the mother was an eleanor roosevelt democrat. she loved eleanor roosevelt. the ability to live with furniture that's made there. carter makes his own furniture in his home. very spartan and warm and pleasant and emphasis on gardens and outdoor life. the bringing of the natural world. i can't emphasize enough to listeners what a special place that part of the mid hudson is in duchess county and the great love and friendship of franklin and eleanor from shared neighbors, shared friends, shared topography and knowing all of the little back roads and things together was a big part youthings together was a big part of the happiness. >> did she use that to get way? >> yeah. >> this is the own space to conduct business. val kill was her home and office. himeleanor was very rarely alone in value kill. he did a very extraordinary job in giving you the sense, the feel that eleanor had and how much she loved it. eleanor was always surrounded by hordes of people at val kill that she would invite. there would be neighbors, dignitaries, friends, reporters, painters, there

>> well, one of the things that we're just now really beginning to understand about eleanor roosevelt in the equal rights amendment is not only how her attitude changes over time, but the role that race plays in really shaping that attitude. and eleanor just did not like alice paul. she just did not like her. and one of the reasons that -- they only met twice. and they had a vicious conversation about race. and it's a word that eleanor uses vicious which is, you know, as ann will know is a word that she very rarely used and so she thought that the equal rights amendment initially would not only undercut immigrant women, not only undercut working women, but was also a tool by some really educated white women who wanted to keep african-american and immigrant women out of the labor force. and we're only beginning to learn this now by looking at how eleanor really argues when she is constructing the universal declaration of human rights about article i. and article i is all human beings are born free, and equal in dignity and rights. endowed with reason and conscious and should treat one

. >>> next, the political career of eleanor roosevelt, with insight from her granddaughter, tracy roosevelt. first lady from 1933 to 1945, eleanor roosevelt became a key player, an advocate for women and civil rights and president kennedy appointed her to chair a special commission on the

. >>> next on american history tv, the political career of eleanor roosevelt with insight of great-granddaughter tracy roosevelt and profession or allida black. first lady of 1933 to 1945, eleanor roosevelt continued in public service for years after she left the white house. and she became a key player in john f. kennedy's presidential campaign and administration. she was an advocate for women's and civil rights and president kennedy appointed her to chair a special commission on the status of women. this event was hosted by the radcliffe institute for advanced study at harvard and the john f. kennedy presidential library. it's about half an hour. >> hi. >> hi. >> it's a pleasure to be here today to celebrate

she digit years at the at the convention with eleanor roosevelt that saved him from himself. he was full of arrogance and on the verge of making a huge mistake and they came together to prevent it. this was a time when women were not at the table politically but they pulled off and it was remarkable and i so admire what they did. they paved the way for women to play a role in the political affairs. charles lindbergh plays a prominent role because he was the leader of the isolationist movement in the united states. they only met once and danced around each other they did not like each other. roosevelt told a colleague he thought linda bird was a nazi. he wasn't but he was very cozy with them when he was over in germany. but their real surprise of the book who in my view is almost as much of a hero as roosevelt wilke was an executive who was up until the republican convention a to rickrack he was a new dealer and almost reduplicate roosevelt. because his opposition do we and taft worthy old republicans the old style and he presented a huge contrast and people wanted someone who

have a conversation with professor black, who really knows so much about my great grandmother, eleanor roosevelt, and can tell us more of the official side of her work for women. for me, i know a little bit more of the personal side. one story i'd like to share with you just as an anecdote before we get into the conversation is something my aunt told me. that as a young girl growing up, grand'mere, which is what we affection atly call eleanor in our family, took her aside and said to her, it's really important that you are involved in public life. it's really important that you run for political office and that you always work to make people's lives better. and she thought that this was something that she must be saying to all of the cousins. and only as she got older and spoke with her brothers and her

also speaking to kennedy about the tax issue and there is a great scene in my book at eleanor roosevelt's funeral, it's not just a book by leibovitz. our town has this great scene at the tim russert you know what everyone is doing their own business at the funeral in a kind of modern washington way and the same thing was happening at hyde park at eleanor roosevelt's funeral and al gore senior kind of just cornered him and said that he was talking about the tax cut. and dwight eisenhower was standing in the corner trying to say hello to his successor and he couldn't even although his way into the conversation. and then on the airfield, where the two men were returning to washington, kennedy sent for him and was on another plane and had him right back continue the conversation. that is a first kennedy rule of leadership. once you decide, the decision is made. and well, you guys, you won. presidential me to shut up about it. >> there are newspaper headlines about al gore denouncing the kennedy tax cut as a bonanza for fat cats. and there is a tape of kennedy denouncing al gore senior as a so

