How it impacts the politics, and sports, and other arenas. It is not just about pop culture. Is areve our steer stories about history, history of media, newspapers. There are a range of things. When i formulated the site, i cast a wide net to see what would work. Doyle sundayjack at 8 00 on cspan q a. The way modern first ladies approach their role as the president Space President spouse. From the cspan archives, this is one hour and 45 minutes. Tonight, we will be looking at the traditional role a first lady plays and the choices she makes, her personal life, her life with her husband, her life with her children, her life as hostess at the white house, as the leader of special causes and Charity Events and so forth. How, in the context of the white house, all those sorts of decisions potentially carry various kinds of political implications and repercussions. Either as interpreted, or perhaps over interpreted, by the press, and, on the other hand, sometimes intended by the white house. To give you an idea of this, i recall one of my most favorite anecdotes from the eisenhower administration. Mainly eisenhower was a great, devoted, loyal fan of i love lucy. She never missed a show. In fact, when she was away, she had them take the programs from the television set. Sometime in 1953, lucille ball, the actors, was the actress, was accused of being a communist and was brought to appear before senator Joseph Mccarthys Senate Committee on unamerican activities. Mimi eisenhower heller heard about this and was furious. She never particularly cared for joe mccarthy, but this was one step too far. As she told president eisenhower, lucille is no communist. [laughter] mrs. Eisenhower invited the actress, lucille ball and her husband and the other cast members to come to the white house to perform at a benefit for president eisenhowers birthday. This was just days before ms. Ball was scheduled to appear on capitol hill. Several weeks later, at the Vice President dinner, a traditional dinner held annually in those days, the entire United States senate was always traditionally invited. One senator, however, was not invited by mrs. Eisenhower. That was senator joseph mccarthy. As lighthearted as the anecdote may now seem, at the time, it sent a political message. It was the use of her role as a hostess by the administration, not so much by mrs. Eisenhower, to make a statement that was not quite coming out against mccarthy. Mccarthy was of the same political party. But it still made its point. From the very beginning, first ladies assumed public projects, or what we later called special projects. Martha washington, for example, during the american revolution, had sown closed for revolutionary war veterans and then later, as first lady, developed the idea of allowing them to come to her personally if they had any financial needs or any material needs. The idea was then planted that somehow a first lady should have one area of the population that was needy to be her particular point at the same time, the washington ministration immediately sent a strong message by the coach they chose for mrs. Washington. It was a regal coach made in london it fixed with goldman dalliance pulled by cream colored horses, tended by grooms. It was very consciously formal. Many people thought it looked a little bit too royal for the first president of United States. That was nothing nothing compared to Martha Washingtons reception. They were a strained entertaining style where she would bow to get without much small talk. People sat around the room quietly. It was an american version of the inglis royal court. English royal court. There was criticism very quickly from the press and political figures. The register wrote, we find that these are not just strange, distant things. I suppose in a few years, we shall have all the paraphernalia to give the superb finish to the grandeur of our american court. Senator william clay said, she made use of the old country, but here i think they are hurtful, from the small beginnings, i fear we shall follow follow on until we have reached the summit of Court Etiquette and all the frivolities practiced in european governments. It was Dolly Madison whose personal choice of the lowcut, high wasted napoleonic tresses dresses that caused quite a bit of stir. The first time a president wife was censored from her personal choice in fashion. It was not the scanty mess of it so much as it was the fact that it was the french style, popular in the polian court. Certainly not very popular with the oldtime federalists of the washington and adams administration, who severely criticized mrs. Madison as looking like a nursing mother. [laughter] nor were her virginia style entertainments quite popular with the more formal british minister mrs. Madisons successor, elizabeth monroe, caused a true political fury with her decision not to make first call, social calls, and this, of course, a drastic change from what had been the habit of Dolly Madisons. Her new rules as hostess were more federal style than democratic, and it caused a diplomatic uproar. It was the subject of two cabinet meetings and it struck at the very heart of the issue of democracy. Mrs. Munro was essentially operating as the american answer to european clean. Will we queen. Louisa adams, as a cabinet wife, very carefully used the role of social politician to curry political favor for her husband. As she said, she was always smiling for the presidency and he prepared her calling list with, as she said, as much formality as if he were drawing up an important article to negotiate in a commercial treaty. Louisa adams, born in england, educated, was used more by her husband for political purposes, rather than she really using the role to serve his political purposes. The more i bear, the more is expected of me to answer such expectations. I am decried in encumbrance unless i am required for any special purpose, for a show or for some political maneuver. Arrangements are made, and, if i object, i am informed it is all too late and it is all a misunderstanding. The united telegraph criticized the ungodly presence of a pool table in the white house. The adams faction made it worse by saying it was this is adams cool table, and pool tables are a common appendage in the homes of the rich and great in europe. Rachel jackson, on the other hand, was from the west, overweight, uneducated, uncouth, many said, a religious zealot that preferred church going to parties. She certainly did influence her husband when he was in charge of new orleans, put in charge of new orleans, in instituting all sorts of social edicts banning music and sale of liquor on the weekends. She was also technically a bigamist. She had not obtained a divorce of her first from her first husband at the time she married andrew jackson. This fact was brought out during the 1828 campaign. It became part of a fullscale lyrical attack and clinical attack and it was the first time a president ial candidates wifes personal life was used for a political purpose. Angelica van buren follow. She was the daughterinlaw of martin van buren, married while he was in the white house, she honeymooned in europe. Visiting the courts of victoria and King Philippe of france. She formed friendships with them and turned to washington with a regal, entertaining style. This occurred during the panic of 1840. Mrs. Van buren was attacked by congressmen ogle of pennsylvania in his famous gold spoon speech on the floor of the house, in which he talked about the royal appendages of the white house and how mrs. Van buren had hoped to copy the gardens of Buckingham Palace back at the white house. Needless to say, van buren was defeated. Julia gardiner tyler followed in the style of angelica van buren. In this photograph, she appears as the first president s wife, first incumbent president s wife, to actually be have her image captured on film in the early form of photography. She instituted a wild style, had imported dogs from the council at naples and rode around in a very regal horse and carriage. She redecorated the white house and, better than using government money or the money of her wealthy friends, she used her mothers money to redecorate. She was criticized by the religious press as a bad influence. On the other hand, she very skillfully used the traditional role for her husbands political purposes. She very clearly coyly would scribble a toast to one of her husbands enemies at a dinner dinner table and asked him to raise his glass to, protect this and tyler, two. Too. Mrs. Tyler was followed by a woman quite her extreme, nicknamed sahara sarah. Sarah polk, who banned liquor, music, and dancing in all the rooms of the white house. Her sober style was hailed by the religious press. Her social scheme in the white house fit into the larger screen scheme of her husbands manifest destiny. She used slaves openly and claimed that