CSPAN2 — The Presidency First Lady Bess Truman
20260816 012900 UTC
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[00:01:20] CLIFTON TRUMAN. DANIEL IS THE OLDEST GRANDSON OF
[00:01:22] PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN AND WIFE BESS.
[00:01:26] HE IS THE SON OF AUTHOR MARGARET
[00:01:30] TRUMAN AND FORMER NEW YORK TIMES MANAGING DIRECTOR AND MANAGING
[00:01:34] EDITOR CLIFTON DANIEL JR.
[00:01:36] MR. DANIEL IS HONORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE TRUMAN
[00:01:39] LIBRARY INSTITUTE, NONPROFIT PARTNER OF THE TRUMAN
[00:01:43] PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, AND
[00:01:46] BOARD SECRETARY OF THE HARRY TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION.
[00:01:50] HE WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER AND CURRENTLY SERVES AS VICE
[00:01:52] PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF PRESIDENTIAL DESCENDANTS.
[00:01:56] HE'S THE AUTHOR OF GROWING UP WITH MY GRANDFATHER MEMORIES OF
[00:02:00] HARRY S TRUMAN AND DEAR HARRY LOVED BESS.
[00:02:03] BESS TRUMAN'S LETTERS TO HARRY
[00:02:08] TRUMAN, 1919 TO 1943. CLIFTON TRUMAN. DANIEL IS CURRENTLY PORTRAYING
[00:02:11] HIS GRANDFATHER IN THE ONE MAN STAGE SHOW GIVE EM HELL, HARRY.
[00:02:15] AS WELL AS WRITING AND LECTURING
[00:02:17] ON THE TRUMAN PRESIDENCY.
[00:02:20] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CLIFTON
[00:02:23] TRUMAN, DANIEL.
[00:02:26] IT IS MY PLEASURE NOW TO INTRODUCE ANITA MCBRIDE.
[00:02:30] MS. MCBRIDE IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERT ON FIRST
[00:02:33] LADIES AND THE OPERA OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
[00:02:36] SHE DIRECTS THE LEGACIES OF AMERICA'S FIRST LADIES
[00:02:38] INITIATIVE AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL
[00:02:42] STUDIES. IN THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
[00:02:45] HER WHITE HOUSE EXPERIENCE SPANS TWO DECADES AND THREE
[00:02:49] ADMINISTRATIONS, INCLUDING AS
[00:02:51] ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH AND CHIEF OF STAFF TO FIRST
[00:02:54] LADY LAURA BUSH. SHE IS THE COAUTHOR OF THREE
[00:02:57] BOOKS ON THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE FIRST LADY AND THEIR
[00:03:01] HISTORICAL INFLUENCE ON THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY, INCLUDING A
[00:03:05] FIRST OF ITS KIND COLLEGE TEXTBOOK, AN ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOK.
[00:03:09] SHE IS A FREQUENT SPEAKER AND MEDIA COMMENTATOR ON WHITE HOUSE
[00:03:12] HISTORY AND PRESIDENT YIELD TRANSITIONS.
[00:03:14] SHE IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED AND PHILIP AND PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS
[00:03:18] NATIONALLY AND GLOBALLY SUPPORTING WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP,
[00:03:22] THE ARTS, CULTURAL HERITAGE,
[00:03:24] HISTORIC PRESERVATION, VETERANS
[00:03:27] WELLNESS AND CIVIC EDUCATION.
[00:03:30] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MS.
[00:03:32] ANITA MCBRIDE.
[00:03:38] AND OUR PROGRAM TONIGHT IS MODERATOR ED BY DR. KURT GRAHAM,
[00:03:42] PRESIDENT OF THE ADAMS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, AND QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.
[00:03:46] DR. GRAHAM WAS THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE HARRY TRUMAN
[00:03:50] PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI.
[00:03:54] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DR. KURT GRAHAM. AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
[00:03:58] REMEMBER THE BOSS, BESS TRUMAN.
[00:04:05] OUT. IT'S GREAT. WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[00:04:09] CLINTON IT'S WONDERFUL TO BE HERE IN KEY WEST. AND WE APPRECIATE OUR AUDIENCE
[00:04:13] HERE ON THE GROUNDS OF THE TRUMAN LITTLE WHITE HOUSE AND
[00:04:16] THE AUDIENCE JOINING US ON THE THROUGH THE C-SPAN BROADCAST.
[00:04:20] SO WE'RE VERY, VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOU TUNING IN AND
[00:04:23] LEARNING MORE ABOUT AN IMPORTANT TOPIC AND AN IMPORTANT PERSON.
[00:04:26] SO THANK YOU FOR THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
[00:04:28] AND THANK YOU, CLIFTON AND ANITA. IT'S A PLEASURE TO SHARE THE
[00:04:32] STAGE WITH BOTH OF YOU AND AND I KNOW WE'LL HAVE A GREAT
[00:04:36] CONVERSATION HERE. I WANTED TO START ANITA TALKING
[00:04:39] A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHERE WE ARE
[00:04:41] NOW WITH AMERICA. 250.
[00:04:43] I MEAN, WE ARE CELEBRATING THIS
[00:04:45] WONDERFUL ANNIVERSARY, 250 YEARS AS A NATION.
[00:04:49] AND WE DID A PROGRAM. WE'VE DONE A COUPLE OF PROGRAMS
[00:04:52] WITH SOME OF YOUR COAUTHORS OF YOUR BOOK, REMEMBERING THE FIRST
[00:04:55] LADIES ARE HERE TONIGHT WITH US.
[00:04:58] AND IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE WE THINK ABOUT WE'VE GOT TO GO
[00:05:02] CELEBRATE OUR HISTORY. WE'VE GOT TO THINK ABOUT THE PRESIDENCY, HOW IT'S EVOLVED.
[00:05:05] BUT YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES HAVE REALLY TURNED A LIGHT, A SPOTLIGHT ON THE FIRST LADIES
[00:05:09] AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT ROLE.
[00:05:11] SO BEFORE WE GET INTO TALKING ANYTHING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT
[00:05:14] BESS, I WONDER IF YOU COULD TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES CAME TO
[00:05:17] THINK THAT SPECIFICALLY FOR
[00:05:20] AMERICA TO KNOW THAT FOCUSING ON FIRST LADIES WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT STEP, I'M SURE.
[00:05:24] BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND I'M EXCITED TO BE BACK HERE
[00:05:28] 24 HOURS LATER, AFTER WE HAD SUCH A GREAT PROGRAM LAST NIGHT.
[00:05:32] AND LOOK AT THIS FANTASTIC BACKDROP BEHIND US WITH THE
[00:05:36] AMERICAN FLAG. IT'S JUST SO INSPIRING. AND PERFECT NIGHT TO BE TALKING
[00:05:40] ABOUT AMERICA. 250 AND WHERE WE HAVE COME SO
[00:05:44] FAR AS A NATION, BUT WE'RE STILL
[00:05:46] A VERY YOUNG NATION AND I THINK
[00:05:48] OUR ASPIRATIONS FOR OUR FUTURE,
[00:05:50] WE ARE ALWAYS IN PURSUIT OF A BETTER UNION.
[00:05:54] AND IT'S AN OBLIGATION, I THINK, FOR ALL OF US TO UNDERSTAND OUR
[00:05:58] HISTORY, PEEL BACK THE LAYERS OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT OUR OWN
[00:06:01] EXPERIENCE IN HISTORY. LIKE YOU AS A DESCENDANT OF A
[00:06:05] PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY. AND I THINK FOR US AS THE
[00:06:09] COAUTHORS OF REMEMBER THE FIRST LADIES AND THEN ALSO OF THE
[00:06:12] TEXTBOOK U.S. FIRST LADIES MAKING HISTORY AND LEAVING
[00:06:14] LEGACIES, WE KNEW WE WERE
[00:06:17] FILLING A GAP IN ACADEMIC LITERATURE FOR SURE.
[00:06:21] FOR THIS TO BE THE FIRST TEXTBOOK TALKING ABOUT FIRST
[00:06:25] LADIES IN 2023 IS QUITE A STATEMENT. THERE.
[00:06:28] AND I THINK THAT UNDERSCORES A POINT IF WE REALLY WANT TO TALK
[00:06:33] ABOUT OUR INCLUSIVE HISTORY IN OUR COUNTRY, HOW COULD WE NOT
[00:06:35] INCLUDE THE CONTRIBUTION WORDS
[00:06:38] AND THE STORIES OF THESE WOMEN WHO REALLY DID MAKE SUCH A
[00:06:42] DIFFERENCE IN THE FOUNDING OF
[00:06:44] THE NATION AND ALSO ITS PROGRESS?
[00:06:46] SO WE'RE REALLY THRILLED WITH
[00:06:49] THE RESPONSE TO THE TEXTBOOK. WE ARE TRAVELING TO UNIVERSITIES
[00:06:53] ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, SMALL AND
[00:06:55] MEDIUM SIZED SCHOOLS, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC, AND WE USUALLY GET
[00:06:59] THE SAME RESPONSE. WHY DID WE NEVER LEARN THIS BEFORE?
[00:07:03] AND THE FACT IS, YOU KNOW THAT
[00:07:07] THEY HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN THEIR DUE.
[00:07:09] THE FIRST LADIES HAVEN'T, BUT THEY ARE NOW. THERE'S A GROWING INTEREST IN
[00:07:14] THEM, A GROWING BODY OF SCHOLARS
[00:07:16] SHIP A LOT OF PUBLIC ATTENTION
[00:07:20] THROUGH TELEVISION SHOWS AND AND
[00:07:22] OTHER, YOU KNOW, POPULAR CULTURE AND THEN THROUGH THE FIRST
[00:07:25] LADIES THEMSELVES, WHICH ARE USING, YOU KNOW, A GREAT DEAL OF
[00:07:29] SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET THEIR STORY
[00:07:31] OUT THEIR WAY. YEAH, WELL, THAT'S THAT'S FANTASTIC.
[00:07:35] I WONDER IF YOU COULD OPINE JUST A LITTLE BIT ON HOW YOU AND YOUR
[00:07:39] COLLEAGUES CAME OR WHAT YOU MAKE OF THIS IDEA THAT THE FIRST
[00:07:43] LADIES HAVE BEEN SO
[00:07:44] MISREPRESENTED, UNREPRESENTED IN
[00:07:47] OUR HISTORY AND WHY WHY IS THIS
[00:07:49] THE MOMENT THAT THAT SHOULD AND BECAUSE WE COULD ARGUE THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED 50 YEARS
[00:07:53] AGO. BUT IT WHEN SOCIAL HISTORY WAS ALL THE RAGE BUT IT IT REALLY
[00:07:56] HASN'T AND SO WHAT WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS HELD IT BACK? WELL, I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE
[00:07:59] THINGS MY COAUTHOR, DIANA CARLIN, TALKS A LOT ABOUT AS A
[00:08:05] PROFESSOR, THAT SHE HAD BEEN A PROFESSOR. SHE HAD BEEN ALWAYS HAD TO
[00:08:09] COBBLE TOGETHER MATERIAL ABOUT FIRST LADIES TO INTRODUCE THIS
[00:08:13] TOPIC TO TO HER STUDENTS.
[00:08:16] SO REALLY RECOGNIZED THAT THAT THIS WAS MISSING.
[00:08:20] NANCY, OF COURSE, IS SPENDING THE YEARS THAT SHE DID AT THE
[00:08:23] ARCHIVES AND REALLY WAS ONE OF THE PROPONENTS FOR FIRST LADY'S
[00:08:26] RECORDS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE
[00:08:30] PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT REALLY DIDN'T EVEN HAPPEN UNTIL 1980.
[00:08:34] SO THERE HAVE AND PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN INTERESTED IN THIS, AND
[00:08:37] WE'RE NOW, YOU KNOW, AT AT A POINT WHERE WE'RE DIANA WAS
[00:08:42] ACTUALLY APPROACHED BY AN ACADEMIC PUBLISHER WHO SHE HAD
[00:08:45] WORKED WITH BEFORE OR THAT ASKED HER IF SHE WAS INTERESTED IN
[00:08:49] WRITING ANOTHER TEXTBOOK. AND SHE SAID, WELL, THIS IS ONE
[00:08:51] THAT IS REALLY MISSING IN LITERATURE. AND SHE HAD THE PEOPLE SHE
[00:08:55] WANTED TO DO IT WITH. AND LUCKILY THAT WAS ME AND
[00:08:59] NANCY. AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO STEP UP
[00:09:01] TO THE PLATE AND REALLY DO THIS. BUT I THINK THERE ARE BUT THERE
[00:09:05] ALSO WAS LET'S GO BACK AND GIVE DUE TO ONE PERSON WHO REALLY IS
[00:09:09] THE GODFATHER OF FIRST LADY'S STUDIES.
[00:09:12] AND I SAID GODFATHER WAS A MAN, PROFESSOR LOUIS GOULD AT THE
[00:09:16] UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN,
[00:09:19] WHO WAS THE FIRST TO REALLY INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT THAT THE
[00:09:24] FIRST LADIES AND THEIR SUBSTANTIVE CONTRIBUTIONS WERE
[00:09:28] OR WORTHY OF STUDY, WORTHY OF
[00:09:30] RESPECT FOR THEIR THEIR INPUT
[00:09:33] AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE COUNTRY. SO HE REALLY WAS LAUNCHED THIS
[00:09:37] AND LAUNCHED A WHOLE SERIES OF
[00:09:40] HIS STUDENTS THAT LATER BECAME
[00:09:42] AUTHORS OF BOOKS ABOUT DIFFERENT FIRST LADIES.
