i would like to thank our conference chair, anita mcbride, we could not do this without you, this began when the presidential library directors attended a conference this past spring at united university which was chaired by anita, we decided we should do it here in texas at the texas presidential libraries. and so, we began here today and we will continue with programming at the george w. bush library in march of 2012 and conclude with the program at the lbj library in november of 2012. programs like this can't be done without support. and therefore i am very grateful to our program sponsors, texas a&m university. whoop! american university of public affairs and american university libraries, the george bush foundation, always generous to the library. thank you to the foundation and i would like to thank the white house historical association and he stephanie sale and jim si singleton. introducing our panel, our program and panelists tonight is andy card, acting dean of the bush school of government and public service, can we give him a whoop? >> whoop! >> mr. card was appointed in jul

i would like to thank our conference chair anita mcbride. we couldn't have done this without you. this all began when the presidential library directors attended a conference this past spring at american university which was chaired by anita. after experiencing that wonderful conference, my fellow directors here in texas decided that we should do it here in texas at the texas presidential libraries. and so we began here today, and we will continue with programming at the george w. bush library in march of 2012 and conclude with the program at the lbj library in november of 2012. programs like this can't be done without support. and, therefore, i am very grateful to our program sponsors, texas a&m university, american university school of public affairs and american university library, the george bush foundation, which always generous to the library. thank you to the foundation. and i'd also like to thank the white house historical association and stephanie sale and jim singleton. in addition, i'd also like to thank my staff and the volunteers who have helped contribute to today's s

anita mcbride was laura bush's chief of staff. >> nothing during an election year is an accident.ugh the lens of politics. >> so as the president's campaign gets rolling, you're seeing a lot more of the first lady. >> you ready? >> doing push ups with ellen degeneres, tug of war with jimmy fallon. a guest appearance on eye carly. >> my daughters are big fans and i am too. >> michelle obama like most first ladies is more popular to married. a 67% approval rating to his 50%. so like most first ladies, she'll be valuable to her husband's campaign. like laura bush in 2004. >> i'm so proud of the way george has led our country with strength and conviction. >> hillary clinton, though bruised by her attempt at healthcare reform in bill clinton's first term was still a campaign asset in 1996. >> the best role for a first lady during an election year is do no harm and spread as much goodwill as you possibly can and of course, get out on the campaign trail and raise a lot of money. >> not losing sight of the reason the first lady is out there campaigning. >> it's all about being active and