so i -- you just have to try to do what you think is best for the day and hopefully it will be another one tomorrow. >> how often do your editors nix your ideas. >> not that often. sometimes -- but it's usually -- i'm always glad that an editorial looks at my cartoon. because you know, it's like if you're looking at an idea and you keep looking at it, you lose your objectivity and you don't know if it works or not. and there's been times when i come up with an idea and i'll -- you know, i'll draw up the sketch and i'll show it to the editor and the editor will say, well, you you can't do that. people are going to say, hey, look what people will think. i have not really realized it. there's a guy, i don't know what -- what was --

>> i am going to try to do a cartoon on that. i do not know if he made the connection. that is where you need an editor. people will think that is obama and you cannot do that.

i could see me doing something like that. that is why you need an editor. >> we need an editor. occasionally. >> thanks. >> go ahead. >> my name is trey. how do you avoid getting burned out. yet the do a cartoon every day. -- how do you avoid getting burned out? you have to do a cartoon every day. how do you stay fresh? >> there was this thing for bill waterson. it were taking breaks. they were not political artoonists because, if you do comic strip, you do a world for

the rest of your life. for us, we have the best scriptwriters working for us in washington. these guys are giving us new material. the other thing is that we are doing something -- because the conversation that we have with the audience and a cousin we deal with serious things, we get to vent. there is a medicinal element in it. there is something that gives us a lot of juice. easy.akes this sound he talks about the panic side. you have to be firing all the neuron's in your brain to make a come out. you can be pretty exhausted. there is concerned about having to -- 12,000 cartoons in the brain. that is how many you have to

produce by the time you retire. that can cause panic. for all that it takes, you get it back. you get the satisfaction of starting the day with a blank piece of paper and seeing it read what other people and getting comments from others. with excitement when i am my colleagues and seeing their take on the world. we realize that we are in a very special -- and we are deeply honored. >> i would agree with that. i'm still excited to come in. it is not a job. as is what i always wanted to do. these guys had to go seven days a week. vacations. get we get vacations. we get days off.

we are going in and drawing pictures. somebody else is digging a ditch. work everyd to go to day. i am honored and privileged to have a job and do it. >> i would say that i agree with that. i agree. it was great to have you. thank you for coming. be signing books. a new book. by one and i will sign it. >> we will be outside the door. >> thank you very much. the first lady, lou hoover, graduated from stanford university with a degree in geology. she was fluent in many languages, including chinese. she played a role with the girl scouts of america. tonight, on first ladies includes an image -- influence

and image, the life of lou hoover. >> lou and herbert hoover came to the white house as trained geologists and experience will travelers who were successful in private sectors. months into herbert hoover', the markets crashed and the first lady used her office to encourage charity. their one term ended with great public frustration. tonight, the story of lou hoover. what an interesting life she had. here to tell us about her years before the white house is annette dunlap. she is a scholar at the hoover

institution and working on a biography of lou henry hoover. what inspired you to spend several years of your life looking at this woman. >> i was at the national first ladies library in canton, ohio. i realized that this was a story that has not been told. there are some in the layers to her. some activities that she was involved in. she left forat women is something that i want people to know about. >> she was born in waterloo. the story i heard is that her father wanted a boy. >> so they say. lou is not short for anything. she was raised as a tomboy. one of the earliest pictures of her is her fishing in a stream. we have a picture of her

carrying a rifle. a lot of her diary talks about ,er joint of being able to hunt fish, and be outdoors. she was somebody who was totally fascinated with the outdoors. obviously, she studied geology at stanford university. her 60s, we have material from her going on camping trips at the age of 63 oh stop she rode horseback into her campsites and slept on the ground while her other friends pallets.tents on >> from a public policy perspective, she spent years encouraging other young women to incorporate the outdoors and physical activity into their lives. it was not just for her stop she saw a benefit or women at a time when women were not doing this

will stop >> it was a time when women were being more physically active, and she took the next step. there were areas where she got involved in that. the first was the girl scouts. that was an opportunity for her to promote more outdoor activity. learning how to build a campfire, enjoying the outdoors. the other part of what she was involved in was the national amateur athletics foundation. she made sure that sports and physical activity for women were appropriate for women and not just something for men that women did. >> we will answer your questions. you can get your questions in in many ways. you can tweet us. as many tweets into the program as we can.

we have a facebook conversation knowing on. you see the lou henry hoover photograph and there is a conversation going on. leas join in the conversation tonight. much to learn about this interesting woman. how did she get from iowa to california. -- iowa to california? she started out as a clerk at a bank. the is in the days before federal reserve and banks did not always succeed. they went up and down with economies. her father was looking for other opportunities and was given the opportunity to start a bank in whittier, california. in 1887. they were building a brand-new community. it had been founded by the

quakers. they said they were open to any fair-minded people of any religion. >> here is the connection between whittier california -- whittier, california. richard nixon was a cracker -- quaker. we have videos to show you. father had always wanted a boy. that is why she is named lou. it is not short for anything. it is actually little. -- lou/ . she becomes a tomboy. she learns to shoot and fish. they go camping and are up in the mountains a lot. 22 rifle.s a .

