so author stacy schiff, why are

we talking to you at the state department? largely because we have glorious newly refurbished rooms to celebrate any beautiful, opulent book that gives us the history of those rooms and the collection in its entirety to celebrate as well. and we are sitting in the ben franklin diplomatic room at this time. what is your connection to the state department's america's collection book? well, i'm here on franklin's coattails because had written a book about ben franklin's years

in, france, when he is essentially paving way for the american foreign service, he's really first foreign ambassador. and in the years that he spends in france, puts america on the map and as that is the genesis really of the department of state in the beginnings of, american foreign policy. i'm here in a way, as ben franklin's companion. and that, of course, is your book, the great improvised about ben franklin's time in france. you describe franklin as combative, prideful, callous and overbearing. does that make for a diplomat? no, i think is ben franklin, as he dealt with his colleagues, a curious thing about franklin's years in france is that he essentially hits the ball out of the park on every front, except when dealing with his fellow commissioners in paris and especially john adams. and so those are adjectives that i think john adams would have quickly applied, franklin, where franklin and french court are concerned, he is subtle and

supple and masterful and eloquent and immensely accommodating. and the most popular man in paris by a long shot was he america's first diplomat. he is he goes to france to the aid for the war. basically the colonies have declared without any means of securing that independence. and so franklin, at the age of 70, is dispatched on what sounds like kind of a fool's errand sent to a monarchy to solicit aid for a nascent republic and spends the first few years very secretively arranging for munitions to fight to fight the war signs. the first treaty of alliance with the french so that they will officially back the war and stays in paris long enough to negotiate the treaty of paris, which which ends the war 1783 and then only comes home two years later. so that really is the beginning of america's on the world stage at the outset, the colonies are in substantial, difficult for most europeans even to locate a map as large as real as was the island of corsica, to which.

they were often compared at the time and. it's franklin who really defines america in the eyes of the world and establishes in the hallways of i was his role vital to winning the war of independence without franklin there would have been no war in the sense that there would have been no means with which to wage a so there had been at the time of the declaration no engineers, the colonies, no munitions in the colonies, no gunpowder in the colonies, and most of all, no money in the colonies with which to attempt to separate from great britain. it is because of franklin that. by the time of yorktown you end up with french munitions, french troops. uniforms and a french fleet who protect all of those men in battle, diplomacy often be full of intrigue. was there a lot of intrigue going on in paris in versailles, and back here in the states? there's always intrigue in congress. you don't need me to tell you that. but the intrigue, paris, is

astonish showing, and franklin has to somehow figure out his way to make his way through these multiple layers of intrigue and bureaucracy while speaking the language that is not his first language. and without anyone really guide him. and moreover, i should say without really instructions from congress multiple times because he can go six months without a letter from congress. so he's really trying to finesse his way through the levels of the french aristocracy through the halls of lci on his own, by his. and fortunately for us, a master psychologist and he really figures out how to do this largely by being just immensely candid and kind with he meets. he's also interestingly a man of few words, which i, i would argue probably does make a great diplomat. i think we think of him as a very verbose character. but is he can be very tight lipped, very sort of carefully epigrammatic and otherwise slightly recessive, even in a crowd of people in france. that was astonishing. someone who didn't speak the

time. so stacy schiff, we're talking about 1780, what was a communication like getting back from paris to states, etc.? at one point i think congress goes for a year hearing from ben franklin. they do wonder, is anyone still over there in paris representing? our interests. he will very often complain that six months go by without a letter from most of those letters end up in london. so if you really want to read a full the full account, what's going back and forth between between franklin and congress, you go to london to read it because they all of them intercepted by spies. and i should say that franklin's household is encircled by two sets of spies. there's the there's the french. there are the french informers who are being trailed about paris by the informers from great britain. and both of those sets of men are writing accounts back to their handlers about what franklin is doing. so there's enormous amount of material about what franklin's doing. it never made its way back to congress. what his relationship with louis the 16th in the french

