>> pat nixon entered the white house as first lady 50 years ago in january 1969. next, we hear about her work, interests and contributions to the nixon administration. the white house historical association and richard nixon foundation cohosted this event. good evening, everyone. to all of our friends here and those watching by c-span and on facebook live, my name is stuart mcclauren. i am the president of the white house historical association. it is my privilege to commute to the historic house as well as to the white house historical association. tonight's program is exciting and we are honored to partner with our good friends at the richard nixon foundation. i would like to welcome dr. jim cavanaugh, chairman of the board

of the nixon foundation, his wife esther on the front row. and the president of the nixon foundation who you will hear from in a few moments. we have many distinguished guests, many former officials from the nixon and other administrations, and staff and friends of the foundation. we are honored to have you here tonight. this year marks the 50th inverse tree of tricia nixon becoming the first lady of the united states. under her leadership white house collection added over 600 paintings and furnishing elements to the white house collection, which is the most of any presidency. the significance of this will be discussed in tonight's program but it's very important to us here at the white house historical association as a core part of our mission, which was inspired as all of you know by

first lady jacqueline kennedy to be the private, nonpartisan private partner to the white house for conservation, preservation, restoration of the beautiful staterooms in the white house, to the acquisition of items for the permanent collection at the white house as well, and for education programs . programs like this where we teach and tell the stories of the white house and its wonderful history going back to 1792 when george washington selected the right across the street for the white house is today in higher the young irish architect james hoban. to commemorate the occasion of his victims 50th anniversary is first lady the white house historical association has also undertaken an additional partnership with the richard nixon foundation and this is where we had created a digital exhibit highlighting mrs. nixon's efforts to restore the blue room in 1972 to the

original french empire style. photographs, documents and video footage of her refurbishment project provide greater insight into her accomplishments as first lady and highlight her commitment to enhancing the white house collections for future generations. this digital exhibit can be found on our website starting org,y at whitehousehistory. and at nixonfoundation.org. tonight march the third of four episodes in our quarterly programs for 2019, moderated by ann compton. the fourth program will take place on october 29, with former white house exec of pastry chef, a fan favorite of everyone in this room. along with jennifer pickens, another author. they have new books out in that time.

and jennifer walks in right on cue. she will join us on october 29 , and ann will have a program. we invite fo you to join us on those occasions. tonight, we are in for a real treat. and compton is one of my very favorite people in washington or anywhere. her role as a former reporter and white house correspondent as well as her being the first woman assigned to cover the white house for network television is known to everyone in this room. what may not be known or as well known as the extensive contributions ann continues to make organizations and missions such as ours, the university of virginia, and many others. acknowledgetting to this particular week, with tomorrow being the 18th anniversary of 9/11.

your unique place in american history on that tragic day as you were the only broadcast reporter on air force one with president bush that entire day to report on behalf of the press to the american people. thank you for your career, particularly acknowledging that special moment in history that we acknowledge tomorrow. [applause] we have three other distinguished guests on the panel tonight. anita mcbride, who serves on the board of directors and the white house historical association. in addition to being on the board of directors, she chairs the education committee, are david rubenstein national center for white house history. she chairs the presidential sites summit committee were every two years we convene about 200 presidential sites across the country. it will happen again in september of 2020 in dallas, texas.

she is the executive in residence at the center for congressional and president studies at american university. she's a leading authority on the role of the history of first lady's. she herself has worked for four presidents and was chief of staff of first lady laura bush. we have patricia mattson, a speechwriter and press assistant for the first lady, patricia nixon and continued in the office of the first lady for betty ford. she's had an extremely distinguished career in strategic indications, including many years in senior roles at capital cities abc. betty who worked for more than 30 years in the office of the curator of the white house, retiring as chief curator. betty is a great colleague for us at the association. she has worked with us and continues to work with us on many projects. , our major our book

