being an educational tool does not make sense. think the idea makes sense, but sort of integrating that into the system. it does not really work out one to take it out of the heretical round. >> thank you for tying up the discussion. as a matter of fact, that will lead off on "washington journal" tomorrow morning. bill carry on the conversation -- they will carry on the conversation -- is the cost of college worth it? there's a story about the members of congress who take trips overseas paid for by lobbyists. we will discuss possible cuts in federal aid to states with marsha howard. show focus on what could happen if state funding -- if congress

does not reach a deal. we will take your questions about the labor department's latest regional job summary. it is a report that found upon it that live tomorrow morning at seven eastern. season two of "first ladies" begins monday, september 9, with the look at the life of edith roosevelt. we are showing encore presentations for season one every weeknight at 9:00 eastern. every first lady. tonight, frances cleveland. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ >> frances cleveland was a celebrity lady unlike anyone before her.

to help us understand the frances cleveland sensation sweeping the country, we begin our story inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue as a curious nation awaited the details of a 49-year-old bachelor president marrying his 21-year-old bride inside the white house for the first and only time in our launchinghistory, frances cleveland into instant celebrity. >> president grover cleveland --e down >> when president grover cleveland and his bride to be came down what was then about large staircase to the family quarters at the west end of this corridor. they would have proceeded on the

hallway, the music started up at the east side behind us here, where the united states marine band was assembled. the famous john philip sousa played the wedding march as the happy couple can down the hallway. they would have passed through these doors, these very same mahogany doors. come and the room, a different chandelier here, they would have did under -- stood under the chandelier. said their vows. an enormous amount of flowers in the room brought from the white house conservatory. a large table where the sofa is now is a stream of potted plants and potted plants underneath. flowers were hung suspended from the moldings. the mantelpiece was covered with flowers. the fireplace was full of red begonias. it was a very brief ceremony, 7:00 p.m. an evening ceremony. the assembled throng just went

down to the eastern promenade, for the bride probably to show off her dress. they went down that same hallway we were just in, to a wedding dinner in the state dining room. ♪ >> those are the strains of in 1890's recording of john philip sousa in the marine corps band playing the wedding march they performed at the wedding -- white house nuptials of francis and grover cleveland. good evening and welcome. tonight, the story of francis. cleveland, the youngest first lady to ever serve in that role. meet our guest for the evening. the author of a bad buffet on her, -- biography on her. the press corps, describe what it was like for the nation in the 1880's and how this business of covering presidents was coming into its own. >> think about the 1880's, it is probably what i would call the age of newspapers. every city had multiple newspapers and every one of those was looking for a way to make money. the best way was to get the best story. whoever could find out where

francis was saying, what she was wearing, what she was doing, what she looked like, that would help sell papers. it did not hurt that they made a little bit of it up. >> it was not quite a secret by the time june 2 came across. use of the word was beginning to leak out and investigations into who she might be and what the circumstances could be. they were really priming. >> absolutely. from the time cleveland came into office in 1885, there was all this speculation about who could possibly be his bride. it would waver between some of the women who would help his sister and her receptions at the white house, and then this competition in the mind of the public between whether or not it was francis or her mother, and all. -- her mother, emma. people were convinced it was not francis, she was way too young. write about this time, they used to call it decoration day, cleveland sent out the wedding invitations. at the decoration day parade in new york city, frances was introduced to the public. >> the president was not very fond of the press. we have one of many boats about the ways that he described them. here is one way you would refer to them -- those schools -- ghouls of the press. he said, i begin to fear --

this is about their honeymoon. he had some naive concept that they would be able to sneak away for a honeymoon on their own. >> data slut he wrote when they were going at the end of the summer. she thought that he had been able to outsmart press, because they had arranged for a special two-car train, on a side rail, and they figured they could get off to an area around maryland

on some privately owned property. there was a telegraph agent who was bribed and revealed what the destination of the trade was. because it was pouring rain that night, when they got the train station, they had to take a carriage from the station to to their actual honeymoon location, the carriage got bogged down in the mud which gave the press even more time. they were staked out there by the time they got there. >> it gave rise to a new term -- keyhole journalism. >> and another term, which was associated with joseph pulitzer, looking in the keyhole to see if you could see what was going on in their private lives. >> in your book, i read that they finally try to concede and gave an interview during a honeymoon. how does that work to keep the interest down a little bit? >> he had what he called the respectable papers, then the not respectable papers. i assume the respectable papers were those whose views coincided. he invited reporters from the

so-called respectable papers to come into the cabin where he and francis were staying. they had stacked telegrams from well-wishers on the table. they shared some of those. very nicely staged, very choreographed. they allowed the press to see some of these papers, allow them to see him and her engaged to each other. it was their way of saying, now can you leave us alone? >> not only the age of news papers, but the beginning of the age of consumer branding. as we said in our introduction, there was widespread use by the president and first lady's image image to sell all kinds of products. that is how you first learned of this young first lady. looking back at the history of renting and america. products. that is how you first learned of this young first lady.

looking back at the history of renting and america. if you are to use the president's image today, you would quickly get calls from lawyers about doing that. were there any rules whatsoever about the use of the first couples in the jacco >> no, and that is why these companies get away with it. several supporters of clinton and congress were trying -- of cleveland in congress were trying to get stuff past to not use their image without permission. he had enough detractors that even though they liked frances, they do not want to give them anything they wanted. they could not get these laws passed. >> here is a bit of francis cleveland" she had about her frustration. where is this from?

>> that was a letter she wrote to the editor of country magazine. he had running -- had run an ad for this company. she had become friends and asked him to arrange for that to happen. >> we have to explain how this 49-year-old president and the 21-year-old ride ever became a couple. tell us the story of grover and frances cleveland. >> grover was law partners and friends with frances'partner -- father. cleveland supposedly gave him the first a.b. carriage and became a fixture in the house. as she grew up, she started to call him uncle cleve. her father was tragically killed when she was 11 in a carriage accident. he was not a good money manager, some people who knew more about the family history said he was a bit of a rogue. cleveland stepped in as executor

and money manager to help handle the affairs and work with emma to oversee frances'education. >> i read all of these short biographies, and it tells a story that he became interested after getting into the white house on a visit from the mother and daughter, but your tail goes back further. all the time that she was in college, he was sending loads of flowers to her and writing letters constantly. did he have his eye on her for quite a while? >> i think he did. one thing that is interesting, people know little of her history. there -- her alma mater will tell her about the special train them would come so he could come visit her. he did write her letters and send flowers. she also come -- accompanied him on campaign appearances when he ran for governor of new york. this is definitely well three- white house years.

>> her family was receptive of this relationship. what was the public reception about the age difference? >> you had some language that call them beauty and the beast, because they did not like him and he was 47 -- 49, he was portly, not necessarily the handsomest man in the world. she was an absolute stunner. dark hair, blue eyes, tall, very good-looking. there were people that thought there was something strange about it, but they fell immediately in love with her. they kind of accepted him as part of the package. >> gary robinson on twitter -- asking how they met and asks this question -- did she love him? isn't a lot of time and -- reading you spent a lot of time reading your correspondence. >> i think she started out as most people do, thinking the marriage was semantic. but the age difference was

significant. when it ensured -- matured into a deep caring. i would say it was a respectful and caring kind of love. >> grover cleveland had some very specific views of women in society and what he wanted from a wife. >> yes. >> would you explain it? >> in that time, there was still this attitude of spheres of influence where women were supposed to stay pure and take care of the home and children. that is exactly where he wanted francis to be. he did not want her pretty little head upset with notions about it and first lady -- being first lady or the demands of being in the white house or the wife of a president. he did not think that women should vote or work outside the home. >> this program, this series if

you have been watching along the way, it is interactive. there are a lot of ways to do that area can send us a question on facebook. there is already a chat going on for a little while about frances cleveland. you can also find our facebook page and be part of that. you can send us a tweet with the #firstladies. the good old fashion way, can make the phone call. here are the phone numbers. we will be working your questions in throughout our 90 minutes on frances cleveland. also something special for you, an opportunity to go inside the smithsonian's collection. you will meet lisa, the first lady's ear rate or at the smithsonian, to go behind the scenes a look at some of the frances cleveland items they have in storage here. not open to the public. we will be taking you for the first of center looks at the smithsonian collection right now. >> we are here at the political history storage room. the collection is too fast to be on display at one time. objects not currently on the floor are stored in here. at any point, they can be used for exhibition or lend to another institution. this is her wedding dress. frances cleveland was an incredibly popular bride.

she married the president in a white house ceremony, the only white house ceremony for a first lady. the bodice, filled in with a neck piece. this goes around it and creates a softening effect. it was a longsleeved dress. and this wonderful long train on the underside, trimmed in lace. even the underside of his clothes you don't see had this beautiful trimmed. and this sweeping train. the collection contains more than clothing. at their wedding, we have public and personal pieces. one of my favorite things in the entire collection, this cake box. each of the guests at the wedding were given a satin covered box, painted with the bride and groom initials, to hold a piece of wedding cake. before the wedding, grover and frances signed a card for every cake box. inside, wrapped in lace. there would have been a piece of cake. this particular cake box was given to the minister who performed the wedding. byron sunderland. the minister at the first

presbyterian church in washington d.c. that testing to the public fascination of frances cleveland. this is a piece of sheet music, the cleveland's wedding march, composed in honor of the wedding, it was not the wedding march played at the wedding. you can see, it is decorated with pictures of mr. and mrs. cleveland. these are the images of the cleveland's together that will be part of popular culture for the next 12 years. >> we are back to our sector. i want to introduce our second guest for the evening, returning from an earlier first ladies program. a historian for colonial williamsburg, steeped in first lady's history. welcome to the conversation. let us talk about the election. anybody who thinks there is hard knuckle politics today, look at the election of 1884 that brought grover cleveland into the white house. pretty rough stuff going on.

what would you like? >> politics in the 1880's is brutal. we think about earlier elections where they are taking swings at each other like jefferson and adams. they be in the 1800 election. politics in the 1880's, you are he talks about newspapers, it is personal, it is visceral and because of the way political parties have developed, they are able to take these swipes at each other that really we would find surprising today. in 1884, all of these things would come out in the 1884 election. two candidates cannot be more different from each other. grover cleveland on the one hand who probably has very little political experience of this sort. he was mayor of buffalo in 1881. elected governor of new york in 1882.

two years later, he is the democratic nominee for president. that is all the major political experience that he has. he has developed a reputation of being honest and trustworthy and a reformer. on the other hand, you have got a guy named john blaine, the continental lawyer from maine. if anything, he has too much political experience. he has been speaker of the house, a senator from maine, one of the major figures in the republican party. he has a reputation for probably having private virtue, a good family man, but also tainted by public corruption and an inside the beltway guy.

he whole campaign of 1884 ends up revolving around these things. personal politics. the greatest strength of grover cleveland, the greatest opportunity that the democrats had, is the reputation of cleveland as being a man of public virtue man as any good political operative. they went straight after probably his most weak points, the illegitimate child. >> the refrain for anybody who studied history, ma, ma, where's your pa? gone to the white house, ha ha ha. >> an illegitimate child in buffalo, new york. given the way buffalo was at that time, a lot of breweries and immigrants and massive growth, and illegitimate child was not all that unusual. maria named him oscar. cleveland. he stepped up to the plate and

said he would take responsibility for her and the child. maria perley had problems with alcohol and was not taking care of him. an opportunity developed for him to place the child in the home of the family, mr. and mrs. james king. this young man started his life as oscar cleveland became james king junior. it was all pretty quiet, until they uncover the dirt and found out that cleveland had assumed responsibility for this child, therefore the assumption that he also was father of the child. there were some efforts to cover it up initially. then the famous line that cleveland says is, tell the truth. >> what to learn learn about cleveland from this?

>> he understands the virtue of making a story a nonstory. admit to it and move on. that is sort of how it works . stories go back and forth about why he does it. either he is telling the truth and it is his child, all evidence, the scant evidence that we have is that there is a possibility it is his child. also the possibility it is the child of frances' father. the other part is to admit to it, make it a nonstory, say that it is true and move onto let us next. that is what happened in essence. >> how did frances' family react to this?

it affected uncle cleve, the man she was eventually betrothed to. at the same time it could have been her father's child? >> the reaction was interesting, considering as we have been talking about cleveland was very obviously courting frances at this point. she has been getting lots of flowers and going amounts of campaign trips. apparently there is a story where one of her classmates came into her dorm room and happened

to see a picture of cleveland of the desk and wanted to know who it was. frances referred to him at that point as the mayor of buffalo. i don't know why it was the governor of new york. her comment was a man more sinned against than sinning. emma wrote a letter to frances saint she hated cleveland going through all this trouble with this boy. there is never any discussion in those letters about who they thought the father was.

>> we will take some calls and come back and talk about the cleveland administration and its significance in history. owl from maryland, you are on. >> thank you, first of all i have been a viewer of c-span from almost the beginning. you do a wonderful job across the board. i live in allegheny county, maryland.

one county east of garrett county, which is where the cleveland's honeymooned. several years ago i had to do some research on the presidents who visited this area, and i dug out my notes on the honeymoon of grover cleveland and frances. i wrote down a few notes on want to share with you. after the white house ceremony, apparently late that night or the next morning, they boarded a private railroad car and arrived in deer park, maryland, which is in present-day garrett county. they honeymooned here for about days -- six days stayed at what is now known at the cleveland's pottage. the press followed them up from watching 10 and railroad detectives had to sit on their honeymoon cottage so reporters would not bother them. they climbed trees, they tried to spy on the couple using binoculars, they would drive the servants to try and get a jury of what they were eating, where they were going. according to accounts, they went trout fishing several times in a stream known as deep creek. they caught almost 50 trout. they attended church together in downtown oakland, that has since been known as the church of the presidents. on their departure back to washington, a left from the deer park railroad station, it was then that the president met through orders and some of the

locals. -- met with reporters and some of the locals. he said their honeymoon exceeded their expectations. they never slept better. the air and temperature were delicious and they could not have found a more suitable retreat have a searched the entire united states. >> let's jump in. you have added some details to the story from the beginning and we thank you for that area anything more to add to his description of their enjoyment? >> he has done good research. what winds up with everything i have discovered, too. >> is the cottage still around? >> data don't know. >> next up is joseph indiana.