then franklin roosevelt cheating on eleanor roosevelt in 1917. the rich have their prerogatives. they take them. >> one of our viewers asks how did mrs. harding respond to the rumors of harding's wandering eyes? >> it is a great question. there is a debate about these relationships that warren harding had. he had this affair with carrie phillips. they were both a couple who were related in ohio. what happens over time is that warren falls in love with carrie. florence discovers about this affair. they were still friends and vacationing together. how was is happening? how did she reacts? not very happily. she asked him to consider divorce. he knew he needed her for his career. he agreed to downplay the affair, and i believe he committed to ending it. he did not, as it turns out. as he is running for president, it is an embarrassment. it hasn't been an active affair for several years. they were flaring years of it. in the end, she is essentially bought off by members of the republican party who come up with funds to get her out-of- of the way. florence was not happy at all. there a

eleanor roosevelt was out there doing campaigning. it was considered bad form if you did not do a certain amount of campaigning. >> it was behind the scenes come most of it. i think lady bird johnson deserves credit for being the first life of a presidential candidate to go out on a speaking tour of her own. that was really new. eleanor roosevelt campaigned for other candidates but i do not think she campaigned for her husband until she ran for that third term in 1940 because it was not considered ladylike to be open about your support for your husband. you are behind-the-scenes organizing women to put up posters were sending out letters. you're thanking people. what did lady bird johnson say, the wife of a candidate, her job is to walk behind him and say thank you. it was behind-the-scenes until the 1960's. >> next is a question in georgia. >> hi. my question, i have two. first is, what were lady bird johnson's hobbies? what were the relations with the kids? i am nine years old. >> how did you become interested in lady bird johnson?

and indeed, today we're talking very much about the factory, farm and office where eleanor roosevelt spoke of, where if rights do not have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. now, it's been long recognized that the opportunity to thrive for the individual is so fundamental to this notion of liberty and freedom is also a powerful force for the good of our nation as a whole. this is well captured by theodore roosevelt. he said practical equality of opportunity for all citizens when we achieve it has two great results. first, every man will have a fair chance to make of himself all that in him lies to reach the highest point to which his capacities unassisted by special privilege of his own, unhampered by the special privilege of others can carry him, to get for himself and his family substantially what he has earned. second, theodore roosevelt continued, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth will get from every citizen the highest service of which he is capable. no man who carries the burden of the special privileges of another can give to the commonwealth t

it is interesting to look at the relationship between fdr and eleanor roosevelt.years before that she discovered this now infamous famous of fair but when he became ill she came to his aide, helton threw the early stages of recovery. after about a year it was clear that he will have a long recovery, have to be away from home often, although it brought them together at first it sent them on the parallel paths of the fall for the rest of his life. she embarked on an independent political career the marriage was on a different track. lou: a compelling personal story . a man who overcame polio, dealt with it throughout his life, the pain, discomfort, a awkwardness in many public moments. and yet he had -- he was just a man of great character, a man of great personal strength in energy. they seem to be utterly incomprehensible. >> i think that fdr himself did not quite understand the dth of his own strength and character until he was faced with this great trial. up until that point everything had gone his way. he was brilliant, a charismatic, populist. all of the tools

eleanor roosevelt was out there doing campaigning. it was considered bad form if you did not do a certain amount of campaigning. qwest it was behind the scenes come most of it. i think lady bird johnson deserves credit for being the first life of a presidential candidate to go out on a speaking tour of her own. that was really knew. eleanor roosevelt campaigned for other candidates but i do not think she campaigned for her husband until she ran for that third term in 1940 because it was not considered ladylike to be open about your support for your husband. you are behind-the-scenes organizing women to put up posters were sending out letters. your thanking people. what did lady bird johnson say, the life of a candidate, her job is to walk behind him and say thank you. it was behind-the-scenes until the 60's. >> next is a question in georgia. >> type. -- hi. question, i have two. first is, what were lady bird johnson's hotties. -- hobbies. with the the relations kids. i am nine years old. >> how did you become interested in lady bird j

that was very new because even eleanor roosevelt campaigned for other candidates but i don't think she campaigned for her husband until he ran for that third term in 1940. it wasn't considered i don't know ,-com,-com ma lady likes to be open about your support for your husband. you are behind the scenes may be organizing women to put up posters are sending out letters thanking people. what did lady bird johnson say? her job is to walk and hind him and say thank you, thank you, thank you so it was was pretty behind-the-scenes entelechy of the 60s. >> guest: jackie kennedy did do some ads in spanish for and since which is something we talk about all the time now with the hispanic vote. >> host: next is a question from 01. hi 01. >> caller: hi. >> host: what is your question four is? >> caller: my question is -- goliath two. first of all what were lady bird johnson's hobbies and two is what was her their relationship with their kids? >> host: how old are you? cocco i am nine years old. >> host: how did you become interested in lady bird johnson? >> caller: my mom was telling me about thes

