provide stealth speed and maneuverability and yet it is important to remember in all this technological advance what has brought the mechanical achievements into existence but none of it can function without the man. the basic element of military capabilities at a prominent naval is man, individual man with his i personal dignity and his pride. no matter what machines, what weapons evolve, they will be the product of man, man will maintain them and above all, man must control theme. today new breed of forward-thinking men maintain control of most powerful and sophisticated weapon systems which stands in defense of a free world, they are the submariners. ♪ ♪

♪ >> if you missed any of today's programming you can watch it online at c-span.org/history. use the search bar at the top of the page and find favorite history topics. >> i'm steward, the president of the white house historical association and it's, indeed, an honor andde privilege to welcome you all here to historic dectaur house on this very important and significant occasion. we gatt e tonight for the tenth anniversary of this honoring of steven decatur on his birthday and it's also the beginning month, mr. secretary, of 250th anniversary of the united states navy and i can't think of a better way to -- and marine corps, that's exactly right. [laughter] >> thank you. >> and i can't think for a

better way to kick off that year with a great victory out here in marilyn very recently and that was a great occasion as well. we paid tributehe to one of the navy's greatest heros. in fact, he was cut short in his life by accepting foolishlessly accepting challenge offered by another naval officer and his life was cut short and believed as we were discussing earlier, that he may have followed monroe, president of the united states, so we don't neglect what may have been result of that unfortunate decision here on a l day mourning many. you in this room were at the cathedral earlier today as i was and secretary del toro and many of the others were here today to honor a man and whose life and whose ideals we celebrate and

honor on this significant occasion, a man who lived 100 years, 100 years. he saw in imagine how much of american history that 100 years covered, just a few years after the end of world war one, he was born and he lived a quarter of the way through 21st century. really an amazing span of life and of leadership. it was truly a somber occasion but an uplifting occasion to be there today. and hear the words of his family and so many distinguished voices in tribute to. him, as you all know, president carter gave his life in service first as a son on the farm in rural georgia, then as a midshipman at the united naval academy, where he was selected by. think of that pushover, admiral rickover, i think he's referred

to to serve in the united nuclear, a navy. then, of course, served in the georgia legislature, governor of georgia and president of the united states. i think, as his grandson referred to today, out of 100 years of life, only lived away planes eight years and only had government service for 12 of those hundred years and the rest of his life was filled with service to his community to our nation more broadly, the presidency, and then to people around the world, leaving a permanent mark on our nation and. indeed, the world. so like president carter's life, dictator's life underscores the enduring values service of sacrifice vice and an unwavering dedication to our nation a life cut short in youth. stephen decatur a life spanning

100 years, a century in jimmy carter. so as we gather tonight, us carry with us the lessons of those who have gone before us. stephen decatur, jimmy carter. all of the presidents that we at the white house historical are honored to tell the stories of in work and it's not just the presidents and the first families, but it's all those who work at the white house, all who labor and serve in to our president of the united states. they were honored to memory to remember through our at the white house historical association before we really into our program tonight and this podium is moved aside so you can see our panelist it will not stay here the whole. i do want to properly recognize and you'll be introduced more formally a few minutes. the 78th secretary of united states navy secretary and his wife, betty.

thank, sir, for your service to our nation and your friendship to the white house historical association and to me. which we look forward to continuing for a long long time into the future. we have also members of board of directors of the association. tonight, anita mcbride serves. as the secretary of our board. you'll stay. anita has a wonderful book out on the history of the first ladies. if you don't have it, you should get it. she and her daughter, a book on the first ladies of the white house and children's book. you should also have that and give that and a wonderful colleague to me here at the association, two or three emeritus members of our board of directors, very distinguished members, the honorable john dalton, who was the 70th secretary of the navy, his wife. bob mcgee and his wife, mary lou, are here with us this evening. and gail west, also an emeritus member of our board. what's unique about them? of all the members of our board

of directors who have all terrific, they're my bosses. so i have to say, they're really terrific. these three also previously served on the board of the decatur house before we, a wonderful partnership established with the national trust for historic preservation. and they served on that board with distinction. and then connected with us and have been dynamic friends of our work. and we really do appreciate that. so thank you all for. and i mentioned the national that we have omar et martinez here representing the national trust, and they are celebrating their 75th anniversary, not quite 250 years, but you'll get there. i have confidence and we are honored to have the partnership with them. if you've not had the privilege of visiting historic decatur house that you walk through briefly please come back and tour it. it's an important of american

history story of the dictators but we also use that laboratory of history to tell the story of slavery enslaved people, the president's neighborhood. we have the last surviving example of how enslaved people lived in the early times of the president's neighborhood. a tragic, compelling story that we're honored to have the responsibility to continue to tell. we have of three members, i believe, just three. forgive me if there are more of our national council and white house history. allen hall, atlanta and jennifer london. we have members of our next year leaders program here this evening, including you may recognize the name and the connection. benjamin decatur and his wife stacey, where are you? are you hear this? there we go. right here. obviously, there's a family connection there and a great friend and happy to have you both with us here this evening we have current white house

military social aides. one of my favorite groups of people in washington, they are quite silent when you're at the white house. but you see through the impressive uniforms they wear and the service that they supply to the presidency. it's not a white house event unless the white house military, social aides handling that event, that extraordinary people. and we'll have the opportunity to have three of them on our panel this evening. we have members of the society of the war of 1812, of which decatur was a hero. i had the privilege of joining them in front of decatur house this evening for an annual wreath laying that we do. and it's always an honor to have them back with us and honor stephen decatur and this occasion we have the members the white house military social aids, the alumni of, the social program and harkening back to what i mentioned before we have

host committee members of the army navy, washington d.c. host committee this evening of which the association had a privilege of contributing so to kick off our program this evening. i would like to introduce my friend and a great leader, the white house historical association and of our nation's navy for a season of time. the 70th secretary of the navy of john dalton and john. it was a meaningful and emotional, i know for you today to be with at the cathedral and honoring president carter, who was so personal to you, a relationship that you valued i treasured and there was an honor has been extended to you i know i think secretary may mention it in his remarks that we'll look forward to hearing about. but you are going to be honored in a significant way and your legacy will extend into the