[00:09:45] YOU KNOW, HIS WELL, YOU KNOW,
[00:09:47] IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU ARE
[00:09:50] THE CO-CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL
[00:09:54] AMERICA 250 COMMISSION, RIGHT? THE INITIATIVE ON THE GOVERNMENT
[00:09:57] AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICA 250 COMMISSION.
[00:10:01] BUT I'M CO-CHAIR OF A PROJECT THAT IS SEPARATE BUT SUPPORTING
[00:10:04] 250, WHICH IS CALLED IN PURSUIT. SO I WANTED YOU TO TALK A LITTLE
[00:10:07] BIT ABOUT THE FACT BECAUSE WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH THAT IS TO
[00:10:11] WRITE AN ESSAY OR YOU HAVE SEVERAL AUTHORS WRITING ESSAYS
[00:10:13] ABOUT EVERY PRESIDENT, BUT ALSO EVERY FIRST LADY, AND THEY'LL
[00:10:17] ALL BE PUBLISHED TOGETHER. YEAH, THERE WILL BE THE MAJORITY
[00:10:21] OF FIRST LADIES, BUT NOT EVERY FIRST LADY. BUT YES, EVERY PRESIDENT FROM
[00:10:23] PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TO TO
[00:10:27] PRESIDENT OBAMA. WE DIDN'T DO THE TWO MOST RECENT PRESIDENTS.
[00:10:32] PRESIDENT BIDEN AND AND PRESIDENT TRUMP, BECAUSE HISTORY
[00:10:35] REALLY HAS NOT NOT ENOUGH HISTORY. AND TIME HAS PASSED YET ON THAT.
[00:10:39] BUT THIS IS A NATIONAL CIVIC EDUCATION PROJECT THAT WE'RE
[00:10:43] REALLY EXCITED ABOUT. IT'S AN INITIATIVE OF A A
[00:10:47] BROADER PROJECT CALLED AN
[00:10:49] INSTITUTION CALLED MORE PERFECT AND IN PURSUIT IS THE NAME OF
[00:10:53] THIS INITIATIVE IS THAT, AGAIN,
[00:10:56] AS I SAID, IS A CIVIC EDUCATION. WE WANT TO DRAW ON LESSONS OF
[00:11:00] WISDOM FROM OUR PRESIDENT, FROM
[00:11:02] OUR PRESIDENTS AND IN A SELECT
[00:11:05] GROUP OF FIRST LADIES AND AND
[00:11:08] REALLY, WHAT WE HAVE INSTRUCTED
[00:11:10] OUR AUTHORS TO DO AND THESE ARE PROMINENT PEOPLE.
[00:11:14] THESE ARE FORMER PRESIDENTS. PRESIDENT BUSH IS WRITING ABOUT PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, GEORGE
[00:11:18] WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OBAMA IS
[00:11:20] WRITING ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN. PRESIDENT CLINTON IS WRITING
[00:11:24] ABOUT TEDDY ROOSEVELT. LAURA BUSH IS WRITING ABOUT LADY
[00:11:27] BIRD JOHNSON, ONE OF HER FAVORITE FIRST LADIES, OTHER THAN HER MOTHER IN LAW, MICHELLE
[00:11:32] OBAMA'S WRITING ABOUT JACKIE KENNEDY AND HILLARY CLINTON WILL
[00:11:35] COME AS NO SURPRISE TO YOU AS WRITING ABOUT ELEANOR ROOSEVELT.
[00:11:38] CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS IS WRITING ABOUT WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, THE
[00:11:41] ONLY PRESIDENT TO ACTUALLY SERVE AS A CHIEF JUSTICE AS WELL.
[00:11:45] AND THEN OTHER OTHER SCHOLARS,
[00:11:47] JOURNALISTS, AUTHORS, NANCY AND
[00:11:49] DIANA ARE BOTH WRITING ABOUT FIRST LADIES.
[00:11:52] I'M WRITING ABOUT ONE. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER AS WELL.
[00:11:56] BUT THESE ESSAYS THAT WE ASK THEM TO DO ARE VERY SHORT.
[00:12:00] 1200 WORDS. WE WANT IT TO BE DIGESTIBLE BY
[00:12:05] ALL AGES AND TO DRAW ONE LESSON,
[00:12:08] ONE NUGGET COULD BE A SUCCESS, COULD BE A FAILURE.
[00:12:11] BUT HOW THEIR PRESIDENCY OR
[00:12:14] THEIR FIRST LADYSHIP CONTRIBUTED
[00:12:16] TO THE NATION AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION.
[00:12:19] IT'S REALLY EXCITING. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER ON
[00:12:23] AN OCTOBER OR SEPTEMBER CONSTITUTION DAY AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY.
[00:12:26] IT WILL BE LAUNCHED ON PRESIDENTS DAY IN LESS THAN A
[00:12:29] MONTH FROM NOW AT THE NEW YORK
[00:12:31] HISTORICAL SOCIETY WITH THE FIRST ESSAY, WHICH WILL BE
[00:12:34] GEORGE BUSH'S ESSAY ON GEORGE WASHINGTON.
[00:12:37] WE'RE WORKING WITH OTHER INSTITUTIONS, I.E. CIVICS AND
[00:12:41] ALSO THE. CONSTITUTION, NATIONAL
[00:12:46] CONSTITUTION, SAYS CENTER TO
[00:12:49] DEVELOP LESSONS AND PROGRAMS FOR
[00:12:51] STUDENTS AS WELL AT DIFFERENT AGENTS.
[00:12:55] AGAIN IS WE WANT THIS TO BE DIGESTIBLE AND TO BE
[00:12:58] UNDERSTANDABLE AND TO BE UTILIZED BY ALL AGES.
[00:13:02] AND THE ESSAYS WILL LIVE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON
[00:13:05] SUBSTACK A CURRENT, YOU KNOW, A NEW MEDIUM TO GET TO GET
[00:13:10] INFORMATION. BUT C-SPAN WILL BE A PARTNER
[00:13:12] WITH US AS WELL.
[00:13:14] SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. WE WANT THESE STORIES TO
[00:13:19] CONTRIBUTE TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATION AND FOR PEOPLE TO
[00:13:21] REALLY DRAW LESSONS FROM WHAT OUR PRESENCE AND FIRST LADIES
[00:13:25] HAVE DONE THROUGHOUT HISTORY. IT'S A STAR STUDDED LINEUP, AND
[00:13:28] I'M REALLY PLEASED TO LEARN OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE WRITING ABOUT
[00:13:31] WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT. I MEAN, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FIRST
[00:13:35] LADIES BEING OVERLOOKED, I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT TAFT WAS A PRESIDENT WHO WAS OVERLOOKED,
[00:13:38] THAT HE REALLY WAS A VERY SUBSTANTIVE FELLOW.
[00:13:43] AND ROBERTS BELIEVES THAT, TOO. YES, IT'S VERY HAPPY TO PROUDLY. I'M SURE.
[00:13:47] I'M SURE HE DOES. BECAUSE IN TAFT, TOO, AS A JURIST, WAS AND WAS MAYBE EVEN
[00:13:50] MORE IMPORTANT THAN HE WAS AS A PRESIDENT. BUT THAT'S A VERY INTERESTING.
[00:13:54] WELL, I'M GOING TO LEAVE THE AUDIENCE IN SUSPENSE FOR A MINUTE TO THINK ABOUT TWO
[00:13:58] GUESTS, WHICH FIRSTLY, LADY,
[00:14:00] THAT YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT IN THE
[00:14:02] IN PURSUIT PROGRAM. BUT I WILL PIVOT FOR JUST A
[00:14:05] MOMENT AND SAY ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS REALLY HELPFUL WHEN IT
[00:14:11] COMES TO WRITING ABOUT A PRESIDENT OR A FIRST LADY IS A
[00:14:14] PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY.
[00:14:16] AND I HAVE COME IN, MICHAEL, HERE, HAVING WORKED AT SEVERAL
[00:14:19] BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER FOR MULTIPLE
[00:14:23] PRESIDENTIAL LEGACIES TO REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT THE FAMILY
[00:14:29] CONTRIBUTION AND TO THAT LEGACY IS, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T JUST END
[00:14:32] WITH THE PRESIDENT, THE FAMILY CARRIES THAT ON. I MEAN, AS YOU KNOW, CLIFTON
[00:14:36] DOES THIS FABULOUS PLAY. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, YOU NEED TO SEE IT. GIVE HIM HELL, HARRY.
[00:14:41] RIGHT HERE ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND MANY OTHER VENUES AROUND THE COUNTRY WHERE
[00:14:45] HE ACTS, IMPERSONATES HIS GRANDFATHER.
[00:14:48] AND IT IS IT IS FUNNY.
[00:14:50] IT IS THOUGHTFUL. IT IS IT'S WITTY.
[00:14:53] IT'S ENTERTAINING, BUT IT'S VERY SUBSTANTIVE.
[00:14:55] IT'S VERY REAL. YOU CAN LEARN A LOT ABOUT HARRY TRUMAN AS PORTRAYED BY HIS
[00:14:59] GRANDSON. SO, CLIFTON, LET ME JUST ASK YOU
[00:15:03] TO KICK US OFF HERE A LITTLE BIT WITH YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SCHOLARS
[00:15:05] WHO WRITE BOOKS ABOUT TRUMAN AND THESE LADIES WRITING ABOUT BESS.
[00:15:11] BUT FOR YOU, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
[00:15:13] MEMORIES OF GRANDMA AND GRANDPA. YEAH. AND I WHEN ANITA WAS TALKING,
[00:15:17] ALL I COULD THINK WAS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER MUST HAVE MADE IT
[00:15:21] VERY HARD TO RESEARCH HER LIFE.
[00:15:27] YOU KNOW, DURING. DURING THEIR. DURING THEIR MARRIAGE, MY
[00:15:31] GRANDPARENTS WROTE, WELL, THE
[00:15:33] TRUMAN LIBRARY HAS.
[00:15:37] 1362 LETTERS THAT MY GRANDFATHER WROTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER OVER THE
[00:15:42] YEARS, WE OWN 184 OF HERS BACK.
[00:15:45] AND THAT'S BECAUSE HE CAME HOME
[00:15:47] ONE DAY IN THE AFTERNOON NEAR CHRISTMAS IN 1955, I THINK IT WAS.
[00:15:52] AND HE FOUND HER IN FRONT OF THE
[00:15:53] FIRE BURNING STACKS OF HER
[00:15:56] LETTERS TO HIM AND HE STOPPED
[00:15:59] HER AND HE SAID, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
[00:16:01] DON'T YOU DON'T DO THAT. THINK OF HISTORY. AND SHE SMILED AND SAID, OH, I
[00:16:08] HAVE. WHEN WHEN SHE BECAME FIRST LADY
[00:16:12] ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HAD BEEN HAD BEEN GIVING THESE PRESS
[00:16:16] CONFERENCES AS WEEKLY BIWEEKLY.
[00:16:18] AND MY GRANDMOTHER CUT THAT ALL
[00:16:20] OUT AND CUT IT OUT COMPLETELY AND ISSUED A VERY SUCCINCT
[00:16:25] BIOGRAPHY AND SAID THAT SHE WOULD APPRECIATE ALL QUESTIONS
[00:16:28] IN FUTURE BE PUT IN WRITING. AND TO ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THOSE
[00:16:31] QUESTIONS, SHE ANSWERED, NO COMMENT.
[00:16:35] SHE DIDN'T ANSWER ONE. I HEARD IT THE YEAR SHE WAS MARRIED.
[00:16:39] WELL. OH, GOOD. WELL, AT LEAST THEY GOT ONE BIT OF INFORMATION OUT OF HER.
[00:16:42] BUT SHE WAS, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS.
[00:16:45] AND WE TALKED A BIT ABOUT THIS INSIDE BEFORE, DESPITE BEING
[00:16:51] COMPLETELY WOUND UP IN MY GRANDFATHER'S POLITICAL CAREER,
[00:16:53] SHE WAS AS POLITICALLY ASTUTE AS HE WAS.
[00:16:56] SHE READ SPEECHES, SHE CRITIQUED
[00:16:58] SHE SHE KNEW WHO WAS WHO AND WHERE IT WAS.
[00:17:01] SHE KNEW WHERE THE BODIES WERE BURIED. BUT SHE SAID IN PUBLIC THAT THE
[00:17:05] JOB OF A FIRST LADY OR A
[00:17:09] POLITICIAN, HIS WIFE, IS TO SIT NEXT TO HER HUSBAND, KEEP HER
[00:17:11] MOUTH SHUT AND MAKE SURE HATS ON
[00:17:15] STRAIGHT, WHICH SHE SHE DID IN
[00:17:17] PUBLIC BUT DID NOT DO IN PRIVATE.
[00:17:22] SO WELL. I'VE HELD THE AUDIENCE IN SUSPENSE LONG ENOUGH TO SPOILER ALERT.
