Dedication

FORBROOKEBROWER,MYHUSBAND,ANDTHEONEWHOMAKES

MEBELIEVETHATANYTHINGISPOSSIBLE.

ANDFOROURJOYOUSBABIES,GRAHAMANDCHARLOTTE.

Contents

Dedication

MainCastofCharacters

Introduction

CHAPTERIControlledChaos

CHAPTERIIDiscretion

CHAPTERIIIDevotion

CHAPTERIVExtraordinaryDemands

CHAPTERVDarkDays

CHAPTERVISacrifice

CHAPTERVIIRaceandtheResidence

CHAPTERVIIIBackstairsGossipand

Mischief

CHAPTERIX

GrowingUpintheWhiteHouse

CHAPTERXHeartbreakandHope

Epilogue

AcknowledgmentsSourcesandChapterNotesSelectedBibliography

Index

PhotoSection

AbouttheAuthorCopyright

AboutthePublisher

MainCastofCharacters

JamesW.F.“Skip”Allen

Usher,1979–2004

RedsArrington

Plumber,Plumbing

Foreman,1946–1979

PrestonBruce

Doorman,1953–1977

TraphesBryant

Electrician,DogKeeper,1951–1973

CletusClark Painter,1969–2008

William“Bill”Cliber

Electrician,1963–1990;ChiefElectrician,1990–2004

WendyElsasser

Florist,1985–2007

ChrisEmery Usher,1987–1994BettyFinney

Maid,1993–2007

JamesHall Part-timeButler,1963–2007

William“Bill”Hamilton

Houseman,HeadoftheStoreroom,1958–2013

JamesJeffries

KitchenWorker,Part-timeButler,1959–Current

WilsonJerman

Houseman,Butler,1957–1993;Part-timeDoorman,2003–2010

JimKetchum

Curator,1961–1963;ChiefCurator,1963–1970

ChristineLimerick

ExecutiveHousekeeper,1979–2008(hiatusbetween1986and1991)

LinseyLittle Houseman,1979–2005

RolandMesnier

ExecutivePastryChef,1979–2006

BettyMonkman

Curator,1967–1997;ChiefCurator,1997–2002

RonnPayne Florist,1973–1996

NelsonPierce

Usher,1961–1987

MaryPrince AmyCarter’s

NannyJamesRamsey

Butler,endofCarterAdministration–2010

StephenRochon

ChiefUsher,2007–2011

FrankRuta Chef,1979–1991(hiatusbetween1987and1988)

TonySavoy OperationsDepartmentStaffer/Supervisor,

1984–2013BobScanlan Florist,1998–

2010WalterScheib

ExecutiveChef,1994–2005

RexScouten Usher,1957–1969;ChiefUsher,1969–1986,ChiefCurator,1986–1997

IvanizSilva Maid,1985–2008Herman Part-timeButler,

Thompson 1960–1993GaryWalters

Usher,1976–1986;ChiefUsher1986–2007

J.B.West Usher,1941–1957;ChiefUsher,1957–1969

LynwoodWestray

Part-timeButler,1962–1994

WorthingtonWhite

Usher,1980–2012

ZephyrWright

TheJohnsons’FamilyCook

Introduction

LivingintheWhiteHouseislikebeingonthestage,wheretragediesand

comediesplayalternately.Andwe,theservantsoftheWhiteHouse,arethe

supportingcast.

—LILLIANROGERSPARKS,WHITEHOUSEMAIDANDSEAMSTRESS,1929–1961,MYTHIRTYYEARSBACKSTAIRSAT

THEWHITEHOUSE

PrestonBrucewas sitting inhisWashington,D.C.,kitchenwithhiswife,listeningtotheradio and having lunch—theone meal they ate togetherevery day—when anannouncerinterruptedwithanurgentmessage:thepresidenthasbeenshot.

He jumped up from hischair, cracking his knee onthe table and sending dishes

crashing to the floor. Aminute or so later cameanother announcement, thevoice even shriller: Thepresident has been shot. Ithasbeenverified thathehasbeen shot. His condition isunknown.

This can’t be happening,thought Bruce. He threw onhiscoat,forgettinghishatonthebriskNovemberday, andjumpedinhiscar,tearingout

of the driveway. His wife,Virginia, was left behindstanding in their kitchen,shell-shockedamidtheshardsofbrokendisheslyingonthefloor.

ThenormallyunflappableBruce was weaving throughdowntown traffic at fifty-fivemiles an hour—“I didn’trealizehowfastIwasgoing,”hewouldsay later—whenhesuddenlyheardapolicesiren

blaring behind him. Anofficer on a motorcyclepulled up alongside him atSixteenth Street andColumbia Road, jumped offhis bike, andwalked over tothedriver’sdoor.

“What’s the hurry?” Hewasinnomoodforexcuses.

“Officer, I work at theWhite House,” Bruce saidbreathlessly. “The presidenthasbeenshot.”

A stunned pausefollowed. Not everyone hadheard the devastating news.“C’mon,” the startled officersaid, jumping back onto hismotorcycle. “Follow me!”Bruce got his own policeescort to the southwest gateoftheWhiteHousethatday.

Most Americans whowerealivein1963rememberexactly where they werewhen they learned that

President Kennedy had beenshot. For Bruce, though, thenews had a special impact:Kennedy wasn’t only thepresident,buthewasalsohisboss,and—moreimportant—hisfriend.PrestonBrucewasthe doorman at the WhiteHouse, and a belovedmember of the staff. Just themorning before, he hadescorted the president, thefirstlady,andtheirson,John-

John,tothemarinehelicopteron the South Lawn, whichwould carry them to AirForce One at Andrews AirForce Base. From there theKennedys would leave fortheirfatefultwo-day,five-citycampaign tour of Texas.(John-John,whowasjustfourdaysshyofhisthirdbirthday,loved helicopter rides withhis parents. Hewent only asfarasAndrews;whenhewas

told he couldn’t accompanyhis mother and father all theway to Dallas, he sobbed. Itwas the last time he wouldeverseehisfather.)

“I’m leaving you incharge of everything here,”PresidentKennedyshoutedtoBruce, above thewhir of thehelicopter’s engines on theSouthLawn.“Yourunthingstosuityourself.”

A descendant of slaves

and the son of a SouthCarolina sharecropper, Brucehad become an honorarymember of the Kennedyfamily. He watched movieswiththemintheWhiteHousetheater and looked on as thepresidentplayedhappilywithhischildren.HewincedwhenKennedybumpedhisheadona table while chasing John-John,arambunctioustoddler,around the Oval Office.

(JFK’sdeskwasoneofJohn-John’s favoritehidingplaces.Brucewouldsometimeshaveto fish him out fromunderneath before importantmeetings.)Tallandthininhismidfifties, with a shock ofwhitehairandabrightwhitemustache,Bruceworeablacksuit and white bow tie towork every day. He was sodevoted to his job, whichincluded the delicate

assignmentofseatingnervousguestsatstatedinners,thathedesigned a table nicknamedthe “Bruce Table,” with aslantedtopthatmadeiteasierto arrange table place cards.His invention would be usedfordecades.

On November 22, as heraced toward the WhiteHouse, Bruce was indisbelief. “To this day I canstill feel the shock that ran

throughmywhole body,” helaterrecalled.

After arriving at theexecutive mansion, he hadonlyonethingonhismind.“Iwould wait for Mrs.Kennedy.” He huddledaround the TV with otherworkers in the crowdedUsher’s Office. The newsconfirmed fears shared byevery White House staffer.“In most of our minds,” he

wrote years later, “you’realways aware that it wascompletely possible that anypresident that ever left thateighteen acres could comeback just like PresidentKennedy.”

When Jackie Kennedyfinally returned to theWhiteHouse at 4:00 A.M. wearingthe iconic bloodstained pinkwool suit and clutching thearm of her brother-in-law

Robert F. Kennedy, she wasghostlywhiteandeerilycalm.“Bruce, you waited until wecame,” she said softly, asthough she was trying tocomforthim.“Yes,youknewIwas going to be here,Mrs.Kennedy,”hereplied.

After a short service inthe East Room, he led thefirst lady and the attorneygeneral up to the privateresidenceonthesecondfloor.

In that quiet moment in theelevator, standingnext to thetwo people who had beenclosest to JFK, Bruce finallybroke down sobbing. Jackieand Robert joined him,foldingtheirarmsaroundoneanother, they cried togetheruntil theyreached thesecondfloor.WhenJackiegottoherbedroom she told herpersonalmaidandconfidante,Providencia Paredes, “I

thought they might kill metoo.” Then she finally tookoff the suit caked in herhusband’sbloodandbathed.

Exhausted, Bruce spentwhat was left of that nightsittingupright in a chair in atiny bedroom on the thirdfloor. He took off his jacketand bow tie and unbuttonedthe collar of his stiff whiteshirt, but he wouldn’t lethimself give into exhaustion.

“Ididn’twanttoliedown,incase Mrs. Kennedy neededme.” His allegiance wasreciprocated.Shortlyafterthefuneral, the first lady gavehim the tie her husband hadworn on the flight to Dallas.“The president would havewantedyoutohavethis,”shetold him. (JFK had switchedties just before getting intothe motorcade, and had theold one in his jacket pocket

when he was shot.) RobertKennedypulledoffhisglovesand handed them to hisstricken friend: “Keep thesegloves,” he told Bruce, “andrememberalways that Iworethem to my brother’sfuneral.”

The White Housedoorman refused to leave hispost to return home to hiswifeuntilNovember26,fourdays after the assassination.

Bruce’s devotion to his job,and to the first family, mayseemremarkable,butnothingless is expected from thosewhoworkintheresidence.

AMERICA’S FIRST FAMILIES arelargely unknowable. Theirprivacy is guarded by WestWingaidesandbya teamofroughly one hundred peoplewho stay deliberately out of

sight: the White Houseresidence staff. Theseworkers spendmuch of theirtime on the second and thirdfloors of the fifty-five-thousand-square-footbuilding. It’s here that thefirst family can escape theoverwhelming pressures ofthe office, even if just for acouple of precious hourswhile they eat dinner orwatch TV. Upstairs, as

tourists shuffle below on thefirst floor and amateurphotographers gather at theperimeter fence with cellphone cameras, they are freetoconducttheirpersonallivesinprivate.

Unlike the slew ofpolitical aides who haveeagerly given interviews andpublished memoirs afterleaving theWhiteHouse, themaids, butlers, chefs, ushers,

engineers, electricians,plumbers, carpenters, andflorists who run America’smost famous home havelargely preferred to remaininvisible.Oneworkertoldmethat his colleagues share a“passion for anonymity.” Asaresult,theunseenbackstairsworld of the White Housestaff has remained rich withintrigue.

I first became aware of

thatworldwhen,asamemberof the White House presscorps, I was invited to aluncheon that MichelleObamaheld for fewer thanadozenreportersinanintimatedining room on the StateFloor of the White House.Dubbed the Old FamilyDining Room after JackieKennedy created a separatedining room on the secondfloor that is used more

routinely by current firstfamilies, the room is tuckedaway across from the formalState Dining Room, where Ihadcovereddozensofevents.I had never seen this privateside of the White House;indeed, I didn’t even knowthe room existed. Access tomanyareasoftheresidenceisheavily restricted; reportersand photographers coveringformal events, such as East

Room receptions and statedinners(nowoftenheldinanimpressive white pavilion onthe South Lawn), are keptcordoned off from WhiteHouse guests. And for theselarge gatherings, the WhiteHouse staff is oftenaugmented by the hiring ofpart-time butlers andwaitstaff.

SoIwassurprised,ontheday of the first lady’s

luncheon, when a handlerushered us into the relativelysmall and cozy Old FamilyDining Room, and anelegantly dressed gentlemanoffered us champagne on agleaming silver tray. Themenu included salad withvegetables from the WhiteHouse garden and fresh pan-roasted rockfish elegantlypresented on Truman china.Eachcoursewas servedbya

butler who clearly had arapport with the first lady.This is all very DowntonAbbey, I thought. Theexperience left mewondering: Just who werethesepeople,sointimatewiththe world’s most powerfulfamily?

As a White Housereporter for BloombergNews,Iworkedinoneofthemany tiny windowless

cubbies located below theJames S. Brady PressBriefingRoom.Thecrampedbasement space is a constantwhirl of activity as reportersrace back and forth coveringevents,talkingtosources,andrushing back to theircomputers to file stories.Duringmy timecovering theWhite House, I traveledaround the world on AirForce One and on Air Force

Two (the vice president’splane)—filing reports fromMongolia, Japan, Poland,France, Portugal, China, andColombia—but the mostfascinatingstoryturnedouttobe right in front ofme everyday:themenandwomenwhotake care of the first family,who share a fierce loyalty tothe institution of theAmerican presidency. Eachstafferwhohas served at the

White House has bornewitness to history, and eachhasincrediblestoriestoshare.

The White House is thecountry’s most potent andenduring symbol of thepresidency. Its 132 rooms,147windows,28fireplaces,8staircases,and3elevatorsarespread across the 6 floors—plus 2 hidden mezzaninelevels—all tucked withinwhat appears to be a three-

story building. The house ishome to just one famousfamily at a time, but themembers of the building’ssupporting cast are itspermanenttenants.

The residence workersbringasenseofhumanityandOld World values to theworld’smostfamouseighteenacres. Rising at dawn, theysacrifice their personal livesto serve the first familywith

quiet, awe-inspiring dignity.For them, working in theWhite House, regardless ofposition, is a great honor.Elections may bring newfaces, but they stay on fromadministration toadministrationandarecarefulto keep their political beliefstothemselves.Theyhaveonejob: to make America’s firstfamilies comfortable in thecountry’smostpublicprivate

home.In the course of their

work,manyofthesemenandwomen have witnessedpresidents and their familiesduring incredibly vulnerablemoments, but only a handfulof residence workers havepublished memoirs of theirtimeattheWhiteHouse.Thisbookmarksthefirsttimethatsomanyhavesharedwhatit’slike to devote their lives to

caring for the first family.Their memories range fromsmall acts of kindness toepisodesofangerandprivatedespair, from stories ofpersonalquirksandfoiblestomomentswhentheireverydaywork was transcended byinstances of national triumphortragedy.

From playing with theKennedychildrenintheOvalOffice to witnessing the first

African American presidentarrive at the White House;from being asked by NancyReagan to return each of hertwenty-fiveLimogesboxestothe same exact spot aftercleaning, to giving HillaryClinton amoment of privacyduring her husband’s sexscandalandimpeachment,theresidence staff see sides ofthe first family no one elseeverglimpses.

Though they gave meunprecedentedaccess to theirstories, recent and currentresidence workers follow along-established code ofethics that values discretionandtheprotectionof thefirstfamily’s privacy above allelse. Unlike most people inpower-obsessed Washington,D.C., who tell each otherwhere they work almostbefore offering their names,

staffers avoid mentioningtheirextraordinaryjobs.Theyinherited that code of honorfromthepreviousgenerationswho kept FDR’s paralysisprivate by ushering guestsintotheroomforstatedinnersonly after the president wasseated and his wheelchairrolled out of view—andwhomade sure that stories ofJFK’sphilanderingnever lefttheWhiteHousegates.

Residence workers havesuch privileged access, infact,thatcurrentWhiteHouseaides did not want themspeaking with me. Oneformerstaffertoldmeinane-mail, “I think you will findthat anyone who is stillemployed will not want tospeaktoyoubecausetheydonot want to lose their job—yes,thisisareality.Weweretrained tokeepwhatgoeson

inside the WH, inside theWH.”

Butwhileatfirstsomeofthem were reluctant to sharetheir experiences working in“thehouse,”astheycallit,allwere incredibly gracious.Black and white, men andwomen, chefs, electricians,and maids, dozens of retiredstaffers invited me to sitacross from them at theirkitchen tables or to talkwith

them on their living roomsofas. (I was pregnant withour second child at the time,which prompted lots of kindinquiries into how I wasfeelingandwhether Iwantedsomething to eat.) Beforelong, they were happilyrecounting decades ofmemoriesworkingforseveralpresidents and their families.Manyseemedoblivioustothefact that they had led

remarkable lives with front-row seats to history. Theirrecollectionswerenotalwaysconsistent; where manystaffershadfondmemoriesofthe families they served,others told less flatteringstories.

Getting them to talkwasn’t always easy. Someopenedup tomeonly after Imentioned thenamesof theircolleagues whom I’d already

interviewed. Others wereguarded until we met inperson, likeChiefElectricianWilliam “Bill” Cliber, whotold me fascinating storiesabout Richard Nixon in hisfinal days in office, andExecutive HousekeeperChristine Limerick, whotalked about her painfuldecision to temporarily leaveherpostbecauseshewassickoftakingabusefromacertain

firstlady.Somepeople,likeGeorge

W. Bush’s favorite butler,JamesRamsey,wantedtotalkonly about their positiveexperiences. Ramsey evensaid he was worried that thegovernmentwould takeawaythe pension he worked hisentirelifetoearnifhesharedanything negative (thoughthere is no evidence that thatwould have happened). He

was full of genuine love forthe families he served. Hepassed away in 2014, but Ifeel fortunate to have gottento know him and otherstafferswhodiedbefore theycouldseetheirstoriestold.

I’vetalkedtopeoplewhoworked at the White Houseduring the time known asCamelot—including the firstresidence staffer to beinformed of President

Kennedy’s assassination—and to butlers, doormen, andflorists who served theObamas. I’ve listened to thesons and daughters ofpresidents describe what it’slike to growup in theWhiteHouse. And I have hadcandid conversations withformer first ladies RosalynnCarter, Barbara Bush, andLauraBush, aswell asmanyhigh-level White House

aides. Most were genuinelyeager to help bring attentionto the people who workquietly and diligently behindthescenes.

Despitetheirsacrificeandhardwork,theresidencestaffassiduously avoids thespotlight—and not just in ametaphorical sense. “There’san unwritten rule that westayed in the background. Iftherewasacamerawealways

ducked under it, over it, oraround it,” insisted UsherJames W. F. “Skip” Allen.YettheworkersIinterviewedhad a blend of intelligenceand character that made mewanttolearnmoreabouttheirlives.Manyof themalsohadawry,evenwicked, senseofhumor. After our interview,retired butler James Hallmade sure to walkme out—very slowly—through the

crowded lobby of hisretirement home. He wasn’tjustbeingpolite,headmitted;he wanted to make sureeveryone saw him with ayounger woman. “It’s likePeyton Place around here!”hesaid,laughing.

My research took mebeyond Washington and itssuburbs. Allen had retired toa sprawling six-thousand-square-foot nineteenth-

century farmhouse inBedford, Pennsylvania. Weate chicken salad sandwichesby his pool during a lightdrizzle as he described thecloserelationshipbetweenthepresident and the staff (“Itwould be nothing out of theordinary for a president toacknowledge somebody’sbirthday”) and the weight ofthe job (“Name a president.Nobody leaves the White

House looking younger thantheycamein”).

While they areoverlooked in the pomp andcircumstance of presidentialeventsand statevisits,WhiteHouseworkersarevitaltothepublicandprivatelivesoftheAmerican presidency. “In away,myfamilyandIalwaysthought of them as cohostswith the president and thefirstlady,”TriciaNixonCox,

theolderofPresidentNixon’stwo daughters, told me.“They made everything verybeautifulandwarm.”

Sometimestheyevenhelpthe world’s most famouscouple weather storms andfeelnormalagain—ifonlyfora fewhours.At theheightofthe Monica Lewinskyscandal, several staffers toldme,HillaryClinton appearedtired and depressed. They

said they felt sorry for her,knowing she craved the onething she couldn’t have:privacy. One staffer, UsherWorthington White, recalledclearing tourists out of theWhiteHouseandkeepingherSecret Service agents at bayso that the first lady couldenjoy a few short hours ofsolitude by the pool. Havingthe chance to help Mrs.Clinton “meant the world to

me,”Whitesaid.Residence workers

sometimes get towitness thesheerjoyanewlyinauguratedpresident feelsupon reachingthehighestpeakinAmericanpolitics. In 2009, after theinaugural balls were finallyover, the Obamas weresettlinginfor theirfirstnightintheWhiteHouse.Buttheystill weren’t quite ready forbed when White was

dropping off some late-nightpapers.Whenhegot upstairsto the second floor he heardsomethingunusual.

“All of a sudden I heardPresident Obama say, ‘I gotthis,Igotthis.Igottheinsideon this now,’ and suddenlythe music picked up and itwasMaryJ.Blige.”Thenewresidents had shed theirformal wear; the presidentwas in shirtsleeves and the

first lady was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. Thepresident grabbed the firstlady, White recalls, andsuddenly “theywere dancingtogether”toBlige’shit“RealLove.” The usher paused amoment as he told the story.“It was the most beautiful,lovely thing you couldimagine.”

“I bet you haven’t seenanything like this in this

house, have you?” Obamaasked as the first coupledanced.

“I can honestly say I’venever heard any Mary J.Blige being played on thisfloor,”Whitereplied.

Heisn’tsurehowlongtheObamasstayedtheredancing,but it was clear that theyintended to savor themoment.

MANYFIRSTFAMILIESsaytheythinkoftheresidencestaffasthe true tenants of theWhiteHouse. President Carter hascalled them “the glue thatholds the house together.”One staffer called hiscolleagues“agroupofpeoplewhoeat, sleep, anddrink theWhiteHouse.”

The White Houseemploys approximately 96full-time and 250 part-time

residence staff:ushers, chefs,florists, maids, butlers,doormen,painters,carpenters,electricians, plumbers,engineers, and calligraphers.In addition, about two dozenNational Park Service stafftakecareof theWhiteHousegrounds. The residenceworkers are federalemployees who serve at thepleasureofthepresident.

The center of activity for

theWhite House staff is theUsher’sOffice,locatedontheStateFloornext to theNorthPortico entrance. The chiefusherisinchargeofthefundsallocated by Congress to runthe house, including the costof heating, lighting, air-conditioning, and the staff’ssalaries. In 1941,when therewere sixty-twopeopleon theresidence staff, the annualbudget was just $152,000.

Fast-forward through almostseventy-five years of addedstaff, operational costs,inflation, and more, and theannual budget now hoversaround $13 million. (Thiscost is separate from the$750,000 required to repairand restore theWhite Houseeveryyear.)

Thejobofthechiefusherisakintothegeneralmanagerof a major hotel, but with

only one tenant to serve. Heor she manages the entireresidence staff, workingclosely with the first lady.Reportingtothechiefusherisadeputyandateamofushersresponsibleforoverseeingthevarious departments or“shops,” such as theHousekeeping Shop or theFlower Shop. The ushersserve as contacts for visitors,including the first family’s

house guests, and they keeprecords of the president’smovementswithin thehouse,which eventually gettransferred to thepresidentiallibrariesforposterity.

The job of chief usher intoday’s White House is socomplex that it demands thekind of rigor and disciplinegenerally associated with themilitary. Before U.S. CoastGuardRearAdmiral Stephen

Rochon was appointed chiefusher byGeorgeW.Bush in2007—becoming the eighthperson, and the first AfricanAmerican,toserveintheroleofficially—he sat for eightinterviewsforthejob,drivingback and forth to the WhiteHouse from his Coast Guardstation at Norfolk, Virginia.His final interview was withthe president in the OvalOffice. Bush wondered

whether Rochon would behappy with the new,misleadinglymodesttitle.

“Whatdoyouthinkaboutthis chief usher business?”Bushaskedhim.

Rochon replied: “Well,Mr. President, what’s in atitle?”

Apparently, a lot: WhenRochon was hired, the postwas renamed White HouseChief Usher and Director of

the Executive Residence, adecidedly more impressivejob description. SinceOctober 2011, the job hasbeen held by Angella Reid,the former general managerof the Ritz-Carlton inArlington,Virginia—the firstwoman and the secondAfricanAmericantoholdtheposition.

Nomatterhowaugustthetitle, the goal is simple: to

provide whatever the firstfamily needs. For ChiefUsher J. B. West, thatincluded feverishly searchingthe house for CarolineKennedy’s lost hamsters andcallingindozensofexpertsinan unending quest to satisfyPresident Johnson’s demandfor better water pressure inhis shower. JacquelineKennedy called West “themost powerful man in

Washington, next to thepresident.”

From the highest staffposition to the most entry-level one, getting hired towork at the White House isnotassimpleasansweringanad or applying online. “Thejobs in theWhite House arenot advertised,” said TonySavoy,headoftheOperationsDepartment until 2013.“Nearly everyone I

interviewed had a familymember or a friend whorecommended them for thejob.You’re vouching for theperson you’re bringing in.”Most workers stay on fordecades, some even forgenerations: one family, theFicklins, has seen ninemembers work in the WhiteHouse.

Every administrationnamesasocialsecretary.The

posthas traditionallygone toa woman—until 2011, whenJeremy Bernard was namedto the position by theObamas, becoming both thefirstmaleandthefirstopenlygay social secretary. Thesocial secretary acts as aconduit between the firstfamilyandtheresidencestaff,and between the West Wingand the East Wing. Theposition involves supervision

of seating for state dinnersand formal events at theWhite House, with thesecretary distributingworksheets to the residencestaff showing how manypeopleareexpectedandwhatrooms will be used for theevent.

Thesocialsecretaryoftengets pulled betweencompeting worlds. LetitiaBaldrige, who served in the

post during the Kennedyadministration, showed thepresident letters disapprovingof John-John’s long hair—which the first lady loved.When the president insistedhe get a haircut, JackieKennedy didn’t speak toBaldrigeforthreedays.

Residence workers canmake the social secretary’sjob of navigating endlessparties and following time-

honored traditions mucheasier. Julianna Smoot, whoservedas theObamas’ socialsecretary from2010 to 2011,credits the team of WhiteHouse calligraphers, who sitin a small office down thehallfromtheSocialOfficeinthe East Wing, with savingher from one embarrassingoversight during her timethere. One day in the latesummer of 2010, one of the

three calligraphers—who areresponsible for creating amassivenumberofinvitationsto White House events—approachedSmootandasked,“Have you thought aboutChristmas?”

“It’s in December. Can’twe talkabout itwhenwegetcloser?” Smoot said.Christmas seemed far away,and there were so manyevents to work on before

then.“We’reactuallybehindon

planning by now,” thecalligrapher told herworriedly.

Smoot was shocked. “OfcourseIwouldn’tknowthat!”sherecalledlater.“Itwasthispanic moment! We had tocomeupwithathemeandtheChristmas card. I think thereason we had Christmas in2010 was because of the

calligraphers.”The social secretary

sometimes delivers bad newsto the residence staff onbehalf of the first lady, whousually wants to stay abovethe fray. When Laura BushhiredLeaBermanashernewsocial secretary, it fell toBerman to take ExecutiveChefWalterScheibasideandtell him to stop serving “thiscountry club food” to the

family. Scheib said he’d justbeen following orders andbesides, much of what heprepared could hardly becalled“countryclubfood.”Infact, it was far fromhighbrow. “If the presidentwanted a peanut butter andhoney sandwich then by godwe made the best damnpeanut butter and honeysandwich we could,” Scheibsays, adding, “This is what

the president wants, becareful what you call it.”When Berman startedshowinghimdog-earedpagesof Martha Stewartcookbooks, the chef wasenraged.

Christine Limerickoversawabouttwentystaffersin the Housekeeping Shop,which she managed from1979 to 2008 (she took ahiatus between 1986 and

1991). Six worked on thesecondandthirdfloorsinthefamily’s private livingquarters, including severalmaids and a houseman whovacuumed and moved heavyfurniture. Two staffershandled the laundryexclusively and the rest tookcareof the tourareasandtheOval Office, and they weresupplemented by additionalworkers when there were

house guests and big events,suchasstatedinners.

The White House alsoemploys a team of florists,led by a chief florist, whopreparearrangementsdailyintheFlowerShop,locatedinasmall space on the GroundFloor, nestled under thedriveway of the WhiteHouse’s North Portico. Theflorists are responsible forcoming up with unique

arrangements that suit thefirstfamily’staste.Duringtheholidays and around statedinners the florists call involunteers to help; theObamas often use outsideevent companies fromChicago to help stageelaborate state dinners anddecorate for Christmas. Thechief florist focuses on thepublic spaces and helpsoversee all of the

arrangements; the membersof the Flower Shop shareresponsibility for decoratingthe entire complex, from theprivatequartersonthesecondand third floors to the WestWing,theEastWing,andthepublic rooms. No corner ofthe White House isoverlooked.

Reid Cherlin, who was aspokesman for PresidentObama, remembers being

awed by their work. “Whatalways struck me was theflowers. Coming in in themorningintheWestWing,ifyoucameinattherighttime,the florists would be puttingnew bowls of peonies out,”he said. “There’s somethingaboutputtingfreshflowersina place where no one isnecessarily going to be. It’sone thing for them to be onthe coffee table in the Oval

Office, it’s another thing tobesprucingthingsupinareaswhere people aren’t evengoingtocongregate.”

Everyone works togethertomaketheresidencelookasperfect as possible, said BobScanlan, who worked in theFlower Shop from 1998 to2010. “If a flowerwas downin an arrangement, it wasn’tunusual for the housekeeperto come in and say, ‘You

guys might want to take alook at the Red Room, thereare petals on the table. Ipicked them up but it lookslike they’re dropping still.’We kept an eye out for eachother because everythingreflectsoneverybody.”

The residence is servedby around six permanentbutlers, and dozens of part-timebutlerswho come in ona regular basis to help with

state dinners and receptions.Of the six full-time butlers,one isdesignatedas theheadbutler, or the maître d’. Thetask of tending to thepresident’s more personalneeds is handled by valets,whoarealwayscloseathand.Therearetypicallytwovaletswhowork in shifts.Theyaremilitary personnel who takecare of the president’sclothes, run errands, shine

shoes, and work with thehousekeepers.Forexample,ifthe president’s shoes need tobe resoled, a valet alerts amemberof theHousekeepingShop. When the presidentgoestotheOvalOfficeinthemorning, a valet stands closebyincaseheneedsanything,including a cup of coffee,breakfast, or just a coughdrop. When the presidenttravels, avaletpacks forhim

and often rides in a backupvehicle in the motorcade,carryingaspareshirtortieincase the commander in chiefspills something and needs aquickchangeofclothes.

Ontheveryfirstdayafterhis inauguration, George W.Bush was shocked when hemet his valets. Laura Bushsays, “These two men comeand introduce themselves toGeorgeandsay, ‘We’reyour

valets.’ So George went inandtalkedtohisdadandsaid,‘These two men justintroduced themselves andsaidtheyweremyvalets,andI don’t need a valet. I don’twant a valet.’ And PresidentBush (George H. W. Bush)said, ‘You’ll getused to it.’”And he did. Sooner or later,any president must have anoccasiontobegratefulfortheluxuryofnothavingtoworry

aboutpackingaspareshirt.

RESIDENCEWORKERSAREthereto alleviate the burdens ofdaily life for the first family,who generally have no timetocook,shop,orclean.Theyalso serve under the highestpossiblesecurity—whatotherhousehold has a team ofsnipers keeping constantwatch on the roof?—and

must accustom themselves toa job with little privacy.Many observers have notedthatlivingintheWhiteHousecanbelikespendingtimeinaprison—though, as MichelleObama notes, “It’s a reallyniceprison.”

Longtime White Housemaid Betty Finney(nicknamed “Little Betty”because of her tiny frame)says that the high level of

security helps make thepeople who work there, andthe family, feel safe. “Youknowthesnipersareupthereto protect you.Why not feelat home?” she said. “You’dwonder where they were ifyoudidn’tseethem!”

Recent security lapses,however, expose thevulnerability of this potentsymbol of America’sdemocracy and the family

who call it home. They alsoshow how multifaceted andcritical the jobofa residenceworker can be. As thenation’s first black president,President Obama reportedlyfaces three times as manythreatsashispredecessors.In2014, former residenceworkers were horrified whenamanarmedwithaknifewasabletoscaletheWhiteHousefence,sprintacrosstheNorth

Lawn, and actuallymake hisway deep into themansion’smainfloor,bypassingseveralSecretServiceofficers,beforehewas eventually tackled byan off-duty agent. In anotherterrifying incident in 2011, amaid inadvertently became asort of private investigatorwhenshewasthefirstpersonto notice a broken windowandachunkofwhiteconcreteon the floor of the Truman

Balcony.Herdiscoveryledtotherealizationthatamanhadactually fired at least sevenbullets into the residenceseveral days before. (TheSecret Service knew ashooting had occurred butwrongly concluded that theshots were fired by rivalgangs in a gunfight and thatthey were not aimed at theexecutive mansion.) WhiteHousemaidsaretrainedtobe

“very observant,” and theyknow to report anything outof the ordinary, Limericksays, especially if it couldendangerthefirstfamily.

Certainly there’s nothingordinary about life in theresidence,nomatterhowhardthe staff work to make thepresident and his family feelathome.Beyondtheveryrealsecurity concerns, the WhiteHouse bears precious little

resemblance to a normalAmerican household. TheReagans’ son, Ron, told meabout a visit he and hiswifemade to see his parents.Whentheyarrivedtoolatefordinner, they decided torummage through thekitchenin the private quarters,lookingforeggsandafryingpan. When a butler heardthem rattling around late atnight, he rushed in, looking

concerned.“Can I help you? Don’t

youwantsomebodytodothatforyou?”heaskedearnestly.

“No, thank you,” Reaganreplied.“Butcanyoutellme,wherearetheeggs?Wheredoyoukeepthefryingpan?”

The butler didn’t lookpleased. The last thing thestaff ever wants is to feeluseless. In the end, Reaganhad toask thebutler tobring

up eggs from the GroundFloor kitchen; there werenone in the Reagans’ familykitchen.

“They really, really dowant to do what they do.Theydon’twanttojuststandthere.”

Hillary Clinton wasanother first family memberwhosometimeswanted tobeable to fend for herself. Shedesignedaneat-inareainthe

second-floor kitchen so thather family could have theirmealstogetherinformally.

“IknewI’ddonetherightthingwhenChelseawas sickone night,” she said. Thatnight, she recalled, the staff“went crazy” when she wentto make her daughterscrambledeggs.

“Oh, we’ll bring anomelet fromdownstairs,” thebutlertoldher.

“No, I justwant tomakesome scrambled eggs andapplesauceandfeedherwhatI would feed her if we wereliving anywhere else inAmerica.”

Though the first familymay sometimes wish theycould forget about themajesty of the residence,manyoftheworkerssaidtheytook solace in it. “If you’rehavingalittlebitofabadday

with a member of the firstfamilyortheirstaff,youstepawayfromitandyoulookatthehouse,”saidLimerick.“IfIwouldsee theWhiteHouselit up at night I’d think, Iactually work inside thatbuilding, and I’ve had thewonderful privilege to dothat. It could set my mindstraightandIcoulddealwiththenextday.”