decorative arts and the white house book available in our bookshop. she is a consultant to the white house history quarterly. she is our quarterly scholarly magazine we are very proud of. betty is a master regarding the white house collections. we have a wonderful panel for you to hear from tonight. , i wouldn comes up like to introduce hugh hewitt representing the richard nixon foundation. hugh is president of the nixon foundation, and has been teaching constitutional law in chaffin college of law school since 1995. you will recognize him as a frequent guest on many tv news networks and programs. he has written extensively for the new york times, the wall street journal and the los angeles times. you will be very familiar with him as a host of a nationally syndicated radio program. he served for nearly six years in the reagan and administration

and a variety of posts, including assistant counsel to the white house and special assistant to two attorney general. following his remarks in a brief video presentation, our panels will join us here for tonight's program. those of you on the side of the room, no worries. the podium will be removed so you have a clear shot of our panelists. i can't end without a little self promotion. our shop is open until 8:30 tonight. it is right at the top of the ramp from the door you came in. everybody will get a 10% discount on anything you would like to take home with you tonight. you can finish your christmas shopping right here tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you and welcome to all of the on behalf of the nixon foundation. which i became the president of in what a great first event. july. i want to get out of the way of

the experts and get them up. hurry. we know the definitive nixonphy of mrs. was written -- will be available on audiobook. it was written by her granddaughter, jenny nixon eisenhower. it's the definitive book about mrs. nexen. i was lucky. 41 years ago i was asked by david eisenhower the drive across the country to go to work for him. after three or four months i , want to work for president nixon at the western white house. retirement, there were not a lot of people around. i got to know mrs. nixon. 22 years old. don't know anyone in california. thanksgiving rolls around and she invites me to dinner on

thanksgiving at casa pacifica. it was that first dinner when i was 22-years-old and i don't know what i'm doing. i'm surrounded by the president of the united states the former , first lady and their children. she was a motion credit leave gracias person to me. the youngster with no idea what they were doing. it was only five years later when my wife and i moved to d.c. to work for president reagan. her grandmother was living in the dresden. helen smith lived in the dresden. i got to know helen very well. helen will explain to me that my graciousness from mrs. nixon was not unique to me. she was gracious to every single person she ever met.

in every capacity, young and small. she traveled the world relentlessly beginning in 1953. she set a pattern for the second lady which was unique to when she became first lady she was the first want to visit not only africa, south america as first lady tot as the first go to china and the ussr. she always insisted on seeing people. children, schools, orphanages. she wanted to get out of the diplomatic protocol and talk to people. it was there she exhibited on behalf of america the same kind of kindness i experienced firsthand. [applause] >> wasn't she an amazing first

lady in so many ways? i want to start with patty mattson who i covered at the , beginning of the for ford administration. patty you had already been hired , as a speechwriter and deputy press secretary for pat nixon. you told me once she had a keen eye for what was appropriate, and she was shaped by her growing up. how hard she worked. the work ethic. >> it was one of those things that was so important about her. i have been in television and politics. i have known a lot of people who work hard. this one takes the cake. she really was in full bore. the first thing i noticed, really my first day on the job,

-- can you hear me? sent something up to her that needed her input overnight, it was literally on your desk the next morning before you got in. it had not mattered if there was a state dinner the night before. she had a job. and she treated it as such. the day-to-day handling of constituents was so important to her. it was one of the first things she said to me and our -- in our job interview. she considered people to be her project. she did not want a pet cause. that was not her. she wanted to make life better

for people who came to visit the white house, who wanted to connect with their government. i used to watch her stand in some of these receiving lines, and she was never one of these people who shakes hands and pushes the people through. you know what i mean. you can see her looking directly at the person in front of her. meeting of minds and the taking of times to shake our hand and say a few words. she had all the energy in the world to do that, because she understood how much it meant to people to have someone who cared about them in government in washington. she felt it very strongly. she, likeoke to how

all of us make sure that requests get filled quickly, to make sure that mail was returned very quickly. she had a real feeling or being able to connect with people. it was quite a gift. she used it for the presidency. it was a very rare gift. i was fortunate enough to see it. >> she had been the public eye for so long before she arrived at the white house. why do you think the reputation of being timid -- even in the video she seemed abused people thought she was shy. she did not seem that way to you. >> she had a reserve. i found that very attractive. she was a very elegant woman. she was of an era, the best part

of an era. we don't see so much of that anymore. she was not one that was going to -- i guess the going thing now is to unload yourself and confide with america on whatever's going through your mind. a little bit of that goes a long way, if you don't mind me saying. she was appropriate, always. she had in innate ability to be that way. it was wonderful to behold. >> let me ask you because you were present for all of this period of time. thank you for all you have done for the white house as curator and the lasting legacy that you have helped create there. we think about first ladies, the more traditional role of worrying about house and home.