[00:17:25] WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU, ANITA, WHY IS IT THAT YOU WERE DRAWN TO
[00:17:29] BESS TRUMAN AS YOUR CONTRIBUTION
[00:17:31] TO THIS IN PURSUIT PUBLICATION, WHICH AGAIN, I MEAN, THINK OF
[00:17:34] THE HEAVYWEIGHTS THAT ARE COMING IN NOT JUST AS SUBJECTS, BUT AS
[00:17:37] AUTHORS IN THIS EFFORT. AND YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO
[00:17:41] BASICALLY HAVE YOUR PICK. AND YOU CHOSE BESS. SO I'LL START BY SAYING I WANT
[00:17:45] TO MAKE ONE CORRECTION TO SOMETHING I SAID BEFORE ABOUT ONE OF OUR PARTNERS FOR THE
[00:17:49] ESSAYS, FOR COMPILING THE ESSAYS
[00:17:52] FOR CHILDREN'S CURRICULUM. IT'S NOT THE NATIONAL
[00:17:54] CONSTITUTION CENTER, IT'S THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE. SO JUST CORRECTING THAT.
[00:17:58] BUT FOR IT TO YOUR QUESTION, WHY
[00:18:00] DID I PICK BESS TRUMAN?
[00:18:04] AND I WAS SO FASCINATED WHAT I
[00:18:06] LEARNED ABOUT HER IN RESEARCHING
[00:18:08] OUR BOOK ON REMEMBER THE FIRST
[00:18:12] LADIES AND U.S. FIRST LADIES MAKING HISTORY AND LEAVING LEGACIES.
[00:18:15] AND I LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT HOW MUCH SHE DID.
[00:18:18] AND I WAS FASCINATED BY THE
[00:18:21] FACT, TOO, THAT BY ALL ACCOUNTS, TODAY'S STANDARDS, BESS TRUMAN
[00:18:24] WAS A TOMBOY. THIS WAS A WOMAN WHO WAS REALLY
[00:18:28] AN ATHLETIC FIGURE, VERY SPORTY.
[00:18:31] SHE WAS A CAPTAIN OF HER TENNIS
[00:18:33] TEAM IN HIGH SCHOOL. SHE WAS A HORSEBACK RIDER. SHE PLAYED BASEBALL, NOT
[00:18:37] SOFTBALL. BASEBALL AND WAS A LIFELONG
[00:18:41] LOVER OF BASEBALL. I THOUGHT, THIS IS IT. THIS IS A NUANCE ABOUT THIS
[00:18:45] WOMAN THAT PEOPLE DON'T KNOW.
[00:18:47] AND AND THEN I WAS ALSO
[00:18:50] FASCINATED WITH HOW INVOLVED SHE
[00:18:53] WAS WITH THE PROTECTION OF THE
[00:18:55] WHITE HOUSE WHEN THERE WAS THE
[00:18:57] MAJOR AND THE WAIT FOR THAT TO
[00:19:02] PASS.
[00:19:15] ALSO IN THE RENOVATION AND, OF COURSE, OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND
[00:19:19] HOW INVOLVED SHE WAS IN THAT. THE OTHER THING THAT REALLY
[00:19:23] FASCINATED ME ABOUT HER IS HOW
[00:19:26] SKILLED SHE WAS AT POLITICS AND POLITICAL.
[00:19:29] NOT ONLY THE POLITICAL PROCESS, BUT PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS, TOO.
[00:19:33] AND THAT WAS FROM HER YEARS OF A
[00:19:37] SENATE STAFFER TO HER HUSBAND
[00:19:39] WHEN HARRY TRUMAN SERVED IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
[00:19:42] BUT EVEN DATING BACK BEFORE THAT, WHEN HE WAS AN ELECTED
[00:19:46] OFFICIAL IN MISSOURI CALLED A JUDGE. BUT IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A COUNTY
[00:19:50] SUPERVISOR HER AND HOW SHE KNEW EVERYTHING, HOW SHE TRAVELED THAT DISTRICT.
[00:19:54] SHE KNEW THE CONSTITUENTS. SHE KNEW WHAT THE ISSUES WERE.
[00:19:57] AND AND I THOUGHT THIS IS A
[00:20:01] FASCINATING FIGURE IN AMERICAN HISTORY OF HOW MUCH THIS ISSUE,
[00:20:04] HOW SHE USED THAT KNOWLEDGE TO
[00:20:06] HELP HER HUSBAND, BUT DID NOT
[00:20:08] WANT ANY PUBLIC NOTORIETY FOR IT.
[00:20:11] AND I ALSO FELT, YOU KNOW, WHICH WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND HERE IS A
[00:20:15] WOMAN THAT FOLLOWED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT.
[00:20:19] HOW DIFFICULT MIGHT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN?
[00:20:22] 12 YEARS OF THE MOST ACTIVIST FIRST LADY WHO WAS GOING DOWN
[00:20:26] INTO COAL MINES AND CERTAINLY BESS TRUMAN DID NOT WANT TO DO THAT.
[00:20:29] SO BUT SHE WAS HER OWN PERSON.
[00:20:30] AND I REALLY LEARNED THAT FROM MY RESEARCH.
[00:20:33] AND I WAS FASCINATED ABOUT HER. AND I CHOSE BESS TRUMAN TO WRITE
[00:20:37] ABOUT FOUR IN PURSUIT SHE MAY HAVE BEEN THINKING WITH WHEN IT COMES TO MRS. ROOSEVELT, SHE MAY
[00:20:41] HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT. AND I DON'T KNOW IF THE STORY IS APOCRYPHAL, BUT MRS. ROOSEVELT
[00:20:45] DID DO A LOT.
[00:20:49] SHE ALSO GOT HERSELF INTO TROUBLE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE
[00:20:51] AND AN AIDE CAME TO THE
[00:20:53] PRESIDENT ONE DAY, APPARENTLY,
[00:20:55] AND SAID TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT,
[00:20:58] SIR, SIR, MRS. ROOSEVELT HAS BEEN ARRESTED.
[00:21:00] AND THE PRESIDENT SAID, WELL,
[00:21:02] I'M NOT SURPRISED, BUT WHAT FOR.
[00:21:05] MY GRANDMOTHER PROBABLY DIDN'T WANT TO GO IN THAT DIRECTION.
[00:21:09] NO, FIRST LADIES DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO BE A DISTRACTION.
[00:21:12] THEY WANT TO BE VALUED AT IT. THAT IS DEFINITELY A DISTRACTION.
[00:21:16] WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT BESS TRUMAN IN HER ROLE AND AS YOU'VE ALL
[00:21:20] YOU'VE BOTH SORT OF ALLUDED TO, HER POLITICAL ACUMEN AND OTHER
[00:21:24] THINGS. TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HER, HER
[00:21:28] NEED, HER YEARNING FOR PRIVACY
[00:21:31] VERSUS A RELUCTANCE TO BE A PARTICIPANT.
[00:21:34] I THINK THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE. TRUE.
[00:21:37] AND THAT'S EXACTLY THAT. SHE SHE WAS A VERY PRIVATE PERSON.
[00:21:40] THE STORY ABOUT THE LETTERS BEING A GOOD EXAMPLE, SHE BURNED
[00:21:44] THOSE LETTERS BECAUSE SHE WANTED
[00:21:46] TO KEEP HER LIFE TO HERSELF AND TO HER FAMILY AND TO HER CLOSE
[00:21:51] FRIENDS. BUT SHE SHE WASN'T A RELUCTANT
[00:21:55] POLITICIANS WIFE AT ALL. SHE WAS AS ANITA SAID, SHE WAS
[00:21:58] VERY INVOLVED. SHE AND MY GRANDMOTHER, MY
[00:22:02] GRANDFATHER BOTH SAID THAT THE BEST TEN YEARS OF HIS CAREER,
[00:22:05] THEIR CAREER TOGETHER, WAS THE TEN YEARS IN THE SENATE WHEN SHE COULD BE INVOLVED IN A LOT OF
[00:22:09] THINGS. SHE LOVED WASHINGTON, D.C. SHE LIKED BEING THERE.
[00:22:13] AND WE TALKED ABOUT THIS EARLIER. I'VE ACTUALLY HEARD THE STORY.
[00:22:15] AND I IT'S A FAMILY STORY. I DON'T REMEMBER WHERE I GOT IT, BUT WHEN HE RETIRED, WHEN HE WAS
[00:22:21] GETTING READY TO LEAVE OFFICE, SHE ACTUALLY SUGGESTED THAT THEY
[00:22:23] MIGHT RETIRE TO WASHINGTON.
[00:22:25] AND MY GRANDFATHER SAID, HELL
[00:22:29] NO, NOBODY WANTS A FORMER PRESIDENT HANGING AROUND WASHINGTON, DC AFTER HE LEAVES
[00:22:33] OFFICE. SO THEY WENT BACK TO INDEPENDENCE. BUT SHE REALLY DID, YOU KNOW,
[00:22:37] SHE HAD SHE UNDERSTOOD WHERE THE LINES WERE.
[00:22:40] SHE UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS FAMILY, WHAT WAS PRIVACY AND WHAT WAS PUBLIC DUTY.
[00:22:44] BUT SHE DIDN'T SHE DIDN'T HATE IT AT ALL.
[00:22:47] SO FRIENDS, I MEAN, A LOT OF FRIENDS, OTHER SENATE SPOUSES,
[00:22:50] THEY WERE -- INVOLVED IN THE SENATE.
[00:22:54] SPOUSE'S CLUB, A LOT OF VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES. I MEAN, SHE HAD A WONDERFUL
[00:22:58] BALANCE OF A PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE DURING THOSE SENATE YEARS.
[00:23:01] AND AND WAS, YOU KNOW, WORRIED
[00:23:03] ABOUT THAT CHANGE WHEN HE BECAME
[00:23:06] VICE PRESIDENT. BUT STILL, THEY MANAGED TO
[00:23:09] MAINTAIN OF COURSE, THEIR APARTMENT ON CONNECTICUT AVENUE
[00:23:12] NORTHWEST WASHINGTON AND AND SHE COULD STILL DRIVE HER HER CAR
[00:23:16] AND ON HER OWN. BUT THAT WAS SHORT LIVED, AS WE
[00:23:20] KNOW, BEFORE THEY WERE PROPELLED INTO THE BIGGEST FISHBOWL
[00:23:22] FISHBOWL THAT THERE IS. I THINK THAT'S THAT'S SO
[00:23:26] INTERESTING BECAUSE I ALWAYS HAD THE IMPRESSION FOR TRUMAN THAT
[00:23:29] THE BEST TEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE TO WHERE THOSE SENATE YEARS I
[00:23:33] MEAN, MARGARET WAS TEN WHEN HE WAS ELECTED. SHE WAS 20.
[00:23:37] WHEN HE GOES INTO THE VICE PRESIDENCY.
[00:23:39] AND AND YOU JUST GET THIS SENSE THAT THE THREE OF THEM JUST HAD
[00:23:43] A MARVELOUS LIFE, THAT DEPARTMENT AND CONNECTICUT AVENUE.
[00:23:46] HE HE LOVED THE SENATE.
[00:23:48] AND AND I AM PLEASED TO HEAR I
[00:23:51] KNEW LESS ABOUT BESS IN THAT ROLE, BUT THAT SHE ENJOYED THAT AS WELL.
[00:23:55] AND IT'S FUNNY TO THINK ABOUT. I'VE ALWAYS SAID THAT, YOU KNOW,
[00:23:57] HISTORY IS FULL OF EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE BEING THROWN OUT OF OFFICE.
[00:24:02] BUT IN 1944, WE GET A RARE GLIMPSE OF SOMEONE BEING THROWN
[00:24:04] INTO OFFICE. AND WITH HARRY TRUMAN, I THINK HE COMES KICKING AND SCREAMING
[00:24:08] TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY. AND THERE'S A STORY. AND I KNOW IF ONE OF YOU IS, MAYBE YOU CAN TELL IT BETTER
[00:24:13] THAN I THAT WHAT GOES ON IN THE
[00:24:15] 44 CONVENTION WHEN HARRY TRUMAN
[00:24:17] DRIVES TO CHICAGO FULLY INTENDING TO NOMINATE HIS FRIEND
[00:24:21] AND SENATE COLLEAGUE, JIMMY BURNS, TO BE THE NEXT VICE PRESIDENT BY THE TIME HE GETS
[00:24:25] THERE, FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR, AND A
[00:24:28] COUPLE OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFERENT IDEA, AND IT INVOLVES A MAJOR DISRUPTION TO THE TRUMAN
[00:24:33] LIFE COMPLETELY. AND I AND I ALWAYS WIND UP AND
[00:24:38] WE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS INSIDE,
[00:24:38] TOO, WHEN THE JOKE IS THAT THAT
[00:24:42] ASIDE FROM JIMMY BURNS, HE TRIED TO THROW EVERYBODY ELSE TO GET
[00:24:45] HIS HANDS ON IN FRONT OF THEM TO TO BE VICE PRESIDENT RATHER THAN
[00:24:49] DO IT HIMSELF. AND FINALLY, A BOB HANNIGAN,
[00:24:52] CHAIRMAN OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, CALLED
[00:24:55] PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND SAID, WE ARE HAVING A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH
[00:24:59] THIS TRUMAN GUY. HE'S JUST NOT HE'S NOT GETTING
[00:25:03] ON BOARD. AND ROOSEVELT SAID, HOLD THE
[00:25:06] PHONE OUT AND HANNIGAN DID SO GRANDPA COULD HEAR THE PRESIDENT
[00:25:10] SAY, WELL, JUST TELL HIM IF HE WANTS TO WRECK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR,
[00:25:14] THAT'S HIS BUSINESS. THAT'S THAT'S HIS RESPONSIBILITY.