THE WHITE HOUSE is thephysical embodiment ofAmerican democracy. It sitson eighteen acres indowntown Washington,grounds that are cared foryear-round by the NationalPark Service. The mainbuilding, known formally asthe executive mansion, isdivided into public andprivate rooms. The mansionmay look like it only has

three floors, but its design isdeceptive: the buildingactually contains six floors,plus two small mezzaninelevels. In addition to twobelowground floors, there isthe Ground Floor, where themain kitchen, the FlowerShop, and the Carpenter’sShop are located; the StateFloor, also called the firstfloor; the two mezzanines,whichhousethechiefusher’s

officeandthePastryKitchen;and the second and thirdfloors, which are the firstfamily’sprivatequarters.Thestaff kitchen and storageareas are located in thebasement levels. The EastWing and the West Winghavetheirownhiddenfloors,themost famous of which isthe Situation Room, locatedunderneaththeWestWing.Ithas become a symbol of the

gravity of the presidency,where the commander inchiefgatherswithadviserstohandle major crises andconduct secure calls withforeignleaders.

Theresidencestaffhasitsown cafeteria, dining room,lounge, and storage areas inthe basement mezzanine(actuallyafullfloor), locatedunder the North Portico.Their cafeteria is separate

fromthemainkitchenon theGround Floor where mealsare prepared for the firstfamily and for formaloccasions, including statedinners. (In addition, there isthe small kitchen on thesecond floor of the residencethat is exclusively used toprepare intimate familymeals.)WhiteHouseworkershave traditionallygathered inthebasementcafeteria toeat,

talk, and unwind. For years,thiswaswherethestaffcameto enjoy traditional Southernhome cooking, includingfriedchicken,cornbread,andblack-eyed peas, lovinglypreparedbyateamofAfricanAmerican cooks, including awoman named Miss Sally,who always wore elaboratehats when she wasn’tworking and loved to teaseher colleagues—sometimes

swearing like a sailor—whenshe served them. While thebasement cafeteria wasdiscontinued recently in anapparent cost-savingmeasure—much to thechagrinof theworkers—it’sstillagatheringplace, where workers bringtheir own food and sit downtoeatandcatchup.

Occasionally even toppolitical aides comedownstairs to dine with

residence workers. ReggieLove, Obama’s formerpersonal assistant—knownashis “body man”—grew soclose to some of the butlersthat he would eat with themon weekends in the kitchenwhen the cafeteria for WestWing staffers, known as theNavyMess,wasclosed.LovelefttheWhiteHousein2011,but he still plays cards withthe White House butlers

whenhe’sintown.

THE WEST WING is home tothe Oval Office and to thepresident’spoliticalstaff.TheEastWinghouses theofficesofthefirstladyandherstaff.Walking between the twowings is roughly theequivalent of walking acrossafootballfield.

Every morning members

of the staff have to roll outthe carpets andputout ropesand stanchions in the tourareas on the Ground Floorand the State Floor. Everyafternoon, after thousands ofpeople have walked through,they have to clean, removethestanchions,androlldownthecarpets,sothatifthefirstfamilywantstospendtimeonthe State Floor it won’t lookso glaringly like a tourist

destination.“Ididn’tappreciateuntilI

worked there that thepresident and the first ladyaren’t that far removed fromall the public tours. They’rejustafloorabove,”saidKatieJohnson, President Obama’spersonal secretary from2009to 2011. Her responsibilitiesincluded keeping thepresident on schedule andcoordinating with the first

lady and the residence staff.Johnson was the personassigned with the unenviabletask of telling theEastWingstaff if the president wasgoing to be running late fordinnerwithhisfamily.

Theresidencefeels“likeavery, very fancy New Yorkapartment,”shesaidcandidly.“There’s all this stuff goingon outside and around butonce you’re inside, it’s your

home.”Katie McCormick

Lelyveld, Michelle Obama’sfirst press secretary, wouldsometimes sit in an officeadjacent to the beauty parloron the second floor. Sheremembers how quiet thosefloors were compared to thehubbub below. “There aren’tdozens of people flittingabout in the personal homespace.Theyverymuchtryto

treat it as a personal home.Agents aren’t standing insidethere, they’re standingoutside.”

“TheWhiteHouseisbuilton a human scale,” saysTricia Nixon Cox. One day,after a welcoming ceremonyontheSouthLawn,avisitingEuropeanprinceturnedtoherand said, “It really is ahouse.”Hewasastonishedbythe scale of the executive

mansion, compared with thepalacesheknew. “Tohim, itlookedsmall!”

It may be less imposingthan some royal palaces, butit is far from modest. Thelarge Entrance Hall on thenorth side opens to theeighty-foot-long East Roomat one end and the StateDiningRoom, often used forstate dinners in honor offoreign heads of state, at the

other. There are three roomsinbetween:theGreenRoom,theBlueRoom, and theRedRoom.

The first family’s privateroomsonthesecondandthirdfloorsarelinkedbyonemaincorridor on each floor:sixteen rooms and sixbathrooms on the secondfloor, another twenty roomsand nine bathrooms on thethird. Maids and valets have

sometimes been housed onthese floors, as well aspresidential children. Theguest rooms do not havenumbers on their doors, butthey are known among theresidence staff by their roomnumbers, just like at a hotel.Eachweek,eachoftheWhiteHouse maids is assigned arosterofroomstoclean.Andthey all hate Room Number328.

“It’s the hardest room toclean!” says Maid BettyFinney. Room 328 has asleigh bed, “and they’reincredibly hard to make!When you make a bed youwant it to lookneat, and thatwasahard,hardjobtryingtoget that thing neat. We allknew it had to be done, wejustdreadedit.”

Eachmainfloorboastsanoval-shaped room: the

Diplomatic Reception Roomon the Ground Floor, wherePresidentRooseveltdeliveredhis fireside chats and fromwherethefirstfamilyusuallyenterstheresidence;theBlueRoom on the State Floor,which overlooks the SouthLawnandfeaturesacut-glassFrench chandelier and vividblue satin draperies; and theYellow Oval Room on thesecond floor, leading to the

Truman Balcony. This lastwas once a library with aprivate passage to PresidentLincoln’s office, now theLincolnBedroom, created sothat Lincoln could avoid thehordes of people waiting tosee him in theTreatyRoom;it’s now a presidential study.The West Wing, where theOvalOfficeislocated,wouldnot be built until decadeslater.Untilthen,theresidence

served as the president’shomeandhisoffice.

There are four staircasesin the executive residence:the Grand Staircase, whichgoes from the State Floor tothe second floor; a staircaseby the president’s elevator,which goes from thebasement to the thirdfloor;aspiral staircase by the staffelevator that goes from thefirst-floor mezzanine, where

thePastryShopis located, tothe basement; and the fourthstaircase, the true“backstairs,”whichrunsfromthe second floor by theQueens’Bedroom(anelegantrose-colored roomnamed forroyalty who have stayedthere) to the east end of thethird floor.Maids sometimesusethisstaircaseiftheyneedtocleanroomsonthesecondfloor and want to avoid

interruptingthefirstfamily.Itallows them to walk all thewayup to the third floorandcirclebackdown.

The White House wasdesigned by the Irish-bornarchitect James Hoban, afterwinning a competitiondevised by President GeorgeWashington and Secretary ofState Thomas Jefferson. Thehouse’s design was inspiredby Leinster House, an

eighteenth-century Georgianmansion in Dublin that ishometoIreland’sParliament.Early residents complainedthat itwas toobig,acritiquerarely heard now that statedinnerssometimeshavetobeprepared for hundreds ofguestsinthecrampedkitchenand almost every guest roomis crammed with friends andfamily around theinauguration.

George Washington hadpredicted that Washington,D.C., would rival the beautyand grandeur of Paris andLondon, but at first the citylagged far behind suchpicturesque Europeancapitals. In 1800, whenPresidentJohnAdamsandhiswife, Abigail, became thefirst residents of the WhiteHouse, there were only sixhabitable rooms, and the

Adamses brought just fourservants with them. Theirnew home was far fromcomplete, and Washingtonwas such a swampy, isolatedoutpost that the first familygot lost for hours betweenBaltimore and the capital.Oncetheyfinallyarrivedtheyhad to enter on woodenplanks;thefrontstepshadnotyet been installed.A laundryand stables dotted the area

now occupied by the WestWing, and city officials evenclosed down a brotheloperatingoutoftheshacksofthe construction workersbuilding the White House.(Carpentersandstonecarverswere so upset by the movethatthebrothelwasrelocatedto amore inconspicuous partoftown.)

“We have not the leastfence, yard, or other

convenience,” Abigail wroteto her daughter. “Theprincipal stairs are not up,andwillnotbethiswinter.”

When Abigail AdamsmovedintotheWhiteHouse,she estimated that at leastthirty servants would beneeded to run it properly.(Nearly one hundred peoplework there today.) In earlyadministrations the firstfamilies often brought their

ownmaids,cooks,andvalets,paying their personal staffsthemselves.Inrecentdecadessome first families havebrought a loyal employee ortwofromtheirprepresidentiallives,buttheymostlyrelyontheexpertiseof theresidencestaff.

In 1814, toward the tailend of theWar of 1812, theBritish burned the WhiteHouse to the ground.

President James Madisonasked Hoban to help rebuildthe mansion, already anational icon. Since then,each president has sought toleave his mark on thephysical building. Themansion was subjected tovarious Victorianembellishments during thenineteenth century, but in1902 Theodore Roosevelthired famed New York

architects McKim, Mead &White to renovate it inkeeping with its originalneoclassical style. Roosevelthad the third story outfittedwith guest rooms and toredown a series of giant glassconservatories—usedtogrowfruitsandflowersforthefirstfamily—to clear a path forthe expansion known as theWest Wing. Later that year,Roosevelt moved his office

from the second floor of theresidence into the WestWing;hissuccessor,WilliamHowardTaft,added theOvalOffice,completedin1909.

The lastmajor renovationcame during the Trumanadministration,whentheroofwasliterallycavinginandthehouse was found to be inserious danger of collapsing.Things had gotten sodangerous that once, when

the first lady was hosting atea for the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution in theBlueRoom, thechandelier—which was as big as arefrigerator—swayed wildlyabove the unsuspectingguests, in part because thepresident was taking a bathabove them on the secondfloor. In addition, the leg ofone of Margaret Truman’spianos actually plunged

throughtherottedflooringofher sitting room during aparticularly spirited practicesession.Truman replaced themansion’s original woodframing with a new steelstructureandaddedasecond-floor outdoor spaceoverlooking the South Lawnthat became known as theTruman Balcony, still afavoritespotforfirstfamiliestorelax.

No modernWhite Houseresident has transformed theWhite House more surelythan Jacqueline Kennedy,who launched a very publiceffort to restore the interior(she hated the termredecorate),aimedatmakingitthe“mostperfecthouse”inthe country. She asked herfriend the philanthropistRachel “Bunny” Mellon toredesigntheRoseGardenand

the East Garden, replacingMamie Eisenhower’s pinkwithsoftwhiteandpaleblue.She augmented the work ofthe White House staff bybringing in top interiordecoratorSisterParishtohelpin the restoration, combingthehouse for“treasures”andjettisoning “horrors.” “Ifthere’sanythingIcan’tstand,it’s Victorian mirrors—they’re hideous. Off to the

dungeons with them,” Jackiejoked, insisting that“everything in the WhiteHousemusthaveareasonforbeing there.” She enlistedHenry Francis du Pont, acollector of early Americanfurniture and an heir to thefamily fortune, to chair theWhite House Fine ArtsCommittee, which shecreated within a month ofmoving into the residence.

Members of the committeewere responsible forsearchingformuseum-qualitypiecesaroundthecountryandforpersuadingtheirownerstodonate them to the WhiteHouse. She also establishedtheCurator’sOffice,ensuringthat the house’s furnishingsand artwork would beproperly inventoried andcaredfor.Whenshegavethefirst-evertelevisedtourofthe

mansion, in 1962, it waswatched by eighty millionpeople and helped to makeheroneofthecountry’smostpopular first ladies. She wasonly thirty-two years old atthetime.

The White House oftoday still bears JackieKennedy’sstamp.She tookabuildingthathadlongseemeddrabandmadeitfashionable,bringingtothejobablendof

historical sensitivity andcontemporary elegance. Shebreathed a new Continentalstyle into the White Housestaff,hiringFrenchchefRenéVerdon and appointing OlegCassini as official couturier.And her attentions extendedto the private quarters: whentheOldFamilyDiningRoomdownstairs felt too formal toserveasagatheringplaceforher young family, she took a

second-floor space that hadbeen Margaret Truman’sbedroom and remade it as akitchen and dining room forthem.

Today the staff talksabout the house with areverence they usuallyreserve for their favorite firstfamilies. One residenceworker said that every timehe gave friends a tour of theWhiteHousehewouldendit

by telling them to lookaround and soak it all in:“You have walked throughexactly the same space asevery president since JohnAdamswaspresident.”

Each time, he said, “Itwasthrilling.”

THE WHITE HOUSE staffdelights in knowing everyinchofthemansion,itslittle-

known corners and historicalsecrets. The undergroundlocker rooms where butlerskeep their crisp tuxedos andmaids house their uniforms(pastelshirtsandwhitepants)are justashortdistancefromabombshelterundertheEastWing that was built forPresident Franklin Rooseveltduring World War II; thisroom is now the President’sEmergency Operations

Center, built to withstand anucleardetonation.The tube-shaped bunker is where thepresident may be taken incaseofanattack.TheGroundFloorMapRoomwasonceabilliards room before it wastransformed into thepresident’s top secretplanningcenterduringWorldWar II; it was there,surrounded bymaps trackingthe movements of American

and enemy forces, that FDRcontemplated the invasion ofNormandy. Few peoplewereever granted the authority toglimpse inside. “When theroom was to be cleaned,”wroteChiefUsherJ.B.West,“the security guard coveredthemapswithcloth,standingduty while the cleanermopped the floor.” Decadeslater, Bill Clinton used thisroom to give his televised

grand jury testimony duringthe Lewinsky affair; andtoday it is used as a holdingarea for holiday party guestswaiting to be photographedwith the president and firstlady in the adjoiningDiplomaticReceptionRoom.

Other rooms telldifferentstories spanning centuries ofAmerican history. AbigailAdams used the grand butdrafty East Room—the

largest room in the WhiteHouse, with ceilings morethan twenty feet high—tohang laundry. The room,which later served as atemporary home for soldiersduring the Civil War, nowservesas thesettingformostpresidential pressconferences. The StateDiningRoom, often used forhighly choreographed statedinners in connection with

the signing of significantmilitary and tradeagreements, was onceThomas Jefferson’s office.The Green Room, now aformal sitting room on theState Floor, began asJefferson’s bedroom andbreakfast room; JamesMonroe used it as a cardparlor, and AbrahamLincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, was

embalmed there, candlesilluminating his face ascamellias were placed in hishands. The small Victorian-style Lincoln Sitting Roomonthesecondfloorwasusedasatelegraphroominthelatenineteenthcentury;duringthedarkest days of Watergate,RichardNixon sought refugeamid its heavy drapes anddark furnishings, spendinghours there with music

blasting, a fire blazing in thefireplace, air-conditioningcranked up as high as itwouldgo.

On the third floor there’sasanctuaryhiddenfromviewon the roof of the SouthPortico with 180-degreeviews of the Mall and theWashington Monument. Itwas designed by First LadyGrace Coolidge as her “SkyParlor.” Now known as the

Solarium, the airy hideawayserves as the first family’sfamily room. It’s herewhereyoung Caroline Kennedyattended kindergarten, wherePresident Reagan went torecuperateafterbeingshot inan assassination attempt, andwhere Sasha and MaliaObama giggle with friendsduringsleepovers.

NONE OF THE residenceworkersIinterviewedmindedbeing called a “domestic.”There’s nothing demeaningabout working in the WhiteHouse, in any capacity.“When you can’t afford ityourself and you’resurrounded by the finestpieces of furniture andAmericana in the entirecountry every single day,that’s kind of cool,” says

FloristRonnPayne.ToExecutivePastryChef

Roland Mesnier, preparingelaborate desserts for fivepresidentswasthepinnacleofhiscareer.“TheWhiteHouseisthetopofthetop.Ifit’snotthe top at the White House,when is it going to be thetop?”

It is this distinctcommitment to service, andpride in their role, that allow

America’s first families towork and live in the WhiteHouse complex withconfidence and security, andtoenjoypreciousmomentsofpeace. The stories of theseresidence workers offer aglimpseatourpresidentsandtheir families as they livewithin the confines of theoffice, literally andsymbolically.Theirincrediblestories—some heartwarming,

somehilarious,sometragic—deserve a place in Americanhistory.

CHAPTERI

ControlledChaos

ThetransformationinthehouseholdfromoneAdministrationtoanotherisassuddenasdeath.BythatImeanitleavesyouwithamysteriousemptiness.Inthemorningyouservebreakfasttoafamilywithwhomyouhavespentyears.Atnoonthatfamilyisgoneoutofyourlifeandherearenewfaces,new

dispositions,andnewlikesanddislikes.

—ALONZOFIELDS,BUTLERANDMAÎTRED’,1931–1953,

MY21YEARSINTHEWHITEHOUSE

It’stheonlytimeIeverhadajobquitme.

—WALTERSCHEIB,EXECUTIVECHEF,1994–2005

Once or twice a decade, onan often bone-chillingly coldday in January, Americans

are riveted by the publictransfer of power from onepresident to the next.Hundreds of thousands ofpeople flood the NationalMall to watch the president-elect take the oath of office,in a serene and carefullychoreographedceremony thatLady Bird Johnson called“the great quadrennialAmericanpageant.”

Behind the scenes,

however, this peacefulceremony is accompanied byan astounding number ofcomplex logistics. LauraBush calls the “transfer offamilies” a “choreographicmasterpiece, done withexceptional speed,” and itssuccessful execution dependson the institutionalknowledgeand the flexibilityof the residence staff. ThehumofWhiteHouseactivity

starts even earlier than usualon Inauguration Day, withworkerscominginbeforethebreak of dawn. By the timetheirdayhascometoanend,anewerainAmericanhistoryhasbegun.

TheWhiteHousebelongsto the outgoing family untilnoon, when the newpresident’s term begins. Onthe morning of theinauguration, the president

hostsasmallcoffeereceptionfor the new first family. Justbefore the first familydeparts, the staff crams intothe opulent State DiningRoom, where they haveservedsomanystatedinners,tosaygood-byetothefamily.They are often overcome bythe range of emotions theyfeel—tradingoneboss,andinsome cases a friend, foranotherinthespanofjustsix

hours. In many cases theyhavehadeightyears togrowclosetothedepartingfamily;they have seldom had anytime to get to know themansion’s new residents.There is rarely a dry eye intheroom—eventhoughmanymay be excited about thefuture.

“When theClintonscamedownandChelseacamewiththem, they didn’t say a

word,” Head HousekeeperChristine Limerick recalledaboutInaugurationDay2001.“I’ll get emotional about thisnow—[President Clinton]looked at every person deadon in the face and said,‘Thankyou.’Thewholeroomjustbrokeup.”

During the farewell,residenceworkerspresentthefamily with a gift—sometimes the flag that flew

over theWhiteHouseon theday that the president wasinaugurated—placed in abeautiful hand-carved boxdesigned by White Housecarpenters. In 2001,Limerick, Chief FloristNancy Clarke, and ChiefCuratorBettyMonkmangaveHillaryClintonalargepillowmade from swatches offabrics that she had selectedtodecoratedifferentroomsin

thehouse.There is very little time

for reflection. At aroundeleven o’clock in themorning, the two firstfamilies leave the WhiteHouse for the Capitol.Between then andapproximatelyfiveo’clockintheafternoon—whenthenewpresident and his familyreturn to rest andprepare forthe inaugural balls—the staff

must complete the job ofmoving one family out andanotherfamilyin.Inthatraremoment, when the eyes ofWashingtonandtheworldaretrained away from theWhiteHousetowardtheCapitol,thestaff is grateful that thepublic’s attention istemporarilydivertedfromtheturbulent activity within theresidencewalls.

Since employing

professional movers for oneday would require animpractical array of securitychecks, the residence staff issolelyresponsibleformovingthenewlyelectedpresidentinand the departing presidentand his family out. Nooutside help is allowed.Throughout the day, even astheycontinuetoperformtheirtraditionalroles,theresidenceworkers also serve as

professionalmovers,withjustsix hours to complete themove.Thejobissolarge,andsophysicallydemanding,thateveryone iscalled in tohelp:pot washers in the kitchenhelp arrange furniture, andcarpenters can be foundplacing framed photographsonsidetables.Themoveissolaborintensivethatonthedayof the Clintons’ arrival onestaffer sustained a serious

backinjuryfromliftingasofaand was unable to return toworkforseveralmonths.

For OperationsSupervisor Tony Savoy,InaugurationDay is themostimportant day of his career.The Operations Departmentusually handles receptions,dinners, rearranging furniturefor the tapings of TVinterviews, and outdoorevents, but during the

inauguration they are theteam that“moves ’em inandmoves ’emout,”Savoysays.The trucks carrying the newfamily’s belongings areallowedinthroughonesetofgates, and dozens ofresidence workers from theOperations, Engineering,Carpenters, and Electriciansshops race to removefurniture from the trucks andplace them precisely where

the first family’s interiordecorator wants them. “Thebest transition is when theydon’t lose” and get to stayanother four years, Savoyjoked, masking the veryserious anxiety that comeswiththisastoundingtask.

In the six hours betweenthe departure of the firstfamily and the arrival of thenewly elected president andhisfamily,thestaffhastoput

in fresh rugs and brand-newmattresses and headboards,remove paintings, andessentially redecorate in theincoming family’s preferredstyle. They unpack thefamily’s boxes, fold theirclothes perfectly, and placethem in their drawers. Theyeven put toothpaste andtoothbrushes on bathroomcounters. No detail isoverlooked.

Florist Bob Scanlanhelped with the transitionfrom Clinton to George W.Bush in 2001. As transitionsgo,theBushes’wasrelativelyeasy, since they knew theterritory better than most.George W. Bush was afrequent visitor to theresidencewhenhisfatherwaspresident. The Bushes wereusedtobeingsurroundedbyalarge staff, and Laura Bush

recognizes that they “had ahuge advantage” over otherfirst families because theyhadspentsomuchtimeattheWhite House when the firstPresident Bush (“old manBush” as the staffersaffectionately call him) wasin office. “The only otherfamily that had that wereJohn Quincy and LouisaAdams.”

Bill Clinton was well

aware of the Bush’sfamiliaritywiththehouseandits staff and joked that Busheven knewwhere to find thelightswitches.Clinton,ontheother hand, had been to theWhite House only a handfulof times before hisinauguration: once, as ateenage member of theAmerican Legion BoysNation, when he wasphotographed shaking

President Kennedy’s hand;onceasaguestoftheCartersin 1977 (which also markedHillary Clinton’s first visit);and several times for theNational GovernorsAssociation dinners duringhis terms as governor ofArkansas.Beforetheymovedin, Hillary said she had onlybeentothesecondflooronce,whenBarbaraBush gave hera tour afterherhusbandwon

the election. She had nevereven seen the third floor.When theymoved in,Hillarydelved into thehistoryof thehouse, asking curators tocompileabookshowinghowevery room looked throughhistory back to the earliestphotographsanddrawings.

In the modern era,however, Barack Obama isthe president who found thetransition the most

challenging. He moved withhisfamilyfromtheirhomeinChicago’s Hyde Parkneighborhood directly intothe White House. TheObamas were even lessaccustomed to a householdstaff than the Clintons: theyhad one housekeeper inChicago, but not a nanny,leavingtheirdaughters,Sashaand Malia, with Michelle’smother, Marian, during the

campaign. Without thebenefitofgrowingupthesonof a president—or living inthe relative luxury of agovernor’s mansion—it tooktime for Obama and hisfamily to grow comfortablewiththeirnewlives.

ON JANUARY 20, 2009, 1.8million people huddledtogether in twenty-eight-

degree weather to watchBarack Obama become thefirstAfricanAmericantotakethe oath of office. Itwas notonly the largest crowd thathad ever attended apresidential inauguration, itwas also the largestattendance for any event inthe history of Washington,D.C.

Most Americans hadneverheardofBarackObama

until 2004, when, as anIllinois state senator, hedelivered an electrifyingkeynote address at theDemocratic NationalConvention.Hismeteoricriseleft the Obamas with verylittle time to prepare for lifeintheWhiteHouse.Knowingthis, the residence staffwanted to help ease theirtransition. It must have feltsurreal to Obama when the

chiefusherturnedtohimandsaid, “Hello, Mr. President,welcometoyournewhome,”as he walked through theimposingNorthPorticodoorsforthefirsttimeaspresident.During brief moments ofquiet time that afternoon andevening, between paradewatching on PennsylvaniaAvenue and their firstinaugural ball, the Obamasgrazedonabuffet in theOld

Family Dining Room wherenodetailwasoverlooked.

Thatdaywastheresultofmonths of careful advanceplanning. For residenceworkers, the transition to thenext administration beginsabouteighteenmonthsbeforethe inauguration, when thechief usher prepares booksfor the incoming presidentandfirstlady(withtheaddedchallenge of not knowing

whotheywillbe)thatincludea detailed White Houselayout, a list of staff, and anoverview of allowablechangestotheOvalOffice.

GaryWalters,whoservedaschiefusherfrom1986until2007, started gatheringinformationonthecandidatesduring the primaries, wellbefore a general electioncandidate is selected. It wasparticularly difficult when

President Ford, PresidentCarter, and PresidentGeorgeH.W.Bushlosttheirbidsfora second term. “Theownership is of the familythat’s there but you have tobe watching out for what’sgoingtooccur,”Walterssaid.

In December, after theelection and before theinauguration, Walters wouldarrange for the incomingfamilytogetaguidedtourof

the White House from thecurrent first lady. It’s thenthat the incoming first ladywould be presented with abook containing the namesand photographs of thepeople who work in theresidence.Thebookhelpsthefirstfamilylearnthenamesofeveryone who works in thehouseandispartlyasecuritymeasure, so that if they seeanyone unfamiliar they can

alerttheSecretService.Thedepartingfirst family

paysfor theirpersonal thingstobemovedoutoftheWhiteHouse. The incomingpresident also pays forbringing belongings into themansioneitheroutofthenewfirst family’s own coffers orfrom funds raised for thecampaign or transition. It isthe job of the incomingfamily tocoordinatewith the

Secret Service to get theirpersonal effects to theWhiteHouse the morning of theinauguration.

One logistical challengethat comes with everyinaugurationisthetransferofthe incoming first family’sfurniture and largerbelongings to the WhiteHouse. After the election of1960, the Kennedys’ socialsecretary, Letitia Baldrige,

told Jackie in a memo thatshe had asked theEisenhowers’ socialsecretary, Mary JaneMcCaffree, “if we couldn’tsmuggle a lot of stuff overwithout the [Eisenhowers]knowingandshesaidyes,thehead Usher could storecartons,suitcases,etc.,outofsight and then whisk themintosighton thestrokeof12noon.Isn’tthatmarvelous???

Right out of AlfredHitchcock.”BaldrigerecalledpullinguptotheWhiteHousewith Jackie’s maid,Providencia Paredes, andJackKennedy’svalet,GeorgeThomas, in a car with theinauguralgownandalloftheKennedys’ luggage. Theyarrived as everyone else wasgatheredattheCapitolfortheinauguration ceremony. Thesnow-coveredSouthGrounds

were bathed in brightsunshine. “We had timed thepilgrimage from GeorgetowntotheWhiteHousesothatwewould not arrive beforetwelvenoon,becauseatnoon,officially, the new presidenttakespossessionoftheWhiteHouse.”

Nearly a half-centurylater, the same conditionsapplied.TheObama family’sadvisers startedmeetingwith

residence staff soon after theelection, and by the weekbeforetheinauguration,muchof theObamas’ furniturehadalready been shipped to theWhite House, where it wasstored in theChinaRoomonthe Ground Floor so that itcould be moved quicklyupstairs.TheBusheshadtoldChiefUsher StephenRochonthat theywanted tomake themove as easy as possible for

everyone, but Rochon waseager to make sure theBushes never felt as if theywere being pushed out. “Wewant to keep it out of thesight of the existing family.Not that they didn’t know itwasthere,butwedidn’twantthem to feel that we weretryingtomovethemout.”

Other Obama advisersmade similar connectionswiththeresidencestaff.More

than two months before theinauguration, Chief FloristNancy Clarke met with theObamas’ decorator, MichaelSmith, to discuss floralarrangements for the privaterooms where friends andfamily would be staying onthenightoftheinauguration.

“There’s very limitedtime toprepare thehouse, sothere’sawholeteamworkingon making certain that

everythingwasasperfectasitcould be in the time that wehad allotted,” said SocialSecretary Desirée Rogers, aclose confidante of theObamas since their Chicagodays and their first socialsecretary. On InaugurationDay“wewereinthehouseassoon as we could be,” sherecalls, “laying out things,getting things ready, puttingtheclothingineachroom.”

Weeks before theinauguration, Rogers metwiththefloristsanddiscussedwhat kind of flowers wouldsit on the cabaret tables andwhich kind of candelabrasand candlelight they woulduse for those preciousmoments the first family hasto enjoy their new, headysurroundings before theychangefortheballs.

“Allthoselittlethingscan

make everybody feelcomfortable and welcome,”FloristBobScanlansaid.

The new president filledmost of theWestWingwithloyal aides from hispresidential campaign andfromhisearlypoliticalcareer,including longtimespokesman Robert Gibbs,whom he named as his firstWhiteHouse press secretary,and close friend Valerie

Jarrett, whom he brought onboard as a senior adviser.Michelle Obama brought herown team of aides, many ofwhom she had known foryears.Acoupleofdays aftermoving in, Michelle askedher East Wing staff and theentireresidencestafftogatherin the East Room. KatieMcCormick Lelyveld, thefirst lady’s then presssecretary, remembers her

bossmakingitclearwhowasincharge.

“ThisistheteamIwalkedin the door with,” the firstlady told the longtimeresidence staffers as shegestured toward her smallcadreofpoliticalaides.“Youguys are part of our newteam,” she told them beforeturning to address her ownstaffers, including Lelyveld:“It’sonyoutomakesurethat

you know everybody here.They were here before youand they’re the ones thatmake this place tick.We areon their ground now.” Thefirst lady’s staff thencirculated around the room,introducingthemselves.

“At the time it was amatterofusinvestinginthemto make sure that we knewwhat their rolewas,andhowthey fit into the bigger

picture,” Lelyveld said. “Wewerethenewkids.”

From those first daysonward, Lelyveld looked toresidenceworkers foradvice.Whenshewanted to thinkofa clever way to preview theObamas’ first state dinnermenu, she went down to thekitchen and asked ExecutiveChef Cristeta “Cris”Comerford how she thoughtthey should layout the room

sothatmembersofthemediacould see what she waspreparing without distractingherfromherwork.Whensheasked workers from theEngineering and Operationsdepartments aboutrearrangingfurnitureforaTVinterview on the State Floor,she was reminded that theWhite House is not theaverage household. “You’reworking in a museum,” she

says.“It’snot just twochairsfor an interview,” but “twochairs in theBlueRoom thatare older than you are—bycenturies—that need to bemovedoutoftheway.Soyoudefertothestaffwhosejobitis to takecareof thatspace.”(The furnishings are sopreciousthatonehousekeeperwastoldbyhisbossthatifhebrokeacertainFrenchgildedbronzeclockthathadbeenon

display at the White Housesince 1817 he should notbother ever comingback.Hewouldn’t make enoughmoney in his lifetime toreplaceit.)

On the Friday afterPresident Obama’sinauguration, the presidentcasually made the rounds tointroduce himself. When hecame to the second-floorkitchen, he found several

butlers gathered around theTV. He playfully punchedJames Jeffries on theshoulder.

“What are you lookingat?”heaskedthem.

“Wewerelookingatwhatwas going on at the LincolnMemorial before theinauguration,” Jeffriesreplied. “Congratulations onbecomingpresident.”

“Thankyou,”Obamasaid

with his trademark ear-to-eargrin and walked out of theroom.

Afewminuteslater,whenhe came back into thekitchen, Jeffries got up thenerve to add: “I justcongratulated you.Tomorrow, if I happen to becalled to come to work, youcan congratulate me forhavingbeenworkinghereforfiftyyears.”

“I ain’t got to wait untiltomorrow,” Obama replied,withoutmissingabeat.“Icando that right now.Congratulations.”

Though Desirée Rogersdescribes their relationshipwiththestaffassimply“very,very cordial,” the newpresident was considerablymorereservedandlesschattythan his immediatepredecessors. Some staffers

said they missed the easycamaraderie they hadestablished with presidentsBush, Clinton, and Bush.“With the Bushes, theywanted you to feel close tothem,” Chief Usher Rochonsaid.With theObamas, “youhad to keep it completelyprofessional.” Yet theObamas have formedfriendships with some of themen and women who work

behindthescenes,andButlerJamesJeffriessaid there’sanunspoken understanding andrespect between the Obamasand the largely AfricanAmerican butler staff abouttherealitiesofbeingblackinAmerica. President Obamaacknowledged this when hesaid that part of the butlers’warmth to his family isbecause “they look at Maliaand Sasha and they say,

‘Well, this looks like mygrandbaby, or this looks likemydaughter.’”

DoormanVincentContee,eighty-four, worked everyMonday and Tuesday from1988 to 2009, escorting thepresident to and from theOval Office on the elevator.“We got along swell,” herecalls. “I would see him inthe mornings and he wouldtalkandaskmehowmyday

was going.” During histwenty-oneyearsattheWhiteHouse, Contee couldn’taffordtogettoostarstruck,inaddition to talking topresidents on a regular basis,he also escorted icons likeNelson Mandela andElizabeth Taylor on theelevatortomeetthepresidentin the family’s privatequarters. He says evenpresidents can’t hide their

exhaustion sometimes. Therewould come a point whenevery president he servedwouldturntohimduringthatshort elevator ride and sigh,“IjustwishIcouldgobacktobedandsleepallday.”

On the way to the OvalOffice, Obama would talksportswithContee.“HeknewI was a football fan. I’m aRedskins fan. He would tellme when they got beat, you

know,what theydidn’tdoorwhat they should do.”SometimesObamawouldaskhim to take their Portuguesewaterdog,Bo,outforawalkon the grounds. When theywere done, Contee wouldbringBobackuptohisroomonthethirdfloor.

Still, the Obamas provedan especially private family,and Chief Usher Rochonsensed a certain distance

betweenthestaffandthenewpresident. The Obamasseemed “uncomfortable,” hesaid,having“somanybutlersand housekeepers waiting onthem hand and foot.” For acouple who’d only recentlyfinishedpayingoff theirownstudent loans, the level ofpersonal service afforded bythe White House staff musthave been unnerving. “Youhave to give them their

privacy,” Contee told me.“You’d talk to themmomentarily and then theywould be on their way andyouwouldbeonyourway.”

