that this is not where she was comfortable. And she didnt know how to compete and she didnt know how to operate and so she retreated to the second story of the white house and let her daughter do most of the entertaining. And the gossip continued because she was an enigma. She wasnt there to defend herself. How did Zachery Taylor die . He had cholerajrb  right . No, Zachery Taylor went to a july 4th party and he watched the parade on a very hot july 4th day. Zachery taylor was a tea totaler. He either spent the day eating dh cherries or cue ko cherries and milk or cucumbers and milk, if can you imagine what it was m like after ice to keep it cold, he got some intestinal disease. He survived winters in michigan and minnesota. He survived the deserts of mexico. He was3 ywugh and ready. The one thing he could not survive was mid ÷ . 19th centur medicine. And so when he got sick, he was bland and they did all sorts of other things including giving him murcury which would have killed him if they gave him enough. He may have died from an intestinal virus. He may have died from a bacterial infection. He may have died because his doctors killed him. But what we do know he is died very suddenly to the great shock of the nation. And perhaps taylor was the last president who could have managed to somehow change the sectional conflict. He thought all the territories taken from mexico should be free. He was a man willing to stair down and leadvb] an army to suppress southern antinationals and southern suggestions of succession. At one point the texans are and seize all of what is today new mexico. And taylor sends troops and he one can imagine had he lived if the texans did this again, taylor, like Andrew Jackson woshgs ha jackson would say ill lead the army to austin and personally hang the governor of texas the way jackson said he would hang the governor of South Carolina which ended the nullification crisis in the 1830s. So a couple of quick questions we may have answered them on Margaret Taylor. I read that as first lady mrs. Taylor was a devout christian. She promised to give up the pleasures of society if her husband returned safely from war. If this is true, did it have impact on her role as first lady . I read that as well. In several different publications. I dont think that she realized that when  her husband came ba from the war she was going to end up being first lady. So hard to say. And on twitter, bethany johnson, did margaret play any instruments that we know of . And how old was she when she died . She died just two years after . She dies in 53. She was born in 1788. So that makes her about 65. And she died of a broken heart. She was so shocked. We should tell the story of Zachery Taylor. She was convinced he was poisoned. Thats right. That was a story that stayed with zachery take lo are for many years and in our lifetime, Zachery Taylors booedy was exhumed. Because of the cherries and milk. They brought him up and did testing. No poison. By the way, when he becomes president , he gets letters from people saying that the taylor was so the conspiracy theory, americans love conspiracy theories. En that and this was a conspiracy theory. Youre on the air. Hello, im wondering, if its true that Margaret Taylor prayed he was the first to admit she wasnt very happy with the victory. Many of the stories are written well after the fact. We have to question where is the source of the story . If you hear a story told in five different places, it turns out its the same story told overj and over and over again. And we dont know if itsx . My t. The movement was to make him the nominee and somebody asked him who he was going to vote for and taylor said im not sure. And then he said im voting for taylor. And why wont you vote for taylor . And taylor, he doesnt know hes talking to taylor. O÷i, taylor was very unassuming and he often didnt appear to be who he is. There is a true story when in mexico he was sitting in front of the tent not with his general came up to taylor and said will you shine my boots thinking hes an enlisted man. Taylor shined the boots and the next day the officer came to meet his commanding general. So just quickly here, this is the second time in history a president dies in office and there is a vicepresident ial succession. Did we do a better job the Second Time Around . Succession . Yeah. It was a constitutional crisis the first time . They never fixed it until after kennedy assassination. We fix it in this way. When harrisonnzkdies, the quesn is does john tyler become president of the United States or does he remain Vice President of the United States and acting president . And that is something that the constitution doesnt address. John Quincey Adams who hated john tyler used to refer to him as his accidentcy rather than excellency. By the time he becomes president , there is no question that the Vice President will become the president. Hell be inaugurated. He asks Margaret Taylor to stay were in this charming home. Small as it, is it belonged to Abigail Fillmore. They did meet when they were both teachers. They both had this desire and love of reading. Her father was a baptist preacher and she loved to read. She was surrounded by books her whole lifetime. When she moves into this house with Millard Fillmore, she continues that. They had their own personal library. And she wanted to let young people learn extensively about the world as it was. This room that we are in is actually the focus of the entire house. This room would have been, of course, the living room. But also served as their kitchen. Here in front of the fireplace, millard and abigail would spend hours by the light of the fire. Of they would do reading and writing. And, yes, Abigail Fillmore cooked in this very room. This was her kitchen. Here we are in the fillmore bedroom. The original staircase has quite an angle to it. We do believe, though, it was a wood enladder wooden ladder at that