Transcripts For CSPAN First Ladies Influence Image 20140104

I would have been criticized for what i did, and i got a lot of criticism, but you learn to live with it. I never let it influence me. Rosalynn carter in a recent interview in atlanta. She was her husbands political partner from their first campaign. She attended cabinet meetings and championed womens rights and Mental Health issues and even testified before congress. Their partnership continued in the postwhite house years. Good evening and welcome to the span series on first ladies. We begin by looking at the lives of living first ladies. Let me introduce our first two guests. They will be in the studio to tell you about her biography. Our guest is a president ial scholar. Faith specializes on the history of the south. I want to talk about the themes. She was gracious enough to grant us an interview. We will post it online so you can hear all she had to say. I want to pick up on things i have learned that she referenced. The carters first visit to the white house was after he had been elected and the inauguration. We have heard travel was difficult, but it is unusual in the modern age. What skills did she bring to this job . In some ways, the transition to the Governors Mansion in atlanta was big. She did get the chance to take on issues and do the kinds of things first ladies do at the white house, albeit at a smaller level. On one hand they were washington outsiders coming to a town where they had not spent much time, but also they had that experience as governor, which she used as a foundation for what she expected to do as first lady. We had many books on first ladies. He says, under Rosalynn Carter the office of first lady completed its metamorphosis into a vital white house organ. Previous first ladies had done campaigning, but none had preceded with the professionalism as Rosalynn Carter and her staff. The fulltime east wing position grew by almost 30 , but she used the staff differently to expand on traditional and entertainment functions. When she grew up, almost during her entire childhood the first lady of the United States was eleanor roosevelt, so one would think that is different. She testified before congress, and she wanted to be a serious player on the issues. She wanted the president to take her seriously. They communicated back and forth very candidly. She was not afraid to criticize him, at least in private. It was a strong modern era of first ladies getting involved in issues where you can make a difference. Let me ask another theme in the series, and that has been the role of women in society. We have learned so often first lady is a linchpin for changes in the country. What about 1976, particularly southern women and how accepting the public was. She became the first lady at a time of great change in womens roles. That made her job challenging, but it also gave her some wonderful opportunities, which she worked hard to seize. I read that it was a lot harder for her to learn how to be the first lady in the Governors Mansion because she had to train her staff to work in various capacities in the Governors Mansion, and when she got to the white house everyone knew what to do and that was easier. She came into the white house at the moment when womens roles are really changing greatly across the country. I think people were surprised she was such an outspoken person coming from the south, and she tackled issues. I think she really made a mark. Those of you remember the big question was, jimmy who . We are going to show you a bit of the campaign ad they put together. In the final days a group of georgia supporters often referred to as the peanut brigade flew into new hampshire. If we had snow on the ground like this we would the paralyzed for weeks. We couldnt get outside. Her schedule was grueling, almost as tough as her husband, yet through it all she remained a gracious campaigner. Everybody know every in you do, and i just tell them we were born and raised in georgia. It has a population of 683, and everyone has always known everything i did. I really believe he can restore honesty, integrity, openness, confidence in government we need. I think he would be a great president. Grace hill, what was happening in the country in 1976 that these outsiders from georgia appealed to the public . I think a lot of things are intersecting in interesting ways to help carter and first Lady Rosalynn in their rise in politics. On the one hand you have the failures of the mcgovern campaign. They want a campaign who is not going to be able to be pigeonholed as representing a liberal or left part of the party. Carter with his southern roots, his smalltown background, they think he is going to appeal to somebody who wouldnt vote for mcgovern or might be alienated by that part of the Democratic Party. Also, he is an interesting candidate because he is from the south, and he is speaking out in support of integration and the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, and that also really helps create momentum he had them. He is seen as a candidate who can bridge a lot of divides and draw in a lot of people. That video represents the peanut brigade. Who are the peanut brigade . It is the friends of the carters from georgia who went to other states to campaign. It was impressive when they went into the snowbound streets of new hampshire. The advantage, when you are going to a voter and saying, i am asking you to vote for someone i personally know, that carries a lot of weight. People would wear gold peanut pins, and i think the idea of running as an outsider might have worked in 1976 in a way that might not have worked in other years. It was the right campaign for the right time. It became the standard way in which candidates would run after that. It is very interesting that running from an outsider, what else could carter do, being from a small town, then run as an outsider from washington . It became a model for campaigns. After that you see many politicians running as outsiders. George bush, the second george bush ran as an outsider going off his experience in texas. The Carter Family, mrs. Carter, the son, the motherin law, all involved in making it a family affair. Up until this point, people wouldnt figure out you have to get outside of washington. One of my favorite stories from mrs. Carter, she and a friend would go around and spend 75 days in florida, and they would go in a small town and look for an antenna because they figured it was a radio station, and they would say, would you like to interview us . They would bring questions they want to ask. It was a lowbudget campaign, but in that year with finance laws of that kind, that was the way to do it. I think it is a different way of campaigning than we see now staying with areas people in the small towns a visited. They will do that in iowa and new hampshire, but after that it gets hard to do. Tell me a little bit about learning the mechanics of political science. They had only a little experience. When you read a biography, their systematic approach to learning mechanics is interesting. What i am thinking about is they wouldnt tell them to the same audiences. She took memory classes so they would be able to remember faces and names. Talk about their approach to politics. Both of the carters really believed in doing their homework. He would read the book on the 1972 campaign to find out what went right, what went wrong, and she would take meticulous notes, and when they ran for reelection in 1979, she pulled out all these notes from the 1976 campaign. She had the names of everybody. They started out knowing they didnt know how to do this, but they did their homework, and they would come home on sunday so they were always on the same page. They would come back and compare notes on sunday. Then they would head back with a very powerful combination. I cannot believe the work schedule she had during that campaign. I guess growing up on a farm, you learn how to put in long days, but she was willing to make that commitment. What is great is your involvement. We welcome that as well. You can send us a tweet firstladies. People are posting questions. We will get to as many of those as we can. You can also call. If you are mountain, pacific or even further west, we welcome the conversation. This viewer asks, where was she educated . We are going to visit the town plains, georgia. How big is it . When she was there it was dirt roads. Now the roads are paved, but it doesnt look much different today than it did then. They are surprised they ended up there because when they were younger the goal was to get out of the town. Check out this video. Not much has changed since the president and mrs. Carter grew up here. If we were to take away this asphalt and have a dirt road in front of it, it would look very similar to a photograph of plains, circa 1925. She lived here with her mom and dad, brothers, and sister. One of her favorite memories is when her dad would come home from work, go into the kitchen, give her a hug, swing her around, and give her a kiss. Rosalynn carter lost her mother father at a young age. A trained nurse here in plains. On the night of his passing they actually took Rosalynn Carter to be with jimmy carters sister , ruth. This is jimmy carters farm. It is important to rosalynns story, because she would have spent a lot of time out here with president carters sister , ruth. This is a room jimmy carters room in gloria. When they came out to see her friend ruth, this is where they would hang out together, play games and do homework and enjoy each others company. Surely when rosalynn was out visiting president carters sister, she would have seen a young jimmy carter. This is where Rosalynn Smith carter and jimmy carter would have attended first through 11th grade. Her first memory of going to school here is she made straight as at first quarter. She went home and she showed her dad, and her mom the straight as and they were so proud of her, dad gave her a dollar for her accomplishments. Later on, a local businessman had a contest for the student who had the best grade point average throughout the year. Whoever had that grade point average, he would give them 5. In 1920s and 30s that was quite a bit of money. After that 7th grade year, miss rosalynn won that 5 from a local businessman. One of the activities that Rosalynn Carter would have been engaged in was basketball. She was so excited when she made the varsity basketball team. We have a picture of her uniform and good accomplishment at the time. This is the United Methodist church and right here where president carter asked miss rosalynn on a date for the first time. Its also here where they got married. Its a special place for president and mrs. Carter. Theres a look at some of the early life in plains, georgia. Ill let someone on twitter ask how did they meet . As the park ranger said, they probably saw each other from a distance because she was a friend of the sister but they seemed not to Pay Attention to her. But as he got