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Women in the White House

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This program is derived from the History Channel. It includes photos and newsreel clips from past US presidencies, as well as analyses by experts in this subject.

The first disc focuses on first mothers. One learns of the dedication they had to their sons in making them successful. They taught their boys to read and helped them excel in school. Some of the mothers were activists. For instance, Lillian Carter, the mother of President Jimmy Carter, was a champion of the rights of African-Americans long before this kind of thinking was common. She had a strong-willed personality. President Carter quipped that there were times when she spoke authoritatively to him as if he were still a little boy.

Many first mothers endured great hardship. For instance, the mother of President Gerald Ford had to leave her violently-abusive first husband, with the infant Gerald, at a time when women were supposed to keep quiet and endure such abuse. The mother of President Clinton initially kept her cancer secret so as to not upset the President, and then bore the course of this fatal disease stoically.

The second disc focuses on first ladies. The dynamic personalities of Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton need little comment. But not everything was pleasant. Betty Ford, the first lady of President Gerald Ford, showed unprecedented candor about her personal problems, such as her alcoholism. The program portrays Pat Nixon as a first lady who seldom received public appreciation from her husband, President Richard Nixon, even during his disgraceful resignation in the face of the Watergate Scandal. Lady Bird Johnson, along with her husband, President Lyndon Johnson, had to endure the chants of anti-war protesters: "Hey! Hey! LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?" Johnson chose not to run for re-election in 1968.

This program is over 3 hours long. It re-awakens many memories of past US presidencies, and does so from an unusual angle. It is part of Americana.