[00:25:17] TO WHICH DAVID MCCULLOUGH AND PARDON ME, DAVID MCCULLOUGH
[00:25:21] WROTE THE GRANDFATHER'S RESPONSE
[00:25:23] TO HEARING THAT WAS SHEER.
[00:25:28] THERE WAS NO GETTING OUT OF IT. THEN.
[00:25:32] OH, YEAH. THE SIDE OF THAT CONVERSATION
[00:25:35] THAT WAS RECORDED WAS, WELL, MR. PRESIDENT.
[00:25:40] OH.
[00:25:44] THE. PROBLEM THAT.
[00:25:46] YEAH, THE THE DOWNSIDE, THE ONLY
[00:25:49] DOWNSIDE TO BEING IN KEY WEST IS IT'S A VERY POPULAR DESTINATION. SO THERE ARE A LOT OF PLANES
[00:25:52] COMING OVERHEAD.
[00:25:57] THAT WHAT WAS I GOING WITH THAT
[00:25:59] BEFORE THE.
[00:26:01] YES, YES. THE LAST WORD IS IT'S VERY IT'S
[00:26:05] REALLY THREW ME OFF THEIR CLIFF. AND SO SO WITH WITH HARRY TRUMAN
[00:26:08] BEING SORT OF FORCED INTO THIS, YOU KNOW, SORT OF PRESSED INTO
[00:26:13] SERVICE, MARGARET AND BESS, WHO HAD BEEN VACATIONING, COME JOIN
[00:26:16] HIM IN CHICAGO. AND THERE'S A PUSH OF THE MEDIA
[00:26:20] TO WHERE HARRY AND BESS GET. THERE'S SO MANY REPORTERS AND
[00:26:23] PEOPLE BETWEEN THEM THAT THEY END UP ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF A ROOM.
[00:26:27] JUST THERE'S JUST THE THRONG OF PEOPLE. IT'S JUST TOO MUCH.
[00:26:30] AND AND SHE TURNS TO HIM AND I AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS
[00:26:33] FROM MCCULLOUGH OR WHERE I GOT
[00:26:35] THIS, BUT AND SHE BASICALLY
[00:26:39] LOOKS AT HIM WITH DISAPPROVAL AND SAYS, IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? IS THIS HOW YOU PICTURED THIS
[00:26:43] WOULD BE? AND YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THEY'RE
[00:26:45] LEAVING THAT HAPPY SENATE LIFE
[00:26:47] WHERE HE WAS A SENATORS SENATOR. AND I THINK THE ONLY REASON HE
[00:26:51] TOOK THE JOB OF VICE PRESIDENT BECAUSE HE REALIZED THE ONLY JOB A VICE PRESIDENT HAS IS TO
[00:26:54] PRESIDE OVER THE SENATE. AND I THINK THAT THAT YOU KNOW,
[00:26:58] MAYBE IT WAS SOMEWHAT ENTICING TO HIM THAT HE THOUGHT HE COULD
[00:27:00] WORK HIS CONNECTIONS FOR THEM IN THAT WAY.
[00:27:03] BUT BUT THAT WAS THE BEGINNING,
[00:27:04] I THINK, OF A VERY DIFFICULT PERIOD FOR BESS AND HARRY AND
[00:27:08] EVEN MAYBE FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP.
[00:27:11] WHAT I THINK AGAIN, ONE OF THE
[00:27:15] LETTERS THAT I READ BETWEEN MRS.
[00:27:17] TRUMAN AND ONE OF HER BEST FRIENDS BACK IN MISSOURI WHEN
[00:27:21] SHE WAS PROPELLED INTO THIS ROLE
[00:27:24] OF FIRST LADY, THAT HER FRIEND HAD WRITTEN TO HER.
[00:27:26] AND AND SAID AND I THINK KNEW THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE
[00:27:31] DIFFICULT FOR BESS TRUMAN TO NOW BE IN THIS PUBLIC LIFE.
[00:27:34] BUT MRS. BESS TRUMAN RESPONDED. SHE SAID, YOU KNOW, THERE'S
[00:27:38] NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT BUT MANAGE THE THE UNPLEASANT THINGS
[00:27:41] THAT MAY POP UP. AND I READ WHAT I SAW, AND THAT
[00:27:45] WAS THE SENSE OF DUTY AND
[00:27:47] OBLIGATION THAT SHE UNDERSTOOD.
[00:27:49] AND WITHOUT EVEN IF IT WAS
[00:27:51] PERSONALLY DIFFICULT FOR HER, SHE WAS GOING TO RISE TO THE OCCASION.
[00:27:56] YEAH. YOU KNOW, WHEN I THINK OF THE
[00:27:58] MANY IMAGES OF THE TRUMANS, I
[00:28:00] MEAN, THEY'RE VERY, VERY WELL PHOTOGRAPHED OVER THE YEARS.
[00:28:04] AND THERE'S AN IMAGE THAT YOU JUST CAN'T GET OUT OF YOUR MIND,
[00:28:07] AND THAT IS HIM BEING SWORN IN IN THE CABINET ROOM, HAVING JUST
[00:28:12] LEARNED PROBABLY WITHIN TWO HOURS THAT ROOSEVELT HAD DIED
[00:28:16] VERY SUDDENLY. AND BESS IS AT HIS SIDE.
[00:28:20] MARGARET IS TO THE OTHER SIDE IN THE BACKGROUND.
[00:28:22] AND YOU LOOK AT THEIR FACES AND THEY'RE THERE.
[00:28:26] THEIR FACES ARE SAGGING, THEIR JAWS ARE DROPPING.
[00:28:28] AND OF COURSE, THEY'RE MOURNING LIKE THE COUNTRY IS, THAT THE
[00:28:31] PRESIDENT HAS JUST DIED VERY SUDDENLY.
[00:28:33] NO ONE WAS EXPECTING THAT.
[00:28:35] BUT FOR BESS AND EVEN FOR MARGARET, I THINK THERE'S JUST A
[00:28:39] SENSE OF SHOCK ABOUT WHAT THIS MOMENT MEANS. AND, YOU KNOW, HARRY TALKED
[00:28:43] ABOUT IT FELT LIKE THE A LOAD OF HAY FELL ON HIM.
[00:28:47] YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE METAPHOR THAT HE THAT HE KNEW AND COULD USE.
[00:28:49] BUT I THINK ABOUT THAT IMAGE AND THE MANY, MANY IMAGES OF BESS,
[00:28:53] AND SHE WAS NOT NECESSARILY PHOTOGENIC ALL THE TIME.
[00:28:57] SHE COULD LOOK PRETTY SERIOUS, PRETTY DOUR AT TIMES.
[00:29:00] HARRY TOOK A GOOD PICTURE MOST OF THE TIME, BUT BESS OFTENTIMES
[00:29:05] LOOKED VERY BELEAGUERED.
[00:29:07] AND I THINK IT IS EASY FOR PEOPLE TO ASSUME FROM THAT THAT
[00:29:10] SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO HAD NO HUMOR, THAT SHE WAS VERY DOUR,
[00:29:14] THAT SHE WAS VERY SOUR ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON AROUND HER.
[00:29:17] AND I IN THE YEARS THAT I WAS AT THE TRUMAN LIBRARY, I CAME TO
[00:29:20] REALLY IN MY OPINION, THAT JUST
[00:29:22] WAS SIMPLY NOT THE CASE. IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
[00:29:26] CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S PERSONALITY
[00:29:28] AND HOW THE RECORD THAT IS THERE
[00:29:31] MAYBE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE
[00:29:34] PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD ANYWAY AND IN SOME OF THE LETTERS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE WAY SHE
[00:29:37] REALLY WAS REACHING? NO, NO ONE SAW HER LOOKING
[00:29:40] BELEAGUERED MORE OFTEN THAN I DID.
[00:29:43] COULD YOU WANT TO YOU WANT TO
[00:29:46] SEE A BELEAGUERED BESS TRUMAN JUST SURROUND HER WITH HER GRANDSONS?
[00:29:50] NOT A PROBLEM. NO, SHE BUT SHE WAS.
[00:29:52] AND SHE DOES SHE I THINK PART OF
[00:29:56] IT IS THAT SHE JUST DIDN'T CARE IF SOMEBODY POINTED A CAMERA AT HER.
[00:29:58] SOMEBODY POINTED THE CAMERA, TOOK A PICTURE. SHE WASN'T GOING TO YOU KNOW,
[00:30:02] PUT ON AIRS OR SMILE IN THIS. I MEAN, SHE DID, BUT SHE WASN'T
[00:30:06] PAYING IT. SHE WASN'T AS CONSCIOUS OF IT AS GRANDPA WAS IN PRIVATE.
[00:30:10] SHE WAS SHE WAS VERY FUNNY. SHE SHE LOVED TO JOKE.
[00:30:14] SHE LOVES STORIES.
[00:30:16] SHE LOVED, YOU KNOW, ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT WE COULD IRRITATE
[00:30:19] HER, SHE LOVED BEING AROUND US, BUT SHE SHE DID.
[00:30:23] SHE HAD A VERY GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR. SHE WAS SHE ALWAYS WAS PAYING
[00:30:27] ATTENTION. SHE LIKED HER FRIENDS AND HER FAMILY AROUND HER.
[00:30:29] AND SHE SHE'S GOT A REPUTATION NOT ONLY SHE'S GOT A REPUTATION
[00:30:33] FOR BEING BELEAGUERED BECAUSE IT APPEARS THAT SHE LEFT VERY OFTEN
[00:30:36] WHEN GRANDPA WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, SHE WENT BACK TO INDEPENDENCE.
[00:30:39] AND THE THE THE MISCONCEPTION IS
[00:30:42] THAT SHE HATED WASHINGTON.
[00:30:44] AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE EVEN SUGGEST TO ME THAT SHE HATED MY
[00:30:48] GRANDFATHER JUST BECAUSE SHE KEPT LEAVING. WELL, THAT'S BECAUSE HER MOTHER,
[00:30:52] MADGE GATES WALLACE, FOR WHOM SHE WAS VERY CLOSE AND WAS A
[00:30:56] HUGE SUPPORT EVER SINCE MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, DAVID WALLACE,
[00:30:59] COMMITTED SUICIDE. MY GRANDMOTHER WAS HER MAJOR SUPPORT.
[00:31:03] THE ONLY OTHER THE ONLY GIRL IN
[00:31:05] THE FAMILY THAT SHE HAD SONS, THREE SONS BESIDES MY
[00:31:09] GRANDMOTHER. SO SHE WAS THE OLDEST. SHE WAS THE ONLY GIRL.
[00:31:12] SO MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS CONSTANT. IT WAS A TUG OF WAR.
[00:31:16] SO SHE WOULD GO HOME TO INDEPENDENCE. AND THEN MY GRANDFATHER WOULD
[00:31:20] START THE LETTER SAYING, YOU'VE BEEN THERE LONG ENOUGH, I NEED YOU HERE. AND SHE WOULD COME BACK.
[00:31:24] SO IT WAS BACK AND FORTH AND THEY WERE ALWAYS BETTER TOGETHER.
[00:31:28] AND MCCULLOUGH WROTE THIS IN HIS BOOK, AND IT'S A GOOD STORY. WHEN THEY WERE LIVING AT BLAIR
[00:31:32] HOUSE DURING HIS SECOND TERM IN OFFICE, SHE HAD BEEN IN
[00:31:35] INDEPENDENCE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. I WANT TO SAY MAYBE MORE THAN THAT.
[00:31:39] AND WHEN SHE CAME BACK, THE ATMOSPHERE BLAIR HOUSE JUST
[00:31:43] UPLIFTED. EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY. THEY WERE GLAD TO BE TOGETHER.
[00:31:47] ALL OF THE STAFF, ALL OF THE AIDES, EVERYBODY WAS IN A GOOD MOOD.
[00:31:51] AND MY GRANDMOTHER CAME DOWNSTAIRS THE NEXT DAY AND SHE
[00:31:54] TOOK THE HEAD USHER, AS I THINK WAS MR. FIELD'S ALONZO FIELDS. SHE TOOK HIM ASIDE AND SHE SAID,
[00:31:58] MR. FIELDS, WE HAVE A THERE'S A
[00:32:01] THERE'S AN ISSUE ON THE SECOND FLOOR.
[00:32:04] WE HAVE A WE HAVE A WE HAVE A OH
[00:32:07] OH HEALTH FIELDS. ONE OF THE SLATS ON OUR BED IS
[00:32:13] BROKEN. IT'S MORE THAN A GRANDCHILD
[00:32:16] REALLY WANTS TO HEAR.
[00:32:19] BUT THEY WERE STILL VERY CLOSE
[00:32:24] IN THEIR 60S. SO.
[00:32:26] BUT SHE WAS SHE WAS THEY YOU KNOW, SHE LOVED HER FAMILY.
[00:32:29] SHE LOVED SHE WAS A LOT OF FUN TO BE AROUND.
