also a nervous time because more students than ever are walking across the stage weighed down by student loan debt. the cost for a college degree gone up. 2/3 of students graduate with an average student loan debt of $25,000. today, 37 million students are facing student loan debt and the total student loan debt burden tops $1.1 trillion. the mounting student debt is stunting the growth of a generation of graduates who are facing a tough job market and high student loan payments, are putting off key milestones such as buying a house, starting a family, which further stifles the country's economic recovery. the problem is most acute among students of color, with 81% of african-american students

graduating in debt compared to 61% of white students. not only are more black students graduating with debt, they are graduating with higher levels of debt. according to the report, 27% of black bachelor degree recipients have more than 30,000 in debt compared to 16% of their white count parts. it is against this backdrop that student loan rates are set to double on july 1. a republican bill being considered this week would have student loan interest rates change year-to-year based on the 10-year treasury note a move that cut could push rates as high as 7.4%. this is unacceptable. . this would price out students from the american dream. at a time when a college degree is more vital than ever to national and global competitiveness, we would be putting the goals on attaining a degree further out of the reach of our young people, particularly young people of color. our students, many of whom have

graduated to find themselves unemployed or underemployed, are already struggling to pay back loans at the current rate level. and are facing years and in some cases decades of loan payments ahead. raising rates on students who are already struggling to make ends meet is just wrong. counterproductive and will have a chilling effect on future generations of students who will be forced to forego an education due to skyrocketing costs. we should be opening more avenues to a college education for young people, not slamming the door shut in their faces. i agree with my colleagues, that a two-step approach is needed to address the student loan crisis. we should first freeze the current rate, 3.4%, on subsidized staffered loans for the next two years. and keep other educational loan rates stud straight ahead ony to remove the immediate -- steady. we should then investigate longer term solutions to the student loan problem as a part

of a comprehensive approach to addressing our nation's mounting student debt, escalating college costs and broken financial aid system as a whole. and investigationing options for increasing college affordability, i agree with the notion that we should, at the very least, be open to giving our students the same interest rates we extend to banks. our young people deserve the same backing and support. it is not only the right thing to do, but the investment in our students will net a much bigger payoff for our nation for generations to come. i yield back. >> i thank the gentlelady for her very insightful comments. you know, it's interesting, as representative kelly pointed out, when the economy collapsed in 2008, created a situation where many younger americans entered into the job market and confronted increased difficulty in securing employment in their

area of study or in any other area of study. mr. jeffries: so it doesn't make a lot of sense to many of us that as we still continue to deal with a fran aisle economic recovery, why -- fragile economic recovery, why in the world would we shoulder these young americans with an increase in student loan debt burden, in the face of an already difficult job market? that's the question that our friends on the other side of the aisle are going to have to answer this week. and i don't think that the american people will like what they have to say in that regard. we're pleased that we've been joined by the very distinguished gentleman from the great state of virginia, someone who has spear headed the c.b.c. effort as it relates to our compassionate and strong and responsible budget, i'm pleased to yield to

representative bobby scott. mr. scott: thank you. and i thank you for yielding time. and thank you for holding this important special order as we talk about college education and making it affordable. we know that a college education is extremely important to young people, it can transform their entire lives and open opportunities that are not available to those without a college education. we know that the good jobs require education. 90% of the good-paying jobs in the future will require education past the high school level and not necessarily a four-year college, but some education and training past the high school level. of course that would include college. there's an old adage that the more you learn, the more you earn. the more education you get, the more likely you are to have a much higher income. we know that the benefits of a decent education not only accrue to the individual, but also to the community because those communities that have a

well-educated constituency are much less likely to have to suffer as much crime or pay as much social services as those communities that do not invest in education. and our national economic competitiveness depends on an educated work force. we're not going to be able to compete, he for, on low wages. there are people around the world who work for much less wages. you don't have to be near your customers or even near your co-workers anymore. we've got delivery, you can deliver things all over the world, and if you can work across the hall from your co-workers, you can work across the globe from your co-workers with a computer and mow democrat and internet and everything else -- and mow democrat and internet and everything -- modem and internet and everything else. the reason companies want to come to the united states is because they know they can get a well-educated, well-trained work force. if we fail to help people reach their full potential, we will not be fully competitive.

we know the benefits of education, particularly college education, and we know that some young people are looking at the high interest rates and the cost of education and are calculating that it's not worth it. and there can be nothing worse for our nation than to have young people fail to achieve their full potential because they cannot afford a college education. d so several years ago, in 2010, congress passed a cut in the interest rate on student loans, to make college more affordable. cutting the interest rate in half from 6.8% to 3.4% for five years. at the end of five years, last year we extended it for another year. but on july 1, in just a couple of weeks, that interest rate will double back to 6.8% if we don't do anything. last week the education and work force considered legislation to deal with the

interest rate and unfortunately the bill recommended by the republican side of the aisle was actually so bad that according to the congressional research service students would actually be better off if we just did nothing and let the interest rate double to 6.8% rather than take that variable interest rate that they had with the that extra fees and everything else along with it. would be better off if we just let the interest rate double. we're asking young people to sign up for a variable interest rate when they sign up. they have no idea what the interest rate would be later on. but congressional research service said based on projections that they'd be better off with the 6.8% rate than what they're going to end up with under that republican bill. what we should do is protect the president's 3.4% interest rate for students. it's reasonable, it makes the college much more affordable.