i love this photograph. it is an early photograph of her on top of this mule. she looks rough and tough. she has this gone right there. -- gun right there. annie oakley. it is that era and she is that type of girl. she is an independent girl. this was written on january 31 of 1890. she's talking about being independent and doing her own thing. sooner or later, she met a spirit as independent as her own and there was a clash of arms that was in mortal kombat. -- combat. she met that person with herbert hoover. she is at college and talking about the different classes she

takes. one of the classes she talks about is botany classes. she likes going outdoors. she refers to ms. palmer. she says they were a good match for climbing. they found lots of flowers, s, primroses- lupin -- >> as a part of that -- as a part of the class, they were also drawing flowers. there are flowers and butterflies. different kinds of things. you have the latin name, as well. that is what she would have been learning. she does not write about herself, necessarily. she writes about her experiences in life and she is a highly educated woman. -- both of created

her mom -- both her mom and dad environment and encouraged her to do things. she was able to do that and she explore that as well as she could. >> we were commenting, as we are watching the photographs, of how full of life she is an day comes through in these photographs years later. geologysion to study

influence the white house? >> i think a lot of countries influence them. they were looking for ways to keep freedom. they saw what it was like to be in countries with freedom taken.

>> what were their philosophies. -- what were their philosophies? >> i do not know if they had this view when i started out, chinaime, they were in during the boxer rebellion and lived in countries where people had their freedoms curtailed. as americans and being talking points of individual freedom, they are enjoying the same freedom and freedom of choice. they realized that that was something that was very important. hoover's acquired quite a bit of wealth and were very successful. >> multimillionaires the time that they got to the white house. rebellion, which you referred to, was a protest

against foreign influence in china. >> their lives were threatened. and manned the barricades. she was out there where the weaponry was. she was involved with the red cross and got supplied to aid people. she was sitting in the house when a boy came through the front door. she pulled out a deck of cards and did not miss a beat. it did not face or. -- phase her. she said that she has missed the most exciting summer. travels, we have a graphic on our screen. breadth of the positions taken around the world. they were posted in china and london. world war i.

of the the job is part commission for the relief of belgium. later on, the head of the u.s. food administration. he served as the secretary of commerce under harding and coolidge. , i read that hoover was a globetrotter, how many countries did she visit? she went to australia. the travel to the countries of north africa. some of the countries in the middle east. they were also in russia. that is just the short list. theyring this time, published together. what was that aspect of their career? >> she had published pieces on geology on her own. biography onas a

the creator of the seismograph. the work that they did together was a translation of a treatise on mining. it was written in latin and had a lot of technical latin terms. she had studied latin and they used a translator. it won an award and it was the first award given by the association for mining and metallurgy. gave the remarks and excepted the metal. accepted the metal. >> david is from chicago. >> hi. i just want to ask about the relationship with the white house staff. book whenlian park's it came out. they did not return mrs. hoover

is a very nice person. apparently, she and the president wanted the white house staff to disappear. were jumping into closets and hiding behind curtains. they did not speak to the staff. in addition, i read that mrs. using would communicate hand signals and that drove the white house staff crazy. he did not understand which was asking for. on one hand, a compassionate woman. on the other hand, not very nice to the white house staff. >> thank you. let's find out how she approached the white house staff and how that squared with her public image. caller raises good questions and there is a lot of material out there that supports what he read. i think one of the things that we have to look at, as

when did this material come out. painting the came out when the roosevelts were in office -- there was such an enormous anti- peoplesentiment, that capitalize on an anti-hoover message. some of those things are things that we need to look at carefully. we do know that the hoover's paid several of the staff out of their own funds and make sure atet all of the staff e three meals a day. it needs to be looked at carefully. >> catherine on facebook asks about what mrs. hoover's opinions were of the women's suffrage movement. >> she rode interesting thing

when she was 15 in support of suffrage. she did not think it was right that women should declassified in the same category as joe birds and convex -- jailbirds and convicts. convicted felons cannot vote. she was in favor of seeing women get the right to vote. she was not an active suffragettes. >> did she believe in equality between men and women? >> absolutely. video abouty the the travels around the world and -- let'she artifacts show you the video about some of the travels around the world and some of the artifacts. mengey tended to focus on

, 300 or 400riods years ago. they collected this their entire lives. the bestloped collection and united states of chinese porcelain's. s. having learned to speak chinese in china, she would research the artists. trading --re always trading these. they had as many as 400 at one point. they tried to get matched sets. here are some pieces of pewter. pieces that could have been used for teapots and various things of that sort. this collection does not go beyond 1920.

