the barbara bush line, you wouldn't wish win one more case, one more trial, it is be with the ones you love. isn't that interesting, that continued to be barbara walters's focus, it was not family, it was what you had done in public, your own record and your own achievement of that would sustain you. >> what you had done yesterday, what you had done a decade ago is fine but what have you done yesterday, what are you doing tomorrow? she finally retired from the view in her 80s and one of the women backstage a said what do you wish for? thinking she would say i wish for a room to play the piano or travel to the bahamas or whatever and she said i want more time meaning more time on the air. >> host: let me ask you about susan page and how you came to journalism, covered politics and presidents together. when did you come to washington? >> i covered the 1980 president will campaign for newsday and went -- you were already a well-established figure. >> i had been there for a couple years. 1980 was a watershed year. can you imagine a candidate for president not only beating the incumbent who

or is there a thread that runs through the three books barbara bush, nancy pelosi and barbara walters. >> such a good question. i now see a pattern but a pattern i fell into. i was interested in doing a book about barbara bush for my first book because i had covered her i thought she was very consequential. are the people had a great misunderstanding but who she was. they thought she was a lovable grandmother in fact she was a force to be reckoned with in some i strong views who had a bg impact. it's because of the settlement i covered was interesting who was older she was in her 90s. i thoughtne maybe she would talk to be and be more honest than earlier in her life which turned out to be true. i did six interviews within the last six months of her life. that was a good experience. i found out i like doing books. nancy pelosi was the most powerful woman history of the american government so i set out to write a biography about nancy pelosi's use of power. because my second book. the third book on barbara walters another consequential women. the thing that ties them together is they ar

barbara bush is down in the lower left hand corner, and she and her daughter in law, laura bush, understood the link between education, poverty and the ability to move upward mobility in this country. and so they both were firmly committed to civil rights, to equal rights, especially when it came to education. and barbara bush's literacy programs were an excellent example, especially for adult literacy, to help people move on and try to improve their lives. in 2021, the barbara bush foundation for family literacy began a new program that was for anti-bias and anti-racist educational resources. so even after her death, her foundation, her legacy lives on and continues that work. laura bush, after she graduated from college, chose to work in depressed areas of both houston and dallas and she wanted to do something to improve the lives of some of the children in these areas. and she believed education was a way of doing it. she also, through literacy programs, was trying to do what she could to equalize some of the educational opportunities in this country. she did a special program on the har

barbara bush, nancy pelosi and barbara walters. such a good question because i just kind of it i now see a pattern. but i sort of a pattern i fell into. you i was interested in doing a book about barbara for my first book because i had covered her and i thought she was very consequential. and i thought people had great misunderstanding about who she was. they thought she was this lovable grandmother when in fact, she was a force to be reckoned with. and someone with strong views who had a big impact. so that was it was just because it was someone i had covered or i thought was interesting. who older she was in her nineties. so i thought maybe she would talk to me and be more honest and early. earlier in her life, which turned out to true, i did six interviews with her in the last six months of her life, and so that was a good experience and it was so. so then i found out i liked doing books and nancy pelosi was the most powerful woman in the history of the american government. and there was no good biography of her. so i set out to

and in other ways in ways that affect all of us, the world is different because barbara bush and nancyi and barbara walters were around, absolutely. >> host: do you think that during this age there will ever be a woman president? >> guest: yes, of course. absolutely. 100%. don't you? >> host: yes, , yes, i thine had waited so long. >> guest: i think about, you know, america didn't decide we would elect a black president. america decided we would elect barack obama. i think the same thing will happen. stuff that america was okay, it's time to elect a woman president. america say here's a candidate who is a woman who -- >> host: who fits all the criteria. >> guest: i i think in a lifetime. >> host: i certainly hope so. when you you are doing resen barbara walters were you able to talk, obviously you couldn't talk to her because she was now kind of outut of the picture. did she have close friends that were helpful? >> guest: at the time i started the book, barbara walters was in declining health, and she was sometimes i think totally cogent and sometimes not. she knew i was doing the book

