To mamie with music, 160 million join in our chorus. To mamie with music, to mamie, with love. Susan swain a birthday tribute to Mamie Eisenhower, televised nationally by cbs in march of 1956, just a few weeks after her husband, president Dwight Eisenhower, announced his bid for reelection. Tonight, 1950s america and the life and times of first lady Mamie Eisenhower. Good evening and welcome to cspan series, first ladies influence and image. Tonight is Mamie Eisenhowers turn. And here to tell us about her life are two people who have spent a lot of time with first ladies, and in particular in marilyn holts case, Mamie Eisenhower. Shes a historian and author of a biography called, Mamie Eisenhower, the generals first lady. We also welcome back edith mayo to the table. Edies been one of our guiding forces among academic historians on first ladies for this whole series. Its nice to see you again. Edith mayo nice to be back. Susan well, what should we take away watching that piece of video from the 1950s . [laughter] about her popularity . About the use of television . Marilyn irvin holt the film clip you showed from the Birthday Celebration in march, 1956, this is shown. And obviously, its an election year. And immediately, the democrats want equal time because this is in their view a campaign ad. And william paley, who was president of cbs, and a very close friend of the eisenhowers, says, no, no, no, its not equal time because this is nonpolitical entertainment with the first lady. Well, obviously, mamies birthday is in november, were just a few days away from it right now. And this is in march. So obviously, there was some political background to this. But if you watched the show at the time, what you saw besides the singing and the celebrating were a lot of people talking about mamie, and with real affection, and wanting to get across or reemphasize how really popular she was at the time. Susan edie mayo, what should we know about television and the presidency in the 1950s . Edith mayo well, the eisenhower campaign was the first televised campaign. And so there were a whole range of new techniques that were brought to the fore for that campaign. And there were there were these wonderfully rehearsed maninthestreet interviews that were supposed to be spontaneous, but were obviously quite rehearsed. But that was quite a new feature for a campaign. And then you had all the, you know, the little bouncing balls and bouncing elephants and so forth that were ike for president and we like ike and i like ike and everyone likes ike. So there were a whole range of new techniques that came to the fore. I think part of the excuse, if you will, about having this celebration for mamie was that she so epitomized the 50s, particularly with american women. That if she hadnt been there to do it, someone would have had to invent her, i think. Susan well have 90 minutes to learn more about Mamie Eisenhower and her full life, with the eight years that the eisenhowers spent in the white house. And the one special thing about this program, we have live cameras at the eisenhowers farm in gettysburg, pennsylvania. That farm is about 90 miles away from washington, d. C. It takes about two hours to drive there and then outside of the very famous Historic Town of gettysburg. Its about six miles away from town center. The eisenhowers bought this in the 1950s and spent their white house years and also their retirement years there. Right now, youre looking at mamies bedroom. You will learn about mamies affection for pink during this program, and you can see lots of evidence there in the bedroom that she created for herself in her retreat away from public life. Well be back to that later on throughout the program. Were going to go back in time and learn a little bit about Mamie EisenhowerMamie Geneva Doud her biography. And to do that, lets go back to that special in 1956 where they talk a bit about her biography as well. [video clip] and i hope that you, the members of our organization, and our distinguished guests, will enjoy this salute to our first lady. A Birthday Party is really a party when some of the party inaudible . How do you do . And thank you for inviting me. You know, birthdays almost seem synonymous with memories, like albums. So weve brought along this special album for you. Its filled, we hope, with fond remembrances, musical and pictorial. And now heres a picture of the three doud sisters, circa 1906. And heres a denver debutante visiting in san antonio, texas about 1915. And your wedding dress, and the portrait in your inaugural gown when you became our first lady. Take one fresh and tender kiss. Add one stolen night of bliss. One girl, one boy, some grief, some joy. Memories are made of this. Susan a little bit of a capsule view of Mamie Eisenhowers biography. But tell us a little bit more. She was born in boone, iowa and its worth noting that she is the end of a generation, really, the last first lady born in the 19th century. Marilyn irvin holt she was born in 1896, boone, iowa. And she was our very last first lady to be born in the 19th century. Her family lived in boone until she was about eight years old. And then they moved to colorado and thats where she grew up. And one of the photographs shows her in san antonio. The family would winter in san antonio, partly because of one of her Sisters Health problems, rheumatic fever. She was almost an invalid. And so they would winter. And while they were in san antonio, well, they went with some friends to Fort Sam Houston and thats where mamie was first introduced to ike. Susan Second Lieutenant at the time. Marilyn irvin holt Second Lieutenant, very serious. She says he said when theyve written about this meeting that he was really not interested in any kind of girl or girlfriend. He was very, you know, duty and his job in the military. And mamie just kind of swept him off his feet. Susan or vice versa. Marilyn irvin holt or vice versa. Susan and whirlwind courtship. Edith mayo absolutely. Susan and they married a short time really after