1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:03,880 Speaker 1: Live from Television City in Hollywood. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 2: On the evening of October thirteenth, nineteen fifty seven, millions 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 2: of Americans sat down to watch a special event on 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 2: television featuring some of the country's most popular entertainers. 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 3: Ing Crosbie, Frank Sinatra, lorosbry Clony, Loie Armstrong. 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 2: But the real star of the show its yes, the Edsel, 7 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 2: the car that the Ford Motor Company, sponsors of this show, 8 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 2: was introducing to the public with unprecedented fanfare. Here's being 9 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: Crosbie with old blue eyes, Frank Sinatra. 10 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: This is an opening show. 11 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 3: Oh you're know on TV for Edzel to go all 12 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 3: the way. It's a great card too, bing and they're 13 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 3: putting on a great square. 14 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 2: It was a big night when the Edzel first came out. 15 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 2: This was a big deal, right. 16 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 4: It was about as big a deal as you can imagine. 17 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 2: But not too big to fail. Just two years after 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 2: its launch, the ed Sell was out of gas. The 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 2: very name immortalized as a byword for failure. But Edzell 20 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 2: wasn't just the name of a car. 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 4: Edgell was the name of Henry Ford's only son. 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: And one of history's most famous NEPO babies. Yes, nepo baby. 23 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 2: The nepo is short for nepotism. You may have heard 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 2: the term nepo baby to describe celebrity children born to 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 2: celebrity parents and all the advantages that come with that. 26 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 2: But family connections affect every field of work and always 27 00:01:54,760 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 2: have And when family is involved, so is drama. In 28 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 2: this episode, we'll tell you the story of Henry and 29 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: Ed sul Ford. Oh the pressure of being the son 30 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 2: of that guy. 31 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 4: It had to be tough, knowing that you would never 32 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 4: be able to top what your father had done because 33 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 4: it couldn't be done anymore. 34 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 2: You'll also hear about the first father and son to 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 2: make it to the White House. Service is the family business. 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 5: Service is the family business because the family business is America. 37 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 2: And speaking of the White House, we'll recount the tale 38 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 2: of the famous daughter who strolled into sixteen hundred Pennsylvania 39 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: Avenue on four legs. Was Pushinka a nepo baby? 40 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 6: I would have to say yes, I mean, look at 41 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 6: the lineage she came from. 42 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: Three stories, three families, three big names, well two if 43 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 2: you don't count the dog from CBS Sunday Morning and 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 2: iHeart I'm Morocca. And this is mobituary this moment, NEPO, 45 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 2: Babies of History, Edzel, Ford, John Quincy Adams, and Prushinka 46 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 2: the Dog. You say the word ed Sel and most 47 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 2: people think what. 48 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 4: A synonym for failure or commercial product failure in any event. 49 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 2: That's Matt Anderson. He's the curator of Transportation at the 50 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 2: amazing Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan. 51 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 2: For ten seasons, I've hosted the CBS television series Innovation 52 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 2: Nation at the Henry Ford, and Matt is my go 53 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 2: to guy for all things automotive. 54 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 4: I like to think that the ed Sel was overstyled, oversold, 55 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 4: and overpriced. 56 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 2: Would you say it was a bad car. 57 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 4: I don't think the Edzel was a bad car per se. 58 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 4: I mean it was a solid vehicle. The engineering did work, 59 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 4: but it just wasn't what the market wanted. Ford promised 60 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 4: something entirely new in automotive engineering and design, and in 61 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 4: the end, the Edgel just had things that are kind 62 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 4: of gimmicky. 63 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 2: The Edzel was meant to compete with mid priced cars 64 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: like Chrysler's Dodge and GM's Pontiac and Buick, and it 65 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 2: boasted several genuine innovations like system warning lights on the dashboard, 66 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 2: which every car made today has, But it also had 67 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 2: features no one seemed to need, like a rolling dome speedometer, 68 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 2: and debuting in the midst of a recession, it's low 69 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 2: miles per gallon was a non starter for most consumers. 70 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 2: As for the design of the car, it got attention 71 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 2: all right, the wrong to attention the oddly shaped vertical 72 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 2: grill at the front. Comedian Danny Thomas said it made 73 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,799 Speaker 2: the car look like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon. Others 74 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 2: likened the grill's shape to something more risque. 75 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 4: That was a comment made at the time. It made 76 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 4: ever since, yes, at the Edzel represented a certain anatomical part, 77 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 4: and we'll leave it at that. 78 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 2: The company had spent ten years and two hundred and 79 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 2: fifty million dollars on the Edsol. After just three model 80 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,679 Speaker 2: years and a loss of three hundred and fifty million, 81 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 2: the Edzel was discontinued over sixteen years after the man 82 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 2: for whom it was named, someone who had nothing to 83 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 2: do with the car, had died. The final insult to 84 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 2: a man who never got the credit he deserved from 85 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 2: the public or from his own father. 86 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 4: When folks generations into the future think back on the 87 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 4: twentieth century. There are just a few names that are 88 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 4: going to be remembered, and Henry Ford's is one of them. 89 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 2: Henry Ford revolutionized mass industrial production with the assembly line. 90 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 2: He introduced the five dollar workday, helping to create a 91 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 2: middle class, and he was the man behind the vehicle 92 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 2: that changed America. 93 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 4: The Model T which Henry Ford had designed and introduced, 94 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 4: changed the automobile from being a plaything for the wealthy 95 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 4: into a tool of everyday life. 96 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 3: It ended the isolation of the farmer and made the 97 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 3: Sunday ride at National Institution. 98 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,799 Speaker 2: When Edsel Ford rolled off the assembly line on November sixteenth, 99 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 2: eighteen ninety three, courtesy of Henry and Clara Ford, the 100 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 2: family wasn't yet wealthy. Henry was still just getting started. 101 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 4: Just about six weeks after Edsel was born, he built 102 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 4: his first internal combustion engine and it worked. He only 103 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 4: ran it for about thirty seconds or so, but that 104 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 4: moment kind of was a Eureka moment for Henry Ford 105 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 4: and knew that this was what he was going to do. 106 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 4: He was going to get into the automobile business. 