The Obamas wereespecially anxious to raisetheir daughters in as normalan environment as possible,even while living in ahousehold staffed withdozensofcooks,butlers, andmaids. In 2011, Michelle

Obama told an interviewerthat her older daughter,Malia, who was thirteen atthe time, was going to startdoing her own laundry—andthat her ownmother,MarianRobinson,wholivesinasuiteon the third floor, wouldteach her. “My mother stilldoes her own laundry. Shedoesn’t want strangerstouchingherintimatewears.”Thefirstlady’sformerstylist,

Michael “Rahni” Flowers,confirms that “Michelle is ano-nonsense kind of mother—and so is her mother. Allthey have to do is give youthateye, itwill turnyou intostone,itwillstopyouinyourtracks.”

Katie McCormickLelyveld remembers how thefirst lady made the groundrules clear to her daughters.“While she appreciated that

there are staff there to payattention to those details,those staff are not there forthegirls.”Michelle remindedher daughters: “Don’t getusedtosomeoneelsemakingyour bed, that’s on yourchoreslist.”

Still, after two gruelingyears on the campaign trailand a frenetic schedule, theObamasappreciatedthehelp.“There are certain

conveniences that just makewhatareotherwisevery longdays a lot easier, likesomeone who’s in charge offiguring out your dinnerplans,”Lelyveldexplained.

Traditions die hard at theexecutivemansion.WhentheObamas told the butlers theycould trade in their starchedtuxes for button-down shirtsand slacks on the weekends,noteveryonetookthemupon

the offer. “For some of theolder gentlemen, who are intheir seventies and eighties,theymighthaveseveraltuxesthat they’re just used to andanything else would meangetting new clothes. Theymight just be morecomfortable in those tuxes,”Lelyveld said. When manybutlers insisted on stickingwith their formal wear, shesaid she felt awkward

wearing khakis or jeansaroundthem,eventhoughshewas used to the morecomfortabledresscodeonthecampaign trail. “I respectedhow much respect they hadforwhattheydid.”

TheObamas clearlymisstheirlivesinChicago.Obamahassaidthat“everypresidentis acutely aware that we arejust temporary residents” ofthe White House, adding,

“we’re renters here.” Aftertwo grueling campaigns, thepresident refuses to missfamily dinners more thantwice a week. Those nightlymealswere prepared by SamKass, the personal chef theyhadbroughtfromChicago,upuntil December 2014 whenKass lefthispost tomove toNewYork.

As the president’s formerpersonal assistant Reggie

Love recalls, on his walkfromthelivingquarterstotheWest Wing every morning,Obama would ask ChiefUsher Stephen Rochon forupdates on the kinds ofsimplehouseholdmattersthateveryonedealswith,whetherthey live in the executivemansion or a suburban cul-de-sac. “You live in abuilding and someone’sresponsible for the

maintenance of the building.So if the water pressurewasn’t right, or the Wi-Fi’snot working, you’ve got totalk to somebody about it,right?”

One of the president’spreoccupations, in the earlydays, was the White Housebasketball court. During the2008 campaign, Obama hadenjoyedtheritualofplayingapickup game on the days of

nominating primaries andcaucuses. The two times hedidn’t play, in NewHampshire and Nevada, helost the contests. Not longafter taking office, he toldRochon that he wanted theSouth Lawn tennis court,shrouded in pine trees, to beconverted into a fullbasketball court. Removablebasketball hoops wereinstalled, new lines were

painted on the court, andbasketballswithWhiteHousesealswereordered.Theeffortcost$4,995.

The project took severalmonths to complete.Eventually Obama grewimpatient, telling Rochon ontheir morning walks: “Youknow, Admiral, this is notrocketscience.”

One morning, Rochondidn’t mention the court’s

progress.When the presidentasked him how his “hoopswere coming,” he replied:“Well, Mr. President, I’mpleased to report that it willbe done by eleven-thirtytoday.”

Obama’s eyes lit up. Byten-thirty, an hour before itwasscheduledtobeready,hewas out on the court playingwithLove,aonetimeforwardfortheDukeBlueDevils.

MICHELLE OBAMA’S STYLIST,Michael “Rahni” Flowers,had done her hair since shewas a teenager, and he wasthe incoming first lady’schoice for the inauguration.Though hairstylists are notofficially on the residencestaff, they offer a uniquebehind-the-scenesperspectiveon the events of thatmemorableday.

Flowers’s day started at4:00A.M. at BlairHouse, theeleganttownhouseacrossthestreet from theWhiteHouse,where thepresident-elect andhis family traditionally staybefore they officially moveinto the executive mansion.That morning he styledMichelle, her daughters, andher mother, and he traveledwith the Obamas throughoutthe day, to Capitol Hill and

alltenofficialinauguralballsthatnight.

Flowers noticedimmediately how excited themostly African Americanbutlers were about theincoming president. “Therewasapride thatgoesbeyondpride—this is something thathappened that they neverwould have dreamed in theirlifetime,” said Flowers, whois black himself. “I saw it in

theway they talked, thewaythey walked. You could tellbytheirsmilingfaces—itwasbeyondtheirwildestdreams.”

Everyone seemed calmthatmorning, he said, exceptforMarianRobinson,thefirstlady’smother.Robinsonwason the verge of a dramaticchange:shehadjuststartedatrack club for seniors inChicago, and had recentlywon a track meet, but

Michellehadaskedhertolivewith them at the WhiteHouse, tohelpwith thegirls,andnowshewas leavingherhometown for a new—andverytightlyregimented—life.

“She’saveryindependentwoman,” Flowers says. Shemight not have chosen thechange for herself, hebelieves, but “she let meknowthatMichellewantsherto do this, and she’s got the

kids to think about.” Whenshe leftherbelovedChicago,Robinson said, “They’redragging me with them, andI’mnot that comfortable, butI’m doing exactly what youdo. You do what has to bedone.”

Yet the incomingpresident seemed unfazed bythe dramatic change. Afterdelivering an ambitiousinaugural address—citing

policy objectives like healthcare reform while renewinghisbroaderpromisetochangethe divisive rhetoric inWashington—he askedcasually,“HowdidIdo?”

“Barack’s always verycalm, his mood is alwayscontrolled,” Flowers said.“Michelle’s a more in-the-momenttypeofperson.”

Becauseofaglitchintheschedule (someone forgot to

account for the traditionalCapitol luncheon after theoath of office) the Obamashadonlyforty-fiveminutestoprepare for the balls thatevening. As they rushed toget ready, the presidentstopped by the small beautyparlor on the second floor ofthe White House and askedhis wife which bow tie shethoughtheshouldwear.

“I want to look my best

foryou,”hetoldher.As he was walking out,

Flowers noticed that one ofthe president’s French cuffsdidn’tgothroughalltheway.

“Barack, check yourcuffs,”Flowerspointed.

“Oh that’s nice, peoplecare,”Obamasaidaffably.

When the first lady’swardrobe stylist, IkramGoldman, whose high-endChicago boutique Michelle

Obama frequented beforemovingintotheWhiteHouse,heard Flowers call thepresident “Barack,” shesnapped at him. “Shesuggested that I should callhim‘Mr.President,’”Flowersrecalled. “When I called him‘Barack’hesmiled.Iwenttotheir wedding, I’ve met[Michelle’s] dad, he hasn’tchanged with me,” Flowerssaid, still obviously smarting

fromtherebuke.“Thatwouldhavebeenunnatural forme.”That transition—frompersonal names to formaltitles—isariteofpassageformany friends of futurepresidents. The Kennedys’social secretary, LetitiaBaldrige—who later becamean arbiter of etiquette—hadknown the couple as “JackandJackie,”but theybecame“Mr. President and Mrs.

Kennedy” immediately afterthe presidential election inNovember 1960. “PresidentandMrs.Kennedymay havebeen young, and personalfriendsfromearliertimes,buta new aura of great dignitysurrounded them now.” Fewpeople call President Obamabyhisfirstnameanymore.

INAUGURATION DAY—AN

OVERWHELMING event for anynew president—begins hoursbefore the oath of office isadministered at noon at theCapitol. In theearlymorninghe gets a national securitybriefing from the outgoingpresident’s national securityadviserandhisownincomingnational security adviser. Atthe end of the briefing, aseniorofficerfromtheWhiteHouse military office

explains the top secret codesused to launch a nuclearstrike. Once he is sworn in,anaidewiththe“football”—abriefcase carrying the codes—will always be close by.(After he is sworn in, thepresident will be given thecardallowinghimtoactuallylaunch the strikes.) This allhappens before a morningchurchservice.

While adjusting to the

weight of his new job, thenew president must also getused to life in the residence.The day after hisinauguration, PresidentObama came into the EastRoomtointroducehimselftothestaff.Thepresidenthad“alookofsurprise,”FloristBobScanlan recalled. “It’s like,‘Wow.’Hedidn’trealizethatthere were that many peoplejust to take care of the

house.” The staff Obamagreeted that day wasresponsible not only forservicingtheprivatequarters,but also for maintaining theState Floor, including theconstant traffic from publictours.

WestWingstaffers,manyofwhomgrewusedtoamoreadhocwayof lifeduringthecampaign,aresuddenlythrustintotheirnewroleswithlittle

understanding of how thingswork. For Obama’s personalsecretary, Katie Johnson,Inauguration Day itself was“complete chaos.”When shearrived at the White Housethat morning, she was toldshe wasn’t cleared for entry.“I was on my own personalcrashcourse,”shesays. (TopObama aide DenisMcDonough eventuallyclearedher throughsecurity.)

Andherproblemsdidn’tstopthere. “Looking back on it,the West Wing is tiny,” shesays, “but at the time it feltlike a maze.” Once she wassettled in the “Outer Oval,”her small office located justoutside the Oval Office, shespentmuchofthedaygettinga hurried tutorial about howto use the “shockinglycomplicated” phone system.Duringthefirstfewweeksof

the administration, sheremembers being unable totransfer a call from a high-levelofficial tothepresident,whowas on boardAir ForceOne. The call never wentthrough and eventuallyObamahimselfhadtocalltheperson directly from theplane. “I was so panicked,”Johnsonrecalls.

Fortheresidencestaff,ofcourse,thiswasnottheirfirst

rodeo, and theywere able tocalm Johnson’s frazzlednerves. TheWestWing staffreliesontheUsher’sOfficetohelp them settle in, andJohnsonkept theushersbusywithonequestionoranother,including where to find theFlowerShopsothatshecouldask them to refill the galaapples the president keeps intheOvalOffice.“Icalled theUsher’s Office if I had

questions about anything,”she recalls. “If someonewanted some particular winein the Oval, I’d call theUsher’s Office and theywouldfindit.”

Sometimes she neededhelp from the valets andushers locating importantpresidential memos,especially when there was apieceofpapertheWestWingstaff was looking for that

nobody could find.“Whenever I was panicked,desperately looking forsomething—and thepresident’s traveling so Ican’t ask him where it is—and people are telling methere’s a piece of paper thathas some important decisionon it, and the president sayshebroughtitdowntomeandIswearIdon’thaveit,I’daskthem to check,” she says

breathlessly.“They’dgolookfor it, and ninety percent ofthetimetheycouldfindit.”

Reggie Love remembershow patient the ushers werein helping him “navigate theback of the house of theWhite House.” He says,“There’s a nickname foreveryhall,there’sanicknameforeveryroom.”

After a few days theObamas started “moving

about the house little bylittle,” Scanlan recalled,usually after the tourists andmost of the residence staffhad left for the day. “It’s aprocess for them too. It’s aprocess to know almost ahundredpeople,becausetheydon’t see them all at once.Maybe one housekeeper, oneflorist at a time. You mayonly have one chef up theredoing the cooking. They

don’t know all the otherpeoplewhoaredowninthoseworkshops and eventuallythey do meet them but it’soveraperiodoftime.”

And eventually they getused to the help, or at leastlearn to livewith it. “I thinkthe White House staff hasreally figured out how toaccommodate families andmake them feel as normal aspossible, even though there

are dozens of people around,dropping off flowers,vacuuming, fixing things upall the time,” MichelleObama said. “You begin tosee them as family in somany ways and that’s thebeautyofthisplace.”

EACH FIRST FAMILY behavesdifferentlyaroundthestaff.Inthe late 1920s and early

1930s the family of HerbertHoover often preferred tohavetheworkersoutofsight;the sounding of three bellswould send maids, butlers,and housemen scurrying intoclosets. FDR and Trumanwere much more relaxed,tellingthestaffthatitwasallright to keep working whentheywalkedintoaroom.

Inmoderntimes,relationsbetween the first family and

the staff have grown muchmore comfortable. MaidIvanizSilvasaidthefirstladyusually knows everyone’snames within a week—atleastthoseofthedozenorsomaids and butlers whoregularlyworkon thesecondandthirdfloors.

One day, Silva said, shewas cleaning when BarbaraBush walked in and stoppedher.

“Oh, I haven’t seen youyet,”Mrs.Bushtoldher.

“But I’m in the book,”sheinsisted.

“Areyousure?”TheFirstLadywenttogogetthebooklisting the residence staffersprepared by the chief usher.She returned a few minuteslater.

“Oh, this is not a goodenoughpicture.That’swhy Idon’t recognize you!” Bush

teasedher.Alongwith new furniture

and paint, each first familybringsadifferentspirittotheWhiteHouse.Theseachangefrom the Eisenhowers to theKennedys was bothsuperficial—fromgrandparentswhopersonifiedthe 1950s to a beautifulyoungcouplewith twosmallchildren—and tangible. Thestaff had to get used to the

Kennedys’morerelaxedstyleof entertaining: black tieinsteadofwhite tie,cocktailsserved before dinner, andsmokingallowedeverywhere.At formal dinners, theEisenhowers served sixcoursesandsattheirguestsata giant E-shaped banquettable. The Kennedys quicklydecidedtochangetheseatingtofifteenroundtablesseatingeightortenapiece,andpared

downdinnerstofourcourses.JackieKennedy,whowas

used to being surrounded byservants and wealth, waseager to delve right intorunning the 132-roommansion. The morning afterher husband’s inauguration,she approached Chief UsherJ. B.West. “I’d like tomeetall the staff today,” she toldhim. “Could you please takeme around the White House

tomeetthemattheirwork?”Reluctant to present the

first lady to the staffworkshops without advancewarning, West suggestedbringing the staff to her ingroupsof three instead.Eachgroup, from the ushers andbutlers to the maids andcooks, were incrediblynervous about the formalinspection.Whentheygotoffthe elevator, they were

startled to see the first ladywearing pants (a particularlyshocking sight at the time)and brown boots, standingtherewithdisheveledhair.Asthe staffers introducedthemselvesonebyone,Westrecalled, Jackie tried to thinkof ways to memorize theirnames. She repeated each ofthem slowly and though shedidn’t take notes sherememberedallofthem.One

ofthemaidswhometherthatday,LucindaMorman,wasaskilled seamstress; the firstlady would later ask her totailor her one-of-a-kind OlegCassinigowns.

Jackie Kennedy was aperfectionist and was deeplyinvolved in the day-to-dayoperations of the residence.At night she scribbled notesto herself, checking off eachitem as it was completed

throughout the day. She alsowroteWest daily notes on ayellow pad she carriedeverywhere.

“Shealwayshadalistforme,” recalled West. “Eachperson thathadanyauthorityover anything, she had theirname, and under it therewould be all the things thatshe wanted to discuss witheachperson.”

Mrs. Kennedy also

noticed that some of theresidence workers werenervous around the firstfamily. She wrote a noteaboutthemaids:“TheyaresoterrifiedofbeinginW.H.—ofFirst Family, etc., that theyare rigid with fear and getpanicky—even Lucinda whoknows me well stillapologizes 10 minutes if shedrops a pin.” To help themovercome their fears, she

suggested that they come tothe second and third floorsmore often so that they getused to being around herfamily. “I can’t teach themanything—nor have time—whentheyarethatscared.”

DOORMAN PRESTON BRUCEwasusedtothepredictabilityof the Eisenhowers, whotypically went to bed at ten

o’clock.When theKennedysreturned from the inauguralballs at two o’clock in themorning,Brucewassuretheywould be exhausted. Instead,they brought friends back totheWhite House to continuethepartyon the second floor—unaware that the residenceworkers had to stay until thefirst couple were safely inbed. At 3:15 A.M. Bruceescortedthelastguestoutand

turned off the lights in theWest Sitting Hall. When hegot to the president’sbedroom,noonewasthere.

“Is that you, Bruce? I’mhere in the LincolnBedroom,” the presidentcalled out. Bruce couldn’tbelieve it. Workers thoughtthe Lincoln Bedroom wascursed. Kennedy ordered aCoke and asked Bruce toopenawindowtoletthecold

nightair in. Jackiecalledoutfrom the Queens’ Bedroomacross the hall and asked theever-obliging Bruce for anaperitif.Hedidnotgethomeuntilafter fouro’clock in themorning.

Despite that long firstnight, Bruce learned to lovetheKennedys,andbecauseheworked nights he got aglimpse of themore intimatesideofthefamily.He’dlaugh

when he witnessed thebeautiful young couplescamperbetweeneachother’sbedrooms late at night whenhe brought up their after-dinnerdrinks. (“Don’tworry,Bruce. We know you’remarriedtoo,”JackieKennedywould say, her eyestwinkling.)

From1953to1977BrucearrivedattheWhiteHouseatthreeo’clockintheafternoon,

greeting dignitaries at thedoor, calming nervousvisitors before they met thepresident, escorting thepresident from the OvalOffice to his residence atnight, and waiting until hewas in bed to go home. Hewas a star at the WhiteHouse.Other staffers praisedhiseleganceandhisabilitytoremain calm under theenormouspressureofhisjob.

Butler Lynwood Westraycallshima“diplomat.”

“That’s why he was sowell liked, somepeoplehaveitandsomedon’t.Hehadit.”

The day after theKennedy inauguration, Bruceescortedthepresidentandthefirstladyupstairsafterdinner.Hebreathedasighofreliefatthethoughtofgettinghomeata decent hour. “Bang! Theelevator door opened in the

hallway across from theUsher’s Office. Out poppedthe president. He chargeddown the hall, the SecretServiceinhotpursuit,”Brucewrote. Kennedy wanted totake a late-night walk andmarched out the NorthwestGateintothefreezingcoldairwithoutacoat.“Onlytwenty-four hours in the WhiteHouse,andhehadtoescape.”

TheSecretServicehadto

reinKennedyinandtoldhimhewouldhave to limitwalksto the eighteen acressurroundingtheWhiteHouse.From then on, Bruce wasalways prepared with twoovercoats:oneifthepresidentdecided to leave forhiswalkthrough the first-floor doors,and another if he chose theGround Floor. Whenever heoffered the president a coatand rain boots, the

commander in chiefprotested. “He was like alittleschoolboy,boundtorunoffunprotectedintothecold.”

NOT EVERY FIRST family hasenjoyedsuchajoyousarrivalas the Kennedys. On theMonday after the 1992election, the Clintons calledinterior decorator KakiHockersmithandaskedherto

performthemonumental taskof redecorating the WhiteHouse. Even though she haddecorated the Arkansasgovernor’smansionforthem,shewasn’t expecting the call—she recalls being “very,very surprised”—but sheaccepted the invitation.Between the election and theinauguration, she visited thegovernor’s mansion severaltimes to show the Clintons

the different fabrics andfurnishings she had selectedfortheresidence.

“On the first of thoseoccasions President Clintonwas in a meeting with histransition staff and Hillarycalled him out of themeeting,” she said. Shesplayedoutdrapery swatchesand rug designs on thekitchencounter to showhim.(Clinton is the rare modern

president who has shownsuch an interest in décor.) Inthe ensuing weeks,Hockersmith made severaltrips to the White House toworkwith the curators.Theybrought her to the hugeclimate-controlled storagefacility about eleven milesoutside of Washington inRiverdale, Maryland, whereevery piece of furniture thatwasonceintheWhiteHouse

is stored in a warehouse.Incoming families can pickpieces they want to take outof storage and bring back totheresidence.

ThefurnitureinRiverdaleis methodically organizedinto categories with rows ofdesks and writing tablessituated alongside chests andrugs that sat in the OvalOffice during differentadministrations. Pieces from

different eras, each with anextensive provenance, aredescribed and catalogued.The curators know whereevery candlestick and sidetable can be found in themassivespace.There’sevenaconservation studio with X-ray equipment wherephotography can be done forguidebooks. It is a far cryfrom the ramshackle storagefacility a stunned Jackie

Kennedy visited at FortWashington along thePotomac River in Maryland,where she was appalled tofind precious antiques lyingonthedirtfloor.

Hockersmith carried withher a detailed floor plan,keeping track of the desiredlocationsforpiecesalreadyinthe house and new piecesfromthewarehouse.“Wehadthis very ambitious plan,”

Hockersmith said, soundingexhaustedbythememory.

The Clintons beganInauguration Day with aninterfaith church service.Afterward they stopped atBlairHousebeforearrivingattheWhiteHouseat10:27A.M.—twenty-seven minutes late.The Bushes stood at theNorthPorticowaitingtogreetthem.

“Welcome to your new

house,” President George H.W.Bushtoldtwelve-year-oldChelsea, who petted theBush’s springer spaniel,Millie. The outgoingpresident wished hissuccessor good luck—and,followingtradition,leftanoteinthedeskintheOvalOfficeoffering advice to hissuccessor.(WhenClintonleftoffice eight years later, hewrote a note to President

George W. Bush and leftbehind the note that Bush’sfather had left for him.)Details of the notes have notbeenmadepublic.

On the big day, HillaryClintontoldHockersmiththatshe didn’t want her to missthe inaugural ceremony, heldat theWestFrontof theU.S.Capitol. But she needed herto get back to the WhiteHouseassoonasitwasover.

“We have to figure out away to get you out of thatmessandquicklyback to theWhite House,” Hillary toldher.

After the hour-longinaugural ceremony, Hillarytold Hockersmith to look foracolonelonacornerinavanwhowouldwhiskherbacktothe White House to helpoverseethemove.

“I thought, how in the

worldaretheygoingtoworkthisout?”Hockersmithsays.

Amid thecheering throngof people gathered at theCapitol on January20, 1993,Hockersmith was astonishedtoseethevanwaitingforher.Everytimetheyhitasecuritybarrier, the police moved it.The crowd liningPennsylvania Avenueawaiting the new presidentwaved excitedly at her van.

“They thought we might besomeonereallyfamous.”

“We just drove up to theSouth Lawn with a view oftwo large moving vans thatsaid ‘Little Rock, Arkansas’onthem,”shesays.“Quiteanexcitingdrive.”

The Clintons spentroughly $400,000redecorating the WhiteHouse,allfinancedbyprivatedonations. But the effort

raised some eyebrows, bothwithin and outside themansion. Even the normallydiscreet residence workershave called Hockersmith’sefforts disorganized, herexpectationstoohigh.

Chief Electrician BillCliber, who worked on ninetransitions, said that theClintons’ arrival was by farthe most difficult. Shortlybefore the inauguration,

Hockersmithtoldhimthatheand the other electriciansneeded to rehang sevenchandeliers—now.

“Why does it have to bedonenow?Letthemmoveinand we’ll do it one a day,”saidCliber.

“No, they want them allchanged before they come inthedoor,”shereplied.

Cliber had no choice.Hewent to the second-floor

Treaty Room, which Clintonwoulduseasaprivate study,to start work on one of thechandeliers.

Almost as soon as theClintons returned from theinaugural parade, HillaryappearedintheTreatyRoom.“How long are you going tobe in this room?” she askedCliber.

“Truthfully, I’m lookingatmaybefourhours,”hetold

her as he handled theelaborate crystal chandelierthat was dismantled on thefloor.

“Hmm, we’ll see aboutthat,” she said, and stormedout.

Hockersmith poked herheadinandtoldhimtoleavethe room within twentyminutes. Cliber said he’dneedmoretimejusttocollectthehundredsandhundredsof

priceless crystals strewnabout the floor. She replied:“Don’t worry about it. Theycanbereplaced.”

“No, ma’am. This iscrystal that can’t bereplaced,” he told herindignantly.

Cliberdidashewastold,leaving the Treaty Room amess with crystalseverywhere. But he wasn’tabout to let the first lady, or

her decorator, have the finalword. Chief Curator RexScouten (who was wellrespectedonthestaffandhadbeen an usher and then chiefusher from 1969 to 1986before he took the job ascurator) locked the door toprotect the chandelier untilCliber could get back towork. The electrician wasn’tallowedback in theroomforthreeweeks.

Gary Walters is alwayscareful not to single out anyone administration forcriticism. But when I askedhimhowtheClintonmove-inwent therewasa longpause:“That’s when you get themost difficulty, when you’regoing from oneadministration to another ofdifferent parties.” TheClintons, he said, “had noconcept of what the White

House was like.” He had togo up to the residencemultiple times a day toanswerquestions.

Usher Nancy Mitchellwas on duty early in themorningwhenthefirstcouplecame home from theinaugural balls. “PresidentClinton wanted to make aphone call, so I had goneupstairs with him and I hearthis roar from him, ‘Nancy!’

andIsay,‘Yes,sir.’Hesays,‘How do I make a phonecall?’” When the presidentpicked up the phone, hewasgreetednotbyadialtonebutby a White House operator;he was shocked that hecouldn’t just dial a numberhimself. The entire phonesystem was changed shortlythereafter.

It did not help that theClintons invited friends from

Little Rock (“friends ofBill’s,” or “FOBs”) to helpthem unpack, which onlyservedtocomplicatematters.

“We’ve been doing thisfor two hundred years,” saidUsher Chris Emery. “Theymade all these promises tovariouspeopletocomeinandhelp. Of course we wereupset, it was such a mess.”Emery, who had a difficultrelationshipwiththeClintons

andwouldeventuallybefiredduring their administration,saidthatmanyFOBsactuallyhad criminal records.According to Emery, theSecret Service called theUsher’s Office several timesto report that some of theArkansas guests had notpassed their backgroundchecksandweredeemed“donot admits.” Emery toldagents, “The president’s

expecting them. Make ithappen.” They ended uphaving to assign SecretService officers on everyfloor:“Typicallyifyoubringaworker that has a ‘hit’ [onhis background check] theyhave to be escorted.” Beforelong, much to Emery’schagrin, there were severalpeople with “hits” at thehouse.

Hockersmith took a

hands-on approach to someelements of the redecoration,including the placement ofthe Clintons’ personalphotographs and theknickknacks they broughtwith them from Little Rock,including a memorablecollection of frogs. WhenHillary andBillwere dating,it seemed, he had charmedher with a story from hischildhood. The punch line

was:“Youcan’ttellhowfarafrog will jump until youpunchhim.”Translation:Younever knowhow far you cango until you try—an aptanecdote for the ambitiousyoung couple. When herhusband first ran for office,HillarygaveBilladrawingofa frog being punched andjumping with the sayingunderneath. In 1993, for herbirthday,Billgaveheraglass

frog wearing a crown and anote that read: “This couldhave been me if you hadn’tcomealong.”

To Hockersmith, initiallyunaware of their sentimentalsignificance,thefrogslookedlikeamishmashofmisguidedgifts. “Somebody goes toyour house and they think,‘Oh they must like frogs.’Thenyou’re given a frog foryour birthday.” She did her

besttomakethemwork.When the first family

returns to the White Housefrom the parade viewingstands, Hockersmith recalls,“That’s when everyone elsedisappears.” The residenceworkers, who have beenworking to make the houseperfect all day long, rushbacktotheirrespectiveshopsto give the family somemuch-neededprivacy.

Hockersmith wouldbecome a White Housefixture, staying in theQueens’Bedroomoffandonthroughout Bill Clinton’seight years in the WhiteHouseas redecorationeffortscontinued.Herguestroomonthe second floor wasseparated from their livingquartersbypocketdoors thatclose off the west end fromtheeastendof the residence.

She tried to make the housebrighter, especially focusingon turning a drab second-floor Butler’s Pantry into aneat-in kitchen where Chelseacould do her homework. Buttheredecorationwasmetwithmixed reviews, withHockersmith’s elaborateVictorian furnishings in theLincolnSittingRoomcominginforparticularcriticism.

THEREHASBEENno transitionin modern memory asshocking as the sudden andviolentupheaval thatbroughtthe arrival of Lyndon B.JohnsonandhisfamilytotheWhite House. The residencestaffhadtohelpadevastatedfirstladyandhertwochildrenmove out, even as theyweregrieving themselves, and atthe same time they had tohelp the Johnsons move in.

And it all had to be donewithout making Mrs.Kennedy feel rushed, or theJohnsons feel as though theywere being ignored. “I’vebeen on panels with othersocial secretaries and theymake it all sound so excitingwhen they got there,” saysLady Bird’s social secretary,Bess Abell, a KatharineHepburn–esquepresencewhospeaks with great affection

abouttheJohnsons.“Imovedinto the White House on anentirely different occasion.Insteadofcominginwiththeexcitementandthethrillofaninauguration, we moved intoahousethatwascoveredwithblack crepe on all thechandeliersandthecolumns.”

The new first lady, LadyBirdJohnson,often lamentedthe difficult position herfamily were suddenly thrust

into. “People see the livingandwishforthedead,”she’dsay.

Out of respect for thepresident’s widow, LyndonB.Johnson—whowaslargelydislikedbyKennedy’sstaff—did not move into theWhiteHouse until December 7,1963.Hestartedworkingoutof the Oval Office onNovember26;beforethenheworked out of Room 274 in

the Old Executive OfficeBuilding next door to theWhite House. Some ofJohnson’s advisers arguedthat moving in to theresidenceonDecember7,thetwenty-second anniversaryofthe horrific attack on PearlHarbor, would bedisrespectful. Others simplywantedtogiveMrs.Kennedymore time before leaving theWhiteHouse.Everymovethe

Johnsons made must havebeen excruciating sincenothing they did could helpendear them to PresidentKennedy’sheartbrokenaides.

LuciBainesJohnson, justsixteen years old at the time,remembers eavesdropping asher parents had what shecalled the “only argument”she can remember them everhaving. “We have to moveDecember seventh, Bird,”

Johnson told his wife.“Lyndon, any day but that.Anydaybutthat,”hermotherpleaded,butinvain.

When the Johnson familyfinallyarrived, theirdaughterLuci brought their beagles,“Him” and “Her,” in herconvertible. Lady Bird andBess and her press secretary,Liz Carpenter, broughtbreakableitems,alongwithaportrait of House Speaker

SamRayburn,afellowTexanwhowasJohnson’smentor.

At first the Johnsonsseemed to treat the WhiteHouse gingerly, as thoughthey were impinging onsacred ground. But theresidence staff, unlikeKennedy’s political aides,never made them feel likeinterlopers. “I never felt asense of, ‘Howcould you behere?’”Lucitoldme.“Itwas,

‘Oh, how tough to have youcomeherethisway.Howcanwe help? How can weteach?’”

Not everyone waswelcoming. After Kennedy’sassassination, TraphesBryant, an electrician whostarted caring for the firstfamily’s dogs with theKennedys (they had ninedogsatonepoint)anddidn’tstop until the Nixons, was

waryofPresidentJohnson.“IwaslosingadogandgainingapresidentIdidn’tknow.Notonly didn’t I know him, Ididn’tthinkIwantedtoknowhim. He wasn’t boyish orgood-natured or quick-wittedlike Kennedy, and I heardhim cussing out the helpwhenthingsweren’tdonefastenough.”Bryantdescribestheabrupt shift at the WhiteHouse to accommodate the

newpresident:“Terrierswereout and beagles were in.Jackie pink was out, LadyBirdyellowwasin.Chowderwasoutandchiliwasin.”Hehoped that one thing wouldremainthesame,thatJohnsonwouldappreciatethewaythathetrainedpresidentialdogstogreet their owners on theSouth Lawn when theyreturned from a trip on themarine helicopter. President

Kennedy thoroughly enjoyedthe tradition.Healwaysgaveabroadsmileandgreetedthewaitingdogs“asiftheywerehisdistinguishedhosts.”

After the Kennedys’abrupt departure he writestouchingly, “Toddlers wereout and teenagers were in,”referring to Caroline andJohn-John’s successors at theWhite House, the Johnsons’teenage daughters, Luci and

Lynda. Ultimately, though,Bryant would grow to lovetheJohnsons.

Inhermemoir,LadyBirdJohnson described theimpossible task of trying toreplace Jackie, marveling atthe “element of steel andstamina” that must haveflowed through herpredecessor’s veins. She saidshe felt as though she were“suddenlyonstageforapartI

neverrehearsed.”While the new president

wasworkinginhistemporaryquarters, the White Housestaff had quietly madearrangements for thetransition.Justfourdaysaftertheassassination,ChiefUsherJ.B.West visitedLadyBirdat the Johnsons’Washingtonmansion,knownastheElms,where they discussed whatfurniture the Johnsonswould

bringwith themto theWhiteHouse.

Later thatafternoon,Mrs.Johnson had tea with JFK’swidow at the White House.The outgoing first ladygraciously showed hersuccessor the second floor,allowingher toconsiderhowher furniture would fit intothebedroomandsittingroomMrs. Kennedy had occupiedforalmostthreeyears.“Don’t

befrightenedof thishouse—someofthehappiestyearsofmymarriagehavebeenspenthere—you will be happyhere,” Jackie said.LadyBirdsaidshetoldherthissooftenduringhertourthatitfelt“asthough she were trying toreassureme.”

Jackie told her that J. B.West and Curator JimKetchum were the mostdependable members of the

residence staff. Ketchum,who served as the WhiteHouse chief curator from1963 to 1970, fondly recallshis first meeting with LadyBird shortly after the familymoved in. As one of fourpeopleonthecuratorialstaff,Ketchum was in charge ofcataloguing and protectingevery piece of furniture andartworkintheWhiteHouse’sprivate collection, ranging

from masterpieces by JohnSinger Sargent to porcelaindating back to GeorgeWashington.

LadyBirdaskedKetchumtosetuptimeaftershemovedin for “walk and learns,” soshe could go through eachroom with him and learnmoreabout itshistoryanditsfurnishings. She said sheneeded to have a workingknowledge of the residence

sothatshecouldtakefriendsand guests on tours, one ofher duties as first lady. Shetook her new role veryseriously—not surprising, asshehadearnedareputationasa pinch hitter for JackieKennedy during the previousadministration. When Jackiedidn’t feel like doingsomething, Lady Birddutifullysteppedin.

Ketchum’s first meeting

with the new first lady wasnot at all glamorous. WhenLadyBirdcalleddowntotheCurator’s Office and askedhim to come upstairs, herecalls, “I found her in acloset, between her bedroomand sitting room, on herhands and knees with acardboard box open in frontof her,” he said. She wassurrounded by about twentyporcelain birds all carefully

wrapped and brought fromtheElms.Hegotdownonthefloor and began to help herunwrapeachbird.