but she felt strongly about doing more with the white house, including opening some of those doors. >> very much. i think the film mentioned her tours for the blind and deaf. julie was instrumental in participating in as well. she was the first lady to open first the grounds for garden tours in the spring and fall. those have continued to present times. andy christmas candlelight tours in the evening. so the public could come see the house during the holidays. all lit up and beautifully decorated. another legacy that endures is the lighting of the exterior of the house. she had gotten a lot of inquiries from people talking about how the house was so dark when they walked by the house in the evenings.

she and the president would come in on the helicopter. they could not see the house, it was so dark. very early using inaugural funds from the first inauguration she , worked closely with the national park service and having the design plan and implement the lighting of the house. that is a legacy that endures today. >> the idea that she brought in more works of art then any first lady. how did that moment in history happen? >> i think it happened because she and president nixon had gone to the state department for a diplomatic reception in 1969. they had seen how beautiful the rooms were. i curator -- a year later in early 1970, she called the curator at the state department and asked if he would be willing to be the curator at the white

house. he had a job of state department. he worked in the political offices and diplomatic reception rooms. mrs. nixon invited him. they walked through all the rooms on the third floor down to the ground floor, the private quarters in the state rooms. he thought about it for a few days. decided to accept it. she was a strong supporter of this program. the rooms had last been refurbished in the early 1960's in the kennedy administration. but there was tremendous reception and a lot of crowds in the 1960's and things needed to take shape. very ambitious person who knew how to raise funds and appeal to donors. mrs. nixon would write letters to donors and have receptions and teas for people who are potential donors or museums that

might lend objects such as the dolley madison portrait. it belonged to the academy of fine arts. it was hung in 1971. then finally purchased by the association for the collection. she was a big supporter. he went up to philadelphia to the pennsylvania academy to thank them for lending that painting. she put herself out a great deal. she worked very closely and became very attached to a consulting architect. became very good friends with him and his family. what patty said about her graciousness, we were not a part of her white house staff but i remember once she invited her

staff to go out on a yacht. she included our staff. which was very generous. of aer time we got a gift gilded french chair that belonged to the blue room suite. it was mrs. nixon's birthday. we invited her to our office and showed her the chair and had a birthday celebration with her friends. some of the butlers and household staff came in. there is a wonderful photograph of her looking at something you are not quite 49. she was a very strong supporter. she had a lot of energy and was extremely gracious. -- gracious to people visiting the white house and people that would contribute in some way to the collection. >> you have worked over a

period of several presidents. you can see threads today that were begun by pat nixon. >> sure, absolutely. it's an honor to be here with two of these wonderful women who , when i wishtunity i always had. i would have liked to have sat with pat nixon. because of her impact, the love of the house, her incredible privilege she felt to be a steward of the white house and anybody who works in the white house knows the impact or sees the impact -- you see it on the walls of the things they have been able to acquire for the collection. patty mentioned correspondence. i worked for several first ladies.

correspondence was incredibly important to them. one thing about mrs. nixon was she came from a small town. she understood if somebody got an envelope from the white house, the president of the united states, what it is to receive in their mailbox, and that is why she was revivalist about having her mail responded to and that anyone who wrote to her would get a letter from the how much that means. white house and and still needs to this day of course. the fact that she took that so personally is one of her great legacies. there are people here in the audience who were volunteers and correspondence now. they know what they're talking about. elseis something everyone feels is important. thanks to eleanor roosevelt who established the first formal correspondence office at the

white house. she was the eyes and ears for her husband anyway. she really understood what that connection to the american people would be through mail they wrote to her or the president. that is something that's really important, the connection to the constituent. you can never forget that >> she had a mindset that was almost like a member of congress. in terms of having a constituency. the people across america were her constituency. she understood them because she had grown up with them. she was an incredibly hard-working person. from the time she was 13-years-old, her mother died. she was working on the farm in the morning. taking care of her older brothers. really raising her older brothers. cooking for them.

