today is more serious and nothing is receiving more serious scrutiny. they queue. -- hank you. quacks coming up on c-span encore of our first ladies series featuring ida mckinley. and a a town hall on immigration. to see in once core of the first ladies series and a look at the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. of "first ladies: " begins onnd image september 9. tonight, an encore of the first season with ida mckinley, wife of the 25th president william mckinley. ♪ >> the story of ida mckinley can be told through an exploration

between her husband william mckinley. they spent 30 years together which brought them happiness early on. it changed their life into illness and devotion to shape the presidency at the turn of the new century. joining us tonight to tell the story of ida mckinley are two guests returning to the table, richard norton smith and carl anthony. we are going to start our program with film. this is the first time that a president and first lady have been captured on film in the the united states. this rare footage is mr. and mrs. mckinley coming on stage in 1901. that date is significant because the next day the president would be shot by an assassin's bullets. what was it about this

exhibition that attracted the president to want to go? >> it was a world there. -- fair, it was a celebration of america's place in the new world. the presidency was very surprising in many ways. in fact, he was the president who took the country to the world stage. the spanish-american war and turned america into a republican into an empire. at the end of his life in the last speech he gave, in effect he talks in ways that years later we can all appreciate about opening america to the world. >> we were looking at our posting and everybody is asking about what is known of ida mckinley, her ill health.

here she is traveling with the president. what did the country think of the president to know about her? >> it is an interesting dichotomy. this is the pattern of her life. she had been grossly miscast by history as this victorian invalid on the fainting couch. there were times when she was that way. she had chronic illnesses. one was seizure disorder, known as epilepsy. she had damage along her left leg which led to immobility. she also had a compromised immune system. she was susceptible to infections. they took a tour across the country, six months before he was shot.

when they got to california, she almost died and sever cisco. the presidency -- in san francisco. the whole nation, and the world was focused on this. six months later, she was walking unassisted. >> the very next day, an assassin struck and killed president mckinley. who was he? what were his motives? >> his name was leon czolgosz. i have trouble pronouncing it. you would call him a drifter. he was in an anarchist. >> what does that mean? >> it meant that people at that time thought existing monarchies was at the attachment of the common man. some and a press -- anarchists

were against the system that was topped by the powerful. mckinley had power and he said he had none in effect. he had planned on killing the president early in the year. the king of italy had been murdered. leon would stay up late at night reading newspapers about the death of the king. it may have triggered it. he made plans to kill the president. ironically, the people around mckinley -- the secret service protection and there was one guard at the white house that retired early that night.

>> we asked this with the last assassination. this was the third president. >> and this is why we got serious about protecting our presidents. the secret service was busy working on counterfeiters. the president's secretary wanted to cancel the reception at the fair. he worried about such a threat. ironically, leon czolgosz got in and wrapped a gun around a bandage around his hand so it was unnoticed. he shot the president twice. at first, it was thought that mckinley would recover.

about a week later, he took a turn for the worse the -- for the worse. that was the last time the american people focus on william mckinley. >> we are showing an illustration of ida mckinley at the presidenct's deathbed. she was not at his side on day two when the assassination took place. how does it play out with her? >> at this point and we will get later on to the story of her epilepsy, finally among the string of doctors she had, she had one who committed to helping her in controlling the seizures. part of that required a very strict regimen of food, diet, and rest. she had been with him in opening day. they went to niagara falls. then the doctor said, it is time

for your rest. both the president and mrs. mckinley had bought off on that. she was taking her scheduled rest. she suspected something had happened when the hours started going by and he did not come back. she was very calm when she found out. she rose to be extraordinary. she was going out walking. she was walking along the sidewalk in talking to reporters which defies perception of her. >> we have some video we are going to show of the mckinley in will. what was the country like at that time? >> the fact is if you talk to the man on the street in september of 1901, he would've told you mckinley was certainly

the greatest president since lincoln. there were people who compared him to lincoln. he was not simply admired, he brought us out of the greatest depression since that date. he projected american power, economic and military onto the world stage. he is a very large presence for somebody to become almost forgotten. when he died, the enormous grief in the country and the reason why people love to mckinley, even people who do not love -- vote for him because they saw

his tenderness and devotion to this wife area >> we are going to go back in time and learning more about ida saxton and life with william mckinley. we are going to go back to her early days of canton, ohio. taking you to the saxton house which is what it is called today. and to the mckinley museum. this our first video tonight. [video clip] >> it is significant in the life of ida because this is the house in which she was born. she grew up in this house along with her sister and brother and parents and grandmother. this was the house she lived in up until she met and married future president william mckinley. this is the family parlor where the family would have spent evenings reading and conversing with each other. this not a place where they would entertain. we have on the wall one of the earliest known those -- photos of the item her sister and brother. on the wall above the mantel, we have a portrait of ida's father, john. over on this wall, we have a

photograph of ida's beloved mother, kate. this room was actually replicated from a photo that we received from a descendent that is one of the few interior photos that we have of the house. we are in the formal parlor of the house. in this room, we have examples of ida's love of music. we have heard -- her piano. she became the first first lady to provide entertainment after state dinners and showing that love of music. that was part of her formal education. when she and her sister went on a grand tour of europe in 1869, one of the items she broke was this music a box which was donated by a descendent. she bought it in geneva.

there are letters she wrote home to her parents throughout the trip talking about looking for music boxes. she sees them in different places but does not care for the quality. she said she would wait until she goes to switzerland and i will buy one there. this is the one she bought. >> we are going to see some of the letters. the letters that we have a written to her parents from her and her sister, mary. they went to europe to see all of the countries that they could. the letters that we have detail a lot of the post was that they saw in the countries they went to. this one is from scotland.

she said people should travel to see how much there is to learn to react how much i will enjoy anything that burns has written. she really made the most of her trip. she was studying the different countries and seeing things you can see on the grand tour which took six months. we have other things that her life. this is what she would've carried when she went to church. this is before she married mckinley. these are some of the hymns she would have sung at church. this is one of my favorites. this is the actual wedding license that william mckinley jr. signed. he dropped the jr. after his father died. this is what they filed after

they got married. at the time, it was not necessary for the woman to sign. william signed it, but i did not. -- ida did not. >> she was born to well-off parents. what is important to note that mark -- know? >> they were radical against slavery. and also equal education for women. ida's mother was extremely well educated. ida mckinley is the most fully educated of all the first ladies up to that point. her father was friends with a fellow abolitionist.

