dolly madison served for the widowed -- the widowed thomas jefferson. he also, his daughter would also serve as his hostess periodically, but so did mrs. madison, who was the secretary of state's wife, because in mixed company at the time had you to have a hostess. you could not entertain ladies unless there was a hostess. there was a real need to have a woman in the white house to perform that function, because so much even now, so much of washington life is carried on not on the floor of the house, not on the floor are of the senate, not in official places but at parties. informal gatherings where you can talk in a calmer more casual manner, and so the first lady helps -- all the women of washington, really, are responsible for keeping those networks open and that life happening. >> so is that sort of the point of showing the dress? that there's much more meaning behind the dress? >> there is more meaning behind the dress. one we show it because it's beautiful and people love them, but it does say something about the woman. a real question. why do we c

madison and dolly entertained constantly. they brought to montpelier the style of entertaining that they first developed during madison's presidency at the white house. in fact, we created a table with ghosts of the famous visitors who came calling from andrew jackson, here, to the marquee delafayette, jefferson, james monroe. what starts bringing this room together is the wall paper. we know from our research that james and dolly strongly preferred french influence in decor and in their style. this paper is a replica of one made by a frenchman who relocated to philadelphia and was introducing french-inspired papers to america. we know the madisons ordered wall paper from him and this is a replica of one of the ones he produced that the time. it creates a feeling of attempt in this room. that makes the corners dissolve away. it creates an intimate and spacious feel from the guest. but the thing every visitor noted about this is that madison was not seated at the head of the table he seated himself on the side of the table. and

jennings prepares the madison city house in washington for future use by the widow, dolly madison. paul jennings had returned to lafayette square for the first time in 20 years. james madison died the previous summer, and mistress dolly decided she would make use of her city house in washington and sent jennings ahead to ready the dwelling. it was still february, but in anticipation of a new administration already the town noise was gathering along with that of spring's first frogs. the atmosphere must have reminded jennings of james madison's inauguration 28 years earlier. jennings took stock of a much-altered lafayette square. a block from the madison house the restored white house now sported porticos at both the north and south fronts. half the building's charred and weakened exterior walls had been rebuilt n. the course of which the workmen dug out the partially-preserved dinner display that jennings had prepared the day the british torched the mansion in august 1814. the george washington portrait had long ago been retrieved from the maryland farmhouse where it had safely rest

we will take a look at the bedrooms and what used to be madison's library. james and dolly never had children, but this house was always filled with children and family members. madison came from a large family. on his 50th birthday, he noted that he had 50 nieces and nephews. most of them lived in this area and they were visiting and all the bedrooms on the second floor would have been filled. this room was james and dolly's private bedroom. the bed you see has come to us from a family member. a strong family tradition and having been there. we are still not gong dress this. it's meat by a washington, d.c. furniture maker. it was a gorgeous mantle here that madison installed later. also show the feminine side. this was one of the best rooms in the house and the reason is the spectacular view out the windows and the amount of light that filled this room. ten years later when he put the wings on the mansion, he created the flat decks. some of them would have their own private tariffs. it's a glorious space. one visitor said i have the best bedroom in the house. my own privat

in the back section where we do case studies, you will see dolly madison. she served as the first lady of the widow thomas jefferson. he also, his daughter, would also serve as his hostess, but so did mrs. manson. in mixed company at the time, you had to have a hostess. you could not entertain ladies unless there was a hostess. there was a need to have a woman in the white house to perform that function. so much even now, so much of washington life, is carried on not the floor of the house, but at parties in formal gatherings where you can talk in a more calm manner. all of the women of washington were responsible for keeping those networks open and that life happening. >> is that sort of the point of showing the dress? that there is much more meaning behind the dress? >> there is more meaning behind the dress. we show it because it is beautiful and people love them, but it does say something about the woman. why do we care? why are we interested in what the first lady wears? why do we care what the first lady wears? we look to her clothing for clues about

if you want to learn about james madison, the father of the constitution and his wife dolly who inspired the title first lady, there's no place to come by montpelier in orange, virginia. montpelier encompasses four square miles of land, many features and attractions, most of all it's a place to learn about the ideas of the founding of america

. >> i think dolly madison is the first amazing social first lady. she was the go to -- she had decor rum, but there was a little bit of casual informal and none. if you had a card and an introduction you could come to ms. madison's weekly crushes. people mixed and talks. it was said you couldn't tell who her friends and enemies were. because she treated everyone the same. some first ladies have been less successful, sometimes they were awkward in the job, because their tastes were not the countiry's taste. nancy reagan came in to make a much more formal, what she thought more appropriate white house. she got some push back for tin crease in formality. but when, as that went on, people began to admire what the reagans were doing in terms of the tone of the white house. >> so does the criticism, the praise sort of reflect the policies of the time, the culture of the time, maybe the public polling of the president at the time. >> i think it reflects popular culture. we do expect a higher standard of the white house, we know it's not our house, we know

