next, on the presidency, camp david insiders offer the recollections of the retreat in the maryland mountains. it was franklin d. roosevelt who use the hideaway and who said the president for hosting dignitaries there when he invited prime minister churchill to be his guest. the presidential center in dallas posted this hour-long program. we hear first from the 43rd president who shares his own memories of camp david. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chief executive officer, kim hirsch. [applause] >> thank you and

welcome to the engaged series presented by highland capital. i'm ken hirsch, introducer in chief. >> our goal here is to provide content you can't get anywhere else. we are honored today with this session to launch a wonderful insiders look at presidential retreats and a glimpse of what life looks like for a president outside of the white house. it's a fascination that some people have. we are delighted to take a deep dive into camp david, crawford, kenny bump port and the lbj ranch. tonight, we have a series of guests who can give us that special insight. to kick us off, i would like to introduce the 43rd president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you, thank you all. >> this is a special moment for

laura and me, because we have such fond memories of the presidential retreat. one of the things about a presidency that is hard to explain is, what it feels like to be in a bubble. you are kind of in a bubble, particularly in washington. the presidential retreats, for any president, are very important in the life of the presidency. i want to thank ken and holly and the team here for opening up the presidential retreats and a lot of the stories of presidential retreats for people here in dallas. we had three presidential retreats. that's kind of unusual. one of which was kennebunkport maine. that was my dad's presidential retreat. we would go up there on occasion, when we went, it was all family. that's incredibly important.

such an important part of our presidency. i think we entertains sarkozy and putin. i will never forget, my dad said to putin, do you want to go on a boat ride? he had this boat with 300 horsepower engines. putin said, he was a macho dude, he said yes. he had this interpreter who was a strange little guy, who was nervous. anyway they get out in the ocean and opens that thing up. and putin was in heaven. the interpreter thought he was going to die. walker's point was an important part of getting out of the bubble. but not nearly as important as

crawford at camp david. crawford is a place that laura and i love. it's a place we went to in august. that made it kind of uncomfortable for a lot of people in the staff from the east coast. [laughs] i loved it, i would get outside, this was before we owned a bulldozer, we will chop down cedar. it was unbelievably therapeutic. i would write bikes. but mainly i arrested. the main thing about these retreats, you never escaped the presidency. and so the definition of getting outside the bubble, and crawford meant that we were probably 150 staffers of some sort or another. which made it fun because that meant there were a lot of cedar

choppers available to help. we entertained a lot of world leaders there. we have a lot of fond memories of conducting personal diplomacy on the ranch. it became a way for us to give these leaders a special look, it really did open up the dialog at a much easier way than hadn't been in the white house. i remember sitting out by the pool, talking about japanese history. we took a great walk a grace the prairie with angela merkel and her husband. putin came and we had a press conference and rather than have on the ranch, i decided a cool thing to do would be able to go to crawford high school. crawford is a town of about 600 people, 31 people in the senior class. and three were allowed to ask

questions. and of course we had to answer questions from the press. but we had a lot of world leaders there. israeli prime minister, crown prince of saudi arabia. one of his stories was when he came and he was angry because sharon had occupied formula and he was matter then heck about it. one of the first things he said to me was, tell the pig to get out of ramallah. that's about as grated insult as you can issue in the middle east. frankly, i wasn't about to allow a foreign leader to dictator foreign policy. i said, look, give me some time. that wasn't the answer he wanted. our interpreter, who is a friend of mine and colin powell's in congolese as, came into where we were sitting because he wanted to be alone

for a while and said, he is going to leave. that would've been a disaster for a young presidency to have a major ally bolt the scene. that would've been something we would've dealt with for a long period of time. i said, fix. it's colin powell went in and said, i can't. only you. i said, okay. i walked in there didn't what i was going to tell him. he is smoking cigarettes in our living room. so i said, i hear you are going to leave? he grunts, yes. before you do, i want to talk about two things, religion and i said, let me talk to you about my faith. i quit drinking because of religion. and described my relationship with billy graham. i'm curious about your religion. nothing. he just smoked a cigarette. that didn't work sway played