her grandfather was friends with horace greely. ohio was the california of the day. it represented the far west. his movement for equal education for women. ida's father helps to bring a famed abolitionist whose name i cannot remember now. ida follows her with the teacher goes to teach at an academy during the civil war. she goes on to study in cleveland. she studies at the brook hall in pennsylvania. what you see is a worldly, educated young woman with an interest and finance and a capability for mathematics and also great physical activity. she is an unusually fit young woman. she hikes up to 10 miles a day.

two significant factors on that trip to europe. one is that she sees for the first time poor and working- class women working in belgium. she finds out how very little they make and have to live on. she is sort of devastated by this. she reflects and a lot of letter. she buys a lot of lace to try and to do her part to help them. she sees an artist born with no hands who is painting in one of the galleries. at first, she is put off by this. a real sense of empathy for people with disabilities. >> her father who owned a bank gave her a job as a teller. was it normal for a woman to work or was it ok because it was for her father?

>> certainly not in a managerial capacity like this. it does tell you a lot about the relationship with her father. >> we want to invite you to join in. we are using some of your tweets. use the #first ladies. you can also go to our facebook page. we have a good old-fashioned telephone. the phone numbers on the screen and divided by the region. we welcome your participation. she met at the bank major william mckinley. >> it must be said that he married up. this is a young woman with a pretty cosmetologist back -- cosmopolitan background. he was born in ohio area from a

family in the iron making business. people think that's where he got his attitude of protectionism. he came back home homesick. that was the real classroom for somebody of his generation -- the war. he entered as a private. he exited as a major. along the way, along the patronage of hayes. he took a liking to this young man. years later, ida was spent a good deal of time in the hayes white house. that relationship became a significant one.

>> they were married when she was 23 and he was 27. what were her early years like? >> they were conventional. she stopped working. he was interested in politics. when i went rule breaking this new biography on her, you see the first legal cases in the business he was handling. the saxton family helped build canton. it became an important industrial center in ohio at that time. certainly ida's father and grandfather helped build it. mckinley helped to sustain it

and make it famous. he was not -- he rose in prominence because of her. >> a few years after they got married in 1873 was an onset of problems for her. what were they? >> and they were living in a house that was described as their house -- her father had bought it. she gave birth on christmas day to the first a daughter on katie who was very healthy and the central focus of their lives. ida's mother became very ill with cancer. i should say at that house, the saxton/mckinley house was the white house. it was owned by her maternal grandmother. it is passed through four generations of women. ida was very close to her mother and grandmother. she was pregnant for a second time when her mother had cancer. her mother died before she gave

birth. there is a picture for falling her mother's burial service. from what we can tell, people were later on recalling it, she struck her head. she may have had a bad spinal injury. she started developing seizure disorders. >> jennifer on facebook says -- i hope that she suffered -- i heard that she suffered from depression. were there more depression episodes? >> it comes and goes. the great discussion that this biography will point out is that

for the entire first half of the mckinley's years in the white house, ida was fine. she was traveling on her own to new york. she was relatively active. she was still disabled that she had a mobility problems. she adapted to the role of first lady. she did not hide the fact is she an occasional walking problem. the depression, you know, her physical problems and resulting emotional problems. sometimes frustrations with her husband because it was a loving and devoted relationship, there were like any marriage, times of strained. it is all good about being optimistic when you are the one who can get up and walk away. there are times when this young

woman who was so active find her life and different. >> i have read and you know more about it. there was this amazing scandal of the murder of the first lady's brother supposedly by a mistress. then a trial which had been sensational. the mistress was acquitted. there was a cause and effect. she went into a severe depression. >> that was a story that was largely put out in a book by margaret leach. it is actually not true. that happened in october of 1898. it is not until june of 1899, a good amount of time after the trial that other factors -- his reelection and campaign and not telling her he is running begins

to cause this depression. >> will take a few phone calls. >> thank you for having this wonderful program. my question is really specifically to the hobart's and mckinley's and more specifically to the role that jennie hobart played as an acting first lady during the years that they were in the white house. can you speak to that issue? >> i will summarize it by saying it is false. she was there more as a friend and support. ida mckinley never was absent from any of the official duties of first lady and had someone substitute for her. she had her younger nieces, mary barber, who she was very close to. sometimes they were frustrated

because they did not want to undertake the obligation. mrs. hobart was very close to her. she advised the president, if you want to change the seating arrangement you can. ida really considered her a very genuine friend. she never substituted for mrs. mckinley. >> maria is watching us from rhode island. >> thank you for having me on. my question is, how did ida mckinley deal with the death of her children in comparison to other first ladies such as mary todd lincoln? >> she was up in the attic of writing letters. it is the worst thing that a parent can go through. it is universal area -- universal. >> it became known as the

mckinley home. it was seen through different euphemisms. they only lived there for two years. they moved into the saxton/mckinley house. mckinley lived longer and that house than any other place at all. katie came with them. she died of scarlet fever. this is after ida has been through the trauma and is going

through dealing with this very bewildering new factor in her life -- and the seizure disorder. some years later she began to take comfort in buddhism. it was reincarnation. you begin to see ida mckinley instead of writing letters to her dead child, she kept katie alive. she would always have a picture on the wall. she kept her close -- clothes and rocking chair and spoke sometimes as if the child was still alive. there are first-hand accounts of her looking at young children because she tapped that perhaps katie had been reincarnated. >> we will return to the house to learn more about the political partnership between the mckinley's. >> during the years of william mckinley's political career, the house served as the residence. they had living quarters on the third floor of the house which was originally a ballroom and was turned into a living quarters with a bed room and

entertaining area. off of that room that we used to conduct business. we are in his office right outside the ballroom which becomes the living quarters of ida and william mckinley. this is the kind of set up they had. everywhere they went during his political careers. the doors stayed open to the living quarters. ida stayed in the living quarters so she could hear what was going on. she would never take part in meetings. she would never express her political opinions. she would never join in. this the kind of set up they had when they were in columbus when he was the governor. there was no governor's mansion. >> william mckinley, u.s. congressman became the party's nominee in 1896. what were his party politics? what was the republican party

like with him in it? what's it was the party of big business. -- >> it was the party of big business. protecting american industry. it is hard to believe but you can look at the political map in 1896 and it would flip-flop today. mckinley and the republicans swept the industrial northeast. it is absolutely reverse of what we take for granted today. mckinley had become identified