slaves, from her religious perspective, were predestined to be slaves and it was all gods will. As it was all gods will for the United States to expand its borders from the west coast down to the southwest. If anyones personality so affected negatively her husbands administration, it was certainly jane pierce. Mrs. Pierce suffered greatly from depression and had three sons. Her first two sons died when they were very young. Her third son was 11 years old at the time Franklin Pierce was elected president. On a train ride between andover massachusetts and boston, the train went off the tracks and mrs. Pierce saw her last son crushed before her eyes. She considered this to be gods will, as a way of not providing any kinds of distractions for her husband. For two of the four years, she did not appear publicly. When she finally did appear publicly, she was always dressed completely in black. It certainly did not help her relationship with her husband. Theset a permanent depressing interchanging style, she had black decorations on the flowers,d stiff wire it affected everyone. Animationanished all and others. She broke down in her efforts to lift herself. It is not exaggeration to say that in that. Time, mrs. Pierce did psychologically affect the whole asts of the administration, one that was ineffective, and a sense of malaise to it. She was followed by harriet lane , the niece of james buchanan. She was the first first lady to welcome a member of the British Royal family as a formal guest at the white house. This being edward, prince of 1860. In she had listened to the mockingbirds dedicated to her ed to her grade it will dedicated to her. Her relationship to the royal family raise questions of england during the civil war. There are people who set the time that it was because of ms. Lanes friendship with the world family they did so. She entertained the prints during the beginning of the secession movement. View withd in Mary Todd Lincoln in the white house, her purchase of china, her decorating the white house, which had been done by others, it was severely criticized as action insensitive to the needs and conditions of the country. Mrs. Lincoln said that it was part of her duty to dress in find and expensive clothes as a way of lifting the morale of the nation. She felt that this was her duty, and that boil republicans loyal republicans loathe their jobs to her husband should help with the cost of her downs. Blue room,g in the and she was harshly criticized for that. How could somebody be spending money on champagne and food at a time when money was needed for union blankets and guns . Get she was entertaining yet, she was criticized for not entertaining. There was no sympathy of any s sonhen mrs. Lincoln died, because everyone was losing family members to the war. She had come from a seven family. Many of her brothers, and half brothers fought for the confederacy. Of aher sister, the widow confederate soldier visited, a cause so much trouble and talk that emily had to leave. Mrs. Lincolns personal friends were question. There were stories of for being friends with a drunken russian admiral, and her friends with questionable journalists in washington. Our project on behalf of the freed slaves for the Freedmans Bureau for the education and employment of slaves was also turned into a political issue. House 1870s, the white families themselves became much more tuned to the publics responses to their perception of what has family lines. , and the newsayes that lucy hayes would spend sunday evenings with her family around the p f, singing hymns. Clothing was compared to the madonna herself. She was seen as if youre pure and simple image during a time of the gilded age. She also spent banned liquor. She earned the nickname lemonade lucy. This cartoon of the day shows emanate lucy smiling in a water bottle, and frowning anyone bottle. The ban on liquor was a personal decision. It was a political decision. Rutherford hayes had been elected by the support of the Prohibition Party. It was very powerful at the time. It made an agreement with the Prohibition Party that if elected, he would ban all. Pirits in the white house there was a backlash against this. Much criticism of mrs. Hayes for instilling her personal morals in the nations home. Her successor, lucretia garfield, refused to continue the ban on liquor. They were conscious for the hearth and home image, which seemed to sell well on the campaign trail. A family man was seen as a good candidate, and mrs. Garfield certainly cooperated against her own reaction to any publicity in providing all sorts of information about her good, solid family life. Fashion became an issue with frances cleveland. Frances cleveland, her temperance policy was not to personally drink. She would drink water and would keep her wine glass turned down, but she permitted liquor to be served to those who wanted to drink it. Her popularity, and eventually the limited access at the white house provided to the press turned into a very ugly situation when rumors began that the president beat his wife. This being the first time that rumors concerning a president ial marriage he came, and public gossip, and made their way into print. Mrs. Cleveland was thrown out of the white house on a rainy night by her husband. In response, she began wearing very lowcut gowns. Her beautiful shoulders and arms visible to everyone. This in turn prompted the womens christian temperance ,nion to send a strong protest and began a campaign to get mrs. Cleveland out of those a moral in moral immoral downs. They focus on mrs. Cleveland when she was out of washington for the summer, and it was a slow news month, and they had to justify their presence in washington back home. They reported that mrs. Cleveland did not like the bustle, and would no longer be wearing the bustle. The bustle then disappeared, not only in washington but on mrs. Cleveland herself. Americans were beginning to feel that they had a right to dictate the personal style, and the choices of the first lady. The use of the family for political purposes reached a great height during the harrison administration. , the grandson of mrs. Harrison, was used by the family in photographs and press stories mascot of the administration. Skillsrrisons domestic were highly touted. When news was given out about her attempts to fix the white house, it was all put under the umbrella of being a good domestic engineer, when in truth it was a political struggle. She went head to head with the House Speaker on it for huge appropriation to demolish the existing white house, and build a gargantuan monstrosity of wings and New Buildings with an art museum, and a tourist center, and a government center. It eventually never came to pass because the president s refusing to make certain appointments to the collector ship of maine, and so mrs. Harrisons house bill didnt pass because of political animosity. Wasiam mckinleys mother used in campaign paraphernalia as a symbol of the close family since they had no children. The president s obsession with his wife, his demands on his time, and his attention, was turned into a highest of ocean of being a saintly husband. It was marked the first time that a biography was issued on a president s wife, and it was done so to counteract all sorts of rumors that mrs. Mckinley wasnt saying, that she was crippled, that she was catholic. [laughter] remember, this is 1896. The theater roosevelt family came to white house with Young Children. Not since the garfield age had such Young Children been there. Received aelt tremendous amount of mail from the public concerned, and dictated to her what should be the proper education of the president s children. As she said, one needs to feel that all ones private life is public property. She wrote the president , you isnot think how much anxiety in the country but the childrens education. House, the notion of a first lady decorating the white on a politicalk purpose during the theater roosevelt administration, when during the renovation of 1903, when the firm of mckinley and white, mrs. Roosevelt worked with the architect in constructing what was essentially a stage setting. Giving america and imperial look , with the classic white columns, and the emblems of the flag, and the equal. Giving the image of america as the world superpower it had become. By the early 20th century, the notion of a first ladys Charity Product took on a sharp withical and public turn alan wilson, the first wife of woodrow wilson. She had been a painter. She studied at the art lake in new york prayed her interest to get into supporting the mountain art programs of abolition families. Her housing bill of 1913 was seen in the black community in washington as racist. It occurred at the time that jim crow was instituted here in washington. Her attempts to play place bathrooms and first aid stations into government offices was seen wilson