not ordinary time, franklin eleanor roosevelt, the home front in world war ii, fitzgeralds and the kennedys, lyndon johnson and the american dream, to be continued. >> i hope so. >> rose: so there is also this. i mean, are you ever intrigued by like somebody like libbed berg, lindbergh? would that be interesting to you ..? or de gaulle or somebody who is not part of american history? >> i am not sure to be honest. i would love to have a woman. >> rose: there you go. >> who is a part of american history. i don't think i can live abroad at this point and i studied french for eight years but i can't speak a word of it so that is the end of de gaulle. i am not good with languages, i studied russian. >> rose: that would be good. >> degaulle is an interesting character. >> who i would love to have done is winston churchill. can you imagine living with winston churchill? that would be the best, if i were 20 years old. >> and this is william manchester who wrote about -- >> also the death of a president, his stuff on churchill is fabulous, i am not sure that would prevent it being done and i can se

it's interesting to look at the relationship between fdr and eleanor roosevelt.ly three years before that eleanor had discovered this now infamous famous affair between fdr and her social secretary. the marriage had been not destroyed but certainly deeply damaged, trust had been damaged. but when fdr became ill, she absolutely came to his aid, nursed him, literally nursed him for the first couple of months, helped him through the early stages of recovery. for a time i think it brought them closer together. but then after about a year, it was clear that he was going to have a very long recovery, he was going to have to be away from home often. she was interested in getting involved in politics and so although it brought them together at first, then i think it set them on the parallel paths that they followed really for the rest of his life. she embarked on an independent political career, not running for office, but being politically very active and powerful, and he followed his own path. they helped each other but the marriage was on a different track from that p

and certainly eleanor roosevelt was out there doing campaigning. so i -- and it was considered bad form if you didn't do a certain amount of campaigning. but it was behind the scenes, most of it, and i think qulad bird johnson deserves there for being the first wife of a presidential candidate to go off on a speak tour of her own. that was very knew. because even eleanor roosevelt campaigned for other candidates but i don't think she campaigned for her husband knell ran for that third term in 1940 because it wasn't considered -- i don't know. >> lady-like. >> laid you why-like to be open about your support for your husband. you were behind the scenes maybe organizing women to put up posters or sending out posters. you were thanking people. what did lady bird johnson say? the wife of and, her job is to walk behind him and say thank you. thank you. so it was pretty behind the scenes until i think the '60s. >> but jackie kennedy did do some ads in spanish, for instance, to try to get -- something we talk about all the time now. to try to get the hispa

oh, this is eleanor roosevelt and mandela. >> safer: a hodge-podge of history. >> grossman: nixon. >>y happy. are you surprising yourself as you go through these? >> grossman: endlessly. endlessly. >> safer: there's david ben- gurion, israel's founding father, both fore and aft. >> grossman: this was the shot i shot in back. >> safer: oh, that's wonderful. looks like a flying saucer or something. >> grossman: yes, saturn. >> safer: there's george hamilton as dracula. writer kurt vonnegut. jimi hendrix, eating his guitar. the man who would be king, briefly-- the duke of windsor and his american wife. >> grossman: one of my favorite pictures. this is cassius clay, winner, after a knockout fight. >> safer: before he was muhammad ali. >> grossman: that was the celebration. there was a strawberry shortcake in front of him, and he was too tired and beat up to really appreciate it. >> safer: beautiful women became a specialty: jacqueline bisset. julie christie. mia farrow. meryl streep. you really hung out with the babes a lot, didn't you? >> grossman: oh, do you blame me? >> safer: many of

hat was something that eleanor roosevelt had done. but bess truman had not done.ole background, ould not have lent itself to her doing that. but she's the last first lady case. that's the >> she launched loss of tyranny the spokesperson for the american heart association. projects say they were the way they were institutionalized. for being criticized very traditional. >> with jaclyn kennedy after her and mrs. johnson, a first lady was expected to have a project. exactly. she wasn't considered a serious first lady if she did not have a contract. >> 19 years after she left the hite house, mamie eisenhower sat down with barbara walters to give her views on the role of let's watch. , >> you think presidents today help?heir wives' >> i don't know. it.be they don't want don't think that you can -- i think that you have to -- your husband has to -- a man has to encouraged. i told ike every day we lived he was. i thought how good i thought he was. your ego has to be fed. >> a little on the role of the lady. gary robinson wants to know what greatest e say is her contribut

