epidemic in our country. >> booktv wants to know what you're reading. send it your summer reading list. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning. my name is kirstin carter and i am the superviseyear archivist can he fdr presidential library. i'd like to welcome you again to the 2017 roosevelt reading festival. fdr planned for the library to

become the premiere research institution for studying the entire roosevelt era. the library's research room is consistently one of the busiest of all the presidential libraries and this year's group of authors reflects reflects ree variety oresearch down here. if you love the roosevelt reading festival and want to support this and other programs that we do here, i encourage you to become a roosevelt library member. you can join today at the membership table in the hall, or online at fdr library.org and if you haven't already, please do go see our new special temporary museum exhibition, images of interment, the incarceration of japanese-americanss during world war 2. at the top of each hour a session begins with a 30-minute author talk followed by a ten-minute question and answer period. the author then moves to the

lobby to sign books and talk with you more if you have more questions. so, during the question and answer period today, this session will be taped for c-span so we'd appreciate if you could approach the microphone over here at the edge of the room to raise any questions. so, now it's my pleasure to introduce our next speaker, and this is adrian miller, who is a food writer, attorney, and certified barbecue judge who lives in -- [laughter] -- in denver, colorado. he is currently the executive director of the colorado council of churches and as such is the first african-american and the first layperson to hold that position. miller previously served as a special assistant to president bill clinton and a senior policy analyst for colorado governor bill ritter, jr. he is also hand be board member of the southern food ways alliance. miller's first book "soul food.

the surprise story of an american cuisine win plate at a item "wonned a award in 2014. hi second back, pit be be the pri president's kitchen cabinet. the story of african-americans who fed our first families from the washingtons to the obamas to "was published on president's day, 2017. let's welcome our author. [applause] >> he's a friend of mine. all right. good morning. so great to be here at the roosevelt presidential library to talk about this subject. just want to give you a little bit but my background, how i came to write this book on african-american presidential chefs and then i instead modify typical preparationie through different cook is will focus on those would cooked for president roosevelt. so, i was born in raised in denver, colorado, and has you heard i wrote a book on the history of soul food and given

where i grew up, that loses street cred on that subject. i have two southern parents. my mom from tennessee and my dad from arkansas so this the feud i grew up eating. whale i was researching has been 0 then hoe history of soul fouad that african-americans who cooked for the president, i stored that away. i was able to write the book. i'm a lawyer by training, and i didn't like practicing law. not disparage any attorneys. just wasn't for me. was going to open up a soul food restaurant in den ven and then a clays mate said, adrian, i'm working on this initiative in the white house. do you have any friends who piling be interested working on this mission? so i'm in my office in denver and she's back in d.c. i said tell me more about the initiative. it was called the initiative for

one america. and it was an outgrowth of president clinton's initiative on race, and had this wild and crazy idea, if we just talk to one another and listen we might realize we have a lot more in common than what supposedly divides us, after she told me this i did the same that that dick cheney did when the president bush canada him to find a vice president. my name went on the list i. worked in the clinton white house at the end of his second term. then after that it started this interest in food writing and that led to the publication of soul food and then this book. what i love that the roosevelt presidency i it encapsulate sod many themes in any become. one one is just the idea we have african-americans who are the celebrated culinary artists doing their best to make the president happy through food and the first family as well and to keep them healthy. we also have this interplay where.s want to play hookie from

their diet and usually it's the first lady and the presidential physician who are saying the presidents from themselvesment then you have african-american cooks caught in the middle. and so interesting personalities. so what i'll do is primarily focus on three personalities from the roosevelt administration. one is a guy named alonso fields. another woman named lizzy mcduffy, who was a maid in the roosevelt administration but she also did a lot to help cook and with food service. then daisy bonner, who would cook for fdr when he was in warm springs, georgia. the way i organized this book is because i'm dealing with so many people, i eventually found 150 people who have cooked for our presidents from george washington to the current administration. my book came -- i finished my book during the obama administration but there are hold overs from the obama administration cooking now in the trump white house. found 150 people and decided the best way to tell the story was to create different categories

cooks and then tell those stories. start out with the ingredients of presidential food ways. all the things create an interplay for the food weighed of the white house, and then start out with the -- used to be tall the presidential steward. the people in charge of all the domestic operations of the white house. now they're called the chief usher but they were called the steward. that would do the shopping, plan the menus and hire cooks and oversee the operations. then i moved to enslaved people who cooked in the white house because a lot of our presidents have been slaveholders, and then i talk about the free cooks from the beginning all the way to the present who were part over the white house culture. then i talk about the cooks when the president is traveling. so, what happens when the president is on a train or boat or air force one, what happens when they stay a period of time, and then i spend an entire chapter on drinks because one of the longest account and mouse games is whether or not our president drinks and if i was press secretary, seems to be the strategy.