>> excellent series.

francis was always concerned about rovers wait. -- grover's weight. is there anything in research that she actually tried to get into lose weight after -- weight? >> she makes some comments -- they got a place outside of what is now part of the cleveland park section of washington d.c., oakfield. they were the first president to purchase a private residence to have someplace to go besides living in the white house. frances talks about trying to get him to walk around the farm or dress any way that that did not accentuate his weight. >> not his size as much as how he looked. expect holiday inn pennsylvania. =-- next up is paula in controlling you. >> i have a question about the wedding dress. i am assuming it is white in color? >> it looked the more dark cream color. without the original original color? >> i think cream was the correct color. it has available his age, but believe green was more appropriate. >> any other christian echo >> -- any other questions? >> because of the age difference, if that would take place today, would we call her a gold digger in today's society? >> who would be criticized, he or she?

>> he could've been criticized as robbing the cradle vomited goes both ways. it is interesting to speculate what the media would do. and his pursuit in years beforehand. in this age when nothing seems to be secret for a long time. >> what we know now about his involvement with her from her birth, she bought her first baby carriage. he knew her her entire life. there would be people who would think this was a little creepy. moving on, modern, people think about donald trump in these kind of made december relationships. -- may-december relationships. depending on what your moral basis is for these relationships, i think you will get into a similar conversation. >> to the serious politics of the age, you told us the grover cleveland successfully ended a 24th perigee of the republican run at holding the white house. big issues of the time for the gold and silver standard, paris and corruption. what was his approach to the presidency? ocs front executive? >> he was exceptionally strong. not to say that he was a great constitutional thinker. he was no james madison. he did have a very clear idea about what the role of the presidency was and the role of the federal government was. he thought his role as president was to be the guardian of the federal government and do what he had done as governor of new york, to go ahead and make sure that congress was not doing anything that would screw the country up. they were not going to engage in unnecessary social policy, unnecessary economic policy, he was there to keep them honest and do what he had done in these other positions and reform the broader system of internet that he thought it undermined -- of confidence that he thought it undermined. >> he used the veto 304 times. >> more than that . if you include pocket vetoes. 414 in his first term, which is more than all presidential vetoes combined before him. these are bills like -- he thinks this is just a way for guys in congress to the cable to curry some favor among their friends. he is detailing these things left and right. he has no problem in doing that. he has no real understanding, given his experience, of how the legislative process works. he is not really about compromising with congress. he is not interested in having discussions about these issues. he cares about health reform, making sure that tariffs are being lowered, maintaining the gold standard, that is a sounder

economic policy. outside of that, he wants congress to stay quiet. >> the sad part about that, we had reached a point in our economy where terrorist reform is important because we still had tariffs that were way too high and it was hurting us internationally. probably some of the lack of that reform is hard the reason part of the reason that the depression starting that made his second term so dismal.

partly because they could not yet terrorist reform in place. cleveland -- terrorist =-- tariff reform in place.

he burned the midnight oil. >> this might be self-evident. they pass self -- he had quite a senate. did they use the white house to bring together any of the forces for compromise? >> lesson this and more in the previous white houses. like we said, one of his issues was terror for for -- tariff reform. she attends. she is over his major legislation on tariff reform. it is our direct evidence of her political influence. they are using the white house for very different kinds of things. she is able to improve his standing in d.c. by standing next to him. he had therapy tatian of -- yesterday rotation of liking poker, like smoking. she socializes them. which gives them some -- but then when you're talking about the white house being used in the ways we've talked about, she is saying things like being involved in copyright legislation, focusing on intellectual property. she holds a a reception at the white house for authors to bring

attention to intellectual property. part of the reason why you do not see it is because cleveland would not have happened -- would not have it. he did not wondering gauge -- he did not want her engage. you didn't want to use her in that way or take advantage of what she probably could've done for him. if he had utilized her skill set, how first ladies have exercised before. >> enormous public interest on this young first lady that people were very excited about having in the white house. he is a great tool at his disposal. he abutted not to use it. -- elected not to use it. >> their editorials about this is his card to play. he is not going to play. he is want to focus on retelling be telling as much love installation as possible. it continues to undermine his political capacity. >> he ran about the fact that he has strong roles -- strong opinions by the roles of women. >> as part of his view that he didn't want her involved in anything political. even those things that he got involved with, which were not necessarily political,, you see in her letters that he is angry with her because of how much time she is spending with his organizations and not involved with things that she thinks she should be involved with. this is also the first time in the series that we have video of one of the first ladies. we thought it would be interesting to show you what the first lady looks like later on in life. we're going to to watch that as we listen to a phone call. >> hello. i'm calling -- we had a memorial day parade. >> how did you get the role of grover cleveland? >> they talked me into it. or i talked them into it. i guess he was a little bit heavier. i'm a little bit shorter. >> he said he was five foot tall and forfeit wide. -- four foot wide. >> what is a question you have for guest tonight? >> there was the question about veto. it was a tough time to be a president. i just find them interesting.

i'm proud of the democrats. he was the only democrat at the time. there was one democrat. >> thank you. we talked about francis while she was not being used to be political. she was influenced and image. one was carefully watching the united states. we're going to its return to the smithsonian and look the dresses she chose, and learn how she might have affected style in the country. >> the fascination with frances cleveland really extended to her clothes. she was a fashion icon. women emulated her hairstyle. she popularized everything she had ended.

this is a dress from the second administration. this is the most -- this is the inaugural gown. this was her down from 1893. it stated her family and became the family wedding dress. the bottom of the dress is exactly the same. the top has been remade. it originally had a satin top with a large sleeve with bows on the soldiers. lace was used to create new bodice to make it more modern. this was used by her granddaughters. >> a wedding dress and inaugural dress. >> even her everyday closer very stylish. -- even her everyday" very

stylish. a lot of them look like something you could wear now. this is a jacket. black with beautiful velvet. it is definitely day where -- day wear. this is an evening pes. -- an evening he's. an evening piece. slightly more ornate. this would have a matching collar. you can wear this with a shirtless and skirt. it is 100 years old now. one of the earlier dresses, this dress was on display before even that. this was a reception dress she would've worn during the second administration. the 1890s are when slaves become larger.

this is a beautiful skirt and bodice. a matching evening gown. large puffed sleeves. and butterflies. a description at the time talks about the butterfly moves -- butterflies. you can see the damage that light will do. velvet was originally the scholar. over the years of display it has faded. >> i'm curious about how this 21-year-old, whose family finances were rather insecure, developed this taste and style. but sometimes it is just an eight. she seemed to have had it.

there was suggestion that her grandfather, who had lost his adult children, was interested in taking care of his grandchildren, provided money to pay for her. cleveland was not as wealthy as many presidents who own large amounts of land. he was my poor man, either. one she married him, there was money to purchase my's clothing. she said some trends. the one she is the most amos for

a famous for, getting rid of the bustle. it was a wire contraption that was on the back of your dress. it had gone out of fashion. a french couture decided to bring it back. it was from the waist and over the hips. it was a slow-moving washington. reporters were looking for a story. they would say let's say she has quit wearing a bustle. the ladies had all their dresses remade. she asked for a bustle, and they said we heard that you have quit wearing them. since we have heard that, everyone has quit asking for them. but if you won't want, we will get one for you. she just looked at her and said, if they say that i stopped wearing a bustle, i guess i have scott to stop wearing a bustle. she had all her close removed -- she all her close remade.

>> i think is a remarkable reflection of exactly how important all that coverage is. they can use the extra ones as catchers masks. >> we should make the point that women's dress reform was very political, because the clothing women were wearing was restrictive and there was a movement to release woman from these restrictive clothing. it was a battle of the conservatives you versus the liberal view. did she get involved in this at all? >> she didn't get involved in it directly. it is interesting. you look at photographs at her, she is stressed very casually. she is still wearing a dress. she's in a bathing cost them.

she is wearing what we would describe as a simple shift. away from the corsets, the ornamentation. when she was -- she was 20 dress in a way she thought the public would expect her to look. >> hello. i am just calling to say that my husband and i own the house that the cleveland's rented for two summers in marion. they came to marion because richard watson gilder had given a talk at wells college and had met mrs. cleveland. she her husband was under a lot of stress. when they found out that there was good fishing off of marrying, they came during the summer in between his two terms, and they also have the only child that was born in the white house.

their oldest daughter was supposed to have been named after her. there is -- there next daughter was named after marion because they loved living here so much. they also had receptions here and were very successful -- accessible to the people of marion. he people here are very fond of the memories of the cleveland's. >> what is the house like today? is it still need style? >> it has been added onto. they lived in it when it was more like a farmhouse. i actually have quite a few photographs of them sitting on the porch. later on, it was made into a much larger house of the shingle style. it changed. actually, grover cleveland

wanted to buy this house. the owner named a high price, so he decided he was a frugal man and decided not to buy it and went down to born and bought a house there. >> you may be getting phone calls from our guests here to see those photographs. thank you for your call. we're going to quickly run out of time on this important term of the cleveland's. how involved was she at all in any of the axis of the issues? >> the biggest issue probably the time was the copyright that she was involved in. >> i think you are right in terms of her influence. she is going are beyond just the

kind of parlor politics of having people over and talking to that retail politics. she is doing things like going to rallies to support this legislation. they were hoping the -- she would actually go there on the company -- she would actually go there on a company by the president to be associated with this legislation. >> there is a connection between what was going on in marion, massachusetts, and the support of the copyright. that was where the owner of sentry magazine and his wife, and artists, had salons. that is how francis met joseph jefferson and mark twain, and well-known writers of that time. that is why she got involved in that. she became very supportive of the copyright. i guess we should tell your viewers that the issue of the copyright is a part of the tariff issue.

american writers were not able to get royalties if their works were sold abroad. what the effort was was to get these international protections for merrick and authors they would be able to get royalties when their works were shoulder were sold internationally. >> the major political issues of the day, the huge debate over the gold standard versus replacing it with something that was based on silver, ward legislation regarding the native american lands and assimilation that any kind of legislation dealing with the massive increase of immigration , she is not involved in any of that to any extent. there is one particular story during the first term in 1887. the near fire department asks her to go and come up to be a

part of a public event. she writes back saying that she is not going to attend. it is her view of the role of first lady to not engage in these kinds of public ceremonies without the president -- without the presence of her husband. the head of the near fire department gets ticked off about this and writes the president. he responds wrigley to him saying i agree with her decision, however it is up to her. if this is her concept of what the role of a first lady is, i supported. >> i'm not a thickly sure that was her decision. [laughter] >> today travel during the first term? wexler had a very successful western and southern to her. -- did they travel during the first term?

>> yes. successfulvery tour.n and southern this was the first time since the end of the civil war where a president embarked on this extensive to or be self -- tour of the south. she writes letters saying do it is been a wonderful interface to were -- tour. the crowds were enormous. >> the people of st. louis make wines with her image on her to hand out. >> we are up to the 1880s. grover cleveland stands for

reelection against benjamin harrison. lower the issues? >> the biggest issue at this point is the economy starting to teeter. the major part of the issue is really of hot -- really about making sure that so they can shift the monetary standard to silver, they are republicans were going to get back into the white house to do that you have to get back in new york. benjamin harrison ends up being this compromised candidate. he was a cold fish the political

cartoonists having their way with him. he depicted him in this huge overcoat and old-fashioned hat to suggest he is wearing his grandfather's clothes. his grandfather was a former president. he is the sort of person writing that connection into white house. but the important thing about the election in terms of the understanding of it, two things. it is the first of the big-money elections elections. this makes kind -- campaign finance history. the republicans put $3 million into the race pretty forget bout the popular vote. they want to repot -- they want

to focus on winning new york and indiana. $3 million is enormous. more than what has gone into an election up to that point. then there is the issue about what are you going to do about grover cleveland's greatest card. that will be -- it is one thing to go after grover cleveland. it is another thing to go after both. what they do is, we are back into this bareknuckle time of politics in which the republicans bring up the story that he is abusing frances. . >> rumors of spousal abuse during this campaign are brought up on facebook. >> i'm convinced it is untrue. she loved to go to the theater. he didn't always go with her. a lot of times she went with a member of congress or someone who was on the white house staff. the story is that a supporter from congress took her to a play, came back, had a nice chat with the president, but that is allegedly when he beat her and beat her mother. nothing was said initially. there was a map -- minister for

massachusetts to started saying these vile things from the pulpit. much like the situation with the illegitimate child, kind of bully would -- francis writes a letter that is sent to the papers. she is not supposed to be political. she supposed to stay in her sphere. this letter goes out over her signature that says i wish that all of the women of this country were as fortunate as i too have a kind and caring husband. here is the interesting thing about that. even though it is her signature, it is not her handwriting. it was written by daniel mach, the chief of staff.

>> it was craft of the administration. >> there are these contradictions with grover cleveland. the way the democrats user during the election obviously you've got to tamper down this particular issue. this election is in fact the one in which the image of the first lady is employed in political ways more than any other election in american history. her image on one particular camping piece in 18 56. the democratic party is rolling out plants is -- the democratic party is rolling out frances cleveland. >> when she left the white house, she told the butler she would be back in four years. how was she confident that she she would be reelected?