107 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 2: An only child, Edseell grew up alongside that business. At 108 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 2: age two, he wrote in his father's first gas powered automobile, 109 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 2: the Quadricycle PSI, I've driven in a replica of the original, 110 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 2: four big bicycle wheels, a little buggy seat and no brakes. 111 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 2: You had to use your foot to stop at Fred 112 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 2: Flintstone style. As a young boy, Edsell spent hours drawing 113 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 2: imaginative designs for his own cars. As a teenager, he 114 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 2: spent as much time as he could after school at 115 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 2: his father's auto plant, helping with the mail, attaching brass 116 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 2: tags to new vehicles, and in nineteen oh eight, when 117 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 2: Edseell was sixteen years old, Henry unveiled the Model T. 118 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 4: I think it's a measure of the esteem in which 119 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 4: his father held him at that point that Edzell was 120 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 4: a part of a very small group who was involved 121 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 4: in designing the Ford Model T. Henry literally built a 122 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 4: kind of a secret room in the corner of the 123 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 4: factory where his top engineers would sit and work through 124 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 4: what this automobile should be, and Edzell was there for 125 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 4: all of those discussions. 126 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 2: As soon as he graduated from high school, Edzell went 127 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 2: to work for his father full time, a newspaper at 128 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 2: the time described him as quote a quiet, hard working 129 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 2: youngster with a desk in his father's office, as familiar 130 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 2: with every branch of the business as any of the 131 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 2: officers in the company. 132 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 4: He was elected to the board of directors in nineteen 133 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 4: fifteen when he was all of twenty two years old. 134 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 4: So he moves pretty quickly from the bottom up to 135 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 4: the upper reaches of Ford Motor Company. 136 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 2: Do you think that he worried that people thought he 137 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 2: was there only because he was the boss's son. 138 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 4: That had to nagg at the back of Edgell's conscious 139 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 4: that people somewhere up or down the line at Ford 140 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 4: Motor Company would have thought he was just there by 141 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 4: virtue of who his father was. 142 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 2: When Edzell asked for an exemption from military service during 143 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 2: World War One to keep working at Ford Motor Company, 144 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 2: he was accused of being a draft dodger. 145 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 4: I think that on him because he really did believe 146 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 4: that he was of more value working at Ford Motor 147 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 4: Company than overseas. 148 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 2: But Edseell, who was named president of the company at 149 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 2: age twenty five, would prove himself worthy of his position 150 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 2: and in many ways a stark contrast to his father. 151 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 4: They were very much different. In fact, about as polar 152 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 4: opposite as you could imagine. Henry grew up on a farm. 153 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 4: He never finished his grade school education and kind of 154 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 4: worked his way up to his ultimate career goals. 155 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 2: Here's Henry espousing his belief that success starts and ends 156 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 2: with hard work. 157 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 6: The young man makes his mind the work. 158 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 2: There's no event of what he can do, makes up 159 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 2: his mind to. 160 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 5: That's the idea. 161 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 2: Where he has much an. 162 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 7: He must study. 163 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,599 Speaker 2: And Henry was proudly unpolished. On the other hand, ed 164 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 2: Sell was urbane and sophisticated. Henry did trust experts. Edseell 165 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 2: admired them. Henry had little interest in the arts. Edzell 166 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 2: was a great patron of music and art in Detroit. 167 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 2: He commissioned the monumental Detroit Industry Murals from Mexican artist 168 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 2: Diego Rivera for the Detroit Institute of Arts, and let 169 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 2: me tell you, if you are ever in the Motor City, 170 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 2: you must must go see them. Henry never drank and 171 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 2: kept a close circle of friends. Edsell loved to socialize. 172 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 2: You know, people talk about work life balance today. Did 173 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 2: they differ on that score? 174 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 4: Absolutely? Henry lived and breathed his work. Even when he 175 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:41,719 Speaker 4: was at home, he was still thinking about what was 176 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 4: going on at the Ford Motor Company. Whereas Edsel he 177 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 4: would put in his forty hours of fifty hours, whatever 178 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 4: it took in the company. But when he went home, 179 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 4: that was his time to enjoy with his family, to 180 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 4: enjoy recreational pursuits, to enjoy education in Richmond, whatever it 181 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 4: might be. 182 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 2: Edseell married Eleanor Clay in nineteen sixteen. They wasted no 183 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 2: time in starting a family. Their first child, Henry Ford, 184 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 2: the second, was born in nineteen seventeen. They went on 185 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 2: to have three more. Now, in terms of whom you'd 186 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 2: rather have. 187 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 4: As a boss, Henry had a very gruff management style, 188 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 4: his way or the highway. Edzel preferred to let people 189 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 4: talk about different options and think it over and come 190 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 4: to a logical conclusion. 191 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 2: Edseel was just a lot friendlier. 192 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 4: And ed made a point of greeting everybody on the 193 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 4: way into work in the morning, from the people on 194 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 4: the ground level there right on up to the senior executives. 195 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,559 Speaker 4: And Henry always had a kind of a holder look 196 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 4: about him, particularly as he got older, you know, almost 197 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 4: a scowl about him, which would make him a little scary. 198 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 2: And not to be rude, but from certain angles he 199 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 2: could look like mister Burns from the Simpsons. 200 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 4: That's an adequate embarrasson I think there. 201 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 2: I wonder if Henry was a jealous of his son 202 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 2: when he saw how much employees liked Edsel. 203 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 4: I would imagine to some extent too, Henry was probably 204 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 4: yellis just of Edzel's youth. It's inevitable as we get older, 205 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 4: and here's Edzel rising up and just hitting the peak 206 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 4: in the prime of his own life. And it's a 207 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 4: time that's passed for Henry. So that had to have 208 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 4: been a part of it too. 209 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 2: Did Henry ever try to undermine his son? 210 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 4: Unfortunately, Henry undermined his son at just about every turn. 211 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 2: Edseell may have been the company's president, but Henry never 212 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 2: actually gave up the wheel. He retained full authority. Case 213 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 2: in point, when the Highland Park plant was becoming overcrowded, 214 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 2: senior managers appealed to Edseell. 