older and it was known he would travel around the world and join the navy, she started to focus on him and the first date they had when she was 17 and was about 20, he went home and told his mother he was going to marry rosalynn after the first date. It took him a while to convince her to marry him. Until this event they hadnt run into each other. They were three years apart which may have been the reason. She married him at 19 . Yes. Was she ever able to finish college . I think she has an Associates Degree from georgia southwestern. That school is important. Her mother went to that school and today the school has a care giving Program Named after her and shes active in that school. Could someone ask the second part of reginas question, were they both of the same religion, a launching point to talk about politics and their political rise. They were always churchgoers. His and her faith were important when they were campaigning for the presidency. That was again an interesting moment just like womens rights when evangelical christians more theological christians were embracing the publics fear coming out of the selfimposed isolation and really taking up a public life and carter really spoke to them. A lot of them that would later find themselves as the new right or the christian right, many of those people voted for carter and that was some of them the first time they voted in national campaign. They really put that at the center of their campaign. She became a navy wife and talk about the birth of their son. He was very active in the submarine program. He helped develop things for the navy. He was at sea at lot. There were three sons born while he was in the navy. Jack was born in portsmith and chip was born in hawaii and jeff was born in connecticut. She had a lot of jobs raising the sons because jimmy was not around a lot of the time and she would run the Family Finances which a task she took on at the farm as well. She was busy but also enjoyed the opportunity to travel to all these great places and i think they enjoyed living in hawaii, for instance. It was a special experience for them. Jimmy carter was accepted into the Nuclear Submarine program and worked with the father of the Nuclear Submarine program. But he leads it. Why . I think the main reason is his father dies earlier than expected. His father, earl, passed away in 1953, and billy was too young to take over the farm. So, it was kind of, i guess, a question that the farm might be lost to the family if he didnt go back. When he went back he found out his father had been more active in the Community Helping poor people and giving loans to people that needed help and he never realized that as a child and he thought i could do more good back here. The thing is he didnt consult with rosalynn on that question and she actually refused to talk to him on the trip and he said after that, he learned his lesson and he would never make a major decision without consulting with her. Here she found herself back in plains after seeing the world. But they put themselves full time into the peanut Farm Business and used it as a way to grow and get around the state. How did that segue into their life in politics . They started off getting involved in local politics. Jimmy carter became involved with the school board there in plains and used that as a jumping off point to the Georgia State legislature. And from there, eventually he launched two campaigns for governor. The first wasnt successful and the second was. They really used their sort of rootedness in plains and i think their experience of the broader world coming together helped them to get into national politic. Lets invite our callers into the discussion beginning with steve watching us in fort myers, florida. Hi, youre on. Caller good evening. I was fortunate to meet president and mrs. Carter when they came to fort myers, florida, in 1994. The reason they came is because we presented president carter with a medal and this was because of his work to pass the alaska lands act which actually saved about 104 million acres of wilderness. I wonder if mrs. Carter had any effect on his Environmental Policies because i know she certainly wanted to put forth some information to president carter on some of his policy. I wanted to know how much of his Environmental Policies she might have had information about and to at least make him form a certain policy. Was she a person concerned with Environmental Issues . Theyre both outdoor people and they both love to fly fish, for instance. So theyve always had this personal interest in rivers. He was involved in environment in many ways. In fact, theyre both serious birders. They go around the world looking for species they havent seen before and have a notebook of Different Things theyve seen. The carter presidency has generally been ranked by historians for the environment after Teddy Roosevelt and nixon, carter is right up behind them in most of the environmental rankings and both of them have a Great Respect for nature and outdoors. Keith is watching from greenville, indiana. Youre on. Caller hi, how are you . Very well. Whats your question. Caller what was the reaction of president carter and first lady when he lost the election to Ronald Reagan in 1980 . Okay. Thank you. Youre fast forwarding our story but what was the reaction when they lost the 80 campaign . Well, i mean, they were devastated. You know, i dont really know what to add to that. Do you want to take that up . They were very devastated. The election was not close, but until the last week or so, the polls showed it was an open race. But both of them realized before election it was coming, and it was hard. She is very candid if you read her memoirs, she doesnt try to cover up how she feels about things and she said everybody pretended like they werent bitter, but i sure was. So, you know, obviously for anybody what you put in to run for the office and put in to do that job, its tough when you get a verdict like that from the voters. But theyve come to peace with it and been able to make a great use of the rest of their life. It was a fragile victory in 1976 when he won. It was a small victory. So i think it was in some ways a surprise victory. Before we leave there, someone wants to know what major accomplishments did they make for the state of georgia that has been replicated by other states. What can you point to . In georgia, there was a major reorganization of the functions of State Government so there would be fewer agencies. He was the first one to set up a film bureau to attract films to come to georgia which was big. He was active in International Promotion of business and trade and the environment which we already mentioned. He only served one term as governor because at that time the georgia constitution did not allow anybody to run for a second term. Thats why he only served the one term and of course reason he was either going to retire from politics or run for president. One of the things that is interesting about his governship is he didnt run as particularly liberal on issues of racial integration and the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement that had rocked the south in the years leading up to and even when he was first running for governor for the first campaign. He really didnt run that liberal on these issues. But when he became governor perhaps in part because he did not have to run in georgia where white voters were not going to support those views he made a tactical turn and nurtured the career of a young andy young at that time and really began to really moderate what had been some pretty traditional white southern views before that. We have a question about race about the first lady. Growing up in the south what views did rosalynn have on equal rights and human rights . Well, she was very impressed by Lillian Carter. I dont think we mentioned Lillian Carter yet. She was a major force through the whole town of plains because she was a nurse. Where is the prevailing attitude was africanamericans had to come through the back door and the schools were separate, as far as she was concerned everybody was equal and she had to carry out her nursing responsibilities that way. And everybody saw that and one of rosalynns sisters was named after miss lillian so there was a respect for her. Even at this time, although the prevailing culture was of segregated society, i think both of them grew up with a basic sense of fairness that said this isnt the way things ought to be and of course as they traveled around the world they broadened their perspectives. Neither of them were amongst the white southerners that stood up against the kind of segregationists way of life. They may have had their personal views but they were quiet about those views and i think thats what is interesting about his governship. Thats when you see that kind of change. You do have to distinguish between joining the Civil Rights Movement but even his father supported the sale to land to africanamericans. That was one of the major forms of discrimination that was pursued. Earl carter sold some of his land to africanamericans and when carter ran for the school board and state senate, one of the issues was the closing of the schools over segregation. Carter was very strong about not shutting down the schools. So within plains, those were the kind of issues. He thought about endorsing George Wallace when he was running for president. I think its complicated, but in the end, they make the journey. To me, thats what is interesting to watch the change over time. Michael in mississippi. Youre on the air next. Caller good evening. Two months ago marked the carters involvement in the 30th anniversary of the habitat for humanity. I was wanted to know how did they become involved in the organization initially . Well, habitat, as you may know, was founded in georgia and its only seven miles from plains. The people who founded habitat were friends of the carters and the carters really liked the idea. So, what they agreed to in the early years was that their name could be used for the organization for fundraising and things like that and then they spent one week a year working habitat projects. These are not photo ops. They go out and theyre quite good with tools. They go back with habitat and they spend 51 weeks a year working at the center but they made a major contribution to habitat. Before we get into the white house we have to add one more person to the story and thats the birth of amy carter born in 1967 so the carters arrived at the white house with a young daughter and sons off doing other things with their lives. But, the inauguration was cast as the peoples inaugural. We have video of what became iconic of the time which is the president and first lady getting out of the limousine and walking pennsylvania avenue. How important symbolism was that . I think that was important in a lot of different ways. I mean, in part they were sort of prompted to do it at least as i heard the story. You can jump in if you want to, by