And hugh hewitt, the president of the Nixon Foundation who youll hear from in a few moments. We have many distinguished guests here today. Many former officials from the nixon and other administrations and staff and friends of the Nixon Foundation, and were honored to have you here tonight. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Patricia Nixon becoming the first lady of the United States. Under her leadership, the white house collection added over 600 paintings and furnishing elements to the white house collection which is the most of any presidency. The significance of this will be discussed in tonights program, but its very important to us here at the White House Historical association as a core part of our mission which was inspired, as most of you, or all of you know, by first Lady Jacqueline kennedy, to be the private nonpartisan private partner to the white house for conservation, preservation, restoration of those beautiful state homes in the white house for the acquisition of
I would like to welcome jim cavanagh, chairman of the board of the Nixon Foundation. His wife esther right here in the front row. [laughter] [applause] president of the Nixon Foundation who you will hear from in a few moments. We have many distinguished guests, many former officials from the nixon and other administrations. We are honored to have you here tonight. Year marks the 50th anniversary of protection nixon becoming the first lady. Nixon. Icia under her leadership, the white house collection added over 600 paintings and furnishing elements of the white house collection which is the most of any presidency. The significance of this will be discussed in tonights program. It is important to us here at the White House Historical association is a core part of our nation our mission which was inspired, as most of you know by first Lady Jacqueline kennedy to be the private nonpartisan partner to the white house for conservation, preservation, restoration of the staterooms of the white
People from several administrations and we will get a sense of the environment of first lady operates in. Its a difficult place to be. As beautiful as the white house is, it has many different roles. It is a museum. It is obviously a residence. It is a park, a president s park, and it is a work place. And all of those combined, for the first lady, as opportunities for her. And also some hazards. As they live their lives their lives in the white house. It is a place for children. It is a place to raise a family. With a first lady with no compensation for what she does, its difficult to say exactly what her role is. We will talk about this. Our panelists have been in the white house since the time that betty ford was first lady. Nina mcbride was chief of staff to laura bush and she also worked for president s reagan and George H W Bush and she knows a great deal about the operations than the comings and goings. Gary walters worked as chief usher from 1986, but he came during betty fords
Ladies dot cspan. Org. I think most americans know that issues like the family and medical leave act that senator dodd has championed. Thats a family value issue that president bush is about to veto again a good job is a family value issue Decent Health care so you dont have to worry about what happens to the members of your family. Thats a family value issue family values are very important, but we need to look at what is going on the lives of families in america and come up with positive solutions to help them. Youve taken a lot of hits during this campaign. What does the fact that even at one point the campaign was sort of reduced to comparing Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. There was a lot of attacks at the republican convention. What does this say to you about societies willingness to accept a more aggressive role by women in politics and in society. Oh, i dont think thats really an issue. I think that what you see is a kind of desperate political strategy to distract people and di
Thats a family value issue that president bush is about to veto again a good job is a family value issue Decent Health care so you dont have to worry about what happens to the members of your family. Thats a family value issue family values are very important, but we need to look at what is going on the lives of families in america and come up with positive solutions to help them. Youve taken a lot of hits during this campaign. What does the fact that even at one point the campaign was sort of reduced to comparing Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. There was a lot of attacks at the republican convention. What does this say to you about societies willingness to accept a more aggressive role by women in politics and in society. Oh, i dont think thats really an issue. I think that what you see is a kind of desperate political strategy to distract people and divert them from whats really at stake in this election and it will move. Whatever direction they think will help them. It doesnt matter