this is lucy myerson. lucy mercer. who? he really love. he loved lucy mercer. through and through. after he met her. really through his life, they. she said to her, to the friend of hers who was the artist who did the portrait of him when which he was painting, when she when he died, they too were with them in the cottage that she had destroyed had almost all the letters them. so he had kept up with the correspondence. so she was at the best seats at all his inaugurals and in the forties she started coming to the white house under an assumed name, and he would stop at this stop in new jersey to see her. all right. well, thank you. thank you both for being here. let's give them a round of applause. it is now my honor to introduce our speaker candice shy hooper, our fine careers on capitol hill and as a lobbyist, candice earned a master's degree in history with a concentration in military history from the george washington university. she has served on the editorial advisory board of the journal of military history, the advisory board of the ulysses s and julia d grant home, and the