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Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Presidency First Lady Nancy Reagan - Photography 20240707

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have the close-up intimate portraits that they're going to share with you today of the of the reagans and some of the great stories behind the pete. let with you. so i thought first start at i would explain the function of the official white house photographer. the modern day presidency has had a team. of four official white house photographers you're there to document for battery the presidency and that does not just mean presidential events, but also a lot of the camden moments. behind the scenes and oftentimes in very intimate situations. you'll see some of those photos. a little later during the reagan administration michael evans was the chief photographer during the first term and then also besides marianne and i we there was carl schumann schumacher who i actually when he left i took his place jack keitlinger and and bill fitzpat, but leave anybody out. mary ann in many ways knows nancy reagan probably better than anyone because she was specifically assigned to the first lady to document her solo events. whereas my interactions with mrs. reagan were was when she was the president marianne in addition is the first female official white house photographer in history. so she she broke that glass ceiling. just once a minute about this photograph it will show you that we had access to situations at other people didn't this was when i put a camera in the limousine when it was for president reagan's forget which birthday it was but in dixon, illinois and put this camera in the limousine to capture this picture. triggered by the secret service agent bob prospero who was sitting in the front seat and now turn it over to marianne. great. thank you pete. so i think we'd go to america the next picture. mary mary ann you you had an unusual time with nancy reagan tell us about this arc of several photographs. the president couldn't go and she went where yes, we went to the uss america aircraft carrier and we flew one of the president's helicopters out there and landed on the deck and i thought that's as close as i'm ever going to get to landing on an aircraft carrier and it was great fun, and we've if we can go back just a little bit. i'm sorry. we're gotten a little bit ahead of ourselves here, but when she arrived they were everywhere waiting and greeting and looking forward to mrs. reagan. she filled in for the president who was recovering from the assassination attempt and they were could not have been kinder to her knowing that she probably had never intended to make this trip, but she did she filled in for him took her brother with her and off we went and met wonderful servicemen, and i thought it was. so nice that so many of them that we met were the enlisted crew that the real nuts and bolts of the aircraft carrier and she had lunch with the fellas. i think that some of the menu options were probably not things that were typically on her diet, but but she she managed to find some less and had her traditional salad. but we enjoyed our time and she got to sit and she met individually she met individually and then we went upstairs and she sat in the captain's chair and the man in the yellow shirt is the air boss and then there's his assistant who's called the mini boss, and he explained to mrs. reagan that we'll be sending you home some shirts. let's say mini boss and air boss and she said well, i know which one i'm getting and it's not the many ball. and so she went home and that was the president got a souvenir marked mini. but this is one of the planes landing and the navy kindly assigned a photographer to me from the navy and as i was looking at the pilots, you know, i've been watching too many movies and they all had streaks of gray. so when i saw these young pilots i came out and said well one of the real pilots coming this young man, i thought he was gonna throw me in the water. but in fact one of the pilots that flew that day was called back from his honeymoon, and i said, oh boy, i know who has to know about this and so i promptly went up to her and told her that he had been pulled off of his honeymoon to come back and she made a point of going over to him him and extending her condolences. but he was delightful and we had a great time and and you'll see her that's her brother in the background that went with us to the aircraft, but we had a great time and it was a fun trip and i just imagine there was an area in that ship that we didn't get to because we certainly walked and up and down a lot of steps think two of what was going on in the world and these pictures remind me a little bit about your next one pete the present so often had to be a consoler in chief and met with military and civilians who had been through trauma pete and this was the one of the many times when she accompanied him to one of these events where she would have to support him and his role as you say is consolers chief. this was at camp lejeune in north carolina about a week after the terrorist attack in beirut lebanon when 241 marines were killed still the largest terrorist attack of americans overseas in history and president reagan went to camp lejeunette as you can see it was a it was a very rainy day. we got very wet. and he also then went inside with mrs. reagan. and