215 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,719 Speaker 4: So after listening to this and seeing the evidence, Edgel said, 216 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 4: let's build an annex, a new building for administrative offices. 217 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 4: And they gotten to the point where they dug a 218 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 4: hole for the foundation. 219 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 2: But when Henry saw the hole, he didn't like it. 220 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 2: He put the kebash on Edsel's expansion plans. 221 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 4: And try to reason with his father pushed back against 222 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 4: this idea. Henry wouldn't hear it, and Edsel finally just 223 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 4: as okay, fine, we'll close everything down, We'll fill in 224 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 4: the hole. You'd think that would be the end of it, 225 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 4: but it wasn't. Henry said no, no, don't fill in 226 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 4: the hole. Leave it that way. And so for several 227 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 4: months afterwards, everyone who came into Ford Motor Company saw 228 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 4: this big, gaping hole in the ground. They were infect 229 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 4: reminded every morning of who had the final say at 230 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 4: Ford Motor Company. So absolutely humiliating. 231 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 2: And to do that to his own son, yeah, very 232 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: very cruel. Driving father and son farther apart where they're 233 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 2: differing views on the world. Henry was viciously and very 234 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 2: publicly anti semitic. 235 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 4: That is the darkest stain on Henry Ford's character and 236 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 4: one that has not gone away and won't and shouldn't. 237 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 4: He was a virulent antisemit. 238 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighteen, Henry purchased the Dearborn Independent newspaper, which 239 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 2: a year and a half later under his direction, began 240 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 2: publishing a series of articles entitled The International jew The 241 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 2: World's Problem, which claimed there was a vast Jewish conspiracy 242 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 2: and blamed the Jewish people for everything from war to 243 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 2: jazz music. The newspaper was distributed at dealerships across the country, 244 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 2: reaching a circulation of nine hundred thousand, and. 245 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 4: Edzell and Clara too. To their credit, they were on 246 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 4: the board of directors quote unquote of the Dearborn Independent 247 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 4: because it was owned entirely by the Ford family. They resigned. 248 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 4: Edgell in particular, said no, I'm not going to have 249 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 4: anything to do with this newspaper. He knew he couldn't 250 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 4: stop his father from publishing it, but at least he 251 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 4: wasn't going to be a part of it. 252 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 2: And then in the mid nineteen twenties came a rift 253 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 2: over Henry's other child, his beloved Model T. 254 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 4: The car was absolutely cutting edge in nineteen oh eight 255 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 4: nineteen oh nine when it was built and introduced, but 256 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 4: by the mid twenties eight to ninosaur. 257 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 2: The Chevrolet was helping General Motors roar passed Ford. But 258 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 2: Henry didn't want to hear it. 259 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 4: That slump in the Model Tea's sales which really fall 260 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 4: off a cliff. Starting about nineteen twenty five is where 261 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 4: the break between Henry and Edsel really begins, where they're 262 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 4: more or less friendly and familial relationship starts to fall apart. 263 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 2: After years of pleading, Edzell finally convinced Henry to trade 264 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 2: in the Model T for the bigger and better looking 265 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 2: Model A. 266 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 4: The Model A is no doubt the first Ford automobile 267 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 4: that had real style to real class. 268 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 2: Boy, it seems like the cars that each of them 269 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 2: championed were sort of a reflection of them temperamentally right. 270 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 2: The Model T so important, ultimately very practical, The Model 271 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 2: A nicer to look at, more comfortable to drive. 272 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: Yeah. 273 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 2: With its design supervised by Edseel, the Model A went 274 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 2: on to sell over four and a half million and 275 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 2: put Forward back on top. Henry took the credit, but 276 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 2: it was Edsel's triumph and not his only one. Ed 277 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 2: Soul was the driving force behind Ford's first luxury vehicle, 278 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 2: the Lincoln Continental, which architect Frank Lloyd Wright called the 279 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 2: most beautiful car in the world. 280 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 4: To this day, critics enthusiasts alike will refer to it 281 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 4: as one of the most beautiful American production cars ever built. 282 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 3: The United States, even when it is running and low, 283 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 3: is a pretty big business proposition. 284 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 2: You are now hearing rare audio of the press shy 285 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 2: ed soel Ford appearing alongside his father in nineteen thirty five. 286 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 3: What I believe the country is getting ready to make 287 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 3: a very decided step forward next year, and we are 288 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 3: doing all we can to help it along. What do 289 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 3: you think of that, Brodoc? But I think everybody has 290 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 3: decided that they've. 291 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: Got to go to work. 292 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 2: By that point, Ford Motor Company, under ed Sel, was 293 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 2: playing a major role in aviation. 294 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 4: People might not realize Ford Motor Company was very busy 295 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 4: in the aviation business in the nineteen twenties into the 296 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 4: very early nineteen thirties. They built one hundred and ninety 297 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 4: nine four Trimotor airplanes, which were really the first successful 298 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 4: all metal commercial aircraft flown in the United States. 299 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 2: When America entered World War II, Edsel oversaw production of 300 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 2: one bomber per hour at the company's Willow Run plant. 301 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,639 Speaker 4: It was Edseel that was there running the company, meeting 302 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,959 Speaker 4: with the government, meeting with the military, making things happen. 303 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,159 Speaker 4: I don't think it's too much of a stretch to 304 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 4: say that Edgell made his dying breadth toward for World 305 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 4: War II production of Ford Motor Company. He gave his 306 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 4: every last ounce to that effort. 307 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 2: It was during the war, in nineteen forty three that 308 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 2: Edseell began experiencing intense pain in his stomach. His physician 309 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 2: diagnosed him with ulcers. When the pain didn't subside, Edseell 310 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 2: visited specialists who discovered that he was suffering from stomach cancer. 311 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 4: Sadly, at that point it had spread to other organs, 312 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 4: and you have to wonder if they had not misdiagnosed 313 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 4: it as ulcers. You know, even in the early forty 314 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 4: stomach cancer wasn't necessarily fatal. 315 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 2: But even as he weakened, Edzell continued working at the office, 316 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 2: does he tell his father? 