with this issue of the tariffs. he had been gerrymandered out of his job. the democrats tried twice and they got him. they should have reconsidered. the next year he was elected governor of ohio. he was reelected two years after that. one reason why he again is today out of a prisoner of big business is his association -- >> there's a story that he had a ritual that he would get up from his desk at 3:00 and wave to ida. >> is actually the governor. he will go to their home, a residential hotel in front of

the plaza and he would go out and do this. tourists new at 3:00 -- look at how devoted he is. none other than teacher president warren harding -- future president warren harding told the story. they knew that mrs. mckinley had been back in canton for a week. he was putting on a good show. that's devotion to ida he became to use as presidential timber. he was disciplined and focused and devoted and loyal. these are the kinds of things you can look for in him. >> it seems strange that he

would get up during meetings and way. it was very shrewd. >> shrewd political theater. he used this little bit of theatre because he would get off the train and carry her purse. he will put the shawl around her. people would clap. this became part of his persona. >> was he as popular in america as he was in ohio? >> he was. we are talking about the height of the victorian era. apart from that, mckinley was a lovable political figure. they are always being petitioned. people want jobs. people want something. the governor of ohio was no different. mckinley had a disability, -- had an ability. he had developed he would change the subject. he would take a carnation off his coat and pin it to his petitioner and send the guy out who did not get what he wanted.

he had this mode of connecting with the governor. this is what made his political genius. it was not sophisticated. what ever it is, he had it. >> hi, charlotte. >> before you get to my question i want to say i really enjoyed the show. this a second time i've been been watching this with my mom. my question is did ida mckinley play anything else besides the piano? >> did she play anything else? >> i found no evidence. they think she took an interest in a wide variety of music.

she loved the opera. she was big on the theater. she had a lot of friends. what you love about being first lady was having all of the stars of the stage, this was before hollywood, come to the white house. she had all kinds of music played at the white house. she had mexican music. she had a british club. she had african american music. she even had a rack time performed at the first valentines dance. >> marilou in kansas. >> my question was answered already. i want to thank you for this program. i really enjoyed it. i want to ask if there will be a dvd of the programs available later? >> all of them are online. you can order dvds from our website. go to c-span.org. we have it all online for you to

watch again. the 1896 campaign was jennings versus mckinley. jennings campaigned through many states. he was on the road all the time. mckinley conducted what was known as the front porch campaign. we'll learn more in our next video. >> mckinley played an active role in in the campaign and in the front arch campaign. she would be seated on the porch. she would never speak. she was always there. there was a perception of by the public that ida was an invalid. campaign managers wanted to dispel that, they wanted to show that ida would serve her role as first lady. there have been many first ladies in the past that were ill that it did not really play an active role.

now it is 1896. we are coming on the new century. communication is better. people are learning more about the president and their first lady. they are starting to have expectations that that first lady play a role of. you do not want her to hide way. that is what the campaign managers wanted to do. they wanted to bring up that this is not an invalid, she was active and wanted to play that role. we have some of those items that were created for the campaign, for ida mckinley. we have been campaign biography. we have some ribbons that were put out by different organizations. we have a piece that is a paper tray and the wife of the other

candidate. well the piece of china that has ida's image. all of these pieces were out there in the public. ida was out there in the public. she did not make speeches. she was always there and always present. >> how well was -- how well known were her illnesses known by the public? >> the greater problem which william mckinley never ceased searching for a cure for the seizures. because visually he would see her with a gold handled cane and will chair did not, toward the end of his administration. he would always give his arm to her. it was easy to focus on that. she would talk to reporters and

say, i have a lameness in my leg. that for a while cap things, kept the public satisfied. you start hearing expressions like nervous affliction. they never used the word epilepsy in her lifetime. what was really going on and was tragic in and of itself was the ignorance of the vast population about the seizure disorder even when the agent knew balaji is donning, people got -- age of neurology is donning, people thought it was mental. mckinley was afraid people would and his wife had a mental

illness. he contacted a doctor in new york, this was before the fda. this guy broke the code by giving a mckinley salts to control the onset of seizure. the doctor started writing and said i gave you the condition i would give a weekly report. it is a very precise measurement that has to change week to week based on that. mckinley would never write. he did not want to put anything in writing. over time, it crated -- it created a greater harm.

over time, it can damage the nerves. >> in an attempt to help her he made her condition worse? >> yes. >> can you define for people what to be salts are? >> i cannot recall the chemical. i think it is potassium. a white powder that would be stirred into water. it was not a tablet. there were tablets that i made reference to. i found this largely by looking at his canceled checks. they wanted to get rid and he did not reply to the doctor, he did not agree of the checks. it is a sedative but it does the senses and nerves. >> we saw the use of campaign.

was this a new trend, it into the country where the wives helped the candidates of pill to the public? >> the last of the old-fashioned campaign. theodore roosevelt exploited it. they were very exploitable. edith roosevelt was the least willing to go along. the children had a great time. this is the hinge. you have newspapers with pictures. all of a sudden, presidents and their families who were very remote figures before, they have faces and personalities. that expanded to the families as well. it would take off as the media became course is physically.

>> good evening. first of all, i want all the callers to know i have a comment to make. this program that you have put together on c-span has been phenomenal. i have watched most of the series and i've been educated and enlightened. i have a couple of comments. >> the gentleman sitting across from you, it was decided to do the series and our producer worked very hard on this. thank you. >> you are absolutely right. richard norton smith, it is a pleasure and an honor to be up to talk to both of you folks. i have as a love of history i have followed both of your works for years. i'm just honored to bring to talk to you tonight. first of all, with regard to

mrs. mckinley's help -- health, i noticed you comment about six months before mr. mckinley was assassinated she was gravely ill when they had a trip out to the west coast. i noticed there was a report that was in the "new york times" about how near death she was. was that the first time that a first ladies held was publicly reported that mark i am curious to know why they felt the need to even get that out there. maybe 20 years since that a president or first lady would not have wanted that information to be released. >> thank you.