or if you're going to have a variable interest rate, have it at a low rate, similar to what we're charging businesses and what they're able to borrow money at, with the protection against the increases so you know worse off -- to so you're no worse off with the legislation than you are today. we can help students afford college, but not with the bill that the education and work force committee considered because that's actually worse than just letting the interest rate double. we owe it to our young people, we owe it to our next generation, and we owe it to our nation to make sure that our students get the best education that they can and making college affordable is part of that challenge. we need to make college affordable and we need to make sure we defeat the bill that was rainstormed by the education and work force committee, because that's actually worse than doing nothing. again, i thank you for holding this special order and doing what we can to make college affordable. mr. jeffries: thank you so

much, representative scott. certainly for your eloquent and thoughtful observations and for pointing out what really is a very interesting fact as it relates to what we're doing here in washington, d.c., this week. that if we just simply did nothing, if we all went back to ur districts and didn't act, in advance of the student loan rate doubling on july 1, that we'd actually be better off going back home and doing nothing than if we acted upon he g.o.p. proposal, h.r. 1911, which independently and objectively has been proven to show that it would make the situation which is bad now worse. for millions and millions and millions of american students. that's why so many of our

constituents are cynical about a lot of the things that happen down here in washington, d.c. we've been joined by another distinguished member of the freshman class, someone who herself had a very prominent career prior to arriving here in the house of representatives, in higher education, as well as as a leader in the ohio legislature. i'm pleased to yield now to the distinguished the gentlelady from ohio, representative joyce beaty. mrs. beatty: thank you, mr. speaker. let me also join my colleagues in thanking mr. jeffreys and mr. horsford for leading the congressional black caucus's important discussion about rising burdens of student loans on our families and on our economy. higher education is a major part of the american dream. i know as a college graduate and i know as a senior

administrator at a university. access to higher education must continue to be an option for the american dream to continue to be a reality. the increasing financial burden higher education is placing on students, families and the economy is unsustainable and threatens our country's economic progress. according to the federal reserve bank of new york, almost 13% of student loan borrowers of all ages owe more an $50,000 and nearly 4% owe more than $100,000. these debts are often beyond the students' ability to repay which is demonstrated by the fact that delinquency and fault rates are soaring. this week the smarter solutions for students act, h.r. 1911, will come to the floor. unfortunately it is partisan

legislation. and it's not a sufficient solution to address our nation's student loan crisis. and it's certainly worth repeating as you have heard and you will repeatedly hear, in fact it makes students worse off than if nothing is done to stop the increasing variable interest rate. this bill actually would increase the cost of students' loans for borrowers, discourage the use of federal loans and exacerbate the country's troubling student debt problem. under this bill, interest rates for student loans will balloon over the next 10 years. costing students and their parents almost $4 billion in additional loan interest charges. as a former college administrator with numerous colleges in my district, i believe pursuing higher education is one of the best personal and professional investments one can make in

your future. with the tens of thousands of students within my district, the impact of the student loan crisis is monumental for my community. that's why i have co-sponsored several pieces of sledgeslation -- legislation that will work to decrease the fiscal strain higher education can place on students. i've co-sponsored the student loan fairness act, sponsored by representative bass, which is legislation designed to lend a helping hand to those struggling under massive amounts of student loans. this legislation actually caps interest rates for federal loans and improves and expands public service loans forgiveness and -- loans' forgiveness and creates a loan repayment plan. we must, we must keep our education loan rates stable, responsible and affordable. we must find a solution that will allow college students to

benefit from the 3.4% interest rates on subsidized stanford loans. we must advance legislation that includes student loan reform in a way that provides real statistic opportunities for a student -- for students to secure good jobs and pay off their student loans without falling into financial crisis. i will continue to advocate for better ways to lessen the financial burden of higher education for all students in this country. our nation's students and families deserve an affordable education. thank you and i yield back. mr. jeffries: i thank the distinguished gentlelady from ohio for her great leadership on this issue. mr. speaker, would you be so kind as to let us know how many minutes are remaining in today's special order? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has nine minutes remaining. mr. jeffries: thank you very

much. we have been joined by another dynamic member of the freshman class who arrived a couple of months earlier than the rest of us. he's gotten off to a tremendous start. i yield to my distinguished garden state, the the always nattily dressed, donald payne jr. mr. payne: i want to thank my colleague for anchoring tonight's c.b.c. special order on student loans and thank congressman jeffries for that ind observation. access to quality education is the basis of the american dream. in 1965, the higher education act was passed by congress and signed into law by the -- by

president lyndon baines johnson, a former rural school house teacher who fully understood that education is the greatest equalizer. since then, student aid in this country that be the spring board that gives hardworking students with low to moderate income the opportunity realize their goals and transcend economic status. the federal pell grant program helps more than nine million students get to and through college. unfortunately, while pell grants cover significant portions of tuition, currently it pays for less than one third of a student's tuition at most four-year public colleges. given the rising tuition costs and the decline in family income, the importance of financial aid has only increased with time. the costs of a college -- the cost of college tuition in the u.s. has increased by more than