one, deny that you drink. then when someone proves you drink, say you don't drink that much. then, two deny there's even a white house wine cellular, cellr and then say there's not much in it. a huge cat' mouse game. think fdr is our bartender in chief through the presidential history. then i end by talking about the future of african-american cooks. there's nothing that is stopping an african-american from being named the white house chief executive chef. so it's just a matter of the presidential tastes. so i go into that and that's how i end the book. first, let me begin with this cat and mouse game between the first lady and the white house physician. as you know, eleanor roosevelt was under national'll i uninterested in food, and -- yes. she was the brainy type. in fact, sunday night shed would have the scrambled eggs dinner which the staff called scrambled

eggs with brains because she would invite intellectuals over. there was controversy whether she actually cooked the cram belled oceans or stirred them. so the white house keep her was in charge of the food. but the president, president reality was on radiated and would like to stray from the diet and so the white house physician and eleanor roosevelt would team up to make sure he would stay on the diet. so, enhenrietta nesbit had an exchange between eleanor roosevelt and the doctor he was a navy vice admiral. and what mcintyre said to mrs. roosevelt is call on me if you need help. he said at the start of the president's tizzies. that what's eleanor would call it when the president got upset. advertiseys. he cooperated on the menu and tried to get the president's appetite back to normal.

sent to new york for specialists be brought in doctors from the navy hospital and a dietician arrived in uniform. the president ate everything he was supposed to eat but a it was ordered by in the navy. the orders were cut out all fried foods. one direct disfrom the doctor. typically the president get haze they want to get and they african-american staff is caught in the middle and they often have to help the president out. love this exchange with dealing with lizzy mcduffy and daisy bonner. lizzy ways wove 0oj mcduffy, prosecute relevant's valet, and so she eventually comes to the white house and works as a maid. some would ouch accompany roosevelt on long trims but interesting thing about lizzy mcduffy is that she had an outsized personality. she would entertain the president by doing puppet shows.

she had an early iteration of the muppets and one dahl doll was called suicide, the was called jezebel and she would have puppet shows and the president loved them. she was a favorite of the president and would campaign for the president. in 1936, in an elect that wasn't a gimme for president roosevelt, she was on the stump. this says no man is a hero from to his valet. lablock. ...

>> for returning to washington to cook the meals. so she went to cities that had a large african-american voting constituency. and campaign for the president. the federal hatch act was in place. for whatever reason nobody tried to prosecutor under that. she made such a difference that after the election was over president roosevelt culture into the overall for us and thanked her personally. social see the relationship they had. another interesting thing is during one of the white house dinners there is a movie executive from hollywood who was

dining at the white house. he took one look at her and said i want her in my next movie. does anybody want to guess what that is? gone with the wind. so, she was in consideration for the role that hadi mcdaniel got, the oscar-winning role. eleanor roosevelt wrote a letter on her behave to the director lobbying for that. there were newspaper reports getting the part because i think walter link leaks that without verifying it sources. so there's a story out there that she got the part. but she ultimately do not. she would often accompany roosevelt to georgia where he would stay to get treatment for his polio. he started going to georgia when he was a governor of new york. there he met a woman named daisy bonner, one my favorite characters in this book. daisy was a private cook for local family. when she would go to georgia for

a long time to see the president, the irwin family lent her to fdr. she would stay in a cottage and cook. she introduced him to all kinds of specialties. like country captain. a popular dish in georgia but it's a chicken curry dish. she and president roosevelt would joke about it having a secret recipe with 45 ingredients, that wasn't the case. it was a private joke. she cook southern delicacies. the one thing fdr loved by daisy, was pigs feet. he loved pigs feet. now the way she would cook him issue a boil them and then take them out of the pot and broil them and then butter them. that's how we like them. stay with me, it's going to get

worse for second. one of the other interesting stories is that fdr served pigs feet in the white house to winston churchill. [laughter] what he served were sweet-and-sour pigs feet. now, once the fields whose longtime butler the white house starts working in the hoover administration will stays on into the eisenhower administration wrote about this. this is the scene he paints. it was this type of pigs feet that he requested to be served at a luncheon just for the prime minister, winston churchill, and himself. princess martha of norway who lived in maryland during the war how to cook often prepare pigs feet in the style and have them brought to the president this dish. it was sweet-and-sour pigs feet. he had a twinkle in his eye when he said let's have them for the luncheon tomorrow for the prime minister.

the luncheon was served in the prime minister started to help himself he inquired, what is this? he is told sir, this is big three. he said i've never heard of them. then he helped himself. after tasting them he said very good, but sort of slimy. the president left and said and they are bit but i'm fond of an sometime will have them fry. the prime minister reply, no thank you, i don't think i would care for them fry. then they both had a hearty left. but, an interesting dish that daisy made in the have it in my book was a cheese soufflé. then be here cook? look soufflé? what is the big concern about making us soufflé? rising and falling. ladies and gentlemen, i'm about to tell you about americo. one that will rattle your soul and maybe about belly. this miraculous cheese soufflé is what daisy made for fdr in

the last day of his life. the new york times offers this account. at 115, mrs. bonner had the cheese soufflé ready and told the belly, get the president to the table, the soufflés ready. the president always said never put it in the oven until a come out of my room. his reading the atlantic constitution when the soufflé was ready. the papers came late because of the bad weather and he had been worried about the mail. yes the third time for the papers so he will write to reading when he came out. the artist was sketching him. he would never sit for her just catch them when she could. then just as he went in the president said what a terrific headache he had and slumped over in his chair. he never ate that soufflé, but it never fell until the moment he died. which was, two hours later. that's a miracle part that the soufflé did not fall for three hours. he had his febrile hemorrhage at

112. soufflé making is a strong concern of white house cooks. white house cooks for jfk had the strategy. jfk was chronically late. so with the cook did was made for soufflés and he time them at 15 minute intervals just hoping he would arrive on time. those are the perils of making soufflé with her president. but daisy was very moved by the president's death. the had a close relationship. if you ever go to our springs to georgia in the kitchen area where she cooked, she wrote on the wall, daisy bonner cook the first and last meal for the president roosevelt. it's encased in plastic. you can see how move she was. she wanted to be considered the first lady of presidential cooking. ship plans of opening a museum dedicated to food and president roosevelt, but she died before she could pull it together.

daisy is another interesting character my book. all talked about drinks. there's a cat and mouse game about drinks in the white house. fdr embraced drinking culture. i talked about several colic beverages, wine, cocktails, punches, and none. i'll reach a little bit about eggnog. this is from lillian rogers park, a long time made in the white house. she gives us an insight as to how eggnog plays out. so, she observed from henrietta nisbet. give once more the recipe up a drink under my department. cocktail eyeballs were served upstairs and i had nothing to do with them. the new year's eggnog was traditional and the white house was concerned with its making. the mixture was prepared the same way in the punch bowl carried before the president.

each time lifting his cup president roosevelt gave his the same toes. to the united states. lillian declared after tasting the eggnog that the eggnog was very strong. but the one that roosevelt had was also very strong. cc strong eggnog, not only from the roosevelt administration but to the present day. i don't know about in the trump white house now, but the ones he obama served in president clinton, would knock you out. that's a tradition. i think president roosevelt is most known for the martini. that's where he gets his identity. lillian rogers park reminisce, fdr claimed he didn't know the exact formula because they been worked up by family committee. his son jimmy like to mile martini but not as mild as

anise. then franklin got old left to speak up and argue for stronger martini, johnny became so tall he demanded to be tall and he wanted it so dry that it can be mistaken for san, formula seven to one. the president would be mysteriously mixing vermouth engine so no one could see what his formula was. when it's finished he'd say as chairman of the committee had the power to decide the ultimate taste of a martini. he would add to his concoction. at this point, some people aghast were not sure they wanted a martini after all. they would sip their own while fdr met mixed is a martini or sometime in old fashion. when they guessed fdr would break that he was the best martini mixer in the east. there are references to run base drink called a haitian libation. i tried to find the recipe but i can't find it.

by all accounts it was god else awful. another thing i forgot to mention the placement white house food history is presidential packs. the white house executive chef has been in charge of feeding the animals at the white house. making special recipes for the dogs. there was a time when white house pet messed up the plans for the cook. this involved a dog named links. he was so well and set her on the scene. according to reports, on the morning of march 1934, there are 12 sets of friday and hamm set out for the resident staff. the white house cook made this and stepped away to do something else. when they returned all of them are gone. they realize this is because links have helped himself to a nice hearty meal. the press had a lot of fun with it.