congressman interested in physical fitness issues and urged them to think about it, but it became really a symbol of their desire to connect with people and not present themselves as kind of elites above the people and be in touch with ordinary americans. Thats how it played out in terms of the inauguration. I believe she spoke about people along the way just weeping as they walked by and shook hands and spoke to people. It clearly was meaningful to people who were there. One other bit of symbolism she wore the same gown for the balls as she did in georgia. What is she trying to say . I think she decided they wanted a less imperial presidency. Walking down pennsylvania ave. Was a surprise the secret service was only allowed this because it was kept secret. Its interesting because they disagreed about certain aspects. He didnt want hail to the chief played at all and she thought he overdid that too much. She thought it should be played more. He was adamant about reducing about the imperial nature of the presidency. The transition with president and mrs. Ford, we saw that clip. The fords were devastated by their loss. Mark asks, there was a friendship after each was in office. Did rosalynn and betty ford have a friendship . Absolutely. When president reagan was wounded, he could not go to the funeral, because of his condition, Vice President bush couldnt go. So he sent three president s nixon, ford and carter. Same thing happened with the first ladies. Family asked miss ford to speak so theres a very close bond between the family. Maybe part of it they both went through the trauma of failing to be reelected. The white house was a busy spot because two of the sons wives and children moved in. Part of the time and amy was there and then the nation also got introduced to miss lillian and president carters brother, billy. Miss lillian was the celebrity. When the Democratic National convention was held in the summer 1976, most of the delegates already met the Carter Family except for miss lillian because miss lillian because she stayed home to take care of amy. She was the Carter Family member people hadnt already met. The big thing at the convention was, can i meet Lillian Carter . It was exciting to be in Elementary School at this time. I grew up in georgia. For amy to grow up in the white house, it was exciting if you were a kid. She seemed right there in the center of all the events and i remember thinking about that a lot as something that was really about exciting. How did she protect young amy from the press and that sort of thing . We have a photo. You can see how young she is. How did they approach parenting . Well, i think that felt that all their kids should be able to have a private life if they wanted to and amy certainly did. You know, if youre a kid in the first family youve got secret Service Protection so its hard to blend in, even if youd like to. But i think the press in general respected that and realized that a child shouldnt be exposed to the kind of press that their parents get. I think it worked out well. It was very hard to move to washington and then have to move back. We have one photograph well put on screen that shocked most of us. This is amy carter going to school. Well put it on the screen here so you can see. [laughter] the reporters on this little tiny character with her snoopy bag to school. They made the decision to Public School even though she would be more exposed to this sort of thing. Yes. The other thing i should say, the carters were relatively young occupants of the white house and then amy was very much the young daughter, so its a little unusual for its not unique but unusual for president s to have a daughter that young. She was 8, 9 . Something like that. The decision for Public School was really a decision that many people commented on and it became politicized. But it was in many ways an example to the nation and in some ways a rebuke of a lot of white southerners who were sending their kids to segregated private schools. Before we leave, i want to talk about billy carter because he occasionally became political issue for the president in what ways . Well, he didnt seem to understand how new sort of pervasive Media Coverage was not necessarily going to always be his friend. Would you like to add to that . He got in trouble a lot. The lesson with billy he was equivalent to amy. He was the last child so theres a big age separation between the the two brothers. Billy became an issue in 1980 over issues related to libya. There were all sorts of investigations and no charges were ever filed or anything like that, but it did create some distractions at crucial points in the campaign in 1980. He also chose to commercialize the connection. I remember billy beer. Did that strain the relationship with his older brother the president . I dont think so. Billy was a popular figure around plains. He had a good sense of humor and he was a smart, smart guy. Of course he originally was going to take over the farm and run the farm and then never did assume that position, so that had to be hard, although he did end up running it a lot of times when they were off campaigning. Steven in louisville, kentucky. Caller first of all, this lady was special to me. Because i was born the first week he was in the white house. The week i was born they had the National Womens conference in houston, texas. Mrs. Carter and betty ford and all those women convened. I think it was the first time that the u. S. Government ever sponsored an event like this for women in particular. I think its the only time, if im not mistaken. I know that in particular on womens issues, carter was the first u. S. President at that time to appoint more women to office than any other person at that time. Some other things i wanted to add. The arts. This administration was very good to the arts in performance at the white house started in 1979 on pbs. They hosted the First National poetry festival in 1980. And also as far as her image is concerned, ive done some research on first ladies and i know this lady is sort of interesting because i think out of all the recent first ladies it seems like shes not as well known. I think the reason is because she was so ahead of her time and multifacetted in her approach and she didnt stick to one issue and the press was upset with her because of that. I have to cut you off. Thank you. Obviously studied and knows a bit about this white house. What would you like to say to her . Youve highlighted a really important historical moment and that is National Womens conference was a historical event. It was the first event of that kind that was put on by the government with the support of the president and it was a real moment of the kind of mainstreaming or sort of broader acceptance of the goals of the Womens Movement and it was really, really an amazing event. Its indicative of those kinds of things that rosalynn did. I mean, she really did refuse to stick to one event and championed womens rights and campaigned for the e. R. A. And kept up with Mental Health which she worked on back in georgia. That i think is indicative of her in many ways creating a modern first lady role. While she pursued her own causes she stayed involved in the president s issues and as we said attended cabinet meetings. We have clips where both president and first lady talk about her participation in the cabinet meetings. Rosalynn and i arranged to have one official lunch together in the oval office every week. We would postpone all the things that could be that were official in nature that dealt with the government of the United States of america or International Affairs or health or welfare or housing or transportation and we discuss those things in our official meeting in the oval office once a week. When i learned, for instance, she was still a little frustrated in knowing enough about what was going on and she was never hesitant to let me know when she was frustrated and she hasnt changed then i decided there would be nothing wrong with rose attending the cabinet meetings. So i invited her to attend the cabinet meetings. She sat in the back of the room in an unobtrusive way. Nobody knew she was there except me. I was constantly aware that my wife was watching me. A lot of people dont know but i sat by cleveland and he was with veteran affairs. And i sat next to him next to the door and i went every time the cabinet met because it was i thought it was necessary for me to know what was going on and why the decisions were made and so forth. So that i could explain to people in the country as i toured around. We have a photograph of the carters conferring. The late 1970s were a time of many challenges internationally and domestically as we have done in many programs. We have a list of the major issues to show you during that time period to demonstrate what the president was working on. Including some of these issues such as the panama canal treaty. The Energy Crisis and those of you around remember the long gas lines people suffered through, inflation was high and there was a recession going on, mortgages in the high double digits and the panama canal treaty and cab camp david accords and negotiation of the missile treaty and big issue that framed the latter half of the white house was iranian crisis. Mrs. Carter was involved in Mental Health and created the Mental Health coalition. The Pivotal Point for her was when he was running for governor for georgia and people came up to her mentioned problems that they had had in their family and particularly the stigma that was attached to Mental Health issues. That was the beginning of it. And she had a strong Mental Health program in georgia and then at the white house. We will take a call and then learn more about the announcement of the Mental Health commission. Barbara is watching us is nashville. You are on the air. Caller in 1976 we were invited to the white house. My husband was in the music business and we got invited to come to the white house and then after that the ladies got to go see the congress, which you just mentioned they were discussing the panama canal treaty and it was a great event. That night it was so it was just so wonderful being at the white house and meeting, it was a governors meeting as well. And then we had done campaigning for president carter through some of the towns in alabama along with tammy wynette. It was a wonderful event and we loved president carter and mrs. Carter. They were so gracious. Thanks very much. We learned that her interest in the arts was much broader than just music. Did they in fact reach out to that constituency as well . What was interesting during the campaign, the expansion of the media during this time, a lot of the musicians from the south endorsed carters campaign. Southern rock was at its peak. Cap corn records was headquartered in macon and musicians like the allman brothers band were headquartered in georgia. A lot became supporters of carter and helped spread the word of his campaign. A broad interest in the arts. He