eleanor roosevelt's, someoneh wrote about her.soone she passes on the franklin your daughter was kind of cool.was david to donovan year ets stanley level check it out.n and they got a plane, load up with n bunch of bats the incendiary devices tied around them, flewe. over somewhere in the midwest,d, some desert area, drop them. o guess what happened? what well, they all sang like stones. the idea did not work. but todd and was willing to try it.try her going to try other things. when others buyout scheme that he had was that stanley hadsome concocted female hormones. if they could find hitler's festivals they would inject they hormones of the festival's whis would make his mustache falloutk and give him a fasano voice i which would be a real bummer foe the fuehrer. [laughter] eventually donovan felt his spine organization was built into over 10,000 covert00 operatives, and spinners agents, commanders, support personnelpe, scattered in stations all overar the world. again mon-khmer remarkable achievement considering he started with one guy. guy they mounted covert operations in north a

that was something that eleanor roosevelt had done, but best truman had not done and so mamie, her wholelf to ave lent her doing that. the last first lady where that's the case. >> she launched lots of charity drives. she was the spokesperson for the american heart association but can't say they were causes and projects the way it became institutionalized. >> very traditional. >> where jacqueline kennedy and on, a firstmrs. johns lady was considered to have a project. >> she wasn't considered a first lady if she didn't have a cause. >> mamie eisenhower sat down with barbara walters to give her views. >> you think presidents need their wives at home? >> i don't know. i don't think -- i think you -- mine has to be encouraged. i told ike every day how much i thought -- how good i thought he was. your ego has to be fed. >> gary robinson wants to know her ould mamie say was greatest contribution to the role of first lady? >> i would say giving ike a comfortable home life where he could relax and get away from the pressing issues of the day. i think her greatest ontribution was in institutiona

she won a pulitzer for her book on fdr and eleanor roosevelt and her lincoln biography was the basispielberg movie. >> i can't accomplish a goddamn thing of any human meaning or worth until we cure ourselves of slavery and end this pest, this war. >> her newest book is about the friendship theodore roosevelt and william howard taft, unusual for good win in that one of them is not a larger than life president, although he certainly was large. >> how many people are going to know much about taft other than that he weighs 350 pounds. >> and had a bathtub that could fit four men? >> indeed. there is a picture of the bathtub with the four guys in there. >> that is a white house scandal waiting to happen. >> the two men were a study in contrasts. roosevelt a contemporary wrote, barrelled through life as if launched by a catapult. >> i have never written about anybody who has more energy, accomplished more, taft is the great procrastinator, he waited until the last minute for everything and got in trouble over and over again. >> so i keep saying to myself when i am about to put something of

that was something that eleanor roosevelt had done, but best -- bess truman had not done and so mamie would not have lent itself to her doing that. but she's the last first lady where that's the case. >> she launched lots of charity drives. she was the spokesperson for the american heart association but you can't say they were causes and projects the way it became institutionalized. >> they were totally unpoliticized. very traditional. >> where jacqueline kennedy and after her, mrs. johnson, a first lady was considered to have a project. >> she wasn't considered a first lady if she didn't have a cause. >> 19 years after she left the white house, mamie eisenhower sat down with barbara walters to give her views. >> you think presidents need their wives at home? >> i don't know. i don't think -- i think you have to -- mine has to be encouraged. i told ike every day how good i thought he was. your ego has to be fed. >> gary robinson wants to know what would mamie say was her greatest contribution to the role of first lady? >> i would say giving ike a comfortable home life where he could r

as eleanor roosevelt watch them pack up the last of it and she went across the street to blair house to say goodbye, and warned bess, watch out for the rats. >> that was the truman's introduction to their new home. she was thrust into the job. >> she was thrust into the job of first lady. did she have any advice from the outgoing first lady? >> her first problem was that , probablyosevelt had meaning well, had set up a press conference for bess. bess truman went to the secretary of labor and said, do i have to do that? is it ok to set my own tone. at the last minute, she decided that was something she was never going to do. she never held a press conference. >> the white house social secretary went there with androw wilson the second stayed through, all through the roosevelts, all through everything. she was coming in a limousine from leesburg everyday. she knew everything to do. she knew where the bodies were buried. she knew everything. >> another thing we should establish is that the trumans got the support from one another. there are gray partnership. -- great partnership. they d