[00:32:32] I THINK YOUR MOTHER I READ, TOO,
[00:32:34] IN YOUR MOTHER'S BOOK HOW SHE SAID THAT YOUR GRANDMOTHER WAS
[00:32:38] THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD MEMBER OF
[00:32:42] THEIR FAMILY. PEOPLE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW THE FULL. YOU KNOW, ALL THE FACETS OF HER
[00:32:48] PERSONALITY, INCLUDING THAT SENSE OF HUMOR AND THAT IS REALLY HARD.
[00:32:51] I MEAN, I BANG AROUND THE WHITE HOUSE, THREE DIFFERENT
[00:32:54] ADMINISTRATIONS WORKING DIRECTLY FOR A FIRST LADY, KNOWING TO
[00:32:58] OTHERS REALLY WELL WHEN THEY ARE
[00:33:00] TYPECAST IN THE BEGINNING AND THEY COME INTO THE ROLE, IT IS
[00:33:04] VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN THAT AROUND AND ALMOST
[00:33:08] IMPOSSIBLE. SO I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT PLAGUED MRS. TRUMAN, TOO.
[00:33:12] ONE OF THE THINGS WHAT I'M SURE
[00:33:17] I'M SURE IS JUST RIGHT. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS
[00:33:21] INTERESTING ABOUT BESS, YOU KNOW, THE THIS THIS IMPRESSION
[00:33:23] THAT SHE'S DOUR, THAT SHE LEAVES WASHINGTON, SHE HATES WASHINGTON.
[00:33:26] SHE DOESN'T EVEN REALLY CARE WAS I MEAN, ALL OF THAT BELIE IS
[00:33:30] ANOTHER REALLY IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT HER AND THAT IS THAT SHE WAS REALLY QUITE POLITICALLY
[00:33:34] ASTUTE. SHE WAS VERY SAVVY AND WAS A
[00:33:37] REALLY IMPORTANT CONFIDANTE AND
[00:33:41] ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT. COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THAT A
[00:33:45] LITTLE BIT? ANY ANY EXAMPLES OF BESS AS A AS AN ADVISER?
[00:33:49] WELL, I THINK A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO NOTE ON THAT. AND CERTAINLY I DON'T THINK IT'S
[00:33:53] A SECRET THAT OUR MYSTERY THAT PRESIDENT TRUMAN OR SENATOR
[00:33:58] TRUMAN OR OR COUNTY SUPERVISOR
[00:34:01] TRUMAN RELIED ON THE GOOD ADVICE
[00:34:03] AND GREAT COUNSEL OF BESS TRUMAN
[00:34:07] BECAUSE SHE WAS ASTUTE. HER EAR WAS TO THE GROUND.
[00:34:09] BUT SHE WAS ALSO VERY SENSITIVE TO THE FACT THAT IT WOULD NOT
[00:34:12] EVER BE PRISSY TO LISTEN FOR
[00:34:15] THIS IS YOUR MY RESEARCH AND YOU COULD VALIDATE THIS OR NOT NOT
[00:34:18] BE PERCEIVED THAT SHE WAS THE ONE MAKING THE DECISIONS. THEY WERE HIS DECISIONS.
[00:34:22] HE WAS NOT SHY ABOUT SAYING THAT.
[00:34:25] HE OF COURSE, RELIED ON HIS WIFE ADVICE.
[00:34:28] SHE WAS ONE OF THE BEST ADVISERS AROUND HIM.
[00:34:32] SO I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT. AND THAT IS A FINE LINE THAT ALL
[00:34:35] FIRST LADIES WALKED INTO, NOT TO, YOU KNOW, CROSS THE
[00:34:40] THRESHOLD AS BEING SEEN AS THE POLICY MAKER OR THE DECISION
[00:34:42] MAKER BEYOND BEING AN ADVISER. YEAH.
[00:34:45] AND THERE WAS THAT INSTANCE. AND I WANT TO SAY IT WAS WHEN HE
[00:34:49] WAS A JUDGE, I THINK PRESIDING
[00:34:51] JUDGE OF JACKSON COUNTY, THAT OF
[00:34:53] A DOWNSTATE POLITICIAN, HAD
[00:34:56] ASKED FOR HIS SUPPORT IN RUNNING FOR I THINK IT WAS STATE SENATE
[00:34:59] OR STATE STATE HOUSE.
[00:35:02] AND GRANDPA WAS NOT HOME. SHE CALLED THIS GUY CALLED MY
[00:35:07] GRANDMOTHER BECAUSE GRANDPA WAS TRAINING WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD.
[00:35:11] TWO WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR IN JULY OR AUGUST.
[00:35:13] AND HE WAS HE WAS GOING TO BE
[00:35:16] HOME PRETTY SOON, BUT RATHER THAN WAIT FOR HIM TO GET HOME,
[00:35:18] SHE CALLED TOM PENDERGAST, THE BOSS OF THE DEMOCRATIC MACHINE,
[00:35:22] BOSS TOM, AND ASKED HIM WHAT SHOULD WHAT WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
[00:35:25] SHOULD, SHOULD HARRY SUPPORT THIS GUY OR NOT?
[00:35:29] AND PENDERGAST TOLD HER FLATLY, NO, KEEP KEEP HIM OUT OF ALL
[00:35:32] POLITICAL FIGHTS RIGHT NOW. SO SHE TURNED AROUND AND CALLED
[00:35:36] THIS SENATE SENATE WANNABE BACK
[00:35:38] AND LIED TO HIS FACE, JUST TOLD
[00:35:42] HIM THAT I'M SORRY HARRY WON'T BE BACK FOR WEEKS.
[00:35:45] HE CAN'T POSSIBLY HELP YOU. SO. BUT SHE KNEW.
[00:35:47] SHE KNEW WHO TO TALK TO AND WHAT TO DO. AND AND AND HOW TO GET THINGS
[00:35:52] DONE. I THINK THAT'S SUCH A GREAT EXAMPLE.
[00:35:54] I THINK ANOTHER GOOD EXAMPLE TO
[00:35:56] THE POLITICAL COURAGE THAT SHE
[00:35:58] HAD IN A RECOMMENDATION THAT SHE
[00:36:01] MADE TO SENATOR TRUMAN WHEN HE
[00:36:04] HAD BEEN IN CHARGE OF A SELECT
[00:36:07] COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THAT
[00:36:09] ANY FRAUDULENT PRACTICE FRAUD
[00:36:13] AND AN ABUSE BY DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND DEFENSE
[00:36:17] CONTRACTORS. AND SHE HAD ENCOURAGED SENATOR
[00:36:21] TRUMAN, HER HUSBAND, TO TAKE THIS INVESTIGATE AND AS FAR AS
[00:36:24] IT NEEDED TO GO, EVEN IF IT
[00:36:26] IMPLICATED THE PRESIDENT IN THE
[00:36:28] UNITED STATES AND FOR THAT, YOU
[00:36:30] KNOW, HE WAS RECOGNIZED PUBLICLY AND I THINK RECOGNIZED BY TIME
[00:36:35] MAGAZINE. AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY FOR A HERO
[00:36:37] AND ABOVE A CORRUPT ABILITY IN
[00:36:40] HIS PURSUIT FOR THE TRUTH.
[00:36:42] AND I THINK THAT IS A GREAT SIGN
[00:36:44] OF COURAGE AND ASTUTENESS ON HER PART AS WELL.
[00:36:48] ONE OF THE STORIES THAT THAT YOU SHARED WITH ME BEFORE WE CAME
[00:36:51] OUT ABOUT SPEAKING OF HER COURAGE AND HER WILLINGNESS TO
[00:36:55] NOT BACK DOWN, THERE WAS A LITTLE ISSUE AFTER SHE LEFT THE
[00:36:58] WHITE HOUSE AND MRS. JOHNSON WAS THE FIRST LADY, AND SHE WAS
[00:37:02] TRYING TO TAKE AN INVENTORY OF THE FIRST LADY PORTRAITS.
[00:37:05] COULD YOU SHARE THAT WITH THIS CLIP?
[00:37:10] SURE. MR. JOHNSON CALLED MY GRANDMOTHER AND THE JOHNSONS AND
[00:37:13] MY GRANDPA WERE FRIENDS.
[00:37:16] THEY'RE VERY CLOSE. PRESIDENT JOHNSON CREDITED MY
[00:37:21] GRANDFATHER WITH WITH LAYING THE FRAME OF THE FOUNDATION FOR
[00:37:25] MEDICARE FOR FOR HEALTH CARE AND
[00:37:29] SIGNED THE MEDICARE ACT OF 1964
[00:37:32] ON THE STAGE AT THE TRUMAN
[00:37:35] LIBRARY, SIGNED IT ON THE STAGE AT THE TRUMAN LIBRARY AND GAVE
[00:37:39] MY GRANDPARENTS CARD, ONE CARD TO.
[00:37:42] I THINK THE NUMBER ON MINE.
[00:37:47] IS 5,000,365,280. AND THERE'S A LOT OF LETTERS IN THERE TOO.
[00:37:51] BUT SO THEY WERE VERY CLOSE. THEY ONLY HAD THIS ONE HITCH.
[00:37:54] MRS. JOHNSON CALLED MY
[00:37:58] GRANDMOTHER IN 19 I THINK IN 1965 AFTER LBJ HAD WON ELECTION
[00:38:01] IN HIS OWN RIGHT. AND SHE SAID, MRS. TRUMAN, WE'D
[00:38:05] LIKE TO HANG YOUR OFFICIAL PORTRAIT AGAIN IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
[00:38:09] DO YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS? AND MY GRANDMOTHER'S SAID, YES, I DO.
[00:38:12] IT'S ON MY WALL. AND MRS. JOHNSON SAID, YOU YOU
[00:38:16] CAN'T DO THAT. THAT BELONGS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
[00:38:19] AND MY GRANDMOTHER SAID, DALE, IT DOES.
[00:38:22] IT'S A PICTURE OF ME AND IT'S ON MY WALL AND THAT'S WHERE IT'S GOING TO STAY.
[00:38:26] AND SO MRS. JOHNSON, THIS WONDERFUL WOMAN, LADY BIRD
[00:38:30] JOHNSON, SHE SAID, WELL, I'M NOT GOING TO GET ANYWHERE DOING THIS.
[00:38:33] SO SHE CALLED THE ARTIST GRETA KEMPTON AND HAD MS.
[00:38:37] KEMPTON PAINT TWO COPIES.
[00:38:41] ONE OF THEM BELONGS TO THE WHITE HOUSE. THE OTHER IS ON THE WALL AT THE
[00:38:45] TRUMAN LIBRARY IN THE ORIGINAL
[00:38:47] IS ON MY GRANDMOTHER'S WALL.
[00:38:50] I THINK IT BELONGS TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
[00:38:54] THAT WAS WHERE WE GOT WE GOT THE PAINTING AFTER ALL. YEAH, BUT SHE HAD TO BE GONE
[00:38:59] BEFORE WE COULD DO THAT. OH. OH, BOY. THAT WAS THE.
[00:39:02] THAT WAS THE CHALLENGE IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HAVING A CURATOR
[00:39:06] FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT MRS. JOHNSON, OF COURSE, HAD TO
[00:39:08] OVERSEE, AND PRESIDENT JOHNSON ASSIGNED COMMITTEE FOR
[00:39:12] PRESERVATION OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND ALL THE THINGS THAT THE WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL
[00:39:17] ASSOCIATION HAD JUST BEEN ESTABLISHED A FEW YEARS BEFORE THAT WERE.
[00:39:20] IT'S THEIR JOB TO PROTECT THE COLLECTIONS THAT BELONG TO THE
[00:39:24] WHITE HOUSE. BUT THERE'S ALWAYS A COUPLE OF WAYS IT'S GOING TO CAT AS LONG AS THERE IS ONE IN THE WHITE
[00:39:27] HOUSE, THAT'S FINE. YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
[00:39:31] I THINK IS INTERESTING IS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE TRUMANS AND
[00:39:35] WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THEIR MARRIAGE, I MEAN, HER ROLE AS AN
[00:39:38] ADVISER, THE MANY LETTERS THEY SENT BACK AND FORTH, SOME OF WHICH WE HAVE, SOME OF WHICH WE
[00:39:42] DON'T, THEY THEY COME FROM VERY
[00:39:47] DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. HARRY AND BEST TRUMAN, VERY
[00:39:49] DIFFERENT SOCIOECONOMIC POSITIONS.
[00:39:52] AND I ALWAYS HAD THE IMPRESSION THAT MRS. WALLACE ALWAYS FELT
[00:39:55] THAT HER LITTLE BESS COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
[00:39:59] AND EVEN AFTER HER SON IN LAW BECAME PRESIDENT, I DON'T THINK SHE CHANGED HER MIND ABOUT THAT.
[00:40:03] AND SO I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT
[00:40:05] YOUR APOCRYPHAL STORY IS THAT WHEN WHEN MADGE CAME TO THE
[00:40:09] WHITE HOUSE THE FIRST TIME, SHE LOOKED AROUND AND SAID, HMM, YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
[00:40:13] I KNOW WHAT? I'M NOT SURE THAT'S TRUE, BUT IT
[00:40:17] SOUNDS LIKE MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER.
[00:40:19] WELL, THE WHITE HOUSE WAS IN BAD SHAPE AFTER ALL. RIGHT?