the ranch card. i said, i hear you have a farm and that you love it? yes. i said, i love this place. i would like to give you a tour before you leave. can i give you a tour? reluctantly, he said yes. so there we are on the f-1:50, i'm driving. that's unusual. abdullah and the interpreter leaning over the back seat, we were driving along. these are oaks, not interested. could care less about the grasses. he he did not say thing. i said, this is going to be a disaster. we are at the very far end of the ranch, there's a turkey standing in the middle of the road. and he said, what is that? i said, that's a turkey, your highness. and at one point it was going to be the bird of the united states, that's what benjamin

franklin suggested but instead we win with the bald eagle. and the turkish astounding they're not moving. and he leans over and says, it's a sign from allah. and i said, that is really good advance work. [laughs] we got back to the house i said you want to eat? he said yes. i said we're gonna have lunch. and then the relief on the foreign minister's face was palpable. the reason i tell you that is that the ranches great place to get to know leaders and establish a bond, as was camp david. camp david was initially calledz shangri-la law. which means heavenly place. and it is. it is tucked in the mountains, thankfully it is only a 25

minute helicopter ride from the south lawn, that means it is extremely accessible. and laura and i used it a lot. we went there's often as we possibly could. you will hear from one of the base commanders, the whole deal is that it is a military base and they have other military functions and duties. but when the president is there, it's to pamper the guy. and they do a really good job of it. dwight eisenhower change the name to camp david, and my brother mark would lobbied for a while to change get to camp marvin. thankfully, i did not. we have a lot of fond memories of camp david, a lot. and it's a place where laura and i invited a lot of world leaders, tony blair's first visit to the united states. we took him camp david. laura decided to have a movie

there. they have a nice movie theater, it was called meet the parents. i was asleep. [laughs] if you like to exercise, it's a great place to get outdoors and exercise. we had mountain bike trails, wonderful jim. i think the thing that i remember the most about camp david was christmas is. it's big enough for our big family each to have their own cabin. mother and dad would come, jeb and his family, marvin and his family, view and his family angela. it was spectacular. the reason i emphasize the family aspect, during the presidency, it can be hard to count on certain people. but you can always count on your family to give you comfort and love. and that is what we are going

to hear about tonight. a true shangri-la, we are going to interview admiral michael who was the base commander when we first got to camp david. he's also going to interview stephen mclaren, the president of the white house historical association. finally, my chief of staff, josh bolten, one of the coolest guys i know will be on stage as well. before hand,åc a real treat for laura and me was to have a beautiful little chapel there called evergreen chapel. and a preacher they're had a huge influence on us. his name is stan fournier, thankfully he has a to join us tonight. please, welcome to the right reverend, navy something, captain, hung?

i know chaplain. navy captain. captain stan fournier. [applause] >> thank you very much, whatever privilege it is for me to be here this evening, thank you for the invitation. on china where 22nd, 1963, news reached camp david of this assassination of kennedy who had just been a recent visitor to camp david. there was a contractor working at that time named kenneth. mister kenneth notice that in that experience, there was nowhere for people to gather to pray, to think, to be quiet. there was no sacred space

whatsoever. and so he began the process of saying that he wanted to see a chapel built a camp david. it took him some time, but through's persistence, he was able to form a nonprofit, he raise the money to build the chapel. and the ground was broken by president reagan who was the first contributor. and then that chapel was dedicated during the presidency of bush 41. it was also during that time that he decided he wanted a chaplain there. and so, i've had the privilege of following in the legacy of having navy chaplains at camp david ever since that time. if there is any one thing that i would want you to know about camp david, it is that there is a very unique climate of community there. it's a small group of people.

a lot of people do not realize it is a military installation. and those who are there were chosen because of their desire to serve their nation by serving their commander-in-chief. this unique climate of community and even maybe so far as a climate of family that exist there, to critics and it's made possible by the presidents and how they use and serve. and i'm a little prejudice because of my time with president bush, but i would suggest to you that there is no one who's contributed more to a climate of community at camp david more than president and mrs. bush. and that is evident by many different things that they did. president bush was always connecting with people there,

and that connection with people helped create this unique climate of community that existed. you may know that president bush enjoyed mountain bike riding when he was at camp david. and my first stay there, i had one of the lean and mean greens tell me if president bush asked you to ride bikes with him, tell him, no way. and i said, why? and he said, because nobody can keep up with president bush on these trails and all those bikes. and so he said, i know it's hard to say no to the president, but you have to say no if he asks you. and one sunday after chapel, we had lunch with the president and he was beginning to set the app. i knew it. and so he said, chaplain, and you write bikes? and i said, no, sir.