317 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 4: Edgell tells his father about his condition. Unfortunately, Henry sort 318 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 4: of dismissed the whole thing. He said, well, no, Edgell's 319 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,880 Speaker 4: just feeling sick because he's partying too much, he's drinking 320 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 4: too much, he's not eating the right foods, and Henry 321 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 4: was a fanatic on diet. I think Henry refused to 322 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 4: accept that his son could be terminally ill because this 323 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 4: was the person who was going to keep for Boter 324 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 4: company going. 325 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 2: Eventually, Edzell was confined to his home in Gross Point. 326 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 2: Henry and Clara visited their son's bedside, but even in 327 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 2: Edzell's final weeks of life, Henry was ignoring reality, insisting 328 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 2: to associates that Edzell would be back at work in 329 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 2: just a few weeks. Edzell Bryant Ford died on May 330 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 2: twenty ninth, nineteen forty three. The obituary from the New 331 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 2: York Times read, in the untimely death of Edsel Ford 332 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 2: at age forty nine, the nation has suffered a serious loss. 333 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 2: Self effacing and instinctively avoiding the limelight. He had been 334 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 2: for more than two decades, in every sense, a full 335 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 2: partner of his father. 336 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 4: There's a great story about some of the Ford production 337 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 4: managers coming in to work the day after Edgel passed 338 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 4: away and seeing the flag and half deaf, and they 339 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,920 Speaker 4: just upped the car and kind of burst into tears 340 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 4: because they all knew what that meant and who they 341 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 4: had lost. So, you know, people really did admire Edsel, 342 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,919 Speaker 4: and in whole life, Henry had just been trying to 343 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,959 Speaker 4: turn Edseel into something that he wasn't He wanted his 344 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 4: son to be more like himself, the same personality, the 345 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 4: same kind of throat instincts, and that just wasn't going 346 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 4: to happen. 347 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 2: After Edzell's death, had his own health went into rapid decline. 348 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 2: He suffered a series of small strokes and a brain hemorrhage, 349 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,119 Speaker 2: and four years later died at his home in Dearborn 350 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 2: on April seventh, nineteen forty seven. A decade later, the 351 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 2: Ford Motor Company debuted its ed Cel line. How should 352 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 2: edsel Ford be remembered? 353 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 4: Edsel Ford should not be remembered for the Edseel automobile. 354 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 4: And that's one of the great ironies in American automotive history. 355 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 4: People hear that name, they think about that failed car, 356 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 4: and of course only did he have nothing to do 357 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,919 Speaker 4: with it. It really is the antithesis of what he stood for. 358 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 4: And he should be remembered for his successes, certainly aviation 359 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 4: for the Lincoln Continental, and he should also be remembered 360 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 4: for his work during World War Two. So there's no 361 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 4: question that he served his country in the highest and 362 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 4: best sense. 363 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 2: Coming up the Adams family, a NEPO baby seeks to 364 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 2: redeem his father at the ballot box. 365 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 5: I think he realized that he would have to carry 366 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 5: on the family's name but also make it his own. 367 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 2: Imagine a Mount Rushmore of Nepo babies. We would probably 368 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 2: include edsel Ford. We'd also have to save a spot 369 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 2: for Jesus, since after all, he's the son of God. 370 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,400 Speaker 2: I'd give the third spot to e Liza Minelli. She's 371 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 2: the daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincent Manelli, so 372 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 2: she had a leg up in Hollywood from birth, but 373 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 2: she earned that Oscar for Cabaret. As for that fourth slot, well, 374 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: considering that the actual Mount Rushmore is for presidents, I'm 375 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,479 Speaker 2: giving it to our sixth president, who was also the 376 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 2: son of our second president. I'm talking about John Quincy Adams. 377 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 2: And yes it's Quinsy, not Quincy. Now edsel Ford's father 378 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 2: helped invent the modern age, that's daunting. But John Quincy 379 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 2: Adams's dad helped invent a country, the United States. When 380 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 2: your father is not just your father, but is a 381 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,120 Speaker 2: founding father, that's got to be a lot of pressure. 382 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,439 Speaker 5: It's a tremendous amount of pressure. And it's not just 383 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 5: any of the founders. It's John and Abigail Adams. 384 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 2: Alexis co is a presidential historian. She calls John and 385 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 2: Abigail the original helicopter parents. And yes, I realized helicopters 386 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 2: didn't exist in the colonial era, but you get the picture. 387 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 5: They were involved in every aspect of their children's life. 388 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 2: They were all up in it, right. 389 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 5: There is a really long to do list. It's exhausting. 390 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 2: Just one item on that list translating the works of 391 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 2: Greek historian Thucydides. Mind you, Quincy was just ten years 392 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 2: old at the time. 393 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 5: And from a young age he showed promise. It wasn't 394 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 5: just that he was the eldest son, It's that he 395 00:22:58,680 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 5: was exceptional. 396 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 2: The second of six, Quinsy was born July eleventh, seventeen 397 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 2: sixty seven in Braintree, Massachusetts. 398 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 5: He is funny, he is pithy, but he's so serious 399 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 5: and like his parents, and more like his father, he's 400 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 5: always stressed out. 401 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 2: Well, of course, this is not a normal child rearing. 402 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 2: Aside from being the son of a founding father. There's 403 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 2: a revolution going on. 404 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 7: Yeah. 405 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 5: Literally outside their home they're seeing soldiers march by. They 406 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 5: are aware that they are a prominent family in what 407 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 5: the British are calling a rebellion. They're not calling it 408 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 5: a revolution. 409 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 2: If this rebellion fails, his father could be executed right. 410 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 5: Very likely it is a treasonous act. 411 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 2: During the height of the Revolutionary War, the young boy 412 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,360 Speaker 2: traveled with his father on missions to Europe on behalf 413 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 2: of the fledgling Republic. Crossing the ocean wasn't exactly smooth 414 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 2: sand First, their ship was struck by lightning, and then 415 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 2: they traded fire with and captured an enemy vessel. At 416 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 2: the ripe old age of fourteen, Quincy was sent off 417 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 2: without his father to Russia, where he served as secretary 418 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 2: to the American diplomat, Francis Dana. The CBS News archives 419 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 2: don't go back that far, but here's the dramatized version 420 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 2: courtesy of the HBO John Adams mini series, with the 421 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 2: excellent Paul Giamatti in the title role. 422 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 8: You must not let the idea of going to Russia 423 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 8: frighten you. You're fourteen years old, Johnny, already a man 424 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 8: and never one for childish pursuits. Yes, and I have 425 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:48,879 Speaker 8: confidence that you will make both of us very proud. 