navy's history, into the future far beyond your work here at the little white house. historical association. thank you, john, for your friendship. and we welcome you here now. thank you very much, stuart. you're great ceo of the white house historical and we honor you and are grateful to you president carter's funeral was today at national cathedral and margaret and our were fortunate to attend. president joe biden did a great job of giving the eulogy which president carter asked him to do

before his death. stu isaac that. who was the chief domestic policy adviser in the white house and jason carter, who was the. first grandson of president carter's, did two of the tributes. and ambassador andrew young did a wonderful job with the homily. in addition, steve ford and ted. read the tributes. their fathers had written before

their deaths yesterday. we paid our respects at the capitol rotunda, which was very moving. i had the pleasure serving in the carter administration and in several jobs. i had the privilege of name in the seawolf class submarine, the uss jimmy ss in. 223 a when i served as secretary of the navy, he told personal. then, other than marrying roseland, that's a half of a

first g. but he had an being elected president of united states. he just told me that that's the nicest thing that ever happened to him. and i be happy to send with you the link to to the naming ceremony at the pentagon. in 1990. we were honored to attend the wedding as a 75th wedding as an anniversary nursery and the roselands funeral. they were very special people and true servants of the people.

now i have the great privilege to introduce carlos del, the. 78th secretary harry of the navy. he is a wonderful friend, and he and his betty are two of the finest people. you ever meet. carlos was what i. carlos assumed his role in 2000 when he won. he has since made a lasting impact. impact for the enhancing and revitalizing the department of

the navy earning him wide acclamation or admiration from the sailors marines that he leads pretty. please join me in giving a very warm welcome to my friend. the 77 the 78th secretary of the night and. good evening. first and foremost, before i begin my remarks to pay tribute to this naval hero, let me express my personal thanks to each and every one of you. this room tonight is full of many friends and many people that have tremendous for in so

many different circles here in washington, d.c., but primarily with ties you all together as your service to our in one form or fashion. and as i look here i, see captain tony stark's, who i think runs the white house himself, don't you, tony. the work that you have done there and the work that, in fact, have had all social lives stand up and be recognized for a moment here in this room. thank you. the work that you have done is truly, truly spectacular. and i know that there is some of my fellow house fellows here tonight as to thank you for your service to our country with an extraordinary program first started by president johnson in 1964. and i had the honor at the service today to be senator chuck robb and linda as well, too. i always think of them very,

don't you, john? by the way, john, truly the greatest secretary of the navy that our nation has had since i came along. i just want to share that with you. but john and margaret, you know what you've done for our nation throughout the years is truly spectacular. and of course, i had the privilege of naming a submarine after you, john, primarily because you're a submarine two. and it was such an honor such honor. and of course we have shawn buck and his lovely wife mrs. buck here tonight as well. children buck, a classmate of mine from a naval academy. shawn had the privilege being superintendent of the united states naval academy. a previous superintendent although i kid shawn that i love him you know i've only been three times in history that the superintendent naval academy and the secretary of the navy have been from the same class. and john shared that privilege me as well too. but john was my classmate and i love shawn dearly. but i told him recently that i said he never gave me the kind of football record that if

david's gave me this year as we beat army, although we beat army my first year as secretary and thank you john. we wish you and joe and all the love and retirement. thank you all for your service to our country in so many ways. and stuart, you don't know this, but i've actually invested a lot of money into the white house historical association because i'm a horrible christmas shopper. and every year around the 22nd, 23rd or 24th of december, i come in and do what used to be your old shop and and purchase 2030 you know annual white house ornaments and and it saves in so many way between you and and had it has saved my marriage for the past 20 years. but thank you stuart for what you do as well too. and thank you also for honoring this great man, this great president, by celebrating his life as part of this year's white house ornament that has a

navy anchor. and of course, the navy should always be foremost across all the military services when it comes to these. right. but all seriousness, thank you for your for your leadership. it's truly wonderful to be with you tonight. this historic site, the carter house, to the birthday of one of the most heroic leaders of our navy. and to also reflect on the legacy of a former president and naval leader himself. but we're also gathered here tonight during a truthfully momentous year for, our navy and marine corps, as was mentioned, this year marks the 250th birthday for both services as the navy and marine corps. and i am proud to this anniversary year here tonight at decatur house, 250 years of full quarter of a millennium. now, let that sink in for a moment. 250 years is a remarkable of time and for the entirety of the past two and a half centuries, the united states navy and

marine corps have stood as guardians of our liberty and, did our way of life on the shores of tripoli to the depths of the pacific and, from the sands of virginia to the waters of the red in the middle east. our sailors and marines have always answered our nation's call with unwavering courage and unparalleled professionalism, as they have demonstrated just this past year and a half in the red sea alone. and i would argue that no name embodies the courage and professionalism of our united states navy more than former naval officer and president jimmy carter, whose memorial was today and tell you just a couple of quick stories. betty and i had the privilege two months prior to president carter going into hospice. i wanted to pay call on him to inform him that unlike john who a nuclear submarine after him. i was also naming a building on the grounds of the united states naval academy him and betty and

i visited with him, my senior military assistant and his living room and his very simple living room and his very simple home that he's lived his entire life. and he cried that day when he found that we were renaming this building after. it was truly extraordinary. and then for his hundredth birthday, i had to stop and think, what is it that you can possibly give a president, the united states, who has lived to 100 years old? you know, plaque or, you know, book? i did pretty good. i gave an f-18 fly over and we flew f-18 over his house and planes. and he had all his children and his grandchild and with him on the lawn. and he looked up. they rolled around in his wheelchair. he looked up and there was his navy. once center in his life. it's truly special. and while there are several qualities which truly president carter i can think of three in particular, which are deeply with his naval service.