never really had the chance to ride a bike before. he dropped, i got out of it. we connected with the young marines in the others there, through doing that. there's no way that the president connected more with the staff at camp david them through evergreen chapel. i had the privilege to conduct over 100 worship services for the president and mrs. bush and the family and the staff of camp david. and it was always the most marvelous experience. the president was always faithful, in my four years there he never missed a worship service. even if we had weeklong services during christmas or easter. they were always there. and that camp community gathered with them when we worship together.

mrs. bush, i remember what every christmas and easter was like, bringing gifts for all the children of camp david. during our christmas pageants and other things we will do, she would distribute those gifts to our children. she did that event after event, year after year. it was just that her most marvelous climate of community. president bush also did something very unique for us. he asked us one time, let's gather all the camp community together, their spouses, children, let's invite them all to a town hall meeting in the chapel. at which time the president spent almost two hours standing before us, talking about the presidency. his leadership skills, and open the floor for people to ask questions.

it was so successful and because not everyone can get in at one time, he said let's do it again. and we had all the cap staff come again. and the president gave us two hours of standing before us and what it means to be the president of the united states. the president and mrs. bush did a great deal to create this wonderful climate of community at camp david. i think maybe he may have learned some of that from his father. it was christmas one week and president bush was there, president bush 41, we had a service in the chapel and we are distributing t-shirts that had evergreen chapel, christmas something on it. at the end of the service everyone left. i was in the chapel on myself, the phone ring, it was president bush 41. and he said to me, chaplain, is

there any chance that we can get a couple of those t-shirts? and i said, of course, mister president. so i got him on the golf cart and took him some t-shirts to his cabin. always gracious, he invited me in. i had a cup of coffee. when i got ready to leave, president bush said, do you know why we wanted these t-shirts? and i said, no. he said, we have stayed here longer than we anticipated this year. and we are running short on clean under close to where. at which time, i said, you know, there is somebody that could take care of that laundry beat if you have it. but he looked at me and said, it's christmas week. i wouldn't dare ask somebody to

do that for me during christmas week. and then he looked and said to be, don't forget, it's their christmas too. and i always thought that spoke so much about the way the bushes felt about the staff camp david, how much appreciation they had for the climate of community. sometimes even a close knit community there can be some challenges. and i will close with this story, i was sitting in the chapel one weekend, and the president was there along with the prime minister of japan. it was a saturday, i sent my assistant home because nothing was scheduled. i was sitting in the chapel by myself at saturday, i heard the door open and in walked president bush and the prime minister. and i thought that was nice, the president was showing the prime minister around.

the president looked at me and said, can you do one of the history briefs you do for the prime minister? that involved a screen and projection equipment, none of which was set up. i had never set up in my life. and i said, of course. we can do that. i said it will take me a moment to set it up. they sat down on the front pew and i went back and i pulled the screen outs and set it up and run up in the balcony to turn on the projection equipment. this may come as a surprise to, but the president was looking at his watch every now and then. and i eventually got it done. i was sweating, i was proud of myself or getting it set up so quickly. and i finally said, we are ready to go with this. and he said, just a minute. he looked at the prime minister and said, he's good at doing worship services, but he's not good at technology.

i was proud of myself, i thought item very, very well. i'm not saying that the president's greatest virtue is not patients, but he is prompt. and that reminds me, i need to stop talking and move on. but i do want to tell you, in all sincerity, that the four years that i spent at camp david was the absolute highlights of my entire 35 years of ordeal ministry. nothing else have ever close to it. and i don't know if there will ever be anything that could top the fact that i had the privilege of serving our nation in the military and especially, the privilege that i had for four years of serving president bush, mrs. bush, and the family. especially during a time of

great turmoil and war, in the chapel of camp david. for those experiences, i thank you very much. [laughs] >> and now you know that you have already heard, but would you welcome me and join me in welcoming our guests, stewart mclaren the president of the white house historical so see a shot. ants joshua bolten, and his chief of staff, that had to endorse those worship services. rear a former officer at camp david. and holly, the moderator tonight, the executive director of the bush institute. join me in welcoming them. [applause]

