♪ >> that was edith roosevelt, speaking in new york city 20 years after she left the white tose. she was the matriarch our rambunctious family and her husband, theodore roosevelt, was as outgoing as she was private. she was the groundbreaking manager of the white house, overseeing a major renovation that added a west wing, separating the family quarters from the president's office is for the first time. good evening and welcome to c- span's series, "first ladies." edith roosevelt will usher in season two of the series and the 20th century. we have two historians who know

the roosevelts well.meet kathleen dalton. she is the author of "theodore roosevelt -- a and staceylife." cordrey is the author of a biography of alice roosevelt. welcome, the both of you. the 1900 election. it does not last very long because an assassin has other things in want -- in mind for president mckinley. tell the story that brings the roosevelts in that very moment is time into the white house. >> it is traumatic because we're -- theodore roosevelt is climbing the mountains in the adirondacks when he hears the news mckinley was shot. he comes to buffalo. at first, it looks like mckinley will survive. then troisoning sets in.

comes to washington. it is a national tragedy. it is hard to come to the presidency because of an assassination. he reassures america and turns out to be a very successful president. >> a quick snapshot of how much experience he brings to the job, he was 42 years old. >> very young but he had a lot of experience behind him in government. >> new york state assemblyman, assistant secretary of the navy, civil service commissioner, new >>rk city police commissioner. governor of new york. >> politics defined his life? >> politics defined his life, but he wrote her e-books. he was a serious naturalist. he did a lot of things. he widely traveled a lot. a very expansive and interesting life. >> he triumphed. look forward instead of behind. the things he said, it is a terrible thing to come into the but it wouldhis way.

be far worse to be morbid about it. >> we will learn about the woman who helped him throughout his administration in the next 90 minutes. we were talking that the united states, in the dawn of the 20th century, was a horse and buggy nation. a few facts about america at that time. to give you a glimpse of what the country was like, in 1900, the population of the country was about 76 million. 38% of people still work in the agriculture industry and were farmers. -- the2, we ended the war. philippine american war. in 1903, the first time the wright brothers flew a petrol engine aircraft. in 1940, americans started work 1904, panama canal.-- americans started to work on the panama canal. and, the model t and did the horse and buggy age. what can we learn about the country that the roosevelts seem to administer?-- came to

administer. >> it was a country marked by progressivism. there were a group of reformers across the nation.they were intent on tearing all the ills of the past century. urbanization, immigration, industrialization, brought many wonderful things to the nation. there were also troubles. they were going to take care of injustices suffered by african americans.child labor. bring women the vote. the list went on and on and on. optimism as roosevelt stepped into the white house. >> we've heard about theodore roosevelt's readiness for the white house.what about edith roosevelt? governorsaged the mansion in albany quite successfully. they had to move from their home on long island back and forth. she would be there in the summer when he was the civil service commissioner in washington.

she was used to packing up the servants in the households and moved back and forth. she is somebody who knew how to manage things. he was not good with money. over drew his checking account all the time. she would organize him and the children. she was a good manager.that is what the first lady needs to do. things that has been delightful about the series -- there are up couple of things. we are learning a lot, but we also learn in what you are interested in. in a few minutes, we will take telephone calls. let me give you the phone numbers. also, a conversation already going on facebook. you can join it by logging on facebook's c-span page and log what we will be

asking tonight about edith roosevelt and her husband and children. finally, we are taking tweets. a #for the series we did not have in the first session, at @firstladies.- we will mix all of that up over the next 90 minutes. one of the other great things is we have a video logger for out at the site of the earth's ladies along the way recording the places where they live. tonight, we will introduce you to two of those associated with the roosevelts. what is sagamore hill? >> a big house where all go from the long island public schools. -- the park job. service does a fantastic job. it is a great lace to visit. ifone thing you should know you are planning a visit, it is under complete renovation for

the next couple of years. we will show you some of the artifacts. you learn a lot. we will start there with a video about edith roosevelt and her children, and you will hear the let's of the curator. listen in. >> this is a cartoon by a thomas nast.n. it shows santa claus arriving at the white house to discover there are children at the white house, that the roosevelts had moved in. the title of the piece was, "there is life in the white "there is life in the old house yet."the country was excited to have a young family and children to watch. they had a vigorous president with a vigorous and attractive wife. attractive

santa claus represented the countries attitude.-- country's attitude over the excitement in the white house now. the biggest responsibilities edith had in the white house was to control the president access to the family.-- the press's access to the family. what she did -- she arranged to have professional portraits taken of the children. the first two batches were by francis johnson, a well-known society photographer in washington. a picture of clinton, famous for having written to death ridden the elevator to visit our she when was sick. archie and a bicycle, permit with jack, the wonder dog. this picture standing in front of the tray. -- tree.most of the pictures were taken outside. you take these photographs and

it shows you how they were used by the press. we have a picture of him in age three, a picture of ethel. one of my favorites, the little boy, posing with the white house guards. this is how president roosevelt's were presented to -- president roosevelt's children were presented to the public. usually, they were used in magazine articles in magazines and that sort of thing. >> it sets the scene for this young family, coming into the white house. how did the public react and what was the role of the press? in promoting what was happening in the white house? >> the public was delighted.it had been a long time since

children were in the white house. they had become a fascinating part of our watching what is going on in washington. the antics of the children were in the newspapers. there was very little attempt to stop that, after pr learned this the good press for him. children and their antics, their were very important parts of roosevelt's public persona as residents. >> how did that contrast with well, mrs.ys?>> mckinley was an invalid. and president mckinley was quite reserved and would not go out and campaign. it was more like the lincolns. the media was different during the civil war. they did not report so much about the children. there are -- there were all these journals that newspapers--