“What neither one of usrealized is that the light forthe closet was in the doorjamb.Andaswestarted,andwehadthebirdskindoflinedup on the floor, BonnerArrington [the carpenterforeman] and one of hiscolleagues from the

Carpenter’s Shop weremovingasofaandwentrightdown this narrow corridorandofcourseclosedthedoor.So there we were, playingtouchy-feely,tryingtoprotectthe birds and figure out howone could get up withoutstepping on something,” helaughed. They managed tofind the light switch andremarkablytheyleftthebirdsunharmed.

Soonaftertheymovedin,the president and the firstlady were invited to adviserWalter Jenkins’s house fordinner.Theirabsencegave“abreathing spell to the staffhereat theWhiteHousewhomust have been carrying onwithheavyhearts,”LadyBirdsaid.

The Jenkins’s daughter,Beth, was a close friend ofLuci’s, and she came to the

WhiteHouse that night for asleepover.“AllIhadfeltwasthe challenge and the burdenof this transition,” Luci toldme.

Her room in the WhiteHouse had a fireplace—“I’dnever had something sodeliciousasafireplaceinmybedroom”—so she lit a fire.Neither girl knew anythingabout fireplaces, though, andthe room soon filled upwith

smoke. Luci frantically triedusingajuiceglassfilledwithwater,andthenatrashcan,todouse the flames.Finally sheclimbed up on her desk andopened a window to let thesmoke out—and washorrified when she saw aWhite House policemanlooking in at her in hernightgown. Once theyrealizedwhatwashappening,staffranintohelp.

“My mother felt it wasvery appropriate that I helpcleanthesmokestainsoffthewalls of my bedroom thatfirst week,” she said, stillembarrasseddecadeslater.“Itwas literally a baptism byfire.”Shescrubbedalongsidethe maids, none of whommadeherfeelguilty.

ALITTLEMORE thanadecade

later, the residence stafffound themselves once againconfrontedwithasuddenandunceremonious transition,when President RichardNixon announced hisresignation on August 8,1974.

“The transfer of powerwas shockingly abrupt, yetorderly as it had been aftertheassassinationofPresidentKennedy,” wrote Doorman

Preston Bruce. Yet despitethe fact that the Watergatescandal had been raging fortwo years, and calls forNixon’s resignation hadmountedthroughthesummer,no one inside the WhiteHousewasexpectingit.Afterall, no president had everresignedbefore.ThestaffhadnoclueuntilPatNixoncalleddown, asking for somepackingboxes.

At seven-thirty on themorning after he announcedhis resignation,Nixonwas inbare feet and pajamas whenExecutiveChefHenryHallerfoundhimsittingaloneintheFamily Kitchen. He usuallyatealightbreakfastofcereal,juice,andfreshfruit,but thatmorning he ordered cornedbeefhashwithapoachedegg.

Nixon walked up toHaller and grabbed his hand:

“Chef, I have been eating allover the world, your food isthebest.”

Later that morning, justbefore walking to thehelicopterontheSouthLawnandgivinghis famousV-for-victorysalute,Nixonmadeanemotional farewell speech tohisstaffintheEastRoom.Asthe staff gathered for theevent, Painter Cletus Clarkunexpectedly found himself

inthemiddleofthedrama.“Iwas in the East Roompainting the stage. I was theonly one in there on theresidencestaff,”hesaid.“ThenextthingyouknowIlookedupandallthesepeoplestartedcomingintotheEastRoom—I couldn’t get out! And thepaintwasn’tevendry!”

HetoldtheSecretServiceagents who were in placebefore the president’s arrival

to make sure the presidentwas careful not to touch thewetpaint.

“Theroomwasfillingup.Igrabbedmylittlebucketandwent over there on the southside and mixed in with thecrowd.Iputmybucketdownbetween my feet and stayedinthere.”

Standing in his all-whiteuniform,Clarklistenedasthethirty-seventh president

began good-byes by praisingthe residence staff, who, asusual, stayed in the shadows.“Thishousehasagreatheartand that heart comes fromthosewhoserve.Iwasrathersorrytheydidn’tcomedown;we said good-bye to themupstairs,”Nixonsaid,alreadywistful. “But they’re reallygreat. I recall after so manytimes I’ve made speeches,some of them pretty tough,

you’d always come back, orafterahardday,andmydaysusually run rather long, I’dalways get a lift from them.Because I might be a littledown, but they alwayssmiled.”

The residence staff tookonthefamiliarroleofmoversthat day, packing up the firstfamily’sthingsandmanagingas seamless a transition asthey could under the

circumstances.Barbara Bush, whose

husband was then thechairman of the RepublicanNational Committee,described in amazementwitnessing just how quicklytheWhiteHousewashandedover to the Fords. “The dayPresident Nixon resigned wewent down to the WhiteHouse, we met there for hisresignation and Jerry Ford’s

swearinginhourslater.Afterwe waved good-bye to theNixons, the pictures on thewallwere all of Jerry Ford’sfamily. We were standing atthe helicopter waving good-bye while they changed thepictures.”

THE NIXONS’ FORMAL stylewas replaced by the morerelaxedattitudeofGeraldand

BettyFord,whoallowedtheirfour children to wear jeansanywhere in the WhiteHouse. Susan Ford evenroller-skated on the StateFloor’s pristine floors whileher parents were traveling,which she says she’sembarrassedtoadmitnow.

Betty Ford was fiercelyindependent, and when shegot the tour of the second-floor family quarters she

immediatelyrejected the ideaof sleeping in a separatebedroom from her husband.“Well,there’llbenoneedforthat,”shetoldtheheadusher.

She could not understandwhy the maids and butlersweresoquietaroundher.Sheworried that they didn’t likeher. She soon found out thatPat Nixon had preferred itthatway.

Carpenter Milton Frame

was impressed by BettyFord’s approachable manner.“I do recall that Mrs. Ford,she would invite you to sitdownandhaveacupoftea,”hesaidfondly.Sheaskedhimwherehewasfromandmadesmall talk,anactofkindnessthat her predecessor wouldneverhaveinitiated.

She also enjoyed teasingthestaff.Duringatouroftheprivate quarters, her press

secretary, Sheila RabbWeidenfeld, noticed a flowervase featuring the figures oftwo angels, with their handsalmost touching. A cigarettewas perched in one of theangel’shands.“Oh,that,”thefirst lady said, laughing. “Iput it there. That’s just myway of testing whether themaids have cleaned theroom!”

NEW FAMILIES MUST get usedto abig staff—and topayingshockingly high monthlybills. Contrary to popularbelief, the first family paysfor all of their own personalexpenses. And almost everyfirst lady ends up pleadingwith the chief usher to keepcostsdown.

The family pays for theirown dry cleaning, which isfarmed out to a local dry

cleaner chosen by the headhousekeeper or the familythemselves. During the firstBush and the Clintonadministrations, ExecutiveHousekeeper ChristineLimerick said, they oftenused the nearby WillardHotel.Eventhatbasicservicehas to be conducted insecrecy:thefamily’sclothingisdroppedoff andpickedupdiscreetlybymembersof the

OperationsDepartment.The first family is also

required to cover theirpersonal food and drinkexpenses—including not justtheir own meals but alsothoseoftheirpersonalguests,which can include dozens offriends and family over theinauguration or the holidays.Walters told me that “eachand every” first lady, exceptforBarbaraBush,hasseemed

surprised and not verypleased to discover this.Many have asked for menusfeaturing cheaper cuts ofmeat to cut down on theenormous monthly costs; theCarters even asked to beservedleftoversfortheirownpersonalmeals.

Even Jackie Kennedyinstructed the chief usher to“runthisplacejustlikeyou’drun it for the chinchiest

president who ever gotelected!” She dropped hervoicecomically,adding:“Wedon’t have nearly as muchmoney as you read in thepapers!”

Her husband wasobsessed with the food bill,talkingingreatdetailwiththeushersabouthowtokeepthemilk bill down at theirHyannis home. TheKennedys’ social secretary,

Nancy Tuckerman, said sheneversawhimsitstillforthatlong or be that interested inanything for more than fiveminutes. The liquor billmultiplied during theKennedy years and that’sbecause, before Kennedytookoffice, theWhiteHouseamazinglyandverydiscreetlyaccepted bootleg whiskeyfrom the General ServicesAdministration. A new

regulation would have madeit impossible for the WhiteHouse to continue doing sowithout making it public, sothe president quickly orderedan end to the practice andsent Housekeeper AnneLincoln to shop forinexpensive booze. Kennedyhad his own private liquorcabinet tucked away in acloset on the third floor andthe only peoplewith the key

were Lincoln and his valet.Hewasalwaysmindfulofthecost of living in the WhiteHouse, even though hewouldn’t be asked topay forthe bulk of the alcoholhimselfbecauseitwasmostlyusedforofficialentertaining.

Obama aideReggieLovewas twenty-seven years oldwhenhearrivedat theWhiteHouse and remembers thefirst time Admiral Rochon

walked him through theObamas’monthlybill.“IsawthenumberandIwaslike,‘Iseethenumbers,Iseeall thethingsitemized,butforme,apersonwho’s only lived in ahousehold of one with nochildren, I have no real wayto lookat that and say, ‘Youknowwhat, this seems aboutright.’”

The executive chef sendsthe first lady aweeklymenu

every Sunday. If she findssomething there that shedoesn’t like, or feels is tooextravagantforafamilymeal,shemayask thechef to lookforanalternative.

LuciBaines Johnson saidher mother talked“constantly” about theexorbitant costs of living atthe White House. After shegot married, Luci went withherfamilytoCampDavidfor

theweekend—andreceivedabillforthefoodsheatewhileshe was there. She wasastonished.

“Oh yes, we’ve alwaysbeen billed, but when youwere a minor living in ourhome we paid it for you,”Lady Bird Johnson told heriratedaughter.

“My mother was quitestunned that I was stunned!”shesaid,laughing.

Somehow, seeing a line-itembreakdownattheendofthe month makes the pricesseemhigherthanifthefamilywere going to the grocerystore, orout to eat.PresidentFord’s daughter, Susan, saidthat her father would wavethe bill at her and warn her,“You need to be aware thatwhen you have a bunch offriendsoverIdoseethis.”

Rosalynn Carter vividly

remembers her family’s firstmonthly bill: $600. “Itdoesn’tsoundlikeverymuch,but thatwasenormous tomebackin’76!”Shethoughttheprices were higher than theywould be outside the WhiteHouse because the food hastobe examined tomake sureithasn’tbeenpoisoned.

Thefoodbillsweren’ttheonly costs that worried theCarters, according to Florist

Ronn Payne. Jimmy Carterwanted his flowers on thecheap too. Even though thefirst family doesn’t usuallypayfor flowers,Carterdidn’tbelieve the governmentneeded to foot the bill forelaboratearrangementseither.“We had to go out and pickflowerstododinners,”Payneremembers.“Wewouldgotothecityparkstocutflowers.”He and other staffers took

fieldtripstoRockCreekParkto pick daffodils and theNational Zoo to collectwildflowers. “Police wouldactuallystopus.Oneguywasarrested and they had to goand get him out of jail forpicking daffodils on that bighillsideinRockCreekParktodo a dinner.” The WhiteHouse intervened to get himreleased,Paynesaid.

“We’d buy dried flowers

from the market, or we’dhave our garden club ladiesdrytheirowngardenflowers,and that’s what we had touse.”Inotheradministrationsit was not uncommon tospend$50,000onflowersfora state dinner, with singlearrangements costing severalthousanddollars.

Barbara Bush, every bitthe patrician matriarch, hasnosympathyforanyfirstlady

who is surprised when shereceivesherfamily’smonthlyfoodbill.Oranybill,forthatmatter. “If they wereshocked, there’s somethingwrong with them,” she sayssternly. “We had lots ofguests,asdidGeorgeW.,andwe paid for those privateguests. But the bill wouldcomeand itwould say, ‘Oneegg:eighteencents.’Mrs.SoandSohadaneggandapiece

oftoast.It’scheapertoeatattheWhiteHouse.”Shepointsoutthat,whilethefirstfamilyhas to pay for food and drycleaning, they don’t have topay for electricity, air-conditioning,flowers,butlers,plumbers, or “yard people,”making their cost of living arelative bargain—especiallyfor a family like theBushes,who were accustomed tohavinghiredhelp. “I thought

it was very cheap to live atthe White House!” she said.“I’d like to go back and livethere and not have theresponsibility.”

Laura Bush’s mother-in-law may have prepared herfor the cost of living in theWhite House, but she wasstill surprised when she gother first bill. She noted howexpensiveitwastothrowherhusband a birthday party

because theyhad topay timeand a half for staff whoworked after five o’clock intheevening.

Executive Chef WalterScheib also reported that hesometimes got calls from thechief usher, saying that thefirst lady’s office had askedhim to keep the cost ofingredients down, orrequesting that fewer cooksbeusedinthekitchen.

“Chef,didyoureallyneedthat many people to producethat event?” Chief UsherGaryWalterswouldaskhim.

“Well, Gary, maybe not.Maybewecouldhavedoneitwith a couple less people,”the uncompromising Scheibwould reply. “Let’s play thisscenario out: we made amistake at the White House,and we’re sitting across thetablefromMrs.BushorMrs.

Clinton, and we’re trying toexplain why her name isbeing bandied around by allthe late-night comedians.‘But the good news, Mrs.Bush, the good news, Mrs.Clinton, is, we saved fivehundreddollars.’Howdoyouthink that discussion’s goingtogo?”

Above all else, he said,“Our goal was to make surethatthefirstfamilywasnever

embarrassed.” No matter thecost.

WHEN A NEW family movesin, routines change abruptly.The Obamas have pushedtheir wake-up time backslightlylaterthantheirrecentpredecessors; they prefer toturn off their own lights atnight; and they want galaapplesinadditiontotheusual

flowers in the Oval Office.Theapplesaddedafreshtaskfor the florists: they have tobe checked every day,because the presidentencourages people to eatthemandthesupplydwindlesfast. Florists are out of theOvalOfficenolaterthan7:30A.M., when President Obamais usuallymaking hisway towork.

While the Obama

family’s requests don’t veertoofarfromthoseofpreviousfirst families,when their firstsocial secretary, DesiréeRogers, arrivedwith them in2009, she was committed toshaking up tradition bybringing a new energy andnew ideas to the staidexecutive mansion. AHarvard MBA anddescendant of a Creolevoodoopriestess,Rogerswas

the first African Americansocial secretary, so her verypresence defied tradition. Inherfirstsixtydaysinthepost,she coordinated more thanfifty events. That’s twice asmanyasPresidentGeorgeW.Bush held during the sameperiod of his first term, andsurpassed even the pace oftheparty-lovingClintons.Shesought tochangethewaytheWhiteHouseworked,mixing

and matching china fromdifferent eras at formaldinners and includingRepublicans in everycongressionalevent.Shealsoinvolved herself in detailstraditionally handled by theresidence staff, deeplyirritatingsomeofthem.

“She really was in herown little world when shecame in the door,” FloristBobScanlansaid.“Shemade

it quite clear that they didn’twantwhatwehadbeendoingand they were looking for anewlook.Ican’ttellyouhowmanytimesweheard[Rogersask for] ‘the Four Seasonslook.’” He interpretedRogers’sedictasarequestformore contemporary floralarrangements, with flowersplaced at an angle, asopposed to the moretraditionaloasisarrangement,

an array of lush fresh-cutflowers stuck in foam.Scanlan said that he and hiscolleagues bristled when awoman was brought in forseveralweeksto“revamptheFlower Shop” because, hesaid,theyweretoldtheywerestuckinthepast.

Scanlansaidthatfromthebeginningmanyofthefloristsviewed Rogers asdisrespectfulofthemansion’s

long-standing traditions andwere happy to see her gofifteen months later (after ascandal involving gate-crashers who managed toinfiltrate the Obamas’ firststate dinner without aninvitation). “When youbecomepartofthathouseandyou are a florist, there’s acertain element and a certainlook that belongs strictly forthat house. It’s not just the

firstfamily’s,it’sthepublic’stoo.We’re doing flowers forthe country.” Rogersremembers the controversyover the flowers a littledifferently. She says shedidn’t ask for changesimmediately and stuck totradition, at least onInauguration Day. “Therewas a certain way thatflowers were done in thehouse,” she said, adding that

there was nothing new doneon Inauguration Day toincorporate the first family’sstyle. “Remember, this isbefore they ever got into thehouse.They’renotabletosay‘we like this’ or ‘we likethat,’‘moreofthis’or‘lessofthat.’ So it was pretty muchset up the way it hadhistorically been set up overtheyearsbythatflorist.”

When I asked Chief

Usher Admiral Rochon whatit was like working withRogers, he joked that hemight need to take anExcedrin. Rogers had been asuccessful businesswoman,butwhenitcametotheWhiteHouse transition, she hadunrealisticexpectations.

“Itwasn’texacting,itwasjust impossible,” he said,exasperated by the memory.She wanted the walls to be

painted and dry by the timethe Obamas came back fromthe inauguralparade,Rochonrecalls. “We would have toconvince them that, no, youcan’t have a mural on thiswall, because it has to bedone after President Bushleaves.”

The new family is notallowedtochangethehistoricState and Ground floors, butthey are free to make a

variety of changes on thesecond and third floors oncethey actually move in. ThestaffevenclosedawallupinMalia’s room because it ledto an open walkway and theteenager wanted moreprivacy. Such changes,however, must wait until thelimousine carries away theoutgoingfirstfamily.

Executive Pastry ChefRoland Mesnier had

extensive experience in thehotelindustry,havingworkedatLondon’sSavoyHotelandat the Homestead inVirginia’s AlleghenyMountains, and he earned areputation for quicklyfiguring out what thepresident wanted. Instead oflisteningtoObama’spoliticaladvisers, who all claimedtheyknewwhatkindof foodthe president and first lady

preferred, he discreetlyapproached family memberswhen they visited the WhiteHouse.

One aide to George W.Bush told Mesnier not toworryaboutmakingelaboratebirthday cakes. Instead, hesuggested,justmakeanangelfood cake with strawberries.“I nevermade an angel foodcake with strawberry in thehole!” said Mesnier, a

boisterous,plumpFrenchmanwithrosycheeks.“Aftertheysee what you can do, forgetabout what they used tohave.”

AFTER AMERICAN VOTERSelectanewpresident,alleyesturn to the future. For theresidence workers, though,life goes on. David HumeKennerly, President Ford’s

White House photographerand a close Ford familyfriend, said that working attheWhiteHouseislikebeingon a movie set: “When themovie’soveryougoontothenextgig.”

For the residence staff,it’s not always easy to dealwith the revolving door offamilies. Inauguration Dayfeels like starting a new job,working for the most

powerful family in theworldwith no certainty about whatthey expect. Will the firstlady, who has much moredirect contact with the staffthan the president, find faultwith the food, or the flowerarrangements, or theway thebeds are made? “There arethousands of things like thatrunning through your mind,”Scanlan confessed. “Is shegoing to call up and say, ‘I

hate this’? They can dowhatevertheywant.”

Executive Chef WalterScheib was hired by HillaryClinton and fired by LauraBush. For him, the transitionto Bush was painful. Afterserving the Clintons hauteAmerican cuisine for almostthe entirety of their twoterms, he didn’t know whattheBushes expected.Almostovernight, he had to go from

preparing layered late-summer vegetables withlemongrass and red curry toserving up Tex-Mex ChexandBLTs. (PresidentClintonsatisfied most of hisunhealthyfoodcravingswhenhewasontheroadandawayfrom thewatchful eye of thefirstladywhoevenrequestedthat calorie counts beincluded on family dinnermenus.)

“It’s the only time I everhad a job quit me: thephysical plan was the same,allthepotsandpanswerethesame,therefrigeratorwasthesame, all the ovens were thesame, but you didn’t knowyourjobanymore.Youhadtorelearnyourjobliterallyinanafternoon.”

Mesnier describes sayinggood-bye to the departingfamily as “little short of

funereal.”Leaving the happy

environment of the WhiteHouse often isn’t any easierfor the first family.PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush brokedowncryingwhenhesawthestaffgatheredbeforehim.Hewas rendered speechless.“Weweretoochokedupwithemotion to saywhatwe felt,but I think they knew theaffection we had for them

all,” recalled Barbara Bush.Before leaving for theCapitol,sheracedthroughtheRed andBlueRooms to hugall the butlers privately.“From then on it was alldownhill. The hard part formewasover.”

The transition back tocivilian life is difficult, nomatter how much presidentsandfirstladiessaytheycraveareturntoprivacy.Whenthe

Reagans said theirgood-byesto the residence staff in theState Dining Room, thepresident joked: “You knowthe only problem aboutleaving the White House:When I will wake uptomorrowmorning,howamIgoing to turn the electricityon?Ihaven’tdoneit ineightyears. You have done it formealltheseyears.HowwillIturn the switch on? I don’t

know.” (Nancy Reagan saidherhusband loved the luxuryof the residence, referring toit as an eight-star hotel. Sheagreed. “Every evening,whileItookabath,oneofthemaids would come by andremove my clothes forlaundering or dry cleaning.The bed would always beturned down. Five minutesafter Ronnie came home andhung up his suit, it would

disappear from the closet tobe pressed, cleaned, orbrushed.”)

In her memoir, BarbaraBushoffersarareglimpseofhowshelteredthefirstfamilybecomesafteryearsofhavingcooks, maids, and butlers.The Bushes had spentdecadesinpublicserviceandwere famously notaccustomed to buyinggroceries. (During his 1992

reelection campaign, Bushwas ridiculed after hemarveled at a supermarketscanner.) Not long afterleaving office, Barbara Bushsays, her husband took hisfirst trip to Sam’s Club and“bought the world’s biggestjar of spaghetti sauce andsomespaghetti”fordinner.

While he sat down towatch the evening news, theformer first lady started to

cook. She accidentallyknocked the enormous jar ofsauceoffthecounter,sendingit crashing onto the kitchenfloor. Their dinner plansruined, theyscrambledforanalternative. “That was thenight George and I made anamazing discovery: You cancalloutforpizza!”

Sometimes thegood-byesare funny.Lyndon Johnson’syoungestdaughter,Luci,now

sixty-seven, entered nursingschoolwhileshewaslivingatthe White House, and formonthsshekept thecat fetusshe used for dissection inclass in the third-floorSolarium’s refrigerator. Shefondlyreferredtothefetusas“Crunchy” because it washoused in a crunchy peanutbutterjar.Onthedaysheleft,one staffer, a maid namedClaratowhomshehadgrown

particularly close, thrust thejar into her hands and said,“ThisistheonlygoodthingIcanthinkaboutyouleaving.”The two hugged and “criedoureyesout.”

“Iknewitwouldneverbethesame,”Lucisaid.“Iknewthat she would be turningthose energies and thatdeference and that grace justasquicklyasIwalkedoutthedoor to trying to help the

Nixongirls feel justasmuchathomeasshehadmademe.TheallegiancethattheWhiteHouse domestic staff feelstoward theWhite House andtoward the president and hisfamily who occupy it issomething that makes youfeel very proud to be anAmerican.”

White House Electricianand Dog Keeper TraphesBryant,whowas skepticalof

LBJwhenhefirstmovedintothe residence so full ofbluster,was devastatedwhenthe Johnsons moved back toTexas in 1969. “It was over.It was really over. It was arelief. It was not a relief. Itwas as if someone toldme Iwouldneverseeamemberofmyfamilyagain,”hewroteinhis memoir. “I had knownLBJ and felt closer than abrother. And now if we met

again, we would be almostlikestrangers.Ifeltlost.Thenfree, as I realized Iwouldn’thave to take his guffanymore.”

SOME TRANSITIONS ARE easierthanothers.PresidentGeorgeW. Bush and his familybrought only one chest ofdrawers and some familyphotos, because, Laura Bush

said, “part of the fun” ofliving at theWhite House isgoing to the warehouse inMaryland and picking outpieces fromtheWhiteHousecollection to furnish thehouse. It helped that theBushes already knew thelayout of the house. “Youcouldhardlytakeabreathandit was done,” Bob Scanlansaidoftheirmove-in.

Before the Bushes could

start choosing furniture,however, they had to dealwith a most unexpectedcomplication: the 2000recount, which kept theoutcome of the election amystery until December 12,more than a month after thevotes were cast. Perhaps noone, aside from thecandidates themselves, waswatchingtheunfoldingdramaof the election quite as

closely as the residenceworkers. Between ElectionDayandthedaytheSupremeCourt upheldBush’s victory,Walters scoured the newsconstantly, anxious to learnwhomtheywouldbecateringto: George W. Bush or AlGore.After the decisionwashanded down, Laura Bushhad less thanhalf thenormalamountoftimetopreparefortheirmove.

The recount was highlycontentious, with the entirenational election hinging onthe results in Florida, andwhen the verdict came downagainst Gore, Bill Clinton’sstaff was furious. Theyounger Clinton aides, inparticular, were vocal abouttheirdisdainfortheincomingpresident.Onestaffershoutedat Chef Mesnier, in nouncertain terms, that Bush

would be a one-termpresident:“We’llkickhisassoutofhere!”heyelledat thechef. In keeping with theresidence staff’s credo to beapoliticalMesniersays,“I lethim have his say and saidnothing myself.” (He saysthat the Clintons themselvesweren’t happy about theirstaff’s behavior, loyaltynotwithstanding.)

Regardless of who won

the election, the Clintonshated to leave. HillaryClinton said that even aftereight years of living in theresidence, and enduringincrediblypainfultimesthere,she still views the WhiteHouse “with the same awe Ifeltasalittlegirlpressingmyface up to the gate to get abetter look.” The wholefamily, including Chelsea,took advantage of their

private theater one last timetowatchthemovieStateandMain well aftermidnight thenightbeforePresidentGeorgeW.Bush’sinauguration.Theydidn’twant tomiss aminutethat thehousewasstillundertheir temporary ownership.“The fun of that night leftthem so tired that whenBarbara,Jenna,andIglancedover at Bill during George’sinaugural address, he was

dozing,”LauraBushrecalled.President Clinton

confessed to the Bushes onthe morning of theinauguration that he had putoff packing for so long that,right at the end, “he waspackingsimplybypullingoutdrawers and dumping theircontentsintoboxes.”

While Hillary Clintonalways appreciated themajesty of theWhite House,

she had her regrets. She toldLaura Bush that she wishedthat she hadn’t insisted onhaving an office in theWestWing and that she had notdecided to turn downinvitations just because herschedulewastoopacked.Shealwaysfeltparticularlyguiltyabout declining an invitationfrom Jackie Kennedy toattendtheballet.Jackiediedafewmonths later.Her advice

to Bush: Don’t lose sight ofwhat’simportant.

WORKERS OFTEN FOUNDthemselves at the center ofworld events. BettyMonkman,whoserved in thecurator’soffice from1967 to2002, eventually becomingchiefcurator,wasresponsiblefor supervising the workerswho hung and removed

artwork for each newincomingfirstfamily.Duringthe transition from Carter toReagan, she remembers, thestaff turned on televisionsthroughout the residence asthey worked so that theycould watch the final throesof the tense Iran hostagecrisis. “President Carter hadbeenupintheOvalOfficeallnight long with his staff andbarely got over to the house

todressforhistenA.M.eventwith President Reagan,”Monkman said. “Nobodyknew what was going tohappen. The whole countrywas waiting.” The Iraniansreleased the remaining fifty-two hostages minutes afterReagan was sworn in as thenation’s fortieth president—one last dig at Carter, whohadworked day and night tobring about their release

before the end of hisadministration.

No matter what occursoutside theWhiteHouse, thestaff is always singularlyfocused on the move. “Wewere constantly onour feet,”Monkmansaid.“Once,intheFordadministration,weweredoing something in SusanFord’sbedroomandPresidentFord just happened to comearound when people were

starting todisassemble thingsto say good-bye to thehousehold staff.Right beforehe went downstairs he madeit a mission to come by andthank everybody for theirworkandthatwassomethingthe staff appreciated.” Assoon as he left, the rushwason.

Thoughtheytrynottogettooattachedtothemansion’scurrent residents, the staff

often seems tobepulling fortheincumbenttobereelected,whether Democrat orRepublican. When BillClinton defeated the firstPresidentBush,ChefMesnierfelt the outcome was a“veritable disaster.” He hadgrownsoclosetotheBushesthat he was truly unsurewhether he would be able toserve another president. Hewasn’t alone: when other

residence staffers called outsick after President Clinton’selection, the joke was thatthey had caught the“Republicanflu.”

Inpart,thisisbecausethearrivalofanewfamilymeanscasting aside everythingthey’ve learned about eachmember of the outgoing firstfamilyandstartingfresh.Butmost accounts agree that theresidence workers’ devotion

to President George H. W.Bush was more thancustomary—it was genuine,almostprofound.TheBushesweregenerallyeasytoplease,and the residence workersfound themselves quickly atease with them. Even beforeshe moved into the WhiteHouse, Chief Usher GaryWalters reported, BarbaraBush assured him that shewouldn’t be making any

changes in the kitchen. “I’venever had a badmeal [at theWhite House], so you justhave the chefs put whateverthey want to on the menuevery evening and we’ll besurprisedatwhatweeateachnight.”

“What if you don’t likesomething?” he asked her,unaccustomed to such aneasygoing first lady afterworkingforNancyReagan.

“Then we’ll tell the chefnottohaveitagain,”shetoldhim.

ON NOVEMBER 11, 1968, daysafter RichardM. Nixon wonthe presidential election, heandhiswife,Pat,wereguestsof the Johnsons at theWhiteHouse. Johnson and Nixonwere bitter political enemies,but they made nice during a

four-hour lunch. Johnsonsurprised even his wife withhis civility. “Lyndon, Ithought, was generous andrather fatherly,” Lady Birdsaid.“Ithought,itwasnotsomuchNixon themanhewastalking to, but the nextPresidentofthiscountry.”

Lady Bird showed theincoming first lady thesecond and third floors,reassuring her of “the

efficiency, devotion, andimpersonal professionalism”oftheresidencestaff.

During the stress andstrainofthemove,firstladieshave been seen on themorning of the inaugurationstealing a quiet moment tothemselves. “You wonderwhat must be going throughtheir minds,” mused HeadHousekeeper ChristineLimerick.TheJohnsonshada

particular affinity for life inthe residence. Lady Birdrecalled wandering throughthesecondandthirdfloorsinherrobewithacupofcoffeeearly on the morning ofInauguration Day, her finalday in the White House. Alittle more than five yearsearlier, she and her familymoved into a White Houseconsumed by grief. On theevening of December 7,

1963, just as JackieKennedywas moving out, Lady Birdmust have been moved totears by a note the first ladyleft behind. “I wish you ahappy arrival in your newhouse, Lady Bird,” Jackiewrote.“Remember—youwillbe happy here.” All thoseyears later, the grief of thosefirst few months must havecomerushingback.

She stood in the Yellow

Oval Room and the LincolnSitting Room, wanting tosoak in their richhistoryonelast time. She said a final,privategood-bye to theplacesheandherfamilyhadcalledhome for so many years.“This was partly thehousewifely need to seewhether any personal objecthadbeen left anywhere,” shesaid,“butmostlyjusttostandstillandabsorb.”

LadyBirdpeekedintoherdaughter Luci’s room,whichwas strewn with half-filledbags and boxes, and leafedthroughaguestbookshowingalltheguestswhohadstayedwith them over the years.When she walked up to theSolarium she was struck byhow different it lookedwithout their furniture. “Itspersonality all stripped awayand lookingcoldandclinical

now, and what a gay, happyroomithadbeen—thecitadelof the young.” On the StateFloor she could smell theammonia as maids, butlers,and almost everyone else onthe residence staff pitched into ready the house for theNixons.

As the inaugural paradewas going on, the stafffulfilled an unusual request.The outgoing president had

been a devoted consumer oftelevision news, and hadfilled the White House withsets.“LyndonJohnsonwouldsit like a kingwith four setson in a row, watchinghimself,” according toBryant. “There he’d be,throwing out comments andswitchingthesoundfromonetoanother,orkeepingseveralsets on together, with thesound turned up loud.”

Richard Nixon, in contrast,was famously uncomfortablewith the medium, and afterhis election the residencestaff were instructed toremovemostofthesetsfromthe house. Some were stillbeing yanked out even asstaffers tried to catch aglimpse of the inauguralparadeonTV.

Late that morning, asPresident Johnson and

President-electNixon headedoff to the Capitol together,Lady Bird shared a car withPat Nixon. As she droveaway, the last thing LadyBird saw through herrearviewwindowwasMaîtred’ John Ficklin and ButlerWilson Jerman watching theJohnsons depart. She blewthemakissgood-bye.Itmusthave been bittersweet toknow that the next time she

returnedtoherbelovedWhiteHouse, she would be justanotherguest.

CHAPTERII

Discretion

Secrecy,loyalty,discretionappliestothehumblest,notsomuchpersonalloyaltytotheincumbentasloyaltytotheoffice.TheatmosphereofthehousewouldbeintolerableifthePresidenthadtolookonallhandsaseaves-

droppers;hemusttaketheirloyaltyforgranted.Stateandpersonalsecrets

aren’tshouted,butinahousesouttereddailywithconfidences,somemustreachtheearsoftheleast

employee.

—IRWIN“IKE”HOOVER,CHIEFUSHER,1913–1933,“WHO’SWHO,AND

WHY,INTHEWHITEHOUSE,”SATURDAYEVENINGPOST,FEBRUARY

10,1934

Q:“Whydon’tyouhavealotofphotos?”

A:“BecauseIknewwherethecameraswere.”

—NELSONPIERCE,USHER,1961–1987

See no evil, hear no evil,speak no evil,” residenceworkers often respond whentheyareaskedtosharedetailsabouttheprivatemomentsofthefirstfamilies.Iftheyshareoneunifyingquality, it is theability to keep secrets,especiallywhen theyare stillonthejob.JamesJeffrieswasthe only current residenceworker who was willing to

discuss his experiences;retiredstaffers often rebuffedseveral approaches beforethey agreed to share theirmemories, and even thensome of them tried to maskpainfulornegativestoriesbypaintingtheminagoodlight,no matter how strained theyseemed. The stories sharedhererepresentonlywhattheyfelttheycoulddivulge,andinalmost every case, reflect

their efforts to present theirexperiences in a thoughtfuland deliberate manner. Still,their recollections pull backthe curtain and providefascinating and sometimesshocking insights into thepersonalitiesoftheoccupantsoftheexecutivemansion.