listened to Classical Music but they both also had an interest in more sort of vernacular southern music as well. The people who keep these kinds of statistics say that first lady carter had three dozen specific interviews with media organizations and 22 press conferences during their term in office. We will see one of the instances when she talked to reporters after the president signed the executive order establishing the Mental Health commission. As you probably know, for the past year and a half, a little more i have campaigned all over the country. My biographical schedule had a little paragraph that said i was interested in Mental Health. Everywhere i went if people had a good program they wanted me to see it. I had a chance to see things happening all over this country that are good. I also had some things happening that i thought needed help. I hope for this establishment of this commission i know that we can give some of that help. We have a chance to do great things in our country. I thought until today that i was going to be the chairperson. And i got a little [laughter] i got a little note from somebody that says according to the office of the Legal Council of the department of justice and so forth prohibits the president from appointing a close relative such as a wife to a civilian position. It may be unpaid as well as paid. The 20 members of the commission including the chair will in fact be serving in civilian positions. No problem with your being designated as honorary chairperson. So [laughter] i will be very active honorary chairperson. I intend to we have office space in the executive Office Building which is close. I will be spending many hours a week there and traveling and involved in the fact finding process traveling over the country for hearings in the next six months. I intend to be active. Im watching that and it sing of a prestage for Hillary Clinton being involved in the healthcare during their white house years. Evolution of the role of first lady but runs into legal limitations. It is a challenge. It is really a challenge. It is i think particularly challenging during these years when he rosalynn trying to navigate the roles. She not only has to negotiate the difficulties of being the first lady in the media all the time but also really a time when women themselves are very much disagreeing about what the proper role for women in society is and arguing about it. Not just a time of feminism, it is the rise of right conservative womens backlash against feminism and critique of it. Again, i think rosalynn has a difficult job there. You could see in that clip that she wasnt going to let that legal opinion hold her back. So she was able to do it. And had a great impact. She was so committed to reducing stigma from mental illness, getting it treated as a medical condition. And in her own sweet way, she was running that commission. And her issues really are still very much with us. I mean in recent healthcare reform is just winning some of the goals that she was working on back in the 1970s. She had a signature piece of legislation that made its way through the congress. Can you talk about what that did and what the legislative trajectory was . The Mental Health commission issued reports in 1977 and 1978 and then in 1980, fairly late in the carter presidency they passed the Mental Health bill which was basically requiring that Mental Illnesses be treated like other illnesses. Interestingly enough, just in the last few weeks, that has made it into the final rules of the Affordable Care act and secretary sebelius announced that with mrs. Carter at the Carter Center. She has been frustrated that more has not happened at a faster pace. Again, i think she had been ahead of her time by a lot of the issues and now some are coming to fruition. We have a photograph of mrs. Carter testifying before a Senate Subcommittee on Mental Health issues and we will take you to her talking in the present day in this interview in atlanta just recently about her disappointment about the legislation and what happened to it after it passed. Lets listen in. I got upset with the president because they covered my Mental Health work the first few meetings i had. And then they never showed up any more. And one of the things i wanted to do is bring attention to the issue and how terrible it was and what few services there were. And thinking just getting it out in the public, that is what i did in georgia, developed a good program in georgia, by the way. But they just didnt come and so one day i was walking in the floor in the white house and met this woman who was one of the press people, and i said you know, nobody ever covers my meetings and she said ms. Carter , Mental Health is just not a sexy issue. And that i didnt like. But i never did get very much coverage for it. But we toured the country and found out what was needed and developed legislation and passed the Mental Health systems act of 1980. It passed through congress one month before jimmy, as he says, was involuntarily retired from the white house and the incoming president put it on the shelf and never implemented it. It was one of the greatest disappointments of my life. That is Rosalynn Carter talking about her frustration with the implementation of one of her major issues. She was a big champion for the equal rights amendment to the constitution. Talk more about the backlash from the moral majority as it was beginning to grow as well for womens rights. When the carters took office, you know, there were only four states still needed to ratify e. R. A. And rosalynn got out there and campaigned and it really looked like it would make it, but again, to return us to that womens conference in houston that was really a moment when the organization of the fight against e. R. A. Really became a kind of public as well. And conservative women across the country had organized to get themselves elegged as delegates to the womens conference and really began fighting back against what they saw as changes that they were not welcoming and really began to systematically campaign for e. R. A. To be stopped. It was a kind of a difficult time there, you know, in many ways if you said that a woman from a small town in georgia somebody like Rosalynn Carter with her background would be a champion of e. R. A. And it wouldnt pass you would have been surprised by that. And i think she really gave it her all. She also said that was a very disappointing loss for her as well, that that was not ratified. But the conservative women got really organized around the country and began to fight back. I want to talk to you about the use of the white house which we have learned through the course of this series is a deadly serious political business at how president s choose to bring people into the white house. During the carter years, the numbers are impressive of people invited to official events at the white house. By 1978, grown to 40,000. In 1979, 85,000 and in 1980, the election year, 100,000 official guests at events in the white house. How did they approach entertaining there . They seriously a lot of these have a serious purpose because if it as state dinner you have the head of a foreign country and if they were invited to a state dinner it probably has some diplomatic purpose attached to it. They serve very fine american products, fine wines and you have to get the protocol worked out. A lot of it is to say thank you for people that helped you in the campaign. And then, of course, in the election year, making sure you are touching all of the bases. They had some pretty great events at the white house in 1980. One of the callers mentioned the poetry conference which they had in january, i believe. And then they had all of the jazz greats came in for a lawn concert with u. B. Blake and that was another stunning event. As much as she was the modern first lady in adopting the big issues like Mental Health and e. R. A. She also knew that she didnt give up the other part of it to make sure all of this functioned smoothly. As grace mentioned, she had a very professional staff there to work with her. So that was a big asset. And for the record, the Carter White House was no hard liquor white house. I think that was more of a budgetary thing than it was aesthetics. They figured they could get better wines and better food if they didnt serve hard liquor. But, yeah, that was one way of doing it. They had to do this on a small budget. So, you know, the fact that you are doing more events doesnt mean you have more money to do them. You do have to be cost conscious about it. Also i think it was part of where they were from. Their kind of background. Many people in the south, small town south, white and black, who are people are faith do not drink. And it was also part of who they were and they brought that with them to the white house. And i think that was, you know, a cultural issue and also again a kind of class choice. It isnt going to be an elite atmosphere. We are going to have more of the peoples white house and that was part of what they saw as something that they wanted to promote. In the next clip, mrs. Carter talks about the medias reaction to this peoples white house and what she saw as antisouthern bias in the media. There is a bias against southerners. There was. I never would say that out loud when we were there because i didnt want other people to think it and i didnt want to think it. You had to keep proving yourself over and over. Didnt matter what you did. You had great successes and then had to prove yourself again. And i think it was, you know, i wasnt supposed to be sophisticated enough or something. But who wants to be sophisticated . I think there is a little bit of bias about the south. I remember after jimmy was elected there was a whole page cartoon in the Washington Post with the Carter Family, jimmys mother and me and there were haystacks and we had on straw hats and there was straw between our teeth. [laughter] and then i went from that to being steel magnolia. And but i thought that was pretty good because steel is tough and magnolia is southern. Then i was fuzzy for awhile. And then i was most powerful. I had a full range of images. Was she correct . Was there an antisouthern bias in the media while they were in the white house . I think she was correct. Most people that are not from the south had a kind of opinion of who white southerners were that was shaped by the medias coverage of civil rights unrest and protests and violence. And i think that many people had those kinds of assumptions that were not from the south. I should clarify and i dont know what she meant when she said bias against southerners. Certainly more of a bias against whites than African American southerners and National Media environment. And a period when rural white images of rural white southerners were all over popular white culture. The Andy Griffith show, petticoat junction, making comedy and so that is part of it as well. On this concept of acceptance in the public image, she wrote