426 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 9: I would rather stay you with you, father. 427 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 2: Funny. When I was fourteen, my father was sending me 428 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 2: off to the drug store with quarters to play Ms. 429 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 2: Pac Man. Now, even as a kid, Quinsy documented it all, 430 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 2: but his diaries had pictures. 431 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 5: He's a doodler, So we have all these great journals 432 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:16,719 Speaker 5: in which he's drawing ships and people, and he's writing 433 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 5: not only for himself and for the letters he has 434 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 5: to write home, but also because he's really aware that 435 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 5: they are significant in history if they make it. But 436 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 5: if they make it. 437 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,640 Speaker 10: I love though that he's doodling because it's the reminder 438 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 10: that he's just a kid. He's fourteen, so he's doodling 439 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:37,879 Speaker 10: in the eighteenth century equivalent of a trapper keeper basically right. 440 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 2: Absolutely, And while there were no pop stars around back then, 441 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,959 Speaker 2: Quincy definitely had an American idol. 442 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 5: He was nothing short of a fanboy for George Washington. 443 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 5: When he was abroad on his own and he was 444 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 5: living at the Hague, he put up what is basically 445 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,880 Speaker 5: the equivalent of a poster of George Washington. 446 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 2: And George Washington was impressed by young Quincy, as were 447 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 2: many of the founding fathers. 448 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,120 Speaker 5: They all believed that he had incredible potential to continue 449 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,240 Speaker 5: their legacy without However, nepotism, because, of course, we were 450 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 5: not a monarchy. 451 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,920 Speaker 2: Now. Most of the children of the founding fathers could 452 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,959 Speaker 2: only land jobs through their connections. By and large, they 453 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 2: were a pretty mediocre bunch, including Quinsy's own siblings. His 454 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 2: brother Charles was described by their father, John Adams as 455 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 2: quote a madman possessed of the devil. At fifteen, Charles 456 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 2: was caught streaking across Harvard Yard. By age thirty, he'd 457 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 2: abandoned his law practice, and his family brother Thomas, was 458 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 2: described as a bully and a brute, and was equally unsuccessful. 459 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 2: Their sister Nabby, married a man, Abigail Adams, deemed wholly 460 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 2: devoid of judgment. His shady business dealings consigned Nabby to 461 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 2: a life of financial insecurity. Quincy, on the other hand, 462 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 2: sought only to please John and Abigail. The first and 463 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 2: deepest of all my wishes, he wrote, is to give 464 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 2: satisfaction to my parents. He graduated with highest honors from Harvard, 465 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 2: whereby all accounts, he kept his clothes on in public, 466 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 2: before embarking on a brilliant career in diplomacy, serving every 467 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 2: president from Washington through Monroe. Quinsy helped negotiate the Treaty 468 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,919 Speaker 2: of Ghent ending the War of eighteen twelve, and as 469 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 2: President Monroe's Secretary of State, he formulated the policy barring 470 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 2: European involvement in the Americas, also known as the Monroe Doctrine. 471 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 2: Now early in his diplomatic career, his father served as 472 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 2: the nation's first vice president. Then in seventeen ninety six, 473 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 2: John Adams was elected the nation's second president. Shortly after 474 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 2: his father's inauguration, Quinsy married the British Louisa Catherine Adams. 475 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 2: She would become our first fife foreign born first lady. 476 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 2: They would have four children. Of course, there were some 477 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 2: family drama of their own when they named their eldest 478 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 2: after none other than George Washington. 479 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 5: Which was not totally unheard of, but it's certainly significant 480 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 5: to name your child George Washington when your father was 481 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 5: also kind of a big deal. 482 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 2: Let me ask did that hurt his parents' feelings. 483 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 5: Here's what's interesting is John Adams would complain about the 484 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 5: smallest of things for pages upon pages, and he would 485 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 5: not only do it in one letter, he'd repeat it 486 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 5: in nine different letters. But sometimes he left this kind 487 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 5: of personal business. Shall we say to Abigail, and Abigail 488 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 5: wrote to Quincy's brother that when Quinsy named his child 489 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 5: George Washington, that it hurt his father's feelings. 490 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 2: It seems that Quinsy got the memo. He named his 491 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 2: second son, John George Washington Adams, was born just a 492 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 2: few months after his grandfather was voted out of the 493 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 2: White House. John Adams was the first president to lose 494 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,239 Speaker 2: a bid for reelection and serve only one term, a 495 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 2: tough pill to swallow for the whole Adams family. How 496 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 2: did this affect John Quincy Adams. 497 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 5: I think he realized that he would have to carry 498 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 5: on the family's name but also make it his own. 499 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 2: And so Quincy decided to run for president in eighteen 500 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 2: twenty four. According to biographer Paul C. Nagel, one of 501 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 2: Quincy's motives was to quote emulate or surpass his revered 502 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 2: father's distinguished career and thereby burnish the Adams family name. 503 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 2: After a nasty four way race that included Andrew Jackson, 504 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 2: John Quincy Adams was elected our sixth president. When he 505 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 2: notified his father, the aging and normally reserved former president 506 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 2: responded movingly, never did I feel so much solemnity as 507 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 2: upon this occasion, the multitude of my thoughts and the 508 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 2: intensity of my feelings are too much for a mind 509 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 2: like mine. In its ninetieth year. 510 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 5: It's the first American dynasty. It's significant. He's proud, but 511 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 5: he's also got to then sort of instill certain boundaries 512 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 5: with his father, with other people, and he's well aware 513 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 5: that he needs to be his own. 514 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: President. 515 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 2: John Quincy Adams became the first non founding father to 516 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 2: hold the nation's highest office, but he'd seen all his 517 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 2: predecessors in action up close. This is where being a 518 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 2: NEPO baby, I think is probably useful for everyone, because 519 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 2: he kind of knew all these guys growing up. 520 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 5: He did, and he took notes. He understood it was 521 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 5: a great privilege. 522 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 2: Alas much like his father's time in office, Quinsy struggled. 523 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 2: He'd come into the office without a popular majority, and 524 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 2: throughout his term he faced opposition on everything from his 525 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 2: support for education to his proposal for a national observatory. 