1,000%. yes, 1 thourkt%, since the 1980's. this is more than the growth in the consumer price index. at the same time the federal pell grant is covering an even smaller percentage of the overall college cost. as a result, the success of our gradge watts is being hampered by mounting debt. 2/3 of college seniors who raduated in 2011 accumulated more than $26,000 in student loan debt. and i am increasingly concerned about new jersey's fwradge watts, who hold the 10th highest debt among college students in our nation. while the cost of an education rises and the amount of the student debt skyrockets, young people struggle to find work. they've done everything we've asked them to do, they've worked

hard, they've gotten an education, but unemployment for young college graduates remains at 8.8%. so our fwradge watts' dreams of making it on their own are stifled. they are forced to put their lives on hold, move back home with their parents, and pinch pennies to pay of their mounting debt. not only does this debt negatively impact the quality of life for our young people but it weakens our economy and our work force as well. financial constraints caused by student loan debt discourage recent graduates from pursuing public service jobs in medical fields that serve our seniors and low-income communities. yet knowing all of this, my republican colleagues have been working overtime to exass behr -- exacerbate the problem and make college even less affordable. in 2014, the 2014 budget

eliminates mandatory funding for pell grants and freezes the maximum grant for 10 years while also cutting eligibility. as of july 1, federal student loan rates are set to double. instead of adopting efforts to keep interest rates low for young people in a volatile economic environment mitigating circumstance republican colleagues have introduced a bill and are voting on it this week, that can increase rates far beyond this july increase. as i like to call it, it's the making college more expensive act. mr. speaker, i beg your patience as i go through a little rudimentary arithmetic. right now, student loan interest rates are fixed at 3.4%, meaning a student pays about $4,000 in interest payments on a five-year loan. if we do nothing and the interest rate expires this july, rates will double to 6.8% and a

student will pay nearly $9,000 re than the double -- on the same five-year loan. if we do what the republicans want to do and pass their bill this week, student loan interest will skyrocket to an estimated 7.4% and the same student would pay $10,000 in interest. in other words if we do absolutely nothing, nothing at all, it would be better than if we passed the republicans' proposed bill in the house. now i'm not suggesting we do nothing this body must act. but it is a sad reality when doing nothing is better than going along with what the republicans are pushing. rather than invest in our future, and entrepreneurs of america, they propose to balance the budget on the backs of low to moderate income students.

i fear that by ignoring a generation buried under debt, we will cripple this country's future. this nation's -- this great nation is supposed to be the land of opportunity for all. regardless of what you look like or where you come from. throughout our history, the opportunities afforded to people of various backgrounds have built this nation, creating a large and thriving middle class. access to education has been the catalyst to this growth. as we look to our future, it is critical that we place education at the forefront of the plans for our success. we can start by stopping the doubling of student loan interest rates and by once again making a college education affordable for all of those who want one. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. jeffries: i thank the gentleman from new jersey. as we close this chart

illustrates the magnitude of the collective problem confronting younger americans in the united states of america. the student loan debt burden has now exceeds $1 trillion. in this chamber, we hear a lot about the debt crisis facing america but we have a student loan debt crisis that must be addressed. i yield to my good friend stephen horsford for his thoughts on this matter. mr. horsford: thank you, representative jeffries. this chart tand this number should alarm every american family. and as you just indicated in this body, there are those on the other side of the aisle who talk about not burdening the next generation with a debt that they cannot afford to pay and for us, as leaders, to do our job now, don't have

to bear that burden in the next generation. and this is why, this -- this is why this issue is so fundamental, mr. speaker, that we get this policy right. that we don't burden the next neration of students, an increasing number who are low income, who now have that opportunity for the first time ever to go to college. an increasing number who are minority students. first generation students. who need to pursue their education without the burden of $1 trillion debt. so just as the huffington post reported recently, they estimated that the spread between what the government pays to borrow and what it charges students creates a profit, this fiscal year, of more than 36

cents of off every dollar lent or borrowed. so the question is, why are our colleagues on the other side proposing a measure to increase interest rates on students and families? that money does not go to the department of education. that money goes to the treasury. which goes to pay down the federal debt. so the proposal on the other side actually charges students, increasingly numbers of low-income and minority students, more money in order to pay down the federal debt so that the other side can keep corporate tax breaks for big oil, big banks, and millionaires. that's what this fundamentally comes down to and why every american should be concerned with this policy and coming up with a democratic alternative that we're working so hard to support. i yield back.