revolution is just on the horizon at this point franklin never really grasps what's happening in france. one of the contributing factors the french revolution, in fact, is how much franklin has managed to extract from the french coffers for our revolution which leaves vesey with the relatively bankrupt. and that's one of the contributing factors to the french. frankly, this strain only blind to that he will have left france by that time. but in the course of those years, it is in his best interest to, maintain the best possible with the court of louis the 16th, the the great meeting between them is the moment the colonies are finally officiall and franklin appears the king for the first time in a brown velvet suit representing the united province is of north america, as we are then called, and thanks the king for all he has for the country and the king louis xvi basically says, i hope this treaty be in the interests of both of us. and franklin then sort of ad libs, a lovely about if if all

the monarchies governed by the sentiments in your heart sire republics would never be formed. which seems like a strange thing to come out of his mouth. he's very closely observed, the other diplomats. everyone is in all of the fact that the french have entered into this alliance with this unproved power. they know nothing about the americas. why have they done this? purely obviously out of out of enmity. great britain and franklin remains for those next years very much in the good of the court. you mentioned all the spies were the brits aware of everything that franklin was doing in versailles. every much everything that happens in franklin's is known the week in london. because in franklin's household is a secretary who is a spy. and every tuesday the aforementioned spy would take would make copies of franklin's correspondence right drive them to the to the treasury gardens in into a bottle under a tree. from there they would be delivered posthaste to.

so london has an exceeding good idea of what's happening on franklin's end and and he has a sense of that he operates as if as he puts it, even his valet might be a spy. he just assumes everyone is informing on him. so how is he successful? through an extraordinary amount of candor about what he's doing and. as i said, by a certain amount of secrecy, by just not always putting his cards on the table, except when forced to. what was franklin's back here he sent by the americans because he's the perfect man for the job, he has a better understanding of europe than any other american. he's nearly 16 years in london. prior the revolution, he's crossed the ocean seven times. no other american has this much familiarity with europe in. incongruous he can be viewed with suspicion for that very reason. he's a little too worldly. he's a little too european. then by the time he comes back from france, he's almost a little too french. in france, however, he's practically a walking statue.

liberty. he is the ideal man because he has himself, as they see at the tamer of lightning, the man who has somehow found out the secrets of the heavens and has has bottled electricity. so in this role, they see him as a sort of backwoods philosopher and a great man of science, and he is the celebrity to beat all celebrities when arrives in france to the point where he can barely walk through the streets without being accosted mobs. we have a statue of the marquis de lafayette here in washington. is there a benjamin franklin statue in paris? there is? a huge statue of benjamin franklin in paris. and there's avenue. benjamin franklin in paris. there's not an avenue franklin in london. what, if any, did ben franklin play in creating the us department of state? what by? the time he comes back? thomas jefferson replaced him in paris and jefferson very clear on the fact that he has succeeded rather than replaced ben franklin.

because, as jefferson puts it, no one could possibly replace him. and it's really jefferson who begins to craft a foreign policy for a new nation. so in way that is the launching part, i would say, for for the department of state. your book, the great improvization, is being turned into a miniseries. tell us about it. it's an eight part apple series. it will air, i believe, beginning around april in the role of ben franklin. is douglas looking more like franklin than ben franklin? and it was filmed in precise sally, those hallways down, which ben franklin himself walked complaining the cold marble floors for all of those years that he was weekly paying visits to versailles to see louis the 16th to finesse the aid for the war. so it was really filmed exactly where it where it all happened. everyone in the series who was french in real life, all the the entire french cast is played by french actors and the americans, americans. so it's an extraordinary bond by

national cast, very true to the history and, really. i think in my thoroughly unbiased opinion, really thrilling. were you part of the filming. absolutely not. did you had so did you attend? i did. was allowed to spend a day, few days on the set, which was which was really which was extraordinary. were they true to the book? it's very true to the book. it's very true to the history. i think a part of the history that we tend to forget, i think we prefer think of the revolution as been the work of general washington. we forget there is this foreign involvement, foreign support, without which we not have had a revolution and that then to reinsert that chapter into. the story, i think, is vitally important, and this really puts it front and center and gives you a sense really the odds. at one point franklin is in paris talking about george washington's 80,000 troops, when in fact, i think washington is commanding an army of 14,000 men. i mean, these dire times where