first, he was truly resilient. he attended the united states naval academy, graduated with the great class of. 1946 and just three years, as was the norm during, world war two. but he did not get into the academy the first time that he applied. believe it or not, as smart as he was before that he went to georgia southwestern, and then georgia tech before finally receiving an appointment to annapolis. and both those schools kind of take ownership him from time to time. but i remind that it took that training to get him into annapolis. but nevertheless the boy from plains, georgia, knew he could do good for this country. and he knew that a naval career sorry, not an army or an air force career, navy career. and naval academy specifically was the way to do. the second quality, which i believe truly defined, president carter, was his unshakable conviction to always do what is right. even when it wasn't easiest or the most popular thing to do. and i personally have learned

from that lesson. just recently you may have read that decided to not just pardon but exonerate the port chicago, 258 sailors that were accused of mutiny and not following a legal 80 years after the incident in port chicago. i was inspired by that by president carter. he succeeded as a naval officer. but upon the death of his father he resigned his commission to return to his hometown and take care of the family peanut farm as president. some of the decisions that he made were unpopular, but he made them with the conviction that they were the right the right thing to do. they served a greater good than himself. the navy and marine corps, we call this essential quality, integrity. and we refer to leaders like as men and women of character. and that's the president spoke about today. jimmy carter is a man of great character. it is deeply ingrained in every

sailor, marine and it permeates every corner of our maritime service's integrity demands honest and accurate, even when the truth may be challenging or uncomfortable to reveal. and integrity underpins every mission. the navy and marine corps team undertakes and enables trust. trust in your training. trust in your leadership. trust in the systems you operate without integrity are ours would be a hollow force. the third quality that i'd like to point out is stoicism. as we all know, president carter was a nuclear trained submarine officer who worked for admiral hyman, the father of the nuclear navy admiral, over his nuclear interviews for a kind of rite of passage to join the submarine community. the admiral himself ran candidates through a mental olympics of an interview process. only the best would. join the submarine force. and one of my favorite stories about the young jimmy carter concerns his interview for into the submarine community when then captain rickover as the

over two hour interview came to close and captain over asked about then lieutenant carter's class standing at the naval academy when lieutenant carter responded quite that he graduated in the top 10% of his class and captain rickover asked if he had done his very best. upon reflection, lieutenant said that no, he had not. captain rickover then posed a simple, well, why not? jimmy carter did not have a response for rickover. but the question, and it's implied meaning remained with him throughout his service and throughout his life and this world that often feels chaotic and our control. stoicism offers the crucial reminder that while we cannot dictate, the actions of others we possess absolute control over our own behavior and our own responses. ultimately, all we can truly control is our own effort and our own attempts to do our very

best. and by the way, the chair that he sat was slightly shorter on the front, two legs in the last ones. so as was being interviewed, he felt like he was sliding off his chair. but that's another story altogether. so in 2023, as secretary of the navy, i had opportunity to rename a building at the united naval academy and i renamed it carter in honor of a man who exemplifies all that is good and honorable about our united armed services and indeed our nation a man who put country above self and others needs before his own. even when it required resilience, when it wasn't popular and even when the world around him pass judgment on him. although president carter is gone now, his life, his work and his legacy serve as both an answer to the question of why not best and as an example to anyone else pondering the same question. our sailors and marines today are part of a long legacy of service stretches back the past 250 years and are part the thread woven into the very tapestry our nation's history and from the earliest moments

whether in conflict or in peace. young men and women sacrificed for the greater good and defended freedom and democracy. the world. commodore dictator's audacious burning of uss philadelphia alongside 75 volunteers, including within the heavily harbor of tripoli, remains one of the most daring feats in naval history. this single act not only demonstrated the navy's resolve in the face of adversity, but also instilled a sense of national pride and resonated throughout our young republic and from wooden ships to nuclear powered aircraft. from 1775 to today. spirit of our navy and marine corps has faltered, has remained because ships and aircraft beyond technology and strategy lies the heart and soul of the navy marine corps. the women and men who serve in uniform. our sailors and marines serving today embody the spirit of naval heroes and the highest ideals of

courage. commitment. they endure hardship with resilience deployments and long periods away from. their families, friends and loved. i have said before that incorrect. we incorrectly view our nation's history with the benefit of hindsight that we view our victories in conflict as inevitable. but i will tell you that the future is not inevitable. and our future successes not predetermined either. as we celebrate our navy and corps 250th birthday throughout this entire year, let us live up to the standards set by. those who serve and those who have gone before, including president jimmy carter. stephanie carter. and let us ensure that the legacy of valor of honor of courage, of commitment continues to inspire and guide us for generations to come. and i am confident that we will be successful in all our future endeavors as long as we the legacy of excellence and integrity laid by our naval.

as i close out my time, our time as the 78th secretary. please. now, it has been the honor of my life, of our life to serve you and i, to thank betty for everything she's done. married 41 years. 41 years. and i've never given her a reason to be jealous of me. except the day i spent all day with tom cruise. but, betty, we've moved 17 times in 22 years for an act of duty service. you raise four children and you did a great job. and we went into the private sector. and when president biden called for me to serve for us to serve our navy and marine corps again, we gave it all up to come back in service. our navy and marine corps. and i thank you for that and i will always, always, always carry all of you carry all of our service members. navy, marine corps, army, coast guard, force, space force and, our hearts and prayers to all our dying days. may god continue to grant our

nation our people. four winds and falling seas and always, always, always embedding with the courage demonstrated by this great hero, stephan decatur, who we celebrate today. commodore, thank you for your service, sir thank you. as we shift the set here a bit, and before i introduce our panel, i invite you to watch the screens for message from commander of the uss decatur. good afternoon. this is commander david huscher commanding officer uss decatur. i'm honored to extend greetings from our crew currently making our out of an extensive yard period out here in pearl harbor, hawaii. as you convene for the annual birthday, the celebration of commodore stephen. i wish i could with you in person to hear from secretary del toro and the panel of white