mr. p jeffries: i thank the distinguished gentleman and we will continue to do everything we can to make college afortable for every single american. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back, the entleman's time has expired. mr. jeffries: i move that the house do now adjourn.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada seek recognition? mr. horsford: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands squad journed until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour

all had the benefit of having two very intelligent parents who strongly believed in education. was anlt education emancipating factor and that led to the key to success. we have molly's p&f out, which was a gift -- piano. in the family parlor, you see a lot of books. their children love to read as well. some of their favorite authors were dickens. and also william shakespeare. the family would sit by the fireplace and read to one another. that was one of their favorite activities. we are here in the family dining

room. this is an interesting art piece. it won an award at the philadelphia centennial. mrs. garfield absolutely adored her time at the exhibition. she visited all of the tenants, -- tents. she was interested in the latest sciences and technologies of the day. she would write pages and pages of what she saw at the site. she was very interested -- intelligent, she loved the sciences great dinnertime was was a very important time of the day. it was a time for them all to get together and talk about what they were doing. the garfield would use this time to educate the children. sometimes garfield would bring a book to the table, words that

were often mispronounced and quiz the children. made everything educational experience. >> we learn about the kind of parents they were. tell the story of how they met. >> it is really quite fascinating, so many minor chords in it. this sense of equality to it .ear it -- it quality to it both of them saw each other as equals. lucretia garfield was the great granddaughter of a german immigrant. her parents were very religious. they were members of the disciple of christ. her father was one of the founders of the eclectic institute. ofy believed in education women. this is a fascinating phenomenon this withre at uc

all of the presidents wives born in ohio, equal education for women. lucretia garfield went through grade school, but went to the eclectic institute. she studied the classics, she learned how to speak greek and latin and french and german. she studied science, biology, mathematics, history, philosophy. right away, if you can think of passion coming to the world of ideas, there was a passion struck between the two of them. james garfield came from a very poor family. he never knew his father. he had been a canal boy, one of those young guys who would walk for mules and pull the canal boats. theything they've got,

greatly appreciated. she felt that education was the teacherrade he was her at the eclectic institute. he went to williams college and they began a correspondence. itt is where you begin -- is the world of ideas that begin to separate them and bring them together. they argue over ideas. one of those ideas with the fact there was another woman that she met at his graduation from williams college. that became a point of contention. >> we have a sense of that with a letter that she wrote to james garfield about the relationship. i should not blame my heart is it lost all faith in you.

i shall not be forever telling you i love you when there is no more desire for it on your part. .t was touch and go >> what is really interesting is even though she very much loved him, she has also looked out for herself. become aing to teacher and she determined that she would work and earn her own salary. she did not want to be a burden on her father. if she never got married, had to depend on anyone else. she not only becomes a teacher, but an interest of art is born in her. she becomes an art teacher. this is all right before she gets married. -- he hasother affair another affair.

he has a full-blown affair with a woman in new york. that nearly dozen the marriage. us innley is watching ohio. what is your question? >> thank you for c-span. i really do like the presidential series. i visited the home here about six days ago and was really impressed with the furnishings in the home. furnish thefield home and build the library herself before the president died? >> you know, yes. the interior, it was by her hand hear it most importantly, in answering your question, she had built onto it after his , whichhat fireproof safe

is part of the house, specifically to house and protect and preserve his letters and papers. she had been planning on writing a biography about him herself and she never lived to do that. later, those letters were published before being donated. we haven the show spoken about first ladies who burned papers. lucretia garfield had such a sense of history, she kept papers. even the ones that might prove embarrassing or personal that related to her marriage. had a sense of herself and her husband beyond their own lives as historical figures. james garfield side of the story. he wrote to her --

they eventually do get married. the early days of their marriage, they were together for six weeks out of six years. civil war,in the followed by his election in congress grade how does this marriage get to the point where they were focused--functioning as a couple? >> the first child died. it was a little girl. .he gave birth to seven times their last child died. i believe it was her physical presence. what is fascinating about her in building this house, she

created a room for herself grade even though she was a devoted mother, there are a couple of letters where she says, it really gets on your nerves and it hurts your ego to think that your whole life after this education is being spent -- i cannot remember the word she uses. these little terrors are all that occupy your time. she began to develop her passion for art and painting, reading and writing. she was quite an essayist, and none of it for publication, but she had this room. they also joined the burns literary society. >> david is listening from chicago. burned hist arthur personal papers along with his

white house papers. he got so little publicity on this action. why the difference between the two? yourlooking forward to book on mckinley this spring. >> thank you very much. , there are some indications that it was his son may have had more of a hand in that. veryr himself did feel intensely about protecting his privacy. we will be talking a little bit about the arthur's. the issue was in terms of the the air of suspicion coming on the heels of the various lyrical scandals. variouson -- the

political scandals. suggest some kind of malfeasance and that was not the case could >> back to the story of lucretia garfield, we learned how often her husband was away to my leaving her with all of those children to raise on her own. she talks about the frustration of being the one who has to make the decisions. , i cannoting conceive of any possible reason why you should be such a trial to my life. i cannot be patient with them anymore than i can submit to patients with some extreme physical torture. what he will ever become, idea not know.