well thank you all for being here. our job tonight is to demystify a place that most people will never get to visit. and you all, obviously, have great backgrounds and stories to share with this crowd about camp david and to try to bring that to this audience. let's start there, stewart, president bush mentioned the name of shangri-la, that was the original name at shire camp david. tell us how it came to be, how the state was selected, where that name came from, but was the origin? >> president bush, this is great to be here this library with all of your desk tonight. president hoover had a wonderful little fishing camp called the rapid in camp, and when fdr became president, he tried it out and he had asthma. it was a gap climate out there, he did not like it. his doctor said get a place that is a little higher in

elevation. we asked the national park service, to select three different states as options. when was back in the -- 30,000 feet in the wind which. two others were in maryland, and when was this site that was eventually selected to be shangri-la. it took a small -- three unmarked vehicles, he decided he liked it, it was built in the 1930s ten years prior by the works progress administration. it has a rudimentary government buildings on the site. they were functional. he decided this would work. they decided, this would be shangri-la. the name shangri-la has been a very popular british novelist by the name of dave -- james hilton who made a book a 1933, called lost horizon. shangri-la -- shangri-la was a himalayan paradise that was talked about in the book. that name was adopted. they moved in, and on july the 5th was the first day that they

started shangri-la as the presidential retreat. thanks a lot really well for a couple of years, until the secret service got nervous of the safety of shangri-la. they might be vulnerable by the enemy. so roosevelt started to look for an alternative for this place. a police a little more secure a little more safe from our attack. there was a place, it was more tropical, a little more remote. just think what it would have been had president roosevelt follow-through, and move the presidential retreat from shangri-la to guantánamo bay. >> so, mike, you were the commanding officer at the end of president clinton's turn and the sort of president bush's term. you got to run the place. tell us a bit about what entail, and tell us about the place itself, what is their, what is camp david like? >> thank you holly. president bush, mrs. bush pleasure to see you again.

thank you for this honor. 2000 acres, as the president said. the national parks service. it is a rustic which route. simple, single story cabins. cedar roofs. just amenities, and execute the of course. just simple place to go where many people are finding the rest are looking for. >> and so, talk about your role, and the staff. >> it is a navy command, since the roosevelt years. he took a sailors from a yacht, plus the re-marines. it is a navy command operates, and maintains the principal fist felicity from the president. on the weekend, it takes the whole aura obviously for the president, where he got to get away. whether it is personal use, or diplomatic purpose. >> and so, president you this partly as a recreational retreat to get away, they also use it to entertain and host world leaders, tell us about what goes into a world leader

visit? >> big pucker factor first, for getting ready, a lot of work from the state department. but a fascinating time to stay on the sidelines and watch our president work with world leaders. i talk about in a book, it is one thing we talk about building relationships. you stay on the sidelines, and you watch presidents actually do that, as i saw mrs. bush do that with the players. just weeks after an inauguration, used in camp david, you see how important it is as humans to get to know someone on that level. it is very impressionable. it really affected me and many of the other cruise as well. it is great to be a part of that. we are certainly not of that world, but we are in that world. >> how many stuff farther? >> about 200 sailors and marines that worked full-time. so josh -- >> so josh, you were there in a variety of rules. you went as deputy of staff, then you are chief of staff. >> i never got invited when i was the budget director.

nobody wants the budget director. >> so when you were chief of staff, part of your role was really helping to host at entertained for delegations, tell us about that role. and with that and killed for you? >> well first, thank you president and -- mrs. bush, four of the village to be there, and it is a special privilege to be with reverence than, for anyone as they've belinda. just listening to his voice a few minutes ago, brought the same kind of comfort that i think reverend for neighbors to all of us on a regular basis with his sunday service. it is not even my faith, and i always look forward to go to the chapel to hear him speak.

