Videos

White House historian William Seale discussed the Scottish stonemasons who helped build the White House and the exterior carvings that are visible to this day. Mr. Seale is the author of A White…

Two Dublin architects talked about the Irish-born James Hoban, who worked with George Washington to design the president’s house. They discussed Hoban’s architectural influences and how…

This program is the opening session of a day-long symposium focused on the history of British and Irish connections with the White House. The British and Irish ambassadors to the United…

Jill Abraham Hummer talked about her book, First Ladies and American Women: In Politics and at Home. She focused on the historical eras that produced individual first ladies and considered…

This program featured Dolley Madison’s political talents and the working partnership she forged with her husband, James, to create a sense of personal and political excitement during their White House…

Veterans of Richard Nixon’s White House gathered to talk about the president’s relationship with Congress. As he began his first term in 1969 he faced the opposition party in control of…

Historian Peter Lillback talked about his book, George Washington’s Sacred Fire. He argued that while many historians consider Washington to be a deist or only a nominal Christian, he was,…

Former First Lady Betty Ford is remembered on the centennial of her birth. Hillary Clinton joined Lynda Johnson Robb, the daughter of President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, to talk about Mrs.…

Clifton Truman Daniel, President Harry Truman’s eldest grandson, returned to the White House neighborhood to deliver a historical talk about why President Truman found it necessary to move…

George Washington’s Mount Vernon hosted the annual Martha Washington Lecture, which highlights new thinking about her life and times. This year, the focus was on two 18th century women. Amherst College…

The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation marked the centennial of the 35th president’s birth with a discussion of his life, work and legacy.

Historian Jon Taylor discussed the political alliance between Harry Truman and Kansas City political kingpin Tom Pendergast in the early 1930s. Pendergast became a significant figure…

Historian Kate Masur discussed They Knew Lincoln, a book written by John Washington and first published in 1942. It tells the stories of African Americans who knew and worked for President…

Herbert Hoover scholar George Nash talked about the defining relationship between the 31st president and his Oval Office predecessor, Calvin Coolidge. This event was part of the Herbert Hoover Presidential…

Philip Zelikow (National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush) James Graham Wilson (Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State), William Taubman (Author Gorbachev: His Life…

Colin Calloway - author of The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation - talked about Washington and his relationship with…

The University of Virginia’s Miller Center convened scholars for a two-day conference looking at the complicated history between U.S. and Russian leaders over the last century. The…

Author Kevin Hayes discussed George Washington’s love of reading and how it influenced his thinking on everything from military matters to gardening and religion. Washington was considered by many of…

Charles Calhoun reevaluated the 18th president. Mr. Calhoun is the author of The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. He explained why Grant was considered an unsuccessful chief executive by…

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation marked what would have been the 40th president’s 107th birthday. We’ll hear from Camp Pendleton’s Brigadier General Kevin Killea and James Baker,…