Transcripts For CSPAN First Lady Lou Hoover 20131015

Painful recession. Were not interested in negotiating on those terms because its not in the best interest of the American People. Im pleased that weve been joined by the distinguished representative from the great state of california, let me now yield time to representative barbara lee. Mr. Lee thank you very much. First let me thank you, both congressman jeffries and congress mrman horsford, for your tremendous leadership, your vigilance and your diligence. And we appreciate your conducting these special orders to make sure that the American People know the truth about whats taking place here in washington, d. C. Ms. Lee also i have to salute our chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlelady from ohio, congresswoman marcia fudge, for her leadership and he suring that the entire member the entire Congressional Black Caucus continues to be the conscience of the congress. Here we are 14 days into the Tea Party Republican shutdown and three days away from the Party Republican government default, which would be the first in american history. Since taking control of the house of representatives two years ago, the tea party has governed by brinksmanship. First they were unable to accomplish their goals of decimating the government through legislation, so they have resorted to the type of tactics that eventually led to the sequester and to the shutdown of the federal government. Now, the last time that the republicans refused to lift the debt ceiling and relied on bringsmanship to get their way, a supercommittee was formed as way to reach compromise. Which of course didnt work and that led to the sequester which has caused devastating acrosstheboard cuts to programs that the American People rely on, including 57,000 slats slots which were cut from head start already. And services such as meals on wheels that our seniors depend on for a nutritious diet. As a member of the Appropriations Committee and the budget committee, i have joined democrats in demanding an end to sequester and fought to restore the cuts to these vital programs. Yet even though we disagree with the funding level that these reckless cuts enacted, sequester as a horrific action that we took, unfortunately. Its wreaked havoc on the lives of so many people. Even though we oppose that, we have agreed to vote for this budget, to reopen the government, and to put people back to work and to provide the desperate services that people need. Then of course to add insult to injury, republicans insisted on shutting down the government, all because of an obsession with repealing and destroying the Affordable Care act. Now, the Affordable Care act is the law of the land. It has been upheld by the Supreme Court and americans are finally enrolling in coverage that theyve been waiting for for years. Just to gain access to Affordable Health care. In fact, in its first week, the covered California Exchange in my home state had nearly one million visits to its website and californians have begun filling out nearly 44,000 applications for coverage. The only thing that the Tea Party Republicans have accomplished with this shutdown is the loss of nearly 4 billion in Economic Activity and misery and pain for the American People. They continue to deny federal workers, the National Park service, lifesaving cancer research, pregnant women, mothers, young children, seniors and veterans who have risked their lives for the nation, they have denied them a fully functioning government. With shame and disgrace. In my own county, funds for the wip, infant and Children Nutrition program and funds for the temporary assistance for needy families, these funds will run out at the end of the month. These are consequences of the default. Republicans have simply refused to listen to what the vast majority of americans are saying. And now the Tea Party Republicans are willing to risk the nations Credit Rating and the World Economy to achieve their goals. If the tea party refused to raise the debt ceiling and force a default on this nations debt, which, mind you, are bills that we have agreed to pay, every American Household will feel the impact. Retirement savings will be lost. Mortgages will be harder to get. The full faith and credit of the United States is nonnegotiable. We are not a deadbeat nation and should pay our bills. Its time for the Tea Party Republicans to end the brinksmanship, open the government up, put people back letsk, pay our bills and begin to negotiate on a real budget that ensures the American Dream for millions of americans who this dream now quite frankly is turning into a nightmare. Thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Jeffries congresswoman lee, thank you for continuing to be an unyielding advocate for the down ready toen, the disaffected and the disenfranchised in such a tremendous way. Et me now yield to the distinguished member of the freshman class, also joining us from the great state of texas, my good friend, representative marc veasey. Mr. Veasey mr. Speaker, id like to take the time to thank my friend from new york and the gentleman from nevada for helping put together this special order hour on whats really important in this country and we know just how vital and vibrant we want our economy to be and its hard to do that if were not taking care of our credit. And i appreciate both of these gentleman for gentlemen for taking this hour to talk about this. I would also like to thank my colleague from texas, Sheila Jackson lee, who spoke so eloquently on so many different areas in government that would be affected if we were to have a shutdown and how the Affordable Care act is helping americans. Helping working americans do better. And whether youre from houston, where sheila is, or the north texas where, where im from, in the dallasfort worth area, people are concerned. People are starting to get very worried about the very dangerous prospect of approaching the legal debt limit, since we are only three days away from default. In 2011 the Credit Agency Standard Poors downgraded the u. S. Credit rating for the first time in history. S p said this back then, the political bringsmanship of recent months highlights what we see as americas governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective and less predictable than what we previously believed. The legal debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Following that particular downgrade, it is estimated that job growth took a 28 nosedive. Can we afford a 28 nosedive right now . I think not. This also cost americans more than 200,000 jobs, right when were starting to do better. The economy is starting to be kicked into motion, from what was a very bad period over the last several years. We cant afford 200,000 jobs right now. We have to do everything we can to get ourselves out of the situation that were in now. Also important is that Consumer Confidence dropped to levels mirroring those during the great recession. Which had a negative impact on Economic Activity. The g. A. O. Found that taxpayers paid 1. 3 billion in additional interest. Let me repeat. That the g. A. O. Found that Hardworking Taxpayers paid 1. 