edith gelles: right.usan swain: right. you're getting a passage ready for us. and you want it to read us from that letter that we talked about earlier -- edith gelles: right. susan swain: -- of the "remember the ladies?" edith gelles: right. well, in this particular letter, abigail was ruminating about conditions in her life and what was going on in the -- her world. and she says, "i long to hear that you have declared an independency." she knew john was on this committee. "and by the way, in the new code of laws which i suppose it will be necessary for you to make, i desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors," which is a bold and remarkable statement for a woman to have made in that era. susan swain: based on the relationship that we see detailed in the letters, would it have been a surprising thing for her to say to john adams? james taylor: no. i don't think so at all. and as i go back to the kitchen table, i am sure that before he rode off to p

edith: yes. it's very different from what they had done. theirs was extremely formal, and dolley's was much more open. and so, you had everybody at dolley's drawing rooms able to have access to the chief executive and his lady. and that's very important for forging a unity in the united states. and also, dolley creates -- she starts out as the wife of the secretary of state. but what she is doing is forging networks -- social networks -- on which politics and diplomacy can be conducted in a civilized manner through the ceremonial forms of dinners, receptions parties, and so forth. so that some of these tensions and animosities that play themselves out in the hall of congress have a way of being resolved at parties in an amicable way. so she is -- she is really forging new networks that will work for both politics and society. susan: and this concept you write about in several of your books, and the subtitle of this is, "and the creation of the american nation." and you write about the fact that t

edith gelles: de windt. yes. james taylor: yes. yes. edith gelles: she was married at that time. and the son was also an adult. so there were no small children. , susan swain: our last video of abigail's death at peacefield. and if we -- all right, we don't have that. so we have very little bit of time left. so, in bringing this full circle, for people who have been introduced to abigail adams tonight, what's the important thing to know about her? what was her impact or influence on american history? edith gelles: she was influential and particularly as

by the smoke and the heat and was unable to escape the fire and died inside. >> edith ann haynes known to friends as ann, was divorced and was on disability from her job at the kendall company makers of surgical dressings. a preliminary investigation indicated the fire started in a spare bedroom used as a storage space. officially the cause of the blaze was ruled undetermined. but it was believed to be an electrical fire. >> it was around the time the weather started to get a little cool and there might have been some heat on and that might have started the fire. >> at the autopsy the medical examiner expected to find evidence of smoke inhalation. instead he found no soot or debris in her trachea. and her hyoid bone in her neck was broken, which usually indicates strangulation. >> i've never seen a situation where a bone in a person's throat has been crushed by accident unless there's been in traumatic car wreck or some other explanation. >> the medical examiner also found marks on the outer part of her neck. >> they were consistent with fingernail marks. whatever happened before she d

edith: not terribly much.ach other as plantation owners in the same area but they were not friendly and there were no children. >> we would say no legitimate issue as they would say. susan: as we close here, here is a quote from dolley madison, we all have a hand in the formation of our own destiny. we must press on that intricate path leading to perfection and happiness by doing all that is our closing thoughts. your thoughts on the importance at legacy. catherine: she's important for several reasons which she does set the role of first lady. for historians we look at her because she let's us know the role of aristocracy in this great democracy, why does this matter? and i think for dolley madison what she's offered us a model of governance that stresses civility and empathy. she's modeling this for us. she's not going to win. we need examples and role models and her way of conducting politics, stressing building bridges and not bunkers is a model we can use for the future. edith: i think she's very important

edith was a good friend of mckim. she actually helped him found the school of architecture in rone, still existing today. -- american school of architecture in rome, and is still there today. one of the things she wanted to do in the book --and i should note, w before c, wharton before c. i can tell you, having a last name with "w", when it appears before the earlier alphabet, it means that you are the one that did the primary writing in the book. in any event, what they wanted to do was to clean out all of this junk in american houses turn it back to some of the basic principles of design. she does apologize for the illustrations. because primarily they are french and italian illustrations. she says there are good american examples that come from a colonial period. but that but we have got to get rid of all of this horrible clutter and junk that we have used. that is her mother's house in new york. [laughter] dr. wilson: this is not in the book, but i put it in. this is the type of furniture they called the upholster