it was 50 years ago that my father shook hands with eleanor roosevelt. she assured him of the validity of his struggle and the promise of better times. she, as he did, believe that this nation was righteous to the core, that we as a country would never stop striving to do better, and that was what made us better. honorable men and women of the senate, you can prove them right today. with your help and willingness to bring our laws back to the true tenets of justice, you can lift this nation from its internal battle in which guns rule over right. you have the power to restore hope to a nation crying out for justice. i pray that you hear the will of the lord. thank you. >> thank you, ms. mcbath. we will now turn to questions for the witness, and each member of the many will have seven minutes. i will start. thank you ms. fulton and ms. mcbath for your courage in coming here today. i find it hard to understand those who defend "stand your ground" by arguing that african americans should celebrate these laws. the notion that somehow this is to the benefit of

eastern the c-span original series, first ladies, with a profile of eleanor roosevelt. at noon today, supreme court justice kagen speaking at the university of alabama law school. a look at the tomple proposal ffered by chairman baucus. the a conversation about expanding u.s. prison population and mandatory minimum sentences. we'll be joined by mark mauer of the sentencing project. also kevin prineo, author of host: white house officials say they are on track to have the health care website handle 50,000 simultaneous users. with theterview financial times, i ran the's president says any nuclear pact will not involve the dismantling of iran's nuclear facilities. the interim agreement could test the two countries. for is "washington journal" november 30, 2013. our first 45

williams, it's place like cafÉ society, the nightclub where at any given night langston hughes and eleanor rooseveltight be in the audience. but it also, i mean, i i thisst the also -- i think it's also important to note where these women create their own spaces. mary lou williams also creates a space in her apartment which becomes one of the most important saw a loans for the development of bee bop music. so she brings that energy into her own home and opens up her home for that kind of place, you know, that kind of activity. what happens to them, i mean, i think one of the lessons of period be, again, is that these sites come under assault. i mean, they don't just disappear or grow out of fashion. as the decade gets more conservative and we get the kind of anti-communist fervor that comes at the end of the '40s and early '50s, there's assaults on places like "the people's voice" and on places like cafÉ society. and so those venues fold, and when they fold, you know, you no longer have those kinds of spaces to nurture the voices in the way that they would have in the earlier part of the decade. >>

eleanor roosevelt thought about her public role, but she pushed that.he is unilaterally responsible for that. the roosevelt white house pushing her in front. i think jackie kennedy was the first lady that is part of a media strategy. role,xon did not play the the public role, that the white house wanted her to play. >> i think it goes further back. i think the republican party used her during the eisenhower, when she was second lady, and wanted to use this image of and pat as a young couple that mirrored america at the same time, two young children. the republican party actually helped to create the image of her as an ideal how to that house life. when she was there, they could not stop it. it took on a life of its own. >> do you think they were doing the same thing with maniac oh >> mimi was so much older. i think pat had to fill in with many. many was more the grandmother. she was not making public appearances the way that pat was. they needed pat to be a perfect housewife who could do all of these things at the same time. >> it is the flip of what we

in 1962 she supplanted eleanor roosevelt, who had the number one for about 12 years, and mrs.ennedy was for about five or four years after that. their babyd lost patrick in august of 1963 and i think people felt kindness towards her. >> when john kennedy was planning his campaign in 19 60 -- there was an offhand remark -- we will have to run her through subliminally. she had been raised in an elite she might not be too politically helpful. and there was no one who was more astounded and delighted that she had turned out this way. so in the state of texas -- john conley and the others in texas said, you have to bring mrs. kennedy. she is so popular and you will have much bigger crowds. >> i have to say that john kennedy was much more wealthy than she. so why would the public not react to his help? >> he felt as may political leaders that come from affluent -- in 1957 she ar as ahim a jagu birthday gift. but hethis returned -- felt she was not someone who had a lot of political experience, and in 1960 -- this might be a difficult -- >> she felt she was a drag on him in the early

. >> eleanor roosevelt. very skeptical in 5960. he said he was not comfortable with the liberals and the democratic party for. >> they adopted him once it was in office. he really established that link in office. lyndon johnson, by contrast, was anti intellectual. he liked the fact that many of these kennedy intellectuals opposed his vietnam policies. of course his grandiose. his grandiose presidency led him to try to win this war that was on when a bull, and he wanted to do it in a big way. john f. kennedy would have agreed to a few little pilot programs. lyndon johnson hears about what kennedy has done and countermands it and says, that is my kind of program. i wanted big, national. go full tilt. that is the difference between the two. i don't believe that kennedy would have done what don -- johnson did in vietnam, though he would have continued some level of involvement. ee from in it he was going to involve the troops. >> he say he still would have pursued anti-communist policies. >> would have done it differently, to a lesser