>> a really great question and observation. the only other first lady would go through an element -- an illness was caroline harrison. that was toward the end. before she died, more details were learned. in large part it was they were traveling. they went through tennessee down to new orleans to texas. ida mckinley got out of the other side of the train and ran away with a bunch of women who took her to a big breakfast across the border making her the first incumbent first lady to

leave the united states. they came to the fiesta flowers. at that point should be shaking hands that she had cut her finger, she had a ring on. it became ineffective. as they were going up the coast and i go through all the details in the new book, to summarize this debate about issue going to get better? mckinley said i've seen her, she is always gotten better. the doctors said this is pretty serious. when they had to cancel everything and she was really near death that is when, of coarse reporters were traveling with them. they had to tell the truth. they were very honest about it. they gave daily reports. >> with regards her seizure disorder, the president developed a technique when they were at events. it was described by taft who attended a home in canton. let me read how he described it. "at that moment we heard a hissing sound, mckinley through

a nap and over his wife's face and without a trace of excitement handed me his pill so. -- pencil. not a word was said by the incident." people have heard the napkin story. is it true? is it is true but has been exaggerated. here is what the truth is. that only occurred in private. his was at their home. -- this was at their home. the other accounts are in reference to private dinners. this never happened at state dinners. this never happened in public. and in a way, it would have been better. the reason it did not happen in public was because she was being kept on the drugs that were dulling her senses.

when you people talking about how vague and distorted her conversation was becoming, this is a 1099 and afterwards -- 1899 and afterwards. the of fact of the nerve damage that was occurring. >> we are going to return to canton, ohio and look at some of the dresses of the first lady that they have preserved their as a sense of how she preserved herself. >> in order to see some the most fragile and important pieces from ida mckinley, we have to go into our main storage area. this is where we keep her white house dresses and other artifacts.

this dress is my favorite. and we are in the middle of a process so that we can have these dresses repaired so they can be on a mannequin. this one is my favorite because it is so heavily ornamented. you can see on the beadwork. it has silver beats. -- beads. it has tiny little mirrors. it would have reflected light beautifully. this is typical of ida's style. the fashion would have been high collar. the puppy sleep -- puffy sleeves. it was her ivory -- favor ivory color. she did not have a lot in her life to be excited about. she was a semi invalid.

fashion was important to her as reflected by the guilds in our collection. >> we are beginning to see first ladies club set the trends. was she a trendsetter? >> she was not. she did get into a bit of trouble with the audubon society by wearing a feather in her hair. ms. cleveland and mrs. hayes, great lovers of animals. ida mckinley was not a great animal lover. let me clear up a stupid and untrue story was that she ordered the trunk of cats during the spanish-american war that been named after spanish leaders, political and military. i've really tried to track that down.

there is zero evidence that she did not do it and that there were any cats. >> it was a busy time in the country. some of the major events that were occurring during the administration. 1898, the spanish-american war. it brought teddy roosevelt to prominence. [laughter] the war of revenue act. the open door policy. 1900, gold standard act. you talk about him as establishing the power of the presidency. >> two quick examples. 18 -- 1896 matters because it is an election. they cannot know it in 1901, when william mckinley -- for the next 40 years up until the new

deal, republic had been the dominant party. he broke the logjam after the civil war when he went back and forth. that is important. one other case of presidential power that is relevant is mckinley dispatched 5000 american soldiers to combat the boxer rebellion which was a secret society of chinese who were set up with the explication of the country by western imperial powers. they had laid siege. a young cunning couple -- honeymooning couple and hundreds of westerners and thousands were

threatened. mckinley sent these troops as part of an international expedition in the nick of time they arrived and were able to save about 900 westerners who were there. he did it on his own power. he never talked to congress. presidents would use that example in situations that may have been similar. that is one way in which he transformed his presidency and the presidency. >> i love this program and my question was when we learned in elementary school, they told us that when mckinley was assassinated and had died his wife sat in the white house

quite a long time playing the p&o and got up and took a canary and left the white house and everything else in it? is that true or false? >> and that is false. i'd mckinley -- well, it is shocking how so many of the simple request she made in regard of her husband and his coffin and his remains were ignored. she was not really treated much her requests as a widow were not honored. >> when he was looking at all of these issues, it was the custom to drink a mixture to stay awake that contained cocaine? >> americans drink coca-cola.

it contained the same substance. >> the answer is yes? >> it is yes. >> the pope used it. >> was consumed with his wife's health. how does that affect his presidency? >> a ship was sunk in havana harbor in february. he is reluctant to go to war. the negotiations with spain are down. we go to war. there were times when he stayed up late at night but the truth was that was the period when she was worried about him. in act, there is a strong record

their shows she was trying to talk to his assistant we need to do something about him. she was playing the protective role. this apl when she is -- is a period when she is physically stroke. after the war is declared over, then the filipino american war because we took the philippines they did not welcome us. and they resisted. it was bloody and horrifying. there were atrocities committed on both sides. that is when she was at her neediest. that is when the pressure really did get to him. he had to constantly make the choice between his work and his wife. >> surprising parallels between then and now. the 113 days it took to defeat a spanish empire.

what we tend to forget is that like iraq and afghanistan, the immediate victory was followed by a protracted, very bloody insurrection which went on for four years. 70,000 american soldiers who were in the philippines trying to put down. while mckinley was preaching benevolence, the problem was the filipinos do not want to be assimilated. >> joshua in florida. >> first of all, i want to thank you you for this program i enjoy it. i want to talk a little bit about what you mentioned last week. last week this story and mentioned that many eisenhower was the first fashion icon and then jackie kennedy was. i cannot help to think that would've first for slaves to be

shown on tv regularly. -- been shown regularly on tv. he talk about the images especially ida mckinley? >> i would not place too much emphasis. it was a matter of fact. these were shown more on nickelodeon's. a few of the movie theaters that would become an newsreels by the time of woodrow wilson. the very first one was the presidential campaign, his brother was always asking for

railroad passes and looking to make a good on his brother. his brother got involved and one of the first film companies. mckinley takes his notification. you see ida on the front porch walking. it was more of a haphazard fact that she appeared. it was not a factor. what i will add is there are newspaper illustrations, hand drawn illustrations that allow for them to take photos that looks like a cut and paste of actual photographs with people's faces and drawings of them in various scenarios. the first impression cast of her in a wheelchair when she almost died in san francisco. >> that is 1899.