[00:40:22] AND THEY THEY THEY HAD TO PRESIDE OVER THAT. RATS AND ALL.
[00:40:26] SO I'LL CUT HER A LITTLE BIT OF SLACK. THAT'S RIGHT. BECAUSE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS,
[00:40:29] ELEANOR ROOSEVELT TOLD MY
[00:40:31] GRANDMOTHER WAS THERE ARE RATS. THOUGH.
[00:40:35] AND SHE WASN'T TALKING ABOUT AIDS.
[00:40:38] SENATORS, CONGRESS. THE LONG TAILED ONES.
[00:40:42] YEAH. YEAH. OH, MY GOSH.
[00:40:44] I, I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING
[00:40:48] ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH
[00:40:51] THEIR MOTHERS AND MOTHERS IN LAW.
[00:40:53] I MEAN, DESPITE THAT SENSE THAT
[00:40:56] I WOULD FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE
[00:40:58] THAT HARRY TRUMAN EVER SAID OR EVEN THOUGHT AN UNKIND THING
[00:41:01] ABOUT HIS MOTHER IN LAW OR THAT OR THAT BESS HAD ANY THING
[00:41:06] UNFAVORABLE TO THINK ABOUT MAMA TRUMAN I MEAN, I THINK THAT THEY
[00:41:09] WERE VERY DEVOTED CHILDREN AND GOOD GOOD TO THEIR FAMILY.
[00:41:13] SHE MY GRANDMOTHER LOVED MAMA TRUMAN.
[00:41:15] THEY GOT ALONG GREAT.
[00:41:17] THEY WERE BOTH OUTSPOKEN TO A FAULT.
[00:41:21] WHEN MY WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER WENT
[00:41:24] OUT TO THE FARM IN GRANDVIEW, SHE PITCHED IN.
[00:41:26] YOU KNOW, SHE DIDN'T SIT AROUND AND WAIT TO BE SERVED. SHE HELPED.
[00:41:30] THEY THEY THEY GOT ALONG BEAUTIFULLY. AND GRANDPA NEVER SAID A
[00:41:36] CROSSWORD AD ABOUT MADGE GATES. WALLACE THEY REFERRED TO EACH I
[00:41:39] THINK HE CALLED HER MRS. WALLACE AND SHE REFERRED TO HIM AS MR. TRUMAN.
[00:41:43] YEAH, BUT THEY THEY THEY KEPT
[00:41:45] THE DETENTE GOING FOR DECADES,
[00:41:50] SO THAT'S. BUT NO, YOU'RE RIGHT. THEY DIDN'T. THEY AND BOTH BOTH OF THOSE
[00:41:55] MOTHERS DIED DURING THE ADMINISTRATION. RIGHT? WELL, YES. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
[00:41:59] MY MAMA TRUMAN, 1947.
[00:42:02] I THINK IT WAS.
[00:42:04] AND HE WAS ACTUALLY ON HIS WAY HOME. HE WAS CALLED HE WAS TOLD THAT
[00:42:07] SHE WAS NEARING THE END AND HE GOT IN THE PRESIDENTIAL PLANE,
[00:42:10] WAS FLYING HOME, AND HE WAS SO CLOSE TO HIS MOTHER THAT AS THEY
[00:42:14] WERE FLYING, HE TOOK A NAP AND
[00:42:18] HE JUST CLOSED HIS EYES FOR A FEW MINUTES AND HIS MOTHER'S
[00:42:20] FACE APPEARED TO HIM IN STARTLING CLARITY.
[00:42:24] AND HE WOKE HIM UP. AND TWO SECONDS LATER, IT WAS
[00:42:29] EITHER IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DR. GRAHAM WALLACE, GRAHAM WHO POKED
[00:42:32] HIS, SAID THE OTHER DR. GRAHAM,
[00:42:34] WHO WHO CAME THROUGH THE CABIN DOOR AND SAID, MR. PRESIDENT,
[00:42:37] YOUR MOTHER HAS JUST DIED.
[00:42:38] AND GRANDPA SAID, I KNOW HE THEY
[00:42:42] WERE VERY CLOSE, VERY CLOSE KNIT FAMILY.
[00:42:46] AND AND HIS MOTHER IN LAW DIED JUST A FEW YEARS, A FEW YEARS
[00:42:50] AFTER THAT. YEAH. MADGE DIED IN 1952, AND THAT WAS
[00:42:53] ACTUALLY THAT WE TALKED ABOUT IT INSIDE. THAT WAS THAT WAS WHEN MY
[00:42:59] GRANDPARENTS BOUGHT WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE TRUMAN HOME FROM
[00:43:01] MADGE'S ESTATE. RIGHT. THEY THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME IN
[00:43:05] THEIR THEIR LIVES AND THEIR MARRIAGE THAT THEY'D EVER OWNED
[00:43:08] THEIR OWN HOME. HE LIVED WITH HIS MOTHER IN LAW FOR 30 YEARS.
[00:43:12] EVEN AS PRESIDENT. RIGHT.
[00:43:15] YEAH THAT'S THAT IS INCREDIBLE TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT AS
[00:43:18] A MARRIED COUPLE, THE ONLY HOME THEY EVER OWNED WAS WHAT THEY
[00:43:21] BOUGHT FROM THEIR MOTHER'S ESTATE.
[00:43:23] WELL, THERE'S THAT GREAT LINE. AND GIVE THEM HELL, HARRY. YOU KNOW, BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN
[00:43:27] IS A PROUD WIFE. AND STANDING RIGHT BEHIND HER IS
[00:43:30] A SURPRISED MOTHER IN LAW.
[00:43:34] YEAH. WELL, WE HAVE A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY HERE WITH OUR GUESTS
[00:43:37] TO TAKE A QUESTION OR TWO FROM THE AUDIENCE. I KNOW WE HAVE A A ROVING MIC IF
[00:43:41] ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO. IT'S ROVING CLINTON.
[00:43:45] IT'S A ROVING CLINTON. SO IF ANYBODY. OH, WE HAVE A GENTLEMAN HERE IN THE FRONT ROW. I'D LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION.
[00:43:49] GO AHEAD, SIR. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TO DO THIS HERE AT THIS
[00:43:54] INCREDIBLE PLACE. SO MY QUESTION, WITHOUT TRYING
[00:43:56] TO BE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT IT IS
[00:43:58] CURRENT TOPIC IS THE EAST WING AND ITS ROLE WITH FIRST LADIES.
[00:44:02] HOW IS THAT DEVELOPING AT THIS POINT? OH, GREAT QUESTION.
[00:44:06] SO THIS GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT HOW MUCH
[00:44:09] THE TRUMANS DID AND MRS. TRUMAN,
[00:44:12] OF COURSE, IN PROTECTING THE
[00:44:15] INTEGRITY OF THE WHITE HOUSE. YOU KNOW, WHEN IT WAS FALLING
[00:44:18] APART IN THE LATE 1940S AND THEY
[00:44:21] HAD TO MOVE OUT BECAUSE IT WAS
[00:44:23] STRUCTURALLY UNSOUND AND HAD TO MOVE INTO BLAIR HOUSE FOR OVER
[00:44:27] THREE YEARS WHILE THEY ENTIRE BUILDING WAS WAS BEING
[00:44:32] RECONSTRUCTED. AND YOU KNOW, TRUE TO FORM, THE CONGRESS WANTED TO GO THE
[00:44:36] CHEAPEST ROUTE TO DO THAT, WHICH WAS TO TEAR THE WHOLE BUILDING
[00:44:38] DOWN AND RESTORE ART AND WHICH
[00:44:42] MEANT TAILORING DOWN ALL THE HISTORIC WALLS.
[00:44:45] WHAT WE AS AMERICANS FEEL
[00:44:47] CONNECTED TO THAT VISION OF OF
[00:44:49] THE WHITE HOUSE AND REALLY
[00:44:51] THANKS TO HARRY AND BESS TRUMAN,
[00:44:53] WHO REALLY PROTECTED THE WHITE
[00:44:58] HOUSE FROM BEING TORN DOWN AND
[00:45:00] USED EVERY WAY POSSIBLE, THEY
[00:45:06] AND MADE IT SAFER BECAUSE WHAT THEY DID, OBVIOUSLY, THEY HAD TO
[00:45:08] GO DEEP UNDERGROUND, REALLY DECONSTRUCT ALL THE EQUIPMENT THAT IT TOOK TO REBUILD THE
[00:45:12] WHITE HOUSE STEEL GIRD. IT ALL BECAME IT BECAME A MODERN
[00:45:16] BUILDING. FINALLY. BUT TO PRESERVE THE EXTERIOR
[00:45:20] WALLS, IT WAS THE MORE EXPENSIVE ROUTE.
[00:45:22] BUT BUT THEY DID THE RIGHT THING.
[00:45:26] SO THAT'S THAT'S AN EXAMPLE. BUT I HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, BE
[00:45:30] HONEST. GOING THROUGH HISTORY, WE HAVE HAD MANY EXAMPLES WHERE THE
[00:45:33] WHITE HOUSE HAS BEEN MODIFIED.
[00:45:36] THINGS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO IT.
[00:45:39] COLONNADES HAVE BEEN ADDED. A WEST WING WAS ADDED IN THE
[00:45:43] TEDDY ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION BECAUSE THE STAFF WAS WAS
[00:45:47] GROWING. THERE WAS A BIG FAMILY THAT MOVED IN WITH THE ROOSEVELT FAMILY.
[00:45:50] THERE WAS NO ROOM TO HAVE STAFF.
[00:45:51] AND IN THE RESIDENCE AND THEN
[00:45:55] ALSO, OF COURSE, IN THE EAST
[00:45:57] WING WAS WAS BUILT UNDER FDR, HIS ADMINISTRATION, TO
[00:46:02] ACCOMMODATE IT AND INCLUDE A GROWING STAFF.
[00:46:04] AGAIN, AND ALSO TO PROVIDE COVER
[00:46:06] FOR AN UNDERGROUND BUNKER.
[00:46:08] THIS WAS WAR TIME AND IN EACH OF
[00:46:10] THOSE INSTANCES, GETTING THE
[00:46:14] MONEY APPROPRIATED TO DO THAT WAS NOT AN EASY THING.
[00:46:17] THERE WERE ALWAYS FIGHTS WITH
[00:46:19] WITH CONGRESS AND IN FACT, EVEN IN THE TRUMAN ADMINISTRATION,
[00:46:23] AFTER ALL OF THIS EXPENSE TO
[00:46:25] REBUILD THE WHITE HOUSE, THERE WASN'T A LOT OF MONEY LEFT OVER
[00:46:28] TO ACTUALLY FURNISH THE WHITE HOUSE AND UP TO THIS POINT,
[00:46:32] THERE WASN'T A WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION THAT
[00:46:35] PROVIDES THE PRIVATE FUNDING. THIS ALL HAD TO COME FROM
[00:46:37] CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT TRUMAN HAD DISPATCHED THE CHIEF USHER
[00:46:41] UP TO THE CONGRESS TO PETITION
[00:46:43] FOR MORE MONEY FOR FURNITURE AND
[00:46:47] AS THEY WERE GETTING READY TO LEAVE THE TRUMAN'S WERE GETTING READY TO LEAVE.
[00:46:50] BUT STILL, HE WANTED IT TO LOOK BETTER THAN IT DID FOR THE NEW OCCUPANT COMING IN.
[00:46:54] AND THE RESPONSE FROM THE HOSTILE CONGRESS WAS, WELL,
[00:47:00] WE'LL JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT THE NEXT GUY WANTS AND SENT THIS
[00:47:02] CHIEF USHER RIGHT BACK TO THE
[00:47:04] WHITE HOUSE WITH NOTHING IN HAND. SO THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A
[00:47:08] STRUGGLE WHEN PRESIDENTS WANTED TO MAKE CHANGES AND
[00:47:11] MODIFICATIONS TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
[00:47:13] NOW, THE CURRENT DEMOLITION OF THE EAST WING WAS STARTLING, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
[00:47:17] I THINK BECAUSE WE HAD ALL BEEN AT LEAST INFORMED LAST SUMMER
[00:47:21] THAT THE EXISTING EAST WING
[00:47:24] WOULD BE PRESERVED, AND THE NEW
[00:47:26] BALLROOM, WHICH, BY THE WAY, I
[00:47:28] AGREE WITH, THAT THERE SHOULD BE
[00:47:30] LARGER, ENTERTAINING SPACE. THE STATE DINING ROOM ONLY HOLDS
[00:47:34] 134 PEOPLE. IT IS DIFFICULT TO HOST BIG
[00:47:38] EVENTS AND WE HAVE SEEN IN MODERN TIMES THAT SEVERAL PRESIDENTS HAVE HOSTED BIG
[00:47:42] EVENTS ON THE SOUTH LAWN.
[00:47:44] IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE TO PUT THESE BIG TENTS TO BRING ALL OF THE
[00:47:48] INFRASTRUCTURE STAGE WING AND
[00:47:51] FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT LIGHTING A
[00:47:53] PORTA POTTIES FOR WOMEN IN GOWNS
[00:47:55] TO BE USING OUT ON THE LAWN.
[00:47:59] SO IT WAS NECESSARY. IT WAS A NECESSARY ADDITION.
[00:48:02] I THINK WHAT WAS SO STARTLING IS
[00:48:04] WHEN THE DEMOLITION HAPPENED, WE WEREN'T PREPARED FOR THAT.