3 billion in additional interest costs because of the delayed 2011 debt limit increase. Is that what we want the Hardworking Taxpayers of our country to have to pay, additional taxes because we cant get our act together . Because the republicans cant get their act together on the debt ceiling . Two years after the s ps bleak assessment, and the clear economic data, here we are again, brought to the brick. Brink. What must be clear is what the debt limit is and what it is not. Increasing the debt limit does not increase the federal debt. It does not give a blank check to our government to spend all it wants. Increasing the debt limit will simply allow the federal government to pay bills that congress has already accrued. Some of the payments of the federal government must make are Interest Payments on treasury bonds, Social Security and medicare benefits, military, active duty pay, retirement and v. A. Benefits. If the tea party refuses to allow the government to honor these financial obligations, that are so dear to many of americans, to our family members, to people in our communities, then investors will likely lose faith in the government and demand higher Interest Rates for treasury bonds. We cannot allow our country to become a dead beat nation that doesnt pay its bills. Lets move beyond these silly partisan games. We have the American Economy at stake here. And more importantly, we have the economic livelihood of every american in our hands. The full faith and credit of the United States should not be up for negotiation. It is time for congress to raise the debt limit like they have in the past so many times before. And for republicans to end their losing game of brinksmanship and realize that they are damaging american lives every day. Lets do more for the Hardworking Taxpayers in our country that make our country great. I yield back. I want to thank the gentleman. Mr. Jeffries i thank the distinguished gentleman from texas. For his observations and for hiser to cal analysis. Thingsg out that raising have occurred throughout the last century here in america. , want to enter into the record White House Correspondent that reads in part as follows. This country now possesses the strongest credit in the world. The full consequences of a default or even a serious prospect of default by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic Financial Markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The nation can ill afford to allow such a result. Mr. Speaker, this letter is dated november 16, 1983. And those words were written by then president Ronald Reagan to Senate Majority leader howard baker. The nation can ill afford to allow such a result. Ronald reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times during his two terms. And yet our good friends on the other side of the aisle want to come here and lecture president obama as if hes being irresponsible when the paragon of conservative president ial leadership recognized the necessity on 18 occasions and as memorialized in this correspondence of raising the debt ceiling. Were pleased that weve been joined by the distinguished gentlelaid fromy from columbus, ohio, who from column gentlelady from columbus, ohio, who has conducted herself with such grace here and were proud to call her a member of this freshman class. I yield now to representative joyce beatty. Mrs. Beatty thank you, mr. Speaker. And thank you, mr. Jeffries and to mr. Horsford. It is an honor for me to stand here on this floor with you. As a colleague in our freshman class. But first let me thank you for your leadership and also to congresswoman marcia fudge from my great state of ohio, as president of the Congressional Black Caucus. As i stand here tonight, i am reminded of the words of Martin Luther king. When he said, the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in a time of comfort and convenience. But where he stands in a time of challenge and controversy. Mr. Speaker, i rise today during this time of challenge and strongersy to express my concern over republicans failure to immediately raise our countrys debt limit. The failure to act is threatening an imminent default on our nations financial raising the debt ceiling does not grow our deficit, but allows the treasury to pay for what this congress has already spent. What are the facts . Since 1917, the debt limit has been raised 103 times. In recent history, it has been raised 45 times. And as you have heard my colleagues state 18 times during Ronald Reagans presidency. And in 237 years since our countrys founding, we have never defaulted on our financial obligation. Yes, never. But if republicans refuse to increase the debt limit by october 17, the secretary of the treasury has indicated very clearly that we wont be able to pay our outstanding debts on time. Quite frankly, this is unthinkable. The full faith and credit clause of the United States constitution directs that the United States will pay all its debt in full and on time, every time. Americas full faith and credit has been the basis for our Global Economic superiority for at least 100 years. Like ordinary americans, if the federal government does not pay its bills on time, then when it comes to time to borrow in the future, the Interest Rates we pay will be much higher. If the debt limit is not raised, americans will feel the impact immediately, both directly and indirectly. Who louises . Payments owed to who loses. Payments owed to our soldiers will be delayed. Four million disabled receive monthly payments. If we default, they will not receive their benefits on november 1. In my home, the great state of receive 3 veterans disability compensation. It would be unthinkable for us to fail to pay them and the benefits they have earned for their services. Who loses . The debt ceiling is not raised, more than 36 million Social Security recipients will not received of receive their earned benefits. In ohio, many rely on Social Security to make their ends meet. A default would force them to choose between paying their rent or buying groceries. It is not a choice that congress should force on our constituents. Americans will see a sharp spike on Interest Rates offered on home mortgages, credit cards, car payments, Student Loans. The spike will have an immediate, devastating, negative impact on our Nations Housing recovery, which has been a driving force in recent economic growth. If americans default, the average homeowner will pay an extra 100 a month in increased Interest Rates. This will cost families 36,000 over the life of a typical 30year home loan. And as the stock market reacts to the most significant defaults in modern history, you can expect to see drops in your i. R. A. s, 401ks. Just last week, the secretary of the treasury reported that if the nation were to default on our debt, the results would be catastrophic, yes, catastrophic with many pleesk that it would lead to the events of the magnitude of the late 2008 or worse. We are still recovering from the worst recession in 80 years. We simply cannot afford to go backwards. To go to doubledigit unemployment, declining housing. Alues, the Financial Markets americans deserve swift action. I implore House Republican leadership to bring to the floor a bill which will raise the debt limit so the treasury can continue to pay all of its bills on time. And lastly, i turn to the other imminent crisis, reopening the federal government. Throughout this hour, you have heard my colleagues talk about the choices that you force americans to make when you try to piecemeal our funding. And its worth me repeating to say, its like having a family and having parents having seven children and decide that youre only going to feed three of them and watch the other four children starve before your eyes. We stand on this floor as democrats and republicans every day and we talk about how we care for this america, how we want to provide services, but yet, were making americans make a choice between n. I. H. Funding for children who are cancer patients, who need to be in clinical trials. We make a decision to pull the funding, federal funding in 11 states, that theyre losing their head start grants. And the list goes on and on. This is not the america i know. This is not the america i love. Americans deserve better. Lets reopen the doors of government and lets raise our debt ceiling. And i yield back. Mr. Jeffries i thank the distinguished gentlelady from ohio for her eloquent remarks. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining on this special order . The speaker pro tempore nine minutes. Mr. Jeffries we have also been joined by another distinguished member of the freshman class, representative from great state of new jersey, my good friend, congressman donald payne. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I recognize may you and say you look very good in that chair. Mr. Speaker, i would like to thank the gentleman from new york and the gentleman from nevada for having this special order tonight and also our tireless and fearless leader, marcia fudge, chairwoman of the c. B. C. In saying, catastrophic, chaotic, a nuclear bomb, these are just some of the words of our Top Economists and Business Leaders have used to describe what will happen to our economy if congress chooses not to pay our bills on time. The last time we flirted with not paying our bills on time, the economy flew into a tailspin. The markets plummeted. Consumer confidence took a nose dive. Our Credit Rating was downgraded and our economic recovery came to a screeching halt. And that was when we only got close to a default. If we actually defaulted, the short and longterm consequences will be unimaginable. So if this is the case, how did we get ourselves here again . The answer is simple. An extreme group of the republican party, the tea party, obsessed with defunding the Affordable Care act, that they are even willing to shut down the government and hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage. Now what does that mean, the full faith and credit . Mr. Speaker, when i hear that, it makes me think about what this nation has meant to the world, about what this nation has done for its people, the full faith and credit of the United States. I wouldnt want that on my conscience, that i was part of this body when it defaulted, because thats what you will be remembered for. You were here during the darkest time in this nations history. It is irresponsible that a small group would hold the American Economy hostage simply because they dont like one president ial policy or the man. The Affordable Care act is already the law. Even now that the government is closed because of the republican shutdown, the law is going into effect as we speak. So i urge my reasonable colleagues on the other side to listen to the American People, because the people in my district are still hurting from the economic recession. They dont need a manufactured crisis on top of it. And i will yield back at this time. Mr. Jeffries i thank the distinguished the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Speaker, i just ask unanimous consent that the november 16, 1983 letter from president reagan to Senate Majority leader howard baker be entered into the record. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Jeffries let me now yield to my good friend, my coanchor on the c. B. C. Special order hour of power to close us out for the evening, representative horsford from the great state of nevada. Mr. Horsford im proud to coanchor this special order hour each week with you, migrate friend from the great state of new york. Mr. Jeffries, and to all of my colleagues who came out tonight to put a real face to the real issues that are affecting america this day. To our leader, the chairlady of the Congressional Black Caucus, thank you for your steadfast leadership in making sure that all issues are addressed on this floor. You know, i listened to the other side of the aisle for more than an hour before coming to our special order. And i tried to make sense of the arguments that they were making tonight. But you you know what . Their piecemeal approach to funding the government makes no sense. And this chart signifies just what a piecemeal approach to government looks like. This chart makes it look like the g. O. P. Has approached funding our government like a game of pacman. This isnt a game. There are lives at stake. Time for Speaker Boehner and the republicans to realize its game over. Us on work with those of the democratic side in the house and our leadership in the senate and the president to reopen government. Americans across the country are already hurting from this republicanled Government Shutdown. In my district alone, 11,000 citizens of nevada have been furloughed, leaving families struggling to pay their bills on time while putting food on the table. I recently returned from my district and had a town hall with constituents to hear the effects that this Government Shutdown and the impending debt ceiling would have on the constituents of my district. One constituent, fred, shared his story with me. He is a veteran. Who now works for the v. A. He is worried on october 25, he will not get his paycheck as a medical Services Coordinator for the v. A. And then on november 1, he may not get his check and the benefits hes entitled as a veteran. Ow fred said hes living pay check to paycheck. What is he going to do november 1 when the rent is due, utility bills are due and time to put food on his table . Because republicans are now determined to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage because Speaker Boehner is too busy cattering to his fringe of radicals in his caucus. Fromo have received tweets cbctalks. One constituent in my district says with the debt ceiling not being lifted, the women and infant and Children Program closes, 200 families and 15 employees will be furloughed. The child care subsidy would affect upwards of 225 children per day and some 60 employees will be furnish load. Chamber says urban that nevada businesses are being impacted by the Government Shutdown. It is killing small businesses. Open it. The fear is real. And then i got a question from the clark county black caucus asking or saying that their members are nervous that they wont receive Social Security or unemployment checks on the first of the month. What should i tell them . Well, i stand here, me and my colleagues, along with the house democrats, in support of a clean debt ceiling increase that ensures that the full faith and credit of the United States of america is protected. And avoid as republican default. Our constituents have already suffered enough from this shutdown. We need to be representing the peoples interests, not punishing them. Refusing to raise the debt ceiling carries serious implications as all of my colleagues have discussed tonight. For an already fragile economy, if we allow the republicans to default on our debt, middle