met with the families of those who had lost servicemen at that. terrible attack hey reagan. who have covered her in moments where she has to be the one who is kneeling in front of that graves? yes. yes, we made a trip to to europe and we went to normandy on independently and she like a jim rose bush mentioned. we did find the grave of the only woman that's buried there in the cemetery and she was as if memory serves me correctly. she was a volunteer when she was killed providing service and mrs. reagan then late a a remembrance that her gravestone but it's such a very eerie place. it's so quiet. it's very very quiet and respectfully, so but still there's something about it that said you are on hallowed ground. absolutely. let's come back to the united states now and look at that that effort of hers on behalf of children the love of child. yes mentioned a moment again. yes. she just blossomed when it came to small children. she blossomed and she loved them and she hugged them and and it didn't bother her if they ran up to her and put their hand in hers. it just didn't matter and one of the occasions that we were attending a pastor grandparents was and the it was in europe and when she wrote her book to love a child, which i shot several pictures one of which was chosen to be the cover. that's was the choice the next picture. you'll see was my choice, but they wanted to protect the identity of the little baby. so they elected the one where her face was not visible, but it's probably my favorite one of my favorite pictures. she was just so genuine and talking to her gently and quietly and the little girl was just like in mother's arms. she also went to boys town you scribe that for us. that was probably the assignment that surprised me the most and i think gave the most indication to her character. she had been with her mother and before her mother mary dr. davis she was on her own and she was left with family in maryland. that was not necessarily her close family and it was a very hard time for her and with the work of an incredibly gifted very sensitive speech writer landon parvin. she built a speech around what it was like when she was there at the boys town seeing children who had been abandoned by their parents who had been left behind who had been victims of incredibly poor homes and how she locked herself put herself in a closet because she could identify and she didn't want anyone to know how much pain i thought i finally discovered what it was that colonel that required the support the emotional support that she found in her husband. i it took me a while for that to sink in but i feel comfortable that that experience exposed of very very sensitive part of her and i could later see it as time progressed and knew her more but the speech she was in tears brought her to tears the children were in tears and i frankly have never seen. such genuine tears come from her when she talked about what it was like being what sheep presumed would be abandoned by her mother and was in a closet and was alone very alone with nobody we so often however, look at the more action-packed pictures and including sports celebrities, right right. she was very busy on just saying no and i don't think there's a sport we missed we did we went to the 50 yard line of the washington redskins at that time and the quarterback and i'm sorry, i'm done doug williams. i'm not real good super bowl. yeah and he gave us a shirt for just saying those it was cute there in he might never been on a 50 yard line. i thought well an aircraft carrier 50 yard line not doing too bad here from a little kid from ohio. i think i did. all right, and then we went to milwaukee then you'll see in the next photograph is mrs. reagan and isn't that a kick that pick that shot was not in the program and i will tell you that our product. there's a guy was it indianapolis. well, there you are. i don't never know where i am anytime. sends us on these tours and we were trying to figure out how are we going to photograph her against his crowd and shall never make a basket from the center court. and so i came up with the idea. i said, well, let's the players should lift her pick her up and at first she looked mrs. regulars. all right, i'll go for that. and so we borrowed. the -- who was the deputy press secretary on the trip, and i said, well we have to have two basketball players. i wouldn't know. i mean they have suits on i know they are but i don't know who to ask so they came up with charles barkley and i remember and then a gentleman from milwaukee and we practiced this lift in the in the holding room with betsy being picked up and all charles barkley kept saying to me was now the president does know about this, right? he knows i'm going to be touching her legs very respectfully. he does know about that. i said, i'm sure you he knows about this. i'm sure he had no clue what we were doing. but that's how we got away with it. we got the picture and we made sports illustrated. yeah and and after even of a picture like this just so intriguing so so unusual. fabulous backstory to it. she met pope john paul several times. yes, but this is different. yes, we were in los angeles and it was part of the just say no campaign, which she really took to heart and she met the pope and just before we were going out everyone had prepared to line up for the stage, and she said i want to talk to his holiness myself. and so the two of