[00:48:07] WE WEREN'T TOLD IT WASN'T REALLY COMMUNICATED.
[00:48:10] WHY THAT WAS NECESSARY TO DO SO
[00:48:12] AND WHY IT COULDN'T BE PRESERVED.
[00:48:15] THE GOOD NEWS IS NOW I DID WATCH THE FULL COMMISSION MEETING OF
[00:48:19] THE NATIONAL CAPITAL PLANNING
[00:48:21] COMMISSION, WHERE THE PLANS WERE
[00:48:23] PRESENTED JUST RECENTLY, AND IT WAS EXPLAINED BY THE ARCHITECTS
[00:48:27] WHAT THEY FOUND WHEN THEY
[00:48:29] STARTED TO TO.
[00:48:34] MITIGATE THE CHANGES THAT WERE
[00:48:37] NEEDED AND THERE WERE STRUCTURAL
[00:48:42] PROBLEMS AND THERE WERE THINGS THAT REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE EXPENSIVE, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO
[00:48:46] REDO. SO IT REQUIRED THAT THE BUILDING COME DOWN AND BE REBUILT.
[00:48:49] I THINK IF PEOPLE HAD UNDERSTOOD THAT AHEAD OF TIME MADE NOT NOT
[00:48:54] EVERYONE WOULD HAVE AGREED, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED THAT
[00:48:57] INFORMATION BECAUSE THAT THOSE BUILT THAT BUILDING BELONGS TO US.
[00:49:01] SO THE GOOD NEWS IS, IN THE NEW
[00:49:05] PLANS, THERE WILL BE A NEW EAST WING. IT'LL BE AN IMPROVED EAST EAST WING.
[00:49:08] IT WILL BE TERRIFIC OFFICES FOR
[00:49:11] THE FIRST LADY AND HER STAFF. THERE'LL BE COMMERCIAL GRADE
[00:49:14] KITCHENS FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR BIG STATE DINNERS BECAUSE THE
[00:49:18] CURRENT WHITE HOUSE KITCHEN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THIS STAGE.
[00:49:22] AND WHENEVER THERE WERE BIG STATE DINNERS, YOU WERE HAVING
[00:49:24] TO BRING IN OUT OUTSIDE CATERING
[00:49:27] EQUIPMENT IN ORDER TO EXECUTE THOSE DINNERS.
[00:49:31] SO NONE OF THAT WILL HAPPEN. THERE WILL BE A BETTER VISITOR EXPERIENCE.
[00:49:34] I THINK WHAT WE ALSO HAVE A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH IS THE SHEER
[00:49:38] SIZE, THE SCOPE IN THE SCALE.
[00:49:40] DID IT NEED TO BE 22,000FT TO TO
[00:49:44] HOUSE A THOUSAND PEOPLE FOR A SEATED DINNER?
[00:49:47] I'M NOT SURE EVERYBODY AGREES WITH THAT.
[00:49:50] BUT THE FACT IS, WE DID NEED SOMETHING BIGGER THAN WHAT WE HAD.
[00:49:53] AND THE FIRST LADY AND HER STAFF DESERVE BETTER SPACE THAN WHAT
[00:49:57] THEY HAVE. AND I CAN SAY THAT WITH ALL
[00:49:59] CREDIBILITY BECAUSE I SPENT FOUR AND A HALF YEARS OF MY LIFE IN
[00:50:03] THAT SPACE AND KNEW HOW MODIFICATIONS HAD MADE IT, NOT
[00:50:09] AS REALLY NOT AS EFFICIENT AS IT COULD BE.
[00:50:12] THANK YOU. GREAT, GREAT QUESTION. THANK YOU.
[00:50:15] ANY ANYBODY ELSE? YES, SIR. SO, ANITA AND CLIFTON, I'D BE
[00:50:19] VERY INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING
[00:50:21] WHAT YOU WOULD THINK.
[00:50:23] BARBARA BUSH AND YOUR MOM WOULD
[00:50:27] YOUR GRANDMA WOULD THINK ABOUT
[00:50:29] THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING TODAY.
[00:50:33] YEAH, WELL, I'LL JUST SAY, I THINK WE KNOW WHAT BARBARA BUSH WOULD SAY BECAUSE SHE SAID IT.
[00:50:38] YOU KNOW, BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY. THERE'S NO SECRET SHE'S NOT ONE
[00:50:42] THAT EVER HELD BACK HER TONGUE. THAT THAT THAT'S FOR SURE.
[00:50:45] AND YOU KNOW, AT HER STAGE IN HER LIFE, SHE SHE FELT SHE COULD
[00:50:49] SAY ANYTHING THAT SHE WANTED TO. SHE ALWAYS DID ACTUALLY.
[00:50:53] SO I YOU KNOW, I THINK IT WAS A
[00:50:58] DIFFERENT ERA. THESE ARE WOMEN OF A DIFFERENT ERA AS WELL.
[00:51:02] AND I THINK YOU KNOW, BARBARA
[00:51:05] BUSH WOULD SHE WOULD BE HERSELF
[00:51:07] AND SHE'D HAVE SHE'D HAVE THINGS
[00:51:09] TO SAY, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. YEAH, THOSE ARE TOUGH QUESTIONS.
[00:51:13] THEY THEY CROP UP, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WITH GRANDPA, AS WELL
[00:51:17] AS MY GRANDMOTHER, HER.
[00:51:32] YEARS AGO, THE FIRST TIME A PLANE THAT BIG WENT OVER, I
[00:51:35] DIDN'T KNOW THEY'D EXTEND THE RUNWAY. I THOUGHT THEY WERE LOST, THAT THERE WAS TROUBLE.
[00:51:39] IT'S AN EMERGENCY LANDING.
[00:51:43] IT COMES UP. AND I THE WAY I WIND UP WANTING TO ANSWER IT, EITHER FROM MY
[00:51:47] GRANDFATHER OR THEIR GRANDMOTHER, IS THAT IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU BRING THEM BACK.
[00:51:50] ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU KNOW, IF YOU JUST PLOP THEM DOWN RIGHT IN
[00:51:53] THE MIDDLE OF THIS WITHOUT ANY
[00:51:56] PREPARATION, YOU PROBABLY GET A LOT OF SHOCK FROM BOTH OF THEM.
[00:51:59] BUT IF YOU HAD THEM WATCHING THE WHOLE TIME, I THINK THAT WHAT
[00:52:04] YOU WHAT YOU WOULD HEAR WAS, WELL, OKAY, WE DO THIS, WE DO
[00:52:08] THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THIS COUNTRY AND EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, WE REPEAT
[00:52:12] OURSELVES. WE MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES. WE SWING BACK AND FORTH TO
[00:52:17] LIBERAL, TO CONSERVATIVE.
[00:52:18] WE GO AND IT CAN GO EXTREME AND
[00:52:22] EITHER DIRECTION, IT'S IN THE PLAY. GIVE THEM HELL, HARRY.
[00:52:26] ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MY WIFE, POLLY AND I WERE ALWAYS SO
[00:52:29] SURPRISED ABOUT AND LEARNING THIS SHOW AND GETTING READY TO PUT IT ON YEARS AGO WAS THAT
[00:52:34] IT'S SOUNDS A LOT LIKE WHAT'S
[00:52:37] GOING ON TODAY AND IT'S THROUGHOUT THAT SHOW AND THEY
[00:52:41] ARE TALKING ABOUT THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION AND THEY'RE
[00:52:43] TALKING ABOUT ROOSEVELT'S CHURCHILL.
[00:52:46] SO WE WE ARE YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT IS AS HUMAN BEINGS, WE
[00:52:52] CREEP FORWARD STEADILY, THE
[00:52:54] WORLD HOPEFULLY IS GETTING A IT CONTINUES.
[00:52:58] IT GETS A LITTLE BETTER ALL THE TIME. BUT WE ARE WE ARE ALL GUILTY IN
[00:53:02] OUR GOVERNMENTS OF MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER AND
[00:53:06] OVER AGAIN AND SWINGING BACK AND FORTH.
[00:53:09] WE HAVE TIME FOR MAYBE ONE MORE FROM THE AUDIENCE.
[00:53:11] IF SOMEBODY HAD A YES, SIR,
[00:53:14] BRINGING IT BACK TO KEY WEST AND
[00:53:17] WOULD THEY ASK THIS QUESTION? CLIFTON, YOU SEEM TO REALLY
[00:53:21] ENJOY KEY WEST THAT IMPRESSION AT ALL?
[00:53:25] WELL, I THINK IT'S FROM THE
[00:53:27] GENES, FROM YOUR GRANDFATHER. I WOULD ASK THE QUESTION WHAT IT
[00:53:31] BEST THINK ABOUT KEY WEST AND
[00:53:36] HIS ACTIVITIES DOWN HERE.
[00:53:38] SHE TOOK A SHE TOOK THE TYPICAL
[00:53:42] OF HER GENERATION, I THINK WHEN IT CAME TO KEY WEST.
[00:53:45] HE NEEDED TO COME DOWN HERE. HE HAD A TERRIBLE COLD. HE WAS WORN OUT.
[00:53:49] HE WAS STRESSED. HE WOKE UP THE FIRST MORNING UPSTAIRS, RIGHT BEHIND YOU.
[00:53:53] ALL, AND THE COLD WAS GONE. AND THE STRESS WAS WAS FADING AWAY.
[00:53:56] AND HE WROTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER, I GOT A GOOD MIND TO MOVE THE
[00:53:59] GOVERNMENT TO KEY WEST AND JUST STAY. THANK GOD HE DIDN'T DO THAT.
[00:54:03] IT WOULD HAVE RUINED THE ISLAND FOR ALL OF YOU.
[00:54:06] BUT HE BUT FOR THE FIRST HIS FOR
[00:54:11] THE REST OF HIS FIRST TERM, FINISHING OUT ROOSEVELT'S TERM,
[00:54:13] SHE DID NOT COME DOWN HERE A LOT.
[00:54:16] SHE CAME MORE WHEN HE HAD WON
[00:54:19] ELECTION IN HIS OWN RIGHT. BUT FOR HER AND MY MOTHER, THEY
[00:54:22] WEREN'T HERE NEARLY AS OFTEN.
[00:54:24] AND SHE REGARDED KEY WEST AND
[00:54:28] SOME OF HIS OTHER PURSUITS AS A BOYS CLUB KIND OF THING.
[00:54:30] HE NEEDED TO GET OFF AND CHILL OUT AND THAT WAS FINE WITH HER
[00:54:34] PLAY POKER ALL OF THAT WAS GOOD
[00:54:37] FOR HER, YOU KNOW, TO LET HIM
[00:54:40] RELAX AND BLOW OFF STEAM AND AND TAKE IT EASY.
[00:54:43] BUT SHE DID ENJOY THE PLACE.
[00:54:45] AND WE CAME DOWN HERE WITH MY GRANDPARENTS SEVERAL TIMES AFTER
[00:54:49] AFTER WE WERE BORN. I THINK THE LAST TIME WE WERE
[00:54:51] HERE AS CHILDREN WAS IN 1969.
[00:54:54] SO HE DID HE DID COME BACK TO THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE, THE
[00:54:58] WHITE HOUSE IS THE FIRST PLACE ANYBODY EVER SERVED ME AND
[00:55:00] ARTICHOKE I WONDERED WHY THEY
[00:55:02] DIDN'T LIKE ME. BUT SO WE'VE WE'VE BEEN DOWN
[00:55:07] HERE WITH HIM AND HE HE DID ENJOY COMING BACK.
[00:55:10] AND IT IT IT WAS ALWAYS A VERY SPECIAL PLACE TO HIM. AND PEOPLE, OF COURSE, ASKED
[00:55:14] NOWADAYS, YOU KNOW WHAT WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS YOUR GRANDFATHER'S
[00:55:18] GREATEST DECISION AS PRESIDENT? AND I KNOW THEY WANT TO HEAR THE MARSHALL PLAN, THE END OF THE
[00:55:22] WAR IN JAPAN, THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE. I ALWAYS SAY NO PICK AND KEY WEST BECAUSE I GET TO KEEP
[00:55:26] COMING DOWN HERE YEARS AFTER YEAR.
[00:55:29] A LOT OF THOSE DECISIONS HAPPENED HERE. THE CREATION OF SO MANY
[00:55:33] INSTITUTIONS IN OUR GOVERNMENT HAPPENED HERE.
[00:55:36] SO THIS WAS A GREAT PLACE AND SOMETIMES I THINK IT'S A
[00:55:39] REMINDER FOR PRESIDENTS, YOU KNOW, IT IS NEVER A VACATION.
[00:55:43] IT'S JUST A CHANGE OF SCENERY.
[00:55:44] THE PROBLEMS AND THE ISSUES COME WITH THEM.
[00:55:47] THE DECISIONS STILL HAVE TO BE MADE WHEREVER THEY ARE.