have 50 or 60 of these and our collection. throughout all of her travels, this was representative of all the places they went. she start collecting weapons. i'm not sure where that idea came from. here is some boomerangs from time in australia. we're pretty sure this is an indonesian peace. -- piece. --had some sort of a weapon it had some sort of a weapon. i think it would do somebody some damage. -- it would do some damage to somebody. here is a dagger with a wooden handle. swords seem to be one of her favorite things to collect. there are a variety of nationalities and shapes. >> while that video was going

on, we have an other guest on our set. welcome. hooverned that herbert ended up in the harding and coolidge cabinets as the secretary of commerce. she was the republican choice for president in 1928. set the scene for us. economy has been growing in leaps and bounds through the 1920s. herbert hoover has been this prominent secretary of commerce. has cometo hooverize into the language. there are hopes and expectations around hoover. he is the great humanitarian and engineer. he is able to get the nomination in 1928 from the reputation he has built up in world war i and

as secretary of commerce. there is also an incredible relief effort in 1927. when mass a time media is coming into play. how did that affect his popularity? >> he got a lot coverage. there were news reels. he had a film made of himself. it was called "master of emergencies." it showed how capable he was. the media was important. >> what was the election like? >> it was a landslide. he wins 60% of the vote and an enormous portion of the electoral college. where thelection

democrats have nominated al smith. he is the first catholic to be nominated for a national major party. herbert hoover is a beneficiary of a divide that happens on the democratic side. withinh is opposed from because of his catholicism and prohibition.t hoover escapes an internal battle. >> it is important to note that he came in with a republican congress. >> he did. one would think there was lots of support for his programs. >> one would think. >> how involved was lou hoover and the campaign? >> she worked on all the campaign appearances and was very visible. part of the press that was out at the time was in conduction

with al smith being the nominee. this comparison of this woman who is not knowledgeable and sophisticated against lou hoover. she was a very sophisticated woman. she had gained national prominence from her other activities. >> michael is watching us in san antonio. >> hello. yes. i want to comment on mrs. hoover. she seemed very on orthodox for 1930s.e 1920s and early she seemed way ahead of her time. she was eclipsed by elenor roosevelt and the glamour of jacqueline kennedy. she has been forgot and. -- forgotten. how was she perceived at the

time by the press and the public? was coloringsion her view -- people's view of her tenure. expectations and enthusiasm. a lot was expected. she was involved with girl scouts and was involved in the athletic amateur federation. she had hosted and chaired a conference on women in law- enforcement. she tried to get equal enforcement of prohibition laws. one of the things that she did was -- as the color points out, she was unorthodox -- as the caller points out, she was unorthodox. mary randolph wanted lou to

hings the "washington society" way of thanks. ings. she introduced a lot of changes. she was very on orthodox. hodox.rt --i believe >> some have opted not to have an inaugural ball. >> they got soaked in the ceremony. they did not attend the ball. the vice president and his sister-in-law attended the ball. it was considered a charity ball and not an inaugural ball. >> what was the charity? >> that's a good question. i don't have the answer.

-- tweet tweak it it. >> i'm big fan of this series and i know all about the president's. s. what was lou hoover's favorite activity in the white house? >> i'm not sure there was one. i will pick two. one would be taking care of the gardens and loving outdoors. chronicling the history of the furniture and decorations of the white house. >> how long were they in office before the stock market crashed? >> eight months. >> were there any warnings? >> there were some in hindsight.

there had been a stock market bubble coming into office. there had been a little bit of financial volatility. it had been sorted out by major bankers in new york who got together to make sure the stock market was back on track. depressionn economic in agriculture that have been ongoing since world war i. there were certainly some bad economic signals in the air. happened onted what october 21. the stock market tumbles. it seems to regroup. herbert hoover makes a statement. he says that the basis of the american economy is sound. thefollowing tuesday, stockmarket crashes. market crashes.

>> we missed a story that i do not want to leave on the table, she had a controversial appointment to the white house of an african american member of congress's wife. >> it was common for the first lady to have keys for the wives of the members of congress. in previous administrations, there was one event and it was over. in 19 -- in the same year that 28,ver was elected, 19 chicago elected the first african-american in 28 years. priest to haves. tea.

they had conversations about how this could be handled. was, the decisions made instead of having a massive tea, they broke into six. each group of congressional wives are selected as a group. some of what was going on was who mightcular wise not be offended were vetted during one of these. prepareeantime, as they , herbert invites the president of teske institute to join him for a meeting at the white house. this raises no questions. even though an african american had not met with the president since booker t. washington had

met with theodore roosevelt. on june 6, the day after the fifth tea. invitation. thisongressman publicizes and it gets a lot of attention. everything seems ok. a week later, the representative hosts a musical and tea. all of a sudden, the southern delegations and the southern state legislatures realize that this is getting out of hand. is all because mrs. hoover had an african-american at the white house. the entire summer, you have sent your and threats from the

southern states and members of congress to censure mrs. hoover. it becomes quite a brouhaha. is a precarious time for african-americans in the united states. how did it affect their future over the next few years over that brouhaha? the republican, party was the party of civil rights and the party of african- americans. in 1928, hadr, broken into -- harding made a butht inroad to it -- hoover was trying to balance expectations of the party of