, newspapers like hearst, would put pictures of the children in their newspapers and all of these magazines that people would buy. though there is so much more active media so they could publicize what was going on in the white house much more actively. >> a really important point. they were all photogenic and did great stuff. they would steal cookie trays from the kitchen and fly down the staircase with them. they would scare guests. they would rollerskate.walk on stilts. >> the white house staff had their hands full. -- terrificterrific. press for theodore roosevelt. >> we were talking about the fact this is the dawn of a new century but the roosevelts were brought up in the previous century. they were victorian in their

attitudes. what kinds of parents were they? >> they were different kinds of edith could be fairly strict. a descendent of jonathan edwards. she thought children should behave. she was fairly strict. she would turn to theodore and ask them to do the banking, but he did it reluctantly and was indulgent.he liked to play bear and have pillow fights with the kids. the kids looked at him as a large playmate. she had to be the main parent. >> on twitter, did edith have reservations?about her husband being president? and i will add about her family, especially after resident mckinley's assassination. >> yes. she beefed-up security whenever she could. those were her greatest fears. she wrote about these fears of roosevelt's death -- assassination.it was really scary for her.

>> he thought carrying a gun -- was enough for him. it was difficult to watch. >> how many children were there? >> the first child was not -- >> you should take the alice question. >> explain who alice was and how she wrote -- how she related to the rest of the family. >> the daughter of theater roosevelt and his first life. when alice hathaway lee died in hildbirth, more or less, theodore roosevelt after his sister. he was raised until it entered -- until edith interdict picture. >> it created problems. >> yes. >> as we learn about her, how much of the historical record exists about her? how much are we able to learn about her life and attitude?

-- she contributed after he she contributed to a travel book after tr died. she did not do family history. she never wrote family memoirs and did burn most of the letters but not all of them. she wanted to be very private. some of her letters survived. she tried to erase a lot of the did not want people snooping into her private life. even in death. >> that is part of the victorian point you brought up earlier. being a woman in the 19th century. >> one letter where she described her children and their views of them.here is a bit of what she had to say about her family in a letter to a friend. atshe said about alice, alice is exceedingly pretty and has a remarkably steady head. in some ways, it is very childlike. ted is a good boy and does well in school. kermit is odd and independent as always.

ethel is just a handful. she is a replica. archie is the beautiful idiot. some of those terms sound harsh to us today but were terms of endearment. >> it was probably spot on at alice wast in time. very beautiful. but she had a pretty steady head. up into a woman who had wonderful political acumen, for example. archie had a tough time and had health problems when he was a young lad. kermit was the poetic one.>> yes. >> both of his parents confided in him. i met ethel when she was an older person. she was a very gracious and wonderful lady.i just really

liked her. full.ryone liked at she was just that sturdy rock for the rest of the family. ted. keyboard the brunt of all of his father's expectations. manliness and what to do with your life, all of that. >> where the roosevelts put their six children, the largest >> ily in the white house? think so, but -- >> tyler had 15. i do not know if they were all at the white house at the same time. >> it had to be among the largest family ever. >> it was more typical in those days, a lot larger families.a lot more common. -- >>can is eyeing air ken is on the air. what is your question? >> yes. it will probably be something

you address later on in the program. what was edith roosevelt's relationship with president roosevelt?-- with william howard taft? >> thank you. we will talk about the tafts later on, but really briefly, how did they know the taft? >> they were social friends. i do not think edith cared for mrs. taft so much. tr's were friendly during presidency. it is during 1910, after taft shows his hand as president that hostilities rake out.-- break out. >> next is a call from alexander in indiana. hello. >> i have a question about theodore roosevelt. >> happy to hear it. can you tell us how old you are? >> i'm 12-year-old -- i'm 12 years old. >> have you studied theodore

roosevelt in school already? >> no. i have a paragraph about him. he is my favorite president. >> why?>> because i think he did a lot for this country. hecan you name one thing?>> fought in the spanish-american war. do you havetions about him? >> did he believed in god and jesus? >> thank you.>> yes, he was a devout christian. >> in fact, incorporating religion into edith's life, we talk about her religion and how it informed her life, she argued for applied christianity. she would urge her husband to think about how his policies affected the poor. she was a social gospel christian, taking care of the poor and being concerned about the needy. he was episcopalian. at the time, the church was

evoted to social gospel, concern for poor people. >> in pennsylvania, you are on. >> thank you. i understand one side of the family wanted to be called otherelt.and the rosevelt.is this true?is this true? if so, which would be which? >> that comes from the old movie. no, they are all roosevelts. >> the lineage of the family, >> they their history? share the hyde park roosevelts and the oyster bay roosevelt share colonial ancestor. a dutch settler in new york, and then two or three generations down, the family through -- split. theodore roosevelt, the fifth cousin of franklin roosevelt. the complicated thing is

theodore roosevelt had a wonderful niece, he loved dearly, eleanor roosevelt, and ben franklin married theodore's niece. franklin would call theodore cousin theodore but then called him uncle theodore. >> i feel the need for a family tree. [laughter] franklin andousins. theodore. >> set a stage for this large and bustling family.very quickly , edith determines it was just not going to use -- work for them. a sketch she drew one will -- one week after. a plan for the second floor that shows how very crowded it was to have the family and workspace there. what did she do? >> she picked up on harrison's place in the white house and got together

with a very influential firm. there is a big back story here. to cut to the chase, he decided he was tired of moving in with it,store.-- as she put "living over the store." he wanted to separate the living areas with the public areas. the downstairs was renovated and most people really liked it. the upstairs had seven bedrooms and bathrooms. that was pretty good. alice, the teenage daughter, had her own bedroom.ethel had her own bedroom. mrs. roosevelt put her own study up there. the president had a study in the office in the second floor.but so did the first lady with a door that a joint. that was important to her to knock on the door and say, time for bed, you are working to eight.-- working too late.