they staged a photo of links eating ham and eggs off a plate. the cook was upset and soon afterwards it was and now that links was leaving the white house to more time with his family. and that paved the way for more familiar dog, paula. one thing interesting about the cooks my friend over time these cooks food into three boxes. one they were culinary artists celebrated in their time. if you know anything about the food reputation of fdr white house it was not great. people would have second thoughts about whether to come to the estate dinner, that's how nasty the food whispering i was engaging in some race pride because i'm thinking there's all these african-american cooks on staff, how could it be that nasty? a lot of blame was on henrietta

nesbitt. and lillian parks rogers in her diary sheds light on it. the african-americans who cooked for roosevelt would often be doing their thing and henrietta will come up and adjust the seasonings. so whatever they are making she messed it up. the food never really worked out. but the african-americans i did find my research and i did research clicking in the archives for references to staff and the main boon for my research was old newspapers. a lot of companies are digitizing old newspapers and if you can figure out the terms used in the time you can find out a lot about the cooks. i found ida alec, the chief cook in the term white house executive chef does not come into existence until 61. jacqueline kennedy created that term. before that it was first cook,

head cook, chief cook. and then armstead burnett who started as a pantry man, worked in the white house believes in the johnson administration for catering business. he is a well-known caterer in the d.c. area. elizabeth blake was assistant cook. james carter, there was a jimmy carter in the white house before president carter. loretta deans, lizzie mcduffie, elizabeth moore, and catherine smith. in her diary henrietta nisbet has a lot of praise. she said even the she was temperamental she could work magic and make anything happen. the interesting thing that happens when roosevelt's come to the white house is in a way they into segregated practice.

back in the time of president taft, he hired a woman named mrs. jaffrey. she's a segregationist. even though there is some multiracial white house cooking staff. she created segregated eating spaces. she had a separate table for whites and blacks. by the time on our roosevelt gets to the white house she rectifies the situation by firing most of the white people. i'll let you know if that is and you can decide if it's progress. overall you can see we have cooks were culinary artists many times file confidants. presidents go to their funerals, their weddings, they send them notes and gives when significant family events happen. presidents are moved when the have to leave the white house.

there's always a tradition where the resident staff lines up and the president goes down the line and thank them all for their service the other thing there's often silver its applicants. pressing for african-americans to have humanity accepted in the broader society. we saw what lizzie duffy did, another example is suffer right, lyndon johnson when pressing for the 1964 civil rights act uses jim crow experiences to persuade members of congress to support the bill. the family would drive back and forth from texas to d.c. actually said i'm i can make it rise anymore. since you say it's a shame the president cook would have to sit suffer these indignities. he actually gives her pen so

these african-americans because of the relationship with the president first family gave our president to window a black life that they may not have had otherwise. a lot of presidents chose not to open that window, but for the ones who did our nation is better for it. thank you. [applause] will have time for questions. >> of a question about how the fdr administration differed from the administration before from herbert hoover. we know from anecdotes that hired help had to go into closets. what happened to african-american cooks in the administration? >> under the rozsival

ministration there's more openness and more, rhonda and openness between the staff and first family. it didn't have the rigidity that you saw in hoover and the coolidge administration. coolidge would come in and critique what they're eating and say it seems like everything a lot of food here. he was very nosy. which is not his persona. >> what about the wilson administration? >> even during the wilson administration they still had segregation but wilson was a southerner. a lot of reports of him celebrating the southern food cooked by white house staff. so i don't know about interaction between wilson and the others.

where the harding administration. but he love their food. >> so the harding administration did work. >> there seem to be a feeling of calm robbery. harding was big on waffles. he loved waffles. it is a lot of waffles. the cook that make the waffles would celebrated in newspaper articles. her name was alice howard. he waffled in a good way as a president. >> you know if daisy bonner and mrs. nesbitt ever met? and i have read your book yet, mrs. nesbitt's dismissal was ably by the next administration. >> so i don't know if they actually met. i did find a record of it. but for the second one, it was over something silly. the first lady mrs. truman wanted to stick of butter.

and mrs. nesbitt refused to give it to her. it was interesting. so they had a few tussles before that, i think that was the final blow. so she was gone a short time after that. that's a great question because after that, alonso fields the longtime butler becomes maître d'. and another guy -- field gets prominent in the white house and eventually he becomes maître d' later. as a pivotal event over stick of butter. you think of the first lady want something she's going to get it. >> lee chief cook, are these tenured appointments or do they carry over from administration to administration question. >> they serve at the pleasure of the president.

typically in the white house kitchen there's going to be change it's usually the executive chef and maybe the pastry chef. what is happened is when a president comes in they can decide who to staff the kitchen. most carry over the previous cook but they may bring in additional cook to make meals for the family. jacqueline kennedy created a second floor kitchen and dining space in the white house. she turned margaret truman's bedroom into a small kitchen pantry because the family used to in the state dining room and she thought it was not intimate enough. now there's a dining space on the second floor. lyndon johnson before president obama, johnson was the last present at a second cook for their family. most have the chief executive chef to everything. cook for the family and for guests and state dinners. >> including make recommendations for the replacements?