time. So as a young wife and mother dressed in a long skirt and with a toddler on her hip, she ascended that ladder into the bedroom. Within this room, we have the fillmore bed and dresser. We know that abigail was a very wonderful seamstress. We do have her quilt here, a very colorful quilt called the tumbling block pattern. The house being on main street was a very busy place. East aurora is a vibrant community. It was frontier but developing. And so abigail would also have many visitors. She would have had people come n possibly they would have tea. We can envision abigail having a very full life. Her days were full. We do see her as a hospitable young f kwoman, young wife, yo mother, teacher. And that house is Still Available to visit if youre ever in it east aurora, new york. The 13th president of the United States was the last wig president. And the other thing and this is picking up on something that paul mentioned earlier, they came from modest means. All the president s before brought personal we will toth the white hou wealth to the white house. This begins as a series of president that president s that are middle class. What is the impact . Long term . I think that what we see with the fillmores is something of a change that will followthrough in the 20th century. Its looking forward. But the economy, were still prior to the civil war. Thats going to be a giant hiatuslou in terms of business. And who were the others that are not wealthy . They have come along . There are four president s before this counting fillmore who are not wealthy. The two adams who are very middle class. The in fact, john Quincey Adams is probably close to being wealthy at the time. Barton van buren comes from a middle class family. Millard fillmore grows up in abject poverty as did Andrew Jackson. Millard fillmores family doesnt own the land in an area where all farmers owned the land. Abigail fillmore, abigail powers grows up, her father dies whether shes 2. They dont have very much money. She becomes a schoolteacher. Shes the first things firsfir work outside of the home. She works outside the home before she is married but after shes married for the first few years she works as a schoolteacher when millard is starting his law career. So these are people who have experienced poverty and who have not at all achieved anything that would be considered other than middle class status. After her death, millard married very well and lives his life with wealth. And they have written the book on Millard Fillmore. Here is the biography if youre interested in reading about our 13th president. It is Still Available where you shop for books. And we have about 20 minutes to learn about the fillmore presidency. Most importantly about abigail. So abigail brings this sensibility to the role of first lady. How does she approach the job . Actually, what she is known for, her legacy, is that she created the First White House library. And what her father left to her mother when he died when she was just a little girl was books. And they kept those books and it became the core of her education and obviously instilled in her a love of educating others. So the congress appropriated 2,000 for the president to establish a White House Library. Itz0 was pretty much understo she would be the one who would select it. And she really preferred to read. And engage in intellectual pursuits. But she did her duty and helped her husband. She had a bad ankle, as i recall. She was injured. She has an injury shortly before he runs for Vice President. And she really cant stand. She cant go to receptions and stand. So she avoids things like that as much as possible and lets her daughter who is a young woman in her 20s do much of the role of the white house hostess. Now the introduction of a White House Library became a controversial with the congress. And i read that Abigail Fillmore successfully lobbied Key Committee members to bring the library to the white house. What is the story there . She was there at those dinner parties talking to them, you see. It was the standing she couldnt do. But she obviously convinced them and here comes 2000 to set up a White House Library. A the lot of money in those days. The. Which was a lot of money. And, of course, it had to be for the president to buy the books. Well, the president was being president. And apparently she did a very good job of selecting a broad category of volumes for the library. She interested in music. And wasnt she, paul . Shes interested in music. Theyre also very interested in geography. They love maps. They buy books of maps. Theyre very interested in the world in that respect. And shes the little film about the fillmore house, there was one slight error. Of they were not both school teachers. Millard fillmore was her student. She was 21 years old and she was teaching in a private academy and Millard Fillmore was an apprentice to a Textile Factory to learnxvx how to run cloth mg machinery. And this was during the 1830s in the middle of the depression, the panic of 1830s. And the factory laid off everybody for a while. Just closed down for a while. So fillmore useded this time to go back to school and fell in love with his teacher and she fell in love with him. Now its hard to tell from the pictures that we see but both of them are described as being very, very attractive people. A Queen Victoria would say after she meets fillmore he was the handsomest man she ever met. That might be an exaggeration. So here you have the two young handsome people and fillmore is over 6 feet tall in a time when most men dont grow to be that tall. He must have been a striking figure. She glomed on to him. He gloms on to her. But they have a very long courtship. Her family doesnt want her to marry. And they ultimately dont marry until about five or six years later. And for two years the courtship is only by letters. He moves to east aurora and then goes to buffalo where he becomes