>> this really created the white house as we know it today. if you look at the photographs of the white house as it existed, there were large greenhouses around this. she changed the whole feeling of the white house.by adding the west wing to it. how cooperative was congress? >> congress voted money for this. they wanted a better house. it was the moment when the united states became a power, modernizing the presidency, the united states did not arrived as -- had really arrived as the most successful manufacturing power on earth. they were in the process of becoming a very serious world power. it was a matter of national pride to have a presidents house distinguished.as distinguished as the equivalent in another country. it was important for all kinds of reasons. it was a marvelous reflection of the changes discussed as the

country takes on a new aspect. so is the executive mansion, which now remains the white house.-- renamed the white house. there is only one white house. >> how long did the renovation take? >> one year.1902. >> where did they stay? did they go back to the hill?-- sagamore hill? >> over the summer they stayed there. the renovations started before she left.tr was hit by the trolley in the middle of this, so they have difficult moments where he is negotiating in a wheelchair because he was hit by a trolley accident. >> how involved was edith roosevelt in the actual renovations? how much of a vision did she have for ultimate design? >> edith was very interested in

-- mckenn was very interested in the present. she was very interested in history. it reflected the long, important path of the united states. she had her eye on the bottom line. --ith was good at managing the managing, as you mentioned, she also read the accounts. and when the money got tight, she was very creative and a good steward of the nation's money. she took the carpets on the first floor and she said, we are running out of funds and had them recut. she took curtains from the first floor and had upstairs furniture reupholstered to save money. >> congress completed in time

for the social season in 1902. marvin is on the line with us, los angeles. hi, marvin. >> hello. great to see you back. i've have a question about the relationship between edith roosevelt and the franklin s.osevelt' eleanor roosevelt supported al smith for governor of new york running against theodore roosevelt junior as the republican candidate. to first time i went washington was 1955. hoping to a celebrity, i walked over and saw a crowd and a slim lady with a broad hat was rededicating the statue were father dedicated 50 years ago and it was alice roosevelt. she seemed to enjoy being the

center of attention. this was 1955, after leaving the white house in 1909. >> she loved to be the center of attention.>> she did. roosevelts and the oyster bay roosevelts were asically very close. a franklin roosevelt loved to come and visit theodore roosevelt. they were friendly. eleanor, of course, was edith tr used to reade. her poetry. they were quite friendly. when eleanor franklin married, theodore gave her away, acting the part of her father. edith signed their marriage edith offered for them to be married in the white house. say that theodore was devoted to eleanor and loved franklin in the beginning. a

by the 1920's, ted roosevelt has political ambition. some people accused him of being involved with the teapot dome scandal. it turns out it is really not fair. eleanor drove a car with a teapot on top of it to embarrass her cousin. that created it her feelings for -- that created bitter feelings for a while. edith remained somewhat friendly towards eleanor. >> we have a question about the destroying of her letters. what do the historians say about the missing records? do we miss the intimate tr and edith because of this? >> i think we know a lot about that.of course you want to know more. we have a good record of what the relationship was like. theodore roosevelt adored edith

roosevelt. she was devoted to him. it is not that they did not have their difficult moments. he was not an easy husband. he forgot birthday. he could be very inconsiderate. >> wasn't there when children were born. >> right. was always going off hunting. i think we know a lot about them, even though she burned some of the letters.>> he truly did love her. he wrote about her, highly complementary things. >> we will return and look at the collection of artifacts for the white house here. >> what we show you here are objects of the white house. mainly personal objects.from edith. also, this lovely cup. you can see the presidential seal. this is a cup and saucer from the white house service that edith ordered in the white house after the renovation was the public was very

interested in this activity. we have a sample of that. a newspaper article showing the white house service, you can see the cup here in the top picture. she ordered 1001 hundred 25 pieces of new china to replace , theshe called the scraps bits and pieces him all the white house china sets that were in the house when she got there. what we do have here are examples of an image -- invitation to a garden party that she threw. the dinner invitations are very specific. they tell you when to arrive and when the dinner will be over. it is very clear you are not to overstay your welcome.you are not to argue with the president afterward. you are to come and have your dinner and go home. some of the other objects you see year include a goldplated vanity sets like the sober one she had as a younger woman. this was very elaborate. it has her initials carved into

it. these were used for perfume. a comb, a brush. jars for rouge and other lotions. of hers indicative status. she was the first lady and she took this is a set of her gloves and this is a glove box that was kept on her dresser. and it does open. you see it's lined with velvet and would have held a dozen pair of gloves. she loved fans. she collected fans and liked to carry fans at public receptions. she liked to stand in line next to t.r. he loved to shake hand. by holding fans she did not have to shake hands with strangers and she was delighted by that. >> this is the family's china. they didn't use the white house china for their every day meals.

they used this china which is english and you can see that it is pretty plain in design except for t.r.'s initials in blue in the middle of the plate. as first lady she did receive a lot of gifts both from friends and family but also from foreign leaders. these lovely silver bracelets were sent to her from the emperor of present-day ethiopia. this is what she kept them in and she wrote notes to herself so she could remember where the different things came from. and it says silver bracelets sent by the interior emperor at the white house. >> we open the case here so you can get a close up look at the figurines which were given to her by the french government.

