she was eleanor roosevelt roosevelt. her uncle was teddy roosevelt who was president of the united states, of course, at the turn of the century. and some say franklin just followed teddy's career. and she had seen teddy's wife preside in the white house mainly as a hostess, and she just didn't want to do that. she said i just don't want to sit in the white house and pour tea. um, now, she would have perhaps liked to have been a closer adviser to her husband than she was. although she certainly gave him the benefit of her ideas. she never hesitated to offer opinions, but he might or might not accept them. so when franklin was elected, she went to franklin, and she said i don't have very much to do as first lady, could i take care of your mail for you? actually, that was rather commonly done by political wives in those days. harry truman's wife had worked in his office and taken care of his mail, and the vice president, vice president garner's wife also had been in his office and helped take care of the mail, so that wasn

>> mine is eleanor roosevelt. hy was born in washington shortly before -- my mother was a reporter who covered eleanor roosevelt. and the white house -- >> wonderful. we have someone here in the audience based in washington at the start of the new deal. her mother covered eleanor roosevelt. this lady was invited to party with eleanor roosevelt. this is the wonderful thing about speaking in washington d.c. because everyone has a story. are have given this talk fairly frequently when i was in college and i asked this very question. who is the first first lady you remember? a lady in the front said mrs. calvin coolidge. we have a winner. no one has talked that for going back farther. more recent first lady's? anyone want to offer your first memory? [inaudible] >> i remember thinking how goofy looking eisenhower -- >> we will talk about the look of first ladies who preceded jacqueline kennedy. eisenhower was the immediate predecessor to jacqueline kennedy. if we can move on, tell me who is your favorite first lady. if

bush at one point talk about the fact that her mother had detested eleanor roosevelt. she thought that she was a busy body. she was running around, around the country. until she met her and then she really did reverse her opinion. and i think that over time, maybe barbara bush also reversed her opinion but i remember the comment as well. yes, ma'am. >> was it difficult for first lady bush to deal we are husband's failures, did she comment about her son george bush as president and his successes or failures? >> she said also nothing for publication. i do know from things from what she said that she was concerned about our involvement in iraq. and had real concerns about us going in and what was going to happen. but beyond that, she really hasn't said very much about his presidency. you all may remember there was that one incident early in his presidency where -- this is george w. bush was eating a pretzel, and he started to choke on it and she said that was pay back for having criticized her cooking. but, no, she's not really said very much about it. yes. >> we hear --

but when eleanor roosevelt hired the family's longtime housekeeper to do their white house cooking --ident roosevelt complained bitterly about her cooking. -understand that people attended the state dinners did as well. >> . -- >> they got a place setting in history. >>> it became popular in the 1970's, but the techniques are centuries old. a transcendental meditation helps soldiers >>> more than 20% of soldiers returning from afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. a new research suggests that one way to combat the symptoms lies within the mind. >> 27-year-old david george was deployed to iraq and sleeping in his caught when a car bomb exploded 25 yards away. >> i turned the lights on and i saw a white cloud that billowed into the room. all the windows were blown out at that point. then i started screaming. >> since then, he has struggled with ptsd. he is often anxious, angry, and oppressed. >> i was pretty sure i would shoot myself. >> when he came back, he was not the boy that i raised pit >> medications and therapy did not tell. but then he joined a steady four vet

eleanor roosevelt in turn was lobbying for this with a blow war department and in the back of the bed berdache the bedrooms of the white house that this was the right thing to do. but he didn't do it because it was right thing to do. it was because it was the politically expedient thing to do. he needed the 1940 election, black votes. wendell willkie had done more since lincoln to make the republican party the party most favorable towards african-american rights. there was a real danger african-americans who voted for roosevelt might switch back to the republican party as they had before 1932 so roosevelt's political advisers were worried about this. roosevelt had some embarrassments in the 1940 campaign. the most odd and significant was stephen hurley, his press secretary's run in with the new york city police officer. fdr was campaigning at madison square garden. the press secretary considered the first modern press secretary was trying to get through a police line at madison square garden. an african-american police officer would not let him for and he got in a wrestling match that