class American Families and the poor would be forced to pay higher Interest Rates for mortgages, auto loans, Student Loans and credit cards. Veterans will be affected, disability benefits will not come on time. Is this any way to send a message to our veterans . So we call on our colleagues tonight, youve left the building, but we are here and we will stay and work as long as it takes to ensure that our obligations are met, that the government is reopened and that we meet our obligations to pay our bills. I yield back. Mr. Jeffries mr. Speaker, lets reopen the government, raise the debt ceiling and get back to doing the business of the American People and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the entlemans time has expired. The speaker pro tempore does the gentleman from new york have a motion . Mr. Jeffries mr. Speaker, i move that the house do now adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly the house stands in adjournment until 10 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning for morning hour debate. , lou hoovery graduated from stanton with a degree in geology and was fluent in several languages. She played a role in the founding of the girl scouts of america. Right now, we will join first ladies, already in progress. They are not very happy at what happened. , it is ae hand positive gesture that Lewis Herbert hoover do. On the other hand, they do not build or maintain momentum beyond that. Them, aftereeded the depression, it had political ramifications. Part of a larger picture of difficulties that Herbert Hoover had with the congress. Both the republican congress, as you said. Win backthe democrats the house and that is more problematic. The problem that Herbert Hoover is not a politician. He has risen to the heights of secretary of commerce and then to president without ever holding elected office. The only other residents who have gone straight to the top have been generals. Herbert hoover does not have this background of dealmaking and dealing with politicians. He is quite superior towards politicians. He feels that he is the only person. Withes not get along politicians to do what he needs to do to make deals. Had ae past couples have wife ending up being the better politician. Was this the case . It was not. They were two sides of the same coin stopped in the same way that Herbert Hoover was not a politician because he was an or, louve administration was the same way. She was always in a leadership role where negotiation was not a skill that she had to develop. She was, in some respects, a little bit better able to handle troubled waters than herbert was. She did try to invite people for dinner where they could have an exchange of ideas and get him to talk about some of the issues that are going on. Wast of the time, she probably doing a lot of the same types of things that he was. As we mentioned, and she got rid of her social secretary and was no longer engaged in the social side of washington, that was an area that was shut down for them. Duncan. Good evening. I was just hearing about the experience that hoover may or may not have had with father Charles Coughlin. Who wasadio broadcaster using the airwaves do you know the story of father coughlin . Ande was a radio priest with the start of radio, he had an amazing idea to take his sermons onto the air and does so quite successfully with a Strong Political message. What was that message . It is a message of sharing wealth, in some ways. Regulating banks and businesses. He is considered to be both leftwing and incredibly isolationist. Actually, in terms of relationship with hoover, his Political Movement builds up 30s. M in the mid0 are there any parallels with today and the tea party . Absolutely. This is a new era and radio is showing that it has incredibly wonderful potential and a potential to give a voice to people who become demagogues. Like Charles Coughlin and huey long. These are movements that get going in the 1930s after Franklin Roosevelts election. There is this huge ideological battle going on, essentially, throughout the 1930s. Whether he is completely behind it or not, hoover is on one side of it and Franklin Roosevelt gets to be on the other. There are people in between who have our own movements who use the radio to promote it. Just to give you a topline glimpse of how much the country changed during years of the Great Depression, in terms of unemployment, on important it unemployment929 was 3. 2 in 1929. By 1933, it was 24. 9 . So, how did the hoovers, particularly lou hoover, use the white house when they realized the severity of the situation facing society. Was volunteerism and getting people to pitch in to help. Noticularly people who were impacted by the depression. She was involved in the girl scouts and four h clubs. She was involved in agricultural communities where they were still having success with the economy. Out had not really bottomed and she got them to get in there and share. To provide for the neighbors and see where there were needs. A clip of lou hoover encouraging the 4h. We have all read and heard so much about these organizations. This year, there are more people in need. More than usual in need of your care. There is something each one of you can do. A central achievement awaits you. Club, youfourh decide on a problem you will attack and you lay out a plan of action. You go to work to carry out that plan. You do it enthusiastically. How far could volunteerism go to address the scope of the problems of society . It is easy to ask that question now. We have to realize that nobody ever expected the Great Depression to be as deep, as severe, or as longlasting as it was. To be successful, in the short term, hoovers time with the u. S. Food administration and asking people to have meatless fridays and meatless mondays to consume food. Preserve food. These were more by what was going on in the economy and this was a more serious problem than anyone could understand at the time. Blake is watching us in arkansas. Thank you. I enjoy the show. I have a question about the relationship between Elenor Roosevelt and lou hoover. What did a millionaire heart have to do with the movers ash did emilio what ehrhardt have to do with the hoovers. It was obviously not very cordial. There was some discussion about not having the traditional night dinnerthe inauguration with the roosevelt because of how much hostility there was before the camp during the campaign. Mrs. Roosevelt became the first lady and she became the honorary president of the draw scouts. Girl scouts. Administrative position inside of the girl scouts and described mrs. Roosevelt as very cordial. Friendsers had been with the lynn burks. Burke lindbu rghs. Lou hoover was promoting volunteerism, she try to put things in front of. Ongress, like the hoover dam they do not sound very republican from this perspective. Why were they not affected in addressing what was happening effective in addressing what was happening . People do not understand how huge or how long this would last for. Hoover tries to do several aings, he tries to do it in complementary way to what lou is doing through volunteerism. He creates the present Emergency Committee on unemployment and he tries to get together all of the agencies of the state and local governments. The red cross. Totries to coordinate places coordinate information about unemployment