then went on to start working as a teenager. sometimes holding two or three jobs. she was a professional for a very long time. that main thing is she abouttood how people felt something like the white house. her tovery important to have them leave feeling better about themselves and about what was going on. >> opening the white house at night with me people who had day jobs would have access as well. , iemember from my years covered seven presidents, starting with gerald ford and all the way through president obama. i remember assigned probably all wanted on the desk. ronald reagan had there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the

credit. that was pat nixon. >> she lived that. she was the embodiment of that. really she was the embodiment of that. you could see it. it was never about her. i ran into a quote and it was a barbara bush quote. -- nixon did not see credit barbara bush was not shy. nixon did not seek credit, which be white she is not as fully appreciated as she should be. she never sought recognition for herself. but those of us who knew and hadred her always wish she received the appreciation she earned over a lifetime of service. mrs. nixon always one of the work to speak for itself. she didn't care about getting credit. she genuinely did not. ofyou once told me the role

first lady adapts to the woman as much as the woman adapts. how does that work? >> someday, it will be a man. that is the white house in general throughout our history. the occupant adapts to the office and the office adapts to the occupant. i think mrs. nixon like all , first ladies, the thread that binds all them together is there is no person that cares more about the success of the president and the presidency than the president's spouse. that is there single focus. that does bind all of them together in what they share. that is the single person who has experienced the ups and

downs, and who at the end of the day is not like any of advisor. they are confident. mrs. nixon does not get credit for what an incredible political mastermind that she was. this is the hardest working person on the president's campaign. think about it. in six years she went from , congressman to senator, to president in six years. all these campaigns, many of them which were very difficult. 1952, running for the vice presidency on the skin on the finances erupted. how that personally wounded her. it was a challenge to their integrity, not so much a challenge to policy and to projects but to their integrity. this famously shy person, and she did not have to be the loudest voice in the room, was wounded by that.

>> i was watching this wonderful tape that was done, and it encapsulates everything she was about. i was watching it and thinking, i wish she could have seen that. then i thought, get a grip. she never would have let you do something like that. [laughter] never in a million years. she was too modest to think about letting you do something like that. >> one thing she has not gotten adequate credit for is the pandas. a great story. >> she is going with her husband to the breakthrough opening in china. really, a seminal moment for american relation. trip and aher to the hairdresser.

pick up the story. she is at the state dinner, at the state banquet and there is a package of cigarettes sitting there. >> i do not know that story. >> these are wonderful. you should have someone. she -- he said, cigarettes? and she said, no. pandas. he said, i will send you two. the actual carton of cigarettes is an artifact that

.ou will have at the library i thought that was terrific. it is a great way to tell the story about this nomadic skill saying, ively way of like those. here we have this national treasure of the pandas. they put so much preparation into that visit. could predict that would be the outcome. winchester told me a wonderful story about the logistics of getting the pandas.

>> one thing that i know , it is in the subject. people did not realize that whether it is a state dinner or if you are doing a foreign trip, for years, there were no jet airliners. you can imagine what it was like going to some of these places. the amount of time and work that goes into it. you are talking to that person on their own level. you have to know what you are talking about or what you are not supposed to be talking about. you cannot phone it in.

you have to know those and make sure that you can handle something along those lines. nuance of whythe you have to do that. there are so many things to admire this woman port. stride. took it in it was part of her job. she excelled. she was comfortable talking to heads of state. she was very comfortable. there was that terrible earthquake in peru. mountain. in a

she met the wife of the president there, and they walked for five hours. it was something. she read the stories to begin sent ourthe government planes with some things. three weeks later, she noticed the coverage of it had stopped and she went to the president and said, i would like to be helpful here. i would like to do something. within a week, she was on a plane headed for peru. she had to sit in a makeshift obviously ae it was plane that was taking as many