they are made of french porcelain and they were used to decorate the tables at the white house. but it was clear they were a gift to her and she liked them and she made sure she took them with her when she left the white house. >> a sense of life at the white house under the roosevelts. you were making the point this was the dawn of america on the international stage and roosevelt as the adventuring president in some ways. how did they use their social aspects of the white house to advance that view? >> in order to for the united states to be taken seriously as a world power, the united states president had to entertain heads of state elsewhere. so the white house changing really made a difference. plus all of those diplomatic receptions and open events, big dinners, i think 40,000 people came through the white house in the first year.

it creates good will. if you had dinner with someone you're more likely to be able to work with them afterwards. and sometimes we underestimate the power of face to face interactions. the roosevelts did a good job of this because they knew how to socialize. >> 4o,000 guests in the white house in the first year alone. >> that's a lot. >> it's a lot but if you are highly organized she had her social secretary and knew how to do this. as t.r. modernized the presidency and changed the navy and changed the government and created the first far eastern desk in the state department it was. in the early 20th century they were modernizers.

>> hiring of the social secretary one of the things most historians point to as the modern first lady. what was the concept of a social secretary? how did she use her? >> she hired a woman who was interesting in her own right. by age 16 she was an orphan and had brothers to take care of so she went into the work force. she eventually worked for the war department. but she also did the task of being a social secretary where you help an elite woman with her correspondence and whatever hosting duties she had. this is what she did. so she was an old hand at this. and she came into the roosevelt white house at the time when the first lady was inundated by all --e details of alice's day

debut, so alice is making her social debut and there were letters to write, there were invitations to offer. there were flowers and many things to take care of. that's when bell stepped in she stayed until the end and was quite a member of the family. at one point edith said i think of you as my daughter. so they had quite a close relationship. bell, bell became a surrogate mother in some ways when children couldn't go to edith for something. they wrote and said could you send us some treats and alice was not supposed to take a bracelet from a young man but she did and lost it so she asked bell for help recoverings it. >> is it fair to say this

managing of the social side was serious business, and edith was a tough manager? >> she didn't want people who were adulterers or unacceptable socially to be a part of their entertainment. and of course, most people were white and there weren't that jews invited to the white house at the time. and so it was washington elites and people in government, foreign diplomats and people like new york society. so it was an exclusive group. >> it's important because she begins what is a tradition now of the bureaucraticization of the office of the first lady. now bell was not the first social secretary to work for the first lady but she stays the longest.

mrs. taft does not have the same sort of social secretary relationship and that is to her peril. >> that's the influence of edith roosevelt, she began the bureaucraticization of the role of the first lady. >> let's talk to bud who is watching us in st. louis. >> thanks for coming back again. >> glad to be back. >> i'm a major teddyphile and just a note, we got a great connection here in st. louis with t.r. with the world's fair. and i know that the history museum down in forrest park there is a great photograph of him at the opening ceremonies. but my question was this: and i guess because he did so much i

have trouble keeping dates straight. i do know that i believe that his first wife and his mother died the same day and that more or less forced him to go west, take up the cowboy life. my question when he came back, when did he mayor edith? -- marry edith? was it before the spanish american war and did she help him overcome that sorrow of his first wife and mother? and thanks for taking my call. >> i'm going to ask very brief touching on this story because we'll spend more time on that later. what about the dates of their marriage? let's give them facts. >> february 14, 1884 is when alice dies and then t.r. marries edith. december 1886 and the spanish

american war is july 1898. >> and you are right, there is a very unforgettable story of the death of theodore roosevelt's first wife. but we're going to keep you hanging on a little bit to tell you later in the program. ed is watching us in north dakota. this is roosevelt territory. >> thanks for taking my call. i am the chairman of the theodore roosevelt foundation and our effort with the foundation is to sustain life as a cattle rancher here in north dakota. earlier your mentioning of about a method of keeping the socially unacceptable people out of the white house.

tell me about how the first lady felt when cowboys and rough rider friends were coming through the white house. >> i think it is understood that his time in the dakotas was precious to him. he said he would never have been president if it had not been for his time in the dakotas. the theodore roosevelt center is a wonderful project. i think she understood she had visited the ranches that he had and understood that his time being a rancher meant everything to him, so she put up with some people like desperadoes and farmers and cowboys who tr loved.

>> she was quite a young woman and he was head over heels with her husband, and he was in love with north dakota. she wanted to know all about the things that he loved. those new marvelous sleek colorful characters from north dakota had a marvelous patina for her. >> did he have a ranch throughout their presidency? >> no, he had to sell it. he was sort of a failed cattle rancher. my grandfather was a wheat farmer not far from there, and those were hard times. it is now a national park. >> there are oil derricks there. north dakota had an oil boom and natural gas boom and the landscape is bothered a bit, but there is a very large tr contingent and they loved him there.

