please comment on edith wilson's role after president wilson had a stroke. yes, that's what i was referring to earlier that people think that she you know petticoat government. that was the phrase that she was running the government and he was incapacitated. i mean she didn't let anyone in to see him or only of the very few trusted staff members into sea. but if you look at the things that did not get done, you know, there was a major strike there were problems with deporting people from the united states who didn't agree with certain policies. she really functioned as more like a a barrier to people who wanted to get near him. so if she'd been really a door. it should really take an over government. she would have acted in some of those cases where she did not so i think it's a it's been exaggerated. we have a number of questions from greg and excuse me maureen from new jersey and many others who want to know your thoughts on jackie kennedy who is obviously a favorite in this program because of her role in founding the white house historical association. ye

edith wilson says that she never. she never took over the role of president wilson after he was incapacitated with a stroke. she said instead. she was just trying to save her husband's life and she thought it would kill him if he had to resign because of disability. and so she assisted him in carrying out the duties and that she never carried out any actions or policies that he didn't agree with. a first lady who sometimes was at loggerheads with her husband was eleanor roosevelt. she was certainly much farther out than her husband on the issue of black civil rights. she was probably black america's strongest white ally in the 1930s and her husband didn't feel he could go that far and advocate for black civil rights in the way that mrs. roosevelt did because he wanted to keep of course white southern voters as part of his roosevelt political coalition. so eleanor roosevelt also pushed her husband on tried to get him to accept more jewish refugees. before the us entered world war ii she was always there pushing her husb

please comment on edith wilsons rule after president wilson had a stroke. >> that is what i was referringearlier again, people think that petticoat government, that was the phrase, but she was running the government. and he was incapacitated. she didn't let anyone to see him, or have trusted staff members in to see him, but if you look at the things that did not get, then there was a major strike. there were problems with the port of people into the united states who did not agree with certain policies. she really functioned as more like a barrier to people who want to get near him. so if she had really been adored, if she had taken over government she would have acted in those cases where she did not. so i think it has been exaggerated. >> we have a number of questions from marine in new jersey and many others want to know your thoughts on jackie kennedy, who's obviously a favorite of this program because of her role in founding the white house historical social. >> she did. that that was important. she also made changes to the white house. her famous stories about when she first visited

this is edith wilson running the country. neither of those things were true. but she was, you know, first and foremost, she saw herself as the protector of her husband's physical well-being. but very close to that was keeping an eye on the people around him. and, you know, she had a very sharp sense of who was serving the president and who was really in it for himself, who was actually, you know, helping the president and who was promoting agendas perhaps that ronald reagan might not have shared. >> one of the defining moments of the reagan presidency and, yes, of the reagans' lives, occurred on march 30, 1981, when a deranged gunman nearly took ngthe life of president reagan s he was leaving ap event at a washington -- an event at a washington hoe tempt it's hard to believe, but it's been 40 years since that day. that crisis changed everything especially for nancy. nothing can ever happen to i my ronnie, she wrote. my life would be t over. while, the world didn't know at the time how close he really came toe death, ronald reagan ws spared, and he believed the

edith wilson designated the china room for the display of presidential state services and lou hoover oversaw the first major effort to organize and catalog all objects in the white house collection. these efforts both preserve the past and transform the house into a museum and with mrs. kennedy support and her successors that has become even stronger today. while history is given more attention and credit to their husbands. it was these women who collectively saved pieces of our history for future generations. much of the associations work the acquisition of fine and decorative arts for the permanent collection. conservation and preservation efforts the selection of state services and the commissioning of portraits directly involved the first lady of the united states. we've been honored to work with 12 remarkable first. ladies since 1961. we could not do these things without our supporters. so on behalf of the white house historical association. thank you for your continued support of our work. now i'd like to introduce sylvia burwell president of american university. she's american