it is not just about the president, and not just about the visiting prime minister. there is typically a whole delegation that comes with. and, as important as the opportunity that camp david provided for building a warm, personal relationship between the leaders, also important was the opportunity it provided for those serving just below the two leaders to get to know each other, and establish the kind of relationship that becomes critical. especially in a crisis. especially when i was chief of staff, i had the privilege of basically hosting my counterpart or counterparts for

a wide variety of world leaders. the relationships that were established there in many cases, turned out to be extremely important in the months and years that followed. >> so let's talk about the photo of the more informal moments of hosting a delegation in the bowling alley. tell us about this very posed photo. >> my score? [laughs] . the person on the far right, i guess that we are looking at it is the presidents military aid. the two others were the top two advisers that would crown prince bahama ma's island of the emirates. whose relationship with

president bush was very important to the united states his relationship overall in the gulf region. so while president bush and the crown prince were off having a walk or something like that, there was that much for others to do, or maybe they have already gone to bed. so i said, who wants to pull? and to this day, the guy who is to my right is now the emerati ambassador to the united states. they got to my left now runs the abu dhabi sovereign wealth fund. to this day, when i see them, they bring up the time that we went bowling in camp david. it creates a special bond, even with something as pedestrian as

bowling, or maybe precisely because of it. >> were these two teams? do you remember who want? >> i am sure i won. quick confident of that. i got to visit camp a lot, and i will tell you my average was good. >> so, stewart, one of the most consequential things that have happened at camp david was the camp david accords. tell us about that, how those meetings came to be, and with that entailed. >> sure, this was during the carter presidency earlier that you're, the president and mrs. carter hole stayed a sadat since. without president reagan at camp david, that was a very warm and friendly meeting. several of months in advance when they were contemplating putting both sides together for

a very contentious time, multiple ward fought over decades jury egypt and israel. time to plan the summit, they were conversations between president carter and the national security adviser, where should this be? they look at spain, they look at portugal. president carter wanted to confide space away from the eyes of the press, where they could be driven to talk to one another. they set aside initially three days for the summit at camp david, with predicting for additional days should they need them. they ended up spending 13 days there, tenth of which they did not talk to one another at all. there were similar scenarios to president bush is story, where they were going to walk, and going to lead, and they have to be pulled back wednesday. finally, it resulted in the accord, which camp david might be most famous for, the camp david accord, and the famous picture on the south a lot of the white house of the three

leaders. celebrating that achievement. it was a very tedious time, but camp david provided the perfect cramped comfortable, but uncomfortable satin to drive that dialog to successful completion. >> mike, president bush mentioned that tony blairq the first visitor there as a foreign leader, you've got to see that, and experience and understand the role of camp david in a casual retreat in foreign diplomacy. philadelphia more about that, and what you saw in terms of why that setting kind of lent itself to the scores of meetings. >> it certainly made sense to me, and president bush awareness, father with camp david was for diplomacy. i believe this was the first time they were meeting the blurs, and said that the white house sooner as a formality to come to camp david. the military -- but the couples are dressed

casually and respectfully. it just adds so much to us, you have to set the tone. he did the same thing with prime minister quietly that july. open color, gray partner, let's talk about history, let's talk about the relationships. but watching the two couples spent a lot how do we get together, watch the movie they talked about, hold a press conference of camp, a brief one. and a much more crime and overwhelming time. it is impressionable. it really resonates why -- >> mention when gordon brown visited, i know we have a photo, the contrast in the photo of kobe brown and blair. >> more formal, but you can see the president is wearing it well. he is shaking up a relationship as a great leader, the figure out a way to connect differently. in their own personality. >> so he showed up in a suit and tie? >> some were formal, it happened with the president of

france during the g8 summit, or president obama. very formal, they made a joke about it. some people do not understand the purpose of camp david. they think when they let their guard down, it provides them the rate setting and the record at the time. >> did you know he was going to show up in a suit anti-? >> i did not know that. >> it did you have to do? >> it happened so quickly, you just react. >> i was staffing that, and there was a scramble to find necktie's. [laughs] in the military, they always look good. not this stuff. >> so josh, you have an interesting experience when you were there and i want you to tell the story about the world leader meeting that only partially took place at camp david. because of where you flew president bush to. you have the other side of the meeting. talk about that. >> one of the most complicated