>> you have to understand north dakota. there is the theodore roosevelt center where there are 155,000 letters. and there is the foundation that your caller mentioned. there is a joint effort to keep the memory of theodore roosevelt alive. >> john is in silver spring, maryland, outside of washington. >> i would like to know how did edith and theodore meet, and how long was their courtship before they married? >> we will answer that, but before i leave the question of

the time of their white house years, how does she compare with a modern first lady, particularly jackie kennedy, in the white house? bringing performers into the white house, this is something that edith roosevelt did. how did she approach introducing americans to culture and supporting the cultural life of the white house? >> she had the musical taste of the pair. theodore roosevelt was not as bad as president grant. he said there were two songs, one is yankee doodle dandy and worked withn't.she the steinway company and brought amazing entertainment to the white house. including pablo casals. she brought the entire philadelphia orchestra at one she had tastes that were not quite in line with her husband's family.

she loved the corcoran art gallery, theater and art and music. tr brought indian songs. he helped encourage john lomax to discover cowboy songs. they wanted people to understand america had culture. it was not a colonial society anymore. it depended on european cultures for borrowing artists. they are really important in that sense, too. >> since they had sagamore hill, why did they need a retreat? >> it took a while to get to sagamore hill because it is all the way in long island.

in 1905 and 1906, he had a lot of political conflict and difficulty and at times when he was having a rough time, he had gained a lot of weight. she wants him to have an overnight in the cabin. i have been to the cabin. there is no plumbing, no electricity, nothing. they had a kerosene stove. they had to do everything for needed a quick escape. >> we took a camera there. let's take a look. remember this is a very wealthy family in the height of society. keep that in mind when you see the house that edith built called pine knot in virginia. >> edith sought a place for rest

and repairs to the president. close enough to d.c. that they could get out as often as needed, but far enough away that there was wilderness. she bought a cottage and 15 acres and her renovations that she prescribed for $280. the deed was written in her iten in herwriten name. the renovations that she did include this porch, which he called her piazza. most of what you see is original. the color of the house now is the color that it was when the roosevelts were here. the interior is completely unfinished. she wanted it to be natural in every sense. this room was divided into two and edith wanted to have the

family be here together. they cooked the meals by the fireplace. t.r. would do the cooking, and edith would boil the water for the tea, and the children would fetch the wood and do the various things that were needed to get the meals together. when edith saw the cottage for the first time, there were no fireplaces. she had designed these stone ledges that are built into the fireplace to provide some functionality. the stairs were originally in the center of the room so they took up the whole thing.

she wanted the bottom floor to be in an open room and the other was she wanted to create a room upstairs. this is the room she created for ethel. it had a door so ethel would have been able to shut off her brothers from entering her room. this is where edith and t.r. slept. this was the master bedroom, as it were. you can see the light streaming through the boards. it is no more better appointed than the other rooms. this is the boys' room. all four of the boys would have slept in this room when they were here. this has a wonderful mantle and even better yet, it has stone supports that edith would have designed. this was a family place. in that sense, it was unique to the roosevelts because sagamore hill had become a place where tr had constantly a hubbub of activity. this was the one place where it was private family time, and the roosevelts made it very clear they did not want anyone but family here.

>> you she wanted to tell the story about pine knot. >> pine knot was important because there was no more privacy in the white house and very little at sagamore hill by this time. they had to go far off the grid, as we say now. >> the driving distance from washington today, how long would it take you to get there? >> a little bit more than an hour. >> one can go visit today? >> i believe you can. >> this looks rustic. today there would have to be a perimeter and the press would be hanging out and making sure no

one was coming and going and using lenses to get to them. >> edith lost sleep when they first went there because she was worried about intruders and she did not feel it was safe. as close to the farm, they would sometimes have neighbors come over. they went out at night to take a little walk down the road. there were secret service men that edith had secretly put there and she did not tell tr. >> he really didn't want protection? >> he didn't think he needed it. he was cavalier about it, where she was very worried. he was eventually shot in the 1912 campaign and there were other attempts to get at him, so she had reason to be nervous. >> adrian asked on facebook, was

edith into hiking, nature, and hunting like teddy? did she enjoy being outside and living a more rustic life? >> getting away from society and not needing all the modern comforts, i'm not sure that she she did hike. after a certain number of think -- he would sit on the porch and read. she was not like a classic big orient lady. -- would go on hikes.

victorian lady. she would go on hikes. after he died, she traveled around the globe and took a canoe trip to a distant waterfall. >> next is johnny from denver, colorado. >> thanks for your wonderful series. i hope it continues. my question is on mount rushmore. about whether she had an opinion about the monument, seeing how she was alive during its conception and construction. >> she knew the person who carved it, but i don't remember reading anything -- i'm not sure it's finished, or was it? i think it was finished in the 20's or 30's, but i'm not sure she ever sees it. some people think that tr shouldn't be on there.

the builder admired him very much. i think the fact that the bull moose monument -- it's a monument to other great presidents. >> barbara says i would like to know if edith cooked very much. do we know about whether or not ?he prepared food for her fami y >> no, i think she was proud that she had never made a bed in her life except maybe at pine knot. >> the women's movement that was going on, where did edith stand on this? i very much would like to know the answer to that.

>> she said in private that she thought suffrage was a good idea. women could vote in western states, so i believe in 1904, you could vote in utah and colorado and some other western states. when susan b anthony came to the white house, alice was the person who was most sympathetic to suffrage. >> barbara is in peoria. >> i would love to know whether it is true that theodore roosevelt asked booker t. washington as a guest to dinner, and if so, was that a first?