them sat down on the yellow couches yellow couches the green couches and they talked and she talked about the horrors of seeing children who were just utterly destroyed and what could we do to help and how do you do this? and how do you live with the implications of children who don't make it? and are lost to their families and i see my photo editor right there, and she and i had a big argument over that i liked the big white sofas and carol could say no i gotta go in tighter got to go t but we have a whole staff that makes sure we're doing our jobs right if we don't we hear about it, but that was a i thought such a very touching moment just the two of them with the crowd outside thundering along, but they talked one to one. about the drugs and the evil and and how you you offer. to parents who have lost everything including their child. pete did you ever have any times when they were reluctant to have you around? i mean you've caught some wonderful intimate moments including an anniversary. yeah, i mean i think that you have to realize that there were times when you when i was literally the only other person in the room with the two of them and some intimate situations like this. this was one of their anniversaries and she had come over to the west wing. there's a dining room right off the oval office and she brought not one card not two cards, but you know, i think they were like people fart and he was reading each one and she would write a note in each one and then the next photograph which is unusual that she would be in the oval office, but this was before some of that. i don't even remember the event. and just i thought this was such an intimate photograph of the two of them alone and again, you know, i'm the only person in the room other than the two of them and it's unusual for she did not hang around the overall. she was not in the oval office it was marianne also worked for the carters and i understand roslyn carter was in the oval office more than room more than yeah. but mrs. reagan did very rarely came over to the oval all office. so there are private moments kind of like we know they love to watch. oh, yes, please. yeah, though this i have to say this was not necessarily a private moment. this was a taping for barbara walters special agency. thanks you yeah. and as as part of that they had them watching this movie in the family theater matter of fact mary. ann was also there when i was photographing this i photographed it in. white marion photographed it in color. i don't know if you remember that. no, i don't this is when this was when the producer was saying mrs. reagan. can you please be looking at the movie? and mrs. reagan said but pete's head is in the way so i had to duck down a little. more maryann nancy reagan did a number of things in the public sphere that yes the diplomatic sphere. what's the story about her at the united nations? she went to the she did in fact organize that international summit and we took two plane loads first. ladies up to new york and spoke at the united nations advocating that the countries become more involved. and of course, that's a political hot potato because there are several nations who depend on the income from drugs is their product and so she had george schultz with her when we went up there and may i secretary secretary of state joined us and we went up and she spoke and never never missed a step. about it and i and may i inject one story about george schultz. he did love to dance with lovely women and happy at the state dinners mrs. reagan would always find one and she'd get them hooked up and she kind of looked at me afterwards. i was watching deciding i'll do i want to picture this or not, and she she in the president were dancing over and i just said to her, you know if you had a chip from george schultz for every dance you've set him up. i'm gonna buy a small country and the president just left me that what are you? what have you been doing? he had been out aware. he had been unaware that you've been setting these up, but mrs. shelton not been underwear, but he was he was fine. i i yeah, he was delightful to work for and i must also say that we are not political appointees. we are hired by the united states government. so that's why i was working in the previous administration that we come. as members of the united states government and our film is not our own it goes into the national archives. we own nothing. that's that's right. it's all they're all public domain images now and i also say, you know, i worked for two presidents marianneware for two presidents jack keitlinger. worked for fighting with johnson five. yeah, but johnson through the first term of reagan. yeah, and i first went i covered was david kennerly david kennels. yes shows up every couple of administrations to because there's so many people from those administrations who come back too office and he he came up and did don ramsfeld pictures because trump had been chief of staff back then but the role of white house photographer has such a special place because you are there as the countryside you are there as histories eyes, right? what about the historic shot of the statue of liberty if you look closely, what do you see? who's peaking at you out the window? i would say marianne. my guess is you were with the first with i certainly was because the only way to get that picture was to get inside of one of the presidential helicopters, and