things as they could load up. the wife of the president met her. for five hours. , there werethe day 50,000 people who died in the earthquake. something like 800,000 without a home. she spent the day talking to everyone that she could see, hugging them. had thismats -- it consequence. the president of the country had -- had made overt overtures to the soviets. thats one of those moments

you did not know what way it was going to go. by the end of the day, he had heard everything that had happened and how everyone adored her. what she had gone through to initiate this and go over there with all of this. , not even a week the soviets sent 60 planes of materials to help these people. it was not only her own government supporter, but the irony was it also ended up getting the more support from another country. >> the time that she was in the public eye was such dramatic ones. by the time they got to the white house with civil rights movement, the war in vietnam and

the woman's rights movement, pat nixon walked that careful line without getting overtly political. she would stand up. yes, you should pass the equal rights amendment. she would talk about that and she would talk about women running for office. still ineagues were university. how did she find the strength? >> barbara was running the office of women's issues.

i'm going to tell your story. this is nixon knew how she worked with them in the white house office. youks to leadership with and others, they were very conscious of this burgeoning women's movement. the republicans were losing ground on this. she worked very closely with the office of women's issues. the appointments of women in the federal government and speaking publicly. and maydisappointed

have expressed that privately, but publicly, she supported the president. character and the appropriate way to do it. she was responding to what was going on in the country. and join us. we had a chair up front for you. >> i was just going to say, make no mistake. she was what i would call quietly, politically astute. she was not about to brag about what she could or could not do. herwas quiet about sophistication in doing things that were appropriate politically. >> the times that she lived in were dramatic ones. there are some things that do

not change. coveredears that i white house, there has always tensionittle bit of between east and west. east wing and west wing. these come with the territory. evolving.onstantly my experience with working in of white house is that a lot the ways this is handled, it comes from the leadership at the top. the way that she comported herself, she was there and wanted to take her personal interest, her character and

integrity and do what she could to be a representative of the president and of the american people. a lot of people respected that. an evolving relationship between east and west wing. in some cases, it is better than others. secrett think it is any that they were frustrated at , but it did not stop her from doing what came natural to her and what she felt she could do to make a contribution. -- when iy interviewed her, the first thing she said to me was i am not here for myself. i am here for george and because of george. get hat -- that helped me

access to the things that i needed to help her help him. people knew that. for that reason as well, we had a successful run. >> top staff level. there were some recognitions. they had a voice and a role to .lay that was in valuable ,uring the early nixon days writing that no first lady had a more fraught relationship with the west wing than pat.

patty, you came after them. >> i missed them. >> there were those who saw how important she was. -- nixon on a foreign trip five years ago, he said despite his reputation for being a -- hetful husband summoned pat's social secretary to a private meeting.

he described his details. he once told a reporter of the is veryed press, he dear, personally. i do not think i would have stayed with him otherwise. there were other interesting voices that come up about that need to have a first lady seen as a partner. the namerecognize memo ailes, who says in a wroteat nixon -- he saying, please tell the

president to talk to her and smile at her. >> she definitely had backbone. there had to be a genesis for the word man's planning. aining.pl no, she just continued on with what was on her agenda. her or not let bob deter slow her down. >> i think in the early 70 -- 1970's -- there was in east wing press corps.

it was a very different time. used to do briefings for the press. that. you can speak to >> it was very gradual. you could not even give it a date. orthe beginning, it was four five women. then she started doing international trips. in the vice presidential days, she had already done 53 foreign trips. that is unbelievable. the best have been prepared woman to be first lady that there has ever been in history. at had so much experience

such a young age. confident of the things that she needed to do and could enhance the position, and also enhance the stature of the role. i was going to say the acceptance of her joints. and the presidency. >> so many of you were involved with the foundation. we are going to open this up to questions in just a moment, and i want to ask all three of you, did pat nixon come back to the white house? ?id she come back to visit

or did she kind of leave that behind? >> another first lady did. i would give credence to nixon for her graciousness. >> this was in 71 when the portraits were completed. she said she really was not up to a ceremony. this is nixon invited her children to come back. they locked down the house that day when she was coming back.