they met. Whats interesting is that her she was wealthy. She was a debutante. And her father warned her off of military life. Marilyn irvin holt he warned her off. He said first of all, his mamies parents really liked ike, going to the phrase of the campaign. They thought he was a wonderful young man. And her father even told her that when he was coming around to visit, that she ought to quit being so flighty and going off with other young men to parties. She should Pay Attention to ike. But when they got married, he told mamie they absolutely could not expect any money from him. They would have to live on ikes military pay. And mamies response was, well, i didnt care about that. I just wanted that man. Susan it was probably quite a surprise, even with her fathers warning, to go from a debutantes life to a tiny military apartment. Marilyn irvin holt well, living a very comfortable life with plenty of money. I think it was quite a shock for her. But she had learned from her father about budgeting and how to spend money and how to save money. So, though i think it was difficult in the early days of their marriage, she always managed to live on ikes salary. Edith mayo and not only that, but in kind of a atypical rolereversal, mamie is the one that handled the familys finances. Marilyn irvin holt and later, she said that was the secret to a good marriage. If you wanted to keep within your finances was that the husband should turn the check over to his wife; that if he started purchasing things and opening accounts that, you know, everything would just go to hell in a hand basket. Susan well, its interesting because were going to talk about her as the epitome of the media creation of the 1950s woman, that women lived in all kinds of ways in the 1950s. But theres this stereotype of the 50s woman that she seems to embody. But she was handling the finances. He was domestic. He cooked the meals. Marilyn irvin holt he cooked the meals. Edith mayo yes, he did. She took a domestic science class when they became engaged, but because they moved their marriage date up to july the 1st, rather than in november after she turned 20, her domestic science classes were cut short. And im not sure she was that serious about them anyway. So, he really did the cooking. He knew how to do that. Susan i want to invite you, as we do each week, to be participants in our program as we learn more about American History through the lives of the first ladies. We have three ways you can be involved. Our phone numbers will be on the screen. You can dial us if you live in the eastern or central time zones at 2025853880. If you live out west, mountain pacific and farther west, 2025853881. Mountain pacific and farther west, 2025853881. You can tweet us using the twitter handle at first ladies. Or you can post on our facebook page, where theres already a number of comments and a good conversation going on. Weve mixed your comments in throughout our 90 minutes together. So they are married. How soon after their married is their first child born . Edith mayo im thinking its three years. Susan and he get the unusual nickname of icky. [laughter] Marilyn Irvin holt icky. Doud dwight. When i see it spelled, i want to pronounce it ikee, because it sounds better than icky. But doud dwight. And he was just the apple of their eye. And also, everybody on the post he wherever they were, he was like the little mascot that everybody just took to. And he died at the age of three. Scarlet fever. And it happened so quickly that and in that time period it sounds strange to say today, but couples could almost expect to have at least one child die of some childhood disease because the medical care there just werent the things that you could do about it. And the eisenhowers were absolutely devastated. Susan now, edie, you can verify cause youve been with us all along the way for this whole series that many of the president s and first ladies lost children. Edith mayo yes, yes. Its a recurring theme in most of the president ial families all the way from the beginning. Susan but even though its commonplace, its certainly never easy. Edith mayo no. Its always a horror story, no matter when it happens. You know, in an era before antibiotics and modern drugs susan mmhmm. Edith mayo you you have it happening frequently. Susan they did have another son. Excuse me. Marilyn irvin holt yes. Susan then their son, john, is born. And one of the things that john said and i think he said in several different venues is that his parents never made him feel as if he was a replacement for the child that they lost. That he was his own person, his own special self. I think that was the way the eisenhowers as a couple were. They took people as they were, but that didnt mean that they totally forgot the first child. They just made another place for another child in their lives. And mamie was, i would say, overprotective of john. Susan understandable, huh . Marilyn irvin holt with yes. Edith mayo yes, very much. Susan so, though their early years at was one of ike being gone a lot. So how often were they together . Marilyn irvin holt there there was one year in which they moved three times. And sometimes, when he was posted for a very short time, mamie might go back to denver and live with her family. And there was a period of time when ike was on a transcontinental convoy, which was a military exercise to take military trucks and other transport all the way across the country to test the roads, the bridges. And really, they found out how bad americas transportation road system was. But during that whole time months mamie was with her parents because she couldnt live on the post. So, they were back and forth. And thats something that every military wife faced at one time or another. You might live in who knew how many different posts in a very short period of time. You could expect multiple moves, and, really, sometimes long separations. Susan and this would carry to their white house years . They were always entertainers. Edith mayo yes, absolutely. They did a