, but horrible to be a man the driving misery of being a .oman is almost as bad ande have civilized obliged to spend the largest part of the time the victim of young barbarians keeps one in perpetual torment. >> somehow they made it all work and brought all of those children to the white house. we have a photograph of the family in the white house. it was a brief tenure. what was family life like in the white house? >> it was healthy, funny, there was no treacly sentiment. nobody was trying to use him as nobody wasple of --

trying to use them as examples of good living. the two older boys were to be going to college, but they were so close, they remained in the house and they studied their. there were two little boys who were kind of care verse -- terrors. and a very beautiful openhearted daughter, who capped a little diary when she was in the white house. it was a poignant document because it talks about her father's assassination. ,he grandmother was also there garfield's mother. garfield's mother came to live there. she had raised her son to be mrs.dent and even when

garfield was ill and some speculation about who should be able to return as hostess, there were some injections rejigged suggestions that old mother garfield would come to the white house and takeover. --re are subject student there are some suggestions that that idea did not go over too well. >> a bot of first ladies have a cause of their own. .> really interesting there is one suggestion, and it is written in a letter by one of the first people in the united states, a woman, who was who hadd and deatf, achieved higher education and was in touch with mrs. garfield. there was some suggestion that mrs. garfield was interested in working with people who were

sight impaired or hearing- impaired and developing educational outlets for them. but the one project we know ofut is going to the library congress to do history on the white house. .ringing a sense of history 80 people at this point, years the white house has been standing, and all of the families have lived there. now you are having one and two and three generations worth of stories. she has a sense of history and the history of the house. a fascinating lists of artists and writers that she intended to invite to the white house. .> next is thomas in new york >> hello, can you hear me?

>> i am sorry, but you have to turn the tv volume down and. >> we will move on to one quick video which talks about her artistic ability and the this isn't she made about the things like the white house china. >> here in the family dining room, we have the family china, which is the china they used at the white house. i will take one out. monogram on it. the garfield's were not rich people. they brought their best stuff with them. chinald have used this at home and at the white house. this would have been their former -- formal dinnerware.

we have quite a collection here of the china that exists. it is a pretty impressive set, china painting was very popular. the very top row were hand- painted by lucretia garfield. up onarfield was very the latest trends and style of the day and she had a very good eye for art. she taught painting for a while. around the fireplace are hand- painted tiles. cornerted the tube top corner tiles. james garfield said that his wife had faultless taste. she chose her furniture very carefully. did she have the opportunity

to host any events? >> she hosted a regular reception and it is fascinating that at one of those, a man by the name of charles, who would shoot the president two months later, not her and recorded having a very pleasant conversation with her and liking her. of course, if she gets malaria. there is fear that she might die. as she is recovering, and it is thought she would do at the jersey shore. thes waiting for him at railroad station and sees him escorting mrs. garfield and he cannot bring himself to shoot the president. >> that is in june. i want to pause for germanic effect you're a short -- i want

to pause for dramatic effect. >> the president is on his way to new jersey to join his wife and he is then going to go up to massachusetts. two of the boys are back in ohio with her grandmother. the president's daughter is with her mother. and he shoots the president. wife ofay, he sees the james blaine. wire lucretiao garfield. she is overwhelmed at first and she almost faints. she has to be held up by men on either side of her. she composes herself and says to the doctor, what will it take to

make sure he is cured? and they say, a miracle. and she says, that is what will happen. >> this was july in washington, dc. she contracted malaria. -- how does this affect the care? they know he has a bullet. air- is a rudimentary up from the system ground floor. they do that specifically. , but allfor inventions

recipes andky potions are being sent to mrs. garfield. mrs. garfield was fantastic and that she was able to conquer mental eyes -- come parchment alizes -- compartment and the wherewithal to put out this word that everything was fine. this was a very important thing. she asked that everything written about him be sent to her for review. noe president arthur made rumblings about assuming any presidential duties. he respected her. firstgin to see generated in the country and then around the world the most amazing

articles about this woman's courage, this woman's intelligence, her fortitude, how it was pervading the white house. .heering up the president then there were the technology of the day, you solve images of mrs. garfield. her down in the kitchen preparing food for him. it was a little bit of hyperbole because it was a desperate situation. offered toraham bell bring in a newfangled magnetic electromagnetic machine to find .he bullet trace as trying to metal bullet.

is it true president garfield died not from the gunshot him from bacteria from dirty instruments used by the dock nurse? by the doctor? >> the bullet was dirty. he might have eventually died. it is circumstantial situation. i will say he had one woman doctor. after the federal government paid the doctors, they paid the woman doctor half the amount and mrs. garfield wrote a letter and was outraged. the woman doctor received the same amount as the male doctors. thank you, c-span, for the program. during that timeframe, would

they have known the rockefellers and the vanderbilts? >> chester arthur and his wife did. i would not doubt that she would've had contact with them. >> thank you. was there a big age difference between the president and mrs. garfield? >> i do not recall. i think it was five years or less. the president was shot again july 2 and he lingered until september. the decision was made to move him to the jersey shore. he had beenplace headed to see her. that is where he dies. in her presence.

she gets her -- she gets a letter from julia tyler. -- ated to emphasize that sorority of presidential spouses. >> the funeral. set the stage for this victorian era funeral. what says it all is the way the white house looked to read trend in the most intricate patterns.

was strongld throughout. she did not break down some a unlike mary lincoln, who were a -- who were unable to emotionally withstand the public display of this. began designing and working with the ideas of -- would beb with like in ohio. jacqueline kennedy, took that model and became very much involved in the planning of the funeral process. >> the legacy.

