Jill Biden Warns of Threat to Freedoms During California Campaigning
Protesters briefly disrupt the first lady at Human Rights Campaign dinner.
Protesters chanting “cease-fire now” briefly disrupted First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s remarks made Saturday evening during the Human Rights Campaign 2024 Los Angeles Dinner.
When Biden took the stage, according to CBS News, people began chanting “cease-fire now.” It was also reported that dozens of protesters could be seen outside the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, where the event was held.
In her speech, Biden warned the audience that rights were being stripped away and freedoms were eroding. Specifically, Biden spoke of more than 50 anti-gay amendments that she said Republicans tried to include into the government funding bill.
“These were extreme measures … that would have limited healthcare, eroded protections for same-sex couples and more,” she said. “They served only one purpose: to spread hate and fear.”
Earlier in the day, Biden urged a crowd of about 125 guests at a campaign fundraising event in southern California to “meet the moment as if our rights are at stake, because they are.”
Biden told attendees at the Rancho Mirage home of James Costos and Michael Smith fundraiser for the Biden Victory Fund that her husband, President Joe Biden, is not only the right person for the job, but “the only person for the job” because of his judgment, his experience and his relationship with leaders across the globe. The first lady also criticized GOP-led states for passing “extreme anti-gay laws,” saying “MAGA Republicans are waging battles over our choices, our futures, and trying to drag us back to a dark and dangerous path.”
She also listed the actions taken under her husband’s leadership as president, praising “the boldest climate legislation in American history,” the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and “the strongest economic recovery in modern history.” She referred to inflation and energy prices being down.
The first lady also spoke of the tensions around the world saying “Russia's brutal campaign in Ukraine, war in the Middle East … require the steadiness and the expertise of a tested, proven leader like my husband.”
Biden flew from the Los Angeles area to the Palm Springs International Airport before a motorcade brought her to the couple’s Thunderbird Heights estate.
Will Rollins, the Democratic nominee for California’s 41st Congressional District this year, was a co-host and spoke to those gathered ahead of the first lady’s remarks.
“[The first lady] has always known that stories like mine—seeing the North Tower collapse on 9/11, thinking about enlisting in the U.S. military but being terrified of being outed—had no place in America,” Rollins said. “Thanks to the work that the first lady and the president have put in throughout their careers, America is now a place where you can serve the country you love, regardless of who you love. So thank you, Dr. Biden.”
Rollins added that future generations will ask what they did “when democracy was on the line,” and that those in attendance will answer: “We stood with the president and the first lady in defense of the Constitution of the United States of America.”
With the general election still several months away, she encouraged the crowd to remember their feelings from the morning after the 2016 presidential election.
“We can't let that happen again, because I don't want to wake up with that feeling like, ‘Oh, we should have started earlier or we should have done more,’” she said. “No, we have to begin now. ”
Calendar
March 25, 2024
Virtual and in-person - The East Wing: Expanding First Ladies’ Impact from Jacqueline Kennedy to Jill Biden
Anita McBride, Director of the First Ladies Initiative at the American University School of Public Affairs and co-author of Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women; Barbara Perry, professor and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier; and Elizabeth Rees, doctoral candidate at Oxford University, discuss the evolution of the role of the first lady from the Kennedy administration through the present day. Read more
Available now
The First Ladies Podcast “Political Assets and Liabilities”
In Episode 2, Tammy Vigil, associate professor of media science at Boston University, discusses the roles expected of first ladies and how they perform those roles can be an asset or a liability to the president. Listen here
March 26, 2024
Hillary Clinton-backed Broadway ‘Suffs’ Begins Previews
It’s 1913 and the women’s movement is heating up in America, anchored by the suffragists — “Suffs,” as they call themselves — and their relentless pursuit of the right to vote. Suffs tells the story of a group of female friends fighting for women’s right to vote. The production, written by Shaina Taub, begin previews On March 26 and is set to open on April 18 at the Music Box Theatre. Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a producer along with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. Read more
March 28-April 21, 2024
Nancy: A Very DC Play About Ancestry and Ambition
The Mosaic Theater in partnership with New Native Theatre presents Nancy. It’s 1985 in Washington, DC and two women are trying to steer their futures—Nancy Reagan from the White House, orchestrating her husband “Ronnie’s” political career according to daily astrological trends, and Esmeralda, a Navajo mother advocating for her community. Read more
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March 28, 2024
Virtual: In Sickness and in the White House – First Ladies Illness from the 1840s to the 1980s
The First Ladies Association for Research and Education presents the virtual program “In Sickness and in the White House: First Ladies Illness from the 1840s to the 1980s.” The discussion begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will feature Katie Sibley, Michelle Gullion, Elizabeth Thacker-Estrada, and Jeanne Wolfson While less noticed than the presidents’ health, first ladies’ health–mental and physical–has been closely related to their husbands’ abilities to do their jobs.