house fellows and military aides. as you celebrate the carters life, our crew strives to keep the carters legacy alive by adhering to the same values and principles that commodore decatur did during the barbary in the war of 1812. and am grateful to the white house. historic association for their dedication, doing the same through programs like this. as we kick off the 250th year of the united states navy, we look to the future with the same dedication duty that has carried us through hundred and 50 years of challenges and triumphs. happy birthday, commander stephen decatur bolden. derek. thank you so much and. thank you to haley, who you've seen running around here, is orchestrating this program tonight, one of the many extraordinary staff of

colleagues that i have here at the associate chain that i'm proud to work with now. please join me in welcoming our program and participants. and i invite them to come to their chairs as go ahead and they can come on up and i'll introduce them. we have three current white house military social aides, united navy, and we have a three current former white house fellows. please go ahead and have a seat. u.s. navy and we've invited them to join in a conversation on their roles, their own leadership, the impact of the navy and those who have served in the navy, who gone on to roles of leadership in the white house, specifically six of them who have become president of the united states for the three social aids. a native of paris, france, lieutenant commander james,

commissioned through candidate school in july 15 as a surface warfare officer, then to the intelligence community. james has completed tours at the cia and is currently serving the joint staff joint isr operations center. lieutenant john, a proud graduate of duke university, he was through officer candidate school in april of 2018. he graduated the naval nuclear power training command and served on the uss san juan, where he served as assistant operations officer, completing three deployments. after that he reported to the cno staff at the pentagon, where he currently serves as strategic plans action officer, lieutenant commander sarah anne bennett is a member of the pennsylvania bar and currently serves as an

operational attorney in the office of the general counsel at the national security agency. she has served on the uss george h.w. bush as the deputy command judge before serving an instructor at the naval justice school. she also served deputy staff judge advocate at the office of naval intelligence. our three white house fellows, lieutenant commander jason spencer, serves as an information warfare and intelligence officer and is placed at the department of commerce for his fellowship at the pentagon. he served as senior briefer for the chief naval operations intelligence plot and as an executive officer, the joint staff's director for intelligence. lieutenant commander ryan wise. he serves as a submarine warfare officer and is placed at the central intelligence agency sea. he has served aboard attack and ballistic missile submarines and

is deployed seven times, including missions to vital that are vital to national security ashore. he has served as a decamped to the commander submarine u.s. pacific fleet and as the submarine squadron engineer in san diego, california. and then our sixth is commander lauren cherry now serves as the navy judge advocate general corps with serves in the navy. judge advocate score and was a white house fellow last year placed at cia. she previously advised u.s. and foreign forces on counter-piracy maritime, security and counterterrorism operations in the middle east. she currently is deputy fleet judge advocate for the u.s. 10th fleet. she is also an adjunct law professor at georgetown university. what a distinguished group of people and. please join me in welcoming.

anyone in this room or watching at any doubt or hesitation about the future of the united states of america. have none. we are in excellent hands with these leaders that we have here this evening. well, as i mentioned, presidents of the united states served in the united states. and mr.. in 250 years of naval. it took us all the way to john before we had a president had served in the navy. so i'd like to we've asked previously each of our panelists to consider one of the presidents and share with us what we might be able to learn from these presidents and their time in the service of the navy as well as their presidency. and because of our recognition of president carter on this national day of mourning, we're going to start with president carter, where loren is, one of

our white house fellows is going to share thoughts on the 39th president of the united states, jimmy carter. thank you, stuart. and thank you, everyone, for having me here today. when given the opportunity to reflect on president carter, i. i. agreed to do this in the fall. there was a lot less pressure than. i. we have all learned so much him through the years and certainly in the in the past few weeks after after his. i don't want to repeat what's been but mr. secretary, i will say i do take exception. i think there are two points that i want emphasize with respect to president carter that made him such a remarkable leader. and the first was his absolute commitment to his faith from teaching sunday school, both as a midshipman and then throughout his career, he he was committed

his faith and to living it out in a way, i think many of us struggle to do. my self included included in his inauguration speech, he actually quoted a verse was very significant to him. micah six, eight. the lord told you what was good and what does he require of you? but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with the lord. those were words that president carter by, i think, every day of his life. i think he has been an example for all of us. and i think that because his commitment to faith, it shaped presidency in ways that we still don't truly understand. president carter was a visionary, whether it whether it was with respect to civil rights, to his view on, race relations on women's equality, on energy conservation. you know, he as a as a sub nuke,

he learned about the power of. he learned about nuclear power. and was a real champion of alternative energy sources even in the seventies before, we we had the real language to talk it. he installed solar panels on the roof of the the west wing. he was committed to bringing america off of its dependance on foreign oil and as a result was looking for other ways to power country. and so i think in so many ways, his faith drove him to do what he thought was right. and i think that history so far has not necessarily judged him fairly. but i am confident that that that will change. thank you, lauren, very much. a lieutenant commander james court kennedy. yeah. president kennedy. when reflecting and thinking about how best to express into the navy to our country to the to the sea. i really want more personal reason being that kennedy had an

affinity with the ocean, with the sea. from early age, he sailed. he was a swimmer. he enjoyed being on the sea and at sea from a early age. and if you want to really understand what the things that mark a person look to how they decorate their rooms their offices rapidly get a sense of what matters to that person when. they're working what do they look to. and there are three things in his office that come to. first was a painting called heavenly mist. it was a dramatic depiction of the moment at about 30 in the morning when his boat, one of nine, was cut in half by a japanese destroyer cut in half. and he and his shipmates were at sea where they spent 12 or so hours clinging on to the remains of their broken boat, had to swim ashore. president kennedy had a terrible health condition, a bad back

plagued him his entire life. and yet in spite of that, he was an ample and able swimmer and he swam ashore for 5 hours, literally pulling his and one and then one man, machinist, mate, first class, who had a over 70% of his body pulling him by the life jacket held in his teeth for 5 hours to plum pudding island. when we got they got there they they had to rapidly into the brush get out of danger, get out of visibility and they had to send a message to back to home, let them know that they're still alive. does anyone know they what? he wrote his message on that was the second element. what was it was coconut. exactly. he can't a coconut. some very basic information of where they were, what their conditions were. and please come help us. and that was the second artifact that adorned his office. but the third is, is my personal favorite. i have an inscribed inside my ring here. it's of is a favorite quote of mine is actually a gift to him