franklin is really sending all of the aid from, paris that was necessary to fight. how did the money actually get across the atlantic ocean? well, the money comes in terms of blankets, tents and munitions and largely so. it really comes in in of the material that was required. and franklin gets, these extraordinary long sort of laundry lists of everything the army needs. and it's everything from blankets to thimbles. so he's running around with a with a cast of confederates trying fill those orders. and then initially secretly trying to ship those things back to the colonies. would ben franklin be described as a good human being? oh, i would a hard time naming a more benevolent person thought more of the common than the others. he's he's someone who, strangely interested in himself and deeply interested in how to better the world in which we live. i mean, this is a man of a

hospital, a university a fire company, an insurance company. then a library, the number of civic institutes ones that he founds in this attempt to make himself useful, as he always to put it. and what was his age this time? he's 70 when he goes and, he comes back eight and a half years later, he thinks that he thinks when he leaves that he will probably not return. there's a real sense of this is the of my life and i hope to make it a rousing last act as he sails. and then by 85, he's not certain if he should come back. he hesitates. he's very happy in france. obviously, he's ridiculously celebrated in france. he's warned that he might not be met with so exalted a welcome he were to come home. he is as puts it, among people whom i love and, who love me very comfortable in france the british had occupied and plundered his home so he knows he's coming back to a to a difficult situation and he's he's crossed ocean more times than he was comfortable. he did he did not know that he

would survive crossing of the ocean. instead he gets on board ship to return in 1785 and immediately feels 20 years younger than he's felt in ages. what was it like to cross the ocean in those days brutal. franklin had swore never to do it again. several passages previous this it could take months and you often landed as was his case in 1776 not in the port to which you were headed. so for example, he was headed nahant, but he ended up in a little town called rye, which was hundreds of miles away, and has to sort of figure out how to make his way from to paris, from there. so it's a it's a it's a complicated and somewhat dangerous crossing on, which the affair was quite brutal. and the weather was particularly brutal. is somebody in his entourage who doesn't get the credit that he or she deserves? well, i think he doesn't get the credit because the whole french mission is something that i think we're somewhat reluctant to admit to at times, putting america back into the into the greater context of the world,

into the in relationship with europe in these years, i think, doesn't come naturally with him. go his two grandsons, one of them is seven and he gets shipped off to school in switzerland and the other is a teenager and franklin enlists as his secretary and this is his loyalist sons son whom franklin takes with him. and in a way temple his is his lifeline to the people of paris because temple is able to give him some sense of what is happening in the streets of paris, which franklin himself can't exactly frequent. temple doesn't amount to what grandfather had hoped he might amount to, but a huge he's a huge source of assistance. while franklin there and otherwise i think i would just say that the triumvirate who negotiate peace john adams, john jay and franklin get deserve the credit we could possibly hope to give them. and would you say that john jay and john adams and ben franklin agreed on the goals initially? not at all for different

reasons. adams and john jay are very to make a peace without the involvement of the french franklin because of his years at versailles has very very close relationships with especially the french minister whom he has promised that he will never negotiate without the involvement of france in negotiating a kind of without the involvement of france and. ultimately, john jay and john adams will prevail over franklin and the pieces negotiated any conference with the french the task of explaining that afterward will fall to franklin who has to make a somewhat humiliating trip to versailles to explain what he has with the assistance of his colleagues just done so. stacy schiff, as we mentioned, we're here in the ben franklin room at the department of state. there is a table here, the treaty of paris table. what is? that it's this modest desk which if you look at it closely, you realize is the beating heart of american history. because is it it is the desk at which we think john adams john