image did become an annoyance that wouldnt go away. I thought if i were working productively and accomplishing something worth while images would take care of themselves. Wrong. I learned that labels are easy to come by and hard to overcome. We should ask you to talk about the carters acceptance by the washington establishments. The georgians come into town, campaigning as outsiders against the political establishment. How did the establishment react . Well, i think one, i would say that no president or first lady has ever been satisfied with how they were shown in washington. Look at president ford, featured a somebody who tripped over himself all the time. They did try to work around the press corps to some extent. They felt like they could go directly to the local press, the state and local level, and not feel so much with washington. President carter sold off this where this boat where they would take people they were trying to influence. They didnt do some of the traditional things. That is related to getting away from the imperial presidency. There were some rough relations. His aide made some comment that they were not going to bring in these washington types. They did end up bringing in people. But there was always a tension. Michael is an washington, d. C. I wanted to followup on the comment you made about hard liquor. It is my understanding that mrs. Carter grew up United Methodist and president carter grew up southern baptist. Part of it, did they attend the First Baptist of washington when they were in d. C. . I know they attended st. Johns episcopal. Understanding that after they married they mostly attended Baptist Churches and did attend First Baptist. I am pretty sure they did attend First Baptist. One of their sons joined the church first, then they followed them. Innow they attend a church plains that welcomes visitors. President carter still teaches sunday school that the public can attend. If you went to church you could have a lesson from the former president. I would like to talk about representing officially the United States overseas. In 1977, she was asked to represent the president and the jamaica,n a trip to costa rica, ecuador, peru, costa venezuela. On the return, she spoke to reporters. We will show you that next. I bring you greetings from latin america and the caribbean. [speaking in spanish] i have done this for two weeks and could not resist. But seriously, it was a good trip. This morning in venezuela, the said my visit to latin america had opened up new paths in interamerican relations instead of the paternalism that has characterized the past. Eager toady and natural,alanced, normal, and equal relationships. I find goodwill and friendship everywhere i went. They love you in the caribbean and in latin america, and every had a state i spoke to, without exception, agreed with me on the importance of cooperating and consulting closely on the issues that concern you, jimmy, and concern us all. Human rights, nuclear nonproliferation, economic development, arms control. I think we have made progress in all these areas. Im glad to be back home. Im glad to be with amy and with jimmy. I will convey all this information i have to jimmy. I look forward to consulting closely with him on a regular basis. [laughter] the outset of the clip, she spoke spanish. A story about her spanish lessons . She started learning spanish in the Governors Mansion in georgia. She and jimmy took a trip to latin america to promote business relationships with georgia, with various countries in latin america. And they began to study spanish. She apparently stuck with it. One of the things they would do is read the bible with each other at the end of the day, and they would take turns sometimes reading bible verses to each other in spanish. Then, of course, the Important Role as the hostess for the camp david summit between antagonistic parties as they were trying to reach an agreement. What role did she play during that . And following the last clip, what was the Public Acceptance of the countries as the first lady coming to represent the u. S. . First on latin america, i think that trip was somewhat misunderstood both in this country and abroad. That was a very substantive trip because president carter is trying to send message, this is a new day for human rights. Because youre an ally doesnt mean you can lock up political prisoners. You can deliver that message publicly because people react against it, so having her delivery was more effective. David, the feeling president carter had gotten the cia to develop these very fine profiles of the participants. And he knew what made them tick. He felt like they would all perform a lot better if their wives were there. And mrs. Sidot couldnt come. But she was in frequent contact with anwar sidot. They were there for the vast majority of the time. Their being there had a very specific purpose that they were talking about things that would affect their grandchildren and their families and having the spouses there would be a positive. And i think it turned out to be that way. Connie is watching us in walnut creek, california. Hello, connie. Connie, are you there . Yes, thank you. Strong viewsad certainly about the passage of the equal rights amendment. Im wondering since that time what her view of the progress that women have made in politics , generally in society . And has she ever made any comment about whether a woman could or should be elected president of the united dates . United states . I think she thinks it is overdue to have a woman as president of the United States. The carters have withdrawn their memberships from the churches that dont allow women to be pastors or deacons. President carter is going to be resident carters next book will be about the rights of women around the world. So theyre still working on these issues. Theyre proud. The carters appointed a lot of women to the judiciary. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Appeals Court by president carter and elevated to the Supreme Court by president clinton. She recognizes there was has been a lot of progress made. The carter of administration and this country were consumed with the americans held hostage by the u. S. Embassy in iran. In our interview with mrs. Carter, she spoke about those days and how challenging it was. It was awful. I have memories of just waiting for the press conference in iran to say what happened that day. We had no idea what was going on, and the on way we knew what was going on was they would come out and announce it. Just thinking, we met with the families all along, thinking about the people whose family members were there. Jimmyswas doing to presidency. It was awful. It was awful. Campaign. D go out and i have found out early that when the president goes out, he is so surrounded that people he speaks to, he doesnt get close enough to people to have conversations, normally, like you would, about hopes and dreams, what they thought about what i was doing, what jimmy was doing, anything that could help them. I learned that early during his presidency. Go out and everybody would say, tell the president to do something. Tell them, hes got to do something. I would come home and say, why dont you do something . He would say, what do you want me to do . Mine the harbors . Have them bring out one person every day and hang them . Maybe that is not the best thing to do. But i wanted it over. Of course he did. Everybody did. Every night, a new tv program started. And nobody got over it at all, could get over it. Just think about it. Every day, every night. It was awful. Grace hale, earlier you commented on the role of the Television Media in shaping images of the presidency. We had every night what became nightline was america held hostage counting down the days. Whats the role of the media in functioning the country on this situation in iran . We think of our own day as the media being uniquely interactive and everywhere and pervasive. And, in fact, there was a real kind of advance in the 70s and in the coverage the media could do, and their act test of footage and how quickly they could get things on their access to footage and how quickly they could get things on the air. Leaps forward were made. And you really saw that around the iranian hostage crisis, not only because its being reported and as you said the show that would become nightline was on the air every night talking about the crisis. But also the ways the iranians themselves were able to use the media to their own advantage to publicize what was going on from there to insert themselves into that media conversation. Maybe in an earlier era, the u. S. Would be able to dominate. Thats part of the story as well. Ands ironic, sad other event cspan televised, like many happening over the last few weeks, discussing the possible accord with the iranians with the nuclear proliferation. Here it is, all these years later, and we are still talking about relationships with that country. I know the Carter Library and center had many discussions about the middle east. In the years ensuing, has the president and those who worked in his cabinet looked back and said, we should have done something differently here . Well, in iran specifically, i think president carter felt vindicated because the hostages got out alive. There was a choice between using military force, which would have been more popular with the public as mrs. Carters comments suggested, but high likelihood that a lot of hostages would have been killed or used punishing economic sanctions and then they eventually all get out alive. Were replaying that same kind of debate today. Obviously with camp david, camp david was a was an early step. And i think president carter would have liked more time to expand to deal with the other issues between the arabs and israel, but he didnt have time to do that. So i think that he would have liked more time to work on that issue. But i think he turned out iran, as the hostages looked back on it over the years, they feel that probably the approach he took was the best one for protecting their safety. David is in chicago. Youre on the air. Hi, david. Hi, good evening. A general question about the relationship between the reagans and the carters. And specifically, if i remember hearing president carter once state that president and mrs. Reagan never invited the carters back for state dinner in eight years, or they werent even invited back for the unveiling of the official white house portraits. Is that true . I dont know. A little surprised by that. Reagan came down to the Carter Library and gave a gracious speech. So to that extent, you know, expresident s do and president reagan met with president carter before he send him off to represent the United States at the sidot funeral. There may not have been a lot of contact, but there certainly was some. Talked about the 1980 campaign. The carters faced a challenge in the primary from senator ted kennedy. What were some of the issues in some of the iranian hostage crisis that were