a lawyer. Ron is watching us on fargo, north dakota. Youre on. Caller hello. Yeah. Thank you. I was just wondering did mrs. Fillmore, what did she do after the white house . Okay. That lets deal with the white house years first and then come back to the question in a little bit. Darrell is in tuscaloosa, alabama. Hi, darrell, youre on. Caller hi. I want to ask, does the white house have plumbing . If so, if it doesnt have plumbing, when did they get plumbing. And the dishes you showed from the polks, do they use them today . We learned about gas lamps and heating. What about plumbing . Oh, my. Fillmore is credited with having the first bathtub in the white house. Yeah. But its not clear that its true. And this is the problem whenever you say what is the first in the white house . We do know the fillmores installed either the first bathroom bathtub or a new bathtub in the white house. Did religious play a big part in in the fillmores life and their presidency . It works. Abigail is the daughter of a baptist minister. She is raised in a Baptist Community in rural upstate new york. Theyre raised in the middle of nowhere in central new york. In a very poor part of new york. Shes a baptist. Millard has various religious training growing up. But when they get married, theyre married by an episcopal by this time, the most Prestigious Church is an episcopal church. They move to buffalo and become unitarians because all of the smart people, all of the successful people are becoming unitarians. In fact, religion, i think, for the fillmores reflects what i would call is their journey from poverty to middle class status to ultimately a secure position in society. And they change churches as they go up the social ladder. Were going to learn more about her love of books and her establishment of the White House Library in this next video. White house, she was appalled there were no books. So this bookshelf was part of the First White House library that her and millard were able to get congressn money to start the First White House library which still exists today. We know today that first ladies have causes and literacy and reading would have been Abigail Fillmores cause. It was very important to her as a teacher and she carried that love and passion for books right with her into the white house. Abigail suffered from illness throughout her time as first lady. And mary abigail would have been the hostess for manufactuy of t events. This punch bowl is one of the many itemss. Eused during entertaining. Mary abigail followed in her mothers footsteps and was very educated herself. She spoke five languages. And there are stories of her playing tee yoe piano or harp. And we have mary abigails piano and we also vts music books she would have played from. And we also have her harp that was in the white house. When we say she entertained at the white house, she literally entertained. And the room in the white house that the fillmores established as the library was an oval room. Youre an oval room and youre seeing a picture as it looks today. Its called the yellow oval room. This is from our white house documentary when we visited there. That room filled with bookcases and Musical Instrument us became something of a salon in washington. How did they use it . As a salon. Was it use lful in their legislative goals . She participated in the formal dinners downstairs. There was receiving always going on. The white house had very little privacy. She was known for her interest in writers. She had Charles Dickens come to the white house. Yeah. She brought way ahead of jackie kennedy. Bringing some of these leading lights into the white house. Of course you know Washington Irving came when dolly was there. But its, she was interested in these more intellectual literal pursuits and with her bad ankle, i dont think anyone understands what those receptions were like. Several hours of standing. Hours and hours and hours of standing on your feet. But this salon she created, it would seem like a very intimate place to bring key members of congress and others. Was it a way to be in the inner sang t sank tum of the president and advance his goals . I dont think so. I think few congressmen in those days were interested in talking to a novelist or talking to a cultural figure like that. She brought the woman known as the swedish nightingale to sing. That would have been a celebrity. Perhaps some members of of congress would have wanted to see the celebrity. I think theres a bifurcation with abigail creating a formal setting that the former schoolteacher really wants to do. As a mother, shes always a schoolteacher. She writes let eters to her cha because theyre separated from their children at various times in their lives. Kregting their spelling in previous letters and giving them lists of spelling words to learn. And she may also be educating her husband whos not as educated. Brian watkins asked what kinds of titles and authors r were in the First Library . It was a mixture of the classics. Lot of shakespeare. Shakespeare. Probably lots of histories. And we know a lot of geography books. They were very interested in foreign countries. Fill more has this personal interest in things foreign. Things exotic. We have to talk about the major legislative piece because Zachary Taylor dies and millard fi fillmore picks up the debate and in as briea in as brief a way possible, whats the significance . The compromise of, the goal is to solve the nations problems and as it emerges, the compromise of 1850, a series of separate bills. Its not one bill and it will among other things, organize the new mexico territory, which may include arizona. The utah territory, which was nevada, utah and parts of colorado and wyoming. It would admit california into the union as a free state. It would prevent the sale, the open auction of slaves in washington, d. C. , but it would also give million of dollars to texas. It would subdivide