jay and ben franklin signed the treaty of paris establishing this country in paris. in 1783. it was essentially a brought from london by one of the british negotiators who very keen keep the americans from going to say i insisted that they meet at his apartments in paris rather than involving the french nutty and he saw to it that the american negotiators and the other side signed the desk signed the papers at that desk and has found its way through miraculous means here to the state department. now, you mentioned that ben franklin spent 17 years in london prior to going paris, did he maintain relationships with the british after he went to paris? franklin is still a very close with his friends in london with his friends everywhere in great britain. in fact, and maintains a correspondence with him through these years with some them there is a real you can see franklin kind of at his at his most acidic with there's a real sense

of how could you have done this to us you could have avoided this conflict so easily you surely don't think we're going to back down. i mean, there's a real sense of having got his back that no one has really taken the americans seriously. and with others there's a continually kind of charming correspondence through these years which allows him it's time to negotiate the peace to have relationships in place to make that kind of settlement possible. and in fact, the first overture that is made about let us perhaps discuss a peace treaty, this war has gone on long enough will come to him through the friend of a friend. so those relationships that he had forged, those years prove enormously beneficial from a diplomatic point of view as well. from a personal point of view, 1785 was this franklin returns to philadelphia was it his last act? it was the most important of his life, in his view. it was, in his estimation, most taxing act of his life. i think you could probably call it his greatest contribution to

america. and this from a man who made many who left such a huge imprint, america and the next five years are largely franklin in his glory. but as i said slightly suspect for his involvement with europe he has about him sort of the perfume of a foreign court in some way and there's some discussion as to whether his account books for example were always held to the highest while he was in france. stacey schiff is the author of this book. it's called a great improviser, and she is also contributor to the state department's americas collection. we appreciate you joining us here in the franklin room at state department. thanks so much. and now on american history tv, we'd like to welcome you to the us depart of state and washington, d.c. and introduce you to virginia hart. she is the director and curator of the diplomatic reception rooms here at the state department. virginia hart what are we going

to see? well, it extraordinary collection upstairs on the eighth floor. would you like to join me? i would. but first, how did you become the curator of this collection? we're about to see? well, i've been here many years, and it's it's never dull moment. and every day is full of surprise discovery. and what is your background. well, i have studied government history and then also decorative arts. and so i've been here a very long time 17 years, if you can believe. well let's go up and see the collection. so there was this museum open to the public. that we're about to see? yes, we're open for. so we are on the eighth floor of the state. virginia hart. where are we? oh, we're in the diplomatic reception rooms at the department of state in the harry truman building.

and what is up here? what are we going to see? well, we have 42 rooms that comprise the diplomatic reception rooms. they were designed in the 1960s, seventies and eighties by american classical architects. and the rooms are filled with an extraordinary but little known museum collection i'll be showing you today. and what are they used for? well, we honor dignitaries and diplomats are brought to this important space. and in these rooms, they see american artistry and craftsmanship from the century up until their 21st century. how long have these been here? well, they first opened in 1961, but they were very different when they first opened. they modern, sparse spaces and spoke little. our nation's history and its founding and its importance in art. now, you put together a book to show all showcase of this art america's collection. what is it? well, it's our third book on the

collection and our first, in over 20 years. and we brought scholarship and new voices to the table to help us reinterpret this national treasure for audiences so that they can all enjoy it. well, let's go where we're going first. right. this. we are looking at a patriotic image from 1876. it was painted by archibald willard and. he painted it for the philadelphia centennial celebration. now, when you went there, you could see the large size, which was 8 to 10 feet. and you also purchase for $2 a print. and that print was made from this size piece, which was a study. that's a rather image that we're looking at. and it didn't occur until 1876. well, it's it's something we're very proud of, because it speaks to a moment that americans felt so very proud of their history

and how far they had come since the revolution. who was archibald willard? what can you tell us about him? well, you certainly an american painter, but also one who was very innovative and able to take what is an image and then mass produce it so that everyone could take it home with them. and this came his imagination, correct? so. one other thing we wanted to see in this room. what are you going to show us? well i want to show you this traveling desk. this belonged to john quincy adams. this is a traveling desk. it is. and so when you open up this box, suddenly it creates a slanted surface. so you can write and draft all of your letters. now, this one is interesting because john quincy adams signed and dated it 70 in 96. and what was he doing in 1796? he wasn't president and he wasn't in the house of representatives. he was not yet.