rachel on facebook asked what was her view on one man's suffrage? she goes to massachusetts at smith college. do we learn about her views on women's rights? >> this is something i discovered. like everybody else, i had a general impression of her as the invalid. in fact i'm a she goes with the president and at smith college he becomes the first president of the united states to address the issue of women's education. today we do not think of it as a big deal area in that day, it could be the end of american society if women get jobs. the social fabric of the families will go away. we do not have the text of what her speech was. she delivered a short speech. and one of the rooms inside a building, presented with a silver cup and made some remarks. she was very decidedly in favor of women's rights to vote. on one day, the anti-separately

came and president mckinley went with them. ida did not come down the stairs.

this is something that we see in a lot of her personal belongings. this was her sewing bag. she would keep her crochet items in here. this is one of the crochet needles. and, again, it is her favorite color blue. and inside, we have a picture of william mckinley. so even when he was away from her, she would have something to remind her of him. ida mckinley was known for her crocheted slippers and she would spend hours crocheting the slippers. we think she made approximately

4,000 pairs in her lifetime. these are unique for the soles that they have. the leather soles on the bottom. she made them in various sizes. we have a pair of child sizes. they were made in blue, grey, or ivory color. these are the basic colors she would use. since she was not well and not able to do other types of work as the first lady, this is one of the things that she could contribute one of the ways that she could contribute. because she would donate these to a charity to needy children and war veterans, or she would donate them to the auction to raise money for a charity. >> so on twitter, sheldon cooper wants to know did william give knitted slippers to his political friends and adversaries? >> yes. and it was actually pretty

brilliant. because by the way, i should say ida mckinley was a very witty woman. and a little bit subversive. she didn't like someone. the one area you do see her having an influence is judging the character of the people that he is considering for higher positions or to be around him and she didn't like someone or didn't trust someone, it was a rational explanation. anyway, she also indicated how she felt about them by the color of the slippers she gave. so she would give purple adds an active -- as a way of saying this guy is very loyal and yellow if she thought the guy was a yes man and a bit of a coward and expressing himself. >> well, the -- the so-called friend, julia foreker was watching the relationship

between the two up more closely. here's one thing she says, the fact that her husband has been a shield between her and reality had made her a pathetically spoiled and political woman. she knew what she liked, she got it royally. >> i would say that's partially true. it was more true and elled up when she found out that he was going to run for re-election. and he hasn't told her. and at this point, she is more physically disabled. this is now going into the year 1900 and his re-election campaign. and she was very frustrated. really as a widow, she actually wrote something that's really remarkable. basically saying the longer i live without him, the more i realize how completely dependent i was. you know, the story has always been painted like, you know, he was a hero and a protector.

but he was also controlling the situation. and he controlled her medicine, he controlled a lot of things. and, you know, from her point of view, she was willing to accept her limitations and adapt herself and there were times he didn't want that. >> joe, i'll come back to you in a second, richard. joe in kankakee, illinois. >> caller: hi, i've been enjoying the program a lot. i'm looking forward to the second season, especially since i'm a presidency history geek. si meant to call with this question last week and didn't. i had been to the harrison home in indianapolis. the weekend i was there, they were doing re-enactors. the other presidential homes, the mckinley home or any of the others to re-enactors where local citizens portray the presidents and their families. >> how about canton, ohio.

>> the item -- at the section mckin lee home, you have a docent who i know -- i haven't been there recently, but i know in the not too distant past did a volunteer there and studied particular first ladies because it served the dual purpose of being a center for the study the of all of the first ladies. so, yes, there have been docents at the mckinley -- the mckinley house who have done that. >> john is in chicago. hi, john. >> caller: yes, i grew up just a few miles away from canton, ohio. i visited the mckinley monument where william and ida are buried and i was really impressed. my question, if i go down to the freeway in chicago there on the south side, it's an area called the ida mckinley home with the public housing project and i wonder if there's any connection

or if we morally named it after her. did you have any connection or not, if your guest would know that. >> specifically that, i don't know. i will say this. there was a -- again, you know, the story never gets fully written and people get miscast and characatures, she was involved with two organizations. one is called the crittendon house and the other was the red cross. the crittendon house was interesting because it specifically helped women who had been battered or homeless and it provided them with shelters and with shelter, education, and really helping to re-establish their lives. and she didn't, you know, just willy nilly support every group and everything. she did do the slippers. they fetched a lot of money at auction. but she was very careful about where she allowed her in a imto be used.

and it might well be -- i seem to recall there was a connection either with jane adams in hull house and the crittendon organization but not sure entirely. >> we heard that the president didn't consult ida on his decision to run for re-election. we have a quote about this time period where she said of him, i will be glad when he's out of public life. i do not want him to run a second time. i thought he had done enough for the country. when the term expires, he will come home and settle down quietly and he will belong to me. she didn't get her are wish. what was the 1900 election all about? >> in some ways a rematch of 1896. again mckinley ran against bryant, but the issues were different. which is a testament to how much mckinley had succeeded. prosperity, by 1900, seen as the man who i said earlier brought us out of the great depression of the 1890ed.

the new issue was america's place in the world and a w0r8d that was new to most americans, imperialism. brian and the democrats and what you might call good government republicans, liberal republicans, andrew carnegie, basically opposed the idea of american empire. mckinley, on the other hand, for a number of reasons is a convert to the war in the first place. the question i had, we've been told by the white house military aid, the single most important decision mckinley had to make as president after going to wafr was deciding whether to keep the philippines. hugely important question. very controversial. the white house military aide said that in fact it was ida's constant harping are all the good work done by methodist

missionaries that heavily influenced her husband's ultimate decision that he always said had religious connotations to take the philippines and, quote, educate and civilize and christianize them. does that ring a bell? >> yes. i found that evidence from his military officer transferring the messages to the front of president mckickley in the telegraph in the white house, but also the senate wife, william bier, a political operative, but there are several people. mrs. mckinley never went to church. she went to the theater a lot,

but she didn't go to church. >> he was a devout methodist. his mother thought he was going to be a minister, right? that never quite took. but he literally owed his life. it was a significant influence in his decision. >> and he went alone. she didn't have to go with him. the suggestion is, though, that she really believed that from the reports that we're getting, that they were slanted and they were untrue because the whole population was sum rised as if they were -- you know, living in a primitive way that their lives, less for say christianity, but he learned that the lives needed to be improved, you know? in a way that only the americans -- >> but he tended to believe that's why he was annexing the philippines. >> with ida's concern about re-election, one of the worries was about potential assassination. she had good reason to. here's a list of the