lincoln and a heritage of civil arets and seeing that there inroads to the south, which is democratic territory. negotiate lou have to effects of this brouhaha. it has a substantial affect. -- effect. southern democrats are outraged at him. there are lovely white republican organizations that are trying to become -- lilywhi te republican organizations that are trying to become viable by respecting traditional racial mores. it is a positive gesture. they do not hand,

build or maintain momentum beyond that >> when he needed them, after the depression, it had political ramifications. >> it was part of a larger picture of difficulties that herbert hoover had with the congress. both the republican congress, as you said. in 1930, the democrats win back the house and that is more problematic. the problem that herbert hoover is not a politician. he has risen to the heights of secretary of commerce and then to president without ever holding elected office. the only other residents who have gone straight to the top have been generals. herbert hoover does not have this background of dealmaking and dealing with politicians. he is quite superior towards politicians.

he feels that he is the only person. he does not get along with politicians to do what he needs to do to make deals. >> some past couples have had a wife ending up being the better politician. was this the case? >> it was not. they were two sides of the same coin stopped in the same way that herbert hoover was not a politician because he was an effective administrator, lou was the same way. she was always in a leadership role where negotiation was not a skill that she had to develop. she was, in some respects, a little bit better able to handle troubled waters than herbert was. she did try to invite people for dinner where they could have an exchange of ideas and get him to talk about some of the issues

that are going on. a lot of the time, she was probably doing a lot of the same types of things that he was. as we mentioned, and she got rid of her social secretary and was no longer engaged in the social side of washington, that was an area that was shut down for them. >> duncan. >> good evening. i was just hearing about the experience that hoover may or may not have had with father charles coughlin. >> the radio broadcaster who was using the airwaves -- do you know the story of father coughlin? >> he was a radio priest and with the start of radio, he had an amazing idea to take his sermons onto the air and does so quite successfully with a strong political message.

>> what was that message? >> it is a message of sharing wealth, in some ways. regulating banks and businesses. he is considered to be both left-wing and incredibly isolationist. but, actually, in terms of relationship with hoover, his political movement builds up steam in the mid-30s. >> are there any parallels with today and the tea party? >> absolutely. this is a new era and radio is showing that it has incredibly wonderful potential and a potential to give a voice to

people who become demagogues. like charles coughlin and huey long. these are movements that get going in the 1930s after franklin roosevelt's election. there is this huge ideological battle going on, essentially, throughout the 1930s. whether he is completely behind it or not, hoover is on one side of it and franklin roosevelt gets to be on the other. there are people in between who have our own movements who use the radio to promote it. >> just to give you a topline glimpse of how much the country changed during years of the great depression, in terms of unemployment, unemployment was 3.2% in 1929.

by 1933, it was 24.9%. so, how did the hoover's, particularly lou hoover, use the white house when they realized the severity of the situation facing society. her big cause was volunteerism and getting people to pitch in to help. particularly people who were not impacted by the depression. she was involved in the girl scouts and 4-h clubs. she was involved in agricultural communities where they were still having success with the economy. they had not really bottomed out and she got them to get in there and share.

to provide for the neighbors and see where there were needs. >> we have a clip of lou hoover encouraging the 4-h. >> we have all read and heard so much about these organizations. this year, there are more people in need. more than usual in need of your care. there is something each one of you can do. a central achievement awaits you. joining a four-h club, you decide on a problem you will attack and you lay out a plan of action. you go to work to carry out that plan. you do it enthusiastically. >> how far could volunteerism go to address the scope of the problems of society? >> it is easy to ask that question now.

we have to realize that nobody ever expected the great depression to be as deep, as severe, or as long-lasting as it was. to be successful, in the short term, -- during hoover's time with the u.s. food administration and asking people to have meatless fridays and meatless mondays to preserve food. these were more by what was going on in the economy and this was a more serious problem than anyone could understand at the time. >> blake is watching us in arkansas. >> thank you. i enjoy the show. i have a question about the relationship between elenor roosevelt and lou hoover.

>> it was obviously not very cordial. there was some discussion about not having the traditional night before the inauguration dinner with the roosevelt because of how much hostility there was before the camp -- during the campaign. mrs. roosevelt became the first lady and she became the honorary president of the girl scouts. lou resumed an administrative position inside of the girl scouts and described mrs. roosevelt as very cordial. >> while lou hoover was promoting volunteerism, she try to put things in front of congress, like the hoover dam. they do not sound very

republican from this perspective. why were they not affected in addressing what was happening -- effective in addressing what was happening? >> people do not understand how huge or how long this would last for. hoover tries to do several things, he tries to do it in a complementary way to what lou is doing through volunteerism. he creates the present emergency committee on unemployment and he tries to get together all of the