he was an ambassador. he was serving over in holland. and the year he had met louisa kathe herron, who would become his wife and first lady and first lady. so they corresponded on this on this desk right here. how did it get to this department's collection? absolutely. so everything you see here is a gift to the american people. whether it came from a family who had acquired and owned these wonderful treasurers and decided to place them here at the department, state, or people who gave money and then allowed us, in this case to acquire it at auction. so if people are coming in to the museum for a tour. would they be able to see what we're seeing here? yes, absolutely. very much so. what's next on the. well, let me show you. so now what rumor will this is the gallery and what would it be used besides being a museum? well, we have some of our most

important pieces here in the collection, including this set of chinese export made for the american market. and who would have used this? oh, well, we know the person who earned it. his name was benjamin. lead him. he was a dry goods merchant in philadelphia, and he orders a service. and when he ordered it. he got multiple pieces. as you can see, it's a trimmed statement and it's really quite beautiful it's called fitzhugh. that's the pattern. and you can always tell if it's you because of four quadrants that surround central emblem in this case a monogram. so what's importance of having chinese porcelain in this collection? well, it reminds us that when we our independence, the first thing that we did as a nation was to send ship to china to establish direct trade for the first time. and certainly, these are the wonderful things that americans brought back and enjoyed in their homes. you've got a couple of portraits down i want to look at. yes.

very regal. isn't she beautiful? so this is the work of john singleton copley, an american portrait artist. and john adams would say of him that he was the best painter there ever was. and certainly his skill was in the colonies. frances moultrie saw her. you see, sad for john singleton copley in 1771 and again in 1778. but by that time, their lives have changed. they both left the united states, great britain, and they would never return again. and if you look at her riding habit, you could see chose a side in the revolution. that's why. she didn't come back from england. yes yes. this iconic washington. yes oh, absolutely. this is by stuart. and he is in london, dublin at the time. and in 40 finitely, he's hounded by creditors and was even

briefly imprisoned. he wrote to his friends, i expect to make a fortune by washington. and what he meant by that was that he had letters of introduction from john j. and with those letters of introduction washington, agreed to sit for him three times in 1795 and 96, the painting that originated from one of those sittings he had promised to martha washington, but kept so he could make many copies washington over his lifetime. and that provided artist with a steady income and a revenue. is this the dollar bill painting. this is without those letters. introduction from john j. george washington have sat for this portrait. i would like to think that gilbert's stuart being as talented as he was, would have been recognized here in america. so this is john quincy adams room named for secretaries of state who became president and who is this? this is john quincy adams and this is a likeness that was done

in 1816 when he was an american foreign minister in england. and this is after he had served president before before he had served as president. he would come back and become secretary of state. and then after, of course, president. i don't think i've ever seen that image of john quincy adams. it's one of my favorite. when i think of john quincy adams, of course, i of john adams. and the role he had in his son's life. and of course, people would come up to john and they would say, well, you must be so proud. your son and john adams would say he a mother, too. so i to think of him as actually the son of abigail adams. there is a resemblance to abigail and there is. well, one of the treasures that is in this room is right here. what is this? this is the desk on which the treaty of paris was signed, which ended the american revolution. the american revolution? who signed it.