and delicate things that i did as chief of staff, i'm a president sensor and the court ended was vigor out how to get the president out of the united states and over to iraq without anybody knowing it. at any given moment, there are literally hundreds of people who know where the president is, protecting him, watching every movement and so on. and president bush several times during his presidency made the courageous distinction to go basically into the combat zone, and either visit the troops or in the case that i organized, and 2006 to meet the new prime minister of iraq. president bush thought that was

the prime minister had finally pulled together a cabinet that represented all of the various factions, and ethnicities in iraq, it was important for the president personally to show up, and to meet face-to-face on their, in their office, in their territory. at making that happen logistically is really really hard to do, and they have been a variety of ruses used for the trip to iraq and then afghanistan and 2006. by the way, you kill anybody know that the president is coming because the bad guys would be there with rpgs, or whatever to knocked out air force one out is landing. and, so when we started the planning for it, for the strip

i believe i came up with the idea that. now it could have been it could've been the deputy chief of staff, show again who had served almost the entire eight years in the bush white house. i'm pretty sure it was me, but it may not have been. >> you are the only one here. >> you may want to credit joe. but the idea we came up with was that, let's get the president out of washington from camp david. because as these gentlemen know, camp david is one of the only places that president can go where there's no press watching, there is a perimeter there. so it is a relatively secure place from which to disappear. the presidents ranch being the only other places where you can

spirit the president out without a lot of people knowing it. we started with that frame, let's get him to the camp, and then we thought, how do we get the whole iraqi campbell assembled to meet him? so the brilliant idea was that we would organize a cabinet to cabinet meeting. the iraqi cabinet would be in baghdad with the prime minister and the relevant counterparts would be assembled at camp david. >> with president bush? >> with president bush. and we would have a cabinet meeting by video conference. and that is what we advertised to the iraqis, what we had advertised the entire world that was president bush in his

cabinet would be in camp david and all of the rockies and they would have a meeting by video conference. we invited the cabinet members and i think there were about six or eight of them who were relevant, and they were going to come up to camp david. and the chairman of the joint chiefs and a couple of other people. it was a big dinner back and in the convening place that has a dining room, there was a big dinner for all of the cabinet members there with the president and vice president cheney. and our plan was president bush and his national security adviser and i would slip out

before desert. we would leave dick cheney to make small talk with the cabinets. by the way, this is where the plan almost failed. because we needed to keep everybody there at dinner while the rest of us scooted out on golf carts and went to the helicopter pad and got onto a helicopter with no lights and took off from camp david. but as i was leaving, i vaguely remember the vice president saying, anybody read any good books? [laughs] i was really worried that someone was going to spot us implore cover. we couldn't tell anybody, word spreads pretty fast. anyway, we flew from camp david

by darkened helicopter to andrews air force base and we had a dark helicopter that drove in to a hanger, and air force one was being kept there. it wasn't outside where anybody could see. it it was inside a hangar. we boarded the plane and then air force one took off, late at night's without any lights. and we flew the eight or ten, i don't remember how many hours it was, to baghdad. and we landed there just before -- just as we are landing, that iraqi prime minister was informed that there was going to be a video conference but president bush was going to be here in baghdad. and so, good, this photo here is a photo of the president and i am the guy at the end seat.

i'm the guy at the end there. and what you see up on the screen is all of the members of the u.s. cabinet being video conference ten from camp david. but as you can see, it was a hugely successful meeting. and a way in which the protected and confidential nature of camp david can contribute to a very successful operation that could not have been done but for that kind of place that camp david is. >> we talked about that camp david accords, talk about some of the other consequential historical events. meetings that happened, throughout history. >> winston churchill was the first international visitor with fdr who had to camp david. and then i think it was mrs. roosevelt wanting to get him out of the white house, it was

part of that incentive. they enjoyed fishing and talkative they talked about the vision of sicily, the invasion of normandy. pretty consequential conversations. eisenhower had khrushchev to camp david. eisenhower was the first american president to make use of helicopters for presidential travel. he spontaneously, the soviets did not want khrushchev on the helicopter, so i asked him and said can i give you a tour of washington? they did a tour around washington and later they went camp david and enjoyed a great time up there khrushchev liked that american-made helicopter so much, he talked to eisenhower and let him by two. he took them back with him to the soviet union. another great story was with nixon, he had british nab up to