framing the debate . Mrs. Carter talked about going out to campaigning. What was she facing with the public . Well, one of the main things she was facing was a pretty fractured Democratic Party. There were divisions within the party, kind of traditional base in the Labor Movement that the carters had never been particularly strong on that front or superconnected with the large union movement. The liberal wing of the party, obviously represented by ted kennedy, not particularly happy with the carters. In some ways, they were the candidates that threaded through the middle of all the factions within the Democratic Party. So the economic decline of the second half of the 1970s would be one thing she was facing on the campaign trail. It was an interesting time in our national life. The economy didnt necessarily go down for everybody, but for industrial workers, working class americans, it was a really, really tough time. So thats something she would have faced. Where did the carters go after losing the white house . They moved back to plains to sort of plan the rest of their life. They were pretty young to be out of the white house. They came back to the carter came up with the idea of the Carter Center. Still a part of emory university. They were able to launch a new career working on the same issues. But to continue to have a very big impact, both in this country and around the world. Roseland carter talks about Rosalyn Carter talks about this. They were very much partners in all of this. Lets listen to how she thinks theyre years after the white house have been framed, and what they will likely be remembered for. Jimmy carter is the longestserving ex president in history. Lets watch. It has been an integral part of our life. , fighting disease, building hope. I hope i contributed something , helptal Health Issues improve the lives of people dealing with Mental Illnesses. I also hope i have had great opportunities for so long now. And to go to africa or some of the countries where we go to africa two or three times a year. To go to those villages, things have come to fruition like weve been working on for all those years, we almost eradicated gilly worm. To go to a village where there is no longer gilly worm, it is a celebration. I mean, one of the good things about the Carter Center is we dont give money to the government. We send people in to help people in that country how to do something. And we were with the people in the villages. And the health apartments, we work with them. They do the work. Just to go to a village and explain to them, if you can get the chief to approve, that is what you have to do. But if they see or hear about it from another country, they are so happy you are there. Back when it is gone from a village or almost gone, and the hope it gives to the time it is the first thing they have ever seen that was successful. And it is just so wonderful to see the hope. Something good is happening. I didnt mean to get emotional. Will you comment more about the approach to the postpresidency, the postwhite house years . These are epic stories when you look at them closely. The carters started working in the 1980s, there were 3 1 2 million cases around the globe. And this is a very debilitating disease. The worm grows within the body and people cant go to school or work in the fields. And the last official number i saw was 542 cases and i think its actually a little bit lower than that. Its just now in four countries, i think, mali, chad, ethiopia, and sudan. This is a remarkable achievement. This is going to be the second disease after smallpox to be eliminated from the face of the earth. She didnt mention election monitoring, but theyve now monitored elections, i believe, in 37 countries. And many of those countries more than once. And countries like indonesia, liberia, they helped sort of nurture them as theyve gone through several election cycles. And then liberia is a perfect example. They not only moved to democracy where they elected the first woman president in an african country, but they had no Mental Health care. So the Carter Center organized a program with a trained Mental Health nurses. Now with the cadre of nurses they developed over several cycles of that, most of the country is now covered with basic professional help. So when you start im just scratching the surface, when you start to see all the things going on around the world because they can open the door as expresident and exfirst lady, its still going on, it hasnt stopped. President carter is in nepal last week for the elections there. He is now 89 years old . Correct. And the first lady is 86, i believe. Yes. Lauren is elizabethtown, north carolina. Hi, lauren, you are on. Hello, good evening. I wanted to know the relationship that ms. Carter had with the late betty ford . Well, they became very good friends. And they worked on the era together as we mentioned. And they communicated a lot worked on projects together. And as i mentioned earlier, mrs. Carter gave a very nice eulogy at betty fords funeral. The ford family and the Carter Family became good friends. Betty ford, because of her candor had taken a step forward for first ladies as well. And i think that made it a little easier for later first ladies to speak out to say what they thought. And the carters have concentrated on humanitarian issues globally. But im wondering about the relationship with the Democratic Party after leaving the white house after a trouncing in the 1980 election. How welcome were they by the national party. What was their role . Well, you know, immediately after that kind of defeat, those arent the kind of people youre going to send out on the campaign trail or raising money. But the Democratic Party wasnt wasnt super embracing of the carters after that defeat. But it seems that it came around in time. I mean, the whole Democratic Party ended up across the 80s going in a more moderate direction and moving away from the more liberal wing. Thats represented in the presidency of bill clinton. And so, in some ways, again, the carters were just a little bit maybe ahead of their time. The Democratic Party seems to have come around to a lot of the issues that maybe some democrats werent thrilled with him about at the time. Ashtontics on twitter asked does Roslyn Carter feel he deserves received the credit he deserves for his a compliment . No. Does any first lady ever, i might add . I think if you look at what president carter did, take panama canal treaty, for instance, that was something that was not at all popular at the time. But has opened up a whole range of developments in latin america. And mrs. Carter would caution him, be careful politically here a little bit because you do want to get a second term. But they didnt run away for the wants to wait for the second term. So they moved ahead and had a pretty long list of accomplishments. They did so and again i think grace mentioned this earlier, if youre doing the this with high interest rates, you talk to iran about the hostages, but the other thing that happened with iran was the cutoff from supplies in the middle east which raises oil prices and races inflation and interest rates. So iran was this double whammy. Not only did we have the hostages in captivity, but we had this inflationary economy that no incumbent president wants to have in their election year. And the severest downturn in the economy since the depression in recent history. So in the time after world war ii until 2008. Yes, yes, i meant before recent times. David welsh on facebook wants to know where are the carter children now. What are they doing . Did any pursue politics . Well, jack, the oldest son, did run for the u. S. Senate as the democratic nominee in nevada a couple of cycles ago. And he lives in nevada. And his son, who is the oldest carter grandchild, jason, is running for governor in the state of georgia. Hes currently a state senator. Chip lives in the atlanta area, jeff and amy both live in the atlanta area. So three of them are sort of close to home. And jacks out in nevada. And could you also comment about the grandson who made news in the last president ial campaign by unearthing the romney video that changed the direction of that campaign . This is a child who was in the inaugural parade. But he was in his mothers womb. He is chips son and he hes master of the internet and uncovered candidate romneys speech about the 47 . So he got in the news as a member of the Carter Family. Do we know hisf grandparent reaction to what happened in that campaign . I think they were pleased. One more video, six minutes left in the program. This is planes and the carters life there after the white house. Lets watch. After the white house, mrs. Carter took great interest. One of her projects was to help restore and refurbish the plains inn and antique mall. Each room in the inn is dedicated to a decade in president and mrs. Carters life from 1920 to 1980. Another one of mrs. Carters carterns is the rosalynn butterfly garden. She established the garden to bring awareness to conserving butterflies, the habitats, and for her love of nature. This is the Baptist Church where president carter and mrs. Carter attend pretty much every sunday that they are in town. This is where he still teaches sunday school and ms. Rosalynn is a deacon here in the church. Plains is plains is home. Everybody has some place they call home. And for the carter, plains, georgia is home. They could have travelled anywhere after the white house. And pretty much settled anywhere. But they wanted to come home. And i think that speaks volumes of the way they think about plains. They love it here. The person who is our interpreter there is National Parks service. Could you talk about the preservation of plains by the federal government through the National Parks service and what one would find if they visit there . Yes, the National Parks service runs the historic site. Its got several parts to it. Theres the carter boyhood home which is kind of a working farm now, its apparently a large farm. And you could walk through the house there and have interpretation. His Old High School or their whole high school has become kind of a museum. You can walk through there. The home they live in now is being deeded to the National Park service. So its well worth a trip to south georgia. You can go through warm springs and learn about fdr. Which enyou get there, you can attend sunday school, stay in the plains inn, and visit the historic sites. Youre off of the beaten path. Its not close to an interstate. But for people who are president ial and history junkies, its a trip well worth making. And the carters have chosen plains rather up than the Carter Center for the final burial place. Only two president s im aware of in post world war ii went back to their own hometowns. The trumans went back to independence and the carters went back to the plains. They will be buried there. Keith, in illinois. Hi, keith, youre on. Remember ive seen news , coverage of when the carters intertangled