by admiral rickover is making appearances several times a day. yes, indeed. the quote was inscribed on a plaque and it's a line, a breton fisherman's poem or prayer. and it essentially said, oh, god, they see us so great my boat is so small. that was the plaque that he put center in front of his on his desk right in front of him, every phone call he ever took with the kremlin. every strategy session debating what to do in the cuban missile crisis. every every challenge, every struggle over civil rights, over domestic policy. over. it doesn't matter that what was center stage in front of him they see is so great and my boat is so small. this is the most arguably the most powerful man in the world, certainly at the time. and he thinks to how small boat is in front of a raging sea. it's hard to separate the sea from. president kennedy, at a very personal deep level. we don't know what have happened

with his presidency had he not been brought to an abrupt and awful, tragic end. but certainly i think he brought with them a little bit of salt wherever he went. well, sir, thank you, james, very much. lieutenant john mcmichael. lyndon johnson. good evening, nashville am a submariner, so i came over prepared. so, president johnson was originally commissioned in the naval reserve in june of 1940. naturally, less than a year later, in december 7th, 1941, japan attacked pearl harbor. president was a member of congress at the time, and on december 9th, two days later, he went active duty and requested president roosevelt that he be shipped out the pacific theater. president roosevelt tapped him as a direct representative to go to the pacific and report back on underreported that sailors

and soldiers were experiencing in the pacific and he took upon himself to board bombing mission over in new guinea and came back. almost didn't make it back, was almost shot down the pacific and was the silver star his active duty service less lasted less than a year, but he remained the naval reserves all the way up. he was president. he only exited naval reserves in 1964. so what are some lessons that we can learn from his naval service to, his time in the presidency? so i would argue he was very well known for what people call the johnson treatment. i do have a quote from, a reporter at the time in our argument that his training as a naval officer helped him with the johnson treatment. and for those that don't know, this was a mix of charm intimidation and relentless persistence that he would enact

on some of his friends, some of his foes, to push forward policy initiatives. and i would argue that his nail service and experience in world war two, where he faced really true danger would never match the danger he would experience in politics, and he was able to carry that with him. push initiatives like the civil rights in 1964. and like some of his policies in the great society initiative. so what we can learn from president johnson, actually, what i think, not from his presidency, but his time as a representative. he took it upon himself to dive headfirst into world war two to experience firsthand what he and representatives and our nation were asking our service members to go do. i think that's critically important for us today to in mind, as we elect our representatives and as we send our our our men and women to go

fight. thank you. thank you, john very much. well, lieutenant commander jason spencer, president nixon. thank you, stuart and, mr. secretary, miss betty, thank you as well for being here. and for always entrusting in me and the rest of the white house fellows to keep the navy in good stead. so i have richard nixon. nixon. and i got to be honest, didn't know a whole lot about his naval, i'll confess that. so i had to do some research to really dive and figure it out. the first thing that i'll say is i find it fascinating that five presidents consecutively, right, that had naval service their background. two of those presidents chose as their vice presidents. also, fellow naval officers. so there's a unifying factor there when it relates and as it relates the maritime. president nixon was actually longest serving naval officer. he served for almost 24 years like president johnson, he attained the of commander.

so that's also something to about. it's clear from president nixon's early days that he had a passion and ambition for national service. and when world war two happened, although he was quaker and could have easily not participate in the war, he to volunteer for service. the navy. he was first to naval air station, iowa, as a logistician, getting planes ready for the war. and he quickly realized that he didn't want to be in the united states as his countrymen and were dying overseas. and that was what led him to volunteer for service. the south pacific as a logistician. again and at guadalcanal. so we find that president nixon volunteered period for in the navy, although he have not

participated and that he volunteered for service overseas in a hostile and dangerous environment which is exactly where he wanted to be. and reading some of the reflections that historians on president nixon, we see that they say that he was an angry man generally, but he was happiest in wartime. and as a naval officer. and when he got to guadalcanal, this a place where his sailors, marines and army men would stage and come back the war fight and then go back out again. and he really took it upon himself to increase the morale of the forces there at guadalcanal. he created a nixons hamburger shack, is what it was known as. where he would have beer and hamburgers for. everyone coming. coming through. and he also developed the, i guess, you know, fascination with poker. and in the off times between

being bombed routinely by the japanese on guadalcanal. he would play poker and he actually talks openly about. this he earned about $10,000 by the time that he is has served as ended on guadalcanal. and he took that money about $120,000, today's dollars and took that to run for congress in california. and he openly talked about that in interviews. so contributed in some right to his rise to into the presidency. i think when we look at his presidency we see obviously some foreign policy accomplishments the strategic arms limitation talks anti-ballistic missile treaty, the paris peace accords, ending us involvement in vietnam. but what we also see is that president nixon instituted the all volunteer force and i reflected on that pretty deeply as everyone on this panel here today. all right. we're all volunteers and that served in. the armed forces are here probably as well today, i reflected on i wonder if it was

born of his for pretty dangerous assignments overseas, especially in the south pacific at a critical time. and it's also, again, fascinate to note that he volunteer here loved his naval service. so much that he was the longest serving president that we had in the united navy. so thank. thank you, jason, very much, lieutenant commander sarah and bennett. president ford, thank you so much for having me today. so in preparing for the remarks today, i too, was doing a deep dive on, president ford and learning about naval service. so he went to university of michigan undergrad and at least from all accounts, it seems like he was one of the most athletic presidents. and that has served so far. and he played football for university of michigan, then chose to go to law school,

graduated from yale in 1941. and 1943. at the end of 1943 or 1942, he enlisted in navy. it was right after the bombing of pearl harbor, and he felt a to serve when after he commissioned, even though he was a trained lawyer, they sent him to be av5 aircraft instruct. so he was teaching pilots to fly even though he hadn't had any flying himself. he just interesting. and then after serving there, he eventually was selected. he wanted to do sea duty. he wanted to serve on a ship. and he was selected to the pre commissioned light aircraft carrier uss which did deploy to the pacific theater. and he experienced combat and on on that aircraft carrier, he served in a variety of roles.