agencies of the state and local governments. the red cross. he tries to coordinate places to coordinate information about unemployment and relief efforts. he tries to use the federal government in a noncoercive way to encourage people voluntary organizations to get more involved and know how they can get more involved. >> we are being watched in texas. >> this is a great series. i visited the hoover museum. i wondered what lou hoover's fascination was with embroidered flowers. >> right. the embroidered flowers that you saw were embroidered the women

of belgium and they were sold as a way to raise money after world war i so that they could purchase food. >> hello, john. >> thank you for c-span. my mother's family is from waterloo, iowa. the family knew the hoover's. my mother's family was involved in the creation of the republican iowa party. >> anyways, i'm bragging. >> all right. thank you very much. lots of personal connection. the hoover's took a personal approach to the stories. how did they respond to the stories and please for help --

pleas for help. >> they were always getting letters for help. so, when she started getting letters and asking for requests for help, she had to determine how many of these were traditional letters and how many of these were legitimate. if she got a letter that she thought was legitimate, she would pass it onto a friend. she would ask a friend to find out whether or not this is actually legitimate and who this person is. whether or not they would benefit from assistance. and she got the word back from her friends that this was

somebody who would benefit, she would anonymously, usually through a friend or through somebody else in the community, she would anonymously send money to help that person. to ask whoever was being the transmitter of the funds to keep an eye out on the recipient and keep her posted on what was going on. >> they saw the creation of communities called hoovervilles. there was also a march of the bonus marchers. how much was society affected? how did these hoovervilles affect the public perception of the economy? >> by 1932, you have almost 20% unemployment and everybody knows somebody who has lost their job

and is facing economic hardships. they start to be increasing protests. the bonus march was the most prominent. this is veterans from world war i who, in 1924, had been promised a bonus. an additional payment. that was going to mature in 1945. calvin coolidge had vetoed this legislation in 1924. it had passed over his veto. the bonus march was about the fact that they were suffering now and could not wait. congress that they can loan a certain amount. hoover disapproved.

they passed it over his veto. hoover vetoed the bonus marchers and there were over 10,000 of them. they were trying to push congress to pass the full bonus. the house does and the senate does not. there is a situation where 10,000 people camp out in washington. they have effectively failed and congress. what do we do with them? hoover makes a move where he asks the army to help move the bonus marchers. this turns into an incredibly graphic and violent episode. general douglas macarthur uses pretty violent means to make

them move on their way. scenes like this. this does not look good at all. it does not look like he is concerned about the forgotten man. >> the stress on the hoover's had to be in enormous. one of the things they did was establish a retreat in the shenandoah mountains. we talk about what they do as a people and as a couple during the depression. >> the first time that the hoover's came to the camp was by horse back. there was no roads. they came up to the headwaters of the rapid river and there were 164 acres for sale that were sandwiched between two

small streams. in those days, it was five dollars an acre. for less than a thousand dollars, they purchased 164 acres. she was instrumental in the design of this camp. and shows her love of nature and her simplest today. she enjoyed being outdoors. it is the opposite of other buildings that they had in their life. they tried to create a retreat where they could relax and get back to nature. she wanted the house to be outside as much as possible. she had a design where the windows would open and screens would let the air in. she could smell the outdoor smells coming through into her room. she could be inside, yet, at the same time, have the feeling of being outside. the sun porch was her office and it is a beautiful room with windows surrounding it.

the light is natural all day long. there are no electric lights in there at all. it is all sunlight coming in. she had a desk and chair where she would spend hours writing letters. a lot of what we know about her comes from the letters. the hoover's had this fireplace built. they would enjoy fires all evening long. many guests would sit out here all stop many of them were sitting on this porch. mrs. hoover love to smell the smoke of a campfire. she wanted have that smell all day long. mrs. hoover wanted her gardens to be different then the white house. she wanted to be in formal and she is quoted as saying that she wanted them to be a little bit wild.

that meant that she did not want formal beds and she wanted everything out there randomly. she wanted the paths to be lined with rocks so that you could find your way, but nothing outstanding. she wanted to blend in. this rock structure behind me is a very rustic fountain made from rocks from the local area. this is the rock garden which she referred to as her "rockery." >> how did the hoover's use this? did this help with the strains of the depression? >> yes. it helped with all the negativity around them and the problems with getting anything through congress. what they did was, this was a

man had looked for as a way to get out of washington, they located a property in the shenandoah mountains. lou designed the house and they went as frequently as they could. they did not go alone. they were frequently with friends. there is one report that $100,000 was spent. that was a considerable amount of money. >> were they conscious about going to a camp when people were in hoovervilles? >> i don't think they were concerned about that. they discovered the children who had lived in the region had never been to school. >> let's show that clip about the children at the hoover

school. >> getting that ready. while we're getting that ready, let's have a call. renée. >> i was wondering if hoover -- i have heard that he did not take a salary. i have heard that president kennedy did not accept his salary. they were saying that they were the only president. did hoover donate some of the money to charity? >> i do not know about president kennedy. hoover did not accept a salary in any of his public service positions. he kept a separate account. he worked for free for the relief of belgium. when he went into government, he was not allowed to say not to

pay him. he would distribute the money to charity. >> can you discuss how the hoovers paid for entertainment? >> there was a budget set for them. they did a bit of entertaining on their own and the entertainment would be beyond the official entertaining. it would come out of their funds. they sometimes paid for staff. they paid for their own secretaries. >> is this known by the public? >> no. pr was not their strong suit. herbert was begged to let the people know about his acts of charity and his reaching out and caring for youth.