Both their well-being and their interests in health issues have served as an area of their advocacy for them and the nation. Whether it was Betty Ford and breast cancer or addiction, Rosalynn Carter and mental health, or Michelle Obama and children’s obesity, first ladies have raised awareness for others. But at times, these women have also been terribly ill themselves; three died in office and Florence Harding nearly did. Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan faced breast cancer diagnoses and treatment. Focusing on those women who experienced serious illness, this panel explores first ladies' struggles with health, and health advocacy. View on Facebook or on YouTube
March 29, 2024
Ask an Archivist, Converse with a Curator
In recognition of Lou Henry Hoover's 150th Birthday, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum’s Registrar Sara Godin will share some of Lou's clothing and Girl Scout-related items to celebrate. Staff will be available from 11 a.m.-to noon., and again from 2 to 3 p.m. CST. Registration is not required. Read more
March 30, 2024
Lou Henry Hoover: Pioneer. Humanitarian. Leader.
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will host a special presentation event from 2 to 5 p.m. CDT highlighting the extraordinary life of Lou Henry Hoover. Hear from various speakers who will discuss Lou's fashion as first lady of the United States, her leadership with the Girl Scouts, and her connection with Stanford University. This event is free with admission to the Museum. No registration is required, but all are welcome to RSVP on the Hoover Museum's Facebook page for a notification reminder. Read more
April 3, 2024
FLARE will Present ‘First Ladies Then and Now: Communicating Their Stories’
Registration is underway for the pre-conference program "First Ladies Then and Now: Communicating Their Stories" hosted by the First Ladies Association for Research and Education in conjunction with the Central States Communication Association. The event will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 3.
The theme of the half-day program will feature FLARE members and representatives of the Ford Library and Museum and Foundation. FLARE members will participate in three panels that look at the past 40 years of first lady scholarship, pedagogical practices, and outreach activities with a look forward by immediate past president of FLARE Myra Gutin.
Register here.
Registration is available for the Pre-Conference FLARE program only. The fee is $25 for in-person or $5 for live streaming. FLARE Lifetime Members will receive a complimentary registration.
The CSCA Convention will be held at the Grand Amway Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Please follow this link for hotel accommodations.
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April 12, 2024
Virtual Legacy Lecture: The Secret Lives of Janet, Jackie and Lee
The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents dramatic book reviewer Jenny Riddle in a first-person interpretation of "The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters" from noon to 1 p.m. on April 12, 2024.
When Jackie Bouvier first started dating John Kennedy, Jackie’s mother Janet commented, “John has an impressive pedigree, but doesn’t he look a little unkempt?” Early on, Janet told her daughters that the secret to happiness was money and power. Despite their efforts to rebel against their mother, both daughters ended up following her advice.
In this first-person dramatic book review of Randy Taraborelli’s biography, Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill, Jenny Riddle brings to us Jackie Kennedy in her later years. The bouffant hairdo and pillbox hats are gone. She has been through two marriages and now works in publishing. Jackie reminisces about her earlier life, including her relationship with her mother and sister, her marriage to Jack Kennedy and their brief but pivotal time in the White House, and life after JFK. Read more
Through April 21, 2024
Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place
Tudor Place will offer “Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent” at Tudor Place. Curated in collaboration with descendants, this special installation and guided tour presents the multi-faceted individuals and families of African descent who lived and worked at Tudor Place. Explore the historic house through their lives, learn how they impacted the world around them and discover their enduring legacy. Read more
April 27, 2024
National First Ladies Day "First Look" Annual VIP Champagne Reception
Celebrate National First Ladies Day on April 27 and be among the first to view the National First Ladies Library & Museum's 2024-25 Featured Exhibit, titled "Leaders in Literacy: First Ladies as Teachers, Educators, and Librarians" at its exclusive annual First Look Champagne Reception. The exhibit features more than a dozen first ladies who have advanced the cause of literacy and education, including Barbara and Laura Bush, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Fillmore and Helen Taft.
The First Look Champagne VIP Reception will feature introductory remarks by President & CEO Patty Dowd Schmitz, a talk by our curator Michelle Gullion about the exhibit, as well as short remarks by first lady descendant Patricia Taft, the great-granddaughter of Helen Taft, who was a schoolteacher. In addition, the winner of the Mary Regula Memorial Scholarship will be announced. It will be awarded to a Stark County, Ohio, high school junior or senior who has written a compelling essay telling the story of significant historical events in American history through the eyes of the first ladies. Read more
May 14, 2024
Laura Bush Book Club with “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” Author Heather Morris
Mrs. Bush is excited to welcome Heather Morris to the Bush Center for the sixth “Laura Bush Book Club” edition of Engage at the Bush Center. Morris is the author of three novels, including The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a No. 1 international bestseller that sold more than 12 million copies in 47 languages and will soon be an original series on Peacock.
It has been described as a “beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage…based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.” Anne Wicks, the Don Evans Family Managing Director, Opportunity and Democracy at the Bush Institute, will moderate the conversation. Read more
May 18, 2024
The First Lady’s Hidden Hand: Mamie Eisenhower’s Approach to 1950s Politics with Dr. Stefanie Basalik
Mamie Doud Eisenhower was First Lady from 1953-1961. Like many first ladies, Mamie Eisenhower took her job as the nation's hostess seriously. What sets her apart from other contemporary first ladies was her subtle use of political strategy as a way to support her husband. Join Dr. Basalik to learn about how Mamie's marriage, her relationship with her grandchildren, her interactions with staff, and her influence on consumerism demonstrated her knack for the same hidden-hand approach to governing as her husband, General Eisenhower. This program will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET in the Ford Room at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Read more
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