Good evening, everyone. Its my pleasure to welcome you to the celebration of the 2018 president ial site summit. The Kennedy Center is the perfect venue for this. Its so fitting because itself is a president ial site which is dedicated as a living memorial to president john f. Kennedy, and to assure the authentic nature of this historical gathering, the Kennedy Center brought it back to the 1800s in terms of the temperature in washington, d. C. [laughter] and we want thank you for that. Also, weve been given authority from no higher source than the chairman of the board of the john f. Kennedy center for gentlemen and ladies would like to remove jackets and be more comfortable. So please feel free to do so. This years site summit is the largest gathering ever of president ial site representatives. These Historic Sites include more than 100 birthplaces and childhood homes, memorials and museums, libraries and landmarks from coast to coast. Were grateful to have the site representatives here and for your devotion to educating the public about the american presidency. Tonight we have two outstanding Panel Discussions focused on the one thing that all of our president s have in common, and that is life in the white house. Both will be moderated by the chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center and good friend of the White House Historical association, David Rubenstein. Although he still has his day job, david has emerged as americas interviewer in chief. So you are in store for a very special program. The first panel will feature perspectives of those for whom white house history and Family History intersect, president ial descendents. Throughout american history, our president ial offspring have often played a unique and fascinating role. They enliven the stories of the presidencies. Lincoln son used to drive goats down a corridor in the white house. Amy carter roller skated in the east room. Alice roosevelt gambled, partied and was even seen wearing a live boa constrictor. This let her father Teddy Roosevelt to say, i can be one of two things, i can be president of the United States or i can control alice. I cannot possibly do both. Many president ial descendents have gone on to do great things. Two president ial children have later become president s themselves. Other children of president s and their children have made contributions to American Life representing a wide variety of fields including educators and entertainers, activists and artists. Steve ford even became a national villian as the boyfriend who broke meg ryans heart in when harry met sally. Weve been honored to have over 40 descendents of american president s join us. These unique americans represent administrations from james monroe to george w. Bush. And amazingly, its going to be here in a few minutes, but well be a few degrees removed from the 10th president of the United States, john tyler. He served from 1841 to 1845. He was born in 1790. And president tylers grandson will be here. Im not talking about his great grandson or great, great grandson, his actual grandson ryan tyler has been participating in this conference and is on his way here tonight. Please make a point to say hello to him. Id also like to ask all of the president ial descendents that are here tonight to please stand and be recognized. [applause] thank you. Thank you for joining us. And for representing the legacies of our president s and first families. Our second panel will hear from those that portray life in the white house in the movies. This is an enormous responsibility. For Many Americans and others around the world, their understanding of the presidency is based almost entirely on hollywood depiction. Imagine how different your view of the white house would be if you had only seen the american president or if you had only seen house of cards or if you had only seen Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter. Well, in addition to our panelists from the entertainment industry, well be joined by men and women that have been on both sides of the camera. They worked in the white house and then theyve gone on to advise Hollywood Studios on bringing the president to the lives across theaters and living rooms. We hope youll enjoy this special evening. I would like to introduce our partner in this summit and who is probably having a more difficult day at the Kennedy Center to day. But please join me in welcoming president of the Kennedy Center, deborah rudder. [applause] good evening and welcome. When stewart called me to share the fact that the summit was going to take place and to invite us to participate, i was overjoyed. Because so many people dont even know and understand that we are the living memorial to john f. Kennedy. My guess is in this room you all know that. But we love being involved in experiences like this and this summit. That said, i know many of you came from farther than virginia or maryland or down the street. And the saying is, you only have one chance to make a first impression. And i just really want to say this is a hot place to spend time. [laughter] weve been working on the chiller all day and im really, really sorry. But when faced with the option of either moving it or canceling it, we decided that we would all be here and experience it together. [laughter] and last night it was warmer, right . [applause] so thank you, thank you so much for being here and thank you to the White House Historical society for all their work during this summit and for including the Kennedy Center. Today is a really interesting day. It falls sort of between august 25 and september 