>> in 1902, theodore roosevelt did invite t washington, the leader of the tuskegee institute and a very important figure in african-american history. he was recognized as an important educator but also dealt with political patronage for the republican party. edith and tr had them to dinner. frederick douglass would come to the white house and talk to lincoln, but i don't think a dinner was involved. it is not the first time an african-american came, but it-- came to be an advisor, but it may be the first dinner. >> it could be. people threatened to kill tr. they said they should put a bomb under his chair because he advocated social equality to blacks and whites. you have to remember in african- american history, after reconstruction, this is the

nadir, the low point of legal segregation, and african- americans in the south were treated very badly. it was very controversial to cross the color line socially. >> in one biography of her, there are a number of citations of personal correspondence where she would use what we would consider derogatory terms about african-americans. he writes in the book, edith's comments fall in the range of general white attitudes among the upper-middle-class in those years. it was delivered without much thought of implications. what kind of influence can we

know that she might have had in this thinking on this topic? >> this is a couple that has been together every day. they went horseback riding, they went walking. they had a very close relationship. i think what lewis l. gould is doing in his book, and i would call him the founder of modern first lady scholarship. he is looking at these letters and terms edith is using to describe african-americans and finding them within the boundaries of what white americans used. they are more extreme than what we know theodore to be. what kind of influence does she have on her husband? we don't know. it would be interesting to look at the timing of the brownsville incident with some of the things

edith has written and what she said. african-american soldiers who were falsely accused in brownsville texas, there was local hostility and tr didn't really want to know the details. they got dishonorable discharges, and i think quite unjustly. he had had a great amount of african-american support in the north where they could vote, and certainly he lost them over that. when he was no longer going to run for president, he was less attentive to the needs of african-americans. >> it prompts more questions. it is a terrible topic but it just shows you there are always more questions.

>> she brought in singers of spirituals. >> that was considered giving them an audience at that time. it is not minstrel shows, it is spirituals. looking back, so much has changed. at the end of his life, he said justice has not been done for black people. >> it is a very interesting topic. >> we will return to sagamore hill, the family home in long island and learn more about their collection that shows

family life of the roosevelts. >> this is a fascinating piece. most people take baby pictures and snapshots. the roosevelts at some point had the roosevelts at some point had three other children, permit, archibald and edith have bas expensive. it just fascinates me that it was done. we don't have similar pieces for the older children or for quentin who is the youngest. we have this piece. and it is kept on the wall outside the nursery on the second floor of the roosevelt home. she kept souvenirs. in tr's letters there is reference to bethel walking around in little red shoes.

i think that all of the children had little red shoes at some point or another. edith obviously cap those. the book is peter rabbit in french. beatrix potter books were brand- new and for coming out and they bought them and they read them to their children to read them with their children the children would eventually read back to them. books were important to the roosevelts at all ages. i love the fact that this one is in french and obviously a way to introduce a child to a new language. it probably helped to make it easier to learn french. this was done in the 20s and 30s by edith roosevelt. it tells the story of her family's life. in the top row you can see representations of her husband

and herself. it goes on to show highlights of theodore roosevelt's career. his actions as vice president, for cuba, for being president. it goes on to show he was a writer, a pelican on the third row to show his conservation nest tendencies. a gold star for quentin who was killed during world war i. it is a lovely piece and she had learned to do needlework is a small girl. she did needlework throughout her lifetime. it is very poignant and very touching, a representation of what was important to her. >> this video is on our website. there is also a special feature and we have been accumulating all of the programs for the serious.

if you have been watching us along the way, we will have done individual biographies of each of the women who have served as first ladies. our website has all of these resources plus many tours that didn't make it to air so you can see other things. he also have a special feature each week. the special feature for this one is another item from sagamore hill. it is a dog bowl that edith had under the desk of her study. you will have to go to the website and click on the link to find out what that story is. one other resource i would like to tell you about is our partner for this series is the white house historical association. they have been helpful in helping us prepare the way and the resources. they have published this terrific book, "biographies of the first ladies of the united states."

we have it available to you at cost. there is a link on the website if you'd like to order it. you can be prepared for the biographies that are coming up in the years ahead. if we can show that on screen that would be great. there it is, that is what it looks like. you can have this as part of your own collection. i would like to get to the part that people have been asking us about. the early years of edith roosevelt. the amazing thing is they the new each other as small children. how did that happen? >> they grew up together in new york city. tr grew up on east 20th street and she grew up near union square. she was his younger sister corinne's best friend. they watched the invalids corps marched down the street together. she cried when she saw the invalids soldiers. that was 1865, so they were really little.

>> think we have pictures of that on the screen. if you get for a close you can see the picture of two tiny children looking out the window. >> they were children together and people thought that there was a romance there, but it turns he married someone else. how did that happen? >> well, that is the mystery of the summer house. there is an argument. we don't know what happened but tr and edith were together. things seem to be going very well and then there was a fight. after that they broke apart and went off to harvard. he saw alice, told a friend years going to marry that woman,

and then he did. boston brahmans are usually descendents of people who came over on the map mayflower. she was a very beautiful woman and really quite charming and athletic and tr was incredibly taken with her. she had many suitors and he had to work hard. he sort of surrounded her and charmed her little brother and sister and her cousins and uncles. finally he became so familiar that she gave in. >> how old were they when they met? >> in 1880 he was just 21 and she was 19, so they were very young. but that is not unusual in that time.

