The Residence - Inside the Private World of The White House (49 page)

Oval Blue Room, 251

Oval Office of, 20, 22, 24, 38, 45, 50, 56, 66, 74, 87, 106, 142, 155, 156, 158, 164, 248, 249, 266

packages not accepted by, 93

Pastry Shop of, 22, 147

as physical symbol, 6, 19

Plumber’s Shop of, 127

public tours of, 5, 10, 20, 44, 45, 194, 231–32, 236, 266

racism and, 188, 190, 193, 195, 196–97, 198, 204

Red Room of, 21, 181, 239, 250

royal visits to, 181–82, 214–15, 273

security at, 17, 255

security breaches in, 17, 67, 113–15

September 11, 2001 evacuation of, 258, 261, 262–63, 267

Situation Room of, 19

slavery and, 175, 176–77

snipers on roof of, 16, 17, 99, 100

South Lawn of, 2, 5, 22, 25, 41, 52, 60, 83, 113, 181, 230, 234, 242, 252, 255, 256, 259

South Portico of, 27, 256, 257–58

State Dining Room of, 5, 21, 27, 30, 70, 87, 154, 181, 211, 232

State Floor of, 5, 11, 19, 20, 22, 27, 37, 44, 61, 68, 140, 153, 181, 231, 236

Travel Office of, 142

Treaty Room of, 52–53, 153

Usher’s Office of, 3, 11, 19, 45, 49, 54, 94, 100, 111, 115, 130, 150, 151–52, 189, 191, 243, 257

West Colonnade of, 81

West Sitting Hall of, 48, 80, 132, 133, 144, 145

West Wing of, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 36, 40, 44, 73, 81, 91, 127, 143, 162, 258

Yellow Oval Room of, 22, 76, 99, 105, 114, 137, 144, 251, 260

White House Fine Arts Committee, 25

White House private residence, 3–5, 7, 19, 21–22

basketball court of, 41

bowling alley of, 155, 225

Family Dining Room of, 5, 26, 80, 119, 228, 271

Game Room of, 160

guest rooms of, 21–22

kitchen of, 18, 19, 26, 237

Lincoln Bedroom of, 48, 99, 142, 164, 213, 267

paid expenses in, 65

parties in, 99–100

personal cost of living in, 62–66

phone system in, 53, 100

pools of, 10, 119, 148, 187, 209

pot-smoking in, 98

presidential transitions and,
see
presidential transitions

as prison, 17, 234

Queen’s Bedroom of, 22, 48, 55, 99, 213, 256, 260

Queen’s Sitting Room of, 127

redecorating of, 32, 50–51, 52–53, 54, 55

separate marital bedrooms in, 49, 62

shots fired into, 17, 113–15

Solarium of, 27–28, 71, 76, 98, 99, 111, 160, 199, 226, 230, 234, 254–55, 271

staircases of, 22

storage facility for, 50–51, 72

televisions in, 76–77

theater of, 3, 73, 143, 225

Truman Balcony of, 17, 22, 24–25, 106, 114, 123, 164

underage drinking in, 97, 98

see also
first families

White House residence staff:

advice sought from, 37, 45

African Americans in,
see
African Americans, in residence staff

as apolitical, 73

background checks for, 85, 150, 255

basement area for, 19–20, 26

Bush, George W. and, 38, 82, 83, 89

Bush, George H. W. and, 38, 118, 119–20, 121–22, 271

Bush family (George H. W.) and, 117–22

butlers of, 15–16, 38, 40, 42, 62, 81, 82, 84, 97, 143, 145, 154, 165, 166, 169–70, 173–75, 179–80, 183–84, 192–93, 195, 196

calligraphers of, 13–14

chefs of, 14, 64, 66, 68–70, 75, 90, 109–12, 116, 139–40, 219–20

Chelsea Clinton and, 153, 239–42

chief ushers of,
see
chief ushers

Clinton and, 30, 38, 137–39, 146

Clintons’ firing of, 150–51

as cohosts, 10

commutes of, 108

composure required by, 94

coordination with first lady of, 11, 14, 21, 46–47, 64, 69, 135, 137

curators of, 74, 139

departments and shops of, 12, 31, 94, 125, 192, 237, 239

as devoted to jobs, 4, 18, 28, 40, 71, 103–6, 109, 110–12, 117, 142, 162, 167, 259, 275