well, if we look, we can see john adams. benjamin franklin and john jay. is that the original of paris that we're looking at? this is a copy. but the desk is real. the desk is the absolute that everyone sat and signed. now this desk was also used in a new miniseries. yes. executive produced by author stacy schiff. that's correct. and we were certainly interested in this series because it explores a life of benjamin franklin in paris right at the time that he became a diplomat and some extraordinary things brought france into the american revolution and allowed us a clear advantage. to get this desk over to paris. mm hmm. what. what did that entail? oh, it was extraordinary. with something like a national treasure. certainly, we. we the job very seriously. but we wanted so much to share this piece nationally for other people to know that we haven't

it's failed to be seen here at the department state. virginia hart this is a french desk, isn't it? since it was signed over in paris or not? it's a british maid and it belonged to the british commissioner who had this in his apartment, the time of the signing. what did you want to show us in this room? i want to show important painting that we have. this is a copy of an original that is now. it went to tour by benjamin west, but it's a familiar subject. and here if you take a look you see standing john j. henry lawrence john adams benjamin franklin and his grandson william temple franklin. so in effect, the american commissioners. but as you can see, it's unfinished. now, the british commissioners would have sat for the portrait except when it passed. and so the artist take his likeness. and so frustrated benjamin watt gave up series and it remains to this day. i want to ask you about one more

thing. the declaration of independence. is this an original? it is a copy of the original and it is a when does a state from would you say this copy? it dates from 1823. john quincy adams is secretary of state. and we are just about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of, the declaration of independence. and he recognizes the event by commissioning a copperplate engraving. so he'll hire william stone, who's here in washington, d.c. and william stone will take the next three years, copying declaration backwards into a copper plate. backwards, backwards. now, 200 copies are made and william stone asks for a copy for himself. so there are only 201 copies that exist now. they were given to john adams. they were given to thomas and also with mark lafayette. and the rest stayed here. what's interesting is that the

original that declaration that we see today is so faded that you miss much of the detail. and so when you actually think of what is the declaration in our we're actually thinking of this print right here. and this is something john quincy adams as secretary of state said, let's do this. absolutely. now, this is a obviously a very beautiful room. i understand that it was one of secretary colin powell's favorite rooms. oh, it was he was so, so supportive of this museum. and there would be times in meetings he would say, well, let's go upstairs. and he would take people on tours through these rooms and just describe these wonderful moments of aspired us as americans. let's our tour. wonderful. well, we're leaving the john quincy adams room, which was one of secretary powell's favorite rooms. and we're entering into the jefferson room, which i understand is one of secretary

blinken's favorite rooms. absolutely. he this space for receptions meetings and events. now virginia hart, this has a feel of monticello in here. so this was designed by the american classical architect edward mason jones, who went back to monticello, incorporated some of jefferson's original design conceptions in this room. speaking of thomas jefferson, yes, here he is. this was a copy of the original, which was in 1832, following well, after jefferson's death. and to create the likeness, french artist borrowed a likeness from mark lafayette and created a statue and certainly that is provided us with this copy that we have here and the original the us capitol and he's holding it looks like the declaration of independence. absolutely. there we go. a couple of portraits of jefferson. i want to ask you again, this one seems almost a primitive

style. oh, well, this is the work of charles peale and it dates to 1791 when thomas jefferson was serving as secretary of state. now, charles wilson peale, an artist, but prior to that, he served in our revolution and brought his paints onto the battlefield and afterwards went on to establish america's first museum. one other jefferson portrait want to ask you about this is a copy done by gilbert stuart. he was the original artist. the artist of this one is william thorton, who is better known as the architect of the capitol. and he and jefferson worked on that commission. jefferson was secretary of state. kind of roman it is. it's based on roman cameo and it is neoclassical and was jefferson's favorite portrait of himself, his lifetime. before we leave this room, there's a couple of busts above. the doors. yes. so here we have john paul jones

and george washington. and what i love is that we have the head of the navy and the head the army. so you've indicated that all the rooms are named after secretaries state who become president. but now we're about to go in to the ben franklin. yes. how does that make sense? well he was the father of the american service. and important to our diplomatic history. this looks like a ballroom. what's it used for? well, we again have reception and seated dinners and all forms of events you could imagine. this is where we welcomed leaders from around the world to, this room here for our state luncheons. what inspired this room? oh, well, it was a classical architecture in great of the type that franklin would have seen during his london years. tell us about this carpet. well, this is a magnificent new classical carpet that draws