we get back to the idea that lou was going to run her own shop. there was no one who is going to tell her what to do. a lot of this -- a lot of what made them so wonderful was what set the stage for them to have so much difficulty. >> let's show you the clip of lou hoover with the children. >> now, boys and girls, tell me the names of the mountains. what's that on that side? over there, behind there. oh yes, that is very nice. >> the mountain school was established by the hoover's after they've encountered some of the families in the area where they built camp. they realize that these children

had never attended public school and they build a school with their own funds. they worked with the state of virginia to hire a teacher and they interviewed the teacher. they contacted a college in the appalachian portion of kentucky. it does a good job of preparing people for working with communities like this one. the hoover's funded and work with the state of virginia to make sure that a teacher was funded. >> presidential ponderings on twitter asks >> wow. that is a tough question. >> how was she with the media? you talk about him having a good sense of pr. what was her approach? did she ever have press

conferences? >> no, she did not. there is a piece talking about the fact she met with reporters one time. the first time we see any formal meeting with reporters was in july 1832 so we are and campaign luncheond she had a for reporters but it is important to note that they were not writing for the front page, they were writing for the society page. this is being treated as a men's issues. >> we were talking earlier about radio. for a seriese this of addresses and we will listen to one of those right now and talk about how radio helped the hoovers and their approach.

>> [inaudible] >> the message is the same. scouts who are helping. [inaudible] >> in some way presaging the address, fireside chats.

quick she is using it to try and push this message which is in keeping with what herbert hoover is doing at that time and it is interesting that she is doing the talks to the girl scouts 1932 comesich she in plan, itthe rapidan tobasically this effort muster the resources of their girl scouts into a more coordinated and organized effort to help coordinate with local and state relief agencies and at the same time she has an individual who helps her and is working with the president on the organization for

unemployment relief. her volunteer work -- she is urging them to work with the others as the girl scouts are doing, coordinating with the kind of things that herbert hoover is doing within the administration and so she is commenting his policies. rex on this question of how she get with the press, robin glass says, i read that she kept something so private that her papers were not opened until 40 years after her death because doing so would violate the privacy of people she helped financially. you spent time with her papers. is this a true story? >> it is more that she made the decision that the papers would not be opened until 40 years after she passed away. because of concerns about things that may have been written about people and her letters and correspondence. she was very much -- it is make it interesting.

she made a lot of use of the radio to try to promote her andes and which were used tried to push the volunteerism. >> thank you for taking my call. and your outstanding program. there has not been any mention of whether or not they had children. theyey have children, did die in infancy or did they live to adulthood and did they have successes question mark thank you. >> they had two boys, herbert junior born in 1903 and alan and tina seven. they happen to have been born in london because this is where bert was working at the time and the hoover's lived there. oath of them were extremely successful. one of the interesting stories about camp rapidan is that the older son was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1930 when he went for his physical for the

annual time to serve in the reserve. tuberculosis at that time was a very serious disease. it was not always curable. this is of course preantibiotic. and the hoovers had him living in camp rapidan for the beginning of the convalescence until the winter set in and then they moved him to ashland, north carolina. during the year that herbert jr. was convalescing, lou invited her daughter-in-law and herbert's children to live in the white house. there were children running around the white house during that time. and again that wasn't necessarily successful in softening the image.

they didn't want the children photographed or things written about them. >> this a period of time when the nation was transfixed with the lindbergh baby kidnapping and i wonder if that affected the sense of security for the first family and whether that increased the threat for the children. >> we talked about it before. there was increased security after the -- after the lindbergh kidnapping in order to -- to protect the white house and whatever children might be in there at the time. but there's also an increased concern about the fascination for us, again, herbert hoover himself especially after the protest of it was depression continues. so security is certainly a very important factor in the white house at this time. and the secret service is very much vigilant. >> nancy on twitter, how was the marriage between the hoovers affected by the great depression? >> well, they had always been very, have close partners but they were not as close in the partnership in the four years during the white house.