[00:55:51] BUT WHAT IS SETTING TO BE RELAXED AND REALLY BE ABLE TO
[00:55:55] THINK CLEARLY? SPEAKING OF THAT KICK BACK KIND
[00:55:59] OF CHILL VIBE THAT THAT THEY SAW
[00:56:01] IT AND FOUND HERE IN KEY WEST. I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THE
[00:56:05] TRUMANS AS BEING SORT OF PRIMA DONNAS OR BEING, YOU KNOW, INSISTING ON BEING SERVED IN A
[00:56:09] CERTAIN KIND OF WAY. BUT BEST DID HAVE SOME VERY
[00:56:11] STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT THE WAY
[00:56:13] CERTAIN THINGS WERE PREPARED. LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WAS A BEVERAGE THAT SHE WAS SERVED IN
[00:56:17] THE WHITE HOUSE THAT DIDN'T QUITE MEASURE UP TO HER
[00:56:21] EXPECTATION. I WONDER, CLIFTON, IF YOU COULD SHARE THAT VIGNETTE WITH US, AND
[00:56:25] CERTAINLY CERTAINLY IT WAS IT WAS NOT A MOJITO. IT WAS NOT HERE.
[00:56:30] THE FIRST NIGHT IN THE WHITE HOUSE. SHE ASKED FOR AN OLD FASHIONED.
[00:56:34] THEY BOTH DRANK BOURBON.
[00:56:36] GRANDPA LIKED GRANDPA LIKED HIS NEAT.
[00:56:39] MY MY GRANDMOTHER LIKED AN OLD
[00:56:41] FASHIONED AND HOPEFULLY, YES.
[00:56:46] SO SO GRANDPA, MY GRANDMOTHER
[00:56:48] GOT THE MR. FIELDS. I THINK IT WAS MADE HER AN OLD
[00:56:52] FASHIONED AND SHE DRANK IT, BUT SHE DIDN'T LIKE IT.
[00:56:56] AND IF WORD GOT BACK TO HIM THAT SHE, YOU KNOW, TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
[00:56:59] SO THE NEXT NIGHT HE TRIED A DIFFERENT RECIPE AND SHE TOOK
[00:57:02] ONE SIP AND SAID, THAT'S STILL NOT IT.
[00:57:06] SO MR. FIELDS WENT BACK TO THE KITCHEN, THE SAY, THE STAGE
[00:57:08] SIZED KITCHEN ON THE WAY UP AND TRIED A THIRD RECIPE.
[00:57:12] AND HE PUT IT IN FRONT OF HER AND SHE TOOK A SIP AND SAID, NO,
[00:57:15] NO, I'M SORRY. THAT IS STILL NOT IT.
[00:57:18] AND NOW MR. FIELDS IS JUST A LITTLE BIT IRRITATED.
[00:57:21] IT'S THE FIRST LADY, BUT HE'S STILL NOT HAPPY. HE GOES BACK IN THE KITCHEN,
[00:57:26] GETS A FRESH GLASS, PUTS ICE IN IT, DUMPS STRAIGHT KENTUCKY
[00:57:28] BOURBON OVER IT, TAKES IT BACK
[00:57:31] OUT AND STICKS IT IN FRONT OF HER. AND MY GRANDMOTHER TOOK A SIP
[00:57:34] AND WENT FLOW.
[00:57:35] SO NOW THAT'S AN OLD FASHIONED.
[00:57:40] I DID THE HOUSEHOLD STAFF REALLY
[00:57:42] DID LOVE YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND THEY LOVE MRS. TRUMAN.
[00:57:45] AND SHE WAS VERY RESPECTFUL OF ALL OF THAT.
[00:57:48] I JUST WANT TO WRAP UP AND GIVE
[00:57:51] YOU BOTH A CHANCE TO REFLECT IT
[00:57:54] ON THE NATURE OF BESSIE'S LEGACY BEING BEING A WOMAN WHO IS IN
[00:57:58] SOME WAYS EVEN STILL MISUNDERSTOOD AND UNDER APPRECIATED.
[00:58:02] YOU KNOW, HISTORY CHANGES WILL ALWAYS HAVE NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF PRESIDENTS AND FIRST LADIES.
[00:58:06] WE KNOW MORE ABOUT ELEANOR ROOSEVELT THAN WE DID, YOU KNOW,
[00:58:10] 20, 30 YEARS AGO. BUT NO ONE WOULD SAY THAT SHE'S BEEN OVERLOOKED OR FORGOTTEN.
[00:58:13] WE KNOW MORE ABOUT JACKIE KENNEDY OR LADY BIRD THAN WE
[00:58:17] DID, YOU KNOW, 10 OR 15 YEARS AFTER THEY WERE IN OFFICE.
[00:58:21] BUT BUT NO ONE WOULD SAY THEY DIDN'T GET THOUGHT ABOUT OR
[00:58:24] TALKED ABOUT, WHEREAS WITH BESS AND SOME OF THE OTHER FIRST
[00:58:27] LADIES AS WELL, I FEEL LIKE A
[00:58:29] LOT OF PEOPLE REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CONTRIBUTION.
[00:58:31] SO I'D LIKE YOU TO EITHER SAY
[00:58:35] WHAT YOU THINK IN A NUTSHELL,
[00:58:36] THAT CONTRIBUTION REALLY WAS AND
[00:58:39] WHY YOU THINK IT HAS BEEN SO
[00:58:42] LONG IN BEING RECOGNIZED OR WHAT
[00:58:44] WE CAN DO TO CONTINUE TO SEE THAT SHE IS RECOGNIZED OR YOU
[00:58:48] WANT ME TO START? OKAY.
[00:58:50] WELL, I THINK PROGRAMS LIKE THIS ARE A BIG HELP, RIGHT?
[00:58:54] AND I THINK THE SCHOLARSHIP, THE MORE OF THE SCHOLARSHIP THAT'S
[00:58:57] OUT THERE AND THE WRITING IS IN THE STORY, THE FIRST LADY'S ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND
[00:59:01] EDUCATION, WHICH WE ARE A PART OF, THIS IS OUR MISSION TO GET
[00:59:05] THE STORIES OUT.
[00:59:07] AND I THINK TO IDENTIFY THOSE
[00:59:13] UNDERREPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS AND FACETS OF THEIR CHARACTER THAT
[00:59:17] WERE EITHER OVERLOOKED FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS.
[00:59:19] THE THE PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH
[00:59:21] THEY SERVED OR MAYBE THEY WERE NOT COVERED AS WELL, DIDN'T HAVE
[00:59:25] AS MUCH AS A PUBLIC PROFILE AS FIRST LADIES DO.
[00:59:30] NOW. SO THE UP AND YOU ARE CONSTANTLY UNCOVERING NEW MATERIAL AND
[00:59:34] INFORMATION. SO IT'S NOT A ONE OFF. IT'S NOT A ONE AND DONE WE HAVE
[00:59:37] TO KEEP AT IT AND THAT THAT REALLY IS THE THE CHALLENGE OF
[00:59:41] OUR COUNTRY AND CIVIC EDUCATION
[00:59:45] GENERALLY FOR ALL OF OUR KIDS AT EVERY AT EVERY LEVEL TO REALLY
[00:59:49] BE INVESTED IN UNDERSTANDING WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHO
[00:59:52] ARE THE PEOPLE THAT HELP TO BUILD OUR NATION. MISTAKES THAT THEY MADE,
[00:59:56] CONTRIBUTIONS THAT THEY MADE AND
[01:00:00] AND REALLY THE THE IMPORTANCE OF
[01:00:02] THE UNDER-REPORTED STORIES. SO IT'S FUN TO UNCOVER THESE
[01:00:07] DETAILS AND AND TO SHARE THEM AND THEN, YOU KNOW, TO HEAR FROM FAMILY MEMBERS AND TO READ THE
[01:00:11] WORDS OF YOUR MOTHER'S BOOK TO HOW YOUR GRANDMOTHER WAS
[01:00:16] MISUNDERSTOOD AND AND REALLY.
[01:00:19] SOMETHING THAT ONLY THE FAMILY REALLY KNOWS.
[01:00:22] SO TO HAVE YOUR SHARING OF STORIES ABOUT THE HUMOR, THE
[01:00:26] FAMILY LIFE IS REALLY JUST HELPS
[01:00:29] TO BUILD A MORE THREE
[01:00:31] DIMENSIONAL NOTION OF EACH OF
[01:00:33] THESE PEOPLE IN OUR HISTORY. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT
[01:00:37] PORTRAIT, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD REALLY THINK ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT SHE DID.
[01:00:40] YOU COME HERE AND YOU YOU LOOK AND YOU SEE AND FEEL HOW THEY
[01:00:45] SPENT THEIR PRIVATE TIME.
[01:00:48] IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF A FULLER SENSE OF WHO THEY ARE.
[01:00:52] AND I AGREE. AND I THINK THAT WITH MY
[01:00:54] GRANDMOTHER'S TIME, THOUGH, IT
[01:00:56] WAS A DIFFERENT TIME THAT SHE
[01:01:00] AND A LOT OF THE FIRST LADIES UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY COULDN'T BE
[01:01:04] OUT FRONT, THEY COULDN'T DO THIS. BUT TO UNDERSTAND AND HOW MUCH
[01:01:08] THEY WERE DOING AND HOW MUCH
[01:01:10] GOOD WORK THEY WERE DOING, THAT
[01:01:13] ONLY HELPS TO BRING THEM AND I THINK ALL WOMEN OUT OF OUT FROM
[01:01:17] BEHIND ALL OF THIS, TOO.
[01:01:18] AND IT JUST IT TAKES US FORWARD
[01:01:21] TO TO TO UNDERSTAND AND WHO THEY WERE AND HOW MUCH OF AN
[01:01:26] INFLUENCE THEY HAD AND HOW VITAL THEY WERE TO EVERY PRESIDENCY,
[01:01:29] EVERY ONE OF THEM, NOT JUST MY GRANDMOTHER, EVERY FIRST LADY.
[01:01:33] ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSABLE TO THEIR HUSBANDS.
[01:01:36] THE PRESIDENT'S AND THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR HUSBANDS.
[01:01:40] AND I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH THAT. SORRY. I LOVE THAT. THAT ONE STORY ABOUT MY
[01:01:45] GRANDMOTHER UNDERSTOOD MY GRANDFATHER VERY WELL. AND SHE DID HAVE INFLUENCE ON HIM.
[01:01:47] AND THAT'S ILLUSTRATED BY THAT WASHINGTON HOSTESS WHO CAME UP
[01:01:51] TO MY GRANDMOTHER AT A PARTY AND SAID, MRS. TRUMAN, CAN'T YOU GET
[01:01:55] THE PRESIDENT TO STOP USING THE WORD MANURE?
[01:01:59] AND MY GRANDMOTHER SAID, YOU
[01:02:01] DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT'S TAKING ME TO GET HIM TO USE THE WORD
[01:02:06] MANURE. YOU SEE THAT SENSE OF HUMOR, A
[01:02:09] SENSE OF HUMOR COMING THROUGH?
[01:02:11] WELL, IF BESS HAS BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD AND IN THE PUBLIC,
[01:02:15] SHE CERTAINLY WAS NOT MISUNDERSTOOD BY HARRY WHEN HE WAS ON THE 1948 WHISTLE STOP
[01:02:20] CAMPAIGN. ONE OF MY FAVORITE LITTLE ANECDOTES THERE WAS HE WOULD COME TO THE BACK OF THE PLATFORM
[01:02:24] AND GET OUT AND HE'D TALK TO PEOPLE AND GIVE THEM SOMETHING. THE BACK WOULD SAY, GIVE THEM
[01:02:28] HELL, HARRY. AND HE SAID, I'M DOING IT. I'M DOING IT.
[01:02:30] AND THEY HAVE HIS LITTLE SPEECH AND THEY SAY, HANG ON JUST A
[01:02:34] MINUTE. I'M GOING TO SEE. I'D LIKE YOU TO MEET THE BOSS. AND HE'D BRING BESS OUT.
[01:02:37] AND IF MARGARET WAS UP AND ON THE TRAIN AND READY TO BE PRESENTED, HE'D SAY, NOW LET ME
[01:02:41] SHOW YOU. LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE BOSS'S BOSS.
[01:02:43] AND SO, YOU KNOW, CLEARLY BESS AND MARGARET WERE AT THE CENTER
[01:02:47] OF HIS WORLD. AND NOT JUST HIS EMOTIONAL
[01:02:52] MARITAL AND PARENTAL WORLD, BUT CERTAINLY HIS POLITICAL WORLD, HIS EMOTIONAL WORLD.
[01:02:56] EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM.
[01:02:59] THE SON SORT OF ROSE AND SET OVER THOSE TWO WOMEN.
[01:03:02] SO SO IT'S WONDERFUL TO GET TO
[01:03:04] UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT BESS. APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU BEING HERE.
[01:03:08] AND PLEASE JOIN ME IN THANKING ANITA MCBRIDE AND CLIFTON TRUMAN
[01:03:11] DANIEL, FOR A FABULOUS EVENING.
[01:03:18] THAT'S. A LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
[01:03:20] THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.
[01:03:23] REMEMBER THE BOSS,GOOD EVENING.
[01:06:42] EVENING. MY NAME IS WINNIE AND I'M THE
[01:06:45] DEAN OF THIS GREAT CATHEDRAL.
[01:06:47] AND IT IS MY HONOR TO WELCOME
[01:06:49] YOU ON THE BEHALF OF. THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT JOHN, THE
[01:06:53] DIVINE I WANT TO THANK OUR PROGRAM TEAM EVENTS TEAM.
[01:06:55] YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THEM AROUND. I THINK LAURA'S HERE. AND