so in 1994, barbara bush published in the 2000. hillary clinton. barbara bush. laura bush.michelle obama and joe biden have all written one or more books. these later first ladies have been more forthcoming about the substance of their work. possibly they feel they're being taken more because of the growth of the field and our era. i want to remind us very briefly here that another marker of heightened in first lady studies is their increased appearance in the media. live fictional and documentary. these, of course, are always of varying qualities and levels of accuracy. scholars know that first ladies have had a long history with non print media back to early radio broadcast and television shows, but only sporadically. over time, their presence has. one long tradition began in 1969 with pat nixon. his appearance on sesame street. every first lady from nixon when the tv show started to jill biden has been on street except for melania trump. in the mid 1980s. nancy reagan helped push first lady television appearances into the norm. the camera loved her and she was very much

barbara bush's speech at wellesley. hillary speech at beijing and at the un conference on human rights. you just get goose bumps when she says human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights. and of course, eleanor roosevelt speeches and there are so many key documents document what the important legacies of this first ladies of these first ladies. so there's just one there is wonderful letter in there with that and this changes your impression of nancy, who writes race and gorbachev and september of 1985, before the summit and in geneva and nancy reagan is pushing ronald reagan to please get peace with the soviet union, much against the advice of many of his advisors. and she writes in their effort to improve relations, the peoples of the soviet union and the united states, i'm sure we want to do all. we can to. so not only is she encouraging the two presidents, but she's also encouraging raisa gorbachev, who she was not super close to. but she's reaching out. so i think that is very significant and

i think maybe sandra o'connor was more politic than barbara bush was. barbara bush was more outspoken. they were smart, tough, able, strong women. >> mr. thomas, after an appointment and confirmation of the supreme court justice, do they ever see their patron again? did sandra day o'connor know ronald reagan? socially or in any way? and for all the justices. >> a little bit. she danced with them on new year's eve at the enberg estate the first year. she went to the white house a couple times. they were talking about ranching. there was a natural affinity there. but, no. the obvious reason. and this is what's wonderful about our country. to stop and think about this for a second. justices do not spend the time hanging around with the present. why? they have to keep their distance is they are a third branch of government. they may have to make rulings that affect the person in the white house. so they need to keep their distance a little bit. i remember - - while he was justice had a telephone that connected him to lbj in the white house. that was a mista

i think maybe sandra o'connor was maybe more politic than barbara bush was.barbara bush was more outspoken. although sandra could be outspoken at times. anyway they were good friends there smart, tough, able, strong women. >> mr. thomas. after an appointment and a confirmation of supreme court justice, do they ever see their patron again? socially and anyway after words. and for all the justice. >> a littlee bit. answer them on new year's eve at the hamburg estate the first year as she went to the white house a couple of times did she get to know him well? no. they were talking about ranching and there is a natural affinity there. but no. and the obvious reason this is something that's wonderful about our country let's stop and think about this. just justices do not spend time hanging around the president, why? they have to keep their distance. they are a third branch of government they have to make rulings that affect the person in the white house. until they keep their distance a little bit they can be friendly enough. i remember had a telephone connected h

i think sandra o'connor was a little more politic and barbara bush was, barbara bush was more outspoken although sandra could be outspoken . anyways they were good friends. they were smart tough and evil strong women. >> host: mr. thomas after an appointment and confirmation to supreme court justice did they ever see their picture again n, did sandra day o'connor know ronald reagan on social media anyway ever? >> a little bit but she e danced with him on new year's eve at the annenberg state and she went to the white house a couple of times but they would talk about ranching and they had a natural affinity there but number and the obvious reason and this is something that's wonderful about her, if you stop and think about this. justices do not spend time hanging around, why? they are a third branch of government . they may have to make rulings that affect the person in the white house so they keep their distance a little bit . they can be friendly enough but the justice had telephone that fit into lbj. that was a mistake, it was wrong, it was unusual, itatwas a one-off . that's the exce