edith childs. thank you all for your time tonight. >> thank you very much. >> thank you so much. and have a blessed evening. >> bless you. >> okay bye-bye. >>> coming up, you got to hear what some on the right are saying about the justice department and president obama's push for smart policing. >>> also a massive bribery and a corruption scandal rocks the world's most popular sport. >>> and an undercover report on how corporate lobbyists tried to influence lawmakers. there is something they don't want you to know about. >> can we do an interview with you? >> actually no. >> can you please turn the camera off? >> no, we can't turn the camera off. that's one thing we don't do. >> okay. then i'd like to have you escorted out of the building then. >>> but first, another headline from hillary clinton's event today. getting personal. talking about how presidents get older in the white house. >> i may not be the youngest candidate in this race. but have i won big advantage. i've been coloring my hair for years. [ applause ] so you're not going see me turn white in the white house. >>>

this discussion posted by the white house historical association features the kennedy, edith roosevelt, laura bush, and michelle obama. seale -- anita mcbri

that is the kind of thing edith wilson did.hese people had an eye for that and the president got to get back to work. ms. swain: it has made the rose garden a symbol throughout the world. mr. seale: and right outside the oval office. it is great. ms. swain: we spoke about theodore roosevelt. i want to talk about fdr. they lived a rather different life at the white house. here is a little bit from our chapter on her with the great fdr historian, alito black. she writes about the roosevelt family. "it was regularly filled his family, visitors, and friends. it was very clear he was coming and going, especially when mrs. roosevelt's column started getting published because eleanor -- she would also have her own press conferences where she would tell people who the guests were and there you see one of the press conferences. people really at the time knew all of those folks were living in the white house or ." she was -- only men could cover the white house and she was going to change that so she started having press conferences and

the next two months, the library will stage theatrical performances were calling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson maybe eisenhower and beth truman. the time magazine spectrum correspondent will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her reflections in september. also in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution as lively and dynamic as america herself fortunately we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more than a library. his name is richard norton smith and he will be your moderator this morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard, for all that he has done in becoming director of the library. ronnie and i have never been happier with the library than we are today and it is all due to -- where are you, richard? you, richard. [laughter] [applause] nancy reagan: and the team you have put together. so luci, susan marine, the --maureen, the stage is yours. thank you for coming. [applause] richard: did morning, everyone. welcome. delighted to have you all here. amid the remembrances attending the d

even the famous edith who believes that a woman's job to appear in the paper was just when you're bornwhen you marry and when you die and even she came out and started to take public appearances including one at madison square garden at the republican rallies. she was so desperate to keep roosevelt out of the white house so that brings us to the reading end and the reading that you are going to hear is from march of 1933 and this is the evening he franklin has been inaugurated and they are facing their first day in the white house that to a large extent alice very much believes belongs to her and her family. with that i will turn over to my co-author who will give you a bit of fun of her chapters. >> i don't read out of the actual book because i'm an editor by heart and i've edited my own book. [laughter] >> we are on the evening of the inauguration. the president might have insisted that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself but he forgot to check with his wife first. eleanor was a nervous wreck on her first inauguration day as the first lady. she stood shivering as he leaned

edith wharton famously wrote to f. scott fits yerld and said, you know -- fitzgerald, and said, you know, i like the book. [laughter] i think you could have done a little bit more with gatsby's background but you'll say that's my way and that's not the way of your generation to leave this ambiguity and these holes. she was right. she was also very worried about the dog that myrtle buys? what happened to the dog. [laughter] wharton was a great dog lover so she was concerned about the dog. also with nick as i've said before nick is reaching out, you know, trying to grasp his dead friend, gatsby. .. it's a very time-conscious novel. time is running out. and yet as you has said, you can read it without an awareness of any of these patterns or symbols and goes down as smoothly as though you were eating whipped cream. another one of fitzgerald's achievements here. it's important though, that we don't trust nick completely. he is not a 100% reliable narrator and i think holden caufield salinger's great character, owes a lot,