and relief efforts. He tries to use the federal government in a noncoercive way to encourage people voluntary organizations to get more involved and know how they can get more involved. We are being watched in texas stop this is a great series. Museum. D the hoover hooversd what lou fascination was with embroidered flowers. Right the embroidered flowers that you saw were embroidered the women of belgium and they were sold as a way to raise money after world war i so that they could for just food. Purchase food. Hello john. Thank you for cspan. Is fromrs family waterloo, iowa. Knew the hoovers. My mothers family was involved in the creation of the party. Can iowa anyways, im bragging. All right. Thank you very much. Lots of personal connection. The hoovers took a personal approach to the stories. How did they respond to the stories and please for help p help. Or they were always getting letters for help. So, when she started getting letters and asking for requests for help, she had to determine how many of these were traditional letters and how many of ds were legitimate. And she got a letter that she thought was legitimate. She would pass it onto a friend. Should ask a friend if they were taken out and find out whether or not this is actually legitimate and who this person is. Whether or not they would benefit from assistance. And she got the word back from her friends that she was that this was somebody who would benefit, she would anonymously, usually through a friend or through somebody else in the community, she would anonymously send money to help that person. To ask whoever was being the transmitter of the funds to keep an eye out on the recipient and keep her posted on what was going on. They saw the creation of communities called hoovervilles. A march of the bonus marchers. How much was society affected . How did these hoovervilles affect the Public Perception of the economy . Have almost 20 unemployment and Everybody Knows somebody who has lost their job and is facing economic hardships. They start to be increasing protests. The bonus march was the most prominent. From world wars i who, in 1924, had been promised a bonus. An additional payment. That was going to mature in 1945. Calvin coolidge had vetoed this legislation in 1924. Tell. Passed over his the veto. Was about theh fact that they were suffering now and could not wait. Congress that they can loan a certain amount. Hoover disapproved. They passed it over his veto. Vetoed the bonus marchers and there were over 10,000 of them. They were trying to Push Congress to pass the full bonus. The house does and the senate does not. There is a situation where 10,000 people camp out in washington. They have effectively failed and congress. What do we do with them . Hoover makes a move where he asks the army to help move the bonus marchers. This turns into an incredibly graphic and violent episode. Macarthur uses pretty violent means to make them move on their way. This. Like like this. This does not look good at all. It does not look like he is concerned about the forgotten man. The stress on the hoovers had to be in enormous. Things they did was establish a retreat in the shenandoah mountains. We talk about what they do as a people and as a couple during the depression. The first time that the hoovers came to the camp was by horse back. There was no roads. They came up to the headwaters of the rapid river and there that164 acres for sale were sandwiched between two small streams. In those days, it was five dollars an acre. For less than a thousand dollars, they purchased 164 acres. She was instrumental in the design of this camp. And shows her love of nature and her simplest today. She enjoyed being outdoors. It is the opposite of other buildings that they had in their life. They tried to create a retreat where they could relax and get back to nature. She wanted the house to be outside as much as possible. She had a design where the windows would open and screens would let the air in. She could smell the outdoor smells coming through into her room. Yet, at the inside, same time, have the feeling of being outside. The sun porch was her office and it is a beautiful room with windows surrounding it. The light is natural all day long. There are no electric lights in there at all. It is all sunlight coming in. She had a desk and chair where she would spend hours writing letters. A lot of what we know about her comes from the letters. The hoovers had this fireplace built. They would enjoy fires all evening long. Many guests would sit out here all stop many of them were sitting on this porch. Mrs. Hoover love to smell the smoke of a campfire. She wanted have that smell all day long. Mrs. Hoover wanted her gardens to be different then the white house. She wanted to be in formal and she is quoted as saying that she wanted them to be a little bit wild. That meant that she did not want formal beds and she wanted everything out there randomly. She wanted the paths to be lined with rocks so that you could find your way, but nothing outstanding. She wanted to blend in. Iss rock structure behind me a very rustic fountain made from rocks from the local area. This is the rock garden which she referred to as her rockery. How did the hoovers use this . Did this help with the strains of the depression . Yes. It helped with all the negativity around them and the problems with getting anything through congress. This was aid was, man had looked for as a way to get out of washington, they located a property in the shenandoah mountains and lou designed the house and they went as frequently as they could. They did not go alone. They were frequently with friends. That is one report 100,000 was spent. That was a considerable amount of money. About goingnscious to a camp when people were in illes . V i dont think they were concerned about that. They discovered the children who had lived in the region had never been to school. Lets show that clip about the children at the hoover school. Getting that ready. While were getting that ready, lets have a call. Renee. Hoover ondering if i have heard that he did not take a salary. I have heard that president kennedy did not accept his salary. They were saying that they were the only president. Did hoover donate some of the money to charity . I do not know about president kennedy. Salarydid not accept a in any of his Public Service positions. He kept a separate account. Theorked for free for relief of belgium. When he went into government, he was not allowed to say not to pay him. He would distribute the money to charity. Can you discuss how the s paid for entertainment . There was a budget set for them. They did a bit of entertaining on their own and the entertainment would be beyond the official entertaining. It would come out of their funds. They sometimes paid for staff. They paid for their own secretaries. Is this known by the public . Know. No. Pr was not their strong suit. Begged to let the people know about his acts of charity and his reaching out and caring for youth. Louet back to the idea that was going to run her own shop. There was no one who is going to tell her what to do. A lot of this a lot of what made them so wonderful was what set the stage for them to have so much difficulty. Lets show you the clip of lou hoover with the children. Girls, come ind the names of those mountains . Tell me the names of the mountains. Whats