assassinations happening around the globe. 1894, the president of france. 1895, the prime minister of bulgaria. 1897, prime minister of spain. 1900, the king of italy. three of the four were attributed to anarchist. >> and some attempts on the life of queen victoria as well. so, again -- >> yeah, an arkism is a worldwide -- it's pluralism today. >> and their choice for the leaders of the country. >> you lop off of the head of the system and the system will die. >> there was always a lone individual. it wasn't cooked up by a large -- it was lone people acting on their own. >> would you speak to the decision to put theodore roosevelt on the ticket? >> it wasn't exactly his decision. the fact of the matter is that t.r. had managed to alien ate very political bosses in new york who in desperation turned to him as the great hero of the

war as the only one who could win election as governor of new york in 1898. he was a re230r78er. he was -- most of the reforms seemed pretty mild to us today, but they stuck at the heart of the political bosses and the status quo that they wanted to preserve. so the united states senator from new york, tom plat, the easy boss as he was known hatched the idea of getting rid of t.r. conducting him upstairs to the vice presidency where no one would hear from him again. mckinley seems to be ambivalent about this. people would ask, why do you have a -- he had a vice president. gary hobart had died in 1899. so there was an opening. the convention went wild for t.r. who tried to in advance indicate he didn't want to be vice president. he knew his own temperament.

it was like taking the mail and it was not t.r.'s style. >> there's a factor i have to mention about ida mckinley. she was crucial in two instances in very important points in the rise of theodore roosevelt, perhaps the most dramatic one, i'll tell you that one, is that roosevelt was with the cavalry in san antonio with the rough riders and trying to get on to a train to get to the transport ships in florida so they could go to cuba, nobody would give him permission. he was sending wires and telegraphs to the secretary of war. he sent one to mrs. mckinley. she took it, met with the president, met roosevelt and trusted him. that's what got roosevelt to the transports in florida. roosevelt responded to the president, please tell mrs. mckinley to think of the rough riders as her own and we will

make her proud. at that point on, roosevelt curried favor with ida mckinley. an event in 1899 she came in. thousands of people there, big dinner. he was speaking and he saw she was coming in and right at the right moment, he said three cheers to mrs. mckinley. she gave favor to him with her husband. >> we have a lot more stories to tell. new york city, go ahead. >> caller: i love your show, love, love, love it. is it true that robert lincoln, abraham lincoln's son at his bed scythed when he died was also at garfield's assassination and also at mckinley's assassination? >> he was at garfield's. he was in the train station at the time. i don't think he was in the temple of music. he was in buffalo, though. >> a bit light --

>> he probably was the president on business. >> the story is coming full circle. before we get to the assassination, we have to do it quickly. if she was so frail, how did she function as first lady in the white house. >> we talked to much about the politics and bringing dinners together to form politics. did the mckinley white house do that? >> apart from her illness, because she had gotten the -- before she knew -- she was not interested in housekeeping. she was not interested in menus or entertaining. they had live in the hotel suites in washington and in columbus. she was interested in him. and, again, that -- that's a good question, but it's -- from the idea this whole idea that she was always this kind of inova -- invalid.

mckinley took control and planned a lot of the dinners. she had weekly receptions. she did a lot of the traditional stuff. but not particularly interested in making those decisions. >> presidents are still being sworn in in march at this time in the country's history. so just six months later in september when they went to the exposition. we have more footage about the exposition. it. >>s a new america century. is america beginning to change the place in the world? absolutely. the pan american exposition was america's coming out party. america owned now much of the western hemisphere. cuba, puerto rico. and the -- and the pacific guam of course with hawaii and all of the philippines all in one presidency, one truncated

presidency. so you have this remarkable overnight explosion of activity. and the american people were having this debate which goes on to this day. what's the role in the world? it began with william mckinley. >> at that time, he was shot as we talked about by this anarchist. how long did he linger? >> 16? eight days. >> eight days. what happens to ida mckinley after his death? >> well, you know, she -- it 's it's very interesting. she wanted to be with him. she wanted some privacy. she wanted to have a moment with him. i i mean the day before he died, the night before -- in the late hours, she was brought in to be with him. and they did have private words together. and, you know, mckinley said something that i found has never been quoted widely before.

but after she was brought out, he said to the doctor, what will become of her? almost a little bit cold. it wasn't he loved her, but he knew he was dying. and the doctor -- dr. rix sei was his name. he was really a good guy. he was the one that got her on a regimen, george corderiue looked to him like a son. that have would not allow her to attend any of the public ceremonies. she was in the white house. she had some time downstairs. the closed coffin in the east room. then she was just brought to the train, brought back to can on the -- canton. the coffin was an open coffin for the public to file by and pay respects to at canton and

city hall there. she was now permitted. she said one thing -- i want him one last night in this house alone with me so i can look at him one more time. and they brought the coffin and they had sealed it. so she was very bitter, frankly. she was very angry and i rarely found instances of her saying things that were really sharp and frustrated. she did after they did that. >> the final video returning to ida mckinley, the museum and learning more about mrs. mckinley in mourning. >> we want to take a look at the things that happened in ida in the white house. her white house years were cut short. she spent the next six years in mourning. not a lot of things that represent this period for her. she was a recluse.

she stayed at home almost all the time. when she left, it was only to visit her husband's grave. when mckinley was first assassinat assassinated, condolences poured in from all over the world. she sent out this card which would acknowledge that she appreciated what people had sent to her and she often didn't sign these. this is something that you would have received after you sent her a condolence. now we also have a bound book and this is family and intimate friends. we have lots of professional and public condolences. this one is special because these would have been the closer friends of hers. they would have been family members, cousins, things like that. these would have been the types of things she would have wanted to keep close and it would have been bound for her to have and

to look through. some of them are acknowledged up on the corner in pencil. they will have a date on them so that the secretary can keep track of which ones she had acknowledged. not all of them had that. it shows some of the mckinley family members. this would have been the nearest and dearest friends and family. as we close out here, john richardson asked a very interesting question to both of you on facebook. to the historians, he writes, if ida mckinley had written herself in the third person, what would she have said about herself? >> a devoted life by her own choice. >> i'm going to leave it at that. i'm not good at what if. >> were the trips to her husband's grave a sentimental or therapeutic process for her?