Butlers,maids,andvaletshave the most intimateexposure to the first family.They are also the hardest

workers to get to open up,because they guard sopassionatelythetrustthefirstfamily places in them. Theyare thefirstpeople tosee thefirst family in the morningand the last people to seethem at night. Theseresidence workers—alongwithafewothers,suchasthefamily chefs—watch thepresidents and first ladies asthey conduct themselves as

husband and wife: fighting,laughing, crying, and beingeach other’s most trustedadvisers. All of theseresidence workers willdoubtless take plenty ofsecretstotheirgraves.

One telling example ofthe importance of the staff’sdiscretion comes not from astafferbutfromafirstfamilymember. Ron Reaganremembers visiting his

parents at the White Houseduring the Iran-Contra affair,before his father’sadministration admitted tohelping sell arms to Iran inexchange for the release ofhostages and funding for theContra rebels in Nicaragua.During the visit, thepresident’s son, then in hismidtwenties, was amazed athowcandidhisfamilywasinfrontofthehelp.Theyshared

dinner that night in theFamily Dining Room on thesecond floor, and thenrepaired to the West SittingHall on the second floor—amore informal room with astunningfloor-to-ceilinghalf-moon window looking outovertheWestColonnadeandthe West Wing—where theyounger Reagan foundhimself pushing his fatherabout the Iran-Contra

situation.“I was getting a little

heated about this at a certainpoint,”hesays,“andrealizedsuddenly as I was beratingmyfatherthatsomebodywasstandingtherewithaplateofcookies. I felt immediatelylike, ‘Oh, God, this is notgood’—doing this in public,as it were.” But he wasamazed to realize that thepresence of the servants

“seemedtobeofnoconcern”to his parents. “The staffthere is so discreet that therereallywasn’tanyconcernthatsomebody was going to runandtellstoriestothepapers.”Suchdiscretionismandatory,Reagan reflects now. If thepresident had toworry aboutthe staff talking to the press,“life there would be almostunbearable. You need aretreatyoucango toandnot

beconstantlyscrutinized.”Building up to this level

of trust can take time, andeach administration isdifferent. Everyone on staffknows when the first familyfinallytruststhem,saidChiefUsher Gary Walters. ForWalters, his favoritemomentof a new administrationcomes when the presidentcallshimbyhisfirstname.

“The residence staff

knows when thecomfortableness gets to thepoint where we can allcollectively say, ‘Ahhhhhh.’It happens usually with thebutlers or with the usherswhenaconversation isgoingon and you walk into theroom and the conversationdoesn’t stop. It continues.That’s a collective sigh, weknowwehaveproventhatwecanbetrusted.”

Therearetimes,however,when the president needstotal privacy. As ButlerHerman Thompson recalls,even the approachableGeorge H. W. Bush wouldsometimes say “Thank youvery much,” to one of theresidence workers. “Thatmeant foryou to turnaroundandgobackout.”

JAMESRAMSEY

Each president has afavorite butler, and forPresidentGeorgeW.Bush itwas James Ramsey, or justplain “Ramsey,” as he wasaffectionately called aroundthe residence. He was aconsummateprofessional,buthe liked trading zingers withPresident George W. Bush,andtheirrapportledtoareal

bond between the men;Ramsey was one of the fewresidence staffers invited bythe Bushes to fly with themonAirForceOne towork attheir ranch in Crawford,Texas. He zealously guardedthe family’s privacy, nevertalkingtothepressorcausingthe president to doubt hisloyalty.He also turneddowninvitations togooutdrinkingwith his colleagues because,

hesaid,otherpeople“getyouintrouble.”

Ramsey had a joyful andready smile, and he seemedgenuinely in awe of thefamilies he served duringthree decades as a WhiteHouse butler. Reggie Love,President Obama’s young,handsome, and gregariouspersonalassistant,remembersRamsey’scontagioussenseofhumor. “He’d joke, ‘I’m

seventy years old. Whenyou’re my age, hopefullyyou’ll look half as good as Ido.’”

Ramsey sported a brightsilvermustache,shavingitoffonly after he retired in 2010.He dry-cleaned all hisclothes, even his undershirts,and always made sure hisnailsweremanicuredbecausepeople would see his handswhen he was serving them.

Hewasnotatallashamedofhisloveofself-pampering:“Iwanttolooknicealltheway:nailsdone,hairgroomed,”hesaid. “I was a butler at theWhiteHouse!”

A self-described ladies’man, Ramsey dated quite abit aftergettingdivorcedandeven introduced some of hisgirlfriends to PresidentGeorge W. Bush at staffholiday parties. He

sometimes told the Bushdaughters about his dates.“Jenna, Barbara—I lovedthemtodeath.Theyweremyfriends. . . .If theyask,I tellthem, ‘I got a lady friend. Iain’tthatold,amI?’”

George W. Bush, whomRamsey affectionately calledthe “young Bush,” wouldtease him mercilessly—andRamsey gave as good as hegot. He fondly recalled one

day when he was servingrefreshmentsataT-ballgameon the South Lawn and thepresident came out from theDiplomatic Reception Room.“Do some work, Ramsey!”the president joked. That’sjustthewaytheirrelationshipwas,hesaid:theywerecasualwith eachother, even thoughit was clear who was incharge.

President George W.

Bushlovedhavingalittlefunwith the residence workers.Hewouldturnframedphotoson their sides when thebutlers and maids weren’tlooking and chase imaginaryflies with flyswatters as theywalkedby.“Thereweregreatpractical jokes that thepresident would play on thebutlers,” recalledAndyCard,Bush’schiefofstaff.

“Bush,” Ramsey said,

pausing.“I’llneverforgethisfamily. If I live to be onehundred, I’ll never forget hisfamily.”

Ramsey’s smallapartment, which he calledhis “bachelor pad,” wasplastered with astoundingphotos of himself withpresidents and other historicfigures, including NelsonMandela (“Oh, I got a lot ofthem baby”), and personal

notes from President Reaganand Hillary Clinton thankinghim for his help with statedinners. One photo isautographed by PresidentObama: “You are a greatfriend and will be missed,”thepresidentwrote.

He was so proud of hisjob at the White House thathis friend, fellow butlerBuddy Carter, teased him:“Ramsey—he sleeps in his

damnWhiteHousepass.”Whilethefirstfamilyisin

their private quarters on thesecondandthirdfloorsoftheWhite House, a butler isalmost always available—inthe second-floor pantry ornearby—waiting to serve.Theroomsareequippedwithbuzzers that go off in thepantry when their service isrequested, butRamsey rarelyneededthem:“Icouldsenseit

iftheywantedsomething.”It’s easy to see why

Ramsey was so beloved. Hekept his sweet Southernaccent from his yearsgrowing up in Yanceyville,North Carolina. Hisstepfather was a tobaccofarmer (he never met hisfather),andhespentmuchofhis childhood using thefamily’s mule to plow thetobaccofield.

“It was rough. I told mydad,Isaid,‘WhenIgraduatefromhighschool,Igottogo.I can’t stay here.’ He said,‘Howareyougoing to live?’AndIsaid,‘That’sachanceIgot to take.’SowhenIcametoWashington I didn’t knownobody.”

He finally got toWashington when he wastwenty years old. He hadnowhere to stay until he

foundasympatheticownerofa gas station who let himsleep at the station andwashup in the bathroom.Eventually he found a roomon Rhode Island AvenueNorthwest for ten dollars aweek,andwhilehewastherehe befriended someone whoworked at the glamorous artdeco Kennedy Warrenapartment building innorthwest Washington. He

told his friend that he was agood worker and his friendgothimaninterview.Hewashiredonthespot.

Not long after that, at aparty, he met someone whoworked at the White House.Ramseyaskedhimifhecouldgethima job there.ThefirstthingthisWhiteHousestafferaskedRamseywas, “Do youhavearecord?”

“No, man, I ain’t got no

record,”Ramseyreplied.“If you do, don’t bother

fillingthepapersout,”hesaidskeptically. “They’re notgoing to hire you with anykind of record.” (OperationsSupervisor Tony Savoyremembers being shocked tolearn how many jobapplicants had seriouscriminal records.“Everybodycomes there and they have acleanrecord.Untilyoudothe

background check. With thebackground check all theselittle skeletons start comingout of the closet. One boycame in during the Clintonadministrationandhetoldus,attheverylastminute,thathewasarrestedandconvictedofrape. We have thirteen-year-old Chelsea upstairs! Thatapplication went in the trashcan.”)

Ramsey’s record was

unblemished, sohe filledouttheapplicationandwaited.“Ipassed the White Housegoing to the KennedyWarren,ohmygodfortwoorthree years, and I said, ‘Iwonder how in the world itwould be working in thatplace?’”hesaid,smiling.Butit took a few years until theWhite House finally calledhim. When they met him,Maître d’ Eugene Allen and

then–Chief Usher RexScouten hired him the sameday.

StartingasabutlerduringCarter’s presidency, Ramseyworked at the White Housefor thirty years, serving sixpresidents: Jimmy Carter,Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton,GeorgeW.Bush,andBarackObama. He credits EugeneAllen—“Hetalkedtomelike

Iwashisson”—withadvisinghim to keep his nose cleanandkeepanythingheheardintheresidencetohimself.(The2013 film Lee Daniels’ TheButler was loosely based onAllen’slife.)

Even decades later,Ramsey would not betrayAllen’s instruction—hewould never reveal anythingprivateabout thoseheservedtotheoutsideworld.“You’re

not working at noMcDonald’s or Gino’s,you’reworkingdownhereatthe house,” Allen toldRamsey. “If you get introuble or say the wrongthing,youmightbehistory.”

That code of silencedidn’t extend to hiscolleagues. Chief UsherStephenRochon rememberedthat Ramsey was the firstresidenceworker towelcome

him and that he went out ofhis way to tell Rochon whatwashappeningonthesecondandthirdfloors.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF beingprivy to the family’s innersanctum was never lost onloyal staff like WilsonJerman,asoft-spokeneighty-five-year-old when Iinterviewed him recently.

Starting as a houseman in1957,heretiredasabutlerin1993, then came out ofretirementin2003(hemissed“thehouse”)andworkedasapart-timedoormanuntil2010.Like a doorman in anybuilding, he saw everyonecoming and going and heldtheirsecrets.

Jerman views his loyaltyto the first family and hisguardingoftheirprivacyasa

natural response to the trustthey place in him. “It makesyou feel good that youcouldjust go up there andwalk inthe first lady’s bedroom andpick up whatever she askedyoutogoget.”

Katie Johnson, PresidentObama’s former personalsecretary, said she used tolove quizzing the butlers.When she asked one butlerwhathadchangedthemostin

the White House over hisseveraldecadesofservice,hementioned two things: morewomenandnomoredrinkingatlunch.

“People used to drinkreallyheavilyinthemiddleofthe day,” he told her. “Onereasontheyhadsomanystaffwas, they were makingmartinisforthesemeetingsinthemiddle of the day,whichwould never happen now,”

shesaid.“Canyouimagineifsomeone went to a Cabinetmeeting and asked for a drymartini?”

Nelson Pierce, a WhiteHouse usher for twenty-sixyears who passed away in2014ateighty-nineyearsold,was often required to bringthe president documentsclassified as “eyes only,”papers so sensitive that onlythe president is authorized to

seethem.Iwasluckyenoughto have interviewed Piercebefore his passing. He toldme that one day he had tobring something to PresidentLyndon Johnson to signduring a luncheon withSecretaryofStateDeanRusk,Secretary of Defense RobertMcNamara,andatleastahalfdozen other advisers. Theywere almost certainly talkingaboutVietnamatthetime.

Pierce stood anxiouslynext to thepresident,waitingforhimtosign thedocumentwhen he heard somethingunusual: “SecretaryMcNamara was raising hisvoice and yelling at thepresident.Hewasmad aboutsomething. Icouldnot repeata single word he said or thepresident said to him. I havenoideaandIwouldswearona stack of Bibles I don’t

remember a single word thatwassaidbecauseyoublankitout. Even under hypnosis Idon’t think they’d be able togetanything.”

Decades later, WhiteHouseChiefofStaffAndrewCard said that during OvalOfficemeetingswithGeorgeW.Bushhenoticedthatsomeof his fellow advisers gotnervous when butlers andresidencestaffcamein.

“They were trying to beasnonintrusiveaspossibleatthe same time they weretrying to serve. I think otherpeople were moreuncomfortable with thepresence of a butler than thepresidentorthefirstladyeverwere. They didn’t know iftheyshouldstoptalking!”

Yettheverythingthatthestaff most pride themselveson—their ability to fade into

the background—can also bedehumanizing. Having thepresident count on theirability to tune outconversations has sometimesmade residence workers feelas though they don’t exist atall.

“People would sayanything around you. It wassurprisingtome,”saidButlerHerman Thompson, whoworked part-time from the

Kennedy era until the end ofthe firstBush administration.“Sometimes the conversationin the State Dining Room,when you were working inthere, you would think thatthey’d be whispering certainthings.Itwasalmostlikeyouweren’tthere.”

In some cases, thepresident or the first ladyhave proved uncomfortablyoblivious to the workers

nearby. Nelson Pierceremembered hisembarrassment one night,when he was bringing somebags up to the Reagans’room, and Nancy Reaganyelled at her husband, themost powerful man in theworld, right in front of him.“She cussed him out forhaving the TV on. He said,‘Honey,I’mjustwatchingthenews.’Assoonassheopened

the door, she was into himlike you wouldn’t believe.Right in front of me. Ithoughtshewouldfussathimin private. He was watchingtheeleveno’clocknews.Shethoughtheshouldbeasleep.Iwas a little surprised, so Idropped the luggage and gotoutassoonasIcould.”

President Johnson oftenundressed in front of staffersand was famous for rattling

off orders while he wassitting on the toilet. Once,reporter Frank Cormier wasshockedtoseeAirForceOneSteward Sergeant and ValetPaul Glynn kneel before thepresident while they were inmidairandwashhisfeet—allthemore sobecause Johnsonnever once acknowledgedGlynn.

“Talking all the while,Johnson paid no heed except

to cross his legs in theopposite direction when itwas time forGlynn to attendto the other foot,” Cormierobserved. After witnessingthis, Cormier said, he wasunfazedwhenhelearnedthatGlynn also cut Johnson’stoenails.

Most of the time,however,workingonsuchanintimate basis for the mostpowerful family in theworld

makesthestafffeelrespected.And it’s in their interests tokeep quiet about whateverthey hear. Susan Ford, whowas just seventeen when herfather took over thepresidency, said, “Thesepeople wouldn’t be there forsomanyyearsiftheytalked.”

White House painterCletus Clark, who servedpresidents from Nixon toGeorge W. Bush, never

spilled secrets. “I’m just likeaghost.I’vealwaysstayedtomyself. And I know rightfromwrong.”

“They serve frompresident to president, theyknowall of the families, andthey are always discreet,”Laura Bush told me—in amuch more measured voicethanhermother-in-law.Theymaintaintheirdiscretionevenwhen chatting with the first

families themselves. “Theydon’ttellaboutthepresidentsthat livedtherebeforeyouoranything about their family,which we admired andrespected because, of course,we wanted them to treat usthesamewhenweleft.”

Thekindsofmemoriesofeveryday life that aretreasuredbymostfamiliesareespecially dear to the firstfamilies, who have often

invited residence workers tojoin themon theirdowntime.Laura Bush says that herhusbandandButlerRonGuyshared a love for fishing.“Anytimethebutlerscametoour ranch, which they didwhen we hosted heads ofstateatourranch,GeorgeandRon Guy would bass fish ateveryfreemomenttheyhad.Ihaveagreatbigblowupof aphotograph of George and

Vice President Cheney andRon Guy out on the littleelectric bass boat that wehaveatourranch,fishing.”

“There are just a lot ofways that we knew eachpersonwhoworkedthere.Weknew them so well,” Mrs.Bush said. “HaroldHancock,I remember, was one of thedoormen who we loved. Hewas suchagentle and lovelyman and he died while we

lived there. I have awonderfulphotographofhimstanding at the door waitingfor the president to comebackwithSpot,ourdog. . . .Theywerealwaysgreattoallthe animals. They acted likethey were really wild aboutall the animals,whether theywereornot!”

LuciBainesJohnsonsaysshelovedWilsonJermanandremembers him vividly even

now, nearly fifty years afterleavingtheWhiteHouse.“Hehadasmilethatcouldsoothea savage breast,” she said inherslowSoutherndrawl.

Inanultimateexampleofdiscretion, Jerman found away to dodge people’squestions by never reallyadmitting where he worked.“I’d say, ‘I work at 1600Pennsylvania Avenue,’ and99percentofthepeopledon’t

know where that is. They’dask you, ‘Whatwarehouse isthat?What building is that?’I’d say ‘It’s downtown.’”Hedidn’t want to answer thebarrage of questions thatwould follow if he told themthetruth.

LikeRamsey,Jermanwasso worried about sayingsomethingthatwouldgethimfired that he did not talkabout his job at all when he

worked there. “There wouldbe too many questionsasked,” he said. “You see,youneversee.Youhear,younever hear. And you don’tknownothing.”

Even in the face ofunfolding history, Jermanmaintained focus on his joband seemed completelyuninterested in breaking anynews.IntheearlyeveningonApril 15, 1986, Jerman and

Chef Frank Ruta werepreparing dinner for theReagans when the presidentwalkedin.Heoftencameintothe kitchen, but this time hewasn’tjustcheckingintoseehowtheyweredoing.

“I just want you boys toknow that in five minuteswe’re going to beginbombing Libya, and I wantyou to be the first to know,”Reaganannounced.

“That’s nice, Mr.President,” Jerman replied,“but what time would youliketohavedinner?”

Reagan stopped, thoughtfor a second, and said, “Youbetteraskmywifethat.”

Ruta laughed, recallingthestunnedlookonReagan’sface. A moment later, Mrs.Reaganwhisked her husbandout of the kitchen; she wasalways wary of having him

talk too much to the staff,especially when it came todivulging national securitysecrets.

Rutawas just twenty-twowhenhe started in theWhiteHouse kitchen, where heprepared most of theReagans’ family meals. Hetold me that Nancy Reaganprotected her husbandfiercely—herdevotiontohimwas complete and genuine—

but that Mrs. Reagan neverhad anything to worry aboutfrom the residence workers.Ruta never gossiped, and henever asked the maids andbutlers to share any gossipeither. “Their privacy has toberespected.You’renottheretobethepublic’seye.”

Sometimesstafferscannothelp but witness privatemoments.Every evening, theusheronnightdutybringsup

thepresident’sbriefingbook,which contains sensitivematerial put together by theWest Wing staff to preparehim for the next day, andturns off the lights. UsherChrisEmeryremembersoftenfinding the Reagans in thesitting room together afterdinnerwhenhewasdroppingoff the briefing book.“Sometimes they’d bewatching Who’s the Boss—

theTVwasveryloudbecausehe was a little hard ofhearing. It’d be eight or nineo’clock and he’d be therewith these big blackgovernment-issue glasses inhis red robe, in a floweredchair with a dinner tray nextto him stacked with papers,working.Mrs.Reaganwouldberightnexttohim,andalotoftimesI’dgoupandthey’dbe holding hands. Therewas

nobodyaroundtoseeit.”Painter Cletus Clark said

he took pains to avoiddisturbing the family, eventhough itmeant complicatinghis job. “They really didn’twant us around there thatmuch. You had to workaround the first family asmuch as possible. Whenthey’re in the West SittingHall andwe had to go downto the Queens’ Bedroom,

whichisontheEastSide,weused to have to go up to thethirdfloorandwalkdownthehallandcomedownthebackstairway.You’vegot to keepworking.”

Clark’s loyalty to the jobwas clear when he wasinstructed to do somepaintingworkat thehomeofCharles “Bebe” Rebozo,PresidentNixon’sbestfriend.The press soon got hold of

the story and questioned theuseofWhiteHousestaffforapersonaljob.

“I did what they told meto do,” Clark said. “I don’tasknoquestions.”

Barbara Bush says thatthe residence staff “probablygossip less than one gossipsnormally.” Of course, sheadded mischievously, “I’vegottosaythatwedohavetheperfectfamily.”

Rosalynn Carterappreciated the staff’sdiscretion. “I just trustedthem completely. They wereallsogood.Idon’trememberever covering up anything,but I don’t ever rememberthem trying to listen in. Iguess theyweredoing thingsaroundwhileweweretalkingbut I don’t remember that atall.”

These workers hate the

spotlight. Usher NelsonPierce, who was a thin manwith a gentle smile, didn’thavemanyphotosofhistimeat the White House, largelybecause he dodgedphotographers soconscientiously during histwenty-six years there (1961to1987).“Iwasn’ttheretobephotographed,”saidPierce.“Igot caught three times ontelevision: once was when I

was plugging in theChristmaslightsontheNorthPortico and the camerasweren’tsupposedtobetakingpictures, but they were. Andthen twice when holding anumbrella: once for thepresident and once for thefirst lady when they got offthechopper.”

DISCRETION IS ESPECIALLY

important when it comes toprotecting the way food issecured for the first family.For large orders, the WhiteHouse uses prescreened foodsupply companies whoseworkers are fully vetted bythe FBI and the SecretService.Theitemsarepickedup by Secret Service officersand brought to the WhiteHouse. If the president takesa liking toacertain snackhe

encounters during his travelsandwants it sent back to theWhite House, arrangementsare sometimes made to haveit sent to residence staff attheir home addresses so thatno one knows it’s going tothepresident.

Whenitcomestothefirstfamily’s regular meals,though, the rawmaterials arebought anonymously byresidence workers to ensure

safety. Storeroom ManagerWilliam “Bill”Hamilton, thelongest-serving residenceworker in recent history (hestarted when PresidentEisenhowerwasinofficeandretired in 2013), wasresponsible for buying foodfor family meals andoccasionally for largerdinners.Aslim,baldseventy-seven-year-old who looksremarkably young, Hamilton

often ran to a local grocerystore topickupwhatever thefamily needed, from toiletpaper to apples. He still willnot reveal which store hewentto.(“TheSecretServicewon’t let me say!”) Theanonymity was crucial: noone knew he was shoppingfor the first family, and noone was interested inpoisoninghisfood.

Hamilton’s office was

located underneath theNorthPortico, across from theWhite House Ground FloorKitchen, making itconvenient forhim to stay intouchwiththeexecutivechefaboutwhich ingredientswereneeded for the family’smeals. When shopping timecame, Hamilton generallytraveled to the market in aSecret Service van made tolook like a normal SUV,

rather than one of theimposing black vans in theWhite House motorcade.“Justlikeanyvan,exceptthatwetakealltheseatsandstuffoutofit,butontheoutsideitlookslikeanyothervan.”

Because no packages areaccepted through the mail atthe White House compound,everything has to be clearedthrough theSecretService ina building in remote

Maryland. Wheneversomeone asked ExecutivePastry Chef Roland Mesnierhow they could send thepresident something special,he would tell them not tobother. “You can send it butthey’renotgoingtoseeit.It’sgoingtobedestroyed.”

When the president eatsmeals outside the WhiteHouse, a member of themilitary isgenerally assigned

tomonitorthekitchen,watchthe food being prepared, andtasteittomakesureit’ssafe.Jane Erkenbeck, an assistantto Nancy Reagan, said thather hotel room was alwaysnexttothefirstlady’s,inpartto make it easier for Mrs.Reagan to get room servicemeals delivered safely andexpeditiously. Erkenbeckherselfwouldorder the food,she recalls, and “it was

always delivered to me, itwas never delivered to her.Then Iwould take it intoherroom.”

WORKING AT THE WhiteHouse also requires a degreeof composure under unusualcircumstances, even fromworkers who don’tnecessarily have dailyexposure to the first family.

Plumbing Foreman RedsArrington and his brother,Bonner, who was thecarpenter foreman, werewarned by their uncle—whogot them their jobs—aboutthe importance of keepingtheirowncounsel.

“They all kept theirmouths shut,” said MargaretArrington, Reds Arrington’swidow. Now that so muchtimehaspassed,shefeelsfree

to share some of what herhusband saw behind closeddoors.

“When the family wasaround,” she recalled, herhusband and his brotherusually “disappeared,”staying out of the way. But“they did any job they wereasked to do. One job was tomove some chairs for JackieKennedy.When they got offof the elevator, she was

sitting at the end of the hallonthephoneandhadher legpropped up, crossed at theankle,fiddlingwithhertoes.”The first lady was wearingpants, and her casualdemeanor caught them off-guard. “They were soshocked, seeing her sittingthere in a very unladylikeposition, that they both ranstraight into a wall with thechairs!”They hit thewall so

hard, they were worriedthey’d damaged the pricelessantiques.

If the first lady or thepresident decides to comedownforanimpromptuvisit,workers try to look out forone another, sending alongadvance notice so theircolleagues won’t be caughtby surprise. According toReggie Love, the SecretService or the president’s

secretary would call theUsher’s Office to let themknowwhenthepresidentwasheadingtotheresidenceortovisit any of the shopsdownstairs.

As Cletus Clarkremembers,whenBetty Fordcame downstairs to thebasementtothankhimbeforeherhusbandleftoffice,hegota call a few minutes beforefrom the Usher’s Office:

“The first lady’s comingdown, so carry yourselfaccordingly.”

CHRISTINELIMERICK

Executive HousekeeperChristineLimerickworkedatthe White House for thirty-four years, retiring in 2008.Unlike some of hercolleagues’ homes, heryellow ranch house inDelaware is not a shrine toher White House years.(Insteadawholeroomofherhouseisdevotedtoherteddy

bear collection.) The onlyhint of her fascinating careeris a Christmas card from theClintons hanging in thedining room. A friendlywoman with close-croppedwhite hair, Limerick starteddating her husband, Robert,when he was an engineer atthe White House. She iscompletely unaffected by herclose relationship with themost famous families in the

world. And she is absolutelybeloved by the staff sheworked with for so manyyears.

Limerick “was my bossand she was a friend,” saidBettyFinney,aWhiteHousemaid from 1993 until 2007.“She would do anything intheworld to help you if youneededhelp.”

Shetookanunlikelypathto 1600 Pennsylvania

Avenue.In1972,shedroppedout of a graduate program inChinese history at theprestigious GeorgeWashington University inWashington,D.C.,tobecomea cocktail waitress at theelegant Mayflower Hotel offof Connecticut Avenue. Herfather was upset and was nohappier when she joined thehotel’s housekeeping trainingprogram. “I didn’t raise my

daughter to be a toilet bowlcleaner,”hetoldher.

Thatwouldallchange.“WhenIgotthejobatthe

WhiteHouse Icalledhimupand I said, ‘Your daughter isnow the toilet bowl cleanerfortheWhiteHouse.Howdoyoufeelaboutthat?’”

In her role as executivehousekeeper,Limerickwasincharge of hiring and firingmaids (in consultation with

the chief usher). During hertime in the job, she recalls, acouple of maids left after afew weeks—either becausetheyweretoostarstrucktodotheir job in proximity to themost powerful couple in theworld,orbecausetheylackedthenecessarydiscretion.

“You have a balancebetween serving the familyand knowingwhen you needto get out of their way,” she

said. “Some of these peoplemight not be the best bedmaker in the world, theymight not win an award forthat,but theyknewwhen thefamilyneededthemandwhenit was time to vacate thepremises.”

The Clintons were herfavorite family to serve. Shesaid they were the mostpassionate first couple, theirinfamous ups and downs

playing out in the privatequarters. During the Clintonera,Limerickrecalls,workingat the White House was aroller-coasterride.Thecouplesometimes got into pitchedbattles, shocking the staffwith their vicious cursing,and sometimes they wentthrough periods of stonysilence.Duringhappiertimes,though, they were liable towander around the residence

late at night when theycouldn’t sleep, chattinggiddily and marveling at thehouse.

IvanizSilva,whoworkedwith Limerick at theMayflower,washiredbyheras a White Househousekeeper in1985.Retiredsince 2008, she lives nearHoward University with heryounger sister, Sylvia, whostill works as a maid at the

residence.Duringher timeattheWhite House, Ivaniz hadtogetupat5:30A.M.andtaketwo buses to get to theresidenceintimeforhershiftatseven-thirty.“Ifwegotanysnow,” she recalls, “I had towalk.”Therotationwasthreeweeks on the morning shift,from seven-thirty to four inthe afternoon, and one weekon the evening shift, whichranfromnoontoaround8:00

P.M.She always didwhatwas

asked of her. If a guestneededsomethingbeyondhernormal duties, like hemmingadress, shewoulddo it.Shesewed the most for theClintonsandforLauraBush.

Limerick describes adelicatedancethemaidsmustdo as they try not to disturbthe first family. “Weworkedtwo steps behind them,” she

recalled. “If theywalk in theroom, they look at you andsay, ‘You can finish, youdon’t have to leave.’ If theytellyou to stay,youdowhatyouneedtodo,butyouhaveanability to letwhat’sgoingon around you just go overyourhead.Ifthey’rehavingameeting or a conversationbetweenthepresidentandthefirstlady—maybeit’sheated,maybe it’s not, maybe it’s

passionate, maybe it’s not—youjustask,‘CanIstay,canI finish?’ You just do whatyoudo,eitheryouforgetitoryoufileitaway.”Evenifthefamilywantedtimealone,theresidence workers wouldoften leave one roomand goto work in an adjoiningchamber. “If they wantprivacy, they close the doorsthat are connected to thebathroom and we don’t

leave.”Limerick said maids

follow the same code asbutlers: they see but theydon’t see, they hear but theydon’t hear. They don’t speaktomembersofthefirstfamilyor their guests unless spokento, and they never approachthemwithpersonalrequests.

At times, themaids havehadtoturnablindeyetotheyouthful misbehavior of the

first family’s children—including underage drinkingamongsomeoftheteenagers.The residence workersgenerally sympathize withkids who grow up in theWhite House, with so littleprivacy. “I was no angelwhen I was twenty, twenty-one,” Limerick recalled,identifying with some of thekids. “They party, and theyliketohavefriendsover,and

soyouseeallthat,”shesays.And most of the workersbelieveit’sbetterfor themtodrink inside the gates thanoutside, where it couldjeopardizeboththeirphysicalsafety and their parents’reputations.

Susan Ford, who movedinto the residence as ateenager,remembersthestaff“gently nudging” her whenshe was behaving

inappropriately. But, shesays, their admonishmentsdidn’t carry the sameweightas her parents’. Some thingsshe and her friends did, likeshooting off fireworks fromtheWhite House grounds onthe Fourth of July (which isillegal inWashington, D.C.),they did because they knewthey could get away with it.“Who’sgoingtocomebehindthe White House gate and

arrest you?” Ford says thatunderage drinking was easyto do in the residence: therefrigerator in the Solariumwas stocked with soda andbeer to offer guests. “Whatteenager’s not going to drinkbeer if it’s put there in frontofthem?”

President Carter’s threeadult sons spent plenty oftime at the White Houseduringhispresidency.Florist

Ronn Payne, who started atthe White House during theNixonadministrationand leftunderClinton, saidhehad todo more than freshen thefloral arrangements in theCarters’ sons’ rooms on thethirdfloor.“Iwouldregularlyhavetomovebongs,”hesaid.(The unabashed pot-smokingin the president’s house wasconfirmed by anothermember of the household

staff on the condition ofanonymity.) If any of theCarter sons were found withthe illegal drug on the streetthey would have beenarrested, but they smokedinside the White Housewithout fear of anyrepercussions.

PresidentCarter’smother,Lillian, and younger brother,Billy,werealsofixturesattheWhite House. They were

colorfulcharacters:Lillian,inher eighties at the time, wasknown to enjoy her bourbon(thepresidenttoldthestafftokeep her away from alcohol,so she would send a butlerouttopickupabottleofJackDaniel’s from a liquor storeon Connecticut Avenue anddeliver it to her room), andBillywas involved inseveralscandals while his brotherwaspresident.Thehousehold

staff called Carter’s brother“BillyBeer”afterthebeerheso enthusiastically promoted,and whenever he was drunktheymade sure he “wouldn’thit the streets,” ButlerHerman Thompson said. “Ifthey knew that you werereally intoxicated and youwere close to the president,like a brother or cousin, youweren’tgoinganywhere.”

OneFourthofJulyduring

President George W. Bush’sadministration, after hisdaughters Jenna and Barbarawere old enough to drinklegally,theirparentsleftthemat the White House alonewhile theywentoff toCampDavid.

“They allowed Jenna andBarbaratohaveapartyonthesecond floor and we clearedall the furniture out of theYellowOval Room and they

danced. They were up allnight long,” Limerick said,smiling at the memory. “Weshut off the Lincoln andQueens’ bedrooms—theycouldn’t go there—but theycouldgoeveryplaceelsethattheywanted to go.And theypartied, and then the nextmorningwehadabrunchforthem. Some of them stayedupallnightandsomeofthemwerealittlebithungover,but

it’sbetterthanthembeingonthestreet.”

The residence staff oftencometotherescueofthefirstfamily, seeking to shelterthem from public scrutinyand embarrassment. UsherSkip Allen remembers beingcalled by the Secret Serviceduty desk when a sniperstationed on the roof of theWhite House saw somethingunusual. TheBush daughters

were having another party inthe Solarium, and it spilledoutside to the walkway andonto the roof, as they oftendid when the weather wasnice. Apparently, one of theguests had dared another totouch the flagpole. “It’s notthesafestplace tobeeven inthe daylight. You can tripover numerous hazards,”Allen said. ”There is only anarrowwalkwaytotransitthe

roofsafely,andall thebrightlights shine directly on theflag, blinding anyone who’snotusedtogoingupthere.”

The snipers decided thatthe embarrassing andpotentially dangeroussituation would best behandled by someone on theresidence staff. By the timeAllen got to the roof, theinebriated partygoer wasalreadyonhiswaydown.

Allenneversaidaword.

IN A HOUSE where even aminor bit of gossip couldmake national headlines,Billand Hillary Clinton had adifficulttimelearningtotrustthe staff. The reason theychanged the White Housephone system was to ensurethatnoonecouldlisteninontheirprivateconversations—a

move that frustrated theushers, who had a trustedsystem in place for thepurposeofdirectingcalls.

Whenacallcameinforamemberofthefirstfamily,anoperator would call the callboxintheUsher’sOffice.“Ifitwasacallforthefirstlady,we’d put a little key in thefirst lady’s slot and it wouldring a bell with her code soshe could pick up any phone

thatwasupthereclosebyandthe operator would connecther,” Skip Allen explained.“That went in during theCarteradministrationbecausethere were so many peopleliving at theWhite House atthe time that everybody hadtheir own specific ring. Thepresidentwouldhavejust theonering, thefirst ladywouldhave two rings, and Chelseawouldhavethreeshortrings.”

Each morning, thepresident is awakened by aphone call from the WhiteHouse operators. Mostpresidents get up by 5:30 or6:00A.M., and an usher is onduty as early as 5:30 in casethepresidentneedsanything.