he was the damage control officer, the deck. he was in charge of ordnance he held a variety of positions that. he had very little professional training do. and i think when reflecting on his naval service and also my ten years in the navy, there have been times and were trained lawyer, but i there have been a lot of times that i'm asked to do something that is not being a lawyer and we're flexible and we adjust and we do what we're at what is asked us and we know it in a service of a greater good. and when thinking about president ford and his the way he assumed the he is actually the only president to not have been elected as vice or president. so he assumed the vice presidency after spiro agnew resigned and president nixon or

selected gerald ford to be his vp and he was confirmed by a majority of congress. so that's how you assumed the vp role? and soon after that, president nixon resigned and under the 25th amendment president assumed the role as president. so when i think about the impact of president ford's naval service is that that flexibility and willing to encounter do what is asked of him and is needed of and this commitment to service that he i think his career goal so he left he served four years in the navy and then he became congressperson in michigan and he served as a congressperson for 25 years and career goal was to be the majority leader and then he had planned to retire after and then he was asked to be vice president and then he

was told he was being president and i think that that that call to service, he he didn't he knew when it was necessary to do was asked of him. and i think that really stemmed from his initial service in navy. thank you. you, sir. and very much. lieutenant commander ryan wise, george h.w. bush. yeah. thanks, stuart. so i think what's important first to take away about george herbert walker is that, you know, as i'm going in the group here, he's the last president to have served on active duty. so this is something keep in mind. so president george herbert walker bush volunteered for service coming out of the phillips andover academy, which, by the way, you know, clearly he had some money to his family as many of you, i'm sure know, he volunteered for service at the age of 18. so pearl harbor was attacked when he was 18. he had completed his flight

training, his preflight training at the university of north carolina before the age of 19. and had completed and flown 50 858. if you're in the navy. 58 combat missions as a torpedo pilot before the age of 21. and so you know, john, here, i talked him before we came on stage is, the youngest of us, and he is 29. and so i think that's just an important thing to take away about george herbert walker bush. you know, when you want to talk about volunteer wisdom, honor, courage commitment before the age of to 21, he had won 58 combat missions. you know, very known as well. is that he was shot down. he was the only one of the three persons on his aircraft that survived. he was awarded the distinguished flying cross for that specific

sortie. and i think there's a lot of connection you can make from that singular experience to his presidency and his other roles in public service, of which there were many. i think just a quick plug for the submarine force. again he was rescued by a rescue submarine, the uss finback, who was on station pick up pilots that were downed. and he actually spent a month on board. so second to president carter, i think he has the most submarine time. he used he used that time on board as well to help. and during that month board, they did other rescues of other downed pilots of which he was obviously capable of assisting the submarine crew with, making those pickups. you you know, looking forward, he after his after his 58 missions, he was assigned some instructor duty. he had experience flying planes. so he was actually able to to go and served a couple of years in norfolk to finish the war. he was prepared to redeploy back

to the pacific until world war two came to an end in japan. so he was out of the navy very shortly after that, officially out in 1955. but he immediately went back to tech. well, he went to yale as of you know. and then when went into public service in another number of other ways. so, you know, besides presidency, he also served for quite a while in texas as a congressman, failed to reach senate many times. and thought his public service career was over and was pretty upset about that when he was called back into service to basically be the knight wasn't called the ambassador the time, but the envoy to. the people's republic of china, which was a a new position because until that point, it was actually when he was the ambassador to the united nations that that the united nations decided to recognize the people's republic, china over the republic of china.

so he had some significant policy experience there. and then he was selected to be the cia director, as loren, i have the distinct privilege of having spent time in langley at this point. and so i think it's important to recognize he's the only president that was the cia, and that certainly experienced, again, in the foreign policy realm and in national security that he took forward. he would go on to become the vice president to ronald reagan for two terms, and then a successful presidential campaign himself, become the 41st president of the united states. i think the specific thing that i would take away from his naval service that's in his presidency is the united states was in to conflicts two primary conflicts during time of his four year single term as president. we we went and deposed the panamanian president, noriega. during that time. and we also the first gulf war.

now, you can make arguments about, you know what our mission was and was it the correct mission? i think what's very important to take away is as the last active duty serving president, those two military uses of force had very clearly objectives and were executed. and then we immediately complete those and brought everyone home. and so i think that's an important that from someone who spent many in over 1200 hours in a combat aircraft. he clearly understood the desire to get people home. thank you, ryan, very much. i to pose one question to our three social aids, james, john and sarah and you yourselves have worked in white house as a social aide and you've been woven into the tapestry of white house history. you are part of that story and that narrative and earlier you were at washington national cathedral performing a role on behalf of the president of the united states.

share us what it means to you to be a white house social aide and what your feelings, thoughts and perhaps in aspirations were today at the cathedral. let's start with james and then john and sara and so so today's been a long day for for us many of us have been up since about four or so in the morning to support the funeral and so forgive us if our our answers are not logically arrayed. i think the being a white house socially in generally speaking usually at the end of our interviews we interview people to apply. they often ask us, what are our impressions, what do think? and we tend to come up with several different answers. the ones that i think comes up the most is it's not actually what's found at the funeral that we today. it's more of what people were

watching far away, because at the funeral you've got dignitaries. you've got senior, senior people, vice presidents, secretaries of the navy and so on, but not so much the common person. but when the common person was someone who's never been to the white house before, maybe he's never been to d.c., but gets a chance to visit the white and see the history be a part of an event. witness bill signing someone who thought they would never be there. that's the person that we truly cater to the most. more senior people tend to know the white house. they have more understanding of it. they know what the rooms are, what the flow of events are. they're more comfortable there. but people, this is their first event ever being at white house may maybe the last one ever that's more for them. there weren't many of them today at the funeral, granted, but they were watching the people the united states, people from across the world who were watching this funeral. and so when we do our our best, it's to serve president.

