henry clay. margaret smith. once while mrs.adison was serving at the head of the table the vice president offered to do the honors for her and she responded oh no, watch with what ease i do it. and he had to admit she did it with unparalleled ease. >> and looking at their life when they returned there, how was it compared to when they lived in the white house? >> i think they were besieged by people who wanted to associate themselves with the madisons. many visitors in addition to -- political visitors in addition to family and friends. sort of like the washingtons and the jeffersons. everybody wanted to meet the great parsonages. so they had people in the house with them. not only relatives but many political visitors as well. >> she was devoted to him and getting his papers together in that role. was she happy doing that? >> yes, at the point she loved her husband very much. that is where he wanted to stay and so she stayed as well. the descriptions of her at this time weren't the same. she's described as content, adam and ev

>> there was robert taft, but the big ones were john calhoun, daniel webster, henry clay, the pre-civil war era. securities committee quickly decide on the top three, webster, clay, calhoun. they had a longer debate on the next two, and even back at that point kennedy preferred a german named george noris, but there were some hints that the nebraska senators might filibuster that choice of kennedy had to back off and go with -- there were some hints of filibusters and delays in the senate. >> what would you say was one of president kennedy's most substantive pieces of legislation in the senate? >> first of all, is very active on labor issues. he was the chairman of the subcommittee, a labor subcommittee and that was the one domestic issue he really dug into. it was a huge issue back at the time. he mastered the big it was the one domestic issue he mastered. and even his contemporaries said he understood the nuances of labor law better than anyone. interestingly he got caught in a very complex political battle, and the final bill didn't really resemble what he wanted. i was a labor law b

and this includes john calhoun and henry clay and they read quickly on these things. and he wrote a letter that was actually part of it. and he projected forward and also style this as well. and her letters was trying to get the sense of things and there was this rising young star and also someone who is part of american history and whose brother was killed in world war ii and certainly by the time that he came through this, he would spend some time with that. and he narrated a film and he nominated adlai stevenson and this includes this promoting stevenson's campaign and he would be running for president four years later and it includes him about being vice president. if i spend four years, i certainly am talking about the nomination. and i think his four-year quest is interesting to look at. in part because it is very rare that a sitting senator would be in the white house like this. kennedy in 1960 and obama in 2008. and i think kennedy had a shrewd sense of how to spend the launching pad for the presidency and i think the first insight was the windows of opportuni

fine art, a 481-page book that took years to complete, and the restoration of a giant portrait of henry clay from my state that was given to the senate after being discovered in the basement of a historical society. this magnificent painting of clay now hangs in the stairway off the brumidi corridor. the restoration of the old senate chamber was also a proud achievement. the entire senate family is grateful to diane for her many years of devoted service to this institution. through her work, she has helped preserve and bring to life the shared objects of our collective history as a people, precious objects that belong to all americans and to our posterity. her legacy is literally all around us. we thank her for her work and wish her and her husband chris all the very best in the years ahead. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1926 which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of calendar number 294, s. 1926, a bill to de

maybe henry clay and john callahan. it's all i can really -- all i really have to say. in the next file, there is a long, long memo from harry truman in which she gives -- he nominates 42 senators for this position. and there were many sketches about books they have written to me know, travel interest. german took this as this major project and wrote a term paper on a press herbert hoover spent probably a lot to three minutes and read just a very cursory note. kennedy jumped into this project . he loved it, and he presided over a group of very distinguished senators who were part of the kennedy committee. mike mansfield became a legendary senate majority leader on the committee. richard russell, in legendary senator, a german by the name of styles bridges from new hampshire who was one of these quiet forces in the senate and 1950's to be no one really knew very much about him, but he was a real powerhouse. then his son ahmad and ahmad john brinker. five of them got together and negotiated fee. as the talks unfolded, they quickly came to agreement on three of the five. t

henry clay said to her at one point, everybody loves mrs. madison and she said that is because mrs.ad her mail and that is not true. >> i love this. i'm going to read it because it's short. after john corbin was killed at ft. washington, new york, his wife margaret took over his artillery position. by the time the british won the battle, she had received three gunshot wounds but margaret never stopped firing. her wounds made it impossible for her to work so congress gave her the same money as other disabled workers soldiers. she is buried at the military academy at westpoint. what an incredible story. >> so finding out about 18th century women, even women like martha washington is hard, but one of the ways we do it is through pension records from the government and, of course, their letters and their diaries. since this is a children's book, i felt it was sort of important to say to the children, it's okay to read their mail because they have been dead 200 years. >> that is different. they have their place in history. foundi ining mothers. thank you, cokie! julieanna, goldman, thank