[indistinct chatter] good evening, everybody. I am the president of the White House Correspondents Association. I just wanted to welcome everybody to tonights fantastic , of course,to thank our esteemed panel here. Marthayou know how great is, but let me take a moment to thank her for all that she does for us in terms of her scholarship and her research. She is a constant resource for all of us who cover the white house and for any of the American Public who is interested in the presidency, the operations inside that building. I also want to thank the White House Historical association for your generosity and your support of our programs and of marthas work and of all of our study and common interest in the presidency. Before i turn things over to martha, to mention that last was at thewhca Truman Library for what we hope will be the first update partnerships and events with president ial libraries and museums across the country talking with americans outside of the beltway and answeri
Annette dunlap she changed it in terms of putting education in the forefront and getting involved with education and taking care of children. She was really concerned about how children were cared for, and that was something she definitely emphasized. Susan swain and, taylor where would you put her in the pantheon of first ladies weve been learning about this year . Taylor stoermer shes the first celebrity first lady, the First National celebrity first lady. And i think when were talking about the development of our understanding of the institution of the first lady, then she is the first one in which we get to start thinking about what really are the uses of that celebrity in good ways and bad ways, because there are concerns that have developed about the first family being owned by the American Public, but also how that can actually be a positive tool of the broader presidency if only Grover Cleveland would have been able to see that. Susan swain and the story in that regard will con
2009 by the bbcs katty kay, who was guest host on the the diane rehm show. This is about 50 minutes. Katty thanks for joining us, i am katty kay of the bbc sitting in for diane rehm. On april the ninth 1865 general robert ely surrendered robert ely surrendered robert e. Lee and the sultana sank in the Mississippi River. Alan huffman tells us overlooked story. Thank you so much for joining us. We will be opening a phones a later on in the program, and comments to alan at our email address. Lets start by describing what you have on the front of your book, a picture of the sultana. Describe it to the audience. Alan the boat in the painting is in flames in the middle of the river, and you see a lot of rescue boats and it is night and you see people drifting down the river clinging to debris. It evokes what was going on. The river was full of people. There were 2400 people aboard a boat that was supposed to carry 375, roughly. After it exploded and caught higher, you had people and horses s
Finally, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce our first moderator, the great Bob Schieffer. As all of you know, bob is the cbs news chief washington correspondent and the awardwinning host of face the nation. Bob made some news of his own earlier this month when he announced he was stepping down from face the nation. Im hoping we will all help change his mind before lunch today. Bob has been a reporter for more than half a century and is has virtually won every award in broadcast journalism during his august career. Including 8 emmy awards. Please give me a big round of applause for Bob Schieffer and our panelists. [applause] bob i want to tell you, i announced last week that i was going to retire after 46 years at cbs news. 58 years since i got my first job in journalism. I think for that reason alone i an appropriate moderator to talk am about how medicare got started. Next week, i am going down and signing up for part b. [laughter] bob i would also say this. You know when i annou
We thought it would be important to look at the complicated early history of medicare and how difficult it was for previous administrations to enact legislation that so many of us now take for granted. Besides myself, our first panelist includes lynda bird johnson robb, the eldest daughter of president and mrs. Johnson. Lynda is the former chairman of the board for reading is fundamental, the nations largest to childrens literary organization. And she serves on the board of the lbj foundation. She is also the former first lady of virginia and another proud alumnus of the university of texas in austin. , i might mention too her husband, former senator and former governor chuck robb is here. Linda will be joined by larry levinson, deputies special counsel to larry johnson. Larry helped shape a comprehensive domestic legislative agenda which included medicare, the safe streets act, and Landmark Education and civil rights measures. He is a harvard law graduate and lawyer in private practic