>> they begin right after the burial -- right after the services. he wasn't buried. they would build that monument, so essentially a coffin on the stand and stones. in it, large displays and dinners and groups that camement at first, it was therapeutic in a way that was healthy to physically get her out. but over time, it became rather ghoulish and grim for her. because she was focused on death. and so she was even focused on the flowers that were dying and trying to keep them alive and trying to get new flowers she would put in. and it was really -- it was sort of grim. she wanted it done. but this really incredible little moment that happens. again, i thought that was the rest of her story. it's not.

because what happens is her two nieces both have a daughter each. and suddenly, at the end of her life are these two little girls in her life and she stops going to the tomb every day. and she starts walking again on the porch in the middle of winter and gardening and talking about the flowers and the new building and she returns to life. >> a rebirth of her in the last couple of years. queen victoria for 40 years with prince albert. to me, the eariest chapter in this whole story is allegedly she never had another seizure. >> it's complicated. i won't get into it here. seizures, you know, people still have seizures. many different types of seizures. and it's very -- i had the

material review by the members of the national epilepsy foundation. a sensitive issue that has to be handled well in describing it. and we can only base so much -- we only know so much. the fact that ritzy had regulated her life to this point in terms of rest and diet, and then instructed the nurses that took care of her later on, may account for that. but also the stress, the paradox of this. part of the reason she would sometimes get very stressed out is she was worried about him being shot. so now by him now being gone, that stress was removed. >> she died in may of 1907 just shy of her 60th birthday. 59 years old. i wonder how the rest of the country reacted when she died? >> it reacted in the context of this young family -- the

roosevelts and the winehouse. then some sharp things like the roosevelts were aristocrats and the mckinley's were sort of village people from ohio. there was almost nothing said about her as a person and everything that was said about her was as a symbol. all through the winds of him. and the truth is, in her lifetime, she really didn't care what people thought about her. she didn't really care what wl the people, the public loved her. she cared about what they thought about him. and she would attack somebody who attacked him. if there's -- >> one of our viewers wants to know about the fact you've written a whole book about her. they want to know why were you so interested in this first

lady? >> it was inspired by the founder and president of the national first lady's library. with great instink and institution, she sensed there wluz a real story to tell here. it was quite an undertaking. it was a lot of work because there's not one repository of all of her papers. so the effort was far and wide. i describe it like taking a magnet and picking up metal filings in one letter from here, one letter -- it was 5rd wows. but even at the end, at the 11th hour, there's hope. the end of her story that proved true. so i hope what it will do is eventually wear away at that characature and give history a little bit more of a fully developed human being. >> so we're going to give you the last word on this, which as we're running out of time here -- where do you think she should fit in in the pantheon of

first ladies. >> let me read carl's book. carl's book is exactly what this series is all about. taking a fresh look below the surface, beyond the characature, making the reacquaintance of women who we may know very little about or we may know broadly about. so it's a wonderful note on which to end the first part of this series and a wonderful springboard for part two. >> thanks to both of you for helping us learn more about the mckinley presidency and the latest about the first lady in the first term and the second term. we appreciate you helping us learn more. this is the final installment of our first part. we'll be back on september 9 to pick it up again all the way through president's day of 2014 with the modern first ladies

beginning with edith roosevelt. see you then. and in the summer months, we'll continue to have historic things on the first ladies. so if you're interest in the subject, we're going to continue to feed that interest. thanks for being with us.

>> tell me a little bit about this painting and the women that were in it that are in it, and how it came to be? >> this was the idea, of course, of c-span for the upcoming program that is now ongoing. and the idea was to create some kind of an image that could be used for the program. it would be i go no mattic of it. and so of course p wosk history. so we decided on the current first lady with a couple of recognizable faces. we put them together as if they're standing together. tough to do as far as reality. an illustration so you can. and then to have the progression

of the eyesight, so the progression of the view go from looking at you to progressing to the right. you're going left-to-right looking off to the future kind of concept. so not just a static image of four people looking at you. the first one looking and they're looking further and further off to the right. coincidentally, beautiful references of michelle that came in to play for that. and the same with i think it was mrs. kennedy in terms of ideal references. that's how they got placed. >> how old approximately do you think the women are? and why did you choose these versions of these women? >> from my perspective, it was easy. so i was relying on what would be the public memory that we think of as the first lady in the white house. that can be traced through

portraits and the portraits are done fairly soon after they were there. with michelle obama, that required just opening up the paper and looking at old photographs. they are, as they were i think best representative of the time in the white house. >> how much research did you do on the four women featured in this painting before you began the work. >> in terms of history, i think i'm familiar with all of them. but visual references is what i require the most. so i went to my collection of portraits and first lady portraits and things like that so i saw what they would like to be seeing and being publicly seen. and i went through a lot of the images. martha was harder but we know the portrait is probably the best there is. i relied on that one. the rest were in photography, lots of photography. with all of that information, i pieced together images that i

thought were good and representative. >> what is the process you go through when starting to work on a painting? how much work goes into the project before you start to paint? >> well, first i'll do the research and background and things like that of a normal portrait of someone i need to represent and almost life size and 3-d and sculpting too. i need to get to know them. i'm using it for a relatively small portrait. but a lot of the work happens first. the research and gathering and sketching. and what i started with is as a kid is pencil work. this is right on the board to make it easier for me. i draw on the board with pencil and keep going and going until i like it. getting the scale right, all of those things, and then progress from there. >> so how long did you work on

this painting and that's from research through the painting process. even break it up if you have any recollection of it. >> every president has the hardest time with knowing exactly how long things take. so i work in bursts and i work, you know, i work hard, put them away. i put them in a closet. way in the closet. don't see them, don't look at them purposefully. when i pull them out, i can be extremely critical. so i never try to think track of how much time i spend on them because i probably would get depressed so i prefer not to. >> do political ideas or personal views factor into how you represent someone in the painting. how do you remain objective as an artist? >> it's fairly simple in that you want to present the person. so i'm always looking -- if i'm

doing a portrait of an individual or a sculpture, i need to know what the personal si is like. a personal hook i can relate to. i go with that. i'm trying to bring someone home to life that looks like someone you want to meet. >> and one other players or sculptures have you down. first ladies. >> first lady was the most public one for me. the official portrait of barbara bush in the white house. an absolute favorite of mine. the whole process was great. she was wonderful, very enjoyable. and the end result i really like. we revived millie for the painting and put her in the shadows in the corner. all of the details and not grand but very nicely and subtly done, i love it. so that's a -- two dimensions for that one. and three dimensions, i had sculpted nancy reagan before the reagan library in california.

