mr. gould: robert taft becomes mr. republican. and helen, the daughter, becomes the dean at bryn mawr and is a very influential educator. and as you say, charles taft had a career in cincinnati politics. he tried to move up to be governor, it didn't work out. he was probably the most liberal of the -- between him and robert taft, and helen was pro-suffrage at the time when her mother wasn't. president taft eventually becomes pro-suffrage because it's the way of enforcing prohibition. in his view, he didn't like prohibition, but if the american people wanted it, he wanted it enforced. ms. swain: we have a list of some of the firsts that nellie taft brought to the role of first lady. as we learned earlier on, she was the first to ride with the president in the inaugural parade, the first to attend a supreme court argument. i love this one, she was the first to attend a political convention, but not of her husband's party. she went to the democratic convention in 1912. mr. gould: yes. the democrats met in baltimore, which made it sort

susan swain: from helen taft, she writes of her husband, mr. taft was all but impervious to any friendly advice, which being followed, would have tended to -- enhance his own political advantage. and we have a 1906 quote from william howard taft, and he says, "politics, when i am in it, makes me sick. lewis gould: some of that was for public consumption. yes, i think he pursued a political career with more zest than we sometimes realize. and what nellie, as everyone knew her, was saying is that he had a way of getting people to push him in a direction that he wanted to go. and so i think she is acknowledging that he moved her as much as she moved him. susan swain: lew gould referenced his career and he mentioned the two that were in the law. in addition to that, let's take a look at the political positions that william howard taft held over his lifetime. in 1892, he served as solicitor general, as mr. gould told us. he was, as we learned, governor general of the philippines and an important part in that country's development and our relationship wi

mrs. taft so much. they were friendly during t.r.'s presidency. it is during 1910, after taft shows his hand as president that hostilities break out. >> next is a call from alexander in indiana. hello. >> i have a question about theodore roosevelt. >> i'm happy to hear it. can you tell us how old you are? >> i'm 12 years old. >> have you studied theodore roosevelt in school already? >> no. i have wrote a paragraph about him. he is my favorite president. >> why? >> because i think he did a lot for this country. >> can you name one thing? >> he fought in the spanish-american war. >> what questions do you have about him? >> did he believe in god and jesus? >> thank you. >> yes, he was a devout christian. >> in fact, incorporating religion into edith's life, we talk about her religion and how it informed her life, she argued for applied christianity. she would urge her husband to think about how his policies affected the poor. she was a social gospel christian, taking care of the poor and being con

. >> mrs. taft led an effort to raise funds to create a memorial for victims of the titanic. but her greatest legacy was bringing thousands of japanese cherry blossom trees to the nation's capital. helen taft at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's original series, first lady's influence and image, examining the private and public lives of these women from martha washington to michelle obama sundays at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> next, "after words" features ralph nader discussing his book "return to sender: unanswered letters to the president, 2001-2015". he is interviewed by the founder of busboys and poets. it is about one hour. >> it's great to have you here, ralph nader. >> thank you. >> i'm honored to be able to interview you on this new book that you have which is "return to sender: unanswered letters to the president, 2001-2015". is that in homage to elvis presley? [laughter] >> it is a message of 103 letters that i sent to president bush and president obama from 2001 through 2015 with very few exceptions, not acknowledged and not answered. i thou

mrs. william howard taft went on one of those lesser tour than mrs.arrison, but a tour of the storage rooms that bill allman was talking about, and she saw those dirty old trunks, as she said. so she had the silver taken out and put in drawers, and like anyone does at home today, and had the trunks thrown away and the silver decimated and just -- would begin to go out with the garbage. a lot of it remains, but, you know, you began to lose it, if you can't count it. susan swain: edi looks pained at the thought. edith mayo: yeah, that is painful. sort of like the decayed furnishings they also found at the white house for years and years, all these things that were thought to be out of date were sold at auction. they had huge auctions. and, you know, all of this marvelous stuff sort of migrated out of the white house. susan swain: sam is watching us in cherry hill, new jersey, that is. and you're on, sam. sam: hello, there. now, i had a question about mrs. harrison's ill health. so, first, let me begin by saying i am a huge caroline harrison fan. i have

and this was a very, taft was captured in a very early color process. mr. mashon: between the roosevelts, there is a regrettably small number of films. it's striking that these two roosevelts, both had sort of same approach to the media. of course, by the time franklin roosevelt takes office, radio is part of everyday american life and with his fireside chats, he takes advantage of that. but he was a very visually savvy president as well. he welcomed newsreel cameras. he welcomed people shooting film of his activities. obviously, he did not want people to see him in a wheelchair. he did manage that, but there is just a lot of film on franklin roosevelt in the same way that there was with theodore roosevelt, but in between the two, just not. i don't think that those presidents for whatever reason felt that it was important to manage their presence in that way. one of my favorite films that we have in the collection is what we believe to be the very first political ad. it comes from 1912. and this is a race in which william howard taft is a republican candida

mr. cooper: cary grayson was a navy doctor. he had made that his career after he finished med school and he'd been assigned to the white house first under the taft administration. and then shortly, well, taft introduced him -- introduced him to his successor wilson and then pretty soon after the inauguration was and it was wilson's -- ms. miller: that was during the inauguration. mr. cooper: ok. it was wilson's sister fell down -- ms. swain: right. mr. cooper: -- and grayson treated her and did a good job and also he was a very charming man and a virginian, too, which helped, you know, with the wilsons. yes. ms. swain: and his role with the president's medical condition after the stroke was what? mr. cooper: he was the white house physician. i mean, he is the one who treats him. that was his -- i'd say that was just everything he did was that. they called in various consultant specialists but grayson is the one that's really treating wilson. ms. swain: now, you told us that the president was paralyzed but what was the extent of the -- of his condition? how badly had the stroke affected him? ms. miller: he had a blockage in an artery leading to h

the president who appointed the former president taft as chief justice of the united states, so just a few of the things. i'm wondering ultimately about mr. hardings reputation. one viewer on facebook asked whether or not he was the most corrupt president in history. and if i can find it pretty quickly here, there were others that suggest that he doesn't get his due for some of the things that happened during his administration. where would you put him in that? david pietrusza: i don't think he's corrupt at all. i -- that's a canard. that's just not true. i mean, there are people under him. there are the bad appointments that you've alluded to, but there are scandals under truman with mink coats and deep freezes. there is sherman adams under dwight eisenhower. there are scandals under lyndon johnson. there are scandals of a much more recent vintage. they are not necessarily connected to the man in charge. they are unfortunate. they do not prove their corruption and it's unfair to tar them with that in some cases. kathrine sibley: absolutely. david pietrusza: but the -- and certainly in harding's, i would -- i would criticize him for bein