camp david. but he said he didn't know much about this camp david plays and was a little suspicious of it but he went anyway. but the party guy, richard nixon, he had the typical navy blue blazer for bereschnev, for when he got there, with the presidential seal. he also at the keys to this brandbbbe÷ new, navy blue, linkg continental car. it turns out bereschnev like cars. so he told nixon because in the passenger seat, and bereschnev got behind the wheel, i'm sure that the security was pretty press with this. so here is nixon in the passenger side, bereschnev has behind the wheel. they go down things curves, around a curve, downhill, and bereschnev hits 50 miles an hour in the lincoln, you can see dickson sitting there in

his, slow down, slow way. and suddenly bereschnev slams on the brakes and they come to a white knuckle stop. and he says, very fine automobile. holds the ground really well. so he like that. i think the custom of the short-lived tradition of the presidency and automobiles, it kept going with camp david. that's wonderful story of the bereschnev in the lincoln continental. >> tell us about your first visit. they didn't just use this for diplomatic visits, they used it for staff or we can visit and recreational, more getting away from the white house. >> i was a regular visitor in the last three years when i was chief of staff as my predecessor were.

it was uncommon for people other than the chief of staff and national security adviser and so on, but the president and mr. and mrs. bush took the trouble to work their way through most of the senior staff of the west wing and give them an opportunity to bring and come to that camp david with their spouse. the ethos that they always spread was that service in governments and in the administration is a family affair. everyone is serving. so that was, it was a really important, it wasn't just a perk but a way of building that community around the administration. building that type of community around the white house. there were two assistance to

the president at that time who were unmarried. it was me and ari fletcher. we didn't actually make the list very early. but then finally we both got invited on the same weekend and there was no spouse. so we concluded that this was like the jewish singles weekend. [laughs] i was disappointed to find that in fact it was just me and ari. i imagine ari was disappointed to. but it was a really important way to establish more of a personal relationship. and we did not needs camp but i think it could tributes a lot

that family atmosphere that pervades the white house staff through the entirety through bushes term. >> mike, you live there with your wife and two daughters. that had to be a really fascinating experience to raise children at camp david. but was that experience like, to be there with your family? >> what's a may not understand, for the only family that lives inside the camp. think about us every day families and transplant yourself, you had your children to living inside a cabin called cesar. it's really cool, an extraordinary place with a modest house with a great yard. and your neighbors happen to be the presidents and camp marvin and all the others. but you're still a family, two young daughters that were seven and four. and it is a different dynamic. lots of highs, few los. great memories like you can see

and you have evergreen chapel. >> you're not allowed to have pets, so you broke. this my wife broke the rules. but for good reason. and i'm sure the president would finds us so comical, when we were in the military organization to protecting the family in the camp and the president has cast, but there is currently no petrol. which we honored. but one day, mr. on the girls are coming back from that there. they won some goldfish in the fear they were sitting in the back seat at the, car with goldfish. they came back -- salud, they said man you cannot bring cuts into their. michelle was flabbergasted about. this is a man, you cannot bring pets here. the girls are catching, on two girls -- they say they are for dinner. [laughs]

i think the marines said yes, carry on. and then they caved. >> you have another great story about when the palestinians were there, about being observant and talking to your wife and daughter. >> yes, we were always there to honor the president and his guests, always be respectful. rosebud, with a cross -- during the peaceful summit of 2000. president clinton. and we brief the girls about how to dress, it was the several months, it was july of 2000. hot, sticky. do not expose body parts. do not wear your bikini top. all a type of. thank one, morning she went out to water her flowers, and across the way was a rose but, with a bunch of male palestinians in the bathrobes.