yes, it's to serve the senior leadership of the white house. those who come to the white house, foreign dignitary and so on. but it's also to serve the people that's probably the pure expression and of what it is a white house socially the funeral itself was moving for us, especially and i don't want to speak for everyone else, but as members of the us navy. it's, it's never it's an honor never a pleasure to, to say farewell to a brother or sister in arms a fellow sailor and it been a day of mixed emotions just to put it lightly. all right. thank john. yeah. so when first was trying to get into the program i had originally thought what an amazing opportunity to be in the front row for history and participating now as a social aide i realize so much more than that you're now in front row. you're you're a part of it

because part of our job is engaging with guests and like mentioned, seeing the guests that walk in to the white house for the first time and seeing sparkle in their eyes, i it's an amazing place to be for. any american to walk into building and really be a part of history and feel feel the power, the presence of everything that's gone on. for the carter funeral today. i never thought that starting out from officer cars school in january in newport, rhode island, very snowy, not very comfortable to talking to a personal the only submariner president talking to his family last night at the white house. i never thought that was possible and i'm grateful for. the opportunities that the navy has given me and incredibly grateful that we associates were put a position to make that

event special for the carter family, to facilitate those interactions between the president and the first lady and, the family and mourning and assisting the nation in his loss and honoring his legacy. thank you, john, kiran, thank you. so i don't want to repeat what they're saying, but i have to say that one of the the what being associated means to me is we are sometimes the only military person that an individual has ever met and interacted with and. we are also on where we are positioned. we may literally be the first person walking them to the white house. and i joked when i first started the program in september 2023 that when you're new, they keep you as far away from the president as possible and as you do more events. you get to move closer to the president and i've i've had the

privilege of doing enough events that i've been able get closer to the president so i'm not there in the arrivals and departures area where people are coming in but that is one of the best neatest, coolest feelings is seeing the excitement and on people's faces when they're walking into the white house and. it's it reminds you of we've all talked about jobs. we have i'm a jag. we have an intel officer. we have a submarine officer. so we're doing this outside of our normal working hours or doing our normal hours and have things catch up on maybe outside or after those events. but it reminds you of such a privilege. what a privilege it is to be able to have this opportunity to serve this capacity. and i think that with respect to president carter's funeral today, that's what i kept telling myself. how much of a privilege this is to be standing. the washington national

cathedral escorting these people to their seats and welcoming people. and during this somber occasion and being able to assist in this capacity, it is just very much a privilege be a part of this program. thank you, sir, and to our three white house fellows, lauren jason and ryan, a question for you. a two part question selected be a white house fellow is an extraordinary recognizing your own leadership skills and, abilities, but also representing the united navy and like a aide, you're doing that outside of the navy and other departments and agencies of government. what is that an opportunity like and what how do you that challenge and what do you learn from? and then secondly how does the united states, in your role as a fellow, prepare you for leadership and other beyond the navy? i hope you'll all be career navy.

actually, if you choose to choose other things things. yes, sir. so let's do lauren jason and ryan, please. okay. so starting i think, with the first question about my selection and what i think what it meant for me or what was the or just what is it like to an ambassador of the navy, to other departments of government? so it was a really interesting experience. me, the cia, i am fifth white house fellow to been placed at the cia, but the first in almost 30 years. and so the agency didn't have the type of muscle that many of the officers, the white house or other departments and agencies. and so for me up as a fellow, there is, some of the standard questions you get is this the same as presidential management fellows or just who are you and what do you do? so it was really an opportunity to educate this this federal agency what the white house fellows program about how it

started and about its purpose. and for me i that was a really that was really impactful it helped me want to tailor my elevator pitch when i had to explain what my job was. but it also led to a lot of conversations and so i think i take for granted maybe being in the military it's october was 14 years for me so it's been a little of time and you don't necessarily realize that even within the federal there are so many people who have had experience interacting with military officers. if they do, there are many at the cia, but they are not jags. and so mostly know jag from the tv show or from a few good men and. so putting a face to this sort of job or this career that people have heard of been has been really interesting, especially within government. and then in terms of what i have

taken from it and what it means for me, i have had some pretty opportunities within the navy to see leadership and decision and service at the highest levels. so i actually served as flag aide to the chief of naval operations, the 32nd cno, michael admiral gilday, and that served on the staff, the office of the secretary of defense in, the office of the general counsel. and so i've seen decision making up close and personal, seen dod decision making up close and personal, but i hadn't seen that of decision making outside of dod. and so understanding that a gap in my my experience, that's the reason that i wanted to do the fellowship program and it really led me to reflect on the dod, on how we make decisions, on how we train. and i think that combining my experience in dod with my experience as a white house fellow placed at cia and, then also the education component of the white house fellows program has really given me, i think

another, level of insight into how decisions made, how to motivate people and to lead people. well, thank you very much, jason. thank you, sir. and much like commander cherry, i would say that the navy has afforded me a tremendous amount of opportunity. it's been a privilege to serve with many sailors at all different levels. for my own naval career, originally from long island officer candidate school as well, and then over to a couple of aircraft carriers, naval destroyers. i also had the opportunity to serve as a flag aide to admiral apple fifth fleet in the pacific fleet, and then over to the seniors team and the joint staff. and i looked at the white fellowship, really as a as a way to give back what i had learned at the tactic operational and strategic level and the fellowship itself is meant and

designed to take me career professionals out of their profession and career fields. and to put you something totally different, which is why i'm place at the department of commerce. i couldn't even tell you where the department of commerce was when i found out that i was placed there, let alone that it had 12 different bureaus responsible for america's economic growth. so a tremendous honor to able to represent not only the white. fellowship first, but the united navy, right second. and that's what i realize. think on day one when i came into commerce, was that i wasn't lieutenant jason spencer, i was white fellow. and then i was, united states navy, and then i was jason spencer. so really just the overall, i would say ambassadorship of of these numerous programs is incredibly important. and i think one of the things to get to the second part of the question, one of the things that i immediately learned, having

