the reason for the visit was the unveiling of the official portraits of first lady jacqueline kennedynd president kennedy. pat asked, how would you like to go? jackie said she would like a private is it very pat nixon and president nixon organized a private visit for the kennedys, which turned out to be a remarkable event for all concerned. both caroline and john junior wrote letters afterwards thanking the nixons. jackie herself wrote a very warm letter. despite whatever anger they might have had or she might have had about the 1960 campaign, she was a human first and realized the importance of letting president kennedy's widow and children come to the white house for the important unveiling. >> we have to get into politics in the life story. during the world war ii does, richard nixon was on active duty with the navy. his first run for congress was 1946. how did he make the foray into politics? >> when he came back, he was still on active duty. he was contacted by someone from california, and they were looking for somebody to run against jerry in the 12 congressional district. talk

jacqueline kennedy spoke to the nation for the first time since that terrible day in dallas.nearly 800,000 people whose letters of condolence had poured into the white house. >> the warmth of these tributes is something i shall never forget. >> reporter: released today a time capsule of comfort and pain. 22,000 letters so moving, so personal, they were set aside to be answered individually. the carpenter in patterson, new jersey, who made a bust of jfk for his garden. miss prince's french class in rhode island. 10-year-old bridgette bear from lake charles, louisiana. she wrote mrs. kennedy i would love for you and your children to come over to our house when you're not busy. and in a kenyan village, the toddler named kennedy after the president. jfk can had just sent his namesake a signed picture from the white house. it arrived two days after he was killed. but most poignant of all, the letter from maxine mcnair, mother of denise mcnair, one of the young girls killed five months earlier in the bombing of the 16th street baptist church in birmingham, alabama. dear mrs. kenned

. >> having a keen sense of fashion, jacqueline kennedy was admired for her clothing ensembles. >> mrs. kennedy is known as a style icon. the first ensemble that she wore as first lady, of course, was on inauguration day. sh color dress and legt designed by only c cassini. the only thing that she wore to ensemble was aom beautiful ruby brooch by tiffany that jfk gave her to celebrate john junior,h of right after the swearing in. and of course most famously finishing the ensemble was the poll box hat. she wore that on the back of her head so her face could be seen. that actually set a fashion trend. whereas the hat would normally be worn on the top of the head, she had a pushed back to sort of free her face. storaged here at its boxes perhaps one of mrs. kennedy's best-known dresses, the breast that she wore during her televised tour of the white house in february 1962. visitors to arm easy them when we have this dress on exhibit are quite surprised to realize it is red, because of course the program was filmed in black-and- white and broadcast in black and white. but i like to surmise

and i would say jacqueline kennedy. think she looked at imagining her husband's administration and recreating the white house for the stage for diplomacy through her renovation of the white house in the same way dolley looked at the white house as a stage and imagined her husband's presidency. so i see a lot of comparable activity and things that she was trying to achieve as was jacqueline kennedy. >> and jacqueline kennedy referenced dolley. she was a fan and definitely referenced her in the re dog of the white house. >> and she had to love the french furniture. >> with regard to the renovation of the white house, if you go to the white house today, can you see evidence of the torching by the british? >> there are places in the basement where you can see burned timbers. i know when they did the restoration of the white house, they found a lot of charred wood and charred bricks and so forth that were taken out and saved as remnants from the fire. >> we're showing some pictures of some of the charring right now. >> you c

let's go into the museum and look at other examples of jacqueline kennedy's clothing we have on display. mrs. kennedy put an awful lot of thought into her wardrobe when she was representing the country, both at the white house and while traveling abroad. she would think about what colors would mean something to the country i'm about to visit. so for her visit to canada in 1961, actually the first state visit the kennedys made as president and first lady, she chose this red suit by pierre cardin as a gesture of respect for the red of the canadian maple leaf and knowing that she would be greeted by the royal canadian mounted police who ery famously wear red. here we have a green coat and hat worn by the first lady for her arrival in bogotá colombia in december 1961. the president and first lady traveled through south america on that visit, greeted by hundreds of thousands of people, overwhelming response. particularly when mrs. kennedy would address the crowds in spanish. i really admire the thought that mrs. kennedy put into her wardrobe. she would think about the event she was attending

after which my husband was had by all of you has sustained me. >> that was 50 years ago today, jacqueline kennedyts since her husband's death. appearing on television with her brothers in law and attorney general roberts f. kennedy and robert m. kennedy, she thanked the public and said she would treasure each and every message. now a series of condolence messages have been released by the jfk library and museum. it includes these photos of jackie's personal secretaries sifting through boxes of letters sent to the first lady and change of letters that is specifically poignant between denise mcnair, one of the four young girls killed in the 1963 one of the four girls killed in the church in birmingham. in a heartbreaking handwritten letter maxine wrote to the first lady, isn't it strange how people with so much to give to the world are taken? that's god will, however, and not for us to question. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side