with the clintons with the habitat for humanity. And im just curious, do they currently do they do anything with the obamas . Do the carters do anything with the obamas . I think sure, they had some interaction. We had pictures of them earlier together at the white house. But president carter sort of marches to his own drum beat and, you know, he has views that are very strong about the middle east and other things. The expresident s still hang out. Theres a book called the president s club that came out a year or two ago which gives you a lot of behindthescenes look at how the president s interact. There are a lot of facets to it. Sometimes people work together. Sometimes they dont. As we close out here, redena wants to know, do they still take on new causes. They have this basic set of causes in which they travel extensively. And theyre going to the poorest countries of the world. The chads and the malis make india and other countries look very wealthy. So they still do travel a lot. But they focus on the causes they have to produce the result that theyre trying to achieve. So Mental Health, election monitoring. Peace negotiations, river blindness. These are sets of things theyve been working on for a long time. And theyre achieving a lot of success. As we close out here, Gary Robinson wants to know, whats the perception of the carters as time has passed since their presidency, and will it improve more over time . As an historian, can you anticipate the future . Not our greatest strength as historians but its been a very successful postpresidency. In many ways they reinvented that job and it doesnt look like theyll stop here in the later years. As historian looking back on the white house. Has the perception of that change in the ensuing decades . I think perhaps the jury is still out. I mean, its not seen as the most successful presidency of the post war era, but at the same time, trying to change some of the directions of events, promote what he was promoting. Energy cant attend it Energy Conservation independence, the , spread of democracy. Thats still the issue today. What about the first lady . She has ranked in the top five or top 10 depending on which poll you use. Eleanor roosevelt is at the top. Below that, theres some fluctuation. I think in his case, hes not rated as highly as she is. On the other hand, he was rated as one of the top three president s in history on the environment. Theres a libertarian book out that ranks them in the top ten which is interesting coming from that source. So i think the jury is still out. Papers are still being declassified. People are being the broader perspective. Hopefully people keep having these discussions. How much of her papers did she preserve for the public . Shes got a lot. She took extensive notes and diaries. Theres a lot of private comments in there and in general, those are still havent been available to historians. So shes a great documenter, shes a good historian herself. The memoir, the white house years is something i always recommend to people. You can still get copies. In fact, i have one here. First lady from plains. It is one of five books that mrs. Carter has authored or coauthored in her years since the white house. Thats it for our time and i want to say thank you for their to our partners at the White House Historical association for their continuing help to produce the series and well have a list of many of the others who made this possible. And thanks to our two guests for their information and your conversation with the audience tonight. Thanks for having me. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] this monday on first ladies, exclusive interviews. First, former first Lady Roselyn Carter shares her work on Mental Health issues, dealing with the iranian hostage crisis, and continuing work with her husband, former president jimmy carter. Then steve ford, the son of former president gerald ford and betty ford. He talks about life in the white house and his mothers struggles with substance abuse. You can watch Rosalynn Carter at 9 00 eastern time and the ford at 9 55 eastern monday night on cspan. Our series returns this month with five new episodes on the most recent third leg first ladies, from nancy reagan to michelle obama. On cspan. T, live along with the white houses store association, we are offering a special edition of thebook first ladies of United States of america. It includes biographies and eight portrait of each a portrait of each first lady. It is available at cspan. Org products. Public affairss of vents from washington directly to you, putting you in the room a congressional ,earings, White House Events briefings and conferences, and offering complete gaveltogavel coverage of the u. S. House, all as a Public Service of private industry. The cable tved by industry 34 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. Now you can watch us in hd. Wereporters in washington given a tour recently of the u. S. Capitol dome, which is undergoing a complete restoration. The castiron outer shell of the dome has more than 1000 cracks caused by aging and whether. Kevin hildebrand from the u. S. Capitol architect leads the tour in the capitol building. This is about 25 minutes. This circular staircase was the original way to the first capitol dome, and continues to be the way we get to the walter dome. It was built in 1826. The original staircase was wooden. It was removed in 1851, when there was a fire in the library of congress. For fear that the fire would spread to the wooden dome, they cut it out. Walter, when he did his changes, inserted a castiron staircase you see today. During the construction, when they were dismantling the original dome, they weighed every piece as it was coming down, so they could verify what the difference between the old and new dome was. It turned out, i think, the old dome was just under 12 Million Pounds. Given how much larger the walter dome is, the fact it is only 20 more weight is amazing. It speaks to the nature of cast iron, and the ability to build this large structure with relatively little weight. To me, it is the merger of technology and the time. Do many people who do not know architecture think would you describe why castiron . Why that has suffered problems over time . I think walters intent was that it look like masonry. He did not intend for this to be a modern structure. He intended it to be appropriate to the rest of the capitol design. But because of the weight, it could not have been built in masonry. Walter had just finished the library of congress renovation. Once it had been destroyed by fire, he went in with a fireproof interior structure, made of castiron. In building that, he proved the resilience and economy of cast iron. You could make multiple pieces from a single mold. And was able to then create this dome without extensive cost, and aspectsugh light weight that it was possible. How much heavier would a marble dome be . The existing foundations would not have supported it, so i do not think it was ever calculated. Needless to say, it would have been considerably higher than the 14 Million Pounds the dome and masonry additions were that was ultimately built. What i would like to point you here is that the walls you are leaning against are the original bulfinch drum for the original dome of the capitol. Everything that walter added was above the cornice level at this edge. This would have been originally exposed to view from the east and west front. You can see overhead how the brackets extend out to pick up the columns of the peristlye. Half our drainage columns and the other half are ventilation columns. And it would have been very odd to leave that cantilever condition exposed to view. So walter created a skirt of iron work that makes that transition from the cantilevered skirt out to the rest of the roof of the capitol. You can see the Great Condition we have been able to achieve with the restoration at this point. The skirt has been completely restored. The ironwork was repaired. The new paint system was installed. In addition to that, we cleaned and conserved and repainted the original bulfinch stone walls. And this ring of masonry that is seven feet thick that is the foundation for the ironwork that extends above. So these brackets we only see eight feet of them now. There is an additional seven feet embedded into the masonry work. That acts as a Huge Foundation that supports the weight of the dome and transfers them evenly onto the stonewalls below. But here, you get a good sense for the bracket cantilever the beyond the on the old stone walls of the bulfinch drum, and how alternating columns are used for drainage columns. The others provide passive ventilation. You can see on your left how when it was installed, some of the chimneys of the capitol were captured within the footprint. He used the hollow columns as a way to get the smoke exhaust out to the outside. I have seen a couple of photographs of the smoke billowing out of the balustrade. At the boilerplate level. It is the chimney smoke coming out. You get to really appreciate the beauty of the rotunda, and the accomplishment of adding this additional height to the space. Now, the actual interior coffered dome is not much larger than what bulfinch would have had here, and his dome would have rested on the stonework down below, where you see a projecting cornice and a band of stone just above it. That is where the initial dome would have sprung. We are now almost at the apex over where the bulfinch dome would have ended. Walter has lifted that on additional drums to give height and light into the rotunda. So here you can everything above the sandstone is what was added as part of walters addition. From the top of the sandstone to the balustrade we are standing on, it is predominantly masonry with some castiron elements. The coffers are castiron. The cornice below the frieze is castiron. And below the balustrade is also castiron. Everything else is masonry with a plaster coating. We are about we are in the range of, i would say, close to 100 feet. At this level, you can also appreciate the frieze, the national frieze. He did not start painting that until 1870. He managed to get about 3 4 of the way around before his death in 1880. He envisioned completing the entire work but his early death precluded him from finishing. Constagini carried the work forward to the California Gold the, and once you get to California Gold rush, his work ends and alan coxs works continue to conclude the civil war and the birth of flight which takes us back to the discovery of america by Christopher Columbus where bermidi started his work. As you look across the rotunda, you can see evidence of some water leaks that have occurred over time. The streaking below the lowest band of ornamentation on the copper dome, some of the staining on the sides of the pilasters. And you can see on the balustrade some evidence. There were multiple tiers of gas jets that occurred, one above the stone cornice where you see light fixtures. One