>> it sounds confident. to be honest with you, the moment they hit new york, she started to campaign for him. >> part of it is that he didn't lose the 1880 election. in the popular vote. he actually outpaced harrison by tens of thousands of votes. but he was swamped in the electoral system. he's the only president other than fdr to win more than two elections. >> the republicans were ahead of the democrats in doing this electoral college strategy. it worked for them. >> absolutely. >> we have another smithsonian video. this talk about the lyrical partner and the roles that it late in the election that year. >> frances cleveland is so popular.

people are imitating her clothes. they are wanting a piece of francis for themselves. they thought she was someone we know. for pictures of the first lady became extremely popular. you can register on picture of mrs. cleveland to have in your home. based on these pictures, advertisers and manufacturers make an array of souvenirs. you can purchase and have mrs. cleveland in your house, in your home. you can purchase the small painted glass portrait. you can have plates. mrs. cleveland can convince you to buy a product. she is using campaigns. while we have grover cleveland running for president, we also have mrs. cleveland running for first lady. this is a set of campaign playing cards were you are

electing the president, the vice president, and the first lady. this is frances cleveland and the second administration. it looks little different. she is a confident matron. this is a pretty piece you could have in your home. notice at the same in his is-- image is used in this ribbon. the cleveland's visited the world fair. you can have a souvenir from the world fair. it commemorates the cleveland's. >> so they are moving to new york priebe are they new york city for their next top? >> it was probably a good place for frances with her interest in the arts, and cleveland will -- got a job there. he worked for a law firm. the attorney for jpmorgan, and

several other extremely well- known and financially well-off and influential people. he wasn't actually practicing law at the practicing attorney as much as overseeing activities within the law firm. >> the suggestion was it was the way to reclaim the white house. >> this launch right back into it. people -- the fact of him winning the popular vote continues the democrats into thinking they're going to recapture new york. there are is some adjustments they can do in order to get back into the white house. it was very much question. what are the kind of steps they really need to take to shore up their him a tour of votes of they can get right back there?

>> she gives birth to the couple's first child. there are a number of questions. wondering about the baby ruth candy bar. >> the story there is that the first candy company about the candy bar. we should say that ruth cleveland tragically died in 1904. she would have been about 12.5 years old. it came out in 1909. there have been a lot of songs, images, just as they used mr. the phrase had been out there in the candy company. her interestnced

in the kindergarten movement. it was a big social movement designed to do what? designed to help children and their mothers. thems designed to help speak english, american customs, american patriotism. mothers would take that knowledge back and bring it to the children. immigration was a critical issue. >> it is extraordinary. it is the greatest of mass immigration in america. in terms of percentage of the population. its 500,000 people coming in every year. they are german. they are irish. there are catholics.

they are eastern europeans. the demographic change that the american population is going through in this major movement from a mainly a growing population to one that is based in the cities and is focused more on manufacturing. it is having a major impact on american culture. there's the question about how do you assimilate these immigrants. how do you deal with temperance as a political issue? you have people who enjoy a pint or two at the end of the day. these kinds of issues that are coming up are the kind of things that are in her sphere. especially when you're talking about what is going on in bigger cities like new york. what do you do for the people will have the least resources among them. kindergarten was a way to get at that. >> she remained interested in kindergarten throughout her

life. is that true? >> she did. she had a kindergarten for ruth. daniel lamotte was back as the chief of staff. both men had children about the same age. there was a kindergarten in the white house. frances was active in higher education. she founded a college. she was very active with their alma mater. >> the 1892 election was a rematch between benjamin harrison and grover cleveland. the first lady, mrs. harrison, just died before the election. how did that effect the

election? >> he was never terribly interested in campaigning. it does put a little bit of an impact. it impacted him negatively. he had no gusto. harrison suffered major defeats during his presidency. the economy was going into a tank. there was not anything that he could do about it. the republican party was splintering. his secretary of state resigned right before the end of the presidency. he wanted to see if he could get one last bite at the nomination apple.

the democrats are finding a better recipe to call lasts. in the 1892 election, it was the backdrop. the crumbling economy and the crumbling republican party. >> in 1892, frances's prediction comes true. there was economic uncertainty in the country. president cleveland returned to office. soon after was one of the most interesting presidential stories. he is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. he gets to numbers in the lineup. soon after, they discovered a spot in his mouth. he was a cigar smoker. it leads to an interesting story

in which frances cleveland was involved. >> he called his doctor because the spot bothered him. they decided that it was probably cancerous. esther was born in the white house. they went to a rental house that they had been renovating in the cleveland park section. all of a sudden, there was an announcement in the paper that they changed their plans. mrs. cleveland wanted to take her baby to their place in massachusetts. she wanted to enjoy the wind and breeze. frances goes on a yacht with her friends.

the yacht comes back and grover cleveland gets on it. in the meantime, to dispel some rumors, they said that he was on a diet program. they said he was on the 1890s version of weight watchers. he is gone for a month on the yacht. the press starts to say, what is going on, mr. president? frances says, he's just having a good time fishing. he needs the rest. he needs this time away. finally, he arrives. he has to go back for a final operation. a reporter finally breaks the story. the administration, unfortunately, decided to discredit him. she wrote to joseph jefferson and said, when you think a child would have more sense than that? >> were worried about infection. >> absolutely. >> this is an incredible tale.

the president is off the coast of the united states being operated on for cancer surgery. he had his entire upper jaw removed. he is with prosthesis. and, he is hidden from the press. >> daniel lamont and frances said that he was just off on a fishing trip. they tried to cover every step that they could. >> there are fears that the economy would tank further. >> this is the issue. there are bigger things at stake, in terms of the american economy. the markets are very jittery.

the vice president, who was the grandfather of adelaide stevenson, was not someone who is seen as being reliable. his supporters believed that any hints that the president was in danger at all, in terms of his health, would send the markets further into the tank. all of the investors would pull out and accelerates a tank that was already in full swing. they had to maintain the liquidity in the markets. the only way to do that was to keep this completely secret. we're not talking about a little secret. they have to do a surgery to make sure that that there are no external scars. >> he sounded like he was purposely ok.

>> it must've been a skill to learn how to speak with that. marvin from los angeles. you are on. >> my question has to do with what mrs. cleveland did after she left office. the next democratic first lady, mrs. wilson, got involved in international affairs and attended democratic conventions. so did eleanor roosevelt. jacqueline kennedy worked to save places like grand central station. did frances get involved in any way? did she attends democratic conventions? did she use her influence politically? >> we will get to that story and a few minutes.

thanks for asking that. that is an important question. patricia, your question. >> hello susan. i never miss your friday night program. >> thank you. >> i wrote a book about my grandfather and there is a chapter -- my grandfather was appointed as the secretary of state. his wife is frances's closest friend in aurora. they often visited the white house. frances was the godmother to my father. i still have the long dress. my question is this -- the temperance movement? >> i lost track of catherine willard. she and frances were indeed good friends. frances introduced catherine willard to mr. baldwin.

she took a temperance vow. she honored that up until the latter part of her life. >> unlike the hayes, she served alcohol. >> absolutely. >> it is not a policy issue of hers. the temperance movement was not just about temperance.

they were the biggest critics of her in the first term. >> they did not like her sleeveless dresses or her low net line. they thought she was being immodest. >> i found myself very busy with my social duties beginning again and my two babies. i give so much time to the children because i won't be cheated by the babyhood by

anything. frances cleveland held weekly summits for working women. did she continue that during her second term? >> she did not. she scaled back the social calendar. she said it was necessary from a diplomatic standpoint. they tried to get out of the white house to a house that they had in another part of washington. >> there was concern about the cleveland children at that time. people will concern. how do the cleveland's approach this? >> people decided that they did not like her. she started closing the white house gates so that the public could not see the children or her when they were out on the grounds. she even uncovered a kidnapping plot, which made her more vigilant to the children. >> we have another video on the

cleveland children. >> white house children have always been popular with the public. when she became first lady, she was a young bride. she developed her style. when grover cleveland was reelected, both baby ruth and the harrison grandchild were part of the campaign. this is a piece of sheet music. the music talks about the two babies vying for who will be the next baby in the white house. during the second term, the cleveland's had their second child. her name was esther.

esther cleveland. she has eyes that open and close. the public was so fascinated with them. every time they went outside, mrs. clinton was afraid that people would try to pick up the children. they felt that the first children needed to be protected. they were part of the american family. mrs. cleveland had a second home. they only stayed in the white house during the social season. they had a private residence the rest of the time. >> her approach to protecting the children made her less popular with the american public. the economy continued to be challenged. by the time they finished their second tour of duty in the white house, what was the american public's view of the cleveland's? >> the economy was in the midst of the worst depression in

american history. it lasted five or six years. unemployment was above 10%. he was seen as being able to do nothing about it. in fact, he was not able to do very much about it. frances was seen as being much more withdrawn. these questions about the first family creeped in for the very first time. there is a reporter who snipped a lock off of her hair. there were concerns about the security. the white house security staff goes from four to 27. she is seen as being much more aloof to the american people. she is not the same personality that we came to expect during the first term. you combine these two things together, they cannot wait to get out of the white house by the end of their first term. >> maplewood, new jersey. hello, sarah. >> cleveland is buried in princeton, new jersey along with ruth and frances. i had no idea. i figured that out. >> we're about to learn the story of their post-white house years. he was a new jersey native. after he ran for the white house for the second and final time,

how did they decide where to live next? >> what is interesting is, she said that they could not go out and look for a house on their own. they had agents. finally, they both came down for breakfast and one said to the other one, i had an idea where we should live. the other one said, i did, too. they decided on princeton, new jersey. it was the best from the time that they got married. they were a family unit. they got involved in princeton university. she got involved in the growing number of women who graduated

college. they adopted princeton students who did not have family close by or money. they provided a home and support for them. cleveland worked with the life insurance association. he wrote articles. >> and had more children? >> they had more children. their first was richard. in 1903, she gave birth to their last child. how long after that did the president die? >> he died in 1908. he probably had cancer. it was a slow, drawn out, painful death.

he died in the house in princeton. >> there are a number of comparisons drawn between frances cleveland and jacqueline onassis kennedy, the public fascination with her and that she remarried when she became a widow. what is the story about her remarriage? how long after his death did she remarry? >> it was 1913. it was to a professor at princeton. he had moved to wales from princeton. he is a professor of archaeology. they were a couple years apart from each other. his name was thomas hobson.

she made a point of saying that she and the president had very little in common. he found boring what she found interesting. it is different with the second husband. they had a lot of interests in common -- they had a lot to share interest. interest in traveling. they had a much better relationship. >> how public was mrs. cleveland's life after grover cleveland's death? >> she had to manage the press. it waned over time. she was active during world war i. she was active with an organization which made him made garments that they gave to

nonprofits for giving out in emergency situations. you could still read these items about her. the obsession was nowhere near to what it was during the white house years. >> she continued to be against women's suffrage. >> she was the vice president of the league of anti-suffrage from 1913 on tell women got the right to vote. >> what was the public's reaction to a first lady who is campaigning so vigorously against women's suffrage? >> it is interesting that there is this split. there was a debate on whether or not it is necessary for women to have the right to vote. whether or not it is important part of women's role in life. mrs. cleveland exercised her own

right to vote. yet, she was still part of a way of thinking about women and their place in american society that developed in the 1870s and 1880s. that first wave feminism. if you want to be the best woman that you can possibly be, that is by exercising authority within your own special realm. this is what grover cleveland thought about what women should be able to do. so, opposing women's voting, and also her language during world war i and when she was doing in terms of trying to be active in

supporting american patriotism. the kind of speeches that she did during world war i are incredible pieces of rhetoric. she becomes a very different woman after her marriage to her second husband. >> on a personal front, she also helped raise some of her grandchildren. >> she did. richard's first wife was an alcoholic. so, they were divorced. mrs. cleveland thought it was important for them to have a mother. mrs. cleveland helped to raise anne cleveland robertson. >> i understand your grandmother was very kind and helped to raise you.

>> that is true. she was my grandmother. this one incident happened on a sunday night in new hampshire where we spent the summer. on sunday nights, we used to get together the family and the cleveland family to sing hymns. we all really enjoyed that. but, each person had their own favorite hymn. one sunday, i got together with a group and went bowling with my cousin and square dancing friends. we had a very good time. i do not think there is anything

terribly malicious about it. my godmother and one of my grandmother's closest friends and called my grandmother and said, where was ann during the hymn singing? my grandmother called me to her desk. she said, with a quiet smile, she would like to have me back for the rest of the summer. she did it because my godmother, who was a very dear lady, was very influential and very strict. my grandmother was trying to be strict with me. i appreciated that.

i obviously went back and saying sang hymns. >> your grandmother didn't drink because of the temperance plies the temperance pledge. >> oh yes. my grandmother was older. i stopped by. i love to see her. i stopped by. she had a porch that had a lovely view of the mountains. she was having her breakfast and she was taking her medicine with her breakfast. she announced, with a laugh, that she was taking her medicine that was supposed to be good for

her heart. it was whisky. grandmother had always -- she allowed alcohol to be served in the white house. she herself had never had whiskey. i can assure you that she did not like it as medicine. we thought that was pretty funny. she thought it was a joke on herself. that was the way she was. she had a wonderful sense of humor. she can laugh at herself. she did not appreciate whiskey. >> that whole interview runs about six minutes long. ann cleveland robertson. we have posted all of it on c- span's "first ladies: influence and image."

we have a little depository there. we have just a short time. i want to get larry in from frankfort, kentucky. >> good evening. a question for dr. dunlap. local history suggest that eleanor lindsay was a very close friend of frances because they were both younger women married to older men. i wonder if dr. dunlap knows about this relationship and, more generally, what her relationship with other wives who were much older? >> i do not know anything about the relationship with ms. lindsay. she did an excellent job of

having friendships with some of the older washington wives. that was held by the fact that older wives took her under her wing. she was a young bride. they respected her. she had a great relationship with them. >> did future presidents or other first ladies ever invite france's cleveland back to the white house? >> she was invited in 1913. >> the press took a good view of her marriage? >> there is only one criticism of the remarriage. for the most part, people embraced it. she was back in washington a number of times. she met sherman and eisenhower. she maintains her level of celebrity. >> this is the dunlap biography. >> frank was originally a given name.

it was a nickname that she went by. >> what the grover cleveland call her? >> frank. >> in your closing paragraphs, you make the case that she has been lost to history but shouldn't be. why? >> she was strong on education and the arts. >> and the role of first lady? >> she changed it in terms of putting education in the forefront. she took care of children. she was very concerned about them. >> where would you put her in the pantheon of first ladies? >> she's the first national celebrity first lady. i think we're talking about the development of our understanding

of the institution of first lady. she is the first one in which we think about what the uses are all the celebrity, and good ways and bad ways. the first family was owned by the american public. we talked about how that could be a positive tool for the presidency. if only grover cleveland could have seen that. >> thanks to both of you. thanks to our viewers for your participation. ? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> hello, buffalo! >> tomorrow night -- >> it was very dirty. she tried to spruce it out. she found a pieces of china and asked the servants if anyone could tell how old the peace was. of tried to create a sense what they were. plan in a -- she had a the dining room, but that never came to fruition. she is credited with being the

initiator of a permanent collection of china in the white house. first ladies on continues tomorrow night on c- span. >> in a few moments, president obama unveils his plan for making college more affordable. kathleen sebelius on how the latino community will be affected are the new health care law. night eastern we will re-air our first ladies profile on france's cleveland. frances cleveland. president obama was in buffalo, new york, to unveil his plan on making college more affordable. at the minute event state university of new york is part of a two-day trip that also includes a stop in pennsylvania.