. >> another person to try this was edith roosevelt also using the same photographer.re's a family photograph hiring the same photographer benjamin johnson and she also wants to control access to that big tusseling family but at the same time the present love the coverage varied. >> until his daughter alice was photographed picking winnings at the racetrack from a bookie. and then he called the president called the new york herald angrily on the phone and insisted he was jobless story. >> who was the first lady to hire full-time press secretary? >> goes really well in formal terms, jackie kennedy. but the others had kind of functions in that capacity. >> they knew they needed help. >> they knew they needed help and mrs. hoover had for five secretaries. one was very good interfacing with the reporters but she didn't have the title. >> another clip for you. this is just too much fun. you know the white house correspondents' dinner is another one of these big press dinners. it's actually coming up this weekend has become hollywood on the east. it's become quite the event.

over the next few months the library will stage theatrical performances recalling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson, eisenhower and german. time magazine white house correspondent we will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her own reflection on modern 1st ladies in september. all of this in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution that is lively and dynamic is america herself. fortunately, we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more the library. his name his name is richard norton smith command he will be our moderators morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard for all that he has done since becoming director of the library. we have never been happier with the library than we are today command it is all due -- where are you richard? you, richard. [applause] and the team that you have put together. richard peggy, luci susan, maureen the stage is yours. let me thank you for coming. i no i no that you are in for a real treat. thank you again. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. welcome. de

over the next few months the library will stage theatrical performances recalling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson, eisenhower and german. time magazine white house correspondent we will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her own reflection on modern 1st ladies in september. all of this in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution that is lively and dynamic is america herself. fortunately, we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more the library. his name his name is richard norton smith command he will be our moderators morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard for all that he has done since becoming director of the library. we have never been happier with the library than we are today command it is all due -- where are you richard? you, richard. [applause] and the team that you have put together. richard peggy, luci susan, maureen the stage is yours. let me thank you for coming. i no i no that you are in for a real treat. thank you again. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. welcome. de

. >> and a quick pause for boston area attendees in two weeks we are screening just edith and the producers are coming monday, april 15th, 5-7 p.m. in the law school, and we're really excited to have them here. thank you. [applause] >> congress is on break this week and each night we're taking the opportunity here on c-span2 to show you booktv programs that are normally only seen on weekends. tonight authors on books about waging war. beginning at 8 eastern with diane preston who wrote "a higher form of killing: six weeks in world war i that changed forever the nature of warfare." at 9 p.m., andrew coburn, author of "kill chain." and at 10:05 p.m. eastern gabriela blum and benjamin wittes who wrote "the future of violence." the republican presidential race has another contender today. former new york governor george pataki announced his candidacy this morning at an event in new hampshire. he's been out of public office since 2006, and he is the eighth republican to announce his candidacy. you can see his speech tonight beginning at eight eastern on our companion network, c-span. also coming

we're expected to also see a meeting between or at least a convergence between hillary clinton and edithlds who you'll, of course, remember was one of the key supporters of obama in 2008. the woman who inspired his fired up ready-to-go chant will be at day in blue. it will be interesting to see those two come together. hillary clinton, of course needing that obama base to be a part of her base going into 2016. we're watching that, as well as hillary clinton travels around the state, attempting to gain momentum and excitement around her 2016 campaign. thomas? >> msnbc's joy reid in south carolina for us. thanks. >>> we now have a timetable for those clinton emails the state department has been ordered to release. june 30th is the date of the next release. the emails are to be released this rolling basis, every 60 days. a judge ordered the release of the emails which date from hillary clinton's days as secretary of state. and which were stored on a private server kept in her home. marie harf is acting spokeswoman for the state department, soon going to be taking a position as senior advise

features among others, first ladies check them kennedy, edith roosevelt, ellen wilson, pat nixon andichelle obama. william seale is the author of "the presidents house." anita mcbride, the former chief of staff deferred --