burt pulled into himself a little bit. wasn't communicative as he had been. it took a toll. one of the hoovers easons was supposedly told one of his cousins many years later that he felt that the parents being in the white house for the four years was a mistake because of the stress they put on their relationship. >> jennifer sherman tweets to us, i'm realizing for the most part, the real role of flotus -- first lady of the united states, the essentially advisor in chief or gatekeeper. next is steven watching us in new york city, hi, steven, you're on. >> hi. i wanted to know were the hoovers the wealthiest of all of the first families -- the first couples? >> they were certainly very wealthy. do you know if they were the wealthiest. >> the things on comparison to that, you'd have to compare in constant dollars. money at that time wouldn't be money say for a kennedy portion or a bush portion. >> i believe that they believed

that george washington was the wealthiest of all the things. all of the plantations and slavery. herbert hoover had about $4 million he made by 1914 in today's dollars. there they were from $17 million to $19 million. they think he might have been wealthier than his successor, fdr, who inherited his wealth. herbert hoover made it from scratch. he's worn off of the presidents, they were the wealthiest. >> thank you for taking my call. i always wondered why the library was in -- >> dan, i'm so sorry. i pushed the button at the wrong time. that's my fault. charles in santa fe, new mexico. if you can get back in, we'll

take your questions. my apologies. your question from santa fe. >> thank you for taking my call. i'm really enjoying this series. i'm a native from iowa and my only exposure was a television series called "back stairs of the white house." they did not portray the hoovers very well in how they treated the servants. >> we had that question earlier in the program with some examples which i think you're going give. the caller in the beginning had seen the same series. you agreed? >> i think we have to be careful about who we're telling the stories to. there's noun be made after the hoovers left because of the negativity. there was noun be made telling that story about the hoovers. we have to be careful with how we interpret what we're hearing. >> the accounts exist but the voracity is something we have to

look at. >> we often visit the smithsonian which you know has the first ladies' dress collection. lou hoover next. >> she was a fascinating, determined, and fashionable first lady. we have two on display. one, the flurl, an informal, lighter, something for like a garden party. the other dress, the long dress, is a reception dress. it was actually worn for a reception for the girl scouts of america, a cause very close to lou hoover's heart. not only the honorary first lady but an active member of the girl scouts. we'll take you up to the storage area and you can see more pieces

that belong to lou hoover. >> these pieces may have been worn with the evening dress on display down the stairs. the eyeglass on the chain appears with the picture of her on the evening gown. she feels fascinating, outdoor si, and elegant. unable buy fine clothes and was the first first lady to appear in vogue. this dress draped in grecian fold was something she donated to the museum to be worn by a mannequin in the first lady's exhibit. it was worn with these shoes and represents mrs. hoover until 1987. it's one of the first ladies we have day wear. black and white silk dress in a clover pattern is a wonderful part of the business collection. it shows the more business side of lou hoover and the first ladies. >> that's the view of the first laities' collection at the smithsonian. we do appreciate it. what do you do to change the white house during her tenure there? >> well, one of the things that she did was on the social side, which as we already talked

about, she changed how the structure -- >> the structure of itself? >> sorry about that. well, let's go that. one of the things that she did was to do refurbishing on the second floor. she did drawings of butterflies and flou earles and she did drawings of what she wants bookcases to look like on the second floor. she was involve in redoing some of the downstairs lick room, no it the green room which was a project started under grace coolidge and finished by a committee that had been appointed by congress, but she did some refurbishing in the red and the blue room as well. >> these are years of prohibition? what were the hoovers' attitude before prohibition? parties with alcohol outside of the white house? >> the prohibition hoover had in 1928 on a law enforcement plank, he was officially in favor of prohibition. lou as we mentioned earlier had

this committee in 1924 on law enforcement. but i have heard rumors that on his way home from work when he was secretary of commerce sometimes liked to stop by the belgian embassy that was on the foreign territory and had a cocktail at the end of the day. so i think personally they were tea total. herbert hoover had a quaker background which in some ways would have linked itself to a more protemperance stance they engaged in. >> how popular was prohibition in the country at this point. >> in 1928, it's still unclear where it is. this is a time before public opinion polling. so it's difficult for people to get a read on the nation. as we mentioned before, al smith's campaign is divisive in

part because he is suggesting a -- not a repeal of prohibition, but maybe a revision of prohibition, maybe get the state on some -- some chance to go wet as it was known in those times if they wanted to. but 1932, prohibition has become incredibly unpopular. in large part, because of the kind of negative impact it had in terms of the rise of organized crime. so in 1932, hoover runs on a platform where he's similar to '28, like maybe he's going to be okay with certain kinds of reform at the state level. but democrats get the repeal in 1932 and that wins out. >> sue watching in colorado. hi, sue. >> thank you so much. mentioned earlier that the hoovers were multimillionaires prior to presidency. i wondered how they made their

money. thank you so much. >> herbert hoover was a mining engineer. he travelled the globe doing consulting. he also invested in quite a number of -- he was paid very well for that. but he also invested in mines that were mining materials that were very, have high demand. >> as the depression worsened and the criticism of the man in the white house continued to mount, here are some quotes from the first couple to give you some sense of what their personal reactions were. lou hoover said i was incensed of the reading pof herbert hoover not having the thought for the little man. the absolute injustice and downright lying of these statements infuriated me. herbert hoover said she is oversensitive and the stabs of political life that are deserved

by me hurt her grately. >> the first one i recall correctly was a letter i believe they had to do to frame his legacy. talking about how concerned he was about the little man and how angry about upset she was about the way she was being treated and the way he was being pretty well ripped apart in the press. burt i think is just hub who senses what's going on in his wife and a response to it. but this is also in his memoirs and sometimes in his memoirs, the memory is being just a little different from what actually happened. >> despite the criticism, his policies, and a deepening depression, herbert hoover makes a decision to run for re-election. tell us about the 1932 election and the outcome. he at first is going to -- going to stand for re-election.