526 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 2: His happiest time as president kneeling in the White House 527 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 2: garden growing vegetables. It was during his term that his 528 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 2: father died on July fourth, eighteen twenty six, the very 529 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 2: same day, Thomas Jefferson died, the fiftieth anniversary of the 530 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 2: country's founding. Yes, that sound you're hearing is thunder. In 531 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 2: the following presidential election, a dispirited Quinsy was trounced by 532 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 2: Andrew Jackson. He returned to Massachusetts an unsuccessful one termer, 533 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 2: the only one term president since his father. 534 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 5: I think he almost always felt like he was on 535 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 5: the precipice of failure. To have it realized was probably 536 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 5: the worst thing that ever happened to him. 537 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 2: And then months later a terror personal loss. His son, 538 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 2: George Washington Adams died by suicide by throwing himself from 539 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 2: a ferry into the Long Island Sound. Quinsy, like John 540 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 2: Adams before him, was a demanding father, and it may 541 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: have been an imminent confrontation with the old man that 542 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 2: pushed George over the edge. At this point, John Quincy 543 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 2: Adams could have retired to a quiet life. 544 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 5: He would have felt as if he was wasting his potential, 545 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 5: because these are people who believe in service. 546 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 2: Service is the family business. 547 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 5: Service is the family business, because the family business is America. 548 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 2: John Quincy Adams did not retreat into private life. Instead, 549 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 2: after much encouragement, he decided to run for a seat 550 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 2: in the House of Representatives from his home state of Massachusetts, 551 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 2: and he won in a landslide. But wasn't this a 552 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 2: step down from the presidency. 553 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 5: Absolutely not. It's doing real work, meaning legislation, representing people, 554 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 5: not just this performance of being the president and hosting 555 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 5: and all those things which nobody really likes. You're actually 556 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 5: doing work, and I think he loved it. 557 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 2: At age sixty four, service in Congress meant a chance 558 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 2: at redemption for himself and the Adams family, and in 559 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 2: this final act Quincy found a new passion in the 560 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 2: fight against slavery. It's important to note of the first 561 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 2: twelve presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the 562 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,480 Speaker 2: only two not to own slaves. 563 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 9: This is the most important case I've come before this 564 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 9: court because what it didn't fat concerns it's the very 565 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 9: nature of man. 566 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 2: That's Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams in the nineteen 567 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 2: ninety seven Steven Spielberg film Armistad. In eighteen thirty nine, 568 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,359 Speaker 2: fifty three enslaved Africans managed to take control of their 569 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,880 Speaker 2: captor's ship, the schooner Armistad, before the ship itself was 570 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 2: taken into custody off the coast of Connecticut. The fate 571 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,320 Speaker 2: of the Africans, whether they'd be allowed to return to Africa, 572 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 2: divided the nation. The case made its way to the 573 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,000 Speaker 2: Supreme Court, and the now seventy two year old Quincy, 574 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 2: who had earned the nickname Old Man Eloquent, argued the 575 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 2: case on behalf of the Africans. Here's Hopkins as Quinsy, 576 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 2: addressing the court, we. 577 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 9: Desperately need your strength and wisdom to triumph over our fears, 578 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 9: our prejudices, ourselves. Give us the courage to do what 579 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 9: is right. And if it means civil war, then let 580 00:34:55,080 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 9: it come. And when it does, finally the last battle 581 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 9: of the American Revolution. 582 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 2: Quincy's stature as a former president and the son of 583 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 2: a founding father meant he could not be easily dismissed. 584 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,920 Speaker 2: Invoking the Declaration of Independence, he called for the African's 585 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 2: inalienable rights of life and liberty to be restored. The 586 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 2: Court agreed and ruled for the Africans. It was a 587 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:34,280 Speaker 2: great triumph for Quincy, perhaps the most significant of his long, 588 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:40,840 Speaker 2: long career. Seven years later, moments after casting a vote, 589 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 2: John Quincy Adams suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and collapsed on 590 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 2: the floor of the House of Representatives. He died two 591 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 2: days later. The Bible's Book of Luke includes the verse 592 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,759 Speaker 2: to whom much is given, much is required. You may 593 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 2: be more familiar with the version in Spider Man. With 594 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 2: great power comes great responsibility. John Quincy Adams used all 595 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 2: that he'd been given in life to serve others until 596 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:17,680 Speaker 2: the very end. A Nepo baby done good, coming up 597 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 2: after the break? Is she fluffy? 598 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 1: She is definitely a fluffy dog. 599 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 2: For babies can be Nepo babies do. 600 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 3: Mister Khushav and I had a very full and frank 601 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 3: exchange of views on the major issues that now divide 602 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 3: are two countries. 603 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:46,439 Speaker 2: That's President John F. Kennedy in June of nineteen sixty one, 604 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 2: just back from his summit meeting in Vienna with Soviet 605 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:56,360 Speaker 2: Premier Nikita Khrushchev. It was an especially tense time between 606 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 2: the superpowers. The arms race was in full swing, and 607 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 2: only months before Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first man 608 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,799 Speaker 2: in space. But in the public relations arena it was 609 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 2: no contest. The Soviets were definitely playing defense. Against JFK 610 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 2: and First Lady Jackie Kennedy. So Khrushchev launched his own 611 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:25,799 Speaker 2: charm offensive by sending a glamorous young emissary to the 612 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 2: White House. Her name was Pushinka, and she was the 613 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:36,520 Speaker 2: daughter of a famous Soviet cosmonaut. When Pushinka arrived on 614 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:41,160 Speaker 2: us soil, she was naturally met with suspicion. Could she 615 00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 2: be a spy? Some wondered if she might be bugged. 616 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,440 Speaker 2: Legendary White House correspondent Helen Thomas wrote at the time 617 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 2: that a dark eyed, platinum blonde temptress has invaded the 618 00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,760 Speaker 2: White House. But Pushenka was no spy. She wasn't even human. 619 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:06,880 Speaker 2: Pushinka was a small white dog. Her name actually means 620 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:11,319 Speaker 2: fluffy in Russian. I first learned about Pushenka back in 621 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:14,360 Speaker 2: twenty oh four when I was writing my thriller about 622 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,240 Speaker 2: presidential pets and their secret role in presidential decision making, 623 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:23,799 Speaker 2: entitled All the President's Pets. Pushinka was the daughter of 624 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:29,440 Speaker 2: the pioneering Soviet space dog Strelka. In August nineteen sixty, 625 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 2: Strelka and her co pilot Belka made headlines worldwide as 626 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,680 Speaker 2: the first two dogs to come back from space. Alive. 