now our kids are going to learn about how franklin roosevelt became eleanor roosevelt. that won't be the only revelation in these teacher-taught lesson plan-on-man action. >> starting in 2013, students will learn about famous gay people, is up as harvey milk, san francisco's first openly gay politician. >> if, in fact, there is a discussion in english about oscar wilde, it will reference the fact that he was gay. >> stephen: what? this guy was gay? [laughter] that changes everything i never learned about him. and, folks... [cheering and applause] and i am not the only one who sees where this thing is going. >> california rewriting the text books, the history books saying, by the way, george washington was a homosexual. >> yes, how dare california say that a man in a powdered wig and high silk stockings is gay. next thing they'll accuse him of crossing the delaware on a pride float. well, california, california, you're so eager for gay history, i will give you gay history. gay was invented in ancient greece by socrates, who came up with the socratic method, which i belie

now our kids are going to learn about how franklin roosevelt became eleanor roosevelt. that won't be the only revelation in these teacher-taught lesson plan-on-man action. >> starting in 2013, students will learn about famous gay people, is up as harvey milk, san francisco's first openly gay politician. >> if, in fact, there is a discussion in english about oscar wilde, it will reference the fact that he was gay. >> stephen: what? this guy was gay? [laughter] that changes everything i never learned about him. and, folks... [cheering and applause] and i am not the only one who sees where this thing is going. >> california rewriting the text books, the history books saying, by the way, george washington was a homosexual. >> yes, how dare california say that a man in a powdered wig and high silk stockings is gay. next thing they'll accuse him of crossing the delaware on a pride float. well, california, california, you're so eager for gay history, i will give you gay history. gay was invented in ancient greece by socrates, who came up with the socratic method, which i belie

there was another question back here. >> yes. >> a just wanted to tell in a few more words about eleanor roosevelt. >> still have that chance next week. if you want to compare her to mrs. kennedy, let's do. >> your statement about children and the white house. from the first two years of the roosevelt administration she had two grandchildren in the white house. >> she had many grandchildren, and there are wonderful photos of her and fdr and the white house surrounded by at least a dozen of them. i should also say to you that i have no pleasure this past december of dining in beecher wrote beach appear in the hotel george. was with a colleague. i said, uc that sentiment became an. i said, you know, that looks like one of franklin roosevelt's grandchildren. my friend quite understandably said how would you know what one of franklin delano roosevelt grandchildren looks like. i said i have seen this one on c-span. i saw him on c-span two years ago. my colleague was too embarrassed to go up to this man. i of course, showing no embarrassment or shame go up to this man is having dinner it turns out with

when mary mccloud was a close intimate of eleanor roosevelt once was visiting the white house, one of the white house security guards referred of her aunties which one of my sister's children are you. that was mary mccloud bassoon but eleanor roosevelt gets a lot of credit for being liberal and for being a civil rights orders that had to do with civil rights orders often only when forced but he wasn't quite -- he didn't quite live up to his outside p.r. >> guest: he didn't. eleanor did publicly and privately did push very aggressively on civil rights issues and sometimes to the point where her husband kept saying, well, that's enough, you know, i've heard enough. if i keep pushing in this direction i'm going to alienate that familiar pattern of the southern states and they won't accept the rest of the new deal. but privately roosevelt was in this period of trusting his african-american staff very much. roosevelt was paralyzed. his legs were paralyzed from polio. he had been paralyzed because of polio in at the age of 39. he was afraid of fire having fire in his room and couldn't escap