i think that maybe sandra o'connor was a little more politic than barbara bush was. would bush was more outspoken, although santa could be outspoken at times. they were good friends. they were strong, , tough, smart abled women. >> host: after an appointment at a confirmation of the supreme court justice, , do they ever se their patron again? did sandra day o'connor know ronald reagan socially or in indy way afterwards? and for all the justices. >> guest: in a little bit. she danced with him on new year's eve on the first year. she went to the white house a couple of times but did she get to know them well? no. they would talk about ranching and it was a natural affinity there, but no. .. . and this is what's wonderful about our country. to stop and think about this for a second. justices do not spend the time hanging around with the present. why? they have to keep their distance is they are a third branch of government. they may have to make rulings that affect the person in the white house. so they need to keep their distance a little bit. i remember - - while he w

and here is barbara bush, laura bush, sorry, sitting down. yeah, they're related. but don't mistake them. sorry about that. sitting down for an interview as the role first lady will take shape. michelle obama, using the south lawn and the garden and the kids to convey a very different message. martha again as our historians here. how have you seen the first lady's relationship to the camera and bringing that camera in affect the place? >> it is very important. jackie kennedy, the tour of the white house. truman, they had one and it was not quite the same in black and white. and hers, she had an audience that was around 80 to 88 million people. and that was something of a national moment and that what often happens is the first lady is seen by the senior staff of the white house as a source of maybe she's going to cause trouble. but all of a sudden her poll numbers are higher than his and they start using the first lady where they become important in giving the human element and that view of what the president value like. >> so there is imagery around the first lady

near naked singer in the place of jesus and his apostles a july 26 get also feature dj producer barbara bushing a silver headdress that looked like a halo in the statement issued last night in french the vatican said the holy see was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the paris olympic games could not join the voices raise in recent days to deplore the defense and christians and believers of religion prestigious events for the whole world comes together around common values or should not be or references that ridiculed the convictions of many people freedom of expression is obviously is not why it's taken over a week to issued this statement the paris 2024 organizers apologize for the scene the artistic director behind it thomas and charlie repeatedly said it was not inspired by da vinci's biblical painting but was instead meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to a pagan feast and beer and near naked singer was supposed to represent the greek god of wine and festivity. the paris prosecutor's office of the artistic director and also some of the performances or the pe

that says a lot about the values of the elder bush and barbara bush, who are no longer with us, but youi think it should be that first step. hopefully these people can be nudged to get some of the bigger names off the sidelines, you know. h.r. mcmaster's has been doing the rounds this week but has not weighed in one way or the other. chris christy, we could go down the list. i think this is a good thing. it is something donald trump doesn't have. it's the first step to getting haley voters but i want more. >> people outside of trump's orbit, h.r. mcmaster, he worked in the trump white house, he did not weigh in on if he would vote for him but he did say he won't work for him again and then he has this, in my opinion, kind of weird op-ed in the atlantic when he talks about what trump got right on foreign policy. what does all this tell you from the h.r. mcmaster perspective? >> i think there are still instances where some of these trump-aligned folks are trying to straddle the line and have it both ways where they can retain some sense of dignity by speaking out in a minor sense against

bush and the entire presidency that says a lot of the value of the elder bush and barbara bush.nger with us. but you know, i think it should be that first step, right? hopefully these people can be nudged to get some of the bigger names off the sidelines. i mean h.r. mcmasters has been doing the rounds this week, and it is something we could go down the list where this is a good thing and it is something donald trump doesn't have. it's the first step to getting haley voters, but i want more and more is more. >> and brian, two points. where he did not weigh in on if he would vote for them and he would not work for him again. and in my opinion, he would have a weird op-ed. and what does this all tell you from that perspective? >> and they are trying to strike that l that line and have it both ways to retain that sense of dignity and still trying and basically trying to have that cake and eat it too where they feed to recognize this is the party that there is not some, there is not some sleeping thing of that party that will bring up again. so it is up to them on whether or not the