never been outside of the for my professional life almost 11 years now and the active service was that a lot of the same. it's a people business matter where you go and we have a saying in the ship shipmate self right. and the same thing applies commerce workforce self right those three things you just transfer really to any organization and immediately you're going to have impact. so that's how i would say for the first part, the second part, the question and the second part to the second part of the question would be that something that the navy teaches you having on numerous carriers and destroyers and fleet commands that you could immediately assess the culture of an the second you walk across the gangway. right. you could see immediately whether or not, you have a good ship or a bad ship. and that allows you as a leader to your focus and your resources and your leadership to the right places. that's something else. i think a commerce that i

learned is that you could same thing. it's transferable, that mentality. you could quickly size up an organization and figure out where is that. you need to put your resources, help achieve that mission. so thank you, ryan yeah. so i think stuart again, so you know, lauren mentioned that she was the fifth white house fellow at the cia i didn't know that but i can do math. so means i'm in this white house for day and. you know i would echo a lot of what lauren said when it comes to being face for the navy inside that building. you know, in especially being a submarine officer. so, you know, kind of pointy end of the spear, if you will, of the of the nation's navy. you know, i've had an opportunity to give a talk there and share some my experiences and the things that i've done and how intelligence matters and why we use it and those types of things. and, you know, so i would just echo a lot of what she mentioned

terms of every time i say that i'm a white house fellow and i'm also in the navy and i'm also at the cia and then interfacing with other agencies and organizations and i'm in the cia in the navy, in the white house, fellows. so it's there's a lot of different to jason's commentary that we're wearing during fellowship and i think it's a tremendous honor to able to to wear all of those at the same and to educate people about all of the things i've gotten this this incredible opportunity to do. so i think that would be the first the first part answer. the first part of the question. the second one, you know, how did the navy prepare us to be able to do these varied things and you know, i'm going to answer that from submarine perspective and really all of the navy i think it's a navy thing and not to a degree in other services, but this is what i know and you know, we get some initial whatever it may be, nuclear power training or submarine, basic officer training or surface warfare officer, school. you get some initial training and then you get thrown the deep end. you know, you show up to a

submarine or a ship and you're just expected to qualify and and, you know, earn, earn dolphins, as it were. and so, you know, that's a that's a tremendous that's not easy. and by design, that's not easy right. we want our men and women to be able to be trusted and to be able to fight these warships, do the things that the taxpayers are expecting us to do. and so you you're you're given a template and a structure. but really, this is you to figure out. and that's by design. and so you as we as we learn and we go through that process and you you orient yourself and, assess, as jason said, and you get those things and you learn how to do that. you know, you're you're primed and ready to go for something like this where you just get thrown a place and said, go figure it out and you learn who to talk to and how to go meet people. and how do you know how to how to make things happen? so i think the navy is uniquely positioned to set us up for success in this program. thanks. thank you very much.

i don't know about you, but before i came into this room tonight, i didn't know that it would be possible to have more pride in being american or to be inspired to be an american more than i am. but the voices of these six leaders have given that to me tonight. so thank you so for your service and. and mr. secretary i think president carter would be very proud tonight if he could have hear and hopefully he did hear these voices and he's testimony tonight. i a special thank you to lieutenant commander james court lieutenant john mcmichael lieutenant commander. lieutenant commander, lieutenant commander wise and commander lauren cherry, thank you so much for being with us. you've asked for the floor, but i just want to say one thing. i was on the president's question, i might have spoken

for eight years or. we had so many with so many people, i love the fact that that's hard. you know, commissioner colin powell would come from that atmosphere so. you all have a great future. i want to say one thing, one. of. oh, thank. bob was just sharing all of you. i love. for those of you who could not hear and for our audience on the livestream, bob was talking about his eight years serving on the commission that selects the white house fellows and the extraordinary group of people they are. and then he ended up by talking about the extraordinary service of secretary del toro having

also been a white house fellow. and if i may just stuart, you know, it's an extraordinary program you're going to see the secretary up is founded lyndon johnson for the purpose making our nation that much greater. it's not just military applicants who apply. it's from profession across the entire scope of professions across the entire country, in each of our classes we've had ballerinas high school teachers, lawyers, businessmen, business women professional that anything you could possibly imagine coming together typically 800 or a thousand people applied per year anywhere. 13 to 21 people gets elected every year and then they spend this magical year. there's an education program, a travel program, there's a work program. and i've had four white house fellows work for me where they actually get assigned hard work, single day at the agency and they walk from this experience with a better understanding of how government works at the very highest, the good, the bad and

the ugly. and they're expected to go back to professions. they're a high school teacher or whatever. and use that knowledge for the betterment of society and that's what the program was about. and when you have bob mcgee who serves on the white house scores commission, every president gets to appoint three commissioners. so for many of you who aspire to be part of program, you could be a commissioner. you could do a lot other things. but it's an extraordinary and i apologize because i have to leave the spanish embassy tonight for a dinner in my honor. it's kind of embarrassing if i don't up, but i am so proud of each and every one of you and i walk confident that our navy and our nation be that much stronger because of your service to our country. so you, sir. thank you, mr. secretary, sir. thank you, sir. as we close, if could invite all active duty navy to stage and navy veterans to the stage for a very photo, everyone else is invited for the next hour to a reception in the courtyard.

lastly, if you've not been the people's house or white house experience at 1700 pennsylvania avenue, go. it'll change your life. thank you very much for being here. have a great evening. however, one. good evening. thank you all for joining us. i'm harmony today he smithsonian associates and i'm excited to welcome you to tonight's program. the wives of the leaders of the civil war with kelly hancock. if you are a member smithsonian associates, thank you for here and for your continued support to anyone who might be new to smithsonian or associates.