The day after PresidentClinton’s inauguration,whoever woke him up got asurprise. The Clintons didn’tget back from the inaugural

ballsuntil twoo’clock in themorning. When an usherplaced his wake-up call for5:00 A.M., as they had doneeverydayforhispredecessor,the president thundered:“Can’t a person get somesleep around here?”(President Clinton was afamous night owl, likePresident Johnson beforehim,andhishabitsdrove thestaff crazy: some nights, the

ushers weren’t dismissed togohomeuntil twoo’clock inthemorning.)

The Clintons, Allen said,decided that “too manypeople could listen in onthem” under the old phonesystem, so they had all theWhiteHousephoneschangedover to interior circuitry sothatifthefirstladywasinthebedroom and the presidentwas in the study she could

ring him from room to roomwithout going through theoperator. “That kind ofnegated the security of thephone system.Thenanybodycouldpickupupstairs inanyroom,” Allen said, stillexasperatedbythechange.

The Clintons’preoccupation with secrecymade relations with the staff“chaotic”fortheirentireeightyearsinoffice,Allensaid.At

least one residence worker,Florist Wendy Elsasser,attributes their anxiety toparental concerns: “I thinkprotecting Chelseamay havehada lot todowith, for lackof a better term, theirstandoffishness with thestaff.”

ButitseemsclearthattheClintons had little reason toworry about the residencestaff leaking any secrets.

Even now, years later, moststaffers keep quiet whenasked about what went onbehind closed doors.Discretion is built into theDNA of most of them; theyknow that their restraint isfundamental to theprotectionof the presidency—and that,without it, life in theexecutive mansion would beimpossibletoendure.

CHAPTERIII

Devotion

CARSON:Downtonisagreathouse,Mr.Bates,andtheCrawleysareagreatfamily.Welivebycertainstandardsandthosestandardscanatfirstseem

daunting.BATES:Ofcourse—

CARSON:Ifyoufindyourselftongue-tiedinthepresenceofhislordship,I

canonlyassureyouthathismannersandgracewillsoonhelpyoutoperformyourdutiestothebestofyourability.

—DOWNTONABBEY,EPISODE1,SEASON1

Sundays and holidays areonly words” to a WhiteHouse usher, observed Irwin“Ike”Hoover,who served aschief usher from 1913 untilhisdeathin1933.

Residence staffers have

such devotion to their jobsthat theysometimesrefusetogo home, even when they’retold to. Lady Bird Johnsonwas so disturbed by herhusband’s nocturnal habitsthatshecalledChiefUsherJ.B.Westtoherdressingroomonemorningafter thebutlershad been sent home atmidnightthenightbefore.

“I am so distressed abouttheservantshavingtostayso

late,” she said. “I’ve longsince given up on myhusband eating dinner at adecent hour. Can’t we justhave Zephyr [the Johnsons’family cook] fix somethingthat can be kept warm—orI’ll go in andwarm it up forhim—or if I’masleephecaneasily serve himself? Thenwe can just send the butlershome at eight o’clock everynight, the way they’re

supposedto.”When West passed her

questiontoMaîtred’CharlesFicklin, he was incensed. Itwas their pleasure to stay aslong as the president wantedthem to stay. “The presidentoftheUnitedStateshavingtoservehimselfdinner?Never!”Ficklinsaid.

Charles’s brother John,also a butler, concurred.“We’ve served thepresidents

andfirst ladieseverymeal informal service as long as Ican remember. Even if it’s acheesesandwichorabowlofchilioraboiledegg.That’satradition.”

When West told LadyBird that there would be afull-fledged revolt if theywere sent home early, shereplied:“I’veneverseensucha house. First it takes twoengineers to light the

fireplaces—theywon’tletmedo it. And now the servantsdon’t want to go home atnight.”

Gary Walters, who waschief usher from Reagan toGeorge W. Bush, was incharge of hiring and firingstaff.Healwayswarnedthemduring the job interview:“This is certainly not a nine-to-five job.” He felt the tollhimself;oneofthereasonshe

retired was so that he couldset his own schedule andactually go on vacation withhisfamily.

“I had given assignedtimes that people werescheduled to work, but theyall knew that any particulardaytheworldsituationdriveswhatthepresidencydoes,andthat at any given time theymay be called upon to stayover and work or come in

early, or come in at the lastminute or stay there formultiple days. It all revolvedaround the schedule of thepresidency.”

ForWalters, interruptionsfrom his family life wereroutine. In 1991, hewas justpulling out of the WhiteHousedriveway,headingoutto a University of Marylandbasketballgame,whenhegotword that the United States,

along with an internationalcoalition,hadbegunbombingIraqi forces inKuwait. “So Idrove out one gate, andbefore I got downPennsylvaniaAvenueveryfarIcameintheothergate.”

PainterCletusClark,whoworked at the White Housefrom 1969 to 2008, said thatduringthoseyearshegaveuphislifeforthejob.Healwayshad his walkie-talkie on and

was regularly called in fromhome to work on theweekends because of thewhimsof the first family.“Ifthefirstladywantedtomovea picture andmake a hole inthe wall, they’d hunt medown to get me to comedownthereandfixit.”

Clark’sfriend,OperationsSupervisor Tony Savoy,worked closely with him. Ifthe first lady decided she

wanted to change a paintcolor, the two of themmadethe gargantuan assignmentlook effortless. “We had tostrip all the rooms, move allthefurniture.They’dpainttheroomonFridayandSaturdayandwe’dcomeinSundayandput all the furniture back,”said Savoy. “When [the firstfamily] came home onSunday night or Monday, itwould look like they never

left.”No one ever wanted to

say no to the president or tothefirst lady.Andeveryfirstlady is impatient.“Everybody’sscaredofthem.Theywon’t tell the first ladythe truth,” Clark says. “Shemightsay,‘Canyoupaintthewhole White House in oneday?’ They’d say, ‘Yes,ma’am.’They’renotgoingtosay no. Nobody wants to

jeopardizetheirjobbytellingthetruth.”

Clarksaidhecouldnevertake his time, even when hewas working on difficultprojectslikefindingtheexactshadeofyellowtofreshenupthe Yellow Oval Room. Norecord remained of whatcolor had been used the lasttime it was painted, yearsbefore. Because his officewas in thebasement andhad

nonatural light,hehadtogoback and forth outside withsamplecolorstoseehowtheyactually looked in thesunlight. His dedication didnotgounnoticed.LauraBushtoldhimhewas“borntobeapainter,”herecalled,hischinraisedproudly.

Often world events madethe president’s job all-consuming,andtheresidencestaff needed all hands on

deck. Jimmy Carter lived inan almost constant state ofagitation, brought on by anation facing double-digitinflation, endless lines at gasstations,andanenergycrisis.(Rosalynn said her husbandkept the residence so cold—he asked that the WhiteHouse be kept at sixty-fivedegrees—that one of themaids took pity on her andboughtherlongunderwear!)

Butmostofall itwastheIran hostage crisis that leftCarter, and thosewhoservedhim, exhausted. For 444excruciating days, theresidencestaffhadtoadapttothepresident’snewschedule,turnedonitsheadbecauseofthemorethaneight-hourtimedifference with Iran. Everyday, the kitchen staff set outsandwiches and cookies lateatnightintheOvalOfficefor

the president and hisexhausted foreign policystaff. In the mornings CartermarchedintotheOvalOfficeby five o’clock, so staff hadto have it clean with freshfloral arrangements no laterthan4:45.

Mrs. Carter remembersthe staff being especiallyattentive during the crisis.“They were concerned aboutus,” Rosalynn recalled

gratefully.Thestaffalsogavethem the private time theydesperately needed. In quietmoments,thepresidentwouldsitwithhiswifeandrelaxonthe Truman Balcony in theafternoons. “That was good,quiettimeforus.”

Thirty-five years later,Carter’s loss to RonaldReagan still feels personal,Mrs. Carter recalled. Stayingin theWhiteHouse formore

than two months after beingvoted out of office wasexcruciating. “You lose theelection on November fourthand thenyou’re just ready togo home.” Florist RonnPayne remembers the toll ittook on the family. “Theysobbedfortwoweeks.Imeanuncontrollably. You couldn’tgotothesecondfloorwithouthearingit.”

WORKING IN THE residencebecomes a way of life.Storeroom Manager BillHamilton retired after fifty-five years on the residencestaff. Not long after he left,he finally took his wife,Theresa, toLondonandParisfor their fifty-eighthweddinganniversary.Theyhavesevenchildren, thirteengrandchildren,andfourgreat-grandchildren. Neither had

ever been to Europe before;theycouldneverfindthetimetogetaway.

“MywifeistheonlygirlIeverdatedinmylife.Wemetin the fifth grade,” he said,justloudlyenoughsothathiswife could hear him in thenext room. “When I toldmymother that thiswas the ladyI was going to marry, mymother turned around andslapped me out of the

chair. . . . She said I didn’tknownothingaboutit.”

Hamilton was hired as ahouseman at the age oftwenty.Likealmosteveryoneon staff, he got the jobbecause he knew someonewho worked there. His goodfriendWilson Jerman,whomhemetwhilehewasworkingattheWardmanParkHotelinWashington, brought him inforaninterview.Thetwostill

call each other every coupleofweekstocatchup,arguingplayfully about who actuallyservedlonger.

Another residenceworkerwhowasalltoofamiliarwiththe unusual demands of thejob is the appropriatelynamed carpenter MiltonFrame, now seventy-two.Frame started his WhiteHousecareerin1961helpingTraphes Bryant take care of

the Kennedy family’s dogs,and spent the next thirty-sixyearscommutinganhouranda half each way from hishome in ruralVirginia to theCarpenter’s Shop. When heretired in 1997 as thecarpenter foreman, he washappy to stop waking up atfouro’clockinthemorningtogettoworkbysix-thirty.

Milton’s father, WilfordFrame, was also a White

House carpenter. Thatconnection helped to makethe interview process morecasual for Milton than forthose without a familyconnection. He met withChiefUsher J. B.West on aSundaymorning.

“Would you like toworkat the White House?” Westaskedhim.

“Well,sir,I’mlookingforajob,”Framereplied.Hewas

workingoddjobsatthetime.“If I should hire you,

when would you be able tostart?”

“Any time that you tellme,sir.”

Frame started the nextday, and from the verybeginning, he put in longdays and nights. Anxious tomake sure his staff couldkeep up with the Kennedys’constant entertaining, West

put them throughunannounced trainingexercises.“Onenightwehada dry run,” Frame said,laughing improbably at thememory. “We spent all nightputtingupastagein theEastRoomandas soonaswegotitupMr.Westsaid,‘Takeherdown.’” West stood bywatching the time, clockinghowlongitwouldtaketosetup the stage. (About four

hours to put up and an hourandahalftotakedown,saysFrame.)

Many staffers’ daysweremade even longer by theircommutes downtown. Mostdays, well before dawn,Operations Supervisor TonySavoy could be found sittingin his car in the parking lotwaitingfortheSecretServiceto let him in at five in themorning. His shift did not

start until six-thirty, but hewanted to beat beltwaytraffic. He usually put in athousandhoursofovertimeayear, sometimes working asolid month without a dayoff. He retired in 2013 andsays he’s planning on doing“anythingIfeellikedoing”—including, he added, doing“nothinginparticular.”

WHEN ASKED TO name thesacrifices they made for thejob, fewpeopleevermentionthe money. The residencestaff are federal employeeswhose pay is“administrativelydetermined,” rather thandictated by a governmentservicepayscale.Theirpayisbasedonexperiencelevelandthe complexity of the job.Someworkersmake $30,000

ayear;thoseatthetopofthepayscale,likethechiefusher,executive chef, pastry chef,executive housekeeper, andmaître d’, can pull downmorethan$100,000.

Executive Pastry ChefRolandMesnier turned downjobs with salaries of severalhundred thousand dollars, atrestaurants in LasVegas andthe Ritz in Paris, to work atthe White House. “I could

have made triple—quadruple—what I made at the WhiteHouse!”

Mesnier is a bit of alegendon staff.He started attheWhiteHousein1979andleft in 2006.He took his jobincredibly seriously,comparing his desserts toworksofartandgiving themelaborate names. Who couldresist “the Australian BlackPearl,” a white chocolate

seashell complete withchocolate seaweed and smallchocolate fish that he madefor the Australian statedinner, or “Sweet Serenity-Bonsai Garden,” a sourcherry sorbet with almondmousse, tinymacaroons, andbits of nougat, accentedwithfresh peaches and cherriesfilledwithkumquatpuree, inhonor of a state dinner forJapan? He spent long days

thinking up the concoctionsin the third-floor office heshared with the executivechef and the assistant chef.He occasionally stayed lateenough to make use of theroom next door, equippedwithabedandasofaandsetaside for overnight stays.Mesnier’s love for his job iscontagious.Sevenyears afterretiring, he told me that hestill worries about the first

family. Even today,when hehears about an upcomingstate dinner, he startsplanningelaboratedessertsinhisdreams.

Still, even the mostpassionatestaffadmitthereisa price to be paid for life atthe White House. Mesnieracknowledges that hemissedmore birthdays and familydinners than he cares tocount. He often planned

weekenddinnersoutwithhiswifeandson,onlytocallandcancelontheridehomefromwork on Friday because thefirst family had decided tohave a birthday party or apoolpartyonSundayandheknew he’d need to be there.That’showhekepthisjob,hesaid: by knowing that theWhite House always camefirst.Residenceworkerswhodid not put their jobs above

their personal lives wereeventually fired, he says, asthe first family could decideto fire a residence staffmember at any time,withoutexplanation.

“The family knowswhat’sgoingon,trustme,”hesays.“They’renotinthebackof the house checkingeverything, but there arepeople who let them know.”In particular, the social

secretaries often serve asconduits between theresidence staff and the firstfamily.

Working for the Clintonstook the biggest physical tollon the perfectionist chef.Theyhostedtwenty-ninestatedinners during their time inthe White House, comparedto six during PresidentGeorge W. Bush’spresidency. For their

millennial New Year’scelebration alone, theyinvited fifteen hundredpeople. Mesnier didn’t leavework until seven o’clock thenextmorning.

“The Clintons aboutkilled me. My legs are shot,totally shot. I didn’t sit—Icould not sit. You have tomove.Inasixteen-hourdayImayhavesattwentyminutes,that’s it. I took my meals

standingup.”Mesnier and his wife

picked a date for hisretirement four years beforeheactuallyretired.

Evenwhen he did finallyretire he couldn’t completelysever ties with the WhiteHouse, returning twice whenasked personally by LauraBush. “I made [George W.Bush’s] birthday cake andthenIretiredagain.Andthen

twoweekslatershecalledmeto come back again and Iwent back until December2006. I don’t think that everhappened before with anystaff.”

Thepressuretopleasethefirst family may never havebeen greater than when theReagans were in office.NancyReaganwentsofarastoarrangetheservingplattersherself,insistingthatthestaff

should prepare no “grayfood,” only vibrantly coloredmeals. Before each statedinner, the executive chefwould plan every course inconsultation with the firstlady; then, several weeksbeforehand, the Reaganswould serve the meal to asmall group of friends andaskthemhowtheylikedeachdish. The first lady wouldexamine the platter and

instructthechef,“‘No,Ithinkthe roast beef should gohere’—she’d point—‘and Ithink it would look better ifthe peas were on this side,’”recallsUsherSkipAllen.Andifadinnerwasn’texactlytheway she wanted it, then“watch out,” Allen said. HesaidshesometimescalledtheUsher’s Office asking to seethe chef on the second floor.“If it was really bad, if she

was expecting asparagus andgot green beans, you had tohaveagoodexcuse.”Mesnierrecalls creating one dessertafteranotherforastatedinneruntil Nancy Reagan wassatisfied.

One incident haunts himstill.WithdaystogobeforeaTuesdaystatedinnerinhonorof Queen Beatrix and PrinceClaus of the Netherlands, inApril 1982, Nancy Reagan

was seated at a long table inherbelovedSolarium,havinglunchwiththepresident,whowas seated at the oppositeend. After Mrs. Reaganrejected two dessert options,Roland returned to presenther with a third. When shewas unhappy everyone onstaffknewthecue:shewouldcockherheadtotherightandgivealittlesmile.Shecockedherhead.

“Roland, I’m sorry butthat’snotgoingtodoagain.”

“Okay,madam.”President Reagan

interjectedfromtheotherendof the table: “Honey, leavethe chef alone. That’s abeautiful dessert. Let’s dothat,that’sbeautiful.”

“Ronnie, just eat yoursoup, this is not yourconcern,”shesaid.

He looked down at his

bowl and finished his soupwithoutanotherword.

Mesnier was besidehimself. “I went back to thekitchen—thatwasaSunday,Iremember—I was turningaround in the kitchen and Iwas really contemplatingsuicide,”Mesniersaid.“WhatamIgoingtodo?Howmanyyears[will]Ihavetodothat?For eight years? Iwas reallyindespair,totaldespair.Isaid

Idon’tknowwhattomake,Idon’tknowwhat todo.Thenthephonerangandsheaskedme to come back upstairs toseeher.”

She toldMesnier thatshehad finally decided what shewanted him to make:elaborate sugar baskets withthree sugar tulips in eachbasket. He would have tomake fifteen baskets for thedinner, each of which would

take several hours—alongwith the tulips, the dessertsinside each basket, andcookiestoaccompanyitall.

“ThisiswhatIwouldlikeyou to do,” she told himcalmly, pleased by her ownwonderfulidea.

“Mrs.Reagan,thisisverynice andverybeautiful and Ireally think that would begreat, but I only have twodaysleftuntilthedinner.”

She smiled and tilted herhead to the right: “Roland,you have two days and twonightsbeforethedinner.”

Roland had no choice.“You say, ‘Thank you,madam, for the wonderfulidea.’ [Then] you click yourheels, turn around, and go towork.”

Heduginandworkeddayand night. After the statedinner, when he knew the

first ladywashappywith theresult, he drove home latethatnightelated.Hehadmetthechallenge.

Looking back, Mesnierappreciates the way NancyReaganpushedhim,howeverharrowingitmusthavefeltatthe time. On that long drivehome,herecalls,“Ithought,Ican make it happen. This ishow you measure a person,whenyou’retrappedlikethis:

How is that person going tomake it happen? You dowhateverittakes.”

OnDecember8,1987,theReagans hosted a widelyanticipated state dinner forMikhail Gorbachev and hiswife, Raisa. It was the firsttimeaSovietleaderhadcometo Washington since NikitaKhrushchev in 1959. Theonus of pulling off thishugely important visit was

carried, in part, by theresidencestaff.

“Nancy Reagan and hersocialsecretarycameintotheFlower Shop and she told usshewantedto‘blow[Raisa’s]socksoff,’”saidFloristRonnPayne. “So we did. Wechanged every single flowerin the house three times inone day: for the morningarrival, for the afternoonlunch, and for the state

dinner. Every single flower,threetimes,everyone.”

SOMERESIDENCEWORKERS trytoo hard to play the role ofthe devoted staffer, and theyusually don’t last.Worthington White, a six-foot-two,four-hundred-poundformer tackle at VirginiaTechwhoworkedasaWhiteHouse usher from 1980 to

2012, says the reason hestayed for so long wasbecause he knew when tokeep quiet. When stafferstried “to laugh at jokes thatweren’t funny,” or vied for“face time—anything to gettheir face in front of thepresident’s face and the firstlady’sface,”hesays,itneverworked.

“They hated that,”Whiteinsisted. “That’s what I used

to tell new employees whentheycamein: theworst thingyoucandoistrytobephony.These are themost confidentpoliticians on the face of theearth. You need to beyourself. They’ll like you, ortheywon’t,butyoucan’tfoolthem.”

THOUGHTHEIRJOBSasbutlers,maids,florists,andchefsmay

seem familiar, residenceworkersarekeenlyawarethatthey must also safeguard thepresidentandhisfamilyfroman increasing number ofthreats in a post–9/11 world.AccordingtoreportingbytheWashington Post, it was amaid, and not a SecretService officer, who firstdiscovered evidence thatsomeone had fired shots intothe first family’s living

quarters.At8:50on a sleepyFriday night on November11, 2011, a twenty-one-year-oldmannamedOscarOrtega-Hernandez parked his black1998 Honda Accord onConstitution Avenue, rolleddown the passenger-sidewindow, and shot hissemiautomatic rifle nearlyseven hundred yards acrossthe South Lawn toward theWhite House. At least seven

bullets hit the second andthird floors of the firstfamily’s private residence,smashing a window outsidethe Yellow Oval Room, thefamily’s formal living room.The president and the firstlady were out of town, andtheir daughterMaliawas outwith friends, but theiryoungerdaughter,Sasha,andthe first lady’s mother,MarianRobinson,wereinside

the residence at the time ofthe shooting. Several SecretService officers heard theshots but were told to standdown. It was wronglyconcludedthattheshotswerefired by rival gangs and thatnonewereaimedattheWhiteHouse.

Four days later, aroundnoon on Tuesday,November15, a maid asked AssistantUsher Reginald Dickson to

meet her at the TrumanBalcony where she hadnoticedabrokenwindowanda chunk of white concretelying on the floor. WhenDickson arrived he spotted abullet hole and a dent in awindowsill and quicklyreportedthemaid’sdiscoveryto the Secret Service. TheFBI soon started aninvestigation. They found abulletinawindowframeand

metal fragments from awindowledge.(Thewindowshad antique glass on theoutside and bulletproof glasson the inside.) The presidentwas still traveling, but thefirst lady had arrived homeearlier that morning andwastakinganap.Dicksonwenttocheck on her, assuming shehad already been briefedabout the shots fired intoherhome, but she had not. Top

Obama aides decided theywould tell the president firstandlethimtellhiswifeaboutthe frightening incident.Keeping her in the darkturned out to be a very baddecision.

The first lady wasunderstandably furious whenshe heard the news fromDickson.WhenformerSecretService director MarkSullivan was summoned to

the White House to discussthe shooting, MichelleObamawassoangrythathervoice could reportedly beheard through a closed door.If itweren’t foranobservantmaidandadiligentusher,thebullets may have beendiscovered much later, orpossiblynotatall.

Chief Usher StephenRochon, who had retiredseveral months before the

shooting, had hired Dicksonfor thepositionandsays thathe is particularly close withthefirstfamily.RochonisnotsurprisedthatDicksonandanunnamedmaidplayedsuchacentral role in bringing theshooting to light. “The staffare trained tokeep theireyesopen and bring anythingunusual, whether it be abrokenwindowor a packageleft after a tour, to the

attention of the ushers. Theushers will go to the SecretService.”He added: “Wearenot just there to clean thehouseandservemeals.”

In another scary securitybreach, on September 19,2014, a man armed with aknifelaunchedovertheNorthLawn fence, ran past severalSecret Service officers, andsprinted into the WhiteHouse. Once inside, he

overpowered one officer andbarreled past the stairwayleadingtothesecondfloorofthe residence and into theEast Room. (The Usher’sOffice had reportedly askedthat an alarm near the mainentrance of the mansion bemuted because it was tooloud.If ithadbeenoperatingnormally, it would havealerted every officer on theground about the break-in.)

The intruder, named OmarGonzalez,wasfinallystoppedbyanoff-dutySecretServiceagentnearthedoorwayoftheGreenRoom.

Skip Allen, who was amemberoftheSecretServiceuniformed division for eightyears before becoming anusher in 1979, is aghast bythese security breaches. “IsawonefencejumperwhenIwas in the Usher’s Office,”

he recalled. “He made it asfarasthemiddleoftheNorthGrounds and by that time hewas surrounded by SecretService officers. I just don’tunderstand how somebodycouldget from the frontgateinto the East Room withoutsomebodydoingsomething.”

Other threats to thepresidentandhisfamilyhavebeenlessobvious,butnolesstreacherous. Executive Chef

Walter Scheib says that hisgoalwasnotonlytokeepthefirst family healthy, but tokeep them alive. “This is nosmall consideration given allthe people that dislike thepresident for whateverreason, whether it’sinternationalornational.”

Scheib, who worked forthe Clintons and for GeorgeW. Bush’s family, said that“there is no one more

important to the physicalsafety of the president thanthepastrychefandthechef.”Mesnier agrees. Even after9/11,hesays,nofood tastersstood by in the kitchen. “Wewere it.Wewere truly, trulytrusted that nothing willhappen.”

Lyndon Johnson hadways of getting around therules governing fooddeliveriestotheWhiteHouse

(whichwere less stringent inthe 1960s). The presidenthappened to love theblintzesmadebySecretaryofDefenseRobert McNamara’s wife,Margaret, and from time totimesheaskedherhusbandtoget a batch to Johnson byhandingthemofftosomeoneat the White House. OnceMcNamara gave the blintzesto a police officer, whohanded them to the Secret

Service. The blintzes weredestroyed, and whenMcNamara asked Johnson ifhe enjoyed his wife’s latestbatch of blintzes, thepresidentgrewfurious.

“You leave my foodalone!”themercurialJohnsonshouted at a Secret Serviceagent who was unluckyenough to be in his path thatday.“Usethatthingontopofyour head that’s supposed to

have a brain. Did you thinkthe Secretary of Defense isgoingtokillme?”

Mesnier took advantageof the system only once. Inpreparing for the Reagans’state dinner for MikhailGorbachev, Mesnier usedraspberries in the elaboratedessert—because in Russiaraspberries “are so expensivethey’relikegold,likecaviar.”A few days after the Soviet

premier arrived back home,Mesnier was in the kitchenwith another chef when alarge brown box fromGorbachevsomehowmadeitsway there. He knew thatwhatever was in the boxwould have to be destroyedimmediately—but first hedecidedtoopenit.

When he looked inside,he was thrilled to find twolarge tins each filled with

seven pounds of the finestRussian caviar. “I don’t carewhat you dowith yours,” hetold his colleague, “but I’mtaking mine home. I’mwillingtodieforthat!”

The residence staffers’long hours and incredibleloyalty do not go unnoticedby the first family. PresidentFord knew that DoormanFrederick“Freddie”Mayfieldliked to swim,soonedayhe

told him to bring his bathingsuit, and the two of themswam laps together. Theycame back inside, laughingandwrappedupintowels.

First ladies often have anunspoken understandingwiththeir favoritemembersof thehousehold staff: they willhelp them out in a bind. In1986, Nancy Reagan’s maid,AnitaCastelo,wasaccusedofhelping two fellow

Paraguayan natives smuggle350,000roundsof.22caliberammunitiontoParaguay.Thefirst lady provided anaffidavitattestingtoCastelo’sintegrity. Charges againstCastelowere dropped just asthe Iran-Contra affair, whichinvolved arms smuggling ona much larger scale, wasstarting to make nationalnews. The president wasbeing charged with

sanctioning the sale of armsto Iran in exchange for therelease of hostages andfunding for theContra rebelsin Nicaragua; the WhiteHouse doubtless hoped tokeep the Castelo chargesquietastheIran-Contrastorywas about to break. YetNancy Reagan wantedCastelo to stay so badly thatshewaswillingtoriskpublicembarrassmenttokeepher.

THE RESIDENCE WORKERS’exceptional devotion toPresidentGeorgeH.W.Bushandhis familyseems tohavestemmed from the family’saccessible demeanor. TheBushes put everyone at easearound them. Barbara Bushrememberedonesceneduringthe Persian Gulf War whenshe was anxiously watchingthenews.Asshewaswaiting

for her husband to walk in,White House Maître d’George Hannie asked her,“What would you like todrink?AndwhatdoyouthinkPops would like?” (Whilesomeinthemediahavetakento calling him “Poppy”Bushsince his son’s presidency,“Pops”wasanicknamefromPresidentBush’syouth;whilehe was in the White House,no one outside his family

usedthenickname.)She laughed at the

memory.“Isaidtohim—andhe knew I was joking, and Iknewhewasjoking;wewerethat close—‘George, youcan’t say that about thepresident of the UnitedStates.’”

Without missing a beat,Hannie replied, “Trust me,Mrs. Bush, at the WhiteHouse presidents come and

go. But George Hanniestays.”

“We had that kind of arelationship,whereyoucouldtease and laugh. And yet,when sad thingshappened toeither one of us, we weresupportive,” Barbara Bushsaid.

Houseman Linsey Littlesaid the first President Bushwas more approachable thananyotherpresident(including

hisownson).“OldmanBush,theyweremoreoutthere.Theotherone,allhe’ddoisspeaktoyouandkeepwalking.Noconversation,nonothing.Butoldman,hewaslovely—himandhiswife.”

Born in Robbinsville,North Carolina—a town offewer than one thousandpeople—Little had to leaveschoolintheseventhgradetohelp take care of his six

brothers and sisters. Hisfatherwasasharecropper,butLittle escaped thebackbreakingworkofpeanut,cotton, and tobacco farmingto head north toWashingtonintheearly1950s.

Hestartedworkingat theWhiteHousein1979,leavinghis town house—which is soclose to FedEx Field that hecan hear the cheers from thecrowdongameday—at5:00

A.M. in order to make it towork by six o’clock. Hewould have the house readyfor public tours by seven-thirty, setting up ropes,mopping floors, and rollingout carpets. When the tourswere over he’d take it alldown, only to start again thenext morning. After a quickbreakfasthe’dgetacallfromExecutive HousekeeperChristine Limerick, who

would tell him and hiscolleagues when the familywasup so that theycouldgoto the second floor andvacuum while the maidsdustedandmadeupthebeds.

LINSEYLITTLE

Little’s relationship withthe first President Bushextendedfarbeyondcleaningup around the house. Littlewas one of a handful ofhousehold staff who playedhorseshoeswith thepresidentseveral times a month,sometimestwoorthreetimesaweek.

Thepresidentandhisson

Marvin would happily headout to the horseshoe pitchnext to the swimming pooland play with Little and hissupervisorwhen they got offwork.Theyallgotsointothegame that Little even hadT-shirts made that readHOUSEMEN’SPRIDE.

“We always beat him,until the end,” Little said,laughing. “The last year wewere there, he and Marvin

won the championship.”BarbaraBushsaidsheandthepresident were upset whenthey left because they knewtheClintonsweren’t likelytocontinuethetradition.

Once, the president evenaskedLittletojoinhimintheFamily Dining Room on thesecond floor. “He toldme tohave a seat at the table andwe sat there and talked,”Little said, shaking his head.

“Sitting at the table with thepresident, having aconversation.Noneoftherestof them would have done athinglikethat.”

Bush quickly forgavemistakes that would haveenragedotherpresidents.Onesummerweekend,hewasoutplayinghorseshoesandaskeda staffer for somebug spray.The worker had sprayed thepresident from head to toe

before he realized he’daccidentally used a containerof industrial strengthpesticide.Minuteslater,whenthe mistake was discovered,the staffer “literally ran” tothe doctor always stationednearby, said UsherWorthingtonWhite.

“By the time they gottherethepresident’sfacewasalready red,” White said.Bush needed to be

“decontaminated” in theshower.

“President Bush, beingwho President Bush was,said, ‘Okay, okay, okay, wejust want to get back to ourhorseshoe tournament!’” Noonewasfired.

The Bushes genuinelyseemed to appreciate theworkers’ sacrifices, and inturn the staff went out of itsway to make them happy.

The kitchen staff knew thatBarbara Bush hated it whenpeoplesang“HappyBirthdayto You.” “On the campaigntrail I would have fourbirthday cakes in one dayfrompeoplewhoreallydidn’tgive a darn about me,” shetold me with her usualcandor.

“One day I came homefor lunch and there was adessert on my plate—

incidentally, you do eat verywell at the White House—and there was a little tinysquare cake and it had themusical notes to ‘HappyBirthdaytoYou.’Theydidn’tsay it, they didn’t sing it. Itwas just notes.”Mesnier hadmade the cake for her toenjoyquietlywhileshereadabookbyherselfatlunch.

Barbara Bush stopped bytheFlowerShopalmostevery

morning just to say hello,sometimes wearing abathrobeoverherbathingsuitbefore her morning swim.And she would joke withMesnier when she ran intohim in the hallway, hittinghim playfully with a folderand teasing, “What are youdoing here? Don’t you haveany cookies to bake oranything?”

Operations Supervisor

Tony Savoy said she treatedall the staffers like she wastheir grandmother. “If youwere in the elevator, shewouldgetintheelevatorwithyou. She’d say, ‘Oh, no,boys, don’t get off theelevator. I’m going upstairstoo.’”

In 1992, when HurricaneIniki devastated Hawaii,Florist Wendy Elsasser wasdesperate to reach her

parents, who had retiredthere.Shewent dayswithouthearing from them, but sherefused to interrupt theBushes with her personalconcerns.Finally,oneSundaywhen she was changing thefloral arrangements in thelivingquarters,BarbaraBushaskedhowshewasdoing.

“I’m okay, Mrs. Bush,thank you,” she replied,tryingtomaskherworry.She

kept on working. A fewminutes later Barbara Bushwas standing next to heragain. “What’s really goingon?”sheasked.“ThatdidnotsoundlikeWendytome.”

Hereyesfilledwithtears.“Mrs.Bush,myparentsareinthat hurricane, and I haven’theard from them for days,andI’mjustsoupset.I’mjustsopreoccupiedwiththat.”

Without hesitating, Bush

told her, “Wendy, if you canthinkof anything I cando tohelp you I will.” There wasnothing the first lady coulddo, of course, but Elsasserwas moved by her concern.(Afewdayslater,shefinallyheardfromherparents.)

Usher Chris Emeryremembers “going numb”after receivinganunexpectedcall from theBushes the dayhis father died. It was

Thanksgiving,andtheBusheswere at Camp Davidcelebrating the holiday. Lessthan thirty minutes after hecalled to tell his boss, GaryWalters, about losing hisfather,hegot a call from themilitary operator at CampDavid who told him, “Standbyforthepresident.”

President Bush “said hewas so sorry to learn aboutmy father,” Emery recalls,

“and asked me if there wasanythinghecoulddo.”Emerythanked him, but there wasnothing to be done. Thepresidentpaused.

“Stand by, Chris. Bar[Barbara Bush] is here andshewantstotalktoyoutoo.”

“Can you imagine?”Emerysaid,stillstunned.

The Bushes took specialcare to make sure thatmembers of the residence

staff had time with theirfamilies.WhenEmerywasonnight duty, he was expectedtowaituntilthepresidentandfirst lady told him he couldgo home. “The Reaganswould buzz twice at nine orten o’clock, which meant Iwouldgoupand turnoff thelights and call the adminoperator and tell them I’mleaving. With the Bushes,Mrs. Bush would call

sometimesandsay,‘Whatareyou still doing here? Gohome to your family!’ Itwouldbeeighto’clock.”

Barbara Bush and Emerystill exchange e-mails acouple of times a year. Theformer first lady signs off:“Love,BPB.”

CHAPTERIV

ExtraordinaryDemands

Ashowerthathadvolumeandforcewasoneoflife’sfewcomforts.