a portion of mexico and give west texas to texas, which previously, no one believed belonged to texas and most importantly, created the fugitive slave law of 1850 which created the First Federal Law Enforcement bureaucracy. Its an outrageously fair law in which alleged futuretive slaves are not even allowed to testify at hearings on their own behalf so that if a free black is seized in new york and someone says this is my fugitive slave, the man cant say no, youve got the wrong person. I created draconian punishments for anyone who interfered with fugitive slave law and he pushes the fugitive slave law, signs e it almost immediately after its passed by congress then i qvery very aggressively enforces it. Where ever he can. So amy ericson asked on facebook, how did the compromise of 1850 work into the timelines of peggy till ee eer or Abigail Fillmore. Do we know how her position on slavery might have differed from her husband . I dont and whats interesting is they come from a part of new york known as the burned over district. Its called the burned over district because it is said that the fires of revivalism burned over so often. It was the most antislavery part of the United States. The center of the antislavery movement. Just south of where fillmore is growing up, William Seward is starting his political career. Just down the road, Frederick Douglas will live in rochester, new york and with all this antislavery activity going on, neither of the fillmores ever lift a finger to fight save lav and show no sympathy to free blacks. Quite shocking that they are completely clue uless about this when hes running for Vice President , somebody accuses him of helping fugitive slaves escape. In a letter so shocking i wouldnt say on the air, he says incredibly horrible things about black people. Why would i lift my finger to help him. Back to her love of books. Did abigails love of books cause any National Trends in education or any library expansio expansions . So my knowledge, no. But youd have to look for the longterm. They didnt have the instantaneous communications. Her books were not going to set off a trend for bangs in the way that modern communications do. I think what were going to see is more and more work for middle class women, teaching and so on and so forth. Obviously they would be aware that they had a first lady who was a teacher, honor rational profession and having that library certainly was known. Marley, youre on. Hi. I was just wondering how many children did the fillmores have . Two. And one served as official hostess in the white house. Time is short. Lets hear from ben next. Hes watching us in los angeles. Ben, you are on. Whats your question . Yes, i left what was this fortueign relations policy. They were with europe. He sends kerry to japan at the time. It was closed to the outside world and he sends, he sends the United States naval vessels. Says youre here and youre xwoik to trade with us whether you like it or not. The japanese referred to this as the dark ships. Fillmore also negotiates a treaty with switzerland to allow trade on equal terms for swiss and american citizens, but the treaty has a clause, which says that this can only happen if they have business and many when fillmore was told about this x he said well this shouldnt really be a problem. He doesnt seem to be interested in issues that dont viola minorities. He later becomes a no nothing. Anticatholic activist. We have a short amount of time left. L e elizabeth. Youre last question. What is it . Just some comments. Thank you for the series on the first lady. They met Charles Dickens in washington in 1842. They did not host him at the white house. Also, they did entertain Washington Irving and william zachary. Additionally, abigail reportedly advised miller not to sign the fugitive slave law and one of her best friends in buffalo was the most prominent abolitionist johnson. Much. We have only 30 seconds left so why dont we use that to ask abiga abigails legacy. Books, learning, literacy. And the fact she may have influenced people by being a working first lady. Careers for r women. Sadly, she died shortly after then her daughter dies three years later. I can always say theres no documentary evidence whatsoever she advised him not to sign the fugitive slave law and this is the apomery full things like to throw out there because they want to enhance peoples reputation without any evidence. And abigail died in the famous Willard Hotel which continuously plays a role in president ial history shortly after the inauguration of Franklin Pierce and by the way, we have gotten a number of people tweeting about that earlier call about the barbara bush connection telling us it was with pierce. Yes, it is pierce. Thanks to both of our guests for their continuing help throughout the series. I1j if you enjoyed watching first ladies, pick up a copy of the book, first ladies, influence and image, featuring profiles of the nations first ladies through interviews with top historians. Now available in paperback, hard cover or as an e book. Quqg it examines the private lives and public roles of first ladies through top historians. Tonight, we look at Mary Todd Lincoln and eliza johnson. Watch tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3. American history tv exploring the peopleoo7v and e that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up sunday beginning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern, were marking the 75th anniversary of the korean war, live on american journal and American History tv with charles hanley, author of ghost flames, life and death in a hidden r war, korea, 1950 to 53 and sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern, real america features a series of u. S. Government korean r war films starting with to help peace survive. A 1974 Defense Department orientation film for soldiers assigned to south korea and at 7 00 p. M. On oral histories,