they're going to take the panel the door out and then you had to hang out and i thought not for me. this is a job. this is a job for big tall bill fitzpatrix patrick, and he did it and was thrilled and so that's how we got that. they took the windows out and and she brought two children with her and then they were out of the statue of liberty, but thankfully well, let's talk about royalty. because every president has you know, obviously the connection forgiving 1812 and burning the white house they bring but i remember this trip particularly well because the weather was absolutely awful as the reagan's took queen elizabeth, too the ranch the ranch i had up. i'm told that the road up there in su-- not suv, whatever they suvs was treacherous. yep. so talk a little bit about i had been assigned by the white house the white house provided the queen's i believe 13 people that were from the white house to assist her and i was sent along as a photographer and i was really nervous, but she was delightful it was fine. and the only tragedy was we never got to stay on the ship because the weather was too bad and it was too rolly. everyone was seasick. this was on the this was on the yacht but the britannia the britannia, but then we went up to the ranch and the reagan's were up there and they were ringing their hands because the roads were just impassable all of the little creeks were overflowing all of the little roads the queen loved it. she had her big green boots on and her, you know, nice queen hat and she was ready. it didn't bother her in the least. she was fine. she thought this was great fun and they went up to the ranch and they had lunch. but what a contrast to the visit? to london for the wedding. yes. yes. i was wonderfully privileged to go to the wedding with houses reagan shot. this shot was courtesy of barbara fabiani who was our press advance at that time, and she wanted to get me a good spot where i'd see everything so she found a spot for me on the top of the abc news london bureau, which was wonderful. i was up there and i was set up but somehow london didn't get permission from new york. london was in a snit. barbara had to run back with them and they had to call new york, which of course it's now in the middle of the night for new york and new york was the father. what is she doing? is she like threatening to jump off? let her shoot and so that's how i got the pictures that only barbara and i were up on the roof of abc in london to get these pictures and you can see the children. there are later photographs. are you up at the top and the beautiful tree? yep, and and you've got to do what you got to do now closer. home back at the white house. we all remember princess diana's. yes visit now is this upstairs at the white house upstairs in the private quarters the prince charles and princess diana arrived and they greeted the press downstairs on the floor floor level ground floor, and then they went upstairs for cocktails. and is this the yellow oval room this? yes the yellow oval room and i had very strict instructions that once the line is over. we didn't want to we didn't want to make the princess uncomfortable. so i was to stop shooting until one of their guests said oh i must have this picture this picture this picture where upon the usher quickly got a hold of me and said, what are you doing? i said well, they need those pictures and princess diana's in the picture and was like, oh, okay. and that is greeting mrs. reagan's very best friend in the world, betsy bloomingdale. and do you see anybody else in that picture way toward the back? whose photobombing you am i in that heat? he we notice this one we were screening these this morning. you're in this photograph. well, it's like the one i the picture i forgot to include in this series is i have the picture of we're coming up to diane know of diana dancing with travolta, which i didn't include because nancy was in the way in the background. yeah. well, we we will get we will get closer there, but i think everybody does remember that photograph, but this i thought was a wonderful chance where nancy gets to introduce her best friend to princess. i mean, what are best friends for right exactly. the next photograph doesn't really have a story but it's just lovely it was we went to jeverney in france. and what was so lovely was we didn't have to compete with any tourists. it was just us and so we were i was able to get this picture on the bridge as she's overlooking the pond the lily pond not the lily pond the ah, yeah was lily. yeah. thank you, forgotten the flowers and it was just lovely and they went in and and then had dinner lunch i think was lunch, but it was just such a quiet moment when she really i hope had time to savor looking and really enjoy. she was seeing and there was nobody around nobody shouting nobody pushing and she could take a minute and enjoy it. so the next picture two pictures show just the opposite crowd oh, yes. yes and russia and this was in the soviet union and i know the first panel talked about how difficult mrs. gorbachev was and i want to second third or fourth that yes and while we were there i had been told that the russian photographer and i would get an opportunity to go up after the press had come in, but we should walk in with the press. so we did that snap a couple pictures and then the next thing i know the minders sending the whole lot of us out and i thought