, we mentionedeld the papers she was preserving. she approved statues. she was really hands-on whenever it had anything to do with them here >> how did the children react to their father's assassination? but i do not remember the ages and they were not all there when he died. two of the boys were young. ,here were two other boys college-age. thing is that there is a fund drive for the garfield family. somewhere between 300 and $360,000 raised for the family. >> extraordinary. lex were people sending money

from all over the place but -- where people sending money from all over the place? she really captured people's it was a brief moment in our history. it was so different from the way people reacted to mary lincoln. because of mrs. garfield's being awarded almost immediately by congress a presidential widow's pension of $5,000 a year, that also benefited the other surviving presidential widows. true to form, mrs. lincoln's reaction was i am sure somebody is going to put the kibosh on that and i will not ever get my money. julia tyler wrote an anonymous

letter to the press and this is wonderful, but i think it should be double that amount. >> thank you for the series. -- we up not far from .ere watching cbs one morning who was the only president buried aboveground? they said garfield. we took the car and we drove up there. .here is his monument .t has steel bars it has the american flag draped over it. a beautiful bronze statue upstairs spirit it is a beautiful lace. >> i do not know if he is the

only president buried aboveground. thank you for the recommendation. we are trying to interest people in learning more about american history. another video. this is returning to the ohio home of the garfield spirit we will learn how she began to preserve her husband's memory. >> after james garfield's death, she started to make her life and her family's life again in this house and on this property. she started to make a lot of changes to the property. she started using the upstairs bedroom a lot more frequently. she converted the downstairs kitchen into an open reception

room and had the kitchen moved into the back part of the house. most significantly was the construction of the presidential library. she started to make a lot of i ames to the property. standing in the room that she used as an office for the years that he was living here in the house. lucretia garfield called this the general how from pretty mukluks did wind -- this from a pretty much of books and how it did. few minor changes in here, the most in the backend quiroga the fireplace. is carved in the wood. it does have an interesting double meaning. it was also the title of james

and patricia's -- lucretia's favorite poem. he became a first-time member of the house of representatives. the first born child, eliza died. she was only two or three. this was very tragic and it brought them much closer .ogether than they have been two weeks or so after the daughter's death, he told lucretia that he had been not reading this poem, "in memorial" by alfred lord tennyson. t should bring him as much comfort as it did to him. lucretia garfield had it

carved in the wood in his office after his death, she was of knowledge and not only his tragic death at a young age, only 49 when he was assassinated, but also the love of literature with the tennyson poem. host: later on, we will come back to the years after the white house with lucretia garfield. with the assassination of her husband in september, chester arthur, the political opponent on the opposite side of the , suddenly found himself president. wifeund himself without a and a vice president. what was the transition like? really remained for so long in september and

november october, chester arthur lived his permanent home in new york city on lexington avenue. was still in a state of very deep mourning, because his wife, ellen, died in january 18th 80. -- 1880. she came from a powerful family. she knew dolly madison when she was a little girl. john's churcht. on lafayette square. when she was 5-10, she knew dolly madison. was a very famous

naval commandants who took a on a commercial ship that went down. it was an act of bravery because he made sure that all the got off a on board first. his widow and his daughter, their only child, then living in new york city were given all , a monument armor's to him at annapolis naval academy. alan arthur is really interesting. she does not become first lady, but she influences the administration. jacksonilar to racial the way that she was the ghost, the memory of her. chester arthur made several appointments, four we know of, specifically of people who had known his wife. the officeousin in

of the attorney general made assistant attorney general. another was in the treasury. it was very controversial that ofnamed the superintendent the naval academy, he appointed a friend of theirs, a childhood friend of his wife's. he created a political problem in the senate, like the prerogative of appointing mayors, is ceremonial role played out in the white house, but are for insisted in making that appointment because it was a friend of his and alan's. he kept her picture on the wall, fresh flowers, he had a stained- glass window put in at st. john's church so he could see it from his bedroom window in the

white house. there was some remorse, perhaps, because he was quite married to his career and his political advancement and mrs. arthur was an accomplished singer who died of pneumonia while he was in albany on political business. in without a wife, without a vice president and his 10-year-old sister -- daughters living with his sister in albany. the press at the time began speculating in a series of articles to would be the lady of the white house. host: the man was wealthy, very stylish. he lived quite a life in new york city. he had this tragedy of being a widower. you could see there would be a press line that the it press would be very interested in.

guest: it was a little unseemly because there are a lot of wealthy women are women who wanted to be wealthy who began flirtatiously appearing where ever president arthur was. he had no interest whatsoever in remarrying. he really became depressed. he basically said, i'm not going to have a first lady. no one will take the role of my wife. he starts having the social events once the social season begins again, when congress comes back in the session, and it is like first lady for a day. he has these events were a cabinet wife, a senate wife, none of it is really quite year,g and the following 1883, new year's day, his sister from albany comes down. there is an indication that he

nearly had a terminal illness and he wanted to be close to his daughter. they came down from new york. taken time, she was being care of by her aunt, mary arthur, nicknamed mali. host: so that is the same person. on twitter -- guest: she lived in the white house with her brother. host: how protective of they've -- were they of the little girl? guest: part of the reason arthur kept her away from the white house for nearly one year making sure that she lived either at her home, his home in new york city, and he was having that remodeled, so she went to live with an aunt and there were two jessie and may,

