nixon announcing that he would make his selection. both houses of congress were to meet there at 8:00 to hear the announcement. we had the usual quiet family dinner so that he could get through early and be in place in the white house with his colleagues at that appointed time. but during dinner, the phone rang. it was president nixon. just as susan knew it would be great the call came from the white house. the call came in on our private childproof line, which had no extension. by talf prue, i mean that it came with a death threat to any child who dared to use it. under the circumstances, citizen sprinted of stairs to the phone and called her father.

and then things began to get really confused great president nixon told jerry that he wanted to speak to both of us. he asked my husband to have me pick up the extension. that is the non existent extension. attempting to remain in control, he explained the problem. can you call back, giving him our phone number? [laughter] then he hung up. [laughter] he came back down downstairs and said, president nixon was going to call back. he also wants to have you on the phone when he speaks to me. we waited for what seemed to be an eternity. i wonder what we had to have

done if the other phone -- i often wondered what what had happened. that called not only changed my life from being a typical suburban wife of a member of congress into the vice- president's wife designee. within half an hour, i was supposed to be ready to be at the white house to appear on national television with my husband. guess what. i had nothing to wear. [laughter] i went upstairs and we went through my closet and i threw on a dress that i thought was suitable for television. it happened to be green.

i did make it to the white house in time to slip quietly in my chair. it was half a chair with pat because someone forgot that i was coming. everybody had to slide over a little bit. in my excitement, i hardly noticed. i was so excited to be there. after weeks of endless investigations and hearings before the senate and house committees, jerry was finally confirmed as vice-president. once he was sworn in, i started fixing up -- it was recently designated as the official residence of the vice-president.

the vice president had never had an official residence of to that point. they had never talked about it -- they had talked about it several times, but they had never been able to come up with something. it needed everything from new wiring to a leaky roof and silver, everything. as usual, that involved a great deal of detail. but it was a lot of fun to do and i had a lot of guidance from people from the state department. things did move so quickly that i never got to live in that house. before it was ever ready for occupancy, we were living at

1600 pennsylvania avenue. in a very lovely historical home, the home of first families. as the incoming first lady, i was quite fortunate. i was not a stranger in town and i had many good friends on both sides of the political aisle. i knew most of the members of the press corps. the only change, i had to become accustomed to my important new job and i had a new mailing address. that was pretty exciting. suddenly, i had graduated to the highest notch on the washington totem pole. first families of our country are only temporary residents of the white house. the white house is the house of the american people.

the professional staff, many have been their most of their adult lives, served from one of administration to the next. giving each first family their total and immediate dedication. the parts they play it in the transfer of power it is very important. most people think the transfer of power involes the state department. that is a very important transfer. without support of the white house staff and their loyalty to their responsibilities in that marvelous house, the transition from the outgoing first family to the incoming could easily be a moving day and night. for me, i just the thought of being first lady can be very challenging. it was a demanding job, but it

comes with no job description. i was tentatively very worried that i was going to hate every minute of it. fortunately, i was wrong. it also can be a lot of fun. in what other job could i have worked so actively on women's rights and gotten such national focus or entertained robert redford at tea? [laughter] we entertained the many heads of state that this address. it seemed that everybody wanted to come to washington to take an official part in our birthday celebration.

we entertained and were entertained by heads of state and governments from spain to japan to egypt to israel. the list goes on and on sometimes it was like a revolving door. with one head of state departing just before a new arrival. this was a very privileged experience for both jerry and me, but it was also a very busy time. in what other job could of i have the opportunity to meet and learn a few basketball tricks with the harlem globetrotters? i will admit that it was very short lead.

someone higher up in the oval office called an emergency cabinet meeting. he became a little testy when are practicing session became too lively to the point of disrupting his meeting. you'd be surprised how quickly an aide with a message from the president can put an end to a pickup game. [laughter] even a game where the first lady is supposedly going one on one with meadowlark lemon. [laughter] it was the result of my many years of dance training. while i always treasured my time dedicated to the martha graham dance company, where i lived for 2.5 years in new york, my dance with the wonderful fred astaire is the one i will remember fondly.

it proves that plans to not always go smoothly, even if you are a first lady. fred astaire was a guest at a state dinner. like every other american woman who was ever seen a movie, i was dying to dance with them. as a trained dancer, i knew i could keep up. after dinner, the guests were dancing to the music of the marine corps band. i got up my nerve and i marched up to him and i asked him to join me on the dance floor. he was very charming, and explained that he really wasn't much of a ballroom dancer. he only danced to carefully choreographed numbers.

i think he was trying to tell me, i won't dance, don't ask me. i did not take the hint. [laughter] i coaxed him out on the dance floor and we started, never missing a step. my ego was busting at the seams. my husband approached. he explained that our guest of honor was leaving. i know my husband has seen all the same movies that i have. apparently, he did not understand the full impact of the latest do a vote was having none me. reluctantly, i excused myself

and my husband left me off for us to say our goodbyes. when i rushed back to claim my partner, fred had been swept up by a member of the press corps. i never got close to him again that evening, proving that a first lady does not always guarantee everything goes your way. the most rewarding time of my experience and the white house occurred on that wonderful july evening when we entertained her majesty the queen of england. in what other job could diad had the chance to sit down with this very special lady and talk mother to mother about her children. queen elizabeth and prince philip were our guest for the official bicentennial dinner in

the white house. at that time, our second son, jack, came home to attend the dinner honoring the queen. in his usual form, he could not find his dress shirt. he still swears that they were never delivered. at the time, at i know him quite well, i suspected he had just misplaced them. whatever the cause, there was jack raising for the white house with his shirttails flapping. a very disagreeable. after much exasperation on my part, he finally borrowed some stdus from his father. jack quickly slipped my mind as

i began concentrating on addressing the queen as your majesty and the prince. my mind was terribly activated trying to do the right saying. we were riding in the elevator to our private quarters with the royal couple. as it stopped for us to get off, the doors open, and an unbounded jack ford. still trying to put his shirt together. jack stared in total disbelief and embarrassment. queen elisabeth just looked at me and she smiled and she said, do w