at the base of the balustrade work where you see remnants of an earlier lighting scheme, the conduit with sockets. There was a string of lights at the base of the cupola and at the underside there was a ring of gas jets. They were over 1000 gas jets that would illuminate instantly with the click of a switch from a battery in the lower levels of the capital. You can imagine that night that must have been quite a dramatic affect to see this all illuminated at once. As electricity was introduced to the building at the turn of the 20th century, this fixtures were replaced with electrical incandescent lighting and now we are using a more modern system. To eliminate the rotunda. One of the engineers for the project, he had all of the lowerlevel pieces stamped with his name. You look at some of the nuts and bolts, it will say his name. I am sure you heard about the controversy between two competing egos. Walter being a phenomenal engineer. They both wanted credit for creating the dome. Without either of them he could not have happened but it was the merging of their talents that allowed it to come into being. It is the perfect building to deal with egos. Exactly. [laughter] let me show you this while we are here. We are passing through the boilerplate plenum. We are on top of the colonnade. There is a balcony we do not open to the public because it is fairly large and hard to control groups on. But it does offer us an opportunity to show you graphically how thin the cast iron shell of the dome really is. I will lift this coffer just enough so you can see the thin edge, 3 8 of an inch which is what the exterior shell of the dome is made of and the interior shell that you see from the rotunda floor. Ironically, this is also how you would get outside to change the light fixtures on that cornice. We do not do that anymore thanks to modern lighting technology. We do not get out there. But it is always impressive to me to look through this thin layer and see for the first time just how the dome is constructed. Let me know when youre done. How heavy is that . Very. It is supported by the hinge. I am lifting it a little. Please be careful when you come through. There is a window that sets into the staircase a bit and you need to watch your shoulder. You can also begin to appreciate here the structure and design of the dome with these enormous rib tresses, 36 in total that create a conical structure and there are outriggers i go out and pick up the exterior skin and noticed that when you go through that the interior shell is not matching and aligning with the superstructure. It is suspended from it and the exterior shell is projecting beyond it. I am not as young as i used to be. Keep in mind when the dome was finished this wall would not have been here. This wall and window was added in the 1940s when air conditioning was introduced into the capital. So that is why you have a second railing on the interior side. People often wonder why this balcony needs two railings. This is why. You would have that view on the backside of the shell which would have allowed much more light to come through and through this balcony level. We are a considerable distance apart. You should be able to hear me pretty clearly. I think this is an amazing space. You have to be very careful what you saying when youre up here. Anyone on the opposite side can hear you. Where is the [inaudible] 12 of these windows will be removed and if you look above the pavilion that we entered through, youll see there is a bracket that extends out. During that phase we left that in place to be used as a lifting hoist for the 11 brackets that will be lifted. The 12 brackets will extend out over this railing and the catenary netting system will be suspended over the rotunda. The purpose of that netting is twofold. It provides protection to the visitors so the rotunda can remain open while we are doing our work but it has a decorative drapery on the underside so that it looks appropriate for ceremonial events that can occur or for the visitors visiting the capital. We did not want it to look like an industrial safety netting. Are they going to be replacing the broken glass . Rather than replacing it we will be repairing it with an epoxy system much like you would repair your windshield on your car if you had a crack. You use a heat and vacuum to infuse it with an epoxy binder. That is why the lock and stitch technique that we are using is so important to our restoration efforts. We want to save as much of the historic artifact as we can. Are there any examples of the lock and stitch . Unfortunately, all of them that were completed as part of the project have been overpainted. That is the beauty is that you do not see them when they are complete. Notice that we are over the painting and there is a tinned canopy on top acting as an umbrella to ensure that if there is a leak in the exterior skin that it is caught and drained away so it does not affect the painting. We are at the level. We are going to be go out this door. Be careful as you go through. It is very low. Be mindful that the iron is very hard. The last thing you want to do is hit your head on this sharp edge. Be careful and duck as you go through the doorway. The genius of the radial scheme and the capital is the focal point of washington. It is so clear when you are standing at this the axis of the point. Mall, maryland avenue, pennsylvania avenue all radiating from the central point. The beauty of the city opens before you when you stand at this level. If you look at the top plate there are a series of through bolts that hold this together. They go through all the way down to the base plate. As rust has developed and this railing has been pushed up by the pressure of the rust, the top plate has cracked and that is relieving the stress that is in the ironwork. What it also does is compromised the Structural Integrity of that particular piece. We are not concerned about it because there is so much redundancy in the ironwork design but we have put this here as a measure to ensure that until this work is repaired during this phase, we do not have any issues with any forces against the railing. To me it is symbolic of the joining of both parties in congress to come together to fund an effort that is incredibly important to our country and preserving the capital dome is not a question for discussion. It is something that has to happen. There is no more recognizable symbol of the country than the capitol dome. Or our national flag. Like raising the debt ceiling. Exactly. I will not go there. It is another good example of the thinness of the shell. If you can get an image of this. It tells people how the structure works. The exterior skin of the dome and cast ironwork. If you put your hand there, it gives you a sense of the thickness. I can tell you that i removed 180,000 pounds of lead based paint from the attic during our first phase so this should not this scaffolding should not weigh more than the amount of lead paint i have taken off. Just as when you came out, watch your head as you come through the doorway. That is the convene light that is on at night when congress is in session. It is not one bulb that is lit but four. There is an interstitial space behind the statue base. As you can see, no person is permitted above this platform under any circumstance. Make sure there is someone in front of you. If there is someone in front of you, you can focus on it is easier. How far are we going down . We will stop here. One of the things i wanted to point out to you here as you are coming down the steps, you will see that the 36 rib trusses that form the superstructure converge at this level to 12 and go to support the statue of freedom. As you can imagine trying to merge 36 items into such a small space at the top was too great so every third truss is the one that continues forward and the two that flank it merge into it for buttressing support. What you also see here is the enormous superstructure has very slender bands that reach down to suspend the shell below. And it has a very thin element that reaches out to the shape of the exterior dome. The brilliant thing about this design is that the dome is exposed to very harsh conditions on the outside, very cold in the winter, extremely hot in the summertime under direct sun. Some plates may approach 130 degrees fahrenheit. Because they are held away from the superstructure, that heat dissipates in the ironwork before it gets to the superstructure. The rib tresses see very little temperature swing during the course of the year which helps to maintain the Structural Integrity of the dome. It does not move that much. But a lot of the damage we are addressing are in the shells and those are exposed to wide temperature swings, a lot of expansion, and when the rust develops between the plates it binds the plates removing and that creates enormous pressures in the ironwork that relieve itself by cracking. Most of the work we will be doing in this phase will be addressing those cracks in the exterior shell. As a huge erector set of pieces coming from a remote foundry, they had to mark each piece of so that the installers knew where at what level of the dome each piece was to go. Do not be surprised if you see these marks on every piece as you go down. There was a clear pattern that was made for each location and it was important that it go in at a certain spot and they use those marks to make sure the installers knew where to place it. There is the acorn finial that had cracked and had to be removed. It is actually on the outside of one of these windows. There is a series of bolts that go through that plate above the octagonal window. There is a large ornamental piece that crests that window. That is where the acorn finial is from. [inaudible] to the cracks . All of that will be preserved. Our goal is to keep as much of the historic fabric as possible. It is going to be repaired. Yes. There will be 12 of these outriggers that go out to support the netting system that is suspended above the floor. Is it a net . It is a multilayered netting that is meant to capture a load of 500 pounds and more. We start with a very large net and a layer of slightly smaller netting and a very tight net to catch any small objects. All of that is concealed from the rotunda side by a decorative scrim. Is there the worry that hammering will shake something loose . If a nut word to fall or if there was a broken piece of iron, we want to protect the public. We want to make sure there is ample construction barriers there to preclude anything from happening. Not that were expecting it to happen, we just want to ensure doesnt. Everything, the brackets, the columns and the super structure plates skin placed was created in a foundry in poole and hunt. Once poole and hunt finished balcony,k up to the from that point forward, all of the work was done by James Kirkland out of new york. What are the wires . A the wires are part of defunct bird proofing system. Well remove those and install a passive netting system