they invited misses kennedy and the children to look at the and invited them up to private quarters. they showed the children the room that they had been in when the children were young. lovelyvited them for a dinner. that was one of the best things they could have done to give her the one time to come back to the white house. >> the most touching and beautiful letter you could nixon's saying that the had made the day that she most dreaded a wonderful experience for her.

it would bring a tear tear i to see this letter. she was very complementary about how the white house had been improved. corners inno dark the house. she had done a beautiful job. thealso complimented ability raising of the two lovely daughters. she said to raise young women like that, who are in the public idea entire life is a difficult thing to do and you did a wonderful job. portrait of pat nixon. tell us about that. >> is an extremely beautiful intrait and it was painted

1978. to paint out there in-house. it came to the white house. there was a note sent to julie about the impression of her mother while she was painting this portrait. so beautifully evocative. said it is almost greek. the eyes reveal an unusual spirit. an expression of great sweetness. in that expression, occasionally the doors close and the lights go out.

it is what one finds in all great beauty. always appealing to something beyond. the desire for the unattainable. windowe looked out the at the hummingbirds, there is a hummingbird in the painting. eyes, shesion in her still needs to injustices. i thought that was a beautiful tribute. >> audience, let's hear from you. we have a microphone. >> i will start -- i will try to stand, but i broke my hip. you talked about the support of women's rights. 1972, at the convention, they

had a platform committee to decide public policy. the majority of women on the platform committee wanted to do something about childcare. men, i'mjority of sorry, did not want to. it got five -- fairly tense. all of a sudden, the tension went away and they supported funding for federal childcare. i asked why and people looked at me and said the east wing said it was time. crowd. is a lively over here in the third row. amazing tories are hear. is there another one he would

care to share with us about an acquisition, perhaps? >> i think this is nixon was interested in portraits of first ladies. reception atlarge it had been in the family for years since they were painted in the 19th century. she gave a wonderful reception and invited many descendents to the reception at the time. she had tried to acquire a portrait of james madison.

1970, i think it was. i do remember when the blue room was unveiled. major project. it was copied and replicated for the blue room. receptionhaving this and it was the evening. they went on with the reception. >> good questions. right here. >> misses trump went to an

active combat zone and i do not think she got a lot of coverage, commentators and this this is bush is nixon. press. nixon get much come -- coverage at the time? what about that story about her being in a helicopter? >> she was the first lady to go to an active combat zone. it was while i was working for misses bush and i went to the center in philadelphia. there was an exhibit on first ladies. i did not know that she is the most traveled first lady.

.o one has eclipsed that peeling back the layers. she was fearless. timerms of coverage at the , i am not sure. the nixonommend foundation. years,last couple of there has been so much attention paid to the contribution of this extraordinary woman. not only the impact that she had , themen and women's rights fact that she is the first lady given the title. as a global diplomat, no one

comes close. remarkable achievements that she had to afghanistan, the middle east, all over. we had difficult time getting coverage. toreally had to beg people come on our trips. note is itr thing to is not that she had never been in frightening situations. nixon, when hent was vice president, had gone to south america and were in the middle of a riot that was so close. they were not told how close had were to death, so she close calls before this and she

was going. she was undeterred. >> we have a question over here and there is a microphone coming from behind you. this is television. >> it is interesting to me. i would like to hear from each one of your panels telling me exactly because she was quoted as saying -- she gave up everything that was precious and dear to her to support the president. listening to you ladies, that does not seem to be the case. >> the thing that was most dear to her was her privacy. certainly give that up for her husband. >> i highly encourage everybody.

an interview that she gave over with virginiays sherwood. it was a wonderful interview. she asked that question about what -- what bothered her the most? all the places that she has traveled, what bothered her the most? she said she had to be guarded all the time and be surrounded all the time. i think anybody in public life would say that is a pretty hard thing to do. >> she made the house such a home that they should could have that privacy. >> the other thing that came out , they askedrview

her, buyer you not talking about everything to redo the white house? we do not see anything around about it. that comparison was relevant and she was very grateful to misses kennedy for really bringing the nation's attention to the white house and having people understand how important it was, but she did not want to get into making comparisons with other first ladies.