of the overall administrations segregation plan. s support ofing the veterans had a political motive behind it. Her support of the veterans with visits, and would hand out candy and cigarettes, and write letters to their mothers and girlfriends at home. Her husband had the bonus bill. Mrs. Harding, who privately opposed it, publicly kept a strong faith in terms of supporting the administrations decision, by making these appearances on a regular basis to the wards, as of her appearances to the wards were in fact to counteract it of the reality of the benefits. Under florence harding, and a lot of the traditional roles took on a highly political tone. The traditional role of tree planter, mrs. Harding began the custom of regular treeplanting. It was for various organizations, and special interest groups, the had supported her husband during the 1920 campaign, and through his administration. The hardings very much created an image of coal some whole , western image. Was that they were poker games going on upstairs at the white house. They were serving liquor in the private quarters of the white house to personal guess. This did not reach the public seer, but the the publics year. Her personal friendships were also criticized. She was great friends with the multimillionaire wall street claim, who owned the hope diamond and was a morphine addict. Jeff smith, a friend to mrs. Harding and mrs. Mclean, seen around washington with the largest bootlegger in the district of columbia. He died by his own hand why suicide. By his own hand of suicide. They tried to present the image of a devoted middleaged couple, on the throes of a useful romance, the truth was that he had a brother public eye for beautiful women. The press knew it, and many of the reporters that cover him heard about it. He would not report it. The next picture shows them at the horror show. You can see the horse show. You can see where their eyes out. Has five mistresses, one was a senators daughter, 100 daughter by him, one had a daughter by him. One was his wifes best friend back home. Grace coolidge, and the fashions of the 1920s also served a very helpful purpose for the ministration the administrations focus. The man tailored suit. They were editorials about mrs. Coolidge being sort of with it and fashionable. This was a good thing for the country. The Retail Dry Goods Association lublicly praised her as an idea christmas shopper. She was given an award by intier for her style dressing, the first time an American Woman had received touch a high honor, equal to the nobel prize for a close force. During the bill of the 1920s, she her shopping sprees were gleefully recorded and used by the White House Press offers as an example of a woman up to date with the times. Did coolidge of course also a lot of Photo Opportunities for womens groups at the time. This picture shows are cutting the cake for a celebration of the visiting nurses association. She reveled in the role of hostess for womens groups, wish which asked to visit. She granted as many as possible. It was more than a photo opportunity however. It gave focus on her part to work in professional womens organizations without her having to make an overt statement about women and their political re. Her project was an involvement with the death, specifically the clark school for the deaf. The shows are with helen keller at the white house. 2 million for the clark school. Behind this was a political purpose. Some of the first government attempt to service the handicap occurred during this administration. During the great depression, republican president Herbert Hoover had an emphasis on volunteerism, and rather than government help in getting people through the depression, mrs. Hoover was seen everywhere, doing everything at least once. Even selling for the needy, as she is seen here with the ladies of the red cross. As president of the girl scouts, she used that group for a political motive. The girl scouts, and her position as president , they were ,se in her radio speeches asking the Young Children and other children to become charity core with adults, to donate food and clothes, and encourage the parents to do so for their unfortunate neighbors. There was also a political liability now in the guests invited to the white house. When mrs. Hoover entertained, mrs. Oscar depriest, an African American congressional wife, to congressional weinstein, she was censured by the Texas Legislature for defiling the race line. Even Eleanor Roosevelt, who played a most overt political role, came to see the use of the traditional role. She is seen here with henrietta, the housekeeper, signing the pledge to conserve food, say rubber, and use leftovers during the wartime. The forinment was the king and queen of england received criticism. She served them hot dogs the cushy thought that was the quest essential quintessential american lunch food. She had various ethnic entertainers, africanamericans playing american music, and people criticized her for saying this like dignity for the king and queen of england. By herosevelt was guided wise social secretary edith helm. As she said, she initially thought the hostess role was a useless burden, futile and not inspiring. Because of the depression, she thought it was wrong to think seriously about purely social matters. Edith helm, who worked under edith wilson, came to coax her into this role. As Eleanor Roosevelt revealed realize, being hostess had real aning and value. The white house has a significant form of hospitality to representatives for other countries, and the limits of allies a government. Throughout president ial campaigns, fdrs campaign, mrs. Roosevelt played a selfeffacing role. She told reporter that it was proper that it that a candidates wife beyond schedule, offer no opinions, remain under disturbing, limit personal appearances, and make sure the people can see him. She also knew the value of the good photograph. Besides her involvement in the ewernmt, a the bureaucratic report that she involved yourself in during the depression, she also posed at a soup kitchen, dishing out sue. There is no question that the photo carried a strong message. Houseoutside of the white that a first lady involved yourself in also began to take on political meeting. Beth truman, after attending an event that she had been invited to, was criticized because by a congressman because the dar had a restrictive policy, and had not allowed his wife to play their. He criticized mrs. Truman as the last lady of the land for choosing to attend a tea Party Outside of the white house at a restrictive organization. Maybe eisenhower played a she played a close to the vest when it came to politics. She stuck to raising money for the american heart association. She did not escape censure for lower purely personal decision. Like her bangs, which are criticized as childish. Like the entertainment, which was seen as pedestrian and mainstream, and not proper for the white house. When she entertained, they were questions about whether she served liquor because of old rumors that she had had a problem with alcohol. When she took trips to elizabeth were rumors she went to dry out. Some were printed at the time. Tripshe took a railroad for private vacation, it was discovered afterwards that she broken the railroad act, and fashion took on much more of a political statement under Jacqueline Kennedy. 11 t pyramid and 1961, in 1961, 11 million was spent in the clothing industry. When Jacqueline Kennedy went hatless, president kennedy doled what would alex rove to us in a election . Catholic woman began wearing veils to church because she did. Her interest in contemporary art and jazz all reinforced the administrations impression, and the image of the Kennedy Administration as Young Americans peeking taking over. Yet, her focus on the importance of American Culture am a in the quality of American Culture, versus european culture, carry a political message. She wanted to provide for some kind of public funding for the arts and humanities. That was the idea behind her interesting guest list of americas most renowned artists and poets for dinner she held. Or the minister of culture kennedysington mrs. Reflected a social movement of the time. Interestburn national in restoration of governors mansions, and some found politics in this, the placements of the portraits. Effect of the bluegreen was no longer blue, but now white. They was to french, not american enough, even though she was emulating the roman the monroe. Dupont was a very wellknown republican, and it made the statement that her project was a nonpolitical issue. It helped to spur the formation of many local historical and preservation societies. Her Lafayette Square restoration was also part of a much Larger Movement of the 1960s of urban renewal and urban planning. It was as part of her view that in the notion of a restored lofty eight