8, duh. August 25, however, was the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein and september 8th is the official anniversary of the Kennedy Center. This is our 47th. Were getting ready for the 50th. I hope youll return for that. No you ask, why do i mention those two things . For all the historians in the room, you probably remember a couple of things. But im going to share them for those of you who may not know. In 1962, the president and mrs. Kennedy hosted a fundraiser at the white house for what was known at that time as a future National Cultural center. And who was the host, Leonard Bernstein. And he was hosting a beautiful musical program, one of many, in fact, that took place at the white house. And it featured our own beloved artistic adviser at large, yoyo ma, as a 7yearold. Very special program. You can find it on youtube. It reminds you of the reality of seeing president and mrs. Kennedy with those artists living today and can tell you about it, and Leonard Bernstein, who was probably the most influential american musician that we all will remember. Now Leonard Bernstein went on to then compose the work that was brand new commissioned for the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971. The white house actually, and id love to be able to share this and maybe well hear more in the panel, but the white house was actually a place of musical performances. In my understanding, im sure David Rubenstein knows more, was that john adams was the first. And he had and hosted the marine band, who was just barely in existence back on new years day on 1801. And president eisenhower was the first to welcome broadway to the white house. But it was president kennedy and mrs. Kennedy who hosted so much. And whether it was individual artists or institutions, they were the ones that really turned it into a really living artistic place as well. It is that reason that this place became the living memorial to john f. Kennedy. When Congress Asked mrs. Kennedy what should we do to recognize your husband, she asked that they name the National Cultural center in his honor. And, in fact, that inspired the contributions that made it possible to build this building that were in today. The Kennedy Center really has three elements to its mission. Obviously, world class art. But also powerful education and programs that reach across the country. And were really well known almost in all 50 states and puerto rico and d. C. For our education program. It is the programs that happen here all the time that really support and sustain the memorial to john f. Kennedy. Our work as we near the 50th anniversary is to strengthen that message and to really reaffirm and remind our patrons and visitors alike that it is what he stood for, what he believed in, how he lived his life that we really represent here. We celebrated his centennial last year and really focused all of our work in that year around attributes that we ascribe to president kennedy. He never used the words directly, but when we checked with his family, they agreed. Courage, justice, freedom, gratitude, and service. Those are what inspire us daily to bring our work to our communities, and that is what we believe will be even more transparent as we focus on the 50th anniversary coming up in a number of years. Thank you for being here. I apologize. Im not sure thats enough. But enjoy yourselves. I know that David Rubenstein has a fantastic program with you. Enjoy. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome president and ceo of bj lbj foundation. Thank you. Good evening. Welcome to our lineage and legacy, the stories of the president ial descendants panel. In january 2017, before their father left the white house, sasha and leah obama received a letter from barbara and jenna bush, the first daughters who preceded them in the white house. Take all that you have seen, they advised the obama girls, the people you have met, the lessons you have learned, and let that help guide you in making positive change. Being the descendent, while a great honor, comes with inherent challenges and responsibilities. The participants in our panel this evening has gracefully embraced the legacies of their president ial descendants and used them to make their own positive contributions to the world. Matthew mckinley is descended from two president s. He is the greatgrand nephew of william mckinley, our 25th president , and the greatgreat grandson of our 22nd and 24th president , Grover Cleveland. Theodore roosevelt and Vice President of the Theodore Roosevelt association which hes been associated with for a quarter century. Clifton Truman Daniel is the grandson of our 33rd president , harry truman, and the honorary chairman of the Truman Library institute. Linda johnson robb is the first child of our 36th president , Lyndon Johnson. She lived in the white house during the last years of had her fathers tenure in office from 1966 to 1969. And for over two decades, has served as a trustee of the lbj foundation. And susan ford bails is the fourth child and only daughter of our 38th president , gerald ford. She lived in the white house during the bulk of her fathers presidency, and since 1981, has served as a trustee of the gerald ford president ial foundation. Moderating our panel is David Rubenstein, the cofounder and coexecutive chairman of the Carlyle Group and our countrys leading patriotic philanthropist. Generously contributing to the preservation of our nations history and culture. He is also the host of bloombergs the David Rubenstein show peertopeer conversations. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to this stage matthew mckinley, tweed roosevelt, Linda Johnson rob, susan ford bails and David Rubenstein. [applause] thank you all for coming. I want to apologize again, as one of my roles of the chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. I think this is the first time the air conditioning hasnt worked. Most of you who are descendents of president s probably have ancestors that didnt have air conditioning. Who knows when airconditioning was first installed in the white house . It was first installed for James Garfield when he had an assassination attempt on him, to cool it down, they put temporary air conditioning in. But the first real airconditioning is when it was redone under harry truman. But i apologize again. And i just want to let you know that tonight in the other part of the Kennedy Center, hamilton was canceled because we were not sure that people going to that were as tough as the people that were coming to this event. [laughter] [applause] so why dont we start now . Susan, why dont we start with you, if we could. Susan, you were a teenager when your father became president of the United States. What is it like to go out on dates when you have young men, are they intimidated to call you up and how do they get through the gates, and did the secret Service Watch you where you go, what is that like . They do, david. It was difficult. I was lucky. Unlike a lot of other president ial children, i grew up in alexandria, virginia, across the river. I didnt have to change schools. I was in an all girls school in bethesda, maryland. So i was dating episcopal boys when i would come home for the weekend. And then they did i would, first of all, the poor boys show up just wringing wet. It wasnt just going on a date. It was having to meet the commander in chief. That is always the hardest part. But, yes, they would follow us in another car. I always rode with my date when it was possible. All depending what was going on. If there were threats or different things, there were times that we were not allowed to go in our own personal cars. It was difficult. It didnt i have never been parking in my entire life. If that tells you anything. [laughter] you also had your senior prom at the white house. Yes. Was that hard to get arranged . Did you have to get permission from somebody or easy to get that done . I did. Im still the only one that had a prom there. And i wasnt even on the Prom Committee at the time. But the group came to me and said could we possibly have it at the white house . And i said i dont know. So i went to the ushers office, its kind of the liaison place between the family and the white house or whatever you need. The ushers office takes care of it. So i went and spoke to the head usher at the time and he said hell get back to me. And so they did. We did our own flowers. The flower shop ordered the flowers and taught us how to do the arrangements. We paid for all the food. The only thing we didnt have was a room rental. It was like any other hotel, it just happened to be at the white house. And everybody in my class showed up for their prom. [laughter] before your father was president , he was House Minority leader and also Vice President. But did you find from the time that he became president to all of a sudden, people laughed at your jokes more, you were invited to more things and did you find your life changed dramatically . It really didnt for me. I already had my set of friends. And so when there were other girls in my class who tried to become friends with me after going to school with them for three years, i said i know that story. So i really felt very lucky that i didnt have to change schools or do anything else. And i had a very Close Knit Group of girls that i ran around with. And they really protected me both through my Senior High School and freshman in college years. So linda, your father became president after a tragedy. And completely unexpected, of course. How did your life change . Where were you when your father was Vice President . Were you living in washington and then did you move to the white house . No. I was at the university of texas. I was in a dorm with 300, 400 girls. In those days, girls lived in the dorms without boys. [laughter] big change. And they didnt like the secret service moved in. And so they would lock the doors at 10 00 or later on weekends. And the secret service would stay in after that and so after a while, the girls started coming down and bringing them presents. And asking their advice on this young man or that young man. [laughter] this was 1963. So i finished out my semester at the university. I was a sophomore. And then my parents said that they really, really needed me in washington. And that mother just couldnt get along without me there to be the hostess and help her. Of course, in truth, we didnt know what danger might lurk. That and the fact that the secret service had put up cameras on the floors and just to make sure someone didnt walk in and go back up a back stairs and so forth. And the girls did not like to have their freedom infringed upon. So they would hang underwear on the cameras. [laughter] and so we decided, we, mother and the secret service, that i needed to come back and help her run the white house. And so i came back and every weekend in 1964, lucy would go out and campaign or i would go out and campaign. We took turns. And i rode half of the lady bird special train through the south and lucy rode the other half and we would count how many states i did carry and lucy hers. Then i went off after i graduated. How many states . I always won. [laughter] the