Welcome to the Untold Story podcast, everybody.

I'm Martha McCallum.

One of the things I love about this podcast is that we dig into stories that we don't really have the depth on maybe in other places

or we uncover things we never knew about individuals that we speak to. And in this case, I'm really

excited. I got started on America 250 a little early. I decorated my Christmas tree with flags and

ornaments of the presidents. And I'm very excited about celebrating the 250th anniversary of this country.

And it warms my heart and makes me think about when I was very little.

And Monica Crowley and I were both just barely, you know, just little wisps of things when the bicentennial happened.

But it was a special time in the country, and I'm really hoping that we get that same sort of nostalgic,

patriotic feeling about the nation for the 250th. So without further ado, Ambassador Monica Crowley,

Ambassador in Chief of Protocol, very important job for the United States,

and we're delighted to have Monica with us. She has served in so many different capacities,

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs. She worked with Nixon way back when she has been involved in so many different aspects of government,

and she really understands

the depth of service and the comprehensive nature of patriotism and look at our country.

So, Monica, great to have you with us.

It's so good to be here with you, Martha.

And thank you for that beautiful introduction.

And also for setting the stage so beautifully for America's 250th birthday.

You know, you mentioned that I am U.S. Chief of Protocol. That's my day job.

But one of the things that the President also asked me to do was to serve as his administration's representative

for all of the major U.S. hosted events during this term. And that includes, of course,

...