—LUCIBAINESJOHNSON

Servingthefirstfamilygoeswellbeyonddealingwith theworld’s most trying hotelguests: if they wantednapoleonsfromthebakeryattheWatergateHotel(asTriciaNixon often did), then that’swhattheygot.Iftheyneededsomeone to listen withoutjudgmentastheytalkedaboutthe excruciating decisionsthey had tomake every day,

then a sympathetic ear wasprovided. But somepresidents have madedemands that provedimpossibletomeet.

President LyndonJohnson, a crass, boisterouscharacter,wasrarelysatisfiedwith anything. (“Move it,damn it, move your ass,” hewas heard to cry throughouthisadministration.“Whenareyougoing toget the leadout

of your ass?”) ButlerWilsonJerman remembers servingshrimp creole and rice to thepresident on the TrumanBalcony. The tray of ricecamewith twoserving forks.“Helookedupatmeandsaid—I’m not gonna use [theexact words] he said, but,‘How you think I’m gonnaget this rice outta here withtwoforks?’Isaid,‘I’msorry,Mr.President.I’llgetaspoon

rightaway.’”Johnson’s intensity, and

his outright bullying, causedmany staffers to go out oftheirway toavoidhim.“Theclearestsignofhowdifferenthewas fromother presidentswas that normally a half adozenstaffersandhangers-onwould walk the presidentfrom the Oval Office to theresidence,” said former chiefusher Rex Scouten. “With

President Johnson, only theSecret Service agentswalkedhomewithhim.”

Doorman Preston Brucefirst ran afoul of Johnson onthe very day the JohnsonsmovedintotheWhiteHouse.That day, the presidentinvited more than twohundredpeopletoareceptionin the family’s privatequarters, bringing togetherformerKennedyadvisersand

his staff. Bruce wasstruggling to handle theelevatoralonewhensuddenlyhe saw the light blinking offandon.Thatcouldonlymeanthe president was calling forit.Andhewasnothappy.

BythetimeBrucemadeitto the second floor Johnsonwas fuming. “Where haveyou been? I’ve beenwaitingandwaitingforthiselevator!”the president screamed,

puffing out his chest andlooming over Bruce—givinghimwhat came to be knownas“TheTreatment,”whichheused to intimidate membersofCongress.

“Mr. President,” Brucesaid, not ceding his ground.“I’ve been trying to get yourguests out of the house. Iknowhowtodoit,butImusthavetime.”

Johnson continued

bellowingatBruceinfrontofKennedy staffers TedSorensenandKenO’Donnell.Brucewashumiliated.“Iwillnot work here any longer,being treated like this!” hetoldUsherNelsonPiercelaterthat night. “I’m never goingto get over PresidentKennedy’sdeath.”

The next day, Johnsonacted as though nothing hadhappened—and Bruce

decided that the only way tomanage this new difficultpresident would be to refuseto back down. “It wasobvioustomethatifIstartedscrapingandbowingwhenhelosthistemper,thatwouldbethe end of me.” Bruce knewJohnsonwasabullyfromthestart, what he respected wasstrength. “If I was right andstood my ground I’d have afriend for life.” It turns out

Bruce was right: before heleft office, Johnson creditedthe doorman with being oneofthepeoplewhohelpedhimsurvive the job. The thirty-sixth president wascomplicated.

Johnson loved toilethumor and aroused roars oflaughter once he got going.Onedayhebrokeatoiletseatand “all hell broke loose,”according to Electrician and

Dog Keeper Traphes Bryant.An extra-large wooden seatwas ordered as quickly aspossible. Far from beingembarrassed, Johnsonbragged to his male friendsabout his new custom seatand styled himself somewhatof an expert on the subject.“He knew the good pointsand the bad points of all thekinds he could have had:plastic, nonplastic, bamboo,

flowered, Grecian, or EarlyAmerican.”

Johnson would tell hisfriends: “Now don’t anyonedaresayit’stofittheNumberOneassofthenation.”

Johnson, who started hiscareer as a high schoolteacher, roamed the halls ofthe White House, givingeveryone—including hisfamily—lettergradesontheirperformance. He stuck his

head into the different shopsin the basement, shouting agradeateachworker.

Oncehestuckhisheadinthe Electrician’s Shop andtold Bill Cliber: “Today yougot an F.” Cliber doesn’trememberwhy.

Then again, said ButlerHerman Thompson,“Sometimeswewouldhaveadinner and after the dinnerwas all over and the guests

weregonehewouldcome inand he would say, ‘Heyfellas.Youalldidagoodjobtonight.’”

Plumbing Foreman RedsArrington, who got hisnickname because of hismane of bright red hair,mayhave found Johnson amusingatfirst,buthewassoonmadecompletely miserable by thepresident’s eccentricdemands. Arrington, who

startedintheWhiteHouse in1946 and retired in 1979,passedaway in2007,buthiswife, Margaret, wrote downmany of his stories. Sheremembers how Johnson’serraticscheduleaffectedtheirlives and the lives of theirthreedaughters. “WewereatarestaurantinAnnapolisandthey came through saying‘White House calling Mr.Arrington, White House

callingMr.Arrington.’ I justthought thatwas so funny. Itwas President Johnsonwantingsomethingdonewithhiscommode.”

Johnson tortured Redswith his obsession with thewater pressure andtemperature of his shower.Nomatterwhat the staffdid,the water never came hardenough or hot enough forJohnson.When the president

was in a mood to dole outletter grades, the shower gotanFeverytime.

Johnson’sshowerfixationwasmadeclearfromthestartto the still-grieving staff. OnDecember 9, 1963, just asChief Usher J. B. West wasreturning from his first dayoffsincePresidentKennedy’sassassination, he wassummoned to meet withPresident Johnson at the

Ground Floor elevatorlanding immediately. It wastwo days after the Johnsonshad moved into the WhiteHouse, and thepresident hadapressingmattertodiscuss.

“Mr. West, if you can’tgetthatshowerofminefixed,I’m going to have to moveback to the Elms,” he saidsternlyandwalkedaway.TheElms was the Johnsons’Washington, D.C., mansion

and it was equipped with ashower like nothing the staffhadeverseen:waterchargingout of multiple nozzles inevery direction withneedlelike intensity and ahugely powerful force. Onenozzlewaspointeddirectlyatthe president’s penis, whichhe nicknamed “Jumbo.”Anothershotrightuphisrear.It elicits chuckles now, butJohnson’s shower fixation

came to define hisrelationshipwithsomeof theresidencestaff.

Johnsonwantedthewaterpressure at the White Houseto be just like his shower athome—the equivalent of afire hose—and he wanted asimple switch to change thetemperature from hot to coldimmediately.Neverwarm.

AfewminutesafterWestgot his dressing-down from

the president, Lady BirdJohnson asked to speak withhim in the small Queens’Sitting Room on the secondfloor.

“Iguessyou’vebeentoldabouttheshower,”shesaid.

“Yes,ma’am.”“Anything that’s done

here, or needs to be done,remember this: my husbandcomes first, the girls second,and I will be satisfied with

what’s left.” (She toldExecutiveChefHenryHallerthe same thing: “Your mainrole will be to make thepresidenthappy.”)

The Kennedys nevercomplainedabouttheshower,so the engineers were at aloss. A teamwas sent to theElms to study the plumbing,andRedswasevensenttotheJohnsons’ ranch nearStonewall,Texas(nicknamed

the“TexasWhiteHouse”),toincrease the water pressureand heat there to nearlyscalding temperatures. Whenhe found out that a newshower for the presidentwould require laying newpipe and putting in a newpump, Johnson demandedthat the military pay for it.The project, which cost tensof thousands of dollars, waspaidforwithclassifiedfunds

that were supposed to beearmarked for security. “Weended up with four pumps,and then we had to increasethe size of our water linesbecausetheotherpartsofthehouse were being suckeddry,” Arrington told Lifemagazine.

Margaret Arringtonremembered Johnson callingReds himself while he wassittinginthePlumber’sShop,

locatedundergroundbetweenthe White House and theWest Wing. “If I can moveten thousand troops in aday,you can certainly fix thebathroomanywayIwantit!”Johnson howled, his voiceechoingdownthehallsoftheWhiteHouse.

Redsspentmorethanfiveyears consumed by thatshower; at one point he waseven hospitalized for several

days because of a nervousbreakdown. Johnson was soobsessed that he brought hisown special shower nozzlewhenhe traveled, alongwithdozensofcasesofCuttySarkwhiskey. Johnson alsowanted his bathroom to beincredibly bright, and askedformirrors tobe installedontheceiling.Redsandhisteaminstalled so many lights thattheyhadtoputinfanstokeep

the heat down.The shower’sextreme temperaturesregularly set off the firealarm.

One day, Margaret said,when Reds looked inJohnson’s shavingmirror, hescreamed. “He could see alltheveinsonhisface.Hesaiditwasscary!”

More and more people,including members of thePark Service, were

summoned to 1600Pennsylvania Avenue in anefforttofixtheshowercrisis.Usher Rex Scouten evenjumped in the shower in hisbathing suit to test it out. “Itthrew him up against thewall, it was so strong,”Margaret said. “Reds said hecameoutasredasalobster.”

Five replacementshowers, including onecustom-built by the same

manufacturer that designedtheshowerat theElms,wereinstalled, but they wouldn’tdo.Theplumbersevenhadaspecial water tank installedwith its own pump to up thepressure, and added sixdifferent nozzles located atdifferent heights so that thespraywouldhiteverypartofthebody.Thepumpssprayedhundreds of gallons of waterperminute—more thana fire

hose.Stillnotgoodenough.Cliber,who started at the

White House when he wasjust twenty years old andstayedonforforty-oneyears,said Johnsononceaskedhimto come into his bathroomand watch him test out theshower.

“Are you ready for aman’s test?” the presidentsaid, standing stark naked infrontoftheelectrician,oneof

the dozens of staff membersbrought in to address thedomesticcrisis.

“I’m going to throw it toyouthistime,”Clibersaid.

“Okay, give it your bestshot,” Johnson said as hejumpedin.

When Cliber turned theshower handle on, Johnsonyelped in pain, the pressurewassointense.“Whoa!Whatare you doing tome?”But a

minute later he wasscreaming in ecstasy. “Wait,this feels good! Whoa!” Itblasted him against the wallandhecameoutbeetred.

And yet it still wasn’tquiteright.

The last day Arringtonsaw Johnson in the WhiteHouse, the president wassittingonthetoilet.Redshadto work on something in thepresident’sbathroomandwas

standing outside, waiting forthepresidenttocomeout.

“Come on in,” Johnsonbellowed.

Reds walked insheepishly.

“I just want to tell youthattheshowerismydelight,and I appreciate everythingyoudid.”

For Reds, that one smallsign of gratitude made thosestressful years less painful to

remember.MargaretsaidthatLady Bird invited them totheir Texas ranch for “onemore hoorah!” after Johnsondied. “It was just wonderful.WehadapicnicsupperandIwas with movie stars andgeneralsand,gosh,Iwasjusteatingitup!”

Johnson’s older daughter,Lynda, would later thankReds and hiswife in person:“WhenDaddywashappywe

wereallhappy,andwethankMr.Arringtonforthat!”

When I interviewed heryounger sister,Luci, shewasmore reflective about herfather’sshowerobsession.“Ashower that had volume andforce was one of life’s fewcomforts,”shetoldme.Sheiskeenly aware of her father’slegacy and how it has beenmarredbyVietnam.“I’msurehe probably expressed very

specific guidelines andexpectations and probablyexpressed them with a firmhand.Butit’snotmuchtoaskforwhenyouaretheleaderofthe free world, getting thatsmall little bit of solace andcreaturecomfort.”

And yet, as soon asLyndon Johnson was gonefrom the White House, hisshower was too. RichardNixon took one look at the

elaboratesetupandsaid:“Getridofthisstuff.”

DESPITE HIS EXTRAORDINARYdemands, LBJ had thecomplete loyalty of hisstaffers. Social SecretaryBess Abell, whoaffectionately called Johnson“the big boss,” came in forsome intense presidentialpressure. After Abell gave

birthtoherfirstson,Johnsoncalledher at thehospital andasked, “What did you namethatboy?”Whenshetoldhim“Daniel,”hereplied:“Ohtoobad, if you’d named himLyndon,I’dhavegivenhimaheifercalf.”

Shewassuretonamehersecond son “Lyndon” afterthat.“Hewantedeveryone toname their baby after him,”shesaid.

LyndaBirdJohnsonRobbsaid that her father“considered it a supremecompliment” when peoplenamed their children afterhim.Andhewasneverafraidto push. One of Lynda’sfriends told her about aconversationshehadwithherfather before her son wasborn. “You’re going to namethe baby Lyndon, aren’tyou?” Johnsonaskedher,his

imposing six-foot-three-inchframeloomingoverher.

“No, we have this namewe picked out,” shestammered.

When she saw thedisappointment on his facesheadded:“Butyouknowweloveall of the Johnsons, andso we’re going to give ourboy ‘Johnson’ as a middlename.”

Lynda laughed at the

memory.“Idon’tknowifthatwas really for us or just tomakeDaddyalittlehappier!”

Whenhefirsttookoffice,Johnson ordered a budgetreduction in every executivedepartment. Convinced thatan enormous amount ofelectricity was being wastedat the White House, heterrorized anyonewho forgottoturnoffthelightwhentheyleftaroom.TheEisenhowers

had established a traditionthatall the lights in theStateroomsshouldbekeptonuntilmidnight, but Johnsondemanded an end to that.Hepersonallywanderedthehallslookingforanytransgressionsand if he saw a light onsomewhere that he didn’twant to investigate himself,he called the Usher’s Officeand asked them to find outwho was there. If the room

was empty, he becamefurious.

Carpenter Isaac Averywasworkinglateonenightinthe Carpenter’s Shop whenallofasuddentheroomwentpitch-black. “Goddammit,who turned off the light?”Avery yelled. There was apause.

“I did,” a deep voicegrowledfromthehallway.

Avery turnedon the light

switch and walked out intothehalltoinvestigate.Hesawthe president standing thereflankedbytwoSecretServiceagents.

“I didn’t realize youfellows worked so late,”Johnson said, mellowing asherealizedhismistake.

“I was finishing theframes for all those picturesyou sent over,” Avery toldhim,stunned.

Another unlucky stafferwas working in theCarpenter’s Shop, puttingpull chains on somefluorescent lights, whenJohnson caught himworkingwith the lights on—in thedaylight.

“He just went after himprofusely,” Bill Cliberrecalled, shivering at thememory.

Everywhere the residence

staff went, Cliber said, theylearned to carry flashlightsfor fear of getting caught inutterdarkness.

Finally, one of Johnson’srequestsseemedtogotoofar.Thestairswerealllightedforsafety, but the president wasconvinced this was burningtoomuchenergy.

“You have to turn off allthe step lights,” Johnson toldCliber.

“Mr. President, you can’tturn the step lights out. Thisis a big building. Everybodythinks it’s only three storieshigh—it’s eight floors insidethis White House [includingtwo smallmezzanine levels].Andtheseareallmarblestepsand boy, you slip on thoseandyouhurtyourself.”

“Well, are you sure?”Johnson wanted so badly tokeepthoselightsoff.

“Yes,sir,I’msure.”“Okay,keep the lightson

thesteps,”Johnsonreplied,inarareconcession.Still,everyonceinawhilehewouldstopintoCliber’s basement officeand plead: “You still gotthosesteplightson?”

The only person whoreally stood up to Johnson(even Doorman PrestonBruce had to be careful howhe talked to his boss) was

ZephyrWright,theJohnsons’family cook, whom they’dbrought with them fromTexas. She first realized thatshe had to “talk up to him”well before he becamepresident.

One night Johnson camehome at about eleven-thirty,and asked for dinner. Evenfor Johnson this wasunusually late, so late thatWright had gone downstairs

to lie on her bed and rest.When he called her to servehim,sheforgottoturnoffthelights before she went backupstairs. When he saw thatthe downstairs light was stillon, he threatened to take thecost of the electricity out ofherpay.

She was enraged. “Wellyou just do that, because Ihave always lived at homewhere I had to pay my own

light bill. Nobody ever toldmeanythingaboutturningoffthe lights. But if you wouldcome home on time, youwouldn’thavetoworryaboutme turning off the lights,because they wouldn’t be onifyou’dgethereontime.”

Her approach worked:“Ofcourseafterthathedidn’tsayanymoretome.”

LYNDONJOHNSONWASnottheonly White House occupantwho tested the nerves of thestaff.RonnPayneremembersonedaywhenNancyReagancalled him into the WestSitting Hall on the secondfloor, where she was sittingunder its large half-moonwindow.

“Ronn, the lights,” shemotioned theatrically aboveher.“They’renoton.”

Payne, a florist, was farfrom an electrician. Helooked around the room andnoticed a light switch on thewall.

“I thought to myself,There’s a light switch righthere. Do I turn it on andmakeherlooklikeanass,ordo I say, ‘I’ll call theelectrician?’”

He decided to hit theswitch,turningoneverylight

intheroom.Likeaqueen,thefirst lady looked up at himand said, “Thank you,”without a trace ofembarrassment.

“Shewas spoiled rotten,”Payne said, making a face.“Whenshewantedsomethingshewanteditlastmonth,andif you tried to persuade her[to change] from whitefreesiatowhitesnapsbecausewhitefreesiawasn’tavailable

anywhere in the world, shewould say, ‘You’ll find away.’” And they did: theflorists would have flowersflown in overnight fromEuropejusttosatisfyher.

Still, Payne, like ChefMesnier, says he appreciatedhow straightforward Mrs.Reagan was about what shewanted.Andifyoudidassheasked,shewashappy.

“I remember hearing her

callforherpersonalmaidonedayand it scared thedickensout of me—just her tone. Inever wanted to be on thewrong side of her,” saidfellow florist WendyElsasser.

CletusClark,whosehourswere supposed to be fromseven-thirtyinthemorningtofouro’clockintheafternoon,remembers just howpunishing his schedule was

whenMrs.Reagandecidedtoredecorate the second andthirdfloors.

“Shedidn’teverwantmeto come home! We workedtenhoursaday,sevendaysaweek,and I’d seeheraroundeight o’clock at night andshe’d say, ‘Where are yougoing?’ I’d say, ‘I’ve got togo home.’” It got so bad, hesaid,thatwhenhesawherinthe West Sitting Hall he

would walk down the stairson the east side of themansionsothatshewouldn’tsee him leave. “I just had tocomehome.Aftersevendaysa week, continuously, itwearsandtearsyourbody.”

Nancy Reagan hadpersonal quirks that almostrivaled Lyndon Johnson’s.Shecouldnotabidelonghaironwomen,andshemadethehousekeeping staff label her

clothes with purchase datesand when the item was lastworn.

She also had severalcollectibles she wantedproudly displayed at theWhite House, including agroup of small hand-paintedporcelain Limoges boxes,around twenty-five in all, tobearrangedmeticulouslyonatable. She also had acollection of porcelain eggs

and a collection of plates.(“They had an incredibleamount of stuff and that’sbecause they don’t have toclean,” ExecutiveHousekeeper ChristineLimerick said, with a wrysmile.) If anyonemoved anyof them by even an inchNancy Reagan would takenotice. Likewise, shedemanded that all her silverframes and expensive

perfume bottles be arrangedperfectly on the bathroomcountertop—and be put backexactly in their originalplacesaftercleaning,orelse.

Though sheconscientiously avoidsbadmouthing her formerbosses, Limerick makes anexception for the “verytough” Nancy Reagan. Shevividly recalls thetransgression that eventually

led her to leave the WhiteHouse for fiveyears. “At thebeginning of theiradministration there wereseveral items that werebroken: one byHousekeeping, one by theSecret Service, and one bythe Operations Department.”Mrs. Reagan blamedLimerick. “She chewed meout.Shereallydid.”

She went after Limerick

with such venom, and for solong, that Chief Usher RexScouten eventually went upto the second floor tointervene. “Chris, you cango,” Scouten said, turning tospeaktoherandvolunteeringto take her place for theverbal beating. Later on hetoldLimerickwhyhe’dsavedher: “You’d heard enough.”ThefirstladythenturnedherwrathonScouten,whomshe

adored so much that sheactually named her CavalierKing Charles spaniel “Rex”after him. She even calledScouten “the second mostimportant man in my life.”All that was not enough tospare him from the remnantsofhertirade.

More than two decadeslater,Limerick is still shakenby the incident. Sheremembers exactly what was

broken:“OnewasaLimogesplate; one was a candlestick;anothertimeaSecretServiceguy tripped on the table andsome things fell.”Theywereall just accidents. But thatdidn’tmattertothefirstlady.“She actually was so upsetthatshehadmepackupalotof her personal belongingsthatshehadoutonthemantelin theprivate livingquarters.They stayed packed up for

several months. Then finallythings settled down and weunpackedthemagain.”

After the blowup,Limerick decided on a newprotocol tokeep trackofanypotential problems. Theresidence maids dusted andstraightened throughout thehouse every day, but once amonth theywoulddoamoreextensive cleaning of eachroom. Going forward,

Limerickdecided tohave thefirst family’s bedrooms,bathrooms,sittingrooms,andoffices photographed beforeeach monthly cleaning, sothat she could have a recordshowing that everything wasputbackinitsplace.

The hardest part forLimerickwasthatsheandthefirstladyhadacloseworkingrelationship. Limerick evenwrappedpersonalpresentsfor

the first lady to give to herfriends.Whileshewastakingheat from Mrs. Reagan,though, she couldnot defendherself; all she could dowascontinue to apologize, headbowed.

“In my whole career Inever had a complaint aboutthe linen or the beds,” shesaid.“Theladieswhoworkedforme, theycouldputme toshame. And I can make a

prettygoodbed.”In 1986, afterworking at

the White House for sevenyears,shelefttoreturntotheMayflower Hotel. She thenspent a couple of years inHawaii before going back totheWhiteHousein1991.Sheadmits that she left, in part,because the struggle to keepup with the first lady’sdemandswaswearingonher.“It wasn’t because Mrs.

Reaganwaswhoorwhatshewas.ItwasbecauseIrealizedthat I was getting close totalking back.” That wouldhavebeenacardinalsinattheWhite House, and she knewit.

During Limerick’s five-year hiatus, her replacementwould wreak havoc at theWhite House. The new headof housekeeping hadproblems coping with the

stress of the job, and storiesof her bizarre behavioreventually reached Limerick.According to RolandMesnier, the chiefhousekeeper “went to thestoreroom one day andrequestedtobuytenthousandteddybearsforthechildrenoftheworld.”Sheactuallyfilledout a purchase order for thestuffed animals, he says.Another time, according to

florists Ronn Payne andWendyElsasser, shecame towork with bright turquoisetriangles painted on hereyelids. She was known forwalkingthroughthebasementhallways spraying airfreshener outside the staffoffice, yelling, “This placestinks!”

The Secret Servicewantedthewomanfiredafterthese troubling signs, staffers

said, but Limerick’ssuccessor was allowed tostay. Limerick attributes thewoman’s survival there toBarbaraBush,whowas very“sympathetic”toher.Elsasseragreed; she felt that Mrs.Bushgavethetroubledstaffersomanychancesbecauseshewanted to see her get better.“Mrs. Bush has a heart ofgold,”ChefMesniersaid.(Inher interview for this book,

Barbara Bush chose not todiscussLimerick’ssuccessor,otherthantoconfirmthatshedidhavetroublehandlingthepressuresofthejob.)

Finally, the headhousekeeper’s behavior wastoomuchevenforMrs.Bush.One day, Skip Allen, theusherassigned tooversee theHousekeeping Department,was called upstairs urgently.Wendy Elsasser had been

preparingtochangethefloralarrangements in the CenterHall entryway leading toJenna and Barbara Bush’sbedrooms when the head ofhousekeeping grabbed apillow (handstitched by thefirstlady)andthrewitather,screaming,“This isbullshit!”Jenna and Barbara stood byas the incident played out,terrified.Itisunclearwhatsetheroff.

Once her grandchildrenwere involved, the first ladydecided that Limerick’sreplacement had to go.Allenhelpedtoescortheroutofthebuilding as she screamed.“Shewas not going quietly,”hesaid.

WHEN SHE RETURNED to theWhite House, ChristineLimerick found herself

workingundereasierregimes—firstforMrs.Bush,thenforHillary Clinton. SomeresidenceworkersfoundMrs.Clinton challenging to workwith,butLimericksawherasa positive presence in theresidence.

“Hillary was very, verysympathetic to workingwomen. She got along verywell with the housekeepers;shecommunicatedwithallof

them. She knew everybody’sstrengths and weaknesses.”She knows that some of themen on staff might disagreewith her assessment butchalks thatup to avarietyoffactors.“Someofitwastheirfault,” she says of the men,but she also feels it reflectedthe first lady’s specialconsideration for the femalestaffers. “I believe in mymindthatshewastougheron

menthanshewasonwomen.She’dcutusabreakifwedidsomethingwrong.”

Once, Limerickremembers,Hillaryaskedherto dye one of her turquoisesuits a different color. “I’musually pretty good withclothing,” she said with agiggle. “It was a washablefabric.Itwasasizetenwhenwe started, and about a sizetwowhenIfinished!Andshe

thoughtitwasfunny.”Bill Clinton wasn’t

always as understanding.President Clinton is allergictopine,butforChristmasthefirst lady wanted a real treefor a fewdays in theYellowOval Room on the secondfloor.TheplanwastoputthetreeuparoundDecember19,and take it down byDecember28.

Limerick’sjobwastolay

out all the family’s personaldecorations.Then theFlowerShop and the Electrician’sShopwouldcomeupandputthe lights up. Limerick knewhowmuchthepresidentlikedputting up the decorationswith Chelsea; it helped himfeel like every other fathercelebrating Christmas withhis family, if only for a fewhours.

That year, though, the

firstladywantedtogetaheadstart. “The president hassomething this evening.Wouldyoujustputupalmosteverything except these twodozen here?” Hillary askedLimerick,pointingtoaboxofornaments. The housekeeperdid as she was asked.Whenthe president came up to thesecond floor after the eventand saw some of thedecorations already hanging

onthetree,hewasfurious.“Who did this?” he

yelled.“Chris, the housekeeper,”

abutlertoldhim.As the butler told

Limerick later, the presidentmumbled something to theeffectof,“Well,shebetterbecareful about whether she’sgoingtohaveajob.”

Around midnight, one ofthebutlerscalledLimerickto

tell her what had happened.She was worried but shetrusted that Hillary woulddefend her. The nextmorning, a Saturday, shereported to the third floor towrappresentsforthefamily.

Mrs. Clinton camethrough the door,exasperated, “No good deedgoes unpunished in thishouse. I’ve had aconversation with Bill, don’t

worryaboutit.”“Thank you,” Christine

said, breathing a sigh ofrelief.

Another time, LimerickgotacallathomefromoneofPresident Clinton’s personalvalets saying that he didn’tlikeoneofthetailorsshehadrecommended.Shehadgivenhimalistofaboutfour.“Thisis at two in the morning,”Limerick marveled, “and the

valet’s babbling about howthe president’s mad and Ibetterbecareful.”

When she came to workthe next day she called thepresident’s office. She wassick of hearing everythingsecondhand, and she wassuspiciousthatthebutlersandvalets were making mattersseem worse than they were,overinterpreting every littlething thepresidentsaid,even

embellishing things fordramaticeffect.

“IunderstandI’minsomehot water because thepresident didn’t like thetailor,” she said to Clinton’ssecretary,BettyCurrie.

“Wait a minute, thepresident’srighthere,”Curriesaid,handingthephonetothepresident.

“Sir,I’msorry.”“It’snobigdeal,”hetold

her,laughingitoff.All that panicking for

nothing,shethought.According to Skip Allen,

the Clintons weren’t alwaysconsistent in their requests.“When they asked forsomethingandyougave it tothem, it wasn’t what theyreally wanted,” Allen said.“They didn’t know how toask for exactly what theywanted, so they kept asking

forthingstheythoughtthey’dlikebutdidn’t.”

Allen remembers onephone call from HillaryClinton. The kitchen hadbrought out a particularchicken dish too often, shesaid,andshewantedthecheftostopservingit.“SoIcalledthe chef and I told him wehave to take thechickendishoffthemenu,thattheydidn’twant it anymore. And a

coupleofmonthslaterIgetacallfromthefirstladysaying,‘Ask the chef, how come heneverservesthatchickendishwe like so much?’” Heexhaled loudly. “That’s thewayitwentforeightyears.”

TheClintonswerejusttheopposite of the Reagans,stafferssay.Iftheywereupatone or two o’clock in themorning and couldn’t sleep,they would start rearranging

furniture.AccordingtoAllen,who also oversaw theCurator’s Office, thisfurniture shuffling was anightmare for the curators,who log every piece offurniture in theWhiteHousecollection each year. “Theyjust took it upon themselvesto move a lamp from oneroomtothenext,oratableorchair. Then, when thecurators went up to take

inventory, [the records]would say, so-and-sochair isinthestudy,andthey[would]have to look all over thehouse for that chair becausetheClintonshadmoved ituptothethirdfloorinoneoftheguestrooms....Itjustmadeeverythingsocomplicated.”

TheClintonsalsoseemedoblivious to the protocolsinvolving mealtime—andeveryone was too scared to

tellthem.ChefJohnMoeller,who worked in the kitchenfrom 1992 to 2005, neverknew when the first familywanted to eat, or how manypeople he would need toserve. “With the Bushes weconsistently got a call aheadof time saying somethinglike, ‘Two for lunch attwelve-thirty.’ With theClintons, we wouldn’t knowwhat was going to happen

untilitactuallyhappened!”AweekaftertheClintons

moved in, Butler BuddyCarter ran into thekitchen inapanictotellMoellerthatthefamily was seated and readyfor their dinner—now. “Ihave it, but I’ve got to get ithot, give me a minute,”Moeller told him. From thenon he would always have ameal at the ready aroundlunchanddinnertime.

TheClintons’ friendsandpolitical aides also liked togive the staff advice,sometimes steering them inthe wrong direction. “TheytoldusthatMrs.Clintonusedacertaintypeofshampooanddeodorant, so we went outandweboughtmaybetwentycontainers,”Limerick recalls,laughing. “I learned howstupid that was because then[Hillary Clinton] said to me,

‘Chris, I don’t like thisstuff.’”

Sometimes efforts toplease the first family putWhite House guests in peril.Everyyeartheholidayseasonbrings an internal debateabout how best to decoratethe State Floor. Head FloristNancy Clarke liked to placedozens of votive candles onthe buffet tables, but ChefMesnier insisted itwasa fire

hazard. But Mrs. Clintonwantsthem,Clarkeinsisted.

“One particular year, wehad this lady wearing a foxaround her neck. She leanedover the table to grab somecookies, and of course thevotiveignitedthefoxbecauseshe came too close. ThankGod we had a quick butlerthere who yanked the foxaway from her and threwsome water on it and

extinguished the fire,”Mesnier recalled. “Of courseafterthat,therewerenomorevotivesonmytables!”

CHAPTERV

DarkDays

Hesaidwhenhegotupinthemiddleofthenightheranintothebathroom

door.Butwe’reprettysuresheclockedhimwithabook.

—RESIDENCEWORKERONLIFEINTHECLINTONWHITEHOUSEDURINGTHEMONICALEWINSKYSCANDAL

Therewasbloodalloverthepresidentandfirstlady’sbed.

A member of theresidence staff got a franticcallfromthemaidwhofoundthemess.Someoneneededtocomequicklyand inspect thedamage.

The blood was BillClinton’s. The president hadto get several stitches to hishead. He insisted that he’d

hurt himself running into thebathroom door in themiddleofthenight.Butnoteveryonewasconvinced.

“We’re pretty sure sheclocked him with a book,”one worker said. And whowould know better than theresidence staff? The incidentcame shortly after thepresident’s affair with aWhite House intern becamepublic knowledge—clearly a

timeofcrisisintheClintons’marriage. And there were atleast twenty books on thebedsidetableforhisbetrayedwife to choose from,includingtheBible.

In November 1995Clinton began an affair withMonica Lewinsky, a twenty-two-year-old White Houseintern.Hehadalmostadozensexual encounters with heroverthenextyearandahalf,

most of them in the OvalOffice. When the affairbecamepublicmorethantwoyears after it started, themedia firestorm consumedtherestofhispresidency.Therevelation stemmed frommore than four years ofinvestigation by IndependentCounsel Kenneth Starr thatlooked into other charges,including the Whitewaterland deal and the firing of

several longtime WhiteHouse employees in theTravel Office, a scandalknown as Travelgate.Although they were not partof the residence staff, UsherSkip Allen says heremembers how upset someof his colleagues becameafter the dismissals in theTravelOffice.Afterall,mostof the residence staff haddevotedtheirentirecareersto

theirjobsattheWhiteHouseandsomewerestartingtofeelvulnerable.“Themoodinthehousewasalittleonthetenseside, because everybody wascareerandyounevercantell,if it ever got going, howmany people or who theywould fire.” Careergovernment employees arelike professors with tenurewhoareveryhard to fire,hesays, and it was shocking to

see them dismissed sosummarily. The Clintonswere also battling criticismthattheyhadusedtheLincolnBedroom to woo wealthydonors.

On August 17, 1998,Clinton became the firstpresident to testify as thesubject of a grand juryinvestigation. ChiefElectrician Bill Cliber, whohelped set up the power for

Clinton’smarathon four-and-a-half-hour testimony—conducted via closed-circuittelevision—recalls that thepresidentwas“inareallybadmood” that day. Later thatevening,Clintonconfessedtothe “inappropriaterelationship” with Lewinskyin a nationwide televisionbroadcast. Fourmonths later,inDecember,theRepublican-led House voted to impeach

him,thoughhewasacquittedafter a five-week trial in theSenate.

The public did not learnaboutMonicaLewinskyuntilJanuary 1998. But someresidence workers knewabout the affair when it wasstill occurring, betweenNovember 1995 and March1997. The butlers saw thepresidentandLewinskyinthefamilymovietheater,andthe

two of them were seentogethersofrequentlythattheworkers started letting oneanother know when they’dhadaLewinskysighting.Thebutlers,whoareclosesttothefamily, zealously guard suchsecrets,butfromtimetotimethey share fragments ofstories with their colleagues—because the informationcouldbeuseful,orsometimesjusttoprovetheiraccess.

One household staffer,who asked not to be named,remembers standing in themain hallway behind thekitchenthatwasusedbyEastWing and West Wing aides.“That’s her—that’s thegirlfriend,” a butlerwhispered, nudging her asLewinsky walked by. “Yep,she’s theone.Shewasin thetheatertheothernight.”

Nearly two decades later,

many residence workers arestill wary of discussing thefightstheywitnessedbetweentheClintons.But theyallfeltthe general gloom that hungover the second and thirdfloorsas thesagadraggedonthroughout1998.