we're supposed to have this picture. i didn't know what he was saying, but i had to leave and i put this photographer and i down in this lovely room not unlike this one with nobody else there and now i know the wall not and i know i've been just shorted of a shot and i'm not going to we're not settling for that. and so i started talking to the walls. when do you think we're going to get that next picture that private picture that they promised us? well it the poor russian photographer was just getting more and more nervousies wiping is forehead. and i thought well they can't imprison me. at what? can they do? and i i don't i don't think they can write and i just kept talking to the wall and eventually they came in and said okay. come on. we're going to give you a private picture upstairs and it obviously told mrs gorbachev because when i and the russian photographer came in she looked at me and she said what you think we changed in 10 minutes and it's oh, no, you're lovely. but this is a new angle and the head of mrs. reagan's detail tim mccarthy. it's said to me just check and make sure she's okay because they won't let us upstairs. and so i just kind of looked at she winked at me and i knew she knew exactly what my second job was and all was fine. but she was tough. she certainly did want to control what mrs. reagan sawan did and i think we have a picture somewhere where we show that nancy reagan got the last word. oh, so this next picture that you chose kind of from the sublime to the ridiculous. yes. what is this that was part of her just saying no trip down to disney world and it must have been mickey's birthday. and so she's cutting the cake for him, but we really were on the road. i mean several people have asked me if i enjoyed this much traveling and i said, you know, it's not bad, but the air force doesn't get frequent flyer miles and that's really disturbing. i could go anywhere pete could go even more places. he'd go to the moon. yeah, he'd go to the moon, but this was just down in florida her cutting a cake one of a lot of we did and what about this next one at the white house interesting guests you have oh, there's a good line here, but go for no. i'm just gonna say must be members members of congress came up. that's that's allowable. that's allowable, but it was one of the cute ones and and it was enjoyable as inevitably at the easter egg roll easter egg hunt which i think it's kind of a tough thing to shoot a dodge a lot of eggs. pete this next next picture comes it is a tricky one that i don't remember ever seeing before what's going on. and so why is she grabbing the president? so january 20th 1985 fell on a sunday and so the public inauguration was the next day, but he had to be sworn in. on that sunday and this they had a reception afterwards. she has liz taylor in tow and if you look she's tugging on her husband's coat trying to get his attention because he's busy talking to tom selleck tom selleck and some other people and then so the photo bomb and this one is behind liz taylor is part of marianne way over there. yeah, and i just tell people showed me the picture now, i never knew it was but i you know, i think this is indicative of the playfulness between the two of them even relatively public situation. by tugging on his jacket. yes sneaking up behind him and taking on his jacket. there are so many intimate family moments and even pet moments pete or a marianne this was this was yours. yes, where was this was taken upstairs in the private quarters in the service area where they laundry facilities are and the staff that works upstairs will take care of doing all the wandering there and lucky the dog was lucky that day and needed a bath and so i thought well, i need a picture of this and off we went we may have been doing it for a publication or request but regardless lucky got a bath lucky was not a happy dog. so we haven't mentioned yet nancy reagan's own medical challenge and this next picture is in bethesda naval hospital. so this was the day after her surgery and after works second term second term i think was 87. i'm bad at dates now. and president reagan at the end of his work day took the marine one helicopter from the south lawn to bethesda naval hospital. it was just i think myself jim kuhn the military aid and the doctor on the helicopter. and he this is him greeting her so, you know you again you find yourself in these pretty intimate situations, you know her still recovering from her surgery and and visiting her in just a moment. we're going to make time open the floor to questions for those of you who have questions for either photographer. there will be microphones. just raise your hand and we'll have somebody bring a microphone to you so we can all hear you. this next picture marianne is one that is particularly poignant. that's her mother. that's her mother. yes, and after dr. davis died, the the house was sold an emptied and her mother was in a lovely little condo that overlooked the golf course and mrs. davis. love was to go out and catch the golf balls that went over the edge and then the the golfers would come and claim them and she and the golfer would exchange stories, but i understand that some of them were belonged on board ship. oh, but she just loved it. hot. oh i'll leave that to you. but she was absolutely delightful and i i started paying more attention to mrs. reagan's reaction after our time at boys town to