>> hello, buffalo! hello, bulls! well, it is good to be back in buffalo, good to be back in the north. i want to begin by making sure we all thank silvana for the wonderful introduction. give her a big round of applause. her mom and dad are here somewhere. where are they? i know they're pretty proud. there they are right there. give mom and dad a big round of applause. a number of other people i want to acknowledge here -- first of all, our secretary of education, arne duncan, who's doing a great job.

one of the finest governors in the country, your governor, andrew cuomo, is here. your outstanding mayor, brian higgins, is here. give him a big round of applause. >> congressman! >> what? >> the mayor is byron brown! >> byron brown. that's -- i'm sorry, byron. what i meant was -- your congressman, brian higgins, is here. your mayor, byron brown, is here. this is what happens when you

get to be 52 years old. when i was 51 everything was smooth. but your congressman and your mayor are doing outstanding work. we just rode on the bus over from the airport, and they were telling me that buffalo is on the move. that was the story. a couple other people i want to acknowledge -- suny chancellor nancy zimpher, is here, doing a great job. university president satish tripathi is here. and we've got all the students in the house. thank all the students for being here.

now, today is a check-in day at the dorms. so i want to thank all the students for taking a few minutes from setting up your futons and -- your mini-fridges just to come out here. i hear that the last sitting president to speak here was millard fillmore. and he was actually chancellor of the university at the same time -- which sounds fun, but i've got enough on my plate. this is our first stop on a two- day road trip through new york and pennsylvania. and after this i head to syracuse -- yay, syracuse -- to speak with some high schoolers. tomorrow i'm going to visit suny binghamton and lackawanna

college in scranton. but i wanted to start here at university at buffalo. and i wanted to do it for a couple reasons. first, i know you're focused on the future. as i said, talking to the mayor, he was describing a new medical school -- and new opportunities for the high-tech jobs of tomorrow. so there's great work being done at this institution. i also know that everybody here must be fearless because the football team kicks off against number 2, ohio state, next weekend. good luck, guys. it's going to be a great experience. it's going to be a great experience.

it could be an upset. and third, and most importantly, i know that the young people here are committed to earning your degree, to helping this university to make sure that every one of you "finishes in four" -- makes sure that you're prepared for whatever comes next. and that's what i want to talk about here today. over the last month, i've been visiting towns across the country, talking about -- yes, feel free to sit down. get comfortable. >> we love you! >> thank you. i love you, too. over the last month i've been out there talking about what we

need to do as a country to make sure that we've got a better bargain for the middle class and everybody who's working hard to get into the middle class -- a national strategy to make sure that everybody who works hard has a chance to succeed in this 21st century economy. now, i think all of us here know that for the past four and a half years, we've been fighting back from a brutal recession that cost millions of americans their jobs and their homes and their savings. but what the recession also did was it showed that for too long we've seen an erosion of middle- class security. so, together, we saved the auto industry. together, we took on a broken health care system. we invested in new technologies. we started reversing our

addiction to foreign oil. we changed a tax code that was tilted to far in favor of the wealthy at the expense of working families. and add it all up, today our businesses have created 7.3 million new jobs over the last 41 months. we now generate more renewable energy than ever before. we sell more goods made in america to the rest of the world than ever. health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years. here in buffalo, the governor and the mayor were describing over a billion dollars in investment, riverfront being changed, construction booming -- signs of progress. so thanks to the grit and the resilience of the american

people, we've cleared away the rubble from the financial crisis. we've started to lay the foundation for a stronger, more durable economic growth. but as any middle-class family will tell you, as folks here in buffalo will tell you, we're not where we need to be yet. because even before the crisis hit -- and it sounds like buffalo knows something about this -- we were living through a decade where a few at the top were doing better and better, most families were working harder and harder just to get by. manufacturing was leaving, jobs moving overseas, losing our competitive edge. and it's a struggle for a lot of folks. so reversing this trend should be, must be, washington's highest priority. it's my highest priority.

i've got to say it's not always washington's highest priority. because rather than keeping focus on a growing economy that creates good middle-class jobs, we've seen a faction of republicans in congress suggest that maybe america shouldn't pay its bills that have already been run up, that we shut down government if they can't shut down obamacare. >> boo -- >> that won't grow our economy. that won't create jobs. that won't help our middle class. we can't afford in washington

the usual circus of distractions and political posturing. we can't afford that right now. what we need is to build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in america, focus on that -- a good job with good wages, a good education, a home of your own, affordable health care, a secure retirement. bread-and-butter, pocketbook issues that you care about every single day, that you're thinking about every single day. and we've got to create more pathways into the middle class for folks who are willing to work for it. that's what's always made america great. it's not just how many billionaires we produce, but our ability to give everybody who works hard the chance to pursue their own measure of happiness. that's what america is all about. now, there aren't many things that are more important to that idea of economic mobility -- the

idea that you can make it if you try -- than a good education. all the students here know that. that's why you're here. that's why your families have made big sacrifices -- because we understand that in the face of greater and greater global competition, in a knowledge- based economy, a great education is more important than ever. a higher education is the single best investment you can make in your future. and i'm proud of all the students who are making that investment. and that's not just me saying it. look, right now, the unemployment rate for americans with at least a college degree is about one-third lower than the national average. the incomes of folks who have at least a college degree are more than twice those of americans

without a high school diploma. so more than ever before, some form of higher education is the surest path into the middle class. but what i want to talk about today is what's become a barrier and a burden for too many american families, and that is the soaring cost of higher education. this is something that everybody knows you need -- a college education. on the other hand, college has never been more expensive. over the past three decades, the average tuition at a public four-year college has gone up by more than 250% -- 250%. now, a typical family's income has only gone up 16%. so think about that -- tuition has gone up 250%, income gone up 16%. that's a big gap. now, it's true that a lot of universities have tried to

provide financial aid and work- study programs. and so not every student -- in fact, most students are probably not paying the sticker price of tuition. we understand that. but what we also understand is that if it's going up 250% and your incomes are only going up 16%, at some point, families are having to make up some of the difference, or students are having to make up some of the difference with debt. and meanwhile, over the past few years, states have been cutting back on their higher education budgets. new york has done better than a lot of states, but the fact is

that we've been spending more money on prisons, less money on college. and meanwhile, not enough colleges have been working to figure out how do we control costs, how do we cut back on costs. so all this sticks it to students, sticks it to families, but also, taxpayers end up paying a bigger price. the average student who borrows for college now graduates owing more than $26,000. some owe a lot more than that. and i've heard from a lot of these young people who are frustrated that they've done everything they're supposed to do -- got good grades in high school, applied to college, did well in school -- but now they come out, they've got this crushing debt that's crippling their sense of self-reliance and

their dreams. it becomes hard to start a family and buy a home if you're servicing $1,000 worth of debt every month. it becomes harder to start a business if you are servicing $1,000 worth of debt every month, right? and meanwhile, parents, you're having to make sacrifices, which means you may be dipping into savings that should be going to your retirement to pay for your son or daughter's -- or to help pay for your son or daughter's education. so at a time when a higher education has never been more important or more expensive, too many students are facing a choice that they should never have to make -- either they say no to college and pay the price for not getting a degree -- and that's a price that lasts a

lifetime -- or you do what it takes to go to college, but then you run the risk that you won't be able to pay it off because you've got so much debt. now, that's a choice we shouldn't accept. and, by the way, that's a choice that previous generations didn't have to accept. this is a country that early on made a commitment to put a good education within the reach of all who are willing to work for it. and we were ahead of the curve compared to other countries when it came to helping young people go to school. the folks in buffalo understand this. mayor brown was talking about the city of buffalo and the great work that is being done through the program called "say yes," to make sure that no child in buffalo has to miss out on a college education because they can't pay for it. but even though there's a great program in this city, in a lot of places that program doesn't exist. but a generation ago, two

generations ago, we made a bigger commitment. this is the country that gave my grandfather the chance to go to college on the gi bill after he came back from world war ii. this is the country that helped my mother get through school while raising two kids. michelle and i, we're only where we are today because scholarships and student loans gave us a shot at a great education. and we know a little bit about trying to pay back student loans, too, because we didn't come from a wealthy family. so we each graduated from college and law school with a mountain of debt. and even though we got good jobs, we barely finished paying it off just before i was elected to the u.s. senate.

>> whew! >> right? i mean, i was in my 40's when we finished paying off our debt. and we should have been saving for malia and sasha by that time. but we were still paying off what we had gotten -- and we were luckier because most of the debt was from law school. our undergraduate debt was not as great because tuition had not started shooting up as high. so the bottom line is this -- we've got a crisis in terms of college affordability and student debt. and over the past four years, what we've tried to do is to take some steps to make college more affordable. so we enacted historic reforms to the student loan system, so taxpayer dollars stop padding the pockets of big banks and instead help more kids afford college. because what was happening was the old system, the student loan programs were going through

banks. they didn't have any risk because the federal government guaranteed the loans, but they were still taking billions of dollars out of the program. we said, well, let's just give the loans directly to the students and we can put more money to helping students. then we set up a consumer watchdog. and that consumer watchdog is already helping students and families navigate the financial options that are out there to pay for college without getting ripped off by shady lenders. and we're providing more tools and resources for students and families to try to finance college. and if any of you are still trying to figure out how to finance college, check it out at studentaid.gov. studentaid.gov. then, we took action to cap loan repayments at 10% of monthly income for many borrowers who are trying to responsibly manage their federal student loan debt. so overall, we've made college more affordable for millions of

students and families through tax credits and grants and student loans that go farther than they did before. and then, just a few weeks ago, democrats and republicans worked together to keep student loan rates from doubling. and that saves typical undergraduates more than $1,500 for this year's loans. so that's all a good start, but it's not enough. the problem is, is that even if the federal government keeps on putting more and more money in the system, if the cost is going up by 250%, tax revenues aren't going up 250% -- and so some point, the government will run out of money, which means more and more costs are being loaded on to students and their families. the system's current trajectory is not sustainable. and what that means is state legislatures are going to have to step up.

they can't just keep cutting support for public colleges and universities. that's just the truth. colleges are not going to be able to just keep on increasing tuition year after year, and then passing it on to students and families and taxpayers. our economy can't afford the trillion dollars in outstanding student loan debt, much of which may not get repaid because students don't have the capacity to pay it. we can't price the middle class and everybody working to get into the middle class out of a college education. we're going to have to do things differently. we can't go about business as usual. because if we do, that will put our younger generation, our workers, our country at a competitive disadvantage for years. higher education is still the best ticket to upward mobility in america, and if we don't do something about keeping it within reach, it will create problems for economic mobility

for generations to come. and that's not acceptable. so whether we're talking about a two-year program, a four-year program, a technical certificate, bottom line is higher education cannot be a luxury. it's an economic imperative. every family in america should be able to afford to get it. so that's the problem. now, what are we going to do about it? today, i'm proposing major new reforms that will shake up the current system, create better incentives for colleges to do more with less, and deliver better value for students and their families. and some of these reforms will require action from congress, so we're going to have to work on that. some of these changes i can make on my own.

we are going to have to -- we're going to be partnering with colleges to do more to keep costs down, and we're going to work with states to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets. and one last thing -- we're going to have to ask more of students who are receiving federal aid, as well. and i've got to tell you ahead of time, these reforms won't be popular with everybody, especially those who are making out just fine under the current system. but my main concern is not with those institutions. my main concern is the students those institutions are there to serve -- because this country is only going to be as strong as our next generation. and i have confidence that our country's colleges and universities will step up -- just like chancellor zimpher and the folks at suny are trying to step up -- and lead the way to

do the right thing for students. so let me be specific. my plan comes down to three main goals. first, we're going to start rating colleges not just by which college is the most selective, not just by which college is the most expensive, not just by which college has the nicest facilities -- you can get all of that on the existing rating systems. what we want to do is rate them on who's offering the best value so students and taxpayers get a bigger bang for their buck. number two, we're going to jumpstart new competition between colleges -- not just on the field or on the court, but in terms of innovation that encourages affordability, and encourages student success, and doesn't sacrifice educational quality. that's going to be the second component of it. and the third is, we're going to

make sure that if you have to take on debt to earn your college degree that you have ways to manage and afford it. so let me just talk about each of these briefly. our first priority is aimed at providing better value for students -- making sure that families and taxpayers are getting what we pay for. today, i'm directing arne duncan, our secretary of education, to lead an effort to develop a new rating system for america's colleges before the right now, private rankings like u.s. news and world report puts out each year their rankings, and it encourages a lot of colleges to focus on ways to -- how do we game the numbers, and it actually rewards them, in some cases, for raising costs. i think we should rate colleges based on opportunity.

i think we should rate colleges based on opportunity. are they helping students from all kinds of backgrounds succeed -- and on outcomes, on their value to students and parents. so that means metrics like how much debt does the average student leave with. how easy it is to pay off? how many students graduate on time? how well do those graduates do in the workforce? because the answers will help parents and students figure out how much value a college truly offers. there are schools out there who are terrific values. but there are also schools out there that have higher default rates than graduation rates. and taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing students to go to schools where the kids aren't graduating. hat doesn't do anybody any good.

and our ratings will also measure how successful colleges are at enrolling and graduating students who are on pell grants. and it will be my firm principle that our ratings have to be carefully designed to increase, not decrease, the opportunities for higher education for students who face economic or other disadvantages. so this is going to take a little time, but we think this can empower students and families to make good choices. and it will give any college the chance to show that it's making serious and consistent improvement. so a college may not be where it needs to be right now on value, but they'll have time to try to get better. and we want all the stakeholders in higher education -- students, parents, businesses, college administrators, professors -- to work with secretary duncan on this process. and over the next few months, he's going to host a series of public forums around the

country to make sure we get these measures right. and then, over the next few years, we're going to work with congress to use those ratings to change how we allocate federal aid for colleges. we are going to deliver on a promise we made last year, hich is colleges that keep their tuition down and are providing high-quality education are the ones that are oing to see their taxpayer funding go up. it is time to stop subsidizing schools that are not producing good results, and reward schools that deliver for american students and our uture. nd we're also going to

encourage states to follow the same principle. right now, most states fund colleges based on how many students they enroll, not based on how well those students do or even if they graduate. now, some states are trying a better approach. you got tennessee, indiana, hio -- they're offering more unding to colleges that do a better job of preparing students for graduation and a job. michigan is rewarding schools that keep tuition increases low. so they're changing the incentive structure. and i'm challenging all states to come up with new and innovative ways to fund their colleges in a way that drives better results. now, for the young people here, i just want to say that just as we're expecting more from our chools that get funding from taxpayers, we're going to have to expect more from students who get subsidies and grants from taxpayers. so we're going to make sure

students who receive federal financial aid complete their courses before receiving grants for the next semester. we'll make sure to build in flexibility so we're not penalizing disadvantaged students, or students who are holding down jobs to pay for school. things happen. but the bottom line is we need to make sure that if you're getting financial aid you're doing your part to make progress towards a degree. and, by the way, that's good for you, too, because if you ake out debt and you don't get that degree, you are not going to be able to pay off that debt and you'll be in a bind. all right, second goal -- we want to encourage more -- >> we love you, obama!