. >>> 50 years after jacqueline kennedy thanked americans for their letters of sympathy to her on thehn f. kennedy library has now released some of those heartfelt personal notes. >> she had been widowed for only 53 days, less than two months since the assassination. joined by her husband's brothers bobby and teddy, wearing black, her only jewelry, her gold wedding band. jacqueline kennedy spoke to the nation for the first time since that terrible day in dallas, thanking the nearly 800,000 people whose letters of condolence had poured into the white house. >> the wealth of these tributes is something i shall never forget. >> a time capsule of comfort and pain, 22,000 letters so moving and personal, they were set aside to be answered individually. the carpenter in patterson, new jersey, who made a bust of jfk for his garden. miss prince's french class in rhode island. 10-year-old bridget from lake charles, louisiana. she wrote mrs. kennedy, "i would love for you and your children to come over to our house when you're not busy." and in a kenyan village, the toddler named kennedy after t

jacqueline kennedy was #1, and they don't even need to clean up. -- explain it.ey just showed her picture. jackie did things that no one else could do. >> do have a comment on the difference? >> it was a different time. it was the 1960's. it was camelot. there is a difference in age. there is a difference in appearance. a lot of people were very divisive between john f. kennedy and richard nixon. that was a time when a lot of americans were excited. it was a different time. it was 20 years later. the country was getting a little cynical. they had gone through watergate. the press corps was not as willing to just follow and accept whatever the president and first lady were doing. >> a call from michael in pennsylvania. you are on. >> thank you. great show. was there a position or ideology that they sometimes disagreed upon, or that the staff disagreed upon? >> thank you. were there any issues at the reagans did not see eye to eye on? >> not that i know of. but the staff, absolutely. there was open warfare on many issues. issue: iranortant contra. nancy would push.

it reminded me of many eisenhower and jacqueline kennedy. -- mainly eisenhower and jacqueline kennedyit --bara bush had trouble understanding how anyone could elect bill clinton. she felt her husband deserved reelection and along came the governor of arkansas. she could not understand how people would elect him. as far as hillary clinton went, she thought she was bright. she thought she was sharp. barbara bush did not know how to deal with her because she was someone different. there was a certain level of discomfort with both of them. crucialifference is because there is a cultural shift at this time. barbara bush was from a , a traditional woman's role was to stay home and raise the kids and support her husband's career. hillary clinton did not come from that model. waded into this transformation in american society when it became a politicized issue. being confronted with a woman who had taken other choices. it left the two of them at odds ideologically. >> 1988 campaign, highly competitive. it was a very difficult campaign. -- some campaign history books suggest that barbara bush

and jacqueline kennedy did not want certain b things published like -- certain things published liketime no one realized that she was a heavy smoker. when she was coming back on air force one with the president's body, apparently, she looked in the mirror, and she saw wrinkles, and she said how old she was getting. she had told this to manchester. she'd given him ten hours of interviews. she didn't want any of that in the book. he took some of it out, but he kept a lot in. but anyway, she said if you don't do everything i say, i'm going to sue you. and manchester, who was a marine with a purple star from world war ii, adored her and adored the president and felt that he had done b a really good job, so he wouldn't agree. anyway, she filed an injunction. and minutes before the trial was to begin, she backed off because at that time robert kennedy was getting ready to run for the senate from new york. when i wrote "jackie o.," i wrote to william manchester because i wanted to know how much royalties the book had earned given to the kennedy library. now, mrs. kennedy was furious that th

kennedy presidential library in boston released 22,000 letters sent from around the world to jacqueline kennedyxine mcnair, the mother of one of the girls killed in the church bombing months earlier. one of the letters is the response from jackie kennedy's office. >>> police in florida say a man tossed his toddler over a second-story balcony and then jumping, too, amazingly they both survived. the father had been drinking and was frustrated with the 2-year-old boy. the baby suffered broken bones and a lot of bruising but is expected to be okay. the father also has broken bones, and he faces murder charges. >>> red flag fire warnings are posted across california right now and are expected to remain until at least tonight. one small fire grew as it was fanned by strong winds on kimbell island between san francisco and sacramento. at least one building was destroyed and about 15 people were evacuated. dry conditions, extremely low humidity and santa ana winds have fire crews on alert across the state. >>> a coast guard helicopter rescued four people off the coast of virginia from their sdanld sail

keen sense of fashion, jacqueline kennedy was admired for her clothing ensembles. >> mrs. kennedy is very well known as a style icon. admiration of her fashion sense mble shefirst ense wore as first lady was on inauguration day. this gray-ish colored wool coat and dress. i think it is a wonderful example of here simp -- her simple elegance that became very popular. and the only thing she wore to adorn the ensemble was a really beautiful ruby boracroach that jfk gave her to celebrate the birth of john jr. she wore that after the swearing-in. of course, most famously wasshing mthe ensemble this pill box hat. she wore it on the back of her head so her face could be seen. that set a fashion trend. the hat would normally be worn on the top of the head, she had pushed back to frame her face. box, is oneth the of her best-known dresses. her televisedg tour of the white house in february, 1962. visitors to our museum are quite surprised to realize that it is red, because of course, the program was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast in black and white. i like to surmise that sh