inspiration from franklin's life in these vignettes. now, there seems to be a view out here. oh, yes. one of the best. well, virginia hart we just left the 18th century. you've got modern virginia. you've got arlington cemetery and the lee mansion. more of arlington, the airport and the modern world here. this is a fantastic. it's one of the best years we have here in washington d.c. what is this terrace used for. well, is it's a vital part of the work do on the interior to, open up the doors and allow people to leave the 18th century and walk into something that has a very modern feel and suddenly we are in the nation's capital. now, the state department building itself built 1950s. it was planned the 1950s and opened up in 1960. so all of the work that we've done to our collection has been to the interior of the building,

allowing people to walk to the space and suddenly explore. since the 1961 architecture of this building here. and you really do experience. but this this terrace was renovated during the secretary clinton, too, correct? absolutely. what is this wall here? this is the wall of the secretaries of state and. i think we'll see some names that are familiar, secretaries who have gone on to become president, like thomas jefferson, james madison, james monroe, john quincy adams. and the list certainly goes on. and then, of course, the more recent secretaries of state clinton, rice, powell, albright, yes, kissinger. we're just past. so well speaking presidents who, as secretary of state, i think our next stop is in monroe. it is. let's go. great.

now, virginia hart, this is one of the smaller rooms we've been at? yes, absolutely this is one of the private rooms for the secretary of state. so this is off the tour. it at this point. how does the secretary use room? well, it's a holding room and he'll gather here before proceeding to another area to make remarks. and this is the monroe room. oh, it is. for this portrait by thomas aiello and thomas aiello, one of the great american portrait artists, the 19th century. and he was also known to flatter his subjects. so if you to have your portrait done, you would probably want solely your artist. now, we want to remind our viewers about the book america's collection that just came out because i'm seeing something that reminds me of that. well, they are a pair of vases that made in paris for the american market and americans absolutely loved porcelain. in fact some of our first presidents would go to france to choose their service for their

dining room table and remind us about america's collection. america's is is our book. the first one in 20 years. and we are so excited that is finally out that at all the artifacts up here in the museum. absolutely including some of the pieces we have here. that's with eagles. why eagles? it's an interesting time period you think of after the revolution, americans began to embrace national symbols, not merely in their ideas and in their writings, but rather in their interiors. and here we have a couple examples of furniture, furnishings. now we're going to one final stop. what this? this is the madison dining room named after james madison. absolutely. and it's a working room. it is. we have dinners, luncheons in this space. who uses room? well, our secretary of state. and where he or she sat in the. and always with the view of this

small mantel clock right behind you. it's the one modern concession that have here at the department of state all of the time pieces and clocks that you've seen up until this point are period. and yet they don't keep accurate time. so we've made one concession a modern clock to sure everyone knows. so the secretary of state can stay on schedule. he, he or she knows what time it is. absolutely. what's above it? this is a bust of james madison. and it was done by an italian artist named sarasate. now, roger, he planned a fully bust, but he was working in alabang after which was torn, was he would ride. and we know today they were inclusions so when he got to the finishing phases, it broke cleanly. in half the artist was disappeared, but he sent it to madison and it was in their home montpelier for many years. so virginia hart we've seen a lot of the reception rooms area, most of it open to the. if somebody wants to tour much

of what just saw how did they do that. well we're reopening tours in 2024. you can information at state.gov and we encourage people to come and visit. how many diplomats would you say come through here? how many days a week is the space business? it is a happening place. we are busy all the time. what's your impression that you want diplomats to leave with after seeing the diplomatic rooms? well, i think kerry said it best in our book that america exceptional, not because we say we are, but because our nation does exceptional things and rooms that they are a gift of the american people, that they are maintained by gifts is really and i think what makes these rooms so special. virginia hart director and curator of the diplomatic reception rooms here at the department state. we appreciate your time. and we also want to point once again the new book put out by

the state department. america's collection, the art and architecture of the diplomatic rooms of the u.s. of state. thank for being with us on c-span.

you, emily. thanks emily. and thank you all you for being here with us this evening at old south meeting house. so just a few days from now, on saturday, we will be marking 250 years since a ve