The residence staffwitnessedthefalloutfromtheaffair and the toll it took onHillary Clinton, but WestWing aides had long

suspected the kind of dramathat was playing out on thesecond floorof theexecutivemansion.“Shewouldhavehithimwith a frying pan if onehadbeenhandedtoher,”saidthe first lady’s close friendand political adviser SusanThomases in an interviewwith theMillerCenter at theUniversity of Virginia fortheir collection of oralhistories documenting Bill

Clinton’spresidency.“Idon’tthink she ever in her mindimagined leaving him ordivorcinghim.”

Betty Finney, nowseventy-eight, started as aWhite House maid in 1993.Shespentmostofhertimeinthe family’s private quartersand remembers well howthings changed in those finalyears. “Things weredefinitely more tense. You

just felt bad for the entirefamily and what they weregoing through,” she says.“You could feel the sadness.There wasn’t as muchlaughter.”

Florist Bob Scanlan wasless guarded about theatmosphere: “It was like amorguewhenyou’dgoup tothesecondfloor.Mrs.Clintonwasnowheretobefound.”

Andwhenitwasn’teerily

quiet, the mansion was thescene of intrigue and heatedarguments. One incidentoccurred around Christmas1996, while the president’saffairwithLewinskywasstillongoing.

The Housekeeping Shopwas going about their usualassignment of wrappingpresents for the first family.Sometimes they were askedto wrap more than four

hundred gifts for friends,relatives, and staffers. Giftwrapping was an elaborateprocess, beginning in theReagan administration (whenstandards were particularlyexacting), with careful logsrecording details of eachpresent that was wrapped.(These logs were shreddedeach time a new first familymoved in.) The staffers whowrapped the presents always

included a gift tag and adescriptionofwhatwasinthepackage, discreetly tuckedunderneath a ribbon. Theythenplacedthewrappedgiftson a designated table in theWest Sitting Hall or in theYellowOvalRoom.

That holiday season, onestafferremembersnoticinganunusualgift,acopyofLeavesof Grass by Walt Whitman,whichshewasaskedtowrap.

Sheputthewrappedbookonthetableandthoughtnothingmore of it. A couple ofmonths later, in February1997, the president gaveLewinsky a gift: a copy ofLeaves of Grass. Only laterdid the staffer learn that thepresentshehadwrappedwasmostlikelythesameonethatwas given to the president’smistress.

After the holidays, the

staffer said, the presidentdesperatelywantedtoretrievea book from the Clintons’bedroom, but the first ladywas not yet dressed, and noone wanted to disturb her.“BettyCurrie[thepresident’ssecretary] called the valet,andhecametomeandaskedmeifI’dgoinandIsaid,‘Noway,’” the worker recalls.(When the door to the firstcouple’sbedroomisshut,itis

the equivalent of a DO NOTDISTURBsignonahoteldoor.)“Finally, I thinkBettyCurriecalledMrs.Clintondirectly.”

Moments later, a bookcame flying out of theirbedroom. Hillary had hurledit into the hallway. Thepresident’s valet picked it upand brought it to Currie. It’snot certain whether the bookthe first lady threw out oftheir bedroom was the same

book that the president gaveLewinsky, but the staffer’smemories paint a picture ofthetension.

Florist Ronn Payneremembers one day when hewas coming up the serviceelevatorwithacarttopickupold floral arrangements andsaw two butlers gatheredoutside theWest SittingHalllistening in as the Clintonsargued viciously with each

other. The butlers motionedhimoverandputtheirfingerstotheirlips,tellinghimtobequiet. All of a sudden heheard the first lady bellow“goddamn bastard!” at thepresident—and thenheheardsomeone throw a heavyobject across the room. Therumor among the staff wasthat she threw a lamp. Thebutlers,Paynesaid,weretoldto clean up the mess. In an

interview with BarbaraWalters, Mrs. Clinton madelight of the story, which hadmade itsway into the gossipcolumns. “I have a prettygood arm,” she said. “If I’dthrownalampatsomebody,Ithinkyouwouldhaveknownaboutit.”

Paynewasn’t surprisedatthe outburst. “You heard somuch foul language” in theClintonWhiteHouse,hesaid.

“When you’re somebody’sdomestic, you know what’sgoingon.”

Payne tested positive forHIV while working at theWhite House and becamevery ill, losing forty-threepounds at one point. Hewanted to take a leave ofabsence, but he was told hehad one of two options: quitor retire. He chose to retireearly.Hehopedtobeable to

returnwhenhegothishealthback, since he said thatseveral other retired workershadcomebacktowork.“Youcan imagine what I lookedlike. I know they wouldn’twantmeupstairs,”hesays.“Iwantedtogetmystrengthandmy weight back.” Once hedid feelup toworkingagain,however, he was told hecouldn’t return because hehadretiredwithdisability.He

wasnever toldexplicitly thathewas fired because he wasHIV-positive, and he doesn’tknow who was ultimatelybehind the decision—italmost certainly did not riseto the attention of theClintons—and he did notformally challenge it. But ithad been a standing rule forseveral years, includingduring previousadministrations, that staff

withHIVwerenotallowedtohaveanyexposuretothefirstfamily. “I saw themmake itverydifficultforotherpeoplewho became HIV-positive,”Payne says. “Some were putdowninthebasementtoworkin the laundry room. Otherswere put out on the lawn.”Andfloristsareineveryroomof the executive mansion,including the family’sbedrooms,soreturning tohis

old job was impossible. Hewas heartbroken about thepainfulwayhisWhiteHousecareercametoanend,andisremembered fondly bymanyof the colleagues he leftbehind.

DURING THE HEIGHT of thedrama, Hillary routinelymissed afternoonappointments. The details of

running the executivemansion, understandably,tookabackseat tosavingherhusband’s presidency andtheir marriage. For three orfour months in 1998, thepresident sleptona sofa in aprivatestudyattachedtotheirbedroomonthesecondfloor.Most of the women on theresidencestaffthoughthegotwhathedeserved.

Even Butler James

Ramsey, a self-proclaimedladies’ man, blushed whenthe subject cameup.He saidClinton was his “buddy, but...comeonnow.”Asusual,during the Lewinsky scandalRamsey said he kept his“mouthshut.”

Some on the staff havesaid that Hillary knew aboutLewinskylongbeforeitcameout,andthatwhatreallyupsether was not the affair itself

but its discovery and themedia feeding frenzy thatfollowed.

The first lady’s temperwas notoriously short duringthosedifficultmonths.ButlerJames Hall remembersserving coffee and tea in theBlue Room during areceptionforaforeignleader.Suddenly, the first ladyapproachedhimwhilehewasstillstandingbehindthebar.

“You must have beenstaring into space!” sheupbraidedhim.“Ihadtotakethe prime minister’s wife’scup....Shewasfinishedandlookingforsomeplacetoputit.”Hallwasdumbfounded—other butlers were workingthe reception with trayscollectingdrinks, andhis jobwas to serve the drinks—buthe knew that defendinghimself would be pointless.

Clinton complained to theUsher’s Office, and Hallwasn’t asked back for amonth.

“Workingthereduringtheimpeachment wasn’t bad,”said former storeroommanager Bill Hamilton, buthe agreed that working withMrs.Clintoninthosedifficultmonths was a challenge. “Itwasjustsooverwhelmingforherandifyousaidsomething

to her she’d snap,”Hamiltonrecalled, shaking his head.Still, he says that he lovedworkingfortheClintons,andalthough he retired in 2013,he sometimes wishes he hadstayed at the White House,knowing that Hillary Clintonmight one day return asAmerica’s first femalepresident. He says he wouldlove to work for her again,even after the tumult of her

eightyearsintheresidence.Heisentirelysympathetic

toward the first lady in thosedarkest days. “It happenedandsheknewithappenedandeverybody was looking ather,”Hamiltonsaid.

Pastry Chef RolandMesnier said he wanted tohelpHillaryfeelbetterinanyway he could. Her favoritedessertwasmocha cake, andat the height of the scandal,

he recalls, “I made many,many mocha cakes. Youbetter believe it,” he said,chuckling. In the lateafternoons,Hillarywouldcallthe Pastry Shop. In a small,unassuming voice—a far cryfrom her usual strong, self-confident tone—she’d ask,“Roland,can Ihaveamochacaketonight?”

One sunny weekend inAugust 1998, just before the

presidentmadehisconfessionto the country, the first ladycalled Usher WorthingtonWhite with an unusualrequest.

“Worthington, I want togo to the pool but I don’twant to see anybody exceptyou,”shesaid.

“Yes, ma’am, Iunderstand,” he repliedsympathetically.

White knew exactlywhat

shemeant. She did not wantto see her Secret Servicedetail,shedidnotwanttoseeanyone tending to theWhiteHouse’s extensive grounds,andshecertainlydidnotwanttoseeanyoneonatouroftheWest Wing. “She wasn’t upfor any of that,” he recalled.She just wanted a few hoursofpeace.

White told her he wouldneedfiveminutestoclearthe

premises. He ran to find herleadSecretServiceagentandtold him they would have towork together to make ithappen.Andfast.

“It was a twenty-secondconversationbutIknowwhatshe meant. ‘If anybody seesher,orsheseesanybody, I’mgoingtogetfired,Iknowit,’”he told the agent. “‘And youprobablywilltoo.’”

So the Secret Service

agentsassignedtoprotectthefirst lady agreed to trail her,eventhoughprotocolcallsforone agent to walk ahead ofherandonetowalkbehind.

“She’s not going to turnaround and look for you,”White told them. “She justdoesn’twanttoseeyourface.And she doesn’t want youlookingatherface.”

He met Clinton at theelevator and escorted her to

the pool with the agentswalking behind them and noone else in sight. She waswearing red reading glassesandshewascarryingacoupleofbooks.Shedidn’t haveonany makeup and her hairwasn’t done. To White, sheseemedheartbroken.

They didn’t exchange asingle word on the walk tothepool.

“Ma’am,doyouneedany

butler service?”White askedheraftershegotsettledin.

“No.”“You need anything at

all?”“No, it’s just a beautiful

dayandIwanttojustsithereandenjoysomesunshine.I’llcallyouwhenI’mreadytogoback.”

“Okay, ma’am,” Whitereplied. “It’s twelve o’clocknow,andIgetoffatoneand

someoneelsewillbein.”Clinton looked intently at

him. “I’ll call you when I’mdone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Whitereplied, knowing that thatmeant hewould have to stayuntil whenever she chose toleave. He didn’t get the calluntil nearly three-thirty thatafternoon.

When he returned,Whiteaccompaniedthefirstladyon

another wordless walk fromthe pool to the second floor.Before she stepped off theelevator, the besieged firstladylethimknowhowmuchhiseffortsmeanttoher.

“She grabbed me by myhands and gave them a littlesqueeze and looked medirectly in my eyes and justsaid,‘Thankyou.’”

“It touched my heart,”White said of her gratitude.

“Itmeanttheworldtome.”A few of the household

workers even foundthemselves dragged into theunfolding drama. At onepoint, Houseman LinseyLittle was called to thesecond floor to answerquestions about the affair.Whenhegotupstairs,hewasmet by an intimidatingfederalagent,whoaskedhimif he’d ever seen Lewinsky

before. No, he answerednervously.

“They want to make youfeelliketheythinkyouknowsomething,” he said. Heinsists that he’d never seenanything untoward, but evenifhehad,headmitshewouldhavebeenreluctanttoriskhisjob and end up on the newshimself. “They’d have yournameup in bright lights,” hesaid.

Mesnier described 1998asa“verysadtime”watchingtwo brilliant peopleconsumed by scandal. Andlike so many others, he feltterrible for the Clintons’daughter,Chelsea.

In an iconic photographtaken August 18, 1998, theday after her father’sembarrassing admission,Chelsea held both of herparents’handsastheywalked

tothehelicopterontheSouthLawn. Mesnier shook hishead at the thought of whatthe young woman wentthrough. “Chelsea wasabsolutely the sweetestperson you’ll ever meet, andthen to see them goingthrough a stupid thing likethis? Stupid. Therewas a lotofhardship.”

USHER SKIP ALLEN admitsthat itwaseasier toservethefamilies he liked than it wastopretend.

“But we pretend verywell,”hesaid.

Allen cannot hide hisreservations about theClintons. Over lunch by thepoolathislargehomeinruralPennsylvania, he fondlyrecalled how Mrs. Clintonalwaysaskedhimtohelpher

by tyingbowsonheroutfits,something she couldn’t doherself. But he said theClintons never fully trustedthe residence staff and wereparticularly suspicious of theUsher’s Office. “They wereabout the most paranoidpeople I’d ever seen in mylife.”

Allen isn’t the only onewith bitter memories of theClinton White House. Usher

Chris Emery, who had beenclose with the Bushes,remembers feeling undulyscrutinizedbytheClintons.Inthefourteenmonthsheservedthem, he says, he wassubjected to three drug testsand a background check thathe was not due to have forseveral years. He says thatsomeofthequestionshewasasked—including whatchurchhebelonged to—were

unusually personal, so herefused to answer them. “Ithink theywere just trying tofind something to make iteasier [to fire me].” Hesighed. And, indeed, whenEmery was fired from theWhiteHouse in 1994, itwasinpart becauseof a favor hehaddoneforformerfirstladyBarbaraBush.

During the first Bushadministration, Emery had

been very helpful to Mrs.Bush. “We were very close.Christaughtmehowtouseacomputer,”shetoldme.AfterleavingtheWhiteHouse,shewas working on her memoirwhen she lost a chapter, soshecalledonEmeryforhelp.Emerywashappytooblige—but the favor fueled theClintons’ suspicion that thestaff was too attached to theBush family. When the

Clintons saw the usher’s calllogs,Emerysaid,they“cameto the conclusion that I wassharing deep, dark secretswith the Bushes in Houston.WhichIwasn’t.”

A short time later, ChiefUsher Gary Walters calledEmeryintohisoffice.

“Mrs. Clinton is notcomfortable with you,”Walterstoldhim.

“What does that mean?”

Emeryasked,stunned.“It means tomorrow is

yourlastday.”BarbaraBush admits that

her phone calls to Chris“caused trouble.”Emerywasscolded in public for “anamazing lack of discretion,”in the words of Hillary’sspokesman Neel Lattimore.“Webelieve theposition thathe had, as a member of theresidence staff, requires the

utmost respect for the firstfamily’sprivacy.”

Emery says he wasdevastated at the loss of hisjob,andhis$50,000salary.“Iwas out ofwork for a year,”hesays.“Theyrippedtherugrightoutfromunderme.Youwonder what they’d do tosomeone who’s reallypowerful.”When he made ithome thatnight, the first callhe got was from Barbara

Bush’s assistant, saying thatthe Bushes had heard thenews and wanted to helphowever they could. “Thenext call I got was fromMaggie Williams’s office[she was Hillary Clinton’schiefofstaff],sayingthatifIgetanycallsfromthepressIshoulddirectthembacktotheWhite House. I immediatelythought, ‘Well, of course,that’s what we always do.’ I

hungupthephoneandIsaid,‘Wait a minute. They justfiredme!’”

All these years later,Emery told me sadly, heunderstands why he wasfired. “She was facing somany pressures,” he says ofMrs. Clinton, “andunfortunatelyIwasavictim.”

But at least one formercolleagueofEmery’sdisputeshis claims. This person, who

spoke on the condition ofanonymity, said that theClintons were right to beparanoid about the residenceworkers,many ofwhom hadserved Republican presidentsfor twelve years. Accordingto thissource,“Everybody intheUsher’sOfficewas upsetwhen President Bush 41wasnot reelected . . . and theyshowed it in front of theClintons.” Emery, in

particular,wasa“Republicanfromthetopofhisheadtothetipsofhistoes,”accordingtothis source, and Emeryhimself says that he wouldhave gone to California withthe Reagans after they leftofficeifthey’daskedhim.

Emery may not alwayshave hidden his feelingsaround the Clintons.Accordingtohiscolleague,asPresidentClintoncamedown

from the second floor toattend an event one day,Emery said, “I can’tunderstand why everybodyhas an orgasm when he’saround.”Hemadethesekindsof comments loudly enoughforClinton aides to hear, hiscolleaguesaid.

The Clintons may alsohave had good reason to beconcernedabouttheirsecuritydetail.Theywerestillreeling

from claims made byArkansas state troopersassigned to protect GovernorClinton, who later told thepress that they had helpedfacilitate Clinton’sextramarital affairs in whatcame to be known as“Troopergate.”

One incident particularlyworried the Clintons. Lateonenightin1994,whiletheywere at Camp David

celebrating Easter, Chelsea’sformer nanny and WhiteHouse staff assistant, HelenDickey,wasinherthird-floorroom at the White Housewhen she heard noisescoming from the family’sliving quarters one floorbelow.Whenshewenttoseewhatwasgoingon,shefounda group of men dressed inblack carrying weapons andrummaging through the

Clintons’things.“What are you doing?

You have no right to behere,”sheyelled.

“We’re Secret Servicedoingour job.Getout,” theytoldher.

When Hillary returned,she asked Chief Usher GaryWalters for an explanation.He apologized for forgettingtotellherthattheagentsweresweeping the second floor to

seeiftherewereanylisteningdevices.Shewaslivid.

The Clintons cherishedtheir time alone. In a 1993interview, Hillary Clintonsaid she loved the secondfloor of the White Housebecauseitwastheonlyplacewhere the Secret Servicedidn’t trail her family. “Wecantellthefull-timehelpthatthey can get off. We don’thave tohave themup there,”

shesaid.“That’sawonderfulfeeling, because everywhereelsewearewe’vegotpeoplearoundusallthetime.”

By most accounts,Chelsea Clinton treated theresidence staff with respect.YetRonnPaynebelievesthatshe had internalized some ofherparents’animositytowardtheSecretService.Intheverybeginning of the Clintonadministration, agents were

stationed on the second-floorstaircaselanding,rightbythepresident’s elevator. AnotherSecretServicepostwasatthetop of the Grand StaircaseacrossfromtheTreatyRoomon the second floor. (ThesepostswerelatermovedtotheState Floor at the Clintons’request.)

One day, according toPayne, he was walkingthrough the second-floor

privatekitchenwhenanagentwalkedinbehindhimwaitingto escort Chelsea to SidwellFriends, the private schoolshe attended in northwestWashington. Chelsea was onthephone.

“Oh, I’ve got to go,” shetoldherfriend.“Thepigsarehere.”

The agent turned“crimson,” Payne recalls.“Ms. Clinton, I want to tell

you something.My job is tostand between you, yourfamily, and a bullet. Do youunderstand?”

“Well, that’s what mymother and father call you,”shereplied.

DOORMAN PRESTON BRUCEsaid he had an ominous,prescient feeling that two ofRichardNixon’sclosestaides

would one day betray thepresident. It was November1968, andBruce had alreadybeen the White Housedoormanforfifteenyears.Heknewsomethingwasunusualwhen,threeorfourdaysafterRichard Nixon’s election, apoliticalaidekeptshowingupat theWhiteHouse. “I heardthis man asking minutequestions about the waythingswererun,”Brucesaid.

“No detail seemed too smalltoescapehiscuriosity.”

The man was Nixon’scounsel and assistant fordomestic affairs, JohnEhrlichman.ChiefUsherJ.B.West ledhimon toursof theresidence as Ehrlichmanpepperedhimwithquestions.

Bruce had never seenanything like it. “We on thehousehold staff alreadyknewhowtomakethefirstfamilies

safe and comfortable—thatwas our job. What did thismanplantodo?”

WhileBrucewascharmedthattheNixonfamilytookthetime to learn everyone’snames—all eighty of them—he resented the wayEhrlichman and Nixon’sincomingchiefofstaff,H.R.“Bob” Haldeman, treatedhim. “Hundreds of timesthey’d need the elevator.

Each time they’d say, curtly,‘Take me to the secondfloor,’ without so much as aplease or thank you. Theylookedright throughmeas ifIwereinvisible.”

NixonhadaneasybanterwithBruce,butHaldemandidthings to make it clear thatthe residence staff were thehelp and nothing more. Hisofficesentoutamemosayingthat anyone on staff who

asked the president or anyfamily member for anautographed picture or afavor would be firedimmediately.“Weallfeltthiswas a cheap little shot,”Bruce said. “We knewbetterthantoapproachthepresidentwithsuchrequests.”

Haldemanwanted no onestanding in the hall outsidetheStateDiningRoomduringstate dinners—not even the

Secret Service. It had been atradition and a special treatfor thebutlers to listen in onthetoastsfromthehallway.

“There was somethingabout Haldeman andEhrlichman, that you couldlook at them and you knewthat they would never haverespectforapersonlikeyou,”said Butler HermanThompson.

Most of the presidential

adviserswereveryprotectiveofthepresidentandwouldn’tgetinvolvedindetailsofhowtheresidencewas run. “Evenwhenwewouldbesettinguptables, you would seeHaldeman and Ehrlichmanwalking through,”Thompsonsaid, shaking his head. “Theway they carried themselves,itwas like theywere fully inchargeofeverything.”

Before Watergate, Nixon

himselfwaswelllikedamongthe staff, although moststaffers agree that he and hisfamily were much moreformal and stiff than theirpredecessors. Chef FrankRuta tells a story about PotWasher Frankie Blair, acongenial African Americanwho was a fixture in thekitchen.One night Blairwascleaning up after the firstfamily had finished dinner.

President Nixon wanderedinto the upstairs kitchen andsomehow they started talkingabout bowling—Nixon wassuch an avid bowler that hehad a single-lane bowlingalley installed in thebasement under the NorthPortico.Nixon askedBlair ifhewould playwith him, andthe twoof thembowleduntiltwo o’clock in the morning.“There may have been a

bottle of scotch involved,”Rutaadded.

When they wrapped up,Blair turned to the presidentand said, “There is no waymywife isgoing tobelieveIwasoutthislatebowlingwithyou.”

“Come with me,” Nixontoldhim.

The two walked to theOval Office, where thepresident wrote a note

apologizing to Blair’s wifeforkeepinghimoutsolate.

Usher Nelson Pierce alsoremembered happy timeswith the Nixons beforeWatergate destroyed Nixon’spresidency. When he foundoutthatthepresidentandfirstlady were traveling to theSeattle area, where he wasborn, he told the first ladyhow much he missed thesnowcappedmountainsofthe

Northwest. Not long afterthat, she asked him to jointhem.

“Thepresident’ssecretarygave me the flight map,”Pierce recalled, and hestudieditcarefully,“tryingtofigure out what I would see,what I would recognize. Butthe closer we got toWashington, the less I wasseeing.”Then, justashewastryingtogethisbearings,“all

ofasuddenwemakeasharpbank to the right and ofcourse I saw Mount Adams,Mount St. Helens, MountBaker, and MountRainier. . . . I knew thatsomebody had asked thepilots to go that way so Icouldseethemountains.”

Pierce hadn’t been backhome since 1941, when hewassixteenyearsold.“Iwasso emotional when we made

that sharp right and I knewwhat had happened. I juststartedsobbing.”

Backat theWhiteHouse,Pierce asked the first lady ifshe told thepilot to take thatroute just for him. “Iwantedtoseethemountainstoo,”sherepliedwithawink.

The Nixons were formalwith the staff, but they werekind—and their kindnessmade watching the

president’s slow unravelingso painful. The Watergateinvestigation dragged on formore than two years, and aseachdaypassed,thepresidentgrew more and moreexhausted. His shouldersslouched in defeat as hewalked to and from theOvalOffice each morning.Electrician Bill Cliber, wholaterbecamechiefelectrician,remembered Nixon having a

very regimented scheduleduring his first term, wakingup early to head to theOvalOffice. But Watergate senthim into a deep depression;hiswhole routine“justbrokeapart.”

At the height of thescandal, Pat Nixon and hertwodaughtersalsoseemedtosink into despair. “Oh, Mr.Bruce,” Nixon’s daughterJulie pleaded tearfully to the

doorman.“Howcan they saysuch awful things about myfather?” Nixon’s otherdaughter,Tricia, toldme thatshe took comfort in thesupportoftheresidencestaff.“You felt around you thatpositive spirit—that sensethat we know who you are,weknowwhoyour father is,and we love you. We’llalways admire your father.”When you work in the

residence you see “beyondpolitics, you see beyond thestory,”shesays.“Youseethetrueperson.”

BILLCLIBER

Backstairs, however, thetension that invaded theNixon White House alsoinfected the residence staff.Nixon may have discardedJohnson’s industrial-strengthshower, but he had his ownbathroom eccentricities,asking for a calmingwhirlpoolbathtubtobeputinits place. “Finding ways to

relax in general seemed tooccupy much of thepresident’s time at theWhiteHouse,”saidTraphesBryant.Nixon was so completelyconsumed by his ownparanoia—right down to hisfamous “enemies list” ofpolitical opponents—thatevenresidenceworkersneverknew where they stood. Formany staffers, includingUsher Nelson Pierce,

Watergate was moretraumatic than even theKennedy assassination,because it dragged on for solong. “You saw a mandeterioratedaybydaybydayand there was nothing youcoulddotohelphim.”

At nine o’clock on theevening of August 8, 1974,Nixon announced hisresignation. He made theannouncement from his desk

intheOvalOffice,andaskedthat the room be cleared ascompletely as possible, evenasking his Secret Serviceagent to leave. “It was justonecameraman,oneengineerfrom the TV company, twomilitary people, and me. Allof us had to be in there forsound and pictures,” recalledCliber, sitting at the kitchentable in his home inRockville, Maryland. He

remembers it like it wasyesterday: “It was deadsilence in that room. Imean,itwascreepysilent.”

After Nixon finished hissubduedbroadcast,Cliberleftthe Oval Office and walkeddown the colonnade. Nixonfollowed in silence. Cliberpaused to let the disgracedpresidentgetaheadofhim.

“Where you heading,Bill?” Nixon asked, on what

must have been the hardestdayofhislife.

“Back to the residence,”Clibertoldhim,sheepishly.

“Walk with me,” thepresidentsaid.

The two of them walkedside by side down thecolumned outdoor hallway,which runs alongside theRose Garden. Cliber stoppedandturnedtoNixon.

“Youshouldfeelproudof

yourself. You did a fine job.Thebestyoucould.”

“Yeah, I wish a lot ofpeople felt that way,” Nixonreplied.Hiseyeswereglassy;to Cliber, it looked like hewas willing himself not tocry.

“It will catch up to themoneday,”Clibertoldhim.

They parted on theGround Floor of theresidence, neither saying

anotherword.Nixonwent tothe president’s elevator andCliber went down thebasement staircase to theElectrician’sShop.

That night Nixon stayedup until two o’clock in themorning,making phone callsfromhis favorite roomin thehouse, the Lincoln SittingRoom.Outside,crowdscouldbeheardchanting,“JailtotheChief! Jail to theChief!”He

finally went to bed but sleptrestlessly,andwhenhewokeupandlookedathiswatch,itread four o’clock. When hecouldn’tgetbacktosleep,hewalked to the kitchen to getsomething to eat. He wasstartled to see Butler JohnnyJohnsonstandingthere.

“Johnny, what are youdoingheresoearly?”

“It isn’t early, Mr.President,”Johnsonsaid.“It’s

almostsixo’clock.”In a 1983 interview,

Nixon explained whathappened: “The battery [inmywatch]hadrunout,wornout, at four o’clock the lastday Iwas inoffice,”hesaid.“BythattimeIwaswornouttoo.”

Preston Bruce recallsseeing Nixon in the elevatorin that last day in theWhiteHouse.“Mr.President,thisis

a time inmy life that Iwishhad never happened,” Brucetoldhim.Intheprivacyoftheelevator, Bruce recalls, theyhugged each other and wept—justasPresidentKennedy’swife and brother had donewith him after JFK’sassassination, more than adecadebefore.

“I have in you a truefriend,”NixontoldBruce.

PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS sofriendly that, after a while,themaids,butlers,andusherslearned to slip through adoorway as they werewalkingdowntheCenterHallof the residence if theywanted to avoid gettingtrapped in a longconversation with him. Heparticularly loved talkingaboutCalifornia, the state hegoverned for eight years.

Cletus Clark remembersalmostnightlyvisitswhenhewas painting the president’sexercise room. “One day hecame down there and one ofthe painters was up on histreadmill. I was scared todeath!Ithoughthewasgoingtoblowup.Buthedidn’t,hesaid, ‘Letme show you howthat thingworks.’ He got uponitandstartedwalking!”

Nancy Reagan didn’t

always approve of herhusband’s habit of chattingupthestaff.“She’dkeephimthe way she thought heshould be,” Clark says. “Shedidn’t want him to associatewiththehelp.”

At2:25P.M.onMarch30,1981,sixty-ninedaysintohispresidency,JohnHinckleyJr.shot a revolver six times atReagan after he delivered aspeech at the Washington

Hilton. The attemptedassassination shook theresidencestaff,whowerestillgettingtoknowtheeasygoingpresident.

On the day Reagan wasshot, Clark was in theSolarium.NancyReagan,herinterior decorator, TedGraber,andChiefUsherRexScouten were nearby. “I’llnever forget that,” Clarkrecalled.“Somebodycameup

there and whisperedsomething to them, and thenextthingyouknowtheyleft.I was still up there trying tomix some paint to matchsomefabric.”

The next day, while herhusband was recovering inthe hospital, Nancy Reagansufferedaninjuryofherown.When she got back to theresidence, she went to theGame Room on the third

floor, a cozy space with apool table, to retrieve herhusband’s favorite picture tobringtohiminthehospitalasasurprise.Withacarwaitingfor her downstairs, sheclimbed up on a chair toreachthepictureandfelloff,breaking several ribs.Only afew people on the residencestaffknewaboutheraccident;sheneverrevealeditpublicly,andthestaffhasnevertalked

aboutituntilnow.The Reagans’ son, Ron,

does not even remember theincident, though he was notsurprised to learn about itdecades later: “She wouldhavebeenentirelyfocusedonhim at that point, andwouldn’thaveletbrokenribsgetintheway.”

In that moment, NancyReagan conducted herselfwith the same resilience

under pressure that theresidence workersdemonstrateeveryday.

CHAPTERVI

Sacrifice

Thatfirstday,IthoughttheUsher’sofficewasatwelve-by-twelve-foot

madhouse.Peopleraninandoutoftheroomallday,thephonerang

incessantly,andthebuzzerbuzzed.

—J.B.WEST,USHERANDCHIEFUSHER,1941–1969,

UPSTAIRSATTHEWHITEHOUSE:MYLIFEWITHTHEFIRSTLADIES

Usher Nelson Pierce livedwith his wife, Caroline, in apretty white Colonial housein Arlington, Virginia, aboutfour miles from the WhiteHouse. Before he passedaway,onNovember27,2014,heandCarolinelikedtositonthe porch swing on summerdays. During an interview,

when I asked him how longthey’d been married, heglancedoverandaskedhertoremindhim.Shedidnotseemto mind his momentarymemory lapse; in fact, sheseemedtobeusedtotakingalead role in the relationship.Because of her husband’sgrueling schedule, Carolinespentmuch of their sixty-sixyearsofmarriage takingcareof their four kids—two boys

and two girls—almostsinglehandedly.

One date Pierce didrememberistheexactdayhestarted at the residence:October16,1961.Duringhismorethantwodecadesat theWhite House, Pierce’s hourswere so long andunpredictable that it felt“strange”tohiswifewhenhewas actually home. Theushers’ shifts changed so

often that the Pierces kept acalendaronthetablebytheirtelephone so Caroline wouldknowwhen hewasworking.She said her children have“lived the White House.”Over and over, Caroline hadto tell them: “‘We can’t dothisbecauseDadhastowork.Wecan’tgotodaybecausehehas to work.’ Your liferevolved around the WhiteHouse.” (She teasedhim that

their children’s friends neverunderstood what Nelson did;given his title, they allassumedhewasanusherinamovietheater.“Thattookhimdownapeg,”shejoked.)

But the privilege ofworking in theWhite HousewasneverlostonPierce.Oneday, Steve Bull, an aide toRichard Nixon, was leavingtheWestWing justasPiercewas coming up the steps to

start his shift. Bullmade funofhimforwearinghisWhiteHouseIDaroundhisneckonthe driveway before heneededitout.Piercetoldhimearnestly, “Out of the twohundred and ten millionpeople in this country, howmanyofushavetheprivilegeofputtingiton?”

Bull paused and replied,“Ineverthoughtofthat.”

In all his years at the

WhiteHouse,itwastryingtokeep up with Lyndon B.Johnson that put the greateststrain on his marriage. Anocturnal animal, Johnsonoften ate dinner after 10:00P.M., slept a few hours, andwoke up again at 4:00 A.M.(Carpenter Isaac Avery, whostartedat theWhiteHousein1930, had never seenanything like it. “TheKennedys lived in a hurry,”

he said. “President Johnsonlivesinarace.”)

The president’s daughterLynda recalls that her father“worked a two-day shift.”Shesaidhe“wouldgetup inthe morning and work,” andthen about two or threeo’clock, orwhatever time hecould take abreak,hewouldcomeovertothemansionandeatlunchoramiddaymeal—sometimes it was pretty late

intheafternoon,threeorfouro’clock. And then he wouldgo to his bedroom, put hispajamas on, and sleep forthirty minutes or an hour.Thenhisseconddaystarted.”

The residence staffadjusted their schedules tosuitJohnson’sdemands.Theyworkedinshifts,withushers,maids, butlers, and cookscoming in at seven or eighto’clock in the morning and

working until four or fiveo’clock in the afternoon, andanothergroupcominginafterlunch and working late intothenightorearlymorning.

Every night, the navychief would give PresidentJohnson a massage in thepresident’s living quarters.When Pierce was on nightduty, he would waitdownstairs until the navychief came down to tell him

thepresidenthadgonetobed,atwhichpointhewasfreetoleave.Everyonce inawhile,Pierce recalled, the presidentwouldfallasleeponthetableand the chief would have tosit down and wait untilJohnsonwokeupsohecouldfinishthemassage.

“It was three, four,sometimes even five o’clockin the morning before we’dleave work,” Pierce said,

without a hint of resentmentinhisvoice.

Johnson wasn’t the onlypresidentwhokeptlatehours.Pierce remembered a fewparties thrown by theKennedys that ran so deepinto the night that he’d callhis wife and ask her to telltheiroldestsonnottostarthissix-mile Washington Postpaper route without him. Hewould rush home in time to

drive him; sometimes it wastheonlytimehegottoseehissonthatday.

The ushers’ workloadamazes even topWestWingstaffers. Obama’s formerpersonal secretary, KatieJohnson, was astonished athow efficiently theycoordinated a last-minutecelebration for the staff whoworkedonPresidentObama’shistorichealthcarelegislation

the night it passed onMarch21,2010.

“Wedidn’tknowifhealthcare was going to pass untilfour in the afternoon, and ofcourse the list of peoplewho’dworkedonhealthcarewasmuchlargerthananyonehadoriginallyanticipated.Soatfour-thirtyintheafternoonI’m calling over to theresidence and telling themthatweneedtohavefoