>> all right you guys. [ applause ] all day today american history tv is featuring america's first ladies. who do you think was our most influential first lady?

follow american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 3 and online at c-span.org/history. this is american history tv on c-span 3. all weekend every weekend 48 hours of the american story as we continue our spotlight on the nation's first ladies. we hear next from barbara and laura bush who combined lived 12 years in the white house. [ applause ]

>> howdy. i'm warren finch, director of the george bush presidential library and museum. it's been a wonderful day. i would like to welcome you to tonight's program featuring two of america's greatest first ladies as we conclude today's conference, america's first ladies, an enduring legacy. first ladies barbara bush and laura bush, we are so grateful that you are participating in our program tonight. and president bush, we're thankful that you're here also. [ applause ]

in addition to our audience here in the auditorium, we're being joined by an audience over the internet. this program is being live streamed. so howdy to you all. i would like to thank our conference chair anita mcbride. we couldn't have done this without you. this all began when the presidential library directors attended a conference this past spring at american university which was chaired by anita. after experiencing that wonderful conference, my fellow directors here in texas decided that we should do it here in texas at the texas presidential libraries. and so we began here today, and we will continue with programming at the george w. bush library in march of 2012 and conclude with the program at the lbj library in november of 2012. programs like this can't be done without support. and, therefore, i am very grateful to our program

sponsors, texas a&m university, american university school of public affairs and american university library, the george bush foundation, which always generous to the library. thank you to the foundation. and i'd also like to thank the white house historical association and stephanie sale and jim singleton. in addition, i'd also like to thank my staff and the volunteers who have helped contribute to today's success. introducing our panel -- our program and panelists this evening is a great friend of the bush library and museum, andy card, acting dean of the bush school of government and public service. can we give him a whoop! [ whoop ] mr. card was appointed july of 2011. he's formally dean card served

as chief of staff to george w. bush from 2000 to 2006. during the bush administration, he was assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff and the 11th secretary of transportation. thank you, sir. [ applause ] >> thank you. i'll give you a boston accented howdy. it's great to see you. and it is a spectacular program tonight, and we appreciate warren finch welcoming us all here. yes, i'm the acting dean of the bush school, and the bush school at texas a&m is a graduate school. we're turning out the finest and best graduates that go into public service. we're so proud of the quality of the students and the performance of the graduates because they have earned a great reputation for that school. but i'm not here tonight to talk about the bush school. i am here tonight to pay praise to president bush, and i appreciate him bringing his library and museum and creating the school here at texas a&m, but this is really a pretty

special program. on november 11th, 267 years ago, there was a woman born who had a pretty great legacy for this country. and i'm not talking about barbara bush. her name was abigail smith adams. and she was the first woman to have been married to a president and was the father of a president. i mean the mother of a president. [ laughter ] thank you anita. it was actually the secret service that whispered first.

on february 12th, interestingly, 11/11 and 2/12, are pretty significant days in american history. on february 12th, 1775, there was another woman born, but she was born in london. and she was the daughter-in-law to a president. and the wife of a president. the two women that we will hear from tonight are even more unique than those two individuals. because one is not only the mother of a president and the wife of a president, she also got to witness both of them taking an oath of office to be president. the other woman is the daughter-in-law of a president and the wife of a president. and she got to witness both of them taking the oath of office to be president.

these two women are pretty remarkable. barbara pierce bush has had a long legacy of caring about people and inviting people to make a difference. she cares deeply about her family. and she's got quite a terrific family with lots of grandchildren and one great grandchild. and she cares so deeply about them. but she also introduced us to points of light. and to the opportunity that comes with literacy and reading. she taught us what it means to be a volunteer and to make a difference in fighting cancer. helping people. and then you have laura welch bush. a teacher. a librarian. passionate about reading.