square the it should use, area of mixed commercial space, government buildings, and it should be the historic home integrated into realistic urban plan. In the same manner, lady bird promoted discover america. She explained that america had a problem at the time. America wanted american money spent in america. The role of hostess in the post world war ii era took on a much more important political meaning. There is more entertainment of world leaders. It was important for National Anthems to be accurate. Reflect theformers gasping entertained. One had to be careful about the entertainment. Had to beotocol followed. The times of meals and restrictions of menus, because of religious use. There was more involvement with the social office with the state department. Guests had to reflect the Business People in the United States dealing with those nations at the time. Even attempts to provide the first Arts Festival at the white house could not escape being politicized in several of the artists decided not to withstand not to attend, and wrote a letter to the New York Times protesting the vietnam policy. His poemet, got read john percy, the poet to read that an front of mrs. Johnson. Luncheons, eartha kitt stood up and confronted mrs. Johnson on her husbands vietnam policy. Pat nixons overseas trip of importantlso carried political messages. Her trip to peru during the earthquake came at a time of difficult relationships. Now, use the president ial palace for the first time to entertain mrs. Nexen. As he said, her coming here has met more than anything else president nixon couldve done. Material aid and moral support of northern American People was provided in the example of solidarity. He finally declared that u. S. Solidarity with peru was signified by the visit of mrs. Nexen. Her trip to africa served a political purpose to liberia, ghana and the ivory coast. She met with officials and discussed rhodesia and policy and economic aid. She addressed the Ghana National assembly and relayed information to those nations leaders on president nixons Upcoming Trip to china. Her volunteerism projects on College Campuses, also did not escape the politics of the day. Mrs. Nixon was showing by being with volunteers on College Campuses that not all of the youth was protesting, some were volunteering. But it focused attention on those youths who were supportive of the president and served a beneficial purpose for the administrations domestic agenda and domestic image. Betty ford, after the first plane load of refugee children in 1975 crashed, killing 200 of the refugee vietnamese children coming over, decided that it was important for her to actually make a physical appearance at the airport, at the hangar, actually, in california, where the second plane load was coming in, and i think in part to allay some fears and notions about the sudden wave of immigration, gave a very eloquent speech to those vietnamese immigrants who were scared and frightened just coming to the United States, welcoming them and telling them that, like so many other generations of american immigrants, that they, too, would be welcome in the United States. It served, again, a political purpose, an important political purpose. Having mrs. Ford deliver this message was much more effective and much more human way of conveying a political message of the administration. Rosalynn carter was criticized for her lack of style in some ways but nancy reagan was certainly criticized for having too much style. The china gift, for example, that the Foundation Provided to the white house in mrs. Reagans name came in a month of tough recession and budget cuts by the administration. The same day that the china was announced, unfortunately for them, was the same day that the administration decided that ketchup qualified as a vegetable for low Income School lunch programs. Mrs. Reagan, in accepting gowns on loan from designers, was termed, in part, by the reporting of those gowns and the revelation of those gowns, into a sort of greedy symbol at the time. The media spin on her essentially created her into a sort of an image of the callous side of reaganomics. Whether that was fair or not, it, again, proved, that even the womans personal choice of clothing had an important political impact, and even her just say no program. Wherever she went to do a just say no appearance, mrs. Reagan was always protested by an Organization Called normal, the National Organization for marijuana legislation. It provoked controversy in questions about alcoholism and drinking in adults. When she talked about support for home drug testing by parents of kids, a lot of people raised the issue that this was a violation of rights. At the 1998 democratic convention, Jesse Jackson declared, you cant just say no about such problems. Even Barbara Bushs Literacy Program took on political implications. By addressing issues like homelessness and drug addiction, single motherhood, as being taken care of or at least assisted by illiteracy, the administration perhaps might have avoided some controversial questions about those social issues and whether federal action or funding might have helped. And, although mrs. Bush enjoyed the traditional role and continued many of the customs from the reagan years, by 1992, cynicism made even her marriage used by the press as a question of legitimacy as to whether the marriage was as close as it was claimed to be, the same thing, of course, said about the clintons. Bill and hillary clinton, shown in this second to last photograph, dancing at the inaugural ball, shows her in a particularly traditional role. Certainly she brought a new chef in and there was a focus that he brought on more regional american cooking, no longer french cooking, it gave a focus to a larger diversity, perhaps, of american regional cooking but questions about her personal life, her friends, her marriage, her law partners, the thompsons, the producers. There was no longer any escaping the fact that everything a first lady did or said, even if it was a personal choice, had a political implication. This last slide just shows you a formal management diagram of the east wing staff during Nancy Reagans years. It shows you how large and how important an entity the social office at the white house is. Its just as important as the projects office and scheduling and press. Tonights short film is actually a news reel of mrs. Hoover making one of her radio speeches with the girl scouts during the depression and we will roll that now and i will introduce our panelists. Now, mrs. Hoover, as a representative of the girl scouts of america, i wish to present to you this report of the girl scouts efforts to join their elders in helping unemployed men, women and their families, in this difficult time when so many of our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, have no jobs. Our motto is, be prepared. We have tried to show our leaders, friends and country that our girl scout training as prepared us to give service to those in despair. Our efforts have been very small in comparison to what the grown ups are doing but in our own home and school, we have tried to bring relief and cheer to those who have needed our help. I am very glad that as your honorary president it has fallen to me to receive this report of the girl scouts and this recent program of relief to those unemployed. I give to you the messages from many and various persons and to the girl scouts and to the girl scouts, to all the organizations, the women and the girls, helping during the months and will continue helping as long as the need lasts. Ever faithful. We are most appreciative of the achievement of the organization in which you are all operating. The Womens Division of the president s emergency the spirit will be due to the way in which the women make it and he said he knew they would meet this with the same spirit with which they met their responsibility in the time of war to save our country and fellow country men and women. The president went on to express his appreciation for your cooperation with him and all agencies in his own way and time but i know he is most appreciative. Actually, why dont i start anyway. Did the west wing weigh in on any of the social decisions made during the kennedy years, the entertainers, the menu, the kinds of people who were being invited, the kinds of decisions that perhaps was more or less the prerogative of mrs. Kennedy and yourself . o . oooooonoo how frequently and what kinds of decisions did they weigh in on . Well, the west wing tried to run the show many times but mrs. Kennedy and i formed a flying phalanx and we managed to wrest the power away. They gave us the names of the top politicians that needed to be invited but the guest list was really formed by mrs. Kennedy and by our office. We did all the things about the food and the flowers and the entertaining and the west wing did manage to