>> dolly madison is first amazing social first lady. she was the go-to touch stone for years of a successful first lady. she had decorum but there was casual and formal and fun to her events. if you had a card of introduction you could come to her weekly crushes, her receptions. people mixed and talked. it was said you couldn't tell who her friends or enemies were because she was lovely to everyone. a lot of business got done at her white house. some first ladies have been less successful because they were awkward in the job, and sometimes because they're taste didn't jive with public taste at the moment. some of them have done amazing reversa reversals. nancy reagan came in determined to make a much more formal -- what she thought more appropriate white house. she got some push back for the increase no formality. as that went on people began to admire what the reagans were doing in terms of the tone of their white house. >> does the criticism, the praise sort of reflect the politics of the time, the culture at the time, maybe the publi

the oldest dress will be dolly madison's. michelle obama donateds hers personally. mrs. obama came and presented the dress and the jewshoes, but actually donated and she -- >> it's interesting, this is the first time we had the designers donate and mrs. obama had them donate these pieces. so jason wu and jimmy chu and lori rodkin. and mrs. obama came to present the pieces in the museum. >> what goes into deciding which dress to wear? and are they thinking about what influence that will have on her husband's administration. >> i think it's likely going to be more political. we were lucky enough to interview rosiland carter and laura bush, about the dresses that they chose. thinking maybe there was a symbolism and mrs. carter in reality, for sentimental reasons wore a dress again that she had worn when her husband was made governor of georgia. and mrs. bush, just remembers collaborating with the designer, michael fair cloth and you wanted a pretty party dress. the first lady wants it to be beautiful, she wants it to be comfort, and she wants it to be appropriate. and appro

>> i think dolly madison is the first amazing social first lady. she was the go-to first lady. she had decorum but there was a little bit of casual, informal and fun to her events. if you had a card of introduction you could come to ms. madison's weekly crushes. people mixed and talked. it was said you couldn't tell who her friends and enemies were. because she was lovely to everyone. she treated everyone the same.

in this gallery, when we round the corner, the oldest dress will be dolly madison's. >> fast-forward to today. michelle obama. she donated hers personally? >> actually, mrs. obama came and presented the dress and the jewelry and the shoes. but they were actually donated. and she -- it's interesting. this is the first time we had the designers donate, and mrs. obama had them donate these pieces. so jason wu and jimmy chu and lori rodkin actually donated the pieces. and they are donated -- when you see the label it will be donated by jason wu in honor of the first laity, michelle obama. and mrs. obama came to present the pieces to the museum. >> what goes into deciding which dress to wear? and are they thinking about the influence that will have on their husband's administration? >> i think we like it to maybe be a little more political than it probably is. when we did -- there's a video playing in this exhibition. we were lucky enough to interview rosalind carter and laura bush about the dresses they chose thinking maybe there was a symbolism. mrs. carter in reality for sentimental re

>> dolly madison is sort of the first amazing social first lady. she's the -- was the go-to touchstone for years of a successful first lady. she was -- had decorum, but there was a little bit of casual and informal and fun to her events. if you had a card of introduction you could come to mrs. madison's weekly crushes, her receptions. people mixed and talked. it was said that you couldn't tell who her friends and enemies were because she was lovely to everyone. a lot of business got done at mrs. madison's white house. some first ladies have been less successful, sometimes because they were awkward in the job and sometimes because their taste didn't jibe with public taste at the moment and some of them have done amazing reversals. nancy reagan came in determined to make a much more formal, which she thought more appropriate white house. she got some pushback for the increase in for malt. but when as that went on, people began to admire what the reagans were doing in terms of the tone of their white house. >> so does the criticism, the praise sort of

you also meet here the lord and lady of the manor, dolly and james madison. this was created life size and we challenged to create not just the likeness of james and dolly, but the relationship between them. here you see madison reading. he was always had his head in the book. dolly approaches and the pl'd m reaction, share with her one of the items he just read. it shows a sense of affection and shows an intellectual relationship between them. if you want to learn about james madison was the father of the constitution. and his wife dolly, who inspired the title first lady, there's no place to come but montpelier in orange, virginia. montpelier encompasses four square miles of land, many features and attractions and it's a place to learn about the ideas of the founding of america and the constitution that still governs our life today. >> this is one of a series of american artifacts programs. featuring james madison's montpelier. for schedule information and to view american history programs on line, visit our website. c-span.org/history. >> the richard nixon

only dolly madison, eleanor roosevelt and hillary clinton, among our first ladies, have served the country as long as patricia nixon. laid to rest in 1993 on the grounds of the nixon library in california, mrs. nixon's grave marker reads, even when people can't speak your language, they can tell if you have love in your heart. patricia ryan nixon had love in her heart and now at her 100th birthday we remember her for her devotion to family, her grace and perseverance and her patriotism to the united states of america. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. . mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from, mr. boswell, for five minutes. without objection. mr. bozz well: mr. speaker, today i stand before the 112th congress to recognize and honor mr. stanley e. peterson for his 40 years of service to the united states as an officer in the united states navy and as a supervisor in the federal bureau of investigation, and as a chief of police in youngstown, ohio. my intention is to enter into the congressional record

dolly, but the relationship between them. he always had his head here and one of the things was the items just read. it shows a sense of affection and shows an intellectual. james madison was the father of the constitution. there was noplace to come but montpelier in orange, virginia. it encompasses four square miles of land and many features and attractions and it's a place to learn about the ideas of the founding of america and the constitution that still governs the life today. >> this is one of a series of american artifacts programs. for schedule information and to view american history programs on line, visit our website. c-span.org/history. >> the richard nixon presidential library convened a symposium. this is the first panel discussion from the conference and addresses his life story from his parents's political views to the writing of his memoirs. this is an hour and 15 minutes. . >> good morning, everyone. it's great to see everyone here at the first scholarly conference and see the library buzzing with conversation and activity. we are the first conversation and we will make introductions for all four of these gentlemen. they are going to speak for about fi