passionate about making sure that we were all literate enough to read. opening doors around the world for women to make a difference. the afghan women's council, she went to afghanistan and she helped invite women into being part of that community. a community that is celebrated an opportunity to vote but more importantly even they are making a difference in the economy of afghanistan. she's helped to fight malaria and aids in africa. she's inspired women leaders all around the world to make a difference. both of these women are pretty remarkable. but the uniqueness that they have is even more remarkable. they did watch a husband, a

father-in-law, a son and a husband take an oath of office. it comes right from our constitution. it is article 2 and it's the shortest oath taken by anyone who serves in government. and it calls for them to preserve, protect and defend. these women also witnessed lots of young people take an oath. it's a longer oath. and this oath calls for them to follow the command of the commander in chief. both the presidents that took that oath had to ask for young men and women to make sacrifices that they would never invite on anybody. and those sacrifices resulted in a lot of pain. but there was another oath that was taken. and this was an oath taken by these women.

it's an oath that calls for them to have a special relationship with a special person. it calls for them to say that they will be there in sickness and in health, in good times and bad times, for richer, for poorer and to love and to cherish. being president is an unbelievably lonely job. and it's lonely in part because of the oath that is taken. i can honestly say the two presidents that i served were never completely alone. because they had first ladies who took their oath very, very seriously. so would you help to welcome

barbara pierce bush and laura welch bush to share their experiences as first lady. [ applause ] >> to u dialogue of responsibility and the awesomeness of their responsibilities for presidents and inspiration to all of us, richard norton smith, who is a renowned historian, a great author, who really does

understand the workings of government from a historical perspective, richard norton smith has been a friend of mine for a very long time. he helped me with a very forgettable campaign for governor of massachusetts. but the speech he helped to write was memorable. so we're glad to have richard norton smith here as the moderator of this discussion. thank you. >> thank you, andy. [ applause ] i don't know about you, mrs. bush. i'm not accustomed to getting a standing ovation just for showing up. >> you just got it because laura was here. >> it's hard to know where to begin. let me ask. we've heard from a number of folks earlier today, and i know you were here for the discussion. we heard from real-life practitioners, people who have been in white houses of both parties and different periods of our history who have been challenged and risen to the challenge.

each of you had, in some ways, unique qualifications or life experience before you came to the white house. and andy has described them. was that a particular advantage to you? and is there any way to fully prepare for the job of first lady? >> shall i start? >> sure. >> yes, i was prepared because i lived in washington with george for years, and he was vice president for eight years. so i could watch a very good president and his wife. and the truth is the white house itself is so well organized. it's pretty hard to make too many mistakes other than just my mouth. [ laughter ] >> well, i, of course, was prepared because i had a mother-in-law who i watched.

[ laughter ] and i visited the white house. i had an advantage that no other first lady except louisa adams had because i had stayed at the white house a lot when president bush and barb were -- lived there. i had been to that inauguration when president bush was sworn in and then came in. i'd been to state dinners and then gone upstairs to sleep in the queen's bedroom when george and i were invited to events at the white house when they lived there. but really, of course, what i learned from barb was that it is a home. that it really is a home. where the family lives and where family times happen. where you laugh and you watch football on television and you have wild dinners and funny people -- especially all the bushes who try to be funny the whole time. especially one that i was married to. so i knew that it really was a home. and i felt very reassured when i

moved in because i knew that it could be a home for barbara and jenna who were freshmen in college. and it would be the only home they could come home to because we -- our house was at the ranch, and when they came home from holidays, they would come to the white house to stay with us. so i had an advantage that very few first ladies, only louisa adams had had. >> but you were governor's wife. >> i was also first lady of texas. i knew how to do everything as first lady of texas from barb. >> oh, stop. >> really. the mundane things you don't think about. the christmas card, for instance. i knew we needed to get the artist that was going to do the christmas card very nearly the year. usually we'd pick the artist by march or april and they would start working on the art for the christmas card, and i did that at the governor's mansion just because i knew that was the way they -- that barb had done it at the white house. and so when we left the white