barbara bush and nancy reagan really loads another, you know, george and ron got along better, but they were not certainly close personal friends. and i think, you know, reagan harbored some doubts as to whether bush was a skillful enough politician, whether he was tough enough to actually win the presidency. and so he was not going to short circuit the primary process. he did not endorse bush until it was apparent he was going to be the nominee. it is said that when they first got together and were going to run in the 1980 convention, that mrs. reagan said to mrs. bush, you know, you should lose some weight and dye your hair. any truth to that. it's it's i don't know, but it's plausible they they didn't they sent to not get along. okay. it was kind of interesting because again, nancy was was a very different personality type from her husband. and her husband got along with pretty much everybody, including george bush, including mikhail gorbachev. and nancy had these famous feuds with bush as well as with rice, gorbachev. so was there any evidence that there was that reagan had alzheime

classic speech of the first lady barbara wash-'s speech at the wellesley graduation, i'm sorry barbara bush's speech at wellesley and hillary clinton's speech in beijing and at the u.n. the consequence of human rights. you just get goosebumps when she said human rights or women's rights andts women's rights are human rights. this course allen r. roosevelt beaches and there are so many key documents and the important legacies of the first ladies, of these first ladies. there's not just one. there's a wonderful letter and this changes your impressions somewhat of nancy reagan who writes gorbachev in september of 1985 before the summit and in geneva and nancy reagan is pushing ronald reagan to please get with the soviet union much against the advice of many of his advisers and she writes and put your effort to improve relations between the people of the soviet union and the united states i'm sure that we want to do all we can so not only does she encourage the two presents but she's also encouraging gorbachev who she was not super close to but she was reaching out. i think that is very significa

barbara bush and nancy reagan really loads another, you know, george and ron got along better, but they were not certainly close personal friends. and i think, you know, reagan harbored some doubts as to whether bush was a skillful enough politician, whether he was tough enough to actually win the presidency. and so he was not going to short circuit the primary process. he did not endorse bush until it was apparent he was going to be the nominee. it is said that when they first got together and were going to run in the 1980 convention, that mrs. reagan said to mrs. bush, you know, you should lose some weight and dye your hair. any truth to that. it's it's i don't know, but it's plausible they they didn't they sent to not get along. okay. it was kind of interesting because again, nancy was was a very different personality type from her husband. and her husband got along with pretty much everybody, including george bush, including mikhail gorbachev. and nancy had these famous feuds with bush as well as with rice, gorbachev. so was there any evidence that there was that reagan had alzheime

here is barbara bush, sitting down for an interview. laura bush, sorry. sitting down -- they are related, but you can't mistake them. sorry about that. sitting down for an interview, the role of the first lady has very much taken shape. michelle obama, using the south lawn and the garden and the kids to convey a very different message. martha again, as our history in here, how have you seen the first lady's relationship to the camera and bringing the camera in effect the -- >> it certainly is very important. jackie kennedy tour of the white house, truman had had one with the -- >> it wasn't quite the same. >> it wasn't quite the same in black and white. hers, she had an audience of around, i think it is 80 to 88 million people. so, that was something of a national moment. but often, what happens is the first lady is seen by the senior staff of the white house as a source of, maybe she is going to cause trouble when they come in. but then they recognize that all of a sudden, gosh, her poll numbers are higher than his. and so then they start using the first

here's barbara bush sitting down for a phone interview. adorable, sorry, sitting down. now related, but mistake them that are sitting down for an interview is the role of the first lady starts has very much take shape michelle obama using the south lawn and the and the the garden and the kids to to convey a very different message. martha again, as a as our historian here, how have you seen the first lady's relationship to the camera bringing the camera in effect the it certainly is very important. the jackie kennedy tour of the white house. truman had had one of with an eye on the white assembly that wasn't quite the same in black and white, and then hers she had an audience of around, i think. it's 80 to 88 million people. so that was a was something of a national moment. what often happens, the first lady is seen by the senior staff of the white house is a source of maybe she's going to cause trouble when they come in, but then they recognize that all of a sudden the gosh, her poll numbers are higher than his. and so then they start using the first lady. so they becom