as discreet and inconspicuous, 5, 9, 87, 92, 94, 247, 275

discretion and loyalty of, 7–8, 79–80, 81, 85–92, 97, 101, 143, 181, 207, 208–9, 272

doormen of, 1–4, 38, 48–49, 86, 124–25, 167

drug tests for, 150

in early administrations, 23–24

Eleanor Roosevelt’s dismissal of whites from, 178

as federal employees, 11, 108, 142, 177–78

first families on, 10, 11, 46, 56, 61, 70, 71, 88–90, 91, 106, 118, 167, 274, 275

first family children and, 224–25, 227, 229–30, 231, 234, 237–42

first family demands and, 123, 125–33, 163

flexibility of, 30, 46, 75

florists of, 15, 35, 36, 64–65, 67–68, 112–13, 146, 226

generations of, 7, 13, 107–8, 168–69, 183, 194–95, 204, 269–70

gift wrapping by, 135, 138, 144

gossip and stories swapped by, 207, 210, 219

grocery shopping by, 92–93

hiring of, 13, 84–85, 104, 107, 108

HIV and, 145–46

as important, 10, 273

Iran hostage crisis and, 106, 274

JFK assassination and, 1–4, 124, 159, 199, 243–49, 250–51

Lady Bird Johnson and, 103–4, 129, 170–71

large gatherings and, 5

LBJ and, 124–25, 129, 130

long hours for, 48, 101, 103–4, 117, 133, 162, 163, 166–67

maids of, 14–15, 17, 21, 22–23, 48, 62, 96–97, 113, 135, 166, 216, 260

marriages and divorces of, 165, 166–67

Mary Prince and, 187

Monica Lewinsky scandal and, 142–43, 144–45, 146, 147, 149

as movers, 31, 53–54, 61, 74

National Park Service as part of, 11, 19

Navy Mess for, 20

number of, 23, 44

Obama administration and, 36–37

Obama and, 37–39, 40–41, 42, 44, 174–75

Obama family and, 33, 38, 39, 45–46, 170, 173–74, 175

painters of, 105–6

pay of, 108–9, 189–91, 192–93, 204–5

personal lives sacrificed by, 6, 104–5, 107, 109–10, 161–62, 165, 274

presidential transitions and,
see
presidential transitions

private moments witnessed by, 80, 88, 91, 96

privileged access of, 6, 7–8, 74, 86, 90, 270

Reagan and, 159–60, 216–18

responsibilities of, 14, 44, 86, 92–93

royalty and, 181–82

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and, 257–63, 264–65, 266–68

slaves as, 176–77

social secretary of, 13–14

as tenants of White House, 6, 11, 232

traditions and, 40

training exercises for, 108

ushers of, 45, 81, 86–87, 91, 100, 163–64, 177–78, 189–90

valets of, 16

Watergate scandal and, 157–58

West Wing staff and, 44–45, 163–64, 191, 208

on White House, 26

see also specific people

Whitewater land deal, 142

Whitman, Walt, 144

Who’s the Boss
, 91

“Who’s Who, and Why, in the White House” (Hoover), 79

Williams, Maggie, 151

Williams, Otis, 206

World Trade Center,
see
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

World War II, 26, 264

Wright, Zephyr, 103–4, 132, 200–201, 202–4

Yo-Yo Ma, 205

Yuki (LBJ’s dog), 210

Photo Section

White House butlers in between courses during a 1976 state dinner for French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

Plumber Reds Arrington (
right foreground
) at work in the Plumber’s Shop in the White House basement in 1952. Arrington had a nervous breakdown because of President Lyndon Johnson’s never-ending demands concerning the White House shower. “If I can move ten thousand troops in a day, you can certainly fix the bathroom any way I want it!” the president screamed at Reds during one tirade.