that on that side . There, behind there, oh yes, that is very nice. Washe Mountain School established by the hoovers after theyve encountered some of the families in the area where they built camp. They realize that these children had never attended Public School and they build a school with their own funds. They worked with the state of virginia to hire a teacher and they interviewed the teacher. They contacted a college in the appalachian portion of kentucky. It does a good job of preparing people for working with communities like this one. And workrs funded with the state of virginia to make sure that a teacher was funded. Ponderings onl twitter asks wow. That is a tough question. Was she with the media . You talk about him having a good sense of pr. What was her approach . Did she ever have press conferences . No she did not. And then talk a little bit about how radio helped all of the hoovers in their approach to the depression. Im very glad received the support and and the girl scouts to the women and the girls shes the first lady to make a public radio address and shes trying to push the volunteerist message in keeping with what Herbert Hoover is doing at that time. Its interesting she feels doing these talks to the Girl Scouts Movement which she actually in 1932 comes back with a plan called the rapidan plan after the after the camp where they formulated it. But its basically this effort to try and muster the resources of the girl scouts into a more coordinated organized effort to help coordinate with local and state relief agencies and at the very same time and she actually has an individual who helps and who is working with the president himself on the organization for unemployment relief. So lous volunteerist work and shes broadcasting to the nation to try to urge them to try to work with others as the girl scouts are doing is coordinating at the same time with the same kinds of things that Herbert Hoover is doing within the administration and shes complimenting the policies. How she dealt with it. Lou hoover kept some things so private her papers were not opened until 40 years after her death because doing so would violate the privacy of people she helped financially. You spent time with her papers. Is it a true story . It is true. More burt made a decision that her papers wouldnt be opened until 40 years after she passed away because of concerns that may have been written about people in her letters and in her correspondence. She was very much press averse. I think its interesting that she made a lot of use of the radio to try to promote her causing and which were used for the girl scouts but also push the volunteerism. Denise in west covina, california. Hi, good evening. Thank you so much for taking my cause in your outstanding progra program. There has not been any mention of whether or not they had children. Did they die in infancy or did they live to adulthood . And did they have successes . Thank you very much . Thank you. The hoovers had two boys Herbert Hoover jr. Born in 1903, allen born in 1907. They happened to have both been born in london because this is where burt was working at the time. The hoovers lived there. Both were extremely successful. One of the interesting stories about camp rapidan is that the older son was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1930 when he went for his physical for the annual time to serve in the reserve. Tuberculosis at that time was a very serious disease. It was not always curable. This is of course preantibiotic. And the hoovers had him living in camp rapidan for the beginning of the convalescence until the winter set in and then they moved him to ashland, north carolina. During the year that herbert jr. Was convalescing, lou invited her daughterinlaw and herberts children to live in the white house. There were children running around the white house during that time. And again that wasnt necessarily successful in softening the image. They didnt want the children photographed or things written about them. This a period of time when the nation was transfixed with the lindbergh baby kidnapping and i wonder if that affected the sense of security for the first family and whether that increased the threat for the children. We talked about it before. There was increased security after the after the lindbergh kidnapping in order to to protect the white house and whatever children might be in there at the time. But theres also an increased concern about the fascination for us, again, Herbert Hoover himself especially after the protest of it was depression continues. So security is certainly a very important factor in the white house at this time. And the secret service is very much vigilant. Nancy on twitter, how was the marriage between the hoovers affected by the Great Depression . Well, they had always been very, have close partners but they were not as close in the partnership in the four years during the white house. Burt pulled into himself a little bit. Wasnt communicative as he had been. It took a toll. One of the hoovers easons was supposedly told one of his cousins many years later that he felt that the parents being in the white house for the four years was a mistake because of the stress they put on their relationship. Jennifer sherman tweets to us, im realizing for the most part, the real role of flotus first lady of the United States, the essentially advisor in chief or gatekeeper. Next is steven watching us in new york city, hi, steven, youre on. Hi. I wanted to know were the hoovers the wealthiest of all of the first families the first couples . They were certainly very wealthy. Do you know if they were the wealthiest. The things on comparison to that, youd have to compare in constant dollars. Money at that time wouldnt be money say for a kennedy portion or a bush portion. I believe that they believed that George Washington was the wealthiest of all the things. All of the plantations and slavery. Herbert hoover had about 4 million he made by 1914 in todays dollars. There they were from 17 million to 19 million. They think he might have been wealthier than his successor, fdr, who inherited his wealth. Herbert hoover made it from scratch. Hes worn off of the president s, they were the wealthiest. Thank you for taking my call. I always wondered why the library was in dan, im so sorry. I pushed the button at the wrong time. Thats my fault. Charles in santa fe, new mexico. If you can get back in, well take your questions. My apologies. Your question from santa fe. Thank you for taking my call. Im really enjoying this series. Im a native from iowa and my only exposure was a Television Series called back stairs of the white house. They did not portray the hoovers very well in how they treated the servants. We had that question earlier in the program with some examples which i think youre going give. The caller in the beginning had seen the same series. You agreed . I think we have to be careful about who were telling the stories to. Theres noun be made after the hoovers left because of the negativity. There was noun be made telling that story about the hoovers. We have to be careful with how we interpret what were hearing. The accounts exist but the voracity is something we have to look at. We often visit the smithsonian which you know has the first ladies dress collection. Lou hoover next. She was a fascinating, determined, and