who came to live with their mother in the white house. host: what is your question? garfieldf president had been shot in our modern times with our technology, do you think he would have been saved? i would just venture a yes. to say the simple removal of a bullet, he would be able to detect where it was in the system. host: arthur may have been severely depressed by the loss of his wife, but they entertained lavishly in the white house and he undertook an amazing redecoration of the white house that was don by louis tiffany. if you think of a tiffany lamp

with all the colors, think about that in the white house. what did it look like when it was don? >> the elephant in the room, the thing you could not ignore, was this wall of tiffany glass. it was put up a nine now what is the main hall, the central hall of the state for. you come in from the main entrance, the north entrance of the white house into technically the lobby, the entrance, and today you see white columns and it opens up and the doors to the blue room immediately, the red room, the green room, but in those days the draft was so bad and people were complaining, he put up this wall of garish, victorian tiffany glass. >> that is garish by our tastes, but it was high style at the time.

guest: it did not even last 20 years. the teddy roosevelt won and that wall smashed to bits. host: it was not preserved? guest: no. host: this was a busy time in the country. we have a few highlights of the administration and some of the issues that the are from administration was dealing with, with out a vice-president in office, the chinese exclusion act, the presidential veto of the carriage of passengers at harborl, the river and act, and pendleton civil service reform act. we talked earlier about civil service reform being the key issue of the time. what happened with the about box guest: -- what happened with that? guest: just like social

security, to some degree civil rights, things come in and descended of being the first major piece of started to make the first real prevention of the spoils system of basically the political system. remember, federal employees could be fired. people who work in the treasury building. we think of those people today as career bureaucrats are people working as federal employees, they could all be fired and whoever was in power would then appoint whoever they wanted. it was not only unfair but it was inefficient. arthur really takes those first steps and he puts the first efforts in in terms of building

a modern u.s. navy. while the chinese exclusion act was really an awful thing in terms of just about right active bigotry, are for have supported something that was far less stressed than what passed. e proposal outrs there. arthur gets a bad rap sometimes. host: did arthur keep garfield's cabinet? who was his most important advisor? guest: i do not recall. he did initially through the new year, but i cannot recall specifically the individual members of his cabinet that continued on. when you speak of the garfield administration, you are really

talking more about the our for administration. what rachel on facebook -- measures were taken to insure the safety after the assassination? guest: none. there are guards at the front door, but it still had this sort quality tod hotel it. even with arthur's restoration -- redecoration, there was one reason why he was very protective of his daughter. the 1886 newe so year's day reception, two months before he leaves, that he allows his daughter to publicly appear. host: in alaska, welcome to the conversation. caller: thank you. this is a great show. i heard something many years ago and i don't know if it's true.

garfield had the ability to take lee sands from each hand and simultaneously write the same thing in greek and latin. is this true? learned,om all i have that was true. he was ambidextrous. styles as of the progressive as chester? as progressive in their style? was.t: alan arthur she was very fashionable, very rich largely for the wealth of her mother, and very ambitious. there are a lot of stories about how she really got behind -- she really did not like that politics kept him away from home

so often, but on the other hand, she was a very socially ambitious woman and ambitious for the career. even though she was a selling around one of her very close first cousins, because she was an only child, she was very close to her double cousins, her parents' siblings who had married, so double cousins. during the civil war, chester arthur was able to secure the release of union presence of one of her cousins, but she went to abraham lincoln's 1865 inaugural. she attended the white house wedding of nelly grant. she knew the parents of theodore roosevelt in new york city. the best stores. they took summers in cooperstown, n.y., and in newport. molly arthur was a little bit term i would not use the

pedestrian, but she was just not interested. host: last question on the arthur administration, on mary arthur, the sister, she had a very strong opinion on women's suffrage. how influential was she in this non-official white house hostess role? guest: it really showed us that the country had come to expect a female presence, whether it was a wife, sister, daughter. really walk the fine line. she made public appearances, sometimes on around, sometimes only with him. was kind oflmost ambivalent about how public a role she should take. her support of the anti suffrage amendment -- movement occurred after the white house.

there was some coverage of it. i will add that she was also a great advocate of civil rights. in her home in albany, she not only welcomed as a dinner guest but as an overnight guest and booker t. washington. host: we have 12 minutes left. as arthur finishes three years, lucretia is establishing herself as a widow and enormous the popular first lady. how did she do that? people are curious about her moved to pasadena, calif.. guest: she could not take the cold winters in colorado anymore. she maintained a home in washington as a presidential widow. the house should continue to work on. guest: there were times when she would lease the house or

property because it was just more feasible. her brother was the manager of in these, but california 1880's, there was a real opening up as a sort of a promised land, sunshine, and a lot of california was settled by wealthy midwesterners. pasadena in to 1900 and she was distantly related to two famous architects, green and green, known for the california craftsman style architecture. she had a great interest in architecture so she worked rate closely with them in designing this extraordinary craftsman manchin which is still standing as a private home and it really became a kind of a showplace.

