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American Morning

Smithsonian Institution Trying to Preserve Historical Significance of President's Day

Aired February 18, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: When I was a youngster way back a long time ago, February the 22nd was George Washington's birthday and that was a holiday off from school. Then President's Day became a combination of George Washington and Abe Lincoln. And now it's evolved where it's just a day I guess where you go out and go shopping.

The Smithsonian Institution, however in an effort to preserve the sanctity of this historic moment has a traveling exhibition called "The American Presidency" and it's touring across the country and Jeff Flock, our CNN bureau chief out in Chicago has caught up with the exhibit's debut and has a live report for us. Hi Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: Jack, good morning to you. No shopping here in Chicago because you're surrounded by all this wonderful stuff. I - it's an incredible exhibit. I just want to take you through as much of it as I can. This is a letter, you know - the Adam's biography that is out there, a lot of focus on his letters. This is an actual letter written by John Adams in 1797. The labor of my office is very constant and very severe. I guess truer words were never spoken there.

Around here maybe you're interested in, take a look at this microphone. I don't think (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to have used one of these, but this was the microphone, the CBS microphone that Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke his fireside chats into. Off to the left here, take a look at this brass ink well. It was used by President Lincoln while he was writing the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

You know Lincoln, of course, is a favorite son of Illinois. A lot of things about Lincoln here over across in the other wing of this exhibit, Lincoln stuff including the bed that President Lincoln died on. That was, of course, across the street from Ford's Theater. Also there the bed - not only the bed, but the sheets, the blood-stained sheets have been preserved and are part of this.

This is part of - by the way, not of the - of the traveling exhibit, but that's part of the Chicago Historical Society's permanent collection. I think also, if we're able to see over there, I do believe a cloak that Mary Todd Lincoln wore to Ford's Theater that night is also over there --just a lot of other interesting things.

Perhaps you remember Grover Cleveland. He was a big man and perhaps if you see the overcoat that he wore to his inauguration in 1885, you see just how big a man he was -- everything right down to the top coat over there. Also something from that era as well, and I don't know if we've got the camera over there as well, but on the other side, Harding's pajamas.

You know, Warren Harding to be something of a - of a natty (ph) dressy. Some people thought that he got elected president in 1920 because it was the first year that women could vote and perhaps they liked his looks. Well if you take a look at those silk pajamas over there, if we're able to see them, you get some sense of perhaps what a snappy dressy he was.

And lastly, before we get away, he doesn't take long for things to become pieces of history. Take a look inside this case. Something that perhaps is closer to our era, that is a gavel used by Chairman Hyde during the impeachment of President Clinton. And of course this is sort of something of a - of a box of some conduct, I suppose here. Take a look at the - at the Nixon tapes.

You remember the Nixon tapes. This is some of the equipment that was used by the House Judiciary Committee to review those tapes. So a lot here, Jack, maybe we'll leave you being here in Illinois, and of course the month of President Lincoln's birthday. Something that's sort of a predated photograph, you know back in the days before photographs, of course there were oil paintings. Another thing that was popular was life masks. They would take a cast of the face to produce a mask that kind of give you a sense for what the person really looked like - the president really looked liked.

Great exhibit, I could be here all day and in fact, now that I mentioned it, I think I will Jack. That's the latest from Chicago, back to you.

CAFFERTY: OK. How long does it take top to bottom to see the whole thing Jeff?

FLOCK: Well you know it depends on how you - how fast you go and whether you read all this stuff, which of course I do. I think you can get through it in a day. Some people blow right through it, but it's fascinating.

CAFFERTY: Yes that's great stuff. All right, from the land of Lincoln, thank you, Jeff Flock.

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