>> thank you. the second thing we want to do is to encourage more colleges to embrace innovative new ways o prepare our students for a 21st century economy and maintain a high level of quality without breaking the bank. so let me talk about some alternatives that are already out there. southern new hampshire university gives course credit based on how well students master the material, not just on how many hours they spend in the classroom. so the idea would be if you're learning the material faster, you can finish faster, which eans you pay less and you save money. the university of wisconsin is getting ready to do the same thing. you've got central missouri university -- i went there, and they've partnered with local high schools and community colleges so that their students can show up at college and graduate in half the time

because they're already starting to get college credits while they're in high school or while they're in a two-year college, so by the time they get to a four-year college they're saving money. universities like carnegie mellon, arizona state, they're starting to show that online learning can help students aster the same material in less time and often at lower cost. georgia tech, which is a national leader in computer science, just announced it will begin offering an online master's degree in computer science at a fraction of the cost of a traditional class, but it's just as rigorous and it's producing engineers who are just as good. so a lot of other schools are experimenting with these ideas to keep tuition down. they've got other ways to help students graduate in less time, t less cost, while still aintaining high quality.

the point is it's possible. and it's time for more colleges to step up with even better ways to do it. and we're going to provide dditional assistance to states and universities that are coming up with good ideas. third thing, even as we work to bring down costs for current and future students, we've got to offer students who already have debt the chance to actually repay it. nobody wants to take on debt -- especially after what we've seen and families have gone through during this financial crisis. but taking on debt in order to earn a college education has always been viewed as something that will pay off over time. we've got to make sure, though, hat it's manageable. s i said before, even with

good jobs, it took michelle and e a long time to pay off our student loans -- while we should have been saving for malia and sasha's college educations, we were still paying off our own. so we know how important it is to make sure debt is manageable, so that it doesn't keep you from taking a job that you really care about, or getting married, or buying that first home. there are some folks who have been talking out there recently about whether the federal student loan program should make or cost the government money. here's the bottom line -- government shouldn't see student loans as a way to make money. it should be a way to help students. so we need to ask ourselves, how much does a federal student loan cost students? ow can we help students manage

those costs better? our national mission is not to profit off student loans. our national mission must be to profit off having the best-educated workforce in the world. that should be our focus. so, as i mentioned a little bit arlier, two years ago, i capped loan repayments at 10% of a student's post-college income. we called it pay-as-you-earn. and it, along with some other income-driven repayment plans, have helped more than 2.5 million students so far. but there are two obstacles that are preventing more students from taking advantage of it. one is that too many current and former students aren't ligible, which means we've got to get congress to open up the

program for more students. and we're going to be pushing them to do that. the other obstacle is that a ot of students don't even know they're eligible for the program. so starting this year, we're going to launch a campaign to help more borrowers learn about their repayment options and we'll help more student borrowers enroll in pay-as-you-earn. so if you went to college, you took out debt, you want to be a teacher, and starting salary for a teacher is, let's say, $35,000, well, only 10% of that amount is what your loan repayment is. now, if you're making more money, you should be paying more back. but that way, everybody has a chance to go to college, everybody has a chance to pursue their dreams. and that program is already in place. we want more students to take advantage of it. we're really going to be advertising it heavily. now, if we move forward on these three fronts -- increasing value, encouraging innovation, helping people responsibly manage their debt -- i guarantee you we will help more students afford college. we'll help more students graduate from college. we'll help more students get rid of that debt so they can a good start in their careers. but it's going to take a lot of

hard work. the good news is, from what i hear, folks in buffalo know something about hard work. folks in america know something about hard work. and we've come a long way together these past four years. we're going to keep moving forward on this issue and on every other issue that's going to help make sure that we continue to have the strongest, most thriving middle class in the world. we're going to keep pushing to build a better bargain for everybody in this country who works hard, and everybody who's trying to get into that middle class. and we're going to keep fighting to make sure that this remains a country where, if you work hard and study hard and are responsible, you are rewarded, so that no matter what you look like and where you come from, what your last name is, here in america you can make it if you try. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. god bless america.

>> several live events to tell you about tomorrow here on c-span. president obama will be at a town hall meeting in new york at 12:45 p.m. eastern. part of a trip promoting plans to make higher education more affordable. later in the day in pennsylvania the president will be joined by vice president biden for an event just before 5:00 p.m. at 7:00 eastern c-span's road to the white house 2016 will feature ted cruz at a fundraising event hosted by the new hampshire republican party. >> health and human services secretary was in philadelphia today promoting the administration's outreach to the latino community to enroll in healthcare exchanges which

go into effect october 1 under the new healthcare law. his is 45 minutes. >> sounds like the mayor is fired up and ready to go. i like that attitude. thank you to the great team here for not only having us here today and hosting this important community discussion but also for being a great champion for coverage. and i know the kind of outreach that is going to go on here throughout community thanks to this organization is huge. i want to thank the mayor for welcoming me back to philadelphia. i haven't gotten the keys to the city yet but i'm kind of waiting for that. it is great to be here and

great to have a chance to visit with all of you once again. part of what we're focused on around the country is making sure that latinos reach their full potential in their country as huge contributors to the diversity and the broad richness of the united states. the latino population has about 10 .2 million nationally eligible and uninsured residents here in -- across the country. it's one of the highest uninsured populations in america. so outreach into the community to talk about what is available and what's coming is hugely important. uninsurance is not that you haven't bought a product of late. it really is a public health

crisis. we know that people live sicker and die sooner without health insurance. there is a direct correlation. we know that workers are less productive, that kids are less successful in school. families have a more difficult time taking care of their own business. so health insurance is about a quality of life and about the ability for each and every person to have not only the security that they won't lose everything if they get sick, but it's about peace of mind, peace of health, taking care of our families, contributing to our community. that's why the full implementation of the affordable care act is so critically important. let me give you a little snapshot. the laurelly is about a portion of the population who is uninsured or underinsured or in and out of the marketplaces. but let's start with the other

85% of people. across pennsylvania and here in philadelphia most people have health coverage, have coverage that is relatively affordable, it does a good job on behalf of themselves and their families and all that has happened with that coverage is actually it has gotten stronger thanks to the healthcare law. people have preventive services without co-pays and co-insurance. frevering cancer screenings to immunizations have to be covered. everyone will have an opportunity to make sure that if you're under 26 you can stay on your parent's plan. so we now have about 4 million oung adults just under 100,000 latino young adults here across the country who would be uninsured except for the law. they now have full coverage. we know that small business owners are already benefiting

from tax credits so they can provide coverage to their employees and those will increase. we have a situation where people don't have to worry about being in the middle of a treatment and running out of coverage which happened to individuals all the time because there are now no lifetime limits that can be imposed on policies. beginning next year there will be an out of pocket limit year to year so people won't be stuck with bills they can't pay. so those things have already begun to be in place since the president signed the law in 2010. the last piece of implementation is about to happen. starting october 1 of this year, as the mayor has already said, for about 15% of americans who don't have health coverage at all, they will have some new opportunities. they will have a new marketplace available to them and because they don't have an

employer paying a share of the coverage, they have some help from the federal government. about 92% across the country of people and here in pennsylvania who don't have conching at all will have some financial help paying for that coverage for themselves and their family. and they'll have a choice. for the first time ever in the united states, companies will have to compete against each other based on price and service. they will no longer be able to lock anybody out because of a preexisting health condition. being a woman will no longer be a preexisting condition. you can't be charged more for your insurance coverage. [applause] . >> very good news. >> and some of the rules which used to price out or dump people out of the market are changing forever. so here is why this is such a critical period for the latino

communities. latinos have the highest rate of uninsurance in the country. we also know that they make up about 25% of the individuals eligible for new coverage option under the law. and that will affect more than about 10 million people. in pennsylvania about 9% of the state's eligible uninsured are hispanic. in philadelphia that number is higher. it's about 17% of the eligible uninsured are latino. more of them are men than women. and we know that there are a number of young adults in the 18-34 category who also need that coverage. now i'm the parent of two young adult sons. i know that getting health insurance is not their top priority. they don't get up every morning thinking about health coverage. i'm not some days what they are thinking about but i can pretty

much guarantee it's not health insurance. so getting the attention of young adults is also a priority in this outreach campaign. a lot of people don't think about not having coverage until something goes wrong. but i like to remind folks we are all an accident, an illness or diagnosis away from what could be a lifetime of unpayable bills or treatment that could save a life. never before in this country have we had the opportunity that we have today where affordable coverage is really within reach. so to help individuals begin to think about enrollment, we have a website up and running. ours is a little easier than he one the mayor just resited. it's healthcare. gove. website n access the

today and get an account, get questions answered and the website is designed to be consumer friendly and easy to access. it even has the kind of chat feature that you have when you are shopping online. so if you pause too long somebody will pop up and say do you want to have a conversation. we also have a call center that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we have translate tors available to answer questions in up to 150 languages and that is up and running now. you heard the mayor reference the fact that there are now inperson helpers beginning to pop late communities across the country including here in philadelphia. all community health centers will have outreach people. navigate tors will be available in communities. and we have organizations training staff to help.

i was so pleased to here the mayor talk about the city of philadelphia putting their own resources. because some people are tech salvey and some people want to talk to a live human being on the phone and others need one on one help and they may need questions answered over a series of months. that's why we have a six month open enrollment period that begins on october 1. a brand new day is coming. i share the mayor's hope that the pennsylvania legislature and governor will reconsider the decision to expand medicaid. because absent medicaid expansion there will be way too many citizens who will not have any access to affordable care and that would be a tragedy. let me tell you because i think this is often a myth that is circulated. of the medicaid eligible uninsured individuals, over 80%

have a full-time worker in the family. so these are people who are going to work every day, they just do not have employer based coverage or don't have the income to afford 100% of coverage on their own. but it is a big opportunity. the door is not closed by the federal government. there is no time that the offer runs out. but the federal government for the first three years of medicaid expansion will pay 100% of the cost. 100% of all the newly eligible individuals and over the next 7 of for a ten-year period time the federal government share depose down but never below 90%. so it's always at a minimum 90/10 share. and that is a pretty good deal for the state of pennsylvania. i'm delighted to be here.

i'm dele lighted to have a chance to participate in the panel. i'm anxious to hear from hilda today. art of the panel we are working with one of the grate champions to local faith and health and faith communities are stepping up around the country. president obama likes to remind us that change doesn't happen over night and it doesn't often happen in washington alone. it really happens door to door, day-to-day in towns and communities across the country with neighbors and friends talking to one another, with outreach going on with people who are trusted. so all of you can be outreach helpers. you can talk to your family members, you can talk to your neighbors, you can talk to your church group. you can go and put a link on

your facebook page reminding people that on october 1 there is some new opportunity. we need that person to person coverage. this is a historic opportunity that we've never had in the united states. as the mayor said, presidents for 70 years have been trying to deal with comprehensive reform republicans and democrats. while it may seem this is still a political debate. the debate is over. the law was signed in march of 2010 by the president of the united states. a year ago the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the affordable care act and president obama was re-elected pretty overwhelmingly. this is the law and we're about implementing the law. i look forward to working with healthier more prosperous united states of america.

so thanks very much. [applause] you to ke to invite come also. we're happy to have another seat at the table. while we're transitioning, i'm going to start where the rubber hits the road which is about consumers. and we've asked and invited hilda to share a little bit about her own experience as it has to do with affordable care act and her own story. welcome. > thank you.