fdr and first lady eleanor roosevelt on the beach. president reagan on his finger-licking fourth.sident h.w. bush with a napkin in his collar. beverage in hand. >> that looks like a lovely spot. >> reporter: and in our movies, picnics have long served as a backdrop to dance, to find love. this film, appropriately named "picicc." it was that three-legged race. the pie-eating contest. and there's often song. julie andrews' picnic scene in "the sound of music," among the most famous. and we all dealt with ants on the fourth. remember their point of view, gazing up at our sky-scraper sized thermoses and sandwiches in the movie "ants?" and while our clothes have changed over the years, the rest of us simply turn to the basics. a tree, a blanket. that basket of food, corn on the cob. watermelon. and often, at the end, a simple wish. perhaps put best by don and betty draper in "mad men." >> we should do this more often. >> we should only do this. >> we should do this more often. that is "world news" f f this sunday night. we're always online at abcnews.com. "gma" first thing in the morni

fdr and eleanor roosevelt on the beach. president reagan on a finger-licking fourth. president h.w.with a napkin in his collar. summer beverage in hand. and in our movies, picnics have long served as the backdrop to dance, to find love. william holden and kim novak in the film appropriately named "pick anymore." it was that three-legged race, the pie-eating contests. and there's often song. ♪ so, a needle pulling thread >>>>eporter: the picnic scene in "the sound of music" the most famous. remember their point of view? gazing up at our skyscraper-sized thermoses and sandwiches in the movie "ants." while our clothes have changed over the years -- rita haworth and sophia loren setting the b r for picnic glamor -- the rest of us turned to the basics. a tree. a blanket. watermelon. often at the end, a simple wish. perhaps put best by don and betty draper. >> we should do this more often. >> we should only do this. >> reporter: david muir, abc news, new york. >> sophia loren looks good picnicking. >> she does. by the way this is our question of the day on wnnfans. you can go there and ta

it was very, very solemn and a little terrifying eleanor roosevelt said afterwards that she talked with reporters at the white house. the crowds were somen tremendous that you felt that they would do anything if only someone would tell them what to do. [applause] >> what do you think. [laughter] fifth -- it is magnificent writing you see the historian's r&d lyricalipti descriptions and his incredibly rich vocabulary vocabulary, when the main crisis and the gaunt trees and the invading army of theth year, that is not the wayatmeon somebody writes in encyclopedia but an artist and certain key lines aboutnes him crossing out the word humble. i don't know if you rememberorge washington's inaugural address and his others whenever he accepted a position of authority always hedging his bets and stressing his inadequacies to say you are the ones to reelected me in case things go wrong. [laughter] but fdr it realized it was no time for humility because if he talked about hist deficiencies there could be mass suicide in the countrythe at that point*. they needed confidence and hope. he creates th

other women, tough women, wooifgs through history, eleanor roosevelt, queen isabelle of spain, june carter cash, johnny cash's wife, cleopatra. a new book out by the way. she didn't write it. sarah palin at five, ellen degeneres and portia de rossi, michelle obama, the rani of jhan. >>> sifrnlths. melinda gates at nine. tiger woods' ex-is on the ex. the list was compiled after rupert murdoch's wife wendi leapt to his defense when a protester threw shaving foam at him while he was testifying before a british parliamentary committee. >>> superheroes, fans and stars are converging on san diego this weekend. it is comic-con 2011. i know there are some of you out there. you can tweet me if you're involved in comic books. the annual trade show that shines the spotlight on what's next, what's new in popular culture, sold out this year, by the way, more than 100,000 ticket holders rubbing elbows with celebrities and getting a sneak peek on what's what. for the city of san diego, it's an economic bonanza. >> the economic impact over the next three years will be over $50 million. we're going to be e