if you did a survey now, jacqueline kennedy would probably rate much higher because people know and likeer at that time. the only thing we have from abigail are the letters. >> and she is still in the number two spot. not bad. she seemed to route this to hundred years being the second most influential first ladies based on the letters you have been spending your career on. >> also, if you see her influence on her husband, i do not know there have been many first ladies that have had that kind of influence. >> a specific example of an important policy that you see she worked on him? >> i do not know of a particular policy. it is that he consults her all the time. her letters at a certain point are divided into two things, this is what is happening with the children, this is what is happening on the farm, here are my thoughts about politics. she shared all the time. by the time he got to be president, and he was not popular with his party, she was his major adviser. >> here is another in a video piece of a letter, add if to john, focus on virginia. [video clip] >> everybody knows this lett

she was not as active as jacqueline kennedy was, but she was still pretty active. i don't know much about their social entertaining. they had some big white house didn'trties, but they use the white house nearly as much as the kennedys who made it a cultural center. she was very busy doing other policy things. >> we know about the lincoln bedroom. they brought in a lot of musicians. bill clinton loved music, much like president obama and in variousinging musicians, the clintons did as well. they also turned it into something of a sleepover place. a lot of friends stayed there often. no one actually lived there like under roosevelt. donors would big get rewarded with a night in the lincoln bedroom. ex let me take a couple of calls and then we have to talk about the investigations and legal as ales of the clintons political partnership. ellie, you are on the air. >> you had a funny look on your face there. they put the fear of the lord in the press and they would not get called back to the white house if they printed something that barbara bush was not in agreement w

. >> having a keen sense of fashion, jacqueline kennedy was admired for her clothing ensembles. >> mrs. kennedy is known as a tyle icon. admiration of her fashion sense. the first ensemble that she wore as first lady, of course, was on inauguration day. this grayish color dress and

with kennedy's assassination, that role fell to his widow, jacqueline. there are many reasons why kennedy's assassination was such a traumatic event. while much of the ledge gemmed is about what might have been, he did, in fact, inspire many americans with the founding of the peace corps, initiating the moon landing and avoiding nuclear war during the cuban missile crisis. and it was also because by 1963 television had infiltrated virtually every living room in america and because satellite technology had become newly available, his assassination also became the first globally-shared news event this human history. but i've come to the conclusion that it hit americans so hard and at such a deeply personal level was the reasons and conduct of jackie kennedy. that she was even in dallas that day was an anomaly. the trip to texas was the first time since the 1960 election that mrs. kennedy had joined her husband on a domestic political trip. in fact, since 1960 she had never been -- had not been west of middleburg, virginia, where the kennedys had a horse cou

with kennedy's assassination that role fell to his widow, jacqueline. there are many reasons why kennedy's assassination was such a dramatic event as was discussed earlier. while much of the kennedy legend is about what might have been, he did, in fact, inspired many americans during his short time in office with such a competence as the founding of the peace corps, the moon landing and uploading nuclear war during the cuban missile crisis. there was also because by 1963, television had infiltrated virtually every living room in america and because satellite technology had become newly available only months before the assassination. his assassination also became the first globally shared news event in human history. i've come to the conclusion that a key reason the assassination it americans so hard and as such a deeply personal level was the president -- presents and hundred of jackie kennedy. that she was even endows that it was an anomaly. the trip to texas was the first time since the 1960 election that misses the committee had joined her husband on

kennedy. who introduced him to jacqueline bouvier, and they were very close friends all through his life. the gentleman was a reporter for a newspaper in tennessee with the d.c. bureau. and the night before the kennedys left for texas, he just had a funny feeling about it and called his friend jack, the president, and jack had no qualms about going to does. lec said he didn't. but he was very angry still and have been for the previous five or six weeks at israel. israel had acquired the knowledge to create an atomic bomb, or nuclear bomb, one of the two. and was very angry that he had had to find out about this from the cia. and was determined not to let israel actually create a bomb and then detonate it. that was one thing i did not know about john kennedy's presidency previously. >> i think the most surprising thing was the premise of the book, which is how much similar so many ways reagan and john kennedy were, both in how they were raised, the families they came from, big brothers who beat them up all the time, this nomadic childhood. and then in the policies. certainly the republicans

he was a very close friend of jacqueline kennedy.in the afternoon robert in his shot, she calls carter burden and she says, they got bobby, too. they got bobby, to but i think it's the same people. by the way i think it's related to the fact that dr. martin luther king is picked up in fbi wiretaps shortly before his murder tally he is going to endorse robert kennedy for president in 1960. johnson knows the pivotal role came played in 1964 he basically gets the election from nixon to john kennedy in a skin tight race. so i suspect that is also a factor in his murders. i'm deeply interested in the robert kennedy murder. i was an admirer of robert kennedy, more than john kennedy in many ways, and they think that defensive story has not yet been told either. yes, sir. >> could you describe to us what it was like to be at the plaza -- at dealey plaza this last november? >> surreal. dealey plaza is much, much smaller than you picture it. it is very compact. it was -- they were literally -- first of all, it's important that the city close t