A White House conference is a national meeting sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States with the purpose of discussing an issue or topic of importance to the American public. Some last for one day while others last for several. [1] Typical attendees of a White House conference include experts in the particular field, community leaders and citizens with an interest in the issue. [2] The President usually speaks to a general session of the conference; the conference concludes by issuing a report to the President summarizing issues and making recommendations for executive or legislative action. [2] The First Lady of the United States also sometimes hosts White House conferences. [3] [4] White House conferences are typically created by specific legislation. [5] [6]
The first White House conference was the Conference on the Care of Dependent Children held in 1909 under President Theodore Roosevelt; it later became the long-running White House Conference on Children and Youth. [1] The first iteration's recommendations called for the end of routine institutionalization of neglected or otherwise dependent children and the creation of the Federal Children's Bureau. [1] The most well-known White House conference is the White House Conference on Aging, which has occurred once a decade since the 1950s. [1] Other well-known conferences include the 1966 White House Conference on Civil Rights and the 1971 White House Conference on Youth. Other topics have included drug abuse, education, family life, nutrition, disabled people and other issues. [2]
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been codified or officially defined, she figures prominently in the political and social life of the United States. Since the early 20th century, the first lady has been assisted by official staff, now known as the Office of the First Lady and headquartered in the East Wing of the White House.
Laura Lane Welch Bush is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. She is the wife of former President George W. Bush, and the daughter-in-law of former president George H. W. Bush.
Nancy Davis Reagan was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan.
Barbara Pierce Bush was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously was Second Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989 when her husband was vice president. Among her six children are George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another.
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 when her husband was vice president.
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter is an American writer and activist who served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For decades, she has been a leading advocate for numerous causes, including mental health. Carter was politically active during her White House years, sitting in on Cabinet meetings. She was her husband's closest adviser. She also served as an envoy abroad, particularly in Latin America. Like her husband, Rosalynn Carter is considered a key figure in the Habitat for Humanity charity. After Bess Truman, Carter is the second-longest lived First Lady of the White House.
Elizabeth Anne Ford was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. Ford also served as the second lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974 when her husband was vice president.
Edith Wilson was the first lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 and the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his first term as president. Edith Wilson played an influential role in President Wilson's administration following the severe stroke he suffered in October 1919. For the remainder of her husband's presidency, she managed the office of the president, a role she later described as a "stewardship," and determined which communications and matters of state were important enough to bring to the attention of the bedridden president.
Helen Louise Taft, known as Nellie, was the wife of President William Howard Taft and the first lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913.
"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. The slogan was created and championed by Nancy Reagan during her husband's presidency.
The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was an advisory committee to the White House on cultural issues. It worked directly with the Administration and the three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as well as other federal partners and the private sector, to address policy questions in the arts and humanities, to initiate and support public/private partnerships in those disciplines, and to recognize excellence in the field. Its core areas of focus were arts and humanities education, cultural exchange, and the creative economy.
The White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) is a once-a-decade conference sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States which makes policy recommendations to the president and Congress regarding the aged. The first of its kind, the goals of the conference are to promote the dignity, health and economic security of older Americans. It has been claimed that it is perhaps the best-known White House conference. The conference is held once a decade, with the most recent conference held in 2015, in preparation for the retirement of the baby boomer generation.
The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. For a time, the agency oversaw food and drug safety, education funding, administration of public health programs, and the Social Security old-age pension plan.
The White House Conference on Children and Youth was a series of meetings hosted over 60 years by the President of the United States of America, and the first White House conference ever held. Under the leadership of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon, the Conferences involved thousands of delegates from around the country. According to the Child Welfare League of America, "the conferences were devoted to improving the lives of children across the Nation." Each conference focused on issues relevant to the decade in which the conference was held.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 aims to assist youth aging out of foster care in the United States in obtaining and maintaining independent living skills. Youth aging out of foster care, or transitioning out of the formal foster care system, are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. As youth age out of the foster care system at age 18, they are expected to become self-sufficient immediately, even though on average youth in the United States are not expected to reach self-sufficiency until age 26.
Henry Lozano is a non-profit executive and grassroots organizer. His years of public service culminated in his post at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps. On August 10, 2011, he was appointed to serve as the Director of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge and Urban Ministries Initiatives.
The United States public policy agenda on issues affecting Native Americans under the Obama administration includes the signing of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, which allowed tribal courts to extend and expand sentences handed down to them in criminal cases, strengthening tribal autonomy. Obama also supported and enforced the Executive Order 13175, which requires the federal government to consult with tribal governments when deliberating over policies and programs that would affect tribal communities. Under the Obama Administration was also the launching of Michelle Obama's program Let's Move In Indian Country, which aims to improve opportunities for physical activity, to increase access to healthy food in tribal communities, and to create collaborations between private and public sectors to build programs that will end childhood obesity in Native communities. Obama also supported tribal communities through certain provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated $510 million for rehabilitation of Native American housing, and the settlement of the Keepseagle case, a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture for discriminating against tribal communities by not allowing them equal access to the USDA Farm Loan Program. Most recently, Obama signed Executive Order 13592, which seeks to improve educational opportunities for American Indian and Alaska Natives. Obama has been praised by many tribal leaders, including those who claim he has done more for Native Americans than all of his predecessors combined.
Betty Ford, the first lady of the United States, filmed an interview with Morley Safer for the television news program 60 Minutes, which was broadcast on August 10, 1975. The interview was the first extensive interview that Ford had granted exclusively to a television outlet since becoming first lady. The broadcast of the interview saw strong interest from the public. After the interview aired, a number of Ford's remarks in this interview on hot-button issues generated particularly immense media attention.