house, when we moved out, we left a big notebook on how to do the christmas card for the next person because we thought she probably wouldn't have that -- wouldn't know, like i did because i had barb to watch. >> i let the next person just do their own thing. >> actually, that does raise a question. it's become a habit in recent years for outgoing presidents to leave a note in the desk in the oval office for their successors. president bush very poignantly wrote to bill clinton. did either of you have a similar legacy? >> i didn't. i didn't think to leave a note, but we did give tours, both of us. >> visited with them. >> what was that like? >> easy. i mean, we knew we'd lost. we're a great country, i think, because other countries when you defeat, like margaret thatcher, she was out of her house the next day. i mean, we are a great country. and many of the countries we

went to, the leaders were killed or put in jail.t th funny -- >> a connection at all. >> right now in history you look at zambia and they are getting a lot of praise because they had a presidential election and the incumbent lost and he left and let the new president come in. but we were all in washington last spring for a tribute to the points of light foundation, and i happened -- george and i happened to meet that day with the ethiopian health minister. and i was telling him, we're going tonight to this tribute and all the former presidents are going to be there to pay tribute to our father-in-law and to my father-in-law. and he said you just don't know what that means to the rest of the world. he said the rest of the world just looks at that and they think it's so great that all the former presidents, no matter what their party or their

politics are come back with each other and pay tribute to each other. and it did remind me that we are very fortunate in our country because of the peaceful transfer of power that we have. >> you mention, of course, the white house as home, but it plays so many other roles simultaneously. it's a museum, it's a stage, it's sometimes a campaign headquarters. it's a war room. >> shouldn't be that. >> not for fundraising anyway. >> no. [ laughter ] >> you could have left a note about that. >> no, president reagan left george a wonderful note, because george saw him throwing acorns out for the squirrels, and he said to president reagan, geez, sir, you know, better not do that because our milly chases squirrels and i think she's got a record of maybe ten.

[ laughter ] so the president left a note that said, a thing that said squirrels, beware of dog. [ laughter ] >> how cognizant are you, literally, 24 hours a day of the history that you were living with that you are making, and are there predecessors, other first ladies, either people whom you've known or read about who are particular sources of inspiration? >> well, i was very cognizant of the history of the house. i was not so cognizant of making history really. you're just living there every day and a million things happen a day when you're at the white house to, you know, every problem in the world comes to the desk of the president of the united states, but i was very aware of the history of it, because you live with the effects of the people that lived there before you, with their decorating, with their

furniture, with their choices that they've made, and i knew that. so when i moved to the white house, i didn't bring any furniture with me. i only brought one chest of drawers that belonged to president bush's mother, george's grandmother, just for sentimental reason to have a piece of furniture that belonged to her there, because i knew there was a warehouse full of wonderful, historical furniture that belonged to many, many presidents, and it was really very fun and also very interesting, and i learned a lot about the history of those families just by setting rooms up and decorating rooms and choosing pieces of furniture for different rooms. >> educated daughter-in-law. >> were you part of her education? >> no. no, but i was very happy in the white house, very happy. we had grandchildren, it was great. you could hear them swimming and you could hear them outside.

you could hear them riding bikes. we were lucky because we had laura and george very often there, and we had marvin's children, never forget little walker, practically brand new sleeping in the lincoln bedroom, little itty bitty thing, but it was just a wonderful, happy time for me. i'm not half as cerebral as laura is, but i'm as nice. [ laughter ] >> but for us, for barbara and jenna, they also got to be there as children, you know, as the grandchildren of the president, so when they showed sasha and malia around the white house, they could show them all the things that 7-year-olds would want to do, because they knew it from having been there when their grandfather was president like the really high bed the ushers put a step out for the bed if someone's staying in that