fashionable first lady. We have two on display. One, the flurl, an informal, lighter, something for like a garden party. The other dress, the long dress, is a reception dress. It was actually worn for a reception for the girl scouts of america, a cause very close to lou hoovers heart. Not only the honorary first lady but an active member of the girl scouts. Well take you up to the storage area and you can see more pieces that belong to lou hoover. These pieces may have been worn with the evening dress on display down the stairs. The eyeglass on the chain appears with the picture of her on the evening gown. She feels fascinating, outdoor si, and elegant. Unable buy fine clothes and was the first first lady to appear in vogue. This dress draped in grecian fold was something she donated to the museum to be worn by a mannequin in the first ladys exhibit. It was worn with these shoes and represents mrs. Hoover until 1987. Its one of the first ladies we have day wear. Black and white silk dress in a clover pattern is a wonderful part of the business collection. It shows the more business side of lou hoover and the first ladies. Thats the view of the first laities collection at the smithsonian. We do appreciate it. What do you do to change the white house during her tenure there . Well, one of the things that she did was on the social side, which as we already talked about, she changed how the structure the structure of itself . Sorry about that. Well, lets go that. One of the things that she did was to do refurbishing on the second floor. She did drawings of butterflies and flou earles and she did drawings of what she wants bookcases to look like on the second floor. She was involve in redoing some of the downstairs lick room, no it the green room which was a project started under Grace Coolidge and finished by a committee that had been appointed by congress, but she did some refurbishing in the red and the blue room as well. These are years of prohibition . What were the hoovers attitude before prohibition . Parties with alcohol outside of the white house . The prohibition hoover had in 1928 on a Law Enforcement plank, he was officially in favor of prohibition. Lou as we mentioned earlier had this committee in 1924 on Law Enforcement. But i have heard rumors that on his way home from work when he was secretary of commerce sometimes liked to stop by the Belgian Embassy that was on the foreign territory and had a cocktail at the end of the day. So i think personally they were tea total. Herbert hoover had a quaker background which in some ways would have linked itself to a more protemperance stance they engaged in. How popular was prohibition in the country at this point. In 1928, its still unclear where it is. This is a time before Public Opinion polling. So its difficult for people to get a read on the nation. As we mentioned before, al smiths campaign is divisive in part because he is suggesting a not a repeal of prohibition, but maybe a revision of prohibition, maybe get the state on some some chance to go wet as it was known in those times if they wanted to. But 1932, prohibition has become incredibly unpopular. In large part, because of the kind of negative impact it had in terms of the rise of organized crime. So in 1932, hoover runs on a platform where hes similar to 28, like maybe hes going to be okay with certain kinds of reform at the state level. But democrats get the repeal in 1932 and that wins out. Sue watching in colorado. Hi, sue. Thank you so much. Mentioned earlier that the hoovers were multimillionaires prior to presidency. I wondered how they made their money. Thank you so much. Herbert hoover was a mining engineer. He travelled the globe doing consulting. He also invested in quite a number of he was paid very well for that. But he also invested in mines that were mining materials that were very, have high demand. As the depression worsened and the criticism of the man in the white house continued to mount, here are some quotes from the first couple to give you some sense of what their personal reactions were. Lou hoover said i was incensed of the reading pof Herbert Hoover not having the thought for the little man. The absolute injustice and downright lying of these statements infuriated me. Herbert hoover said she is oversensitive and the stabs of political life that are deserved by me hurt her grately. The first one i recall correctly was a letter i believe they had to do to frame his legacy. Talking about how concerned he was about the little man and how angry about upset she was about the way she was being treated and the way he was being pretty well ripped apart in the press. Burt i think is just hub who senses whats going on in his wife and a response to it. But this is also in his memoirs and sometimes in his memoirs, the memory is being just a little different from what actually happened. Despite the criticism, his policies, and a deepening depression, Herbert Hoover makes a decision to run for reelection. Tell us about the 1932 election and the outcome. He at first is going to going to stand for reelection. But hes not necessarily committed to running for reelection at that time. The idea of the incumbent president of actively seeking the reelection was considered a little unseemly and Herbert Hoover has immense respect for the for the office that he holds. So he decides that hes going to make a couple of changes but hes going to be dignified and restrained. Then if it becomes clear at the fall of 1932 progresses hes in serious trouble. And i believe in september, a traditionally republican territory, a statewide election for democrats, so this is again a pretty good indication hes in trouble. So he then essentially embarks on what we would call a whistle stop tour. Kris crossing the country. Getting a number of addresses and radio addresses and returns home to to the home in palo alto to wait out the results. And its a landslide against him. Almost bigger than the one that brought him into office only four years earlier. So its a very rapid turnaround for a man who had so many high hopes behind him when he went in. How did lou hoover participate in that election . Just in the same way she had in 28. She was with him on all of the whistle stop tour. One of the reasons she invited the women reporters in the summer was trying to mend some of the fences she hasnt paid a lot of attention to in the last 3 1 2 years. She was continuing to do her work with the girl scouts and 4h and with volunteerism and doing the best she can to support him and to try to see that he gets reelectled. What was their reaction . Do we know the personal reaction to the out. Ccomoutcome . Theyre disappointed. Theyre still here and still moving on. Theres hurt at the way hurt at the way theyve been treated they tried so hard with the relief that the responsibility is not going be there so much longer. Hoovers deepened their connection here in palo alto, california. They designed a house there. Learning about that next. Were here on the campus of stanford university. This is significant because of the primary residence of the hoovers. This is known as the family Head Quarters and significant as relates to lou hoover because she was the one who designed it. She worked with several architects to come up with the plan and gave her advice and she was the driving force behind the design of the house. She was