but he's not necessarily committed to running for re-election at that time. the idea of the incumbent president of actively seeking the re-election was considered a little unseemly and herbert hoover has immense respect for the -- for the office that he holds. so he decides that he's going to make a couple of changes but he's going to be dignified and restrained. then if it becomes clear at the fall of 1932 progresses he's in serious trouble. and i believe in september, a traditionally republican territory, a statewide election for democrats, so this is again a pretty good indication he's in trouble. so he then essentially embarks on what we would call a whistle

stop tour. kris crossing the country. getting a number of addresses and radio addresses and returns home to -- to the home in palo alto to wait out the results. and it's a landslide against him. almost bigger than the one that brought him into office only four years earlier. so it's a very rapid turnaround for a man who had so many high hopes behind him when he went in. >> how did lou hoover participate in that election? >> just in the same way she had in '28. she was with him on all of the whistle stop tour. one of the reasons she invited the women reporters in the summer was trying to mend some of the fences she hasn't paid a lot of attention to in the last 3 1/2 years. she was continuing to do her work with the girl scouts and 4-h and with volunteerism and doing the best she can to support him and to try to see that he gets re-electled. >> what was their reaction? do we know the personal reaction

to the outcome? >> they're disappointed. they're still here and still moving on. there's hurt at the way -- hurt at the way they've been treated they tried so hard with the relief that the responsibility is not going be there so much longer. >> hoovers deepened their connection here in palo alto, california. they designed a house there. learning about that next. >> we're here on the campus of stanford university. this is significant because of the primary residence of the hoovers. this is known as the family head quarters and significant as relates to lou hoover because she was the one who designed it. she worked with several architects to come up with the plan and gave her advice and she

was the driving force behind the design of the house. she was impressed with the architects to help her with the formal blueprints and plans and she had such a strong grasp and she was not an architect. that was not the training and the geologist. but she had a good sense of space and design how she wanted the house to look. so it's something she was intimately involved in. a lot of original drawings and documents related to the design and construction of the lou henry hoover house back at the institute archives. looking at the documentation related to the building and design. it involved how lou henry was. here's some of the drawings we have at the design of the house. we have details about the cabinets that they're going to be installing. a little foot stool here. and some design details that

were likely sketched by lou henry herself. a lot of lou henry's influence shirley came from her travels in the southwest of the united states. pueblo architecture. also from her travels in north africa when she travelled to herbert hoover. there's an influence of native cultures, nonamerican cultures, but also native american cultures and influencing the architecture of the house. you can see there's design for the arches above the doorway and that was changed. there were a lot of archers in the house as well. what we have here are some floor plans of the house. showed details of the room. the living room there. the terrace. you can see that the rooms are designed in a way where they easily exit out into the outside, the outdoors.

it's a great legacy of lou henry's, because she designed the house. she created it. she was inspired and she had close involvement in all aspects of the house's creation. >> the hoover's connection with the stanford campus deepened and broadened over the years. the major part of the campus here. was it endowed by the hoovers or does it build up with a lot of contributions over time. >> i'm not sure about the hoover institution. i know when lou was still alive she used her personal funds to build a cultural community and a musical community there. the hoover institute came later possibly after lou passed away and more slofled with what herbert did. >> how about west branch, iowa

and the preservation of his roots there. >> yes, west branch is where he was born. and we were actually attempted to purchase the land and the home that he was born in and the family who owned it a that the time was not interested in selling. at some point, they were able to acquire that property. it's now the hoover presidential library with the restoration of the buildings from bert's childhood. >> it was dedicated in 1962. by that time, lou hoover had passed. but herbert hoover, who lived a long life was there for the dedication. we'll show you a clip of that next. >> record of supreme action by the american people. their devotion and sacrifice to

their ideals. and in these records there are, no doubt, many unfavorable remarks made by our political opponents. as well as the expressions of affection by our friends. we may hope that future students will rely upon our friends for confirmation. [ applause ] >> herbert hoover lived until he feels 90 years old. he set a record for -- >> he was -- until last year, he was the longest -- longest serving ex-president of all time jimmy carter for that last year. >> two moderate presidents lived longer than he. lived into the early 90s surpassing lou hoover's record until that time. tell us about her death. >> she had been physically active as we talked about. riding a horse, camping, sleeping on the ground up until her late 60s.