and i think that's how we'll remember her, a modern-day eleanor roosevelt. >> an incredible life about a lot of important things. amy? >>> lester, thank you so much. now to the economy and the bleak new jobs report just 18,000 jobs were added to the payroll in june. at the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 9.2%. and those troubling figures are raising new questions about the recovery. steve liesman is cnbc's senior economics reporter. steve, good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> the jobs report caught a lot of people by surprise. many were forecasting a gain of 90,000 plus jobs. what happen? >> what happened is we had a slight strengthening in the economy in the last -- you see, the end of june, the beginning of july. some of the numbers have been good. we got this other report that tries to measure the national employment. and it showed that the economy gained 157,000 jobs. all of the companies raised the forecast. wall street rallied. a big bucket of cold water was poured on wall street and the economy with the lackluster jobs. >> the economy added an average of 215,000 jobs

eleanor roosevelt accused the administration of favoring the arabs over israel and asserted that britainnd france had been brought to the point of desperation by american policy. it leaves us in a very strange position, she says, supporting the kremlin and an egyptian dictator against our oldest and strongest allies. six of the eight democratic members of the senate foreign relations committee publicly agreed with stevenson and roosevelt that the president's middle east policies had failed. eisenhower, they declared, had presided over four years of indecision, tactless nests, to mitty, and blundered. that night, november 3rd, stevenson asserted the president's age, health, and the fact that he cannot succeed himself make it inevitable that the dominant figure in the republican party under a second eisenhower term would be richard nixon. stevenson asked the crowd, do you want to place the hydrogen bomb in his hands? on sunday, november 4 if, dwight eisenhower had the perfect storm. at 4:00 a.m. the soviet union ordered 200,000 troops into hungry. tens of thousands of hungarians died or we

we've putca together and this information the last time the government produce this was with eleanor rooseveltin.t so this is the way to update to the women at data. [applause] >> viggo on the website we of several publications i want to point* out and won it is when been through the recovery, a black labor force and the recovery and latina and the labor force. soil wanted to point* out of the resources. let me share a few things the report shows prefer 2009, one added a women are living in poverty. the largest numberwoar since the senses began collecting data at 1966. 5 million more women are living and poverty now. women of all racial and ethnic groups expired -- experience higher poverty but the black andre latino are more likely to beite poor. it 2009 slightly bland been more quarter had those compared to which was 11%. older women are more likely to be poor and that is a big issue and as that baby-boomers generation comes online. as a result the spending, but it turns out of all consumer u.s. u now?ng right% what does that mean? it means we don't have the underpinning of the nation's econ

caller: i am all about the accolades for betty ford, and i do want to give a shout out to eleanor roosevelt. i am 72 years old and i have had to live through an experience of many of the bad things about this legacy of slavery, but she did so much to help this nation committed itself of probably the worst scourges on it, and that would be for her to come out and stand for marion anderson so that she could sing on the steps of the lincoln memorial. she also stood up for the to ski e. merriman, whose heroically stood up for -- the tuskegee airmen, who heroically stood up for this nation. she also stood up for the founder of the food group in college. -- cookman college. i just give a shout out to both of those presidential ladies. thank you. guest: 8 grade point, philip. i absolutely agree. great point.n she said a great example for the first ladies -- set a great example for the first lady's i came after her. host: what about lady bird johnson? guest: had a tremendous legacy. she was very much involved in the conservation of the environment. the highway beautification project that was part o

and i did -- i do want to give a shout out to eleanor roosevelt. i'm 72 years old, and i've had to live through and experience many other bad things about the legacy of slavery. but she did so much to help this nation rid itself of probably the worst scurge upon it, and that would be for her to come out and stand up for marion anderson, so that she could sing on the steps of the lincoln memorial. she also stood up for the tuskegee airmen who heroically defended this nation and also stood up for education of black children at the collegiate level which joined hands with the founder of the college and it was just not something done at that time on behalf of the african-americans and the national well good. so i just give a shout out to both those presidential ladies. thank you. guest: great point, phillip. i absolutely agree. she was quite the -- she was quite the first lady, and in some aspects was ahead of her time. very active and very visible in this part of the administration and set a great example for first ladies that came after her. host: wh