>> how old were they when they married? tell the story of what happened in the roosevelt house on that valentine's day in 1884. >> alice had already been born two days before, but alice the mother had a kidney disease. she was fading. tr was in albany with the state assembly and so he got telegrams saying come down, your mother is ill. she had typhoid fever. what he got more telegrams that alice was not doing well either. he finally came down on the train to new york and came into the house. they both died that day. it was a tragedy that broke his heart. he was distraught. he had already been west and he

did flee to the west and was very sad for a long time. >> it is hard to imagine losing your mother and young wife a few days after child birth. what happened to roosevelt afterwards? how did he approach this? was it surprising that he married again? >> it was surprising to him. he told his sister don't let me run into edith at your house anymore, because edith was friends with both sisters. when theodore went to the dakotas he vowed he was never going to marry again. it was a very victorian notion that you are committed to your wife even though she had died. so he was heard to walk the floor out there. i have no constancy, i have no constancy, when he met edith. they discovered that old flame

that had died was rekindled and corded in secret. they didn't tell anyone -- that old flame that had died was rekindled and they courted in secret. actually it is true. >> to show how far he traveled emotionally, theodore was a diarist, and we have a picture on screen of his diary. >> the big x he put on his diary that day. the distance he traveled from that to marrying edith. >> he was devastated. he was also very young and very vigorous and very much alive. she knew him before this tragedy happened, right? he had been to the death of his father the death of his mother and wife, in that sense it was a

lovely destiny that he would find solace in this old, dear friend. >> our guest stacy cordrey is the author of a biography on edith roosevelt. what was the relationship like between the two women? >> that is a very interesting question because edith said she did her best by alice. she said she was less outgoing but she was a very good mother. she said alice had a leg problem and she stretched her legs, she was indulgent towards alice. her stepmother gave in to her wish not to go to boarding school. as she got older i think she was seeking attention that she never had.

to find that attention, she couldn't get it from her father or her stepmother, she couldn't get it from her siblings. once alice began to cross these lines of propriety, the relationship became much more strained. >> was a difference in the way she treated her children? >> she preferred ethel. i think alice knew that. alice was strong-willed. her grandparents would buy her anything. she had a strong will and i think edith would have preferred a little more client, traditional daughter. so i think that was tough. nobody ever seemed to talk to alice about her mother's death. tr was never willing to explain

to her why she had a different mother. >> john olson on twitter asks why there was a connection between tr and grammy. >> she was quite a smart and capable person. she ran sagamore hill and set it up before edith moved in, so there is a bit of competition between annie and edith about who is going to be the political advisor. most of the time they worked together, but it is clear that annie was quite a formidable woman. >> we return to sagamore hill to

see how edith ran the household, which she established as her own. >> sagamore hill was certainly designed to be a summer home. it was always their primary residence. in the first five or six years at they were married, they lived here year-round. after the white house he lived here year round again. it really was the center of their life, even if they weren't here, it was where their hearts were. edith ran the house hold. in albany and in washington dc. she managed the family's accounts, she managed a family's investments. what we have here is an account book. it is an example of the annual accounts from 1891. it basically lists every family

member. she kept track of the expenses that she paid for each family member for every month of the year. it is also broken down into grocery bills, which is buying from the butcher, what she might pay for a plumber to come in and do repairs. she counted every penny and kept very good track of what her household was spending. sagamore hill was different than early residential homes because it wasn't ever a commercial venture. they did not try to be self- sufficient. what edith wanted from sagamore hill was basically to offset the expense of living there. they did raise hay and alfalfa and dry, grains that they could feed their horses and reduce the cost of having horses here. he did have a lovely garden that produced everything from corn to strawberries. they had an arbor that had a different types of grapes. they had strawberry and blueberry fields, but the idea was to feed the family and the staff that lived on site and

also reduce the cost of maintaining a property like this. holding the book, it is the sagamore hill guest book. when people came here they would sign their names just like they were visiting the white house. it is just a casual list, it is not as formal as the white house would have been, but usually there would have been politicians or government officials, but even family sign the book. here in 1904 anna visited. that was tr's older sister. there are signatures from them, so sometimes -- i don't think these people find their name. i think edith went back and made note of food been visiting. there is this wonderful illustration done by one of the visitors showing hope at sunset, is what the illustration says. it is a way of the family to keep track of who came to see them. when the family were here, when their friends were here and what they were up to well they were visiting.

>> a look at life at sagamore hill. just some statistics again and we try to choose some from a two-year term -- i mean a two- term administration. this is hardly an exhaustive list. what was edith's influence when you look at what she contributed? >> edith played a fairly large

role, but behind-the-scenes one of the friends called edith the perfection of an invisible government, which i think she would've liked. it was edith who said we were not call the present by his first name. she never called him by his first name in front of other people in the white house. she made that a more formal issue. she played a role in personnel. we know that one time she suggested someone for the civil service commission. one time she tried to get rid of an ambassador to britain. she said i pulled every string that i knew to pull to get you here.

she was a back channel to theodore roosevelt. henry cabot lodge for example would talk to her about the post office scandal rather than talk to him about it. she could eat a pathway -- it could be a pathway for roosevelt to discuss matters of diplomacy that he could not discuss with diplomats himself. all the time they spent together walking she sent newspaper stories to him. she read four newspapers a day. he did not have time and did not like to read newspapers. she read current stores and handed them to him. she made sure certain topics were in front of him. >> what would you like to add about her influence? >> she favored his conservation policies. we have her on record about that. later when he ran for president

in 1912 she cries the day after he loses. she edits his speeches and articles. he clearly talked with her about policy and she sits in political meetings like mrs. carter, but she was knitting, looking unobtrusive. but then they discussed what happened in the meeting afterwards. she is a very active first lady. >> concerning edith's life after the presidency and after tr died or it was she active in washington society after that? did she have much influence with the relationship of franklin delano when he began his run in politics? >> the roosevelts leave the white house and today believe that their political career was over at that point? >> well, i believe they thought it was through.

tr went on safari in africa for a year and she joins him, they write camels together in egypt and travel to revisit sites of their honeymoon in italy and other places. then he comes back and gets in political trouble. tr gets back into politics in 1912. >> and so she supported his political run in 1912? >> she did. it was a painful run and she knew that he couldn't win. this is when the primary system comes in. states voted to have preferential primaries. when it came time to go to the

convention, taft controlled the delegates. >> so seven years after his unsuccessful run, theodore roosevelt rise in 1919. he was just 60 years old. how did he die? >> well, his heart gave out. and embolism got him. he was in the brazilian jungle and he almost died. he had rheumatism. so he was in bad shape and part of it is the way he lived his life. >> it was a strenuous life. was edith with him when he died? >> she was in the house. she had been taking care of him and they knew it was serious. >> he did.