i didn't know and historical figures i had to research and have some fun with. >> when we look at presidential and first lady portraits that are obviously such a huge part of what is now pop culture history, recognizable to people as you mentioned as you pick out the images of the ladies behind you. taking your own portrait of barbara bush out of the equation, what are some of the others that stand out as exceptional for one reason or

the other. >> a couple. for the presidents, i think many people like the portrait of president kennedy. where he's looking to the side. it's completely unorthodox. and you feel a little detached but you feel like you're there with him. he hasn't p having been killed, it adds to that story. you can feel the emotion of his presidency there. it was powerful and i thought daring, too, for a portrait. beyond washington was a piece i think the roosevelt -- teddy roosevelt. that's mainly the freshness of the painting. so it's by sergeant. and he's turn iing to something. it's a proud serious strong stance. and from my memory, i think it

was a struggle on the -- trying to get the composition right and the artist was having a hard time dealing with the president. at some point, he was walking down the stairs and ordered him to stop. and that was the moment that he found the pose. that is kind of how it happens with portraits. live with the person a little bit. try to discover what they're like. try to find what portrays them properly. specifically with the first ladies. portraits for that one. >> the one i love, the painting. i was surprised at the scale. it was nancy reagan. i know a lot of -- there was -- i remember vaguely at the time, there was buildup to what she could possibly be wearing and things like that. in the end, it was a very sleek red dress. so nothing truly extravagant.

the lighting and a dark setting where you can see light coming in the doorway, there was a little bit of almost action in the painting. you go and see it, you have to step up to it. it's an intimate painting, it's small. that was the standout to me because it was so unexpected. >> is there anything that you want to conclude with? any thoughts that you have about this project or future project or first ladies in general? >> hard to put yourselves in the first ladies' shoes. they develop their own themes and projects and personalities which we get to know as a public. that's an interesting thing to watch. i certainly in flipping through and looking at a cursory look at the president's wives as you all and c-span are doing now, it's an interesting perspective on the white house. >> another season two of first

ladies, influence and image begins monday, september 9. look at the life of edith roosevelt. until then, visit our website, c-span.organize/first ladies for more about the series including the special section, welcome to the white house produced by the white house historical association. and the book "first ladies of the united states of america" is eligible and c-span.org/products. >> up next, congressman luis gutierrez of il hosts a town hall on immigration.

>> congressman luis gutierrez held a town hall meeting on immigration monday in chantilly, virginia. the chairman of the task force for the congressional hispanic caucus is travelling across the country to talk about immigration reform. part of the event is in spanish.

[ applause ] >> si se puede! [ speaking spanish.

just let me do it -- hello? [ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ]

>> welcome to everyone. thanks so much. there's so many. i have more formal remarks to make. we'll get to those in a minute. i want to make it clear. because of what you're doing today, we're going to demonstrate how broad and how deep the movement is. it doesn't matter if it's in virginia, in mississippi,

illinois, california, across this country, people are demanding comprehensive immigration reform and the end of the deportations and the destruction of our families. someone in the activity yesterday. i was in minneapolis st. paul. the church was full. it was full. but she bemoaned the fact that more people didn't come. she said they department come. some were tired, frustrated, and disillusioned. guess what? virginia is giving the example today. no one has the right to be tired or disillusioned. no one has the right to give up on this fight. today 1,200 people will be deported. children will be left without a mom or a dad, husband or a wife. the fear that permeates our community and the underclass exploited every day has to come to an end. you do not have the right to be

tired. you have a responsibility to fight to make this a greater nation for all of us to live and va rah today is giving that example. thank you so much. [ speaking spanish ] we're going to win immigration reform because we have leaders like luis gutierrez. i want to welcome -- [ speaking spanish ]

[ speaking spanish ]

[ speaking spanish ]

a [ speaking spanish ]

>> gracias. [ applause ] >>. [ speaking spanish ] >> thank you very, very much. we are going to start the program. so, please, have a seat. [ speaking spanish ]

we want to say thank you to all of the people who are here. so these very, very important events. [ speaking spanish ] aclu. the virginia new majority, yorktown university, casa fume. dreamer's. dreamers of virginia. and chantilly, manassas.

[ speaking spanish ] thank you so much. to all of you, thank you very, vur much for being here please, you need to come back. [ speaking spanish ] and welcome. we are going to have a very critical discussion today. very important. we are going to have a conversation about the attack of immigration reform on women and girls. it's so very important. we never think about how important it is. now is the time to do it. [ speaking is spanish ]

it's important because today is women equality day. so it's very, very important that we have these conversationings. in particular, i just want to say one more time, thank you to our leader, our champion, the person who fights every single day on capitol hill. congressman luis gutierrez. [ applause ] [ speaking spanish ] every single day and night trying to bring together

republicans and democrats to pass immigration reform. that's the reason why he's with us today. why we're here in virginia. district 10, congressman walls, the republican who really believes that he's very important -- very important that we support immigration reform. so now, i want to welcome all of you, and in particular, i want to welcome lisa johnson jones who's going to be the moderator of the discussion today. thank you very much. as you know, she's also a professional at yorktown university law center and immigrant woman. so, lisa, welcome, thank you very much. [ speaking spanish ] [ applause ] >> i'd like to -- hello?

oh. thank you. i'd like to up take a moment to thank our organizers for this opportunity to present to you and thank you all for coming to this important event to recognize the contributions of women and immigrants in this country. and the particular plight of immigrant women in a special issues that they face. this day honors the 19th amendment that forever changed our nation by empowering millions upon millions of families, millions of women, creating cultural, social, economic, educational, and political arenas that are based on gender equality. women especially know the importance of coming together and we would not be where we are today without the help and

support of the women in our lives -- our sisters, our wives, mothers, daughters, our friends today we honor and celebrate our unique contributions and our roles in protecting families and giving equal opportunities and respect to all. we women know it's not about what you look like, where you're from, what values that you have, but it's what you do that defines you and the united states. it's not just about your background, but also about what you're contributing to this country. and today's discussion we'll explore the harmful immigration impact on women and children. women and children are often the ones left behind when fathers are deported, which is, of course, a hardship for the fathers. but the women who are left behind to hold that -- that