get in the there own pals as dinner guests plus themselves. There was a constant barrage of requests from the men in the west wing to put themselves on the dinner list. The west wing has always tried to tell the east wing what to do, from every president and first lady that ive known. Lucy winchester, for instance, during the Nixon Administration, finally had to go to pat nixon and say, i can take orders from you, not the west wing, im going to resign and pat then put her foot down but up to that time, bob halderman, wasnt he calling the shots . I know Pierre Salinger did it in the Kennedy Administration, tried to. He certainly fixed my wagon two or three times but and im sure hed never been to a diplomatic function, he didnt have the knowledge about these things that we had or that the east wing had in every case and im told the same thing was true in the Johnson Administration and they had to say, look, this is our baby and you got to butt out of it. \[laughter] was there one first lady that during the period you covered the white house who you think best used the quote unquote traditional role to the greatest political advantage . You dont want me to go back to abe lincoln, do you . I would think thinking along those lines earlier and i think of all things considering probably lady bird because she had tremendous political sense. She helped him wonderfully in campaigning. Once when she was campaigning for him, that possibly was when he was running for senator, she had to travel some distance to make a speech, to give a speech, and had an accident en route and was injured somewhat but she pulled herself together, thumbed a ride, i believe, got there and made a speech. How many people would do that . And then she picked out things like you touched on it the country. I was on that raft, too, with her and about 50 other unoutdoor types and that was one for the books, i can tell you. The water in the rio grande was shallow that the raft i was in and Liz Carpenter was in, she had to get up, and so did all the men. Just one other woman and myself remained and they had to drag it over the you know, it was so low. It was hysterical but lady bird was completely rounded as a hostess, campaigner, Political Awareness and of course the president made his daughters speak during campaigns. Hed call on them. Didnt make any difference if they were 14 and 16 or 12 and 14, whatever the difference in the ages, they had to get up and speak so he really expected has women to perform and they did. Mrs. Bush was very successful, the image of mrs. Bush, in a lot of the public goodwill things she did and im thinking specifically one we talk about with her was the time she went up and threw money into the Salvation Army pot when they were trying to do away with Salvation Army things at the mall. But do you think that were all of her photo ops and the successful things she participated in, the nonpolitical event, were they calibrated by her more as political events or as sending messages for the administration in a gentler way . I think certainly the Salvation Army, do you consider that a political thing . I dont. No, i think most of you had some things you do for the party but when you are in that position, the presidency, its official versus political most of the time. Youre doing things for the administration and you want to benefit the administration but youre doing things for all the people and your guest lists are bipartisan although perhaps you have some contributors on there probably and people doing business with those countries but youre the president of all the people and first lady of all the people so your calculation there is to make an impression on something thats worthwhile. In that case, the Salvation Army, at the time she held the aids baby. That was definitely planned because at that time people were thinking that you got aids by contact and you didnt. They didnt understand so this was a breakthrough. I dont know how cynical we can be. Hopefully some of these politicians, once they get in, do want to perform a public service. This is the problem of our elections right now, we have no trust in those who are running but it would be very nice to see that once they do get in office, in fact, they do want to perform and do something for our society and that is true so we cant say everything done is political once in office. That said, i open this question up for all of you, you know, mrs. Clinton, within a month being appointed to chair the president s commission on healthcare reform, theres been this past autumn all sorts of clamor about the fact that she is now assuming more of a traditional role, making goodwill appearances and doing nonpolitical things. Do you think that that perception of her as being a nontraditional kind of first lady is what ultimately has hurt her image or brought her numbers down . Do you think that by doing more quote unquote traditional types of events which are photographed and reported on throughout the nation, covered on the National News at night, that her numbers are going to come up . The world has changed and first ladies represent that. Barbara bush did a lot of work along with being a grandmother and mother and lover of dogs and everything else. Jackie was raised as her mother was raised. She was the same kind of wife and hostess. The home, the children, the entertaining with style and panache. That was her heritage and she did it again in the white house. Right after her administration, during the johnson years, the whole world erupted like volcanos. We had the women who went to work and got divorces and demanded equal rights. We had flower children and we had free love and free sex, boy oh, boy was it great for the young. I missed all that. [laughter] but the whole world changed and it became a whole new concept of women and i think mrs. Clinton today represents the new woman. I think shes receded into the background because theyve told her to recede and shes playing it cool but i cant imagine that she will remain in the back in the woodwork. I cant imagine that. Shes her own self and its another world. Chelsea will be like her mother. Our daughters were like us. Our mothers were like our grandmothers. We have to look at whats happened to women and its a great fomenting, revolutionary exciting time. The next first lady, god knows what shell be like. Hillary still did something no other first lady had done, by setting up that enormous Healthcare Commission of 400 people and then saying it could not be she would not release the names of the people and it would not be covered one minute and the next minute it turned out they did have certain government status so they should have been open for coverage so its been very sticky, that whole thing, and shes brought criticism on herself and also when she didnt frankly tell the truth about what came of their investments or about her futures investment when she said well she did it on her own and later she admitted someone helped her. They didnt make money in the investment, in fact, they lost, but they did make it. When youre in the public eye and you say one thing flatly one day and then say the reverse another day, people then question you on everything. I think were the last generation of people who like our parents did and i think thats really an important , think that the world is much, much more complex. Weve seen it, our economic political system, is all sort of in chaos, revolutionary and evolutionary change going on in the systems in which we are in and i think that therefore you have the white house and the controversy about it reflects this, that the issues are so complex that the public is angry and frustrated that there arent solutions and i think a lot of this reflects in how we feel about this maybe about the presidency and people are saying the presidency is unmanageable. Well, maybe being first lady is unmanageable, too, in todays world. There is no definition of the role of a first lady, it is a you cannot come out there without being criticized. She wasnt elected, theres no mention of her in the constitution, shes not paid and she cant do right because we expect her to be perfect and we dont know what perfect is so we want her to look good but we dont want her to be a clothes horse. We want her to be a great hostess but we dont want her to buy china, we want her to be intelligent but not opinionated so no matter what you do, you know, you cant win. [applause] i want to say, in lots of ways, i have a great deal of trouble with the word role. Now, maybe i come to this trouble from working from the inside, but it seems to me what really happens here are questions of how these people lead their lives. I mean, what their styles are, how they feel about their children, their childrens involvement, you know, putting the grandson in the photograph, i forget which harrison. Harrison i didnt see that as a ploy maybe they i can