>> sometime though make a recommendation but typically someone on the staff might be elevated or someone the president knows. most cases and some of the president knows from their prior light before the presidency that they bring in to the kitchen if they're going to make a change. since 1960, most presidents have kept a holdover from the previous administration. so guy name henry holland was a swiss poor guy sir from johnson through reagan. and then a reagan chef and george w. bush had the same one and then walter came in with the clintons and served until the end of the first term of george w bush. and then an assistant shift under the clinton administration got elevated to white house executive chef and she's been there ever since. >> is their food budget? >> yes.

before you get to truman, essentially presidents had to pay for food out of their pocket. truman gets a budget. so if you order food on air force one, the presidential yacht when we had it for the kitchen, they get built against that account. it's not a free-for-all in terms of food. there is a budget that gets allocated by congress. so that goes into the food story. the creation of the white house mess is a reflection of this. after the white house is renovated in the 50s there was morning for staff because of the installation of air conditioning. truman wasn't going to get more money to have more staff. so he takes the staff off the presidential you make send the

staff of the white house mess which is private kitchen and dining stat space. that's why the navy operations existed for running the white house mess. a lot of food at camp david is run by navy chefs not the white house kitchen. >> thank you very much for speaking today. was there anyone one elaborate meal that stood out in your investigating and then was there ever a case in which anyone had a allergic reaction to something that was even among the dignitaries. >> the first example would be the state dinner cook for nelson mandela. those created by an african-american chef named patrick clark who is offered the white house chef job under clinton. is a well-known african-american chef in new york, tavern on the green. but he turned it down because it was a pay cut.

he was making six figures well into the six figures as a cook at the adams hotel across the street for the white house. but the white house executive chef salary was 58000. a definite drop off and hit several kids. he turned it down. the clintons asked him to create a meal which was a sesame crusted halibut with red curry and lemongrass vegetables. as a cornerstone of the meal. i have the recipe in my book if you want to replicate it. it was an amazing meal. and at the last second the clintons asked him to be the guest of honor at that meal. he did not cook the meal. what he created it. for allergies only one that comes to mind is president george herbert walker bush after he had sushi in japan, that's the only one i know of. the people asked me is their presidential taste tester?

and yes there is. it tends to be the opposition leader in congress. [applause] now, is the white house chef. the white house chef is the taste tester. >> thank you. i've enjoyed your discussion. can you give us an insight to our present president. does he have any likes, i know he doesn't drink. >> we don't get a lot of information but will present trump likes. what i've seen in the presses that he loves meatloaf and a well-done steak with ketchup. there's a lot of chronicles about password. the fast food label is unfair. when you're on the campaign trail that's what you're getting a lot of times. i do know he loves meatloaf, comfort food like that.

otherwise we don't get a lot of information about what's going on in the white house kitchen. thank you so much. [applause] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> book tv recently visited capitol hill test members of congress with their reading the summer. >> one of the books i got to reading i'm usually into history books and faith-based.

when i just got done with a friend of mine wrote. it's called from the valley of despair to the mountaintop of praise. a study of the book of the bible. the interesting thing about the author, 90% very well. he was my pastor years ago, but his son was a c-130 pilot crashed in the whole crew died. this is about how this particular pastor has lived in dealt with the trials of life including losing a son. it's a good book, an in-depth study of that particular book of the bible. most times, and probably throughout the summer i'm a history buff. so there's a book called, sacred fire which is about the history of the founding fathers. i'll be reading that. it'll take a long time. it's a thick book. most times is my reading.

if i'm not reading bills that's what i'm reading. >> book tv wants to know what you're reading. send us your reading list via twitter at book tv or instagram a book -underscore tv or posted to facebook at facebook.com/book tv. television for serious readers. >> next, founder and former director of the arab-american of national museum in dearborn michigan. he talks about growing up in syria, palestine, israel and lebanon during the 1940s through the 1960s. >> thank you for coming. i want to bring your attention that we have c-span with us in the recording the whole thing. if you have a question please