she was a modern-day eleanor roosevelt. she was outspoken and she was spontaneous. she was a brilliant woman. she will be truly missed. i was very sad last night to see her passing. she will remain in many women's hearts and thoughts forever, i am sure. host: we have about 10 more minutes as we invite you to make comments on the passing of betty ford. you can do so on one of our phone lines or our e-mail or twitter. chicago, illinois, independent line. caller: good morning. i will not talk about her personal but thank goodness the so-called equal rights amendment did not pass. if that had passed, we would have had homosexual marriage throughout the country and women on the battlefield. betty ford was a very progressive person just like ellen r. ford. we don't need more resources but we need less. host: republican line, go ahead. caller: i'm a young republican and i want to move no more about the force. there's not too much about them in the history books. i would be honored to learn about any major acts that happened during president ford's presidency. host: we have

information at your hands and this information the last time the government produced it is when eleanor rooseveltin 63 was part of the commission so this is a way of updating the 21st century data on women. [applause] if you go on the web site we also have several publications i want to point out to you. one is women's employment through the recovery. the other is black labor force in the recovery and the latino labour force so i want to point that out to do as other references on the research information. let me just share with you a few things that report shows. in 2009 when one of eight women which is 16.4 million women living in poverty the largest number since the census began collecting this data in 1966. this is nearly 5 million living in poverty now. women of all racial and ethnic groups experience higher poverty than white males they're more likely to be poor than white females and slightly more than a quarter of both black and latino females have family income below the poverty line compared to white which was 11%. older women are more likely to be poor than older men and it is a real b

information at your hands and this information the last time the government produced it is when eleanor roosevelt in 63 was part of the commission so this is a way of updating the 21st century data on women. [applause] if you go on the web site we also have several publications i want to point out to you. one is women's employment through the recovery. the other is black labor force in the recovery and the latino labour force so i want to point that out to do as other references on the research information. let me just share with you a few things that report shows. in 2009 when one of eight women which is 16.4 million women living in poverty the largest number since the census began collecting this data in 1966. this is nearly 5 million living in poverty now. women of all racial and ethnic groups experience higher poverty than white males they're more likely to be poor than white females and slightly more than a quarter of both black and latino females have family income below the poverty line compared to white which was 11%. older women are more likely to be poor than older men and it is a real

. >> john: and roosevelt became a feminist because of the lesbian lover? >> eleanoratches franklin having an affair. she goes off on her own personal odyssey where she meets up with lesbians and carries on affairs. they are the ones that introduce roosevelt to the struggle to of women's right. she was against the equal rights amendment but they are the ones, women's rights are is the way to go. >> john: how do we know this now? >> people in the white house were writing about this diaries and books. it's been unacknowledged because this is the personal lives of roosevelt. >> john: moving ahead in time, ed car hoover secretly taped martin luther king. he did this because john f. kennedy saw prostitutes? >> he got permission from kennedy because he caught j.f.k. hoover caught j.f.k. having a fling with a prostitute from east germany. the f.b.i. alleged indicated she was east german spy. hoover could destroy kennedy. they leaked it to whispering willie williams who is determined to tear down kennedy by exposing this affair. the kennedys had to turn to hoover. hoover had

roosevelt or the national guard to way things. maybe you need to wait third sheet -- 30 years. >> one of the things that fdr's own social conscience was awakened when eleanorhim to new york to come and in so far as he was able to project, those values domestically, how do you, where do you come out on the issue of the limits of politics but the demands of justice? because no one would argue now that, because of the failures of reconstruction, jim crow, because of the robber barons of the north, the economic depression, that many, many social reform should have been earlier, many, many social reforms should happen right now, will not because there's another man in the white house called the bully. that tends to be an occupational hazard for people behind that desk. we're just this come out? is there a tragedy of history or his mo or individuals to make specifics? >> well, all in all, eleanor herself like to see if she weren't married to the man in the white house she would be married to a norman thomas. i think she was one of the individuals who made a difference actually. and i think fdr was, too. and maybe norman thomas was, too. if she was right, that sh