can see just wanting to have the grandchild included, not doing it for specific political purposes. In the kennedy years, the press was always on mrs. Kennedy to photograph those two beguiling children. She didnt want it. She wanted to guard their privacy above all but then once a year she would do something flamboyant such as putting them in the sled, the old 19th century sled when there was snow on the south ground, she hitched up the pony and off they went, children and mrs. Kennedy in this old wonderful sleigh riding all over the south lawn in the snow. That was her way of saying to the press, leave us alone for another year now, weve done this for you. I think the first ladies do that consciously. They do want to help the press get their story, they want to cooperate but they want to have it their idea. Theres a symbiotic relationship between the press and the reporters i mean, and the white house. You write stories and sometimes youre either excluded i have been excluded from white house dinners, i was thrown out of the nixon white house. Bad manners . \[laughter] i drank my finger bowl. No, there is a symbiotic relationship that goes on now between the president and all reporters and first rule of politics is to get in power and stay in power and first lady does not want to be responsible for having her husband driven from office and thats the bottom line so therefore you do a lot of things you might not want to do just like reporters reporters report in a sense what their editors want and again i think the fact that you have many more women reporters, that theyre reporting and seeing Different Things and asking questions, i think theres been a social revolution, too, but certainly no woman reporter would have covered the white house with a lot of philandering president s in it would have gotten out and been more widely reported and i think thats why you have a lot of these i think we are examining our own lives and thats how were examining more of the lives of the president and his wife as we think we look more deeply into how families work and how family systems work, i dont want to go into psycho babble or anything but i really think we project the questions we have about ourselves on our leaders and i think thats been the role of leaders since the beginning of time. The press wants to deal with a lot of surface issues. They want an active first lady but they want to talk about clothes, what theyre serving for dinner and whos coming to dinner and you cant get beyond that and here you have a first lady who doesnt have power because she wasnt given power by the constitution but shes given power by the press and theyre going to write about her no matter what and what they write about her becomes quite one dimensional so you dont see beyond that and its hard for us to grasp and theres a lot of jealousy. She becomes frightened if shes twodimensional. Look what happened to betty ford about her daughter, when she was frank. . It, its very positive and usually if youre on the right side its going to come out ok but you have to be able to deal with it and its very tough. Ford was such a success because she told the truth and thats so extraordinary in politics, it is so rare that everybody here liked her immediately because she came out and said and they knew it was the truth. But she also did Something Else which was very successful and susan and sheila having both worked for her and that is she had it both ways in the sense that she was able to speak out on equal rights amendment and abortion and use hot button issues and at the same time present the image of a devoted quote unquote traditional wife and mother, a woman who has her husbands concerns and childrens concerns, who liked to entertain, was involved in the menus, still playing the expected oldfashioned role and yet maybe the press gave her the leeway because she did that. One of the best social secretaries ever and i really do, i think you were great, nancy. You should hold your hand up and what they did was and i dont call this political was to use the dinner parties as a way that you bring in different kinds of people, you mix, you match, and it became a very important well, like the kennedys, use that, as well, influence the whole world. And people gave dinner parties like crazy and copied your menus and so forth as they always do with the white house but today entertaining is dropping down. People are not having anyone over for dinner anymore. Theyre not, theyre not going to the trouble and so its very important, first lady, its even more important that she talk about the entertaining and the clintons are entertaining but theres got to be more and more and more because we need to do more and more and have our friends over. Then what happens when the press does what they did, for example, to nancy reagan, which is drawing the harsh economic realities of maybe the average american, then the press picks up on the parties and this and that and theyre criticized and it turns against them politically. Youre damned if you do and damned if you dont in the white house. What was interesting about nancy reagan that was they were not this great loving family. She didnt speak to some of her children. She never had her grandchildren to the white house and the press ignored it and that was very interesting and yet they carried off this idea that they were really somehow or other they were the grandparents or whatever we all needed but they never had their children over and never presented that image. They were very close to each other. Well, what about their children . The children were all she said to me once, i said, why is it, nancy, youre the first first lady whose children ive never seen at the white house. She said, well, betty, all our children are grown and have their own lives and are living elsewhere. But it is true no, it is true that the four children who some of them were fully grown, most of them, i guess, they were all adults, but they were younger than nancys children but we all know what patty davis is like anyhow, so i think the first ladies have been fantastic. We havent had one as long as i can remember and your history is a lot better than mine, thats been scandalous, thats badly behaved and a lousy hostess. Theyve all been warm, loving, great first ladies. I think we are jolly lucky. No, i feel that way theyve been a lot of better than many of their husbands have been. \[applause] its an outrage that they cannot fly on the president ial plane. They should be allowed to, i mean, on their own. They dont get paid. I dont think they should be able to for personal things, no. They get no salary and if theyre going to do anything thats official, if you mean just to go up and have a wing ding in new york or something, no. But or to meet some other man \[laughter] but i do think, when speaker sam rayburn died, lady bird, the president didnt think it was right for her to use the airplane. She took a commercial plane, she sat down, at one airport, i think it was atlanta, and had to wait three hours, and finally bought one at 3 00 a. M. , and the exhaustion for someone who did so much for all of us for the country it is better now. I think things like the libyan crisis, there are Real Security factors here. They do not want to bunt off that they do it. [laughter] also, you tie up a lot of plea a lot of people. The fact of the matter is, it is not that simple. First of all, they go in and everybody has to wait and you become a big show while you are doing it. It is not a simple thing. There are a lot of reasons. Eight secret service men going with you. I wanted to ask you about pat nixon during watergate. You were with her in the appointments and scheduling. I am wondering if there are any times that during those watergate months that it was particularly difficult, every time she went to an event regarding some purpose, theo press would ask. nngnm;nylcnm her in saying she would or wouly she went ahead and did her schedule. I can remember that one outburst when asked something about the most recent water gate, she said, i love my husband, and she really had it up to here with it. She was always grace us and they went ahead and was always grateful. I remember always interviewing her at watergate and she was sitting and watching the redskins game and knew i would ask about watergate because that was the unspoken agreement, if you wanted the tv footage about her watching the redskins game, you did not ask about watergate. When she agreed to make an appearance for the trimmings of christmas season, people said, what do you think about watergate . What about such and such . She would hold her head high and say, i know the truth and the truth sustains me. Everyone thinks she knew the truth. I do not think she did but she thought she did. And she said, the truth sustains me. Julie was the same way, too. She had a press conference. I did a tv interview