but in their bathrooms, and that was it, out front. open corona as they say. you thought, this is kind of strange, is a girls, let's go play in the backyard. it was just that kind of thing, you learn how to react with those kind of things. keep it low key. because that happens in your neighborhood everywhere you live. it is a common thing. >> stewart, the president is not the only one who lives on camp david, the first ladies, and theo well. tell us about that and the marks they leave. >> not look at the white house, where the first lady and the first family will leave their mark as a legacy, a way to remember at the white house. we have a wonderful project with mrs. bush, the veteran, a green room, a library. a camp david, the same is often true. the first lady will make some changes, eisenhower came into this fdr truman military

government issue, this would not do so they can't quickly became colored in eisenhower green, yellow, in pink. she brought in a navy reserve decorator from california, and transform the place. that is where they cabins got their names, after the trees. a spin was given to the presidents cabin by president eisenhower, warning the tree for miss eisenhower's native colorado. that is how it became a has been lodge. mrs. nixon, like in the white house, who was and heralded in the extraordinary work and legacy there. transforming some of the french influence to the greek american influence. quite a bit at camp david as well, they grew the facilities, the heat of the swimming pool. just as other amenities have been added. eisenhower did the three hole,

at the golf course. there other recreational things. mrs. nixon the quite a bit, mrs. bush, i love some of the things that she did. bringing the directors to the presidential library to camp david. all of the bosses, but none of them have seen it. so our day there, having lunch, and understanding the place was very important. she also, another wonderful touch that she had, she had pictures collected all while the world leaders that there has been has been with, back to fdr, and put this in places all around camp david. at a really nice legacy piece that you could take advantage here in your story today. she had an artist from the national arbery dumb, i would go with her around camp david, and select certain plants, shrubs, flowers, i memorialize those, and the originals are still at camp david. they have reproductions here

available, you could take a piece of camp david with you here tonight, next to mrs. bush. >> great, we heard about the bushes and how they spent the holidays at camp david. between the two presidencies, they were 12 bush family christmas eve at camp david. what was like to be there and serve during the holidays? >> again, you see a typical american family comes together as family. it is wonderful to watch. and you have a role in providing that calm, that serenity, that peaceful meal, the right decorations, and provide the atmosphere. the goal is to serve the president and their guests, so when they lead on that sunday or were never that visit, is there happy. to watch the bushes during christmas is for 12 years, it was a phenomenal thing to witness. >> yes. all right, well we are close to being out of time, as you all know, you get to see a special sneak preview of our exhibit across the way. not only does a cover camp

david, it covers pure prairie chapel ranch, it carries walker's point and the lbj ranch, you are the first to get the seat. it please make sure it takes time to cross the courtyard, and visit that's a night. as john mentioned, -- we have mike spoke instead of camp david for sale as well as the white house historical association. so please make sure to visit. >> a must-have. >> we have some great things in the exhibit, we have the original camp david sign, we have correspondents between fdr and churchill, we have a chainsaw from the president bush used, hopefully you have a few more than at the ranch. i am hoping it is not your only one. that you have used that are crawford. please take a visit there, and please joining me in thanking iran panelists tonight. >> thank you holly.

>> well done. >> well done, stewart.

>> the people who were inspired by him, carl say again. which will carson, teddy roosevelt, john newark. all of the things that are name for humble in this country, as an act of homage to a man that is one of the most widely i'm profoundly admired men of the 19th century. he wrote over 30 books, he corresponded with over 20,000 individuals. he said that he slept for hours a night. he called coffee concentrated sun bat. he came up with a radical idea that all of nature was interconnected. that what happened in the alps could predict what you saw in the the -- when you might see in the rocky mountains. the climate was global i'm not a local. and that were you phone plans, and altitude you fell in them could tell you a lot about their local ecosystem. so it is any of this have to do

with american arts and culture? while in 1804, after spending five years traveling through south america and mexico, humbled was on his way home. he made a pit stop in cuba, in order to assemble his belongings. the american council said you love the concept of the united states you think america democracy can be a model for the future. you want to meet thomas jefferson who is the president. you are this close why would you leave now. he convinced him to take a detour. and for six weeks humboldt will be in philadelphia and washington, hanging around with the artists, metal science, and -- it will ship the course of history for the next 50 years. >> learn more against --

>> and yes, for our nation and the world. >> follow us on social media at the same -- c-span history. for more of the same history clips and posts. >> during the path of the world

war baby boom, frederik magazine produced a 20 minute film in the suburbs. typically a growing demographic of dumb in adults. the film shows family of many children engage in leisure activities at home, and at the new hope of secure suburban activities. the shopping center. read the cope, the film, will lead to an increase of ad sale in the magazine. now, the film is a time capsule of middle class 1950 suburban america. the suburbs, almost of much worth about as madisoen