room, but if no one's staying in that room, the step isn't there, so barbara and jenna showed the little obama girls how to make a running dash and jump on the bed. or the solarium ramp that has a wooden floor that every little kid comes to the white house finally learns to slide down on their seat and barbara and jenna who were, you know, not little kids when they showed the little obama girls around did show them how to do that. [ laughter ] >> pretty cute. >> you mention the solarium, what is it about the solarium that every white house family seems to fall in love with? >> i think it's sort of the den up there. it's the most casual of all the i read about i think mrs. coolidge who said -- was it mrs. coolidge? >> her sky parlor. >> she said when i'm in the solarium, don't bother me. >> i just think it was a -- mor

children could order their dinner up, less i stop them. >> that is -- the day that we -- or the first couple of days that we all stayed in the white house, the whole family after president bush was inaugurated, we had a very fancy dinner in the dining room upstairs and everyone was there except for barbara and jenna, and we found out where they were when we heard from an usher that they called from the bowling alley and asked for dinner to be brought to them in the bowling alley. their grandmother put a stop to it. >> ordering dinner, imagine. >> did each of you have a favorite room in the white house? >> i loved the west sitting hall with that big window just to sit in, i'm sure you did too. in the late afternoon with the west sun coming in in the winter, it's very cozy and pretty. >> i loved the whole white house, and laura redid and

brought the lincoln bedroom back to the way it was from pictures and she did a lot of research and raised the money so it wasn't done by the government, and you did a wonderful job. >> the white house historical association, who are one of the sponsors today of this conference, also are the private philanthropic arm that raised money to purchase things for the white house. >> was there a moment when it dawned on you, really for the first time dramatically, just how much impact you could have, an action of yours or words of yours in the lives of other people? >> i remember when i was the wife of the vice president i could say anything, nobody gave a darn, and i think george had just become president-elect when i made some, i thought, normal statement, and i read it in every single paper, and it wasn't something i really wanted to be quoted on.

[ laughter ] but you learn not to speak quite as frankly, sort of. then you forget it when you get older. >> exactly. [ laughter ] >> well, i knew lady bird johnson, who also is somebody that i liked a lot, another texas first lady, and, of course, i knew her because she was still alive in austin when george was governor and we lived there. in fact, we hosted the opening luncheon of the ladybird johnson wildlife center that night for the opening of it, but i remember that she said the first lady has a podium and she said, "i'm going to use it." but somehow that didn't really, you know, i didn't really -- i knew then intellectually, but i think i didn't really know it until i made the president's radio address to talk about the treatment of women and children by the taliban, and right after

that i was in austin with jenna and we went to a department store and the women who sold cosmetics at the department store came up and said thank you so much for speaking for the women in afghanistan. and then i really realized that people had actually heard me and that it meant something, that they were glad that an american first lady was speaking out for afghan sisters. [ applause ] >> a different kind of outspokenness, you were once quoted -- >> are you talking to her? >> in the "ladies home journal" as saying, "there's a myth out there that says i don't dress well." >> imagine that. >> you said, "actually, i dress very well, i just don't look so good."

[ laughter ] >> now i'll tell you a nice story. we read over and over again, and it was true, dowdy, you know, all those nice things. so when george got elected president, when he was president-elect, he said you take yourself to new york and you go buy clothes from designers, which i did do. he paid for every single one of them for four solid miserable years. and nobody knew that i bought designer clothes. [ laughter ] why do they think that's funny? is that funny? >> but bar's right, there are a lot of myths about first ladies, and there's sort of a stereotype of everyone that you get stereotyped the minute you move in, that's it, doesn't matter what you do, that's your stereotype. >> even before you figuratively took the oath of office, i remember at the beginning of the second bush presidency, there

was this consensus among some in the press, who obviously had never met you, that you represented the second coming of eisenhower. and first of all, let's be fair to mamie eisenhower. >> who's that an insult to, me or her? >> insult to you. [ laughter ] >> that was rhetorical. >> actually, mamie was as much an icon in the '50s as jackie was in the '60s. >> you're not old enough to know that. no, no. >> but you must at some level resent the presumptions, if nothing else, the intrusiveness. >> well, not really. i mean, look at all the things they said about george.