with her. Again, it was the Wire Services that changed things. I am going back to saying when helen came to the white house in 1960 to cover Jacqueline Kennedy because male editors thought she was a story, that is when reporting really change. Before people did write about what people wore, she then started interviewing people about political issues and asked her about the scandal of the day. Everything changed. Since then, Washington Society existed no more. She said she would go and sally would write soandso got drunk. People stopped inviting people to parties. Also, the press used to make the first lady and the president really mad at those white house functions. The press would corner all the heads of state and top guns and corner them and make none of the guests the senior ranking guests could have access. It was always a war between the president and the first lady. I remember you had a meeting with all of us and said, will you please not surround of the special guests, the movie stars and the celebrities and he said [indiscernible] [laughter] very well behaved. People magazine and the People Magazine mentality and reporting came along right at the beginning of the ford administration, the last months of the Nixon Administration. You began to see with betty ford questions of a personal nature reported in several People Magazine stories that you would never have before people ask. The personal detail questions about marriage, the intimate questions about children, nobody dared to ask mrs. Johnson or mrs. Nation nixon whether the johnson girls or nixon goes whether they smoked marijuana but they asked the ford children. There are a lot of factors. The development of the media. Really, people were tired of the Nixon Administration and the lack of information and the lack of candor. They wanted candor and frankness and they wanted to know about the people because character says something about performance. But she was there. I knew her from day one. She was ready to ask. I do not have to defend People Magazine anymore. Lets just say, i think what happened, television happened in america. There were people sitting on television answering every question. If youd say to the present United States, which i did, how do you feel about people playing football without a helmet, and he would say, let me tell you, i went to yale law school. I am really smart. And i would say, who is crazy . Me for asking the question or him for answering . Therefore, i was surprised they would answer the question but you would go out and answer the question. I left People Magazine, and there was a huge brouhaha when they said they would see the white house aides in the Carter Administration smoking cocaine or whatever. This became a huge issue and they did not have people to do it. The question was, why do people answer the question . He was sitting there. We were having an interview. It is not abuse that our Public Officials are put to. That kind of question the football without a helmet. The night he was named, they said he could not walk and chew gum at the same time and that is what people were saying. Therefore, you talked and said, how do you feel. I cannot defend him for answering it. Mrs. Ford, the whole ford thing became very bizarre because when he tripped coming off the plane, and i was there and ron denied the president tripped. Then we had videotape. We played the videotape back. We thought he had been shot. Suddenly, the president disappeared from view. We were very frightened. It turned out he tripped. Then mrs. Ford talked about it. There was a coffee table. [laughter] she had a wonderful way with the press. When they would ask the really tough questions, he would say, joe, i cannot believe you asked me that, then he would go, right over there and another reporter would ask the next question. I could not believe my ears when president clinton answered the young 16yearold girl about underwear. You are exactly right on television, people say anything, then you feel you have no privacy. You have to answer the question that somebody asked you. I want to let people in the audience know we will start taking some audience questions if you come to the microphone. Go ahead. In Jackie Kennedys tour of the white house, i think it was charles asked her, they were in the east room, and she was talking about the Gilbert Stuart portrait of washington, and she was very knowledgeable and this was the first time this kind of thing had happened and she said, are you trying to connect the art with policy . She answered, that is such a tough question. I really believed it was because of her efforts that went in johnson signed. Absolutely. Why could she not take credit for that . She was an oldfashioned, traditional woman. She used to Lobby Congress all the time for her programs. She would call up the speaker of the house and say, will you do a favor for me today . In a whispery voice. Speaker would go right in and put through any legislation she asked. [laughter] even though she was an Old Fashioned girl in that way, she had a lot of power and she used it on congress. She did. The whole cultural thing. It was really jackie kennedy. It was jackies idea. The reason she could not take credit for it is because even today, for a to be ambitious, it is not permissible. Women cannot be ambitious. Things just happen to us. I just happen to cover the white house. I am very serious. Planning is known as scheming. You cannot take credit for it or else you are widely criticized for it. I asked barbara the question and got sidestepped. Do they wanted as much . Was Jack Killeen Kennedy ambitious . She wanted the white house. She did not like the political world, smoking in her living room and ruining her draperies. She wanted the white house as much as he did. She wanted to be the first lady of land. They are all dying for it. Just one first lady i have known who did not is beth truman. There is no question about it. She did not like it and he could have run again even though they passed a law that you could not have two terms, seven years. Fdrs unfinished term. He could have run again. He told me talking to president s. [laughter] in your bedroom. He told me he did not think he should run again because of the law. In a sense, it was almost seven years. It was really bess truman. I have seen her at a party. I think it was a Party Reception to the club in march and talk to her briefly and was so sure he would not run again. She didnt. He spent a lot of time did not like the white house. Nixon campaigned beside him throughout. I think she never really dreamed of being in the white house. She would shake 4000 hands in one afternoon. She did not have the ambition. She did not have it. We will find out in heaven. [laughter] 1960 election, she was ambitious. 1960. From what i have read and from what i know, in 1968, she was not. She did it because she wanted to. She once said, ive given up up everything ive ever cared for in my life to make my husband president. After the california governorship, she had really had it. My question concerns questions to first ladys that probably should not be asked, and questions that should not be answered. If a first lady declines to answer a question, she will probably get more negative fallout from refusal to answer than if she intrigued answers. Is that a correct or incorrect assumption . It might be the way she handled it. Things got personal. She should not handle it that way. She should come right out and say, it is tasteless and bad and disgusting. [applause] i do not think first ladies get asked terrible questions. You ask politicians terrible questions, but i do not think they have been asked terrible questions. The media is so me now, it is unbelievable. Mean now, it is unbelievable. A woman should be able to a president should be able to express his or her opinion. You are in a position to affect change. This is a symbolic office, but you have the opportunity to really do good and to not take advantage of it is a real shame. It does happen too often, perhaps, to the first ladies. I would like to see them answer legitimate questions and express their opinions and do something very meaningful for society. Last week, we had someone on and she was incredible in terms of the detail. [applause] the detail and the projects and the social issues she is involved in and the style questions and entertaining never came up. And yet, you had a woman who came into this position in 1977 and yet, as she said, they remembered the things, she did not serve liquor, she did not necessarily designer clothes. They remembered the down style, the cartoons, because, what you do as well as what you say reverberates. It makes an effect, so no matter what it is, you have to be aware it will land somewhere. There are all sorts of messages in there. You put that very well. It is not only what you say but what you do, particularly with the