see and there was such genuine care there, but there was also that lingering sense of fear, and and i think that's understandable that sense of perceived abandonment. i think stayed with mrs. reagan her life and it was very changed in my eyes the dynamic between the two of them and then when her mother actually passed away we went to the funeral home. i went along. i did not go into when mrs. reagan first saw her mother in the casket. i i could not make myself do that. but she was lying there and she had her red gloves on and mrs. reagan just screamed and i will never forget that sound she was so distraught that her mother was gone. and she was alone and she had those red gloves on. the next little little series here are very personal pictures. in this first one marianne, this is up at the ranch. yes. they're having thanksgiving dinner and that is maureen maureen maureen mary. yeah, it is marine and they're having their thanksgiving dinner. i think it looks just like everybody else's thanksgiving home cooked up at the ranch and they had a they had a ann was there and would take care of doing those kinds of tasks. and they had a little trailer that was awfully cute that she was stay in and the ranch it's house itself was very small. there was nothing large about it and it looked just like everybody's a little house and the next picture. also from the ranch it might be that same table. this is then filling out their absentee ballots, believe it or not. all and and this was towards the end of the administration we did this picture they were going to go take a ride in the canoe true love and they just put their arms around each other and it was just such a nice picture and then they sailed off and were busy talking and the president is, you know sailed her right into the into the willow stringing thing the willows right? but i was just a very comfortable with you doing. oh, yes. oh, yes. yes, they very comfortable and we were always told you don't speak to the president unless he speaks to you. he's got a lot of things on his mind and but i found them to be very amicable. they would always say good morning or good afternoon or or sometimes comment. hello? yes. i had mrs. reagan had gone to new york to see. ah, what was that famous one with the chandelier went up over the top the phantom of the opera. thank you and the secret service always holds a seat behind her and said would you mind taking that seat as of course not and i didn't realize you know, i was there but she must have told the president because the president then wanted to know what i think about that and how was that and how was the music and i was surprised that they knew about it, but she did and they were very kind to me. i i did not. i decided early on i had known and heard things and i wasn't sure what to expect but i just decided she's a person she's a big job. um, you're just going to give her the respect that she's due but you when you need the picture when you've got it, you know what you're mandate is and you're going to take it and if it's not right you'll hear about it. yeah, let me open the floor to any of you who might have a question boy. it's a quiet crowd. yes right here and let me get a microphone i can speak loud. well actually so because we're recording it if you would that would make make sure everybody. thank you so for both of you. is it on? yes. hello? has there ever been a time that you i don't want to use the word reprimanded, but i mean you really got told don't ever take that picture again, or that was not appropriate. do you did you or did you ever feel like no, i'll tell you a funny story though. i mean when i came in marianne said to me. that you won't have any any problem with mrs. reagan if you're straight with her. always be straight with her. and there was an incident at the ranch where she had come out with a big sign that said just say no because she knew their television cameras on the next hill. and she held up the sign. i got this picture of it. she's on horse. she's on a horse. oh holding up the sign president reagan's next to her. and mark weinberg, who is the deputy press secretary said let's not release that photo and i was like, okay, whatever so, you know, it didn't get released into the public sphere the next day. we had flown at la. we're in an elevator. it's me, jim -- two secret service agents and larry speaks the press secretary and mrs. reagan says to me pete. i didn't see that photo in any newspaper this morning and like i'm thinking to myself. how do i salvage this elaine carroll? so no, so i shouldn't i said i said looking at larry speaks i said. i think there was a miscommunication between the photo office and the press office. that's what she says what i did. yeah, and she said i mean i was thinking of doug brinkley saying her eyes, you knew where you stood with your eyes. and she accepted my explanation and said do you think we could release that photograph today? and we did? questions, we've got just a few minutes left. yes way in the back over here. hang on until the till we get you that microphone. thank you. i second pete on the eyes one. look at the eyes and a little dry. yeah, you'll drop you to your knees. what a wonderful presentation. thank you so much. my question is more sort of technical and that is that what about a situation where you have like the the photo of the century and someone is blocking you from getting that shot? will you