627 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,720 Speaker 2: Side note, Leika was the actual first dog in space. 628 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,760 Speaker 2: In nineteen fifty seven. The Soviets shot her into space 629 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,839 Speaker 2: without any expectation she'd survive. She didn't. I don't even 630 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,359 Speaker 2: want to know what the Soviets did to cats. So yes, 631 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 2: Pushinka was a NEPO puppy. 632 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 1: She is definitely a fluffy dog. 633 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:01,480 Speaker 2: Alan Price is the direct of the John F. Kennedy 634 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 2: Library and Museum. 635 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,720 Speaker 1: Kushink is a beautiful dog, absolutely and a lovely temperament, 636 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:07,840 Speaker 1: very friendly dog. 637 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:12,200 Speaker 2: And the Kennedys were very comfortable around dogs. When they 638 00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 2: moved into the White House the winter before, they brought 639 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:19,360 Speaker 2: a long clipper, the German shepherd, Shannon the Cocker spaniel, 640 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:23,319 Speaker 2: and Wolf the Irish wolfhound. And then there were all 641 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:24,520 Speaker 2: their other pets. 642 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: They've got Tom Kitten the cat. They have hamsters named 643 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,759 Speaker 1: Debbie and Billy. They've got parakeets named blue Bell and 644 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: may Bell. It's really just incredible. 645 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:42,760 Speaker 2: They had a rabbit named Jaja, a gift from a magician. 646 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,800 Speaker 1: They embrace ponies. They have three of them, right. They've 647 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: got Macaroni and tex and Leprechaun. 648 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,240 Speaker 2: Funny enough, the President was allergic to both horses. And dogs, 649 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 2: But it seems he loved dogs more than he hated 650 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:04,120 Speaker 2: to break out. Enter Poushinka, the only dog that came 651 00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 2: with a passport. Seriously, she actually had a passport. I 652 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 2: like to imagine the day Poushenka came to Washington, the 653 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 2: other pets lined up inside the White House's grand foyer, 654 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:21,000 Speaker 2: awaiting her arrival, wondering who is this mysterious creature they've 655 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:25,080 Speaker 2: been hearing about. Suddenly the front doors open, the sunlight 656 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,759 Speaker 2: floods in, first a silhouette, then the sound of the 657 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:33,439 Speaker 2: dainty padding of feet, as the glamorous Pushinka strides in 658 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,880 Speaker 2: her nose in the air, taking it all in but 659 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:41,319 Speaker 2: not terribly impressed. The sense of nepo entitlement would be 660 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:47,719 Speaker 2: galling if she weren't so beautiful. Indeed, before long, Pushenka 661 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 2: set tongues wagging, none more so than that of Charlie, 662 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:56,360 Speaker 2: yet another one of the family's dogs, a roguishly handsome 663 00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 2: Welsh Terrier and favorite of the President's Soon enough, Charlie 664 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 2: and Pushinka were an item. 665 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: I believe they were exclusive, though there were certainly other 666 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,080 Speaker 1: dogs who may or may not have been interested. 667 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:11,719 Speaker 2: Now, Charlie may have had the confidence to put the 668 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,640 Speaker 2: moves on Pushenka because he too came from privilege. It 669 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:19,320 Speaker 2: was said that his uncle was Skippy, the wirefox terrier 670 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:23,719 Speaker 2: who famously plaid Asta in the thin Man series. So yes, 671 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:29,480 Speaker 2: Charlie was a nepo nephew. It should be noted that 672 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:32,480 Speaker 2: Poushenka wasn't just physically attractive. 673 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,799 Speaker 1: She's a very smart dog. She learns very quickly from 674 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:39,600 Speaker 1: the gardeners that she can climb the ladders on the 675 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,319 Speaker 1: children's slide, and so they put a peanut on each 676 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,239 Speaker 1: step to get her to climb higher and hire and 677 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,279 Speaker 1: then learn to slide down the slide on her own. 678 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:51,920 Speaker 2: The relationship between Charlie and Pushenka progressed quickly. I like 679 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 2: to imagine that they did that lady in the tramp 680 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,000 Speaker 2: thing with the string of spaghetti. I assume all dogs 681 00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 2: who fall in love do that. And in June nineteen 682 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:04,520 Speaker 2: teen sixty three, Pushinka and Charlie became parents to four 683 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:10,440 Speaker 2: adorable pups named Blackie, Butterfly, White Tip, and Streaker. President 684 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:15,759 Speaker 2: Kennedy dubbed the offspring Pupnicks. Five thousand Americans wrote to 685 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,280 Speaker 2: the Kennedys pleading to adopt the Pupnicks. Two lucky Midwest 686 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:24,759 Speaker 2: families were given the honors. To some the union of 687 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:30,000 Speaker 2: Charlie and Pushinka became a symbol of peaceful coexistence, a 688 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 2: heartwarming image during a particularly frosty period. But just five 689 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,680 Speaker 2: months later, the meaning attached to the dogs would change. 690 00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:44,080 Speaker 3: President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. 691 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:45,640 Speaker 9: Today he was shot. 692 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: When President Kennedy is assassinated, these pets become a big 693 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,280 Speaker 1: part of the memories that America holds of a time 694 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:57,080 Speaker 1: that ends so abruptly. 695 00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,400 Speaker 2: Within weeks of the murder of President Kennedy, the family 696 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:05,319 Speaker 2: and all their pets vacated the White House. Charlie was 697 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,120 Speaker 2: sent to live with a Secret Service agent. But what 698 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:09,680 Speaker 2: happened to Prushenka? 699 00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 3: So you still have Pushenka? 700 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:13,439 Speaker 6: And how old is she now? 701 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:18,240 Speaker 2: She's going on four years. Oh now, that's the voice 702 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:22,680 Speaker 2: of Chief White House Gardener Irvin Williams. He was interviewed 703 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,960 Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty five as part of an oral history 704 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,520 Speaker 2: for the JFK Library. He recalled that he met with 705 00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:33,920 Speaker 2: Missus Kennedy just two days after the president was buried. 706 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:38,439 Speaker 7: And she asked me that time, did I still want 707 00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:43,799 Speaker 7: Pushenka and I said I should did, and she's as well. 708 00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:46,240 Speaker 7: The sheika is yours forever. 709 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:48,200 Speaker 6: They were very close. 710 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,480 Speaker 2: This is Irvin Williams's son, Bruce Williams. 711 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,560 Speaker 6: She kind of hung out in his office. I have 712 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,440 Speaker 6: a picture of her under his death. 713 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:01,200 Speaker 2: Candidly, when I wrote about Shinka in my book on 714 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,880 Speaker 2: Presidential Pets twenty years ago, I never gave much thought 715 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:08,880 Speaker 2: to what happened to her after the President's assassination. But 716 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:12,680 Speaker 2: after some Internet sleuthing, we were able to track down Bruce. 717 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 2: We connected on zoom. He's now in his mid sixties. 718 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,279 Speaker 6: I can get the picture and read to hear the caption. 719 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,960 Speaker 2: Bruce showed me a framed photo of the famous White 720 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:28,360 Speaker 2: House Rose Garden that his father helped design. Missus Kennedy 721 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:29,440 Speaker 2: signed the photo. 