>> ok, well, as you can tell, i am latina. i am from the first generation puerto rican. i'm the first to graduate from high school, rhetoric, and undergraduate school in my family. can you hear me? i do not know how to do this. ok, which one do i speak into? do you hear me now? i need a booster seat. thank you. i will start over. i am latina, and i am from this area, north philadelphia. i am first generation puerto rican, the first to graduate from high school, from undergrad and graduate school.

when i graduated from undergraduate school, i was 22. between that time and enrolling in graduate school, i was employed full-time and no benefits. when i enrolled back into school, i was able to get back on to my parents' insurance because that was when the first revisions of the affordable care act came into effect. it allowed you to stay on until 26. this past june i turned 26. i aged out again. again, i'm fully employed, a legal assistant, and no health insurance. aca has been a blessing for me because i will be able to shop for affordable and quality health insurance, and in ctober 1 will be able to enroll. as a young person, it is

important for me to have health insurance because i can get hurt or sick at any time and incur health sciences i cannot afford. that is why it is important for me to have health insurance, and aca has been good to e. >> nice job. you did great. > thank you. >> a little nervous about today, but she did a fantastic job. secretary, you get to travel through the nation, it's interesting, your observation about hearing's hilda's story. what are some of the overviews that are critical for us to share? >> i think hilda is representative of a lot of the young adult latino population, one of the highest uninsured populations in this country.

we made a big dent in that population with the provision about up to 26 you can be on a parent's plan, but hilda said if you are healthy, you go beyond 26, and that you are aged out again, or a lot of people do not have parents who have health insurance plans. they are still highly uninsured. it strikes me that one of the things people need to know about is in the new markets there will be a plan specifically for folks under the age of 30, a catastrophic plan, if they want some coverage but do not want all the bells and whistles, and hen there will be choices of four different insurance levels in a more comprehensive plan, along with accelerated tax credits depending on someone's income. people will find for the first

time coverage very affordable. we also know that while there is a myth about young people not wanting insurance coverage, every focus group, every survey, every market said that that is just not true. 3 million people stepped up right away and got enrolled over the last couple of years on parents' plans, and most of that happened within the first six months. we hear all the time, and i hear as i travel around, from folks who just said, i want a chance to really take care of myself. i do not want to put my parents in a situation were something happens they could lose their house or they could lose their job or i would be faced with a lifetime of bills. i want to be responsible. i just cannot afford it right now. this is a really good day, and it is just something that will take a little extra outreach. we know we will have to use social network sites in a more aggressive way to tweet, or use facebook. we have lots of partners who

come out of the entertainment community, in the sports community, who make good messengers, to reach out to younger doubts. all of those are going to be used. >> we are very fortunate that for the city of philadelphia our health commissioner is a physician. i would like to ask a question as a doctor. why is health insurance so critical and what are affordable care act provided measures from a physician standpoint? >> health care is expensive, and as many people here and many of the people who know people here are clear, if the majority of young people who are uncovered do not have health insurance, they do not have access to preventive care and care early in the course of a problem. we see that occur with minor injuries.

folks who are at work or outplaying playing, who have a minor injury, they may be somewhat disabled or somewhat held back and cannot do nything about it to find out if it is serious or not. that injury becomes worse as their life and activities continue until they are at a point where they need much more expensive and urgent care and may even have permanent disability from that. for prevention, there are a series of preventive things, such as immunizations, checking for early stages for risk for heart disease, hypertension. in philadelphia, young people are very high risk for hypertension. coverage for care means good

advice, medication if needed, and assuring for loved ones and family as people establish young families that not only day, but their family can be covered. doing that early, a fundamental part of the affordable care act in understanding was if we identify problems early and get people access to care for those problems early, we will avoid both disability and pain and suffering, but also the long-term costs for all of us if we see people and care for them early. >> sitting in the heart of eastern philadelphia, there is a concentration of the latino community. not all. you mentioned the website is in spanish, madam secretary, and can't you talk about the amount of resources, including the application, being in spanish and other languages, and also the needs of undocumented individuals as it relates to

the affordable care act. >> the bill is crafted in such a way that those who are undocumented will not have access to the tax credits or shopping in the marketplace. that has been limited, which is frankly why another very key reason why we need comprehensive immigration reform. unfortunately, you cannot -- we will not fix the immigration system through the health care bill, but i think having the immigration bill that passed the senate, passed the house, would be a huge step. in the meantime, i would say for those undocumented residents, we have continued access to the community health centers, and an expanded

footprint. we have had additional financing going for culturally competent community providers, doctors, nurses, dentists, mental health professionals who speak the language and can reach out to the neighborhood. we have doubled the size of the national health service corps, which is one of the great well-kept secrets in america. it is like the peace corps for health workers. if you agree to serve in an underserved area, the federal government helps pay off the student loans and debt that a lot of health professionals carry. what we find is when people take up service in the national health service corps, they stay in the communities that they are serving long beyond their assignment. there will be continued access for undocumenteds, and there is no question that outreach to

individuals and, again, language and answering questions in a culturally appropriate manner is a huge part of this effort. it will not come out of washington, it will not come even come our of a neighborhood that people are not familiar with. it has to really be a part of a dialogue with neighbors and friends and family. that really will be -- and healthcare providers. that will be the most effective way to answer people's questions, tell them what is coming, and help if people need help us to walk them through an application. i fail to mention, cynthia, that joanne grossi, who is here, is our regional director here in this area. her office is right here in philadelphia. there's a team of people who are the hhs folks on the ground. she is the go-to person to

provide help and information and materials for meetings and help with outreach, and she does a perfect job, and i did not want to not mention her again. >> cynthia, on the issue of dealing with folks who may not have all their documentation in order. i do not use the other terms that some other people do. for folks who are undocumented, a couple things. one, as dr. swartz reminds us, we did everything we could to minimize the negative impact on our health centers that are in a recession. we have eight centers across philadelphia, and they were last -- on any list to get any reductions, although we made cuts all over the city government. and i am committed and working with dr. swartz to maintaining

a high quality of service and the funding that goes with our eight health centers. the second issue -- thank you. the second issue to go into more of what cynthia talk about, regarding undocumented. i signed an executive order in 2010 that requires all of the executive branches of the government at least that you cannot deny someone service rom the city of philadelphia ust because you may be in an undocumented status. i signed that order specifically to make sure that while folks are trying to deal with paperwork and dealing with immigration and all those folks over there on the federal side, that is not ours possibility. responsibility is to provide service to anyone who shows up

n this city. and so, folks, people should continue to come to our health centers, and i want to mention that jennifer rodriguez and fernando are both here from the relatively new mayor's office of immigration services and cultural affairs. so please let us make sure that we are doing our best to try to bride services to folks notwithstanding any language challenges, documentation status. if you are here, it is our job to provide best high quality service and care that we can't as a local government. >> believe it or not. we are coming to a close of our panel. just to highlight open enrollment and did we miss anything, important dates?

what is the website, could we go through this again, from the federal level and on the ground here in philly. >> at healthcare.gov, there is information right now vailable, and it will be state-specific information as we move forward. starting october 1, and on the website is also the toll-free call in number as well as information about who the navigators are in this area. we will begin to populate so people want to go find an individual. i know that congresso will continue to play an active role in this community with information, with their health center operation, with enrollment and outreach folks, so that will continue to be a very key outreach opportunity. starting october 1, there is a six-month open enrollment period.

the insurance would start in january. t is an opportunity for people really to get information and make some comparisons and make some choices that are good for themselves and their families. look at the information, ask questions, go see someone, so we want to make sure that folks understand there will be help available on the phone, in person, on the web. we have announced partnerships with libraries, and a number of ocal libraries are stepping up to dedicate computers and to have a trained research librarian as well as materials, so that will become available. i know that cvs pharmacies are training their employees, so when someone to comes in to fill that prescription, they will understand who has insurance and who does not and have enrollment information

available. a lot of health care providers will have similar information. blue cross blue shield has announced a partnership with walgreens. they will have outreach and enrollment. we will see more as we move closer to october, and hopefully people can find a way to get questions answered that they have, have someone help them come together and really take advantage of this historic opportunity. would say the medicaid battle has to continue here. we cannot forget that for the lowest income working pennsylvanians, if you do not expand medicaid, you will still have -- i think the numbers i was given -- about 95,000 individuals here in philadelphia, and overall, about 200,000 individuals in pennsylvania who would not have any financial help at all.

that would be a terrible tragedy as we implement this important law. >> i will give you the shorter one. i cannot even remember it now. www.phila.gov/health. go to the health department's website. as the secretary mentioned, with october 1 coming up, we are hearing up to partner in many instances with the navigators, and dr. don will talk a little bit about our efforts to make sure that people are getting the word out. 100,000 folks. one last thing the secretary said. i truly do not understand. i have read some things. i have not been able to have any understanding as to why the

state of pennsylvania is not xpanding medicaid. i hear about cost, the governor has figured out it brings in money, it does not cost you any money. truly do not know what this s about. i do not know if he can read between the tea leaves about this one. any other governors, regardless of party, have figured out how to do it, and i know we are unique and special here in pennsylvania. we are not that unique on this particular issue. we need to expand medicaid. >> one thing to say on the

federal seb site now and linked is early information for people who will be eligible for the exchanges to help them budget. and one thing that i think we often forget is someone whose income is 150% of the poverty level has a really tight budget in paying anything for healthcare. even though it will be a small amount requires planning and budgeting. my experience is and the health department's experience and the group going out to deliver information now are finding that people now are very interested in learning about what will this cost so that they can start budgeting. and people's interest in signing up for the exchange is very much tied to how much is it going to cost me if i go to the exchange. so please get the word out people can with no risk and no

harm and no questions asked go to one of the web sites now and learn for themselves what the benefits are and what the small but real costs are so they can get excited and ready. and then when we start real enrollment in the exchanges we'll have 100 tchourks prepared philadelphiaians who will all in october sign up. >> this concludes our panel and our event. i want to thank everybody for being here. we are going to be doing a lot of work. congress oh. net. you'll be hearing from us. thank you so much.

>> can you talk a little bit about how your own experience as a dwove nor has formed your negotiation on this? >> i would say even in states

where we may not have governor's support the marries have been extraordinary. they are often on the front lines of delivering healthcare services and picking up the cost for unreimbursed care. i have found every place i've gone, texas and georgia and florida and other states where the governor may not be all in, the marries are all in, members of congress are all in, faith leaders and healthcare providers are enthusiastic. so there is a team on the ground who is eager to move forward. clearly this law will work better in states where everybody wants it to work. it is more challenging when there is misinformation put out on a regular basis where you have to tell people the law will apply to you. there are people who get up in texas who think the law won't even work in that state. so getting that information

out. i think as a former governor i used to be on the receiving end of the hss program, i ran the medicaid program. i dealt with dual eligibles. a lot of uninsured. i would love to have had the medicaid deal when i was a governor, 100% of the cost, we woiled have taken it up in a heart beat. but it has given us a framework of flexibility, trying to make sure people understand there is not just one cookie cutter approach. we're eager to work with states. i am a former recovering insurance commissioner so i know that marketplace very well. so those experiences have been helpful being in the position i am right now. >> [inaudible] >> 40 days. >> i'm curious in those 40 days, how are you going to

raise awareness so people know these exchanges are available to them and given that tight deadline, what are you looking to do? >> events like this. the secretary has done a great job bringing the message to the ground and organizations are picking up this as an advocacy. we represent a community and are working with our federal partners to make sure this information is out. >> there are many mares across the united states of america, this was a huge topic of conversation more many of the marries regardless of party. all of the time the mayors across the united states of america who are actively

engaged in this process and i'll be doing my part here in philadelphia. >> it is time for us to activate the local advocacy community, the faith based communities, wonderful organizations like congresso. this can't be done inside washington. we need the partners on the ground. that's why the navigator grant rolled out last week. every community health center in the country has resources to hire education and enrollment people. a lot of hospitals are training their own staff. we've trained several thousand agents and brokers already who will be part of this network. this is now translated into reaching out in the communities where we know there are large numbers of uninsured. being available on the phone, on the web, in person to answer questions and then encouraging

people to take advantage of the opportunity they have for the first time to get the health security for themselves and their families. >> [inaudible] >> it wasn't slashed, it was just never appropriate yated. we certainly have gone back to congress a number of times for outreach and education funding and that bummingt has not been forthcoming so we are working with the resource that is we have. but knowing that makes partnership all the mar important because -- more important because we're launching a new national product and in the states where the federal government is running the marketplaces, we are responsible for that outreach and enrollment with our partners on the ground. >> think about how insane that is. we have this law, the congress has acted. the president signed the law. we're about to sign people up and yet some in congress think that we should not inform

people about healthcare that is available and ready for them and can actually improve their lives. that is mean spirited. and i don't understand why at this -- they want to keep voting to try to repeal, that's their business. we have a law. people are about to sign up. why you wouldn't market the hell out of this is beyond my understanding. the secretary is very creative and has a lot of support and flying all around the country and going to all these cities. we're going to get the word out and get people signed up so they can have healthcare. >> knowing that each state is different from the demand you've been getting from around the country? >> clearly we cannot waive statutes that are statutory. we have to work within the law. whether it's medicaid expansion

gives us a lot of flexibility. we have states we're partnering around the market. we're running part of it, they are running parts of it. we have the ability to try and incorporate features that are really important to the state. so in the state of indiana for instance they have a healthy indiana program. they wanted that to be part of their new med outreach and enrollment and we fashioned the program to look like that. in arkansas they are using assistance dollars and companies in the private exchange market to provide medicaid services. that's fine. it isn't that we have one strategy that every plan has to look exactly the same. we are eager to have states take a look at this. in pennsylvania, there would be $17 billion of federal funding in the first five years coming into this state to help insure some of the lowest income

working pennsylvania. and that seems to me a good deal. the return on analysis is an additional $3 billion in economic development would be produced by that funding, more staff at hospitals, more people able to pay their bills and go to work every day. so it's a win, win situation and we just really hope that that conversation stays alive and well in pennsylvania. >> that's all the time we have. thank you.