permitted to like intervene and say could you please move or do hand gestures or you know thing things like that? thank you. you can come gently behind them and just kind of guide them and say i'm going to slide you over just a bit. and it just do it gently, but firmly and they'll they figure out very quickly that they're blocking a picture but if it would be a principal the president to a principal one-on-one you wouldn't you move and then get the shot from another angle. what do you think pete? i'll just say ditto. yeah, you have to be diplomatic about it, but you can do it but not very frequently. does it happen unlike the press who tries to get secret service agents and staff and right. i mean, i guess i didn't i didn't feel that was my role my role wasn't to direct in any way and especially if you're in a you know in a crowd with press photographers, that's not that would be i think inappropriate to ask them to move or one last question right here. yes, that's right here. and then anne can we show the last picture? oh, yes, okay. so is the saying goes a picture is a thousand words and having been part of some of those wonderful opportunities and the way the message was communicated by the reagan's to the world. i wonder how you all feel now about how messages get communicated and the role of the photographer. in light of the media of today. yeah. i mean, i think one of the things that certainly is different from the reagan administration. i also served in the obama administration is the advent of social media, which obviously did not exist during the reagan administration and many of these pictures were never made public. and i think now you get to see a lot of these more intimate pictures and more real time than then you did back then and in some ways i think that was detrimental. so, you know, i was going to ask doug brinkley. like what would nancy reagan have had as hard a time? had there been social media where you would have been able to get some of these behind the scenes pictures out, you know more in real time. i don't know that i think that's just an interesting questions. we have not we've saved for the last the long goodbye and these last photographs are are very poignant pete. yeah, so this was it was a 15 years after i left the white house i was asked to be the official photographer for the funeral. i kind of knew about it ahead of time. kathy osborne had alerted me kathy was president reagan secretary. and so as soon as i got the word that he had died. i booked the flight to flew right out to la. and i think the most poignant photo for me was president bush 43 had sent air force one out to california. fly his body to dc where he lied in state and there was a funeral mass at the national cathedral, but it was this intimate picture on the plane on the air force one plane where they had strapped the casket. in what's usually the guest cabin taking the chairs out and during the flight mrs. reagan came back with ron and ron's wife doria for this moment and you know, this is intimate a moment as you can be in and you know, and i judged it by again looking at her and she knew i was there and i felt that she wanted me to document this moment. and you know to me this was of those four days. it was kind of a four-day. funeral in many respects this was the one picture that that i gravitate to every first lady knows that that moment comes when when you you are left and and he is gone marianne. the last two photographs are pete the next. yeah, i mean, i think this was me, this is a this is a camp david actually not at the ranch, but it's it's a kind of a symbolic picture i think of their relationship and what she meant to him and what he meant to her. and i think that some of the other panelists have eloquently more eloquently described their relationship than i ever could but visually i think this picture says it for me what i what i felt of their relationship and marianne the last photograph from you. the last photograph is up in st. petersburg outside the the advertage hermitage hermitage museum and she was told that the people were kept back they couldn't come up to say hello and she said i'm going to meet them. i'm going to see them and so she stepped out into the empty street and waved at all the people that were down at the end of were blocked from coming up to see her. and i it's the way i think in my head my last significant contact with her while they were in office is here. it's her saying goodbye in my mind, and i would like to close with a few words if i may please one of the things that i think is so very important that i have taken away from me is a sense of loyalty that i saw between them and i saw great love between them. i saw compassion and i saw a keen sense of protection and this was not something that i was necessarily exposed to in my home. it was quite different. this was a very public couple who faced some very hard times and yet this rock state it preserved and i've never forgotten that and and i try to take that away i've learned i learned how to set lovely tables. you know, i crept into kitchens and watched chefs prepare meals. i've learned a great deal that has influenced my life but more than anything else. it's the sense of europe partnership and you love and you trust and you protect each other. ladies and gentlemen, marianne facelman and pete sousa. so we're at a distinct

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