first lady. Next question . Tonight, i saw on the the news, a quick segment concerning mrs. Clinton. It involved her talking at a school. It may have been a school with low income children. It had to do with something involving dresses for schoolchildren. I thought, it is nice she is coming out now again in the public and they are trying to do something concerning her image. What struck me was the last line the newscaster said was that the poor children had to wait two hours to eat their breakfast. I thought, my question is, in terms of your knowledge and involvement with other first ladies, how many times does this happen where the first lady is out to do something good and the press distorts it and it comes out not the way it should have been . A second thing is, a frivolous question, in terms of the image of first ladies, what do you think of all of the focus when mrs. Bush had her pearls and also mrs. Clinton, and all the changes in the image of trying to have a sense of her fashion . First of all, i did not see the segment tonight, but it sounds to me like she had inexperienced people, maybe. To keep the children from eating her breakfast, their breakfast, if that is true, and probably mrs. Clinton, if she found about found out about it, would be irate. No good deed goes unpunished. [laughter] every time you try to do something to be really helpful, you get socked in the face. I bet the children were thrilled to be able to see the first lady. Do do you think that happens a lot now that the media is meaner than it used to be . Everyone is meaner. I think it is a tough society we are living in. It is a lot easier in the eisenhower, truman, rosen felt roosevelt area. They are no longer reporting the news. They are digging for dirt. We cannot dump this entirely on the press. What has happened is that the audience has become more important in the story. It is all those people watching television, buying the newspapers and buying the magazines. If people did not, they would report something different. [applause] respond and then we have one more question. ÷ pearls, you probably do notan remember, but when mrs. Bush became the Vice President , the color of her hair was a big dna n she had a great way she handledn it. She said, if you like my hair and you write and tell me, i have a great form letter i will send you. If you do not like my hair and you tell me, i have a great form letter to send you. It was true. Maybe they are real. I do not know. She did know how to handle. Not answering questions. Last question. Ms. Mason, as a graduate student seriously considering a career in broadcast journalism, why does the press take silly things and blow them into Something Big . For example, asking the president , why do you play football without wearing a helmet, and the fact that he tripped going to an airport or something, and all the sex scandals going on. Even though that tabloid trash sells, does not the media want to take a new approach and focus more on real issues that concern american citizens . The media does that, the New York Times, for the most part, but there are newspapers and magazines that do that. I think, again, that you have to go back to the point that a basic thing has happened in american journalism. The story is no longer the object it is the audience. It is a perversion as it comes over from business. People are buying the magazines. If you do not like it, you do not have to watch it and you do not have to read it. I think, the media is competing. One of the great unreported stories is that no one ever calls nightly news and says, there is not a story today at the white house. It depends on how often you are on the air and how controversial you are. This is one of the great unreported stories. The competition is much greater. When betty and i were reporting covering the white house, so there were maybe 10 reporters at that time. How many were there . There is a huge incredible competition where the world is much more complex. Dan rather got his big promotion. It is television people. He got his big promotion after he was really rude to president nixon and the way he questioned him. Without standing up for president nixon, it is the often the office of presidency demands respect. If we do not have respect, who will . We have to. The way he phrased that, it was outright rude. But, he would stand out and he ended up being anchorman. I can i think we can blame the media and im the first to do that. I also think we blame the politicians because they should be questioned. Theyre less candid and that is why we are probing in the wrong way. What has happened has been a great perversion of what should be going on. But i think perhaps we need a little self examination. I think people get governments they deserve and the wars they deserve and the social service they deserve. If you do not like it, go out and become active in politics. Change the world. I am very serious. Before you finish, i was going to say, when people say, what policy should a first lady quality should a first lady have . The Democratic National committee staged the lives of the candidates had them on the stage, and they were all there aexcept jackie kennedy. Andshe was pregnant. His sister was in unit. They were asking these questions. A anyhow, so they asked this question, what quality should a first lady half. She said, it does not make any difference. Whoever is the wife of the president , of the candidate who wins, that is all. It makes no difference what quality she has. Maybe i mean, in some respects, regardless of who holds the position, whether it is a woman who worked as an attorney for years as as hillary clinton, everyone is going to transfer, whoever it is. They are saying what quality should a first lady have, it doesnt make a difference. I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I would also like to [laughter] [applause] sheila managed to come and rearrange your schedule in the last few hours and claire in the last few hours and betty in the last week. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] as the Second Season of first ladies begins on monday. In the meantime, you go watch the episodes in our video library. The first lady reflects the schism that is in the United States about what women are supposed to be today. Are we supposed to be mom in chief . Or first mate . That if the president is supposed to be head of state and head of government, is a first lady supposed to be the ideal fashionista . Or is she supposed to be mom in ifef or first help make . Shes going to be first help make, she really has to understand what is going on in the administration. She has understand what is going on in the country enter husbands political agenda. You cannot really separate how the first lady presents herself and the conflicting expectations that the country still has four working wives and mothers. As we continue our conversation on first ladies on historians talk about the role of the first lady and is move from traditional to activism. And the transitioning from public to private lives on monday night on cspan. Tonight, the father of Trayvon Martin speaks to members of congress about his son to death and the challenges facing young black men. Former president jimmy carter talks about the potential for relief peace talks. The key events that led to the cease fire between north and south korea 60 years ago. Senate intelligence member is our guest. The senator has been outspoken critic of the surveillance and Data Collection programs. He talks about the response in congress including a boat in the house this past week to halt the nsa program. Newsmakers is on sunday here on cspan. Also sunday, and look at the immigration status. Subcommitteeiciary heard testimony from two witnesses who described the hardships of living as undocumented immigrants. House leaders are working on a bill. You can watch the hearing on sunday beginning at 10 35 a. M. Eastern. Fox this is a website this a website. The history of Popular Culture. And to say pop culture is quite more than that. What ive been trying to do with detaile is go into more with how Popular Culture impacts politics and sports and other arenas. It is not just about pop culture. What we have of the site are stories about popular music, sports biographies, history of media, newspapers. There are a range of things. When i formulated the site, i cast a wide net to see what would work. Doyle sundayjack at 8 00. The newly formed congressional caucus on black men and boys held its first meeting this past week. A group of africanamerican men including tracy martin, the father of Trayvon Martin and Michael Eric Dyson and a former president of the naacp and spoke about challenges facing young black men including poverty, racial profiling, and childcare. They hear is for wednesday. The hearing is from wednesday
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