impressed with the architects to help her with the formal blueprints and plans and she had such a strong grasp and she was not an architect. That was not the training and the geologist. But she had a good sense of space and design how she wanted the house to look. So its something she was intimately involved in. A lot of original drawings and documents related to the design and construction of the Lou Henry Hoover house back at the institute archives. Looking at the documentation related to the building and design. It involved how lou henry was. Heres some of the drawings we have at the design of the house. We have details about the cabinets that theyre going to be installing. A little foot stool here. And some design details that were likely sketched by lou henry herself. A lot of lou henrys influence shirley came from her travels in the southwest of the United States. Pueblo architecture. Also from her travels in north africa when she travelled to Herbert Hoover. Theres an influence of native cultures, nonamerican cultures, but also native american cultures and influencing the architecture of the house. You can see theres design for the arches above the doorway and that was changed. There were a lot of archers in the house as well. What we have here are some floor plans of the house. Showed details of the room. The living room there. The terrace. You can see that the rooms are designed in a way where they easily exit out into the outside, the outdoors. Its a great legacy of lou henrys, because she designed the house. She created it. She was inspired and she had close involvement in all aspects of the houses creation. The hoovers connection with the stanford campus deepened and broadened over the years. The major part of the campus here. Was it endowed by the hoovers or does it build up with a lot of contributions over time. Im not sure about the hoover institution. I know when lou was still alive she used her personal funds to build a Cultural Community and a Musical Community there. The Hoover Institute came later possibly after lou passed away and more slofled with what herbert did. How about west branch, iowa and the preservation of his roots there. Yes, west branch is where he was born. And we were actually attempted to purchase the land and the home that he was born in and the family who owned it a that the time was not interested in selling. At some point, they were able to acquire that property. Its now the hoover president ial library with the restoration of the buildings from berts childhood. It was dedicated in 1962. By that time, lou hoover had passed. But Herbert Hoover, who lived a long life was there for the dedication. Well show you a clip of that next. Record of supreme action by the American People. Their devotion and sacrifice to their ideals. And in these records there are, no doubt, many unfavorable remarks made by our political opponents. As well as the expressions of affection by our friends. We may hope that future students will rely upon our friends for confirmation. [ applause ] Herbert Hoover lived until he feels 90 years old. He set a record for he was until last year, he was the longest longest serving expresident of all time jimmy carter for that last year. Two moderate president s lived longer than he. Lived into the early 90s surpassing lou hoovers record until that time. Tell us about her death. She had been physically active as we talked about. Riding a horse, camping, sleeping on the ground up until her late 60s. She had wanted to live in palo alto but herbert found he liked the intellectual stimulation of new york city. They had an east coastwest coast kind of marriage until 1940 when he convinced her to make her base with him there in new york city and they lived in an apartment in waldorf astoria. And she had gone out to dinner with a friend, january of 1944 and started to say lets walk back, such a lovely evening and changed her mind and said lets take a cab. Said goodbye to her friend, went upstairs to her apartment. Bert was getting ready to go out with a friend of his. He said let me say goodbye to lou, when he went in, she was collapsed and died on the floor of a heart attack. Timothy of sun city, california, youre on. My name is timothy large. Im the grandson of gene henry large, the sister of lou hoover. And i just wanted to express how great it was and how much i appreciate her as well as her husband. And i was born in palo alto and i wanted to express the really good care for their kids, grand kids, and relatives. We hope weve done a fair job tonight telling the story of your relatives. Thank you for your call. Thats a great before we go to her legacy, where is she bury . Buried in palo alto. Then they exhumed her body and there was next to bert at west branch. When the government opens again and all of the institutions are back, you can go to west branch and visit Herbert Hoover president ial library there. A question for both of you, since they were a couple who really approached public life together. What should their legacy be . I think it is as a first lady, the legacy is the way in which she tried to utilize her role as first lady to make a call to action with the public. She believed in them and kind of duck tailed. You had a legacy in terms of president ial couples for how to the delicate balance between the political side and increasingly expected to do. I think lou hoover starts along that path. Take a call from marlin in bismarck, north dakota. I want to hear your answer to that. Hello. Hello. I was a 6yearold boy during a campaign of hoover and al smith. And a lot of the biggest things was repealing the 18th amendment. And i grew up in the Swedish Community in nebraska, all of them conservative, very religious. Everybody voted for hoover. Also, the market crash in 29, the bank busted at the same time. And i was 7 years old then. And i wanted to go down and collect the money when the banks broke. We hoover dam was named for him during the Hoover Administration, the midwest drought started where the storms started all the way from north dakota all the way through nebraska down to oklahoma. Marlin, thank you. Im going jump in at that point. Because youve given us a Good Opportunity to ask. Ask what should her legacy be and how should we view the Hoover Administration in hindsight . Whats the thesis going to be after writing this biography. My thesis is if she had not succeeded in a woman in a position for 13 years, we would remember a lot more of lou hoover now. Lous activism and a lot of her nonpolitical agenda and working with the girl scouts in 4h set the stage for future first ladies to have causes and things that they supported that they did not necessarily have to have political repercussions or political connections. As far as remembering them for the depression, i think they were in i dont think that they were i dont think anybody knew how to handle this. This is the first one as we all know now that lasted as long as it did. And the thing we have to remember is we did not pull out of the depression until we entered world war ii. Even after all of the legislation that he was able to get congress to pass, that in and of itself did not allow them to improve the economy until things changed rapidly. Our thanks to our guests on the story of Lou Henry Hoover and the thanks to the White House Historical association for their help throughout the series