>> in a few moments, our first ladies's profile of frances cleveland. in an hour and half, a c-span town hall discussion on education policy. followed by the gallup poll

annual results on education issues. ladies,wo of first influence and image, begins monday, september 9. we will look at the life of edith roosevelt. this month, encore presentations of season one. programs on every first lady from martha washington to ida mckinley. tonight, francis liebling. cleveland. >> frances cleveland was a celebrity first lady unlike any before her. to help us understand, we begin our story inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue.

for the first and only time in our countries history. launching frances cleveland into instant celebrity. >> it is the same basic layout as it would have been on june 2. when president grover cleveland and his bride to be came down what was then a very large staircase to the family quarters at the west end of this corridor. they would have proceeded on the hallway, the music started up at the east side behind us here, where the united states marine band was assembled. the famous john philip sousa played the wedding march as the happy couple can down the hallway. they would have passed through these doors, these very same mahogany doors. come and the room, a different chandelier here, they would have

did under -- stood under the chandelier. said their vows. an enormous amount of flowers in the room brought from the white house conservatory. a large table where the sofa is now is a stream of potted plants and potted plants underneath. flowers were hung suspended from the moldings. the mantelpiece was covered with flowers. the fireplace was full of red begonias. it was a very brief ceremony, 7:00 p.m. an evening ceremony. the assembled throng just went down to the eastern promenade, for the bride probably to show off her dress. they went down that same hallway we were just in, to a wedding dinner in the state dining room. >> those are the strains of in

1890's recording of john philip sousa in the marine corps band playing the wedding march they performed at the wedding -- white house nuptials of francis and grover cleveland. good evening and welcome. tonight, the story of francis. cleveland, the youngest first lady to ever serve in that role. meet our guest for the evening. the author of a biography on her. the press corps, describe what it was like for the nation in the 1880's and how this business of covering presidents was coming into its own. >> think about the 1880's, it is probably what i would call the age of newspapers. every city had multiple newspapers and every one of those was looking for a way to make money. the best way was to get the best story. whoever could find out where francis was saying, what she was wearing, what she was doing,

what she looked like, that would help sell papers. it did not hurt that they made a little bit of it up. >> it was not quite a secret by the time june 2 came across. use of the word was beginning to leak out and investigations into who she might be and what the circumstances could be. they were really priming. >> absolutely. from the time cleveland came into office in 1885, there was all this speculation about who could possibly be his bride. it would waver between some of the women who would help his sister and her receptions at the white house, and then this competition in the mind of the public between whether or not it was francis or her mother, and all. -- her mother, emma. people were convinced it was not francis, she was way too young.

rightabout this time, they used to call it decoration day, cleveland sent out the wedding invitations. at the decoration day parade in new york city, frances was introduced to the public. >> the president was not very fond of the press. we have one of many boats about the ways that he described them. here is one way you would refer to them -- those schools -- ghouls of the press. he said, i begin to fear -- this is about their honeymoon. he had some na?ve concept that they would be able to sneak away how a honeymoon on their own. did it all turn out? >> that is whathe wrote when they were

going at the end of the summer. she thought that he had been able to outsmart press, because they had arranged for a special two-car train, on a side rail, and they figured they could get off to an area around maryland on some privately owned property. there was a telegraph agent who was bribed and revealed what the destination of the trade was. because it was pouring rain that night, when they got the train station, they had to take a carriage from the station to to their actual honeymoon location, the carriage got bogged down in the mud which gave the press even more time. they were staked out there by the time they got there. >> it gave rise to a new term -- keyhole journalism. >> and another term, which was associated with joseph pulitzer, looking in the keyhole to see if you could see what was going on in their private lives. >> in your book, i read that they finally try to concede and gave an interview during a honeymoon. how does that work to keep the interest down a little bit? >> he had what he called the

respectable papers, then the not respectable papers. i assume the respectable papers were those whose views coincided. he invited reporters from the so-called respectable papers to come into the cabin where he and francis were staying. they had stacked telegrams from well-wishers on the table. they shared some of those. very nicely staged, very choreographed. they allowed the press to see some of these papers, allow them to see him and her engaged to each other. it was their way of saying, now can you leave us alone? >> not only the age of news papers, but the beginning of the age of consumer branding. as we said in our introduction, there was widespread use by the president and first lady's image image to sell all kinds of products. that is how you first learned of this young first lady.

looking back at the history of branding and america. if you are to use the president's image today, you would quickly get calls from lawyers about doing that. were there any rules whatsoever about the use of the first image?>> no, and that is why couples image?>> no, and that is why these companies get away with it. several supporters of clinton and congress were trying -- of cleveland in congress were trying to get stuff past to not use their image without permission. he had enough detractors that even though they liked frances, they do not want to give them anything they wanted. they could not get these laws passed. >> here is a bit of francis cleveland" she had about her frustration. where is this from?

>> that was a letter she wrote to the editor of country magazine. he had running -- had run an ad for this company. she had become friends and asked him to arrange for that to happen. >> we have to explain how this 49-year-old president and the 21-year-old ride ever became a couple. tell us the story of grover and frances cleveland. >> grover was law partners and friends with frances' father. cleveland supposedly gave him the first a.b. carriage and became a fixture in the house. as she grew up, she started to call him uncle cleve. her father was tragically killed when she was 11 in a carriage accident. he was not a good money manager, some people who knew more about the family history said he was a he owed moreue.

money than he had in his estate. cleveland stepped in as executor and money manager to help handle the affairs and work with emma to oversee frances'education. >> i read all of these short biographies, and it tells a story that he became interested after getting into the white house on a visit from the mother and daughter, but your tail goes back further. all the time that she was in college, he was sending loads of flowers to her and writing letters constantly. did he have his eye on her for quite a while? >> i think he did. one thing that is interesting, people know little of her history. her alma mater will tell her about the special train them would come so he could come visit her. he did write her letters and send flowers.

she also accompanied him on campaign appearances when he ran for governor of new york. this is definitely well three- white house years. >> her family was receptive of this relationship. what was the public reception about the age difference? >> you had some language that call them beauty and the beast, because they did not like him and he was 47 -- 49, he was portly, not necessarily the handsomest man in the world. she was an absolute stunner. dark hair, blue eyes, tall, very good-looking. there were people that thought there was something strange about it, but they fell immediately in love with her. they kind of accepted him as part of the package. >> gary robinson on twitter -- asking how they met and asks this question -- did she love him?

you spent a lot of time reading your correspondence. >> i think she started out as most people do, thinking the marriage was semantic. but the age difference was significant. when it ensured -- matured into a deep caring. i would say it was a respectful and caring kind of love. >> grover cleveland had some very specific views of women in society and what he wanted from a wife. >> yes. >> would you explain it? >> in that time, there was still this attitude of spheres of influence where women were supposed to stay pure and take care of the home and children. that is exactly where he wanted francis to be. he did not want her pretty little head upset with notions about it and first lady -- being first lady or the demands of being in the white house or the wife of a president. he did not think that women should vote or work outside the home. >> this program, this series if you have been watching along the way, it is interactive.

there are a lot of ways to do that area can send us a question on facebook. there is already a chat going on for a little while about frances cleveland. you can also find our facebook page and be part of that. you can send us a tweet with the #firstladies. the good old fashion way, can make the phone call. here are the phone numbers. we will be working your questions in throughout our 90 minutes on frances cleveland. also something special for you, an opportunity to go inside the smithsonian's collection. you will meet lisa, the first lady's ear rate or at the smithsonian, to go behind the scenes a look at some of the frances cleveland items they have in storage here. not open to the public. we will be taking you for the first of center looks at the

smithsonian collection right now. >> we are here at the political history storage room. the collection is too fast to be on display at one time. objects not currently on the floor are stored in here. at any point, they can be used for exhibition or lend to another institution. this is her wedding dress. frances cleveland was an incredibly popular bride. she married the president in a white house ceremony, the only white house ceremony for a first lady. the bodice, filled in with a neck piece. this goes around it and creates a softening effect. it was a longsleeved dress. and this wonderful long train on the underside, trimmed in lace.

even the underside of these clothes you don't see had this beautiful trimmed. and this sweeping train. the collection contains more than clothing. at their wedding, we have public and personal pieces. one of my favorite things in the entire collection, this cake box. each of the guests at the wedding were given a satin covered box, painted with the bride and groom initials, to hold a piece of wedding cake. before the wedding, grover and frances signed a card for every cake box. inside, wrapped in lace. there would have been a piece of cake. this particular cake box was given to the minister who performed the wedding. byron sunderland. the minister at the first presbyterian church in washington d.c.

that testing to the public fascination of frances cleveland. this is a piece of sheet music, the cleveland's wedding march, composed in honor of the wedding, it was not the wedding march played at the wedding. you can see, it is decorated with pictures of mr. and mrs. cleveland. these are the images of the cleveland's together that will be part of popular culture for the next 12 years. >> we are back to our sector.set here. i want to introduce our second guest for the evening, returning from an earlier first ladies program. a historian for colonial williamsburg, steeped in first lady's history. welcome to the conversation. let us talk about the election. anybody who thinks there is hard knuckle politics today, look at

the election of 1884 that brought grover cleveland into the white house. pretty rough stuff going on. what would you like? >> politics in the 1880's is brutal. we think about earlier elections where they are taking swings at each other like jefferson and adams. they be in the 1800 election. politics in the 1880's, you are he talks about newspapers, it is personal, it is visceral and because of the way political parties have developed, they are able to take these swipes at each other that really we would find surprising today. in 1884, all of these things would come out in the 1884 election. two candidates cannot be more different from each other. grover cleveland on the one hand who probably has very little political experience of this sort. he was mayor of buffalo in 1881. elected governor of new york in 1882. two years later, he is the democratic nominee for president. that is all the major political experience that he has. he has developed a reputation of being honest and trustworthy and a reformer.

on the other hand, you have got a guy named john blaine, the continental lawyer from maine. if anything, he has too much political experience. he has been speaker of the house, a senator from maine, one of the major figures in the republican party. he has a reputation for probably having private virtue, a good family man, but also tainted by public corruption and an inside the beltway guy. he whole campaign of 1884 ends up revolving around these things. personal politics. the greatest strength of grover cleveland, the greatest opportunity that the democrats had, is the reputation of cleveland as being a man of public virtue man as any good political operative.

they went straight after probably his most weak points, the illegitimate child. >> the refrain for anybody who studied history, ma, ma, where's your pa? gone to the white house, ha ha ha. >> an illegitimate child in buffalo, new york. given the way buffalo was at that time, a lot of breweries and immigrants and massive growth, and illegitimate child was not all that unusual. maria named him oscar cleveland.

he stepped up to the plate and said he would take responsibility for her and the child. maria perley had problems with alcohol and was not taking care of him. an opportunity developed for him to place the child in the home of the family, mr. and mrs. james king. this young man started his life as oscar cleveland became james king junior. it was all pretty quiet, until they uncover the dirt and found out that cleveland had assumed responsibility for this child, therefore the assumption that he also was father of the child. there were some efforts to cover it up initially. then the famous line that cleveland says is, tell the truth. >> what to learn learn about cleveland from ms.? >> -- from this? >> he understands the virtue of making a story a nonstory. admit to it and move on. that is sort of how it works . stories go back and forth about why he does it. either he is telling the truth and it is his child, all evidence, the scant evidence that we have is that there is a

possibility it is his child. also the possibility it is the child of frances' father. the other part is to admit to it, make it a nonstory, say that it is true and move onto let us next. that is what happened in essence. >> how did frances' family react to this? it affected uncle cleve, the man she was eventually betrothed to. at the same time it could have been her father's child? >> the reaction was interesting, considering as we have been talking about cleveland was very obviously courting frances at this point. she has been getting lots of flowers and going amounts of campaign trips. apparently there is a story where one of her classmates came into her dorm room and happened to see a picture of cleveland of

the desk and wanted to know who it was. frances referred to him at that point as the mayor of buffalo. i don't know why it wasn't the governor of new york. her comment was a man more sinned against than sinning. emma wrote a letter to frances saint she hated cleveland going through all this trouble with this boy. there is never any discussion in those letters about who they thought the father was. >> we will take some calls and come back and talk about the cleveland administration and its significance in history. owl from maryland, you are on. >> thank you, first of all i have been a viewer of c-span from almost the beginning. you do a wonderful job across the board. i live in allegheny county, maryland. one county east of garrett county, which is where the cleveland's honeymooned. several years ago i had to do some research on the presidents who visited this area, and i dug

out my notes on the honeymoon of grover cleveland and frances. i wrote down a few notes on want to share with you. after the white house ceremony, apparently late that night or the next morning, they boarded a private railroad car and arrived in deer park, maryland, which is in present-day garrett county. they honeymooned here for about six days stayed at what is now known at the cleveland's pottage. the press followed them up from watching 10 and railroad detectives had to sit on their honeymoon cottage so reporters would not bother them. they climbed trees, they tried to spy on the couple using binoculars, they would drive the servants to try and get a jury of what they were eating, where they were going. according to accounts, they went trout fishing several times in a stream known as deep creek.

they caught almost 50 trout. they attended church together in downtown oakland, that has since been known as the church of the presidents. on their departure back to washington, a left from the deer park railroad station, it was then that the president met with reporters and some of the locals. he said their honeymoon exceeded their expectations. they never slept better. the air and temperature were delicious and they could not have found a more suitable retreat have a searched the entire united states. >> let's jump in. you have added some details to the story from the beginning and we thank you for that area anything more to add to his description of their enjoyment? >> he has done good research. what winds up with everything i have discovered, too. >> is the cottage still around?

