Am paula im on the board of the Atlantic Council and vice chair of the center for strategy and security. Todays conversation comes at a very crucial time for afghanistan, afghanistan sits at a very key Inflection Point with peace negotiations currently ongoing between the taliban and the afghan government, though these talks give hope for an inch of decades of war in afghanistan, they also do raise certain concerns, it is truly vital that we remain vigilant in protecting the goals and gains that have been made on behalf of women and girls rights in afghanistan as well as those marginalized voices more generally, and the last two decades particularly as the negotiations have been underway the peace talks represent a major opportunity to really ensure that these gains are cemented. Id like to mention that back in september when these talks began and got underway, at the time initiated by former secretary of state madeleine albright, the Atlantic Council of the advisory board, she initiat
Laura bush, what was your initial reaction the first time your husband said, i think im going to run for president . I cant really remember exactly what my initial reaction was. I think it was a little bit slower than just all of a sudden saying im going to run for president. He was governor. He had been governor roy interim and reelected and slowly i think we just both started talking about it. He talked about it and of course other people were talking to him about it and i knew what it was like. Now, i knew already what it will be like this. And it wouldnt be like to live in the white house. George and i had an advantage that so far only one other family has said before, John Quincy Adams family. We had visited very often. We moved to washington back in 1986, or 87, rather, to work on president bushs campaign. And so i saw them when they were campaigning nationwide, and they still have time to babysit Barbara Angela on a saturday night when george and i would want to go out to dinner
Captioning performed by vitac on that note, Pablo Miguel Martinez on facebook references that. Mrs. Bush invited and then disinvited poets to the white house. Has she ever commented on this debacle, as the viewer called it . Has she spoken out about what that meant . Not that im aware of. I think that she has a tendency to say that it is unfortunate that people cant come together and have a civilized discussion. That once again, you might be able to find some Common Ground if you can get beyond that rhetoric. But i dont think shes smopoke about it directly. Martha is watching us. Hi, martha. Youre on. Caller hey. Thank you so much for taking my call. You know, its interesting that between laura bush and last week Hillary Clinton, theyre two women of my generation. One has chosen one path. One has chosen another path. Both women i admire very much. The one success they have had is that they have both raised strong, successful young women. Can you comment on the difference between the tw
Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. Up next on American History tv on cspan3, an interview laura bush, what was your initial reaction the first time your husband said i think im going to run for president . Well, i cant really remember initially what my act reaction was. I think it was a bit slower than all of a sudden saying im going to run for president. He was governor and had been governor for one term and reelected and i slowly think we both started talking about it. He talked about it and of course other people were talking to him about it. I knew what it was like. I knew already what it would be like to run for president. I knew what it would be like to live in the white house. George and i had an advantage that only one other family has had so far, the John Quincy Adams family. Because wed seen somebody we loved in that office, and we visited him very often. We moved to washington in fact in 1987, rather, to work on president bushs campaign. And so i saw them then
Knowing some very well, like my own motherinlaw, or one that i admired very much, is that we benefit, our country benefits by whatever our first ladys interests are. She is the wife of one president and daughterinlaw of another. Laura welch bush became first lady after a controversial election brought her husband, george w. Bush, to the white house. Less than nine months later came the 9 11 attacks while she helped comfort the nation with education, literacy and womens health. Welcome to cspans series, first ladies. Tonight, well tell you the story of the wife of our 43rd president. Here to do that are two people who know her well. Ann is a laura bush biographer. Her 2000 book the tells the story of her as she covered her since 2001. Welcome. Mark is a president ial historian, the author of several books about the presidency and is working on one about the relationship between president s bush 41 and 43. In your biography, you refer to the role of a job of first lady as, this is a quot