she was even in one of the carriages for the vip's in the early pasadena rose parade. she had a very full life in california. host: you made the point that she was interested in so much. one of our viewers on facebook garfield always struck me as wonderfully progressive. what do you think of her taste? guest: i'm not the best to ask about taste, but along those lines she was also an advocate for women's suffrage. she did not come out publicly, just let the issue of

temperance. she thought it would make much more controversy than need be, but her daughter also said that her mother truly be -- believed in equality of the genders. you also see her when former president theodore roosevelt in 1912 is mounting a campaign against the incumbent president, she supports the roosevelt. she comes out at an appearance in los angeles. host: tawney in pleasantville, n.y. i ever one of the books read was "destiny of the somelic," and there were money facts, but the three that are brought to my attention tonight where abraham lincoln's involvement in three presidential assassinations, not necessarily involved but being in the area.

you showed an artist's sketch that carried garfield to the house where he passed away. i'm wondering if you can tell the story of how the car got there. lastly, there is a part in the park, andn presidents they might have to make it 8 president's part now that president obama have visited. why have so many presidents gone to the jersey shore? it was fashionable. the salt air was thought to be recuperative period in order to reach of the house, they have to lay an exit track so the strength to go right up to the house. thet: he mentioned all presidents. during the years of the carter administration, these are the first ladies who were brought -- alive -- tyler, polk, lane, lincoln, lucy hayes, and

lucretia garfield. we see a bonding across political parties among women who served in the white house. was that happening at this time? oldt: we could credit good molly mcelroy, who is she is sheited for everything, invited them to publicly receive with her as co-hosts. mrs. lincoln and tyler were in the news. leaving themcelroy role of first lady and handing it over to cleveland, a bachelor of the time, whose sister would be assuming the role, there's a lot of press about these two sisters. at the same time, in conjunction with all of this, the very first

book is written on the history of first ladies and it is a collective biography called " ladies of the white house" by -- her name escapes me. it is a very famous book. host:l lucretia outlived her husband by many years. we will return one last time to the house in ohio and learn more about the house. [video clip] garfield were to walk in this house, they he would not recognize it. this was actually the kitchen. after his death, lucretia made major changes. this was changed into the open reception room. the most significant change she made with the construction of the very first presidential

memorial library. as begin to the top of the steps here before we go into the memorial library, we come first to the memorial landing and we find one of her favorite portraits of her husband. this was done by a good friend of the garfield and it shows james a. garfield as a major general during the american civil war. this is the room lucretia garfield came up with to really memorialize her husband, keep his memory alive for herself, for their children, and for the country. all over the room, you see books that belonged to james a. garfield. this is a beautiful piece that was sent to mrs. garfield completely unsolicited by someone in italy. it's a beautiful memorial piece with an image of james garfield surrounded by flowers. it is all actually made with small stones cracked together and was one of her favorite pieces. we have a very beautiful marble bust of james a. garfield of this was also sculpted by an

italian and given to her around 1883, two years after his death. here we have what lucretia called the memory room. she has constructed along with 1886 wherey in 1885- she is stored his official documents and papers. she had them down and stored it really to keep them for posterity. been a lot of very interesting items. most significantly but is the reif of on the shelf. it was lying on his casket while he was laying in the capitol building in washington, d.c. it was sent to mrs. garfield the of the british delegation from queen victoria along with a nice hand written note of sympathy from the queen. garfields used this room a lot. it was not one of those beautiful rooms that you could

not go into more touch anything. you see lucretia's writing desk year. she spent a lot of time here. she used a black border stationery. she used it for the rest of her life to denote a lifelong morning for a husband. here, in front of the large windows, two of the garfield --ldren were married in 19 1888. harry garfield, the oldest son, and molly, the only surviving garfield daughter both married their respective fiance's in a double wedding ceremony right here in front of the windows of the library. garfield made it into the new century. she died in 1918 at the ripe old age of 85. how did she live those post- white house years? how should she be in the pantheon of first ladies? guest: her tenure was so brief. she was the first to be self-

conscious and often not destroy the papers and keep a diary of a white house days. she is best thought of as a former first lady in terms of her career. there are a lot of similarities between her and jaclyn kennedy in terms of committing to the legacy of their husbands and yet, also, not allowing the lives of the lives of their children to be weighed down by greece. guest: we are looking at some photographs of a large family. you know if any other family members went into politics? inst: one of his sons was the order roosevelt's cabinet and another was in woodrow wilson's. she died one year into world war i, and she was doing work as a volunteer with the red cross in pasadena when she died. there is some suggestion that she decided to go from republican to progressive

despite the democratic because president wilson give her son a job in the cabinet. host: on that note, we say thank you. you have spent your historical career focusing on the first lady's as we closed here, how did you get interested? why you think it's interesting for people to learn about first ladies? guest: they have a natural influence on the sinking of their husbands. their intelligence, their wisdom, and sometimes their ability to see the larger picture that their husbands themselves cannot was, for so many years, neglected. asre were always written off mannequins for closing who had nice dishes. -- mannequins for clothing. efforts, andgence, conscientiousness help their

husbands -- the presidency. host: "burst ladies, the saga of presidents and their power." as we close, a say this every week. we're working with the historical society and thank you to those in the car phot -- garfield home in ohio, but also the white house historical association, who have been a partner for us. we have a biography but that have printed and we have a special edition for those who want to read more. find it on our website. thank you for being with us for "first ladies" on the garfield an arthritic ministration. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013]