she was close to being broken by the time she went to the white house. female this is the earliest existing house. they lived here through the 1830s and 1840s. male she was educated and she had taught school. female eliza would read to him in this shop while he worked making suits for the men of town. female the north and the south fought over the occupation of greeneville all through the civil war. it changed hands over 26 times. female andrew and eliza did purchase slaves. so they did have domestic help. female it was used as a hospital. it was used as a place to stay, and it was basically destroyed. female eliza being ill with tuberculosis wasn t able to get out much. female eliza received many gifts that she brought home with her. female this is the room she returned to after their years in the white house. male she s just obscure, as she probably would ve wanted it. but she s who he needed.(end video clip) abraham lincoln s assassination, just w
pamela: she was very outgoing warm. in some ways, they were opposites, and yet, they had similarities, as well. both had a fondness of riding horses and and reading. she was a very likable person. you get that not only from contemporaries of hers, but from her own memoirs, as well. susan: would it be fair to say she was the better politician of the two? pamela: she could be very politically astute in in some of her dealings with cabinet members and their wives and the public, but she would most often defer to her husband for political realm. susan: do you have any thoughts on on her and her personality? william: she seems to have been very protective, i think, of her husband, too. and she was not hesitant to give her opinion on things. she seems to be a woman who knew who cut her claws, as they used to say, exactly where she wanted. susan: what does that mean? william: she knew what she wanted to do, what she wanted to accomplish, and the rest of the stuff could be ar
andrew and eliza did purchase slaves. so they did have domestic help. it was used as a hospital. it was used as a place to stay and it was basically destroyed. eliza being ill with tuberculosis wasn t able to get out much. eliza received many gifts that she brought home with her. this is the room she returned to after their years in the white house. she s just obscure, as she probably would ve wanted it. but she s who he needed. susan swain: abraham lincoln s assassination, just weeks after his second inaugural shocked a war-ravaged nation, and brought his southern democrat vice president, andrew johnson, into the white house. johnson s wife, eliza, was 54 years old and an invalid when she was thrust into the role of first lady, determined to be a helpmate to her husband as he navigated the turbulent end of the civil war, reconstruction in the south, and his own impeachment. this week on cspan s first ladies, the life and times of eliza mccardle johnson. good even
ladies and cooperation with the white house historical association. through conversation with experts and questions from the audience, we tell the stories of america s first ladies. now, julia grant. this is about 1.5 hours. serving as first lady from 1869 to 1877, by all accounts, julia grant relished the role, once commenting that life inside the white house was a garden spot of orchids.” growing up in a slave-holding family, she ended up as the spouse of the commanding general of the u.s. army during the civil war. she and ulysses s. grant shared 37 years together that included the hardships of war, the triumphs of politics, and eight challenging years in the white house. welcome to our program, our continuing series, first ladies: influence and image. tonight, the life of julia grant. let me introduce you to our two guests at the table. bill seale is a member of our academic advisory panel for this series. we re delighted to have him here. he s a longtime white hou
bringing those things back to public memory is something fascinating. i ve spent the last eight years living in canada. every time i took the plane back-and-forth, one day i said i will do that and go by boat. i never imagined i would do that on a tall ship. i had everything to learn. i learned absolutely everything on that boat. it is amazing how much we have learned and accomplished in such a short amount of time. american history tv is featuring c-span s american original series, first ladies. c-span produced the series in cooperation with the white house historical association. through conversations with experts, video tours of his door excites, and question from c-span s audience. we tell the stories of america s 45 first ladies. now, julia grant, on first ladies, influence and image. this is about an hour and a half. susan swain: serving as first lady from 1869 to 1877, by all accounts, julia grant relished the role, once commenting that life inside the white ho