722 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,360 Speaker 6: She says for Irwin Williams, who made this garden so beautiful, 723 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:36,840 Speaker 6: for the President who loved it so much, And it 724 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:40,480 Speaker 6: says who will care for it now that he is gone? 725 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:46,839 Speaker 2: With deep regrets, Jacqueline Kennedy. So, Missus Kennedy trusted your 726 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:50,480 Speaker 2: father to take care of the rose garden. Yes, she 727 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:53,400 Speaker 2: also trusted him to take care of Pushinka. 728 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 6: Yes, And he was very happy to do that, and 729 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:00,600 Speaker 6: that's when she came home to our house. 730 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,399 Speaker 2: The Williams family lived in a more modest home in Vienna, Virginia, 731 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 2: just outside of Washington. Bruce was just six years old, 732 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,239 Speaker 2: the fourth of five kids. So one day, just Pushenka 733 00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:16,680 Speaker 2: shows up in your house. 734 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,600 Speaker 6: Yes, my father comes home from work and Pushenka comes 735 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 6: in behind him, and she immediately runs under a chair, 736 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:32,000 Speaker 6: and five kids are now eyeballing her, and my brother 737 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:35,360 Speaker 6: sticks his hand in and she nips them. So we 738 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 6: all realized that we just need to leave her alone. 739 00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:44,200 Speaker 2: But Pushenka soon adjusted to her new suburban life. Often 740 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:47,560 Speaker 2: she'd perch on top of the couch gazing out the window. 741 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,839 Speaker 2: The Williams has lived on three acres, so Pushenka may 742 00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,480 Speaker 2: have very well assumed that this was her country home 743 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:55,400 Speaker 2: or datcha. 744 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,480 Speaker 6: And she knew when my father was coming home because 745 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:01,160 Speaker 6: she would get up and go to the door. Her 746 00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:03,960 Speaker 6: tail was really almost like a fan or a fluff 747 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,320 Speaker 6: or something. It was just full of hair. Was very cute. 748 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:09,759 Speaker 2: And was she as soft as you wanted her to be? 749 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:10,520 Speaker 3: Oh? 750 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:13,879 Speaker 6: Yes, but she really wasn't a lap dog. I mean 751 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,920 Speaker 6: she liked her belly to be rubbed, especially when you 752 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,719 Speaker 6: were outside in the yard. She would like roll over 753 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:22,480 Speaker 6: on her back and legs up in the air and 754 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:23,480 Speaker 6: you could rub her belly. 755 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:28,919 Speaker 2: In honor of her heritage, Bruce and his siblings photographed 756 00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:31,799 Speaker 2: Pushinka in a Russian fur cap, and I have to 757 00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:33,120 Speaker 2: tell you, I love this picture. 758 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:36,600 Speaker 6: That was something we did as kids, so I think 759 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 6: that's when we realized that she was a Russian dog. 760 00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:42,720 Speaker 2: I mean in that picture she really looks like Julie 761 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:49,080 Speaker 2: Christi and doctor Shabako. You can just hear Laura's theme 762 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:51,240 Speaker 2: just playing from that movie there. 763 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:54,160 Speaker 6: I think she was just a little princess in her 764 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:54,560 Speaker 6: own right. 765 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,839 Speaker 2: As for this princess's throne, my. 766 00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,320 Speaker 6: Father had a little bathroom that he would get ready 767 00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:05,080 Speaker 6: in the morning, and she found the niche behind the toilet, 768 00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:08,920 Speaker 6: and that was her home until nineteen seventy seven. That 769 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:10,280 Speaker 6: was her happy place. 770 00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:14,319 Speaker 2: And though she had receded from the spotlight, Pushinka was 771 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:20,360 Speaker 2: still receiving fan mail until the very end. Pushinka died 772 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:26,120 Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy seven. She was sixteen. Bruce's father, Irvin Williams, 773 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:27,359 Speaker 2: was devastated. 774 00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:29,600 Speaker 6: I was the one who took her to have her 775 00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:32,480 Speaker 6: put down, and he didn't want to be home when 776 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,480 Speaker 6: I did that. I mean, she was really bad, but 777 00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:40,040 Speaker 6: he couldn't bring it himself to do that. So I 778 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,480 Speaker 6: was the one who volunteered to do that. I mean 779 00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:45,280 Speaker 6: it was sad to do, but she was at peace. 780 00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:46,919 Speaker 6: That was the important part. 781 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:52,160 Speaker 2: Irvin Williams died in twenty eighteen. He was the longest 782 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:56,720 Speaker 2: serving gardener in White House history, serving presidents from Harry 783 00:47:56,760 --> 00:48:01,239 Speaker 2: Truman through George W. Bush. But he once told a 784 00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,520 Speaker 2: reporter that he would probably be remembered more for his 785 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:09,160 Speaker 2: association with Poushenka, and it seems that Irvin Williams was 786 00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:13,400 Speaker 2: more than fine with that. Poushenka's ashes were sprinkled in 787 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:17,719 Speaker 2: his casket and engraved on the back of Williams's tombstone 788 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:22,640 Speaker 2: were the words with trusted companion Poushenka. 789 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:25,680 Speaker 6: So she's with him the rest of his life or 790 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:27,439 Speaker 6: internity wherever they're going. 791 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:31,320 Speaker 2: Was Poushinka a nepo baby? 792 00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:34,640 Speaker 6: I would have to say yes, I mean, look at 793 00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:36,560 Speaker 6: the lineage she came from. 794 00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:40,839 Speaker 2: But there's oftentimes a bad association with nepo baby. Did 795 00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:46,160 Speaker 2: Poushinka give off the kind of arrogance often associated with 796 00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:47,120 Speaker 2: nepo babies. 797 00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:52,120 Speaker 6: I would say, no, she was just just a dog. 798 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,600 Speaker 6: I think she'd just like to be by herself and 799 00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:57,799 Speaker 6: away from kids. 800 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:08,800 Speaker 2: And behind the toilet and behind the it. I certainly 801 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,040 Speaker 2: hope you enjoyed this Mobituary. May I ask you to 802 00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,680 Speaker 2: please rate and review our podcast. You can also follow 803 00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:19,719 Speaker 2: Mobituaries on Facebook and Instagram, and you can follow me 804 00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:24,319 Speaker 2: on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter at Moroka. 805 00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:29,200 Speaker 2: Hear all new episodes of Mobituaries every Wednesday wherever you 806 00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:34,600 Speaker 2: get your podcasts and check out Mobituaries Great Lives Worth Reliving, 807 00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,319 Speaker 2: the New York Times best selling book, now available in 808 00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:43,040 Speaker 2: paperback and audiobook. It includes plenty of stories not in 809 00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:48,960 Speaker 2: the podcast. This episode of Mobituaries was produced by Liz Sanchez. 810 00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:54,440 Speaker 2: Our team of producers also includes Zoe Culkin and me Moroka, 811 00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,800 Speaker 2: with engineering by Josh Han. Our theme music is written 812 00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:04,160 Speaker 2: by Daniel Hart. Our archival producer is Jamie Benson. Mobituary's 813 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:09,680 Speaker 2: production company is Neon Hummedia. Indispensable support from Alan Pang 814 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:15,759 Speaker 2: and everyone at CBS News Radio. Special thanks to Steve Razis, 815 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:21,440 Speaker 2: Rand Morrison, Wendy Metrose, Amiel Weis's vocal and Alberto Robina. 816 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:28,520 Speaker 2: Executive producers for Mobituaries include Megan Marcus, Jonathan Hirsch, and Moraca. 817 00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:31,800 Speaker 2: The series is created by Yours Truly