>> how did she spend her years after the white house? >> travel, travel, travel. she went around the world. she traveled with kermit and the other children. >> what she political? >> she sympathized. theodore junior was the assistant secretary of the navy. he tried to follow in his father's footsteps and it didn't work for well. >> she also had a very sad family life in her post-white house years. >> quentin died in world war i. then she lost sons in world war ii heard do you want to tell the story?

kermit kills himself and the family didn't want to talk about that. archie lived a very long life. and alice would outlive anyone. >> we would just have to say about the person that alice married and her relationship. >> that would've been interesting. they have a torturous relationship i would say. she would have a child and her husband would not be the father of the child.

the most powerful man in washington dc, william borah, would be the father of the child. i would say she was more of a wise political observer. people saw her advice for 60 years. she was an icon in washington dc. the other washington monument she was called. >> we have about six minutes left heard i'm going to show more of the clip we started of the republican rally. if you want to understand the family politics of both sides of the roosevelts. >> [indiscernible] [applause]

>> and rear their children. >> what should people know about that relationship between the two roosevelt families and their

political aspirations? >> she was mad at eleanor for the teapot dome scandal. she was being a loyal republican. herbert hoover had given money to the bull moose party and a lot of people saw hoover as a progressive republican in tr's mold. >> david welsh wants to know which of the progressive issues were closer to eleanor. i wouldn't think of her as being in active or former, but she was sympathetic with some of the progressive reforms. >> let's first take a call from jolo in michigan who has been waiting. >> i have a question for stacy. i read her book about alice and i was totally impressed with it. it is the only book i've ever read about her. was her impersonations of eleanor as good as everyone said they were? >> yes, apparently they were

that good. she was a pretty good mimic. >> today read that as they were departing the white house and the taft's are coming in, she was photographed sticking her tongue out? >> i wouldn't be surprised. >> in what ways was edith well- suited to be a 20th century first lady? >> i think 20th century first lady's have had to be partners. it is such a demanding job, but the president really needs not only emotional support but he needs practical help. there have been quite delegations throughout the history of the first lady ladies time in the 20th century. >> that was an excellent answer.

>> i have never seen in any other woman the power of being an advisor, the wisest manager of the household and at the same time the height deal great lady and mistress of the white house. >> what particular strengths it edith have that helped her father become president? >> she was patient. >> where tr was outgoing and never met a stranger, edith was much more reserved. part of her wisdom was knowing when to give health -- when to give help and went to calm him down. he was more excitable and

impulsive and she was quite calm and deliberate. but she was a better judge of people. he often said whenever i went against edith's advice i regretted it. >> robert in pennsylvania. quick question. >> high, thanks for taking my call. you mentioned that roosevelt came from a wealthy family. i was interested in the source of their wealth and they maintained their wealth during the presidency. why she seemed so conscientious about money. >> the roosevelts family had merchant wealth, banking wealth. his grandfather was very successful and helped found the chemical bank in new york city. he also owned the lot of property. tr spent a lot of his inheritance from his father on ranching and was in for a careful about money.

they really lived on his writing and his salary. that is why they were strapped. >> edith was very poor as a child. so she was in the habit of pinching pennies. it wasn't until they got to the white house that she thought they finally had enough money to entertain and relax a bit. >> kathleen dalton's book, you might be interested in it if you want to learn more. as we close out, if we look at the pantheon of first ladies that we are going to be understanding and learning more about, what has been edith's influence on american history? >> when eleanor roosevelt and franklin roosevelt came to the white house in the middle of the crisis of 1933, a told friends that we would really like our white house to be like uncle theodore's and aunt edith's. they were role models for other couples, presidential couples,

because they were vigorous and active. they maintained a homey sense and kept their personal life alive. >> she kept the embodiment of the ceremonial aspects of the job. she kept the same folksy sense. >> on that note we will say iq to stacy cordrey for being with us tonight.

thanks to both of you for your scholarship. ♪

>> as a teenager she was invited to the white house as a party from that moment on she yearns to return as a first lady herself. live monday night at 9:00. we are offering a special edition of the book resenting a biography and a portrait of each --rst lady and comments from from each first lady. find out more at www.c-span.org /first ladies.

a ceremony honoring the four girls who died in the 1963 birmingham church bombing. remarks from former secretary of state hillary clinton. a look at the presidency of john f. kennedy as we approach the 50th anniversary of his assassination. >> the world is changing. .e cannot control every event america remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs and as long as i'm president, i intend to keep it that way. what he does not want us to do not know how to win wars. we have the best military in the world. we spend more on our military

than the rest of the world put together. but we do not know how to win wars. it seems to me there ought to be a very serious national conversation. is it our politicians? is it the size of the forces? that by its very nature, war is unpredictable? to go to war is to roll the dice and you might win and you might not. sunday night at 8:00. >> members of congress pay tribute to the victims of the 1963 birmingham church bombing with the congressional gold medals being awarded to the four girls who lost their lives at that event 50 s