>> that i don't know. >> next up is joseph indiana. >> excellent series. francis was always concerned about rovers wait. -- grover's weight. is there anything in research that she actually tried to get into lose weight after -- weight? >> she makes some comments -- they got a place outside of what is now part of the cleveland park section of washington d.c., oakfield. they were the first president to purchase a private residence to have someplace to go besides living in the white house. frances talks about trying to get him to walk around the farm or dress any way that that did not accentuate his weight. >> not his size as much as how he looked.

next up is paula in controlling you. >> i have a question about the wedding dress. i am assuming it is white in color? >> it looked the more dark cream color. without the original original color? >> i think cream was the correct color. it has yellowed with age, but believe green was more appropriate. >> any other any other questions? >> because of the age difference, if that would take place today, would we call her a gold digger in today's society? >> who would be criticized, he

or she? >> he could've been criticized -- robbing the cradle vomited it goes both ways. it is interesting to speculate what the media would do. and his pursuit in years beforehand. in this age when nothing seems to be secret for a long time. >> what we know now about his involvement with her from her birth, she bought her first baby carriage. he knew her her entire life. there would be people who would think this was a little creepy. moving on, modern, people think about donald trump in these kind of made december relationships. -- may-december relationships. depending on what your moral basis is for these relationships, i think you will get into a similar conversation. >> to the serious politics of the age, you told us the grover cleveland successfully ended a 24th perigee of the republican run at holding the white house. big issues of the time for the gold and silver standard, paris -- tariffs and.

corruption. what was his approach to the presidency? >> he was exceptionally strong. not to say that he was a great constitutional thinker. he was no james madison. he did have a very clear idea about what the role of the presidency was and the role of the federal government was. he thought his role as president was to be the guardian of the federal government and do what he had done as governor of new york, to go ahead and make sure that congress was not doing anything that would screw the country up. they were not going to engage in unnecessary social policy, unnecessary economic policy, he was there to keep them honest and do what he had done in these other positions and reform the

broader system of internet that he thought it undermined -- of confidence that he thought it undermined. >> he used the veto 304 times. >> more than that . if you include pocket vetoes. 414 in his first term, which is more than all presidential vetoes combined before him. he thinks this is just a way for guys in congress to the cable to curry some favor among their friends. he is detailing these things left and right. he has no problem in doing that. he has no real understanding, given his experience, of how the legislative process works. he is not really about compromising with congress. he is not interested in having discussions about these issues. he cares about health reform, making sure that tariffs are

being lowered, maintaining the gold standard, that is a sounder economic policy. outside of that, he wants congress to stay quiet. >> the sad part about that, we had reached a point in our --onomy where terrorist reform tariff reformis important because we still had tariffs that were way too high and it was hurting us internationally. probably some of the lack of that reform is hard the reason part of the reason that the depression starting that made his second term so dismal. partly because they could not yet terrorist reform in place. cleveland -- terrorist =-- tariff reform in place. he burned the midnight oil. we this might be self-evident.

solve them practicing parlor politics. he had quite a senate. did they use the white house to bring together any of the forces for compromise? >> lesson this and more in the previous white houses. like we said, one of his issues was tariff reform. she attends. she is over his major legislation on tariff reform. it is our direct evidence of her political influence. they are using the white house for very different kinds of things. she is able to improve his standing in d.c. by standing he has a reputation

of liking poker, like smoking. she socializes them. which gives them some -- but then when you're talking about the white house being used in the ways we've talked about, she is saying things like being involved in copyright legislation, focusing on intellectual property. she holds a a reception at the white house for authors to bring attention to intellectual property. part of the reason why you do not see it is because cleveland would not have it.

he did not want her engage. you didn't want to use her in that way or take advantage of what she probably could've done for him. if he had utilized her skill set, how first ladies have exercised before. >> enormous public interest on this young first lady that people were very excited about having in the white house. he is a great tool at his disposal. he elected not to use it. >> their editorials about this is his card to play. he is not going to play. he is want to focus on retelling be telling as much love installation as possible. it continues to undermine his political capacity.

>> you write about the fact that he has strong roles -- strong opinions by the roles of women. >> as part of his view that he didn't want her involved in anything political. even those things that he got involved with, which were not necessarily political, you see in her letters that he is angry with her because of how much time she is spending with his organizations and not involved with things that she thinks she should be involved with. this is also the first time in the series that we have video of this isthe first ladies. from later in her life, but we thought it would be

interesting to show you what the first lady looks like later on in life. we're going to to watch that as we listen to a phone call. >> hello. i'm calling -- we had a memorial day parade. >> how did you get the role of grover cleveland? >> they talked me into it. or i talked them into it. i guess he was a little bit heavier. i'm a little bit shorter. >> he said he was five foot tall and four foot wide. >> what is a question you have for guest tonight? >> there was the question about veto.

it was a tough time to be a president. i just find them interesting. i'm proud of the democrats. he was the only democrat at the time. there was one democrat. >> thank you. we talked about francis while she was not being used to be political. she was influenced and image. one was carefully watching the united states. we're going to its return to the smithsonian and look the dresses she chose, and learn how she might have affected style in the country. >> the fascination with frances cleveland really extended to her clothes. she was a fashion icon. women emulated her hairstyle.

she popularized everything she had ended. this is a dress from the second administration. this is the inaugural gown. this was her down from 1893. it stated her family and became the family wedding dress. the bottom of the dress is exactly the same. the top has been remade. it originally had a satin top with a large sleeve with bows on the shoulders. lace was used to create new bodice to make it more modern. this was used by her granddaughters. >> a wedding dress and inaugural dress. >> even her everyday closer very stylish. -- even her everyday" very stylish. a lot of them look like something you could wear now.

this is a jacket. black with beautiful velvet. it is definitely day wear. this is an evening he's. an evening piece. slightly more ornate. this would have a matching collar. you can wear this with a shirtless and skirt. it is 100 years old now. one of the earlier dresses, this dress was on display before even that. this was a reception dress she

would've worn during the second administration. the 1890s are when sleeveses become larger. this is a beautiful skirt and bodice. a matching evening gown. large puffed sleeves. and butterflies. a description at the time talks about the butterfly moves -- butterflies. you can see the damage that light will do. velvet was originally this color. over the years of display it has faded. >> i'm curious about how this 21-year-old, whose family finances were rather insecure, developed this taste and style.

sometimes it is just inate. she seemed to have had it. there was suggestion that her grandfather, who had lost his adult children, was interested in taking care of his grandchildren, provided money to pay for her. cleveland was not as wealthy as many presidents who own large amounts of land. he was my poor man, either. one she married him, there was money to purchase nice's clothing. she said some trends. the one she is the most amos for a famous for, getting rid of the bustle. it was a wire contraption that was on the back of your dress. it had gone out of fashion. a french couture decided to bring it back.

it was from the waist and over the hips. it was a slow-moving washington. reporters were looking for a story. they would say let's say she has quit wearing a bustle. the ladies had all their dresses remade. she asked for a bustle, and they said we heard that you have quit wearing them. since we have heard that, everyone has quit asking for them. but if you won't want, we will get one for you. she just looked at her and said, if they say that i stopped wearing a bustle, i guess i have to stop wearing a bustle. she had all her close removed -- she all her close remade. >> i think is a remarkable reflection of exactly how important all that coverage is.

they can use the extra ones as catchers masks. >> we should make the point that women's dress reform was very political, because the clothing women were wearing was restrictive and there was a movement to release woman from these restrictive clothing. it was a battle of the conservatives you versus the liberal view. did she get involved in this at all? >> she didn't get involved in it directly. it is interesting. you look at photographs at her, she is dressed very casually. she is still wearing a dress. she's in a bathing cost them. she is wearing what we would describe as a simple shift. away from the corsets, the ornamentation.

when she was -- she was 20 dress in a way she thought the public would expect her to look. >> hello. i am just calling to say that my husband and i own the house that the cleveland's rented for two summers in marion. they came to marion because richard watson gilder had given a talk at wells college and had met mrs. cleveland. she thought that her husband was under a lot of stress. when they found out that there was good fishing off of marion, they came during the summer in between his two terms, and they also have the only child that was born in the white house. their oldest daughter was supposed to have been named

after her. there is -- there next daughter was named after marion because they loved living here so much. they also had receptions here and were very successful -- accessible to the people of marion. he people here are very fond of the memories of the cleveland's. >> what is the house like today? is it still need style? >> it has been added onto. they lived in it when it was more like a farmhouse. i actually have quite a few photographs of them sitting on the porch. later on, it was made into a much larger house of the shingle style. it changed. actually, grover cleveland wanted to buy this house. the owner named a high price, so he decided he was a frugal man and decided not to buy it and

went down to born and bought a house there. >> you may be getting phone calls from our guests here to see those photographs. thank you for your call. we're going to quickly run out of time on this important term of the cleveland's. how involved was she at all in any of the axis of the issues? >> the biggest issue probably the time was the copyright that she was involved in. >> i think you are right in terms of her influence. she is going are beyond just the kind of parlor politics of having people over and talking to that retail politics. she is doing things like going to rallies to support this legislation.

she would actually go there on a company by the president to be associated with this legislation. >> there is a connection between what was going on in marion, massachusetts, and the support of the copyright. that was where the owner of sentry magazine and his wife, and artists, had salons. that is how francis met joseph jefferson and mark twain, and well-known writers of that time. that is why she got involved in that. she became very supportive of the copyright. i guess we should tell your viewers that the issue of the copyright is a part of the tariff issue. american writers were not able to get royalties if their works were sold abroad. what the effort was was to get these international protections for merrick and authors they would be able to get royalties

when their works were shoulder were sold internationally. >> the major political issues of the day, the huge debate over the gold standard versus replacing it with something that was based on silver, ward legislation regarding the native american lands\ and assimilation that any kind of legislation dealing with the massive increase of immigration , she is not involved in any of that to any extent. there is one particular story during the first term in 1887.

the new york fire department asks her to go and come up to be a part of a public event. she writes back saying that she is not going to attend. it is her view of the role of first lady to not engage in these kinds of public ceremonies without the president -- without the presence of her husband. the head of the near fire department gets ticked off about this and writes the president. he responds to him saying i agree with her decision, however it is up to her. if this is her concept of what the role of a first lady is, i supported. >> i'm not a thickly sure that was her decision. [laughter] >> today travel during the first they had a very successful tour.

this was the first time since the end of the civil war where a president embarked on this extensive to or be self -- tour of the south. she writes letters saying do it is been a wonderful interface to were -- tour. the crowds were enormous. >> the people of st. louis make coins with her image on her to hand out. >> we are up to the 1880s. grover cleveland stands for reelection against benjamin harrison. lower the issues? >> the biggest issue at this point is the economy starting to teeter.

the major part of the issue is really about making sure that so they can shift the monetary standard to silver, they are republicans were going to get back into the white house to do that you have to get back in new york. benjamin harrison ends up being this compromised candidate. he was a cold fish the political cartoonists having their way with him. he depicted him in this huge overcoat and old-fashioned hat to suggest he is wearing his grandfather's clothes. his grandfather was a former president. he is the sort of person writing that connection into white house. but the important thing about the election in terms of the understanding of it, two things.

it is the first of the big-money elections elections. this makes kind -- campaign finance history. the republicans put $3 million into the race pretty forget bout the popular vote. they want to focus on winning new york and indiana. $3 million is enormous. more than what has gone into an election up to that point. then there is the issue about what are you going to do about grover cleveland's greatest card. it is one thing to go after grover cleveland. it is another thing to go after both. what they do is, we are back into this bareknuckle time of politics in which the

republicans bring up the story that he is abusing frances. >> rumors of spousal abuse during this campaign are brought up on facebook. >> i'm convinced it is untrue. she loved to go to the theater. he didn't always go with her. a lot of times she went with a member of congress or someone who was on the white house staff. the story is that a supporter from congress took her to a play, came back, had a nice chat with the president, but that is allegedly when he beat her and beat her mother. nothing was said initially.

there was a minister for massachusetts to started saying these vile things from the pulpit. much like the situation with the illegitimate child, kind of bully would -- francis writes a letter that is sent to the papers. she is not supposed to be political. she supposed to stay in her sphere. this letter goes out over her signature that says i wish that all of the women of this country were as fortunate as i too have a kind and caring husband. here is the interesting thing about that. even though it is her signature, it is not her handwriting. it was written by daniel mach, the chief of staff. >> it was craft of the administration. >> there are these contradictions with grover cleveland. the way the democrats user during the election obviously

you've got to tamper down this particular issue. this election is in fact the one in which the image of the first lady is employed in political ways more than any other election in american history. her image on one particular camping piece in 1856. the democratic party is rolling out plants is -- the democratic party is rolling out frances cleveland. >> when she left the white house, she told the butler she would be back in four years. how was she confident that she she would be reelected?

>> it sounds confident. to be honest with you, the moment they hit new york, she started to campaign for him. >> part of it is that he didn't lose the 1880 election. in the popular vote. he actually outpaced harrison by tens of thousands of votes. but he was swamped in the electoral system. he's the only president other than fdr to win more than two elections. >> the republicans were ahead of the democrats in doing this electoral college strategy. it worked for them. >> absolutely. >> we have another smithsonian video. this talk about the lyrical partner and the roles that it late in the election that year. >> frances cleveland is so popular. people are imitating her clothes. they are wanting a piece of francis for themselves. they thought she was someone we

know. for pictures of the first lady became extremely popular. you can register on picture of mrs. cleveland to have in your home. based on these pictures, advertisers and manufacturers make an array of souvenirs. you can purchase and have mrs. cleveland in your house, in your home. you can purchase the small painted glass portrait. you can have plates. mrs. cleveland can convince you to buy a product. she is using campaigns. while we have grover cleveland running for president, we also have mrs. cleveland running for first lady. this is a set of campaign playing cards were you are electing the president, the vice president, and the first lady.

this is frances cleveland and the second administration. it looks little different. she is not the young ingenue. she is a confident matron. this is a pretty piece you could have in your home. notice at the same in his is used in this ribbon. the cleveland's visited the world fair. you can have a souvenir from the world fair. it commemorates the cleveland's. >> so they are moving to new york priebe are they new york city for their next top? >> it was probably a good place for frances with her interest in the arts, and cleveland will -- got a job there. he worked for a law firm. the attorney for jpmorgan, and several other extremely well- known and financially well-off and influential people.

he wasn't actually practicing law at the practicing attorney as much as overseeing activities within the law firm. >> the suggestion was it was the way to reclaim the white house. >> this launch right back into it. the fact of him winning the popular vote continues the democrats into thinking they're going to recapture new york. there are is some adjustments they can do in order to get back into the white house. it was very much question. what are the kind of steps they really need to take to shore up their him a tour of votes of they can get right back there? >> she gives birth to the couple's first child. there are a number of questions. wondering about the baby ruth

candy bar. >> the story there is that the first candy company about the candy bar. we should say that ruth cleveland tragically died in 1904. she would have been about 12.5 years old. it came out in 1909. there have been a lot of songs, images, just as they used mr. and mrs. cleveland. they used baby ruth in the 1892 election. >> you referenced her interest as a kindergarten movement. it was a big social movement in the country at the time. >> it was designed to help americanize immigrant children and their mothers. it was the idea of being able to

put children into school settings in which could teaches them. american patriotism. the mothers would take that knowledge back and bring it to the husband and to all of the children in the family. immigration was a critical issue. >> it is extraordinary. it is the greatest of mass immigration in america. in terms of percentage of the population. its 500,000 people coming in every year. they are german. they are irish. there are catholics. they are eastern europeans. the demographic change that the american population is going through in this major movement from a mainly a growing