lot of entertaining on their various posts. And many times, the eisenhower home was called club eisenhower because of their entertaining of the troops and the military personnel. Marilyn irvin holt yes. Edith mayo and going back to, you know, how many moves they made over the period of years, i think thats why they they, number one, treasured their years in the white house, because it was a permanent home for eight years. And then, you know, purchasing the farm in gettysburg. I mean, that was their first home. Susan family home. Edith mayo i have a photograph to show the audience about of mamie in a jeep. Susan how at what point in their in his career did they become popularly known . Marilyn irvin holt i would say at well, in the 30s, certainly. Susan that early . Marilyn irvin holt but even even when they were first married, and they were at Fort Sam Houston, they very quickly became a couple that invited other military couples into their home. Theyd have, like, saturday or sunday night evenings, pot luck, play cards very social and they had a rented piano that mamie played, and they sang. This photograph was taken in 1944. The summer of 44, not too long after dday. And this is at camp lee in virginia. Mamies behind the wheel of the jeep as if she can actually drive it. By her own accounts, she had not driven an automobile since 1936. Susan oh, my. Marilyn irvin holt but they wanted a photo opportunity. And the two women who are in the jeep with her are also friends of hers, longtime military wives who had had the same kind of moving experiences, long separations. Marilyn irvin holt separations from their husbands. Susan so, the war comes, and Dwight Eisenhower, of course, as all of our viewers know, was tasked with leading the allies in europe. Where was mamie during the war . Edith mayo for the for most of the time, she lived in washington, d. C. In an apartment. She wanted to be in washington, hoping that there would be times that ike would be allowed to come back home, which he did a couple of times. And also, their son, john, was at west point. So, any opportunity that he had for time off vacation time, like in thanksgiving or christmas she wanted to be close at hand in order to see john. And it was only later in the war that for a period of time, she went to stay with a sister. Susan lets take our first phone calls from mark watching us in indianapolis. Susan hi, mark. Youre on the air. Mark yeah, hi. How are you doing . I just have a question for your guests. Im just wondering if any one of them could tell me what life was like in the philippines or panama for Mamie Eisenhower. And also, i just cant wait until next week when you guys finally talk about Jackie Kennedy. Thanks for your call. Thank you. Susan life in the philippines . Marilyn irvin holt life in the philippines and life in panama both of them were extremely uncomfortable for mamie. The heat and the humidity. Particularly in panama, it was somewhat primitive. The philippines physically where they lived was much more comfortable. They had a very nice apartment. It was airconditioned after a period of time. She really had a difficult time in terms of just the environment. She did not do well in the heat. And there were periods of time, especially in the philippines, that she suffered some health problems. Susan earlier in our history, there were a number of generals who were elected to the white house. In more modern times, how did the world prepare the first couple for life in the white house . Edith mayo well, i think particularly for mamie of course, with ike, there were all kinds of executive and administrative decisions that he was used to making as a general. But for mamie, the entertaining of heads of state while he was commander of nato really, you know, according to her own testimony, was something that really prepared her for entertaining in the white house. I mean, she knew how to do it. She was confident about doing it. She actually loved that part of the first ladys role. Susan jeffrey is in milledgeville, georgia. Hi, jeffrey, youre on. Jeffrey hey, there. Good evening. My question was about how politically involved mamie was before she entered the white house. Because i know ive read that the general Dwight Eisenhower was not political before he was elected president. And that, you know, before he was even elected in 1952, he didnt know which party he was a member of. So i was wondering if mamie was any more political than her husband. Susan did she ever express much interest in politics . Marilyn irvin holt no. Actually, she once said that she and ike were probably two people that knew less about politics than anybody else. Now, mamie did make comments about politics in terms of party, but that was with her father and letters back and forth. And her father was a pretty strong republican. And so mamie i think just out of politeness would sometimes commiserate with him in a letter that roosevelt had done something that her father didnt approve of. But mamie was not political in the least. Susan were at the world war ii years, and weve gotten questions from both facebook and twitter. And we knew we were going to get them. And thats about Kay Summersby. Brandon mccall asked on twitter did ike have an affair with Kay Summersby . And if so, did mamie know and how did she handle it . Who was Kay Summersby . Marilyn irvin holt Kay Summersby was often referred to as eisenhowers driver, but there were several people that drove ike around. Her primary job was to keep his appointments calendar, to make sure that the right people got in and out and to meetings. And she was at eisenhowers headquarters. She was engaged to an american officer who was tragically killed in the fighting in north africa. And she stayed on at the headquarters and rumors began that they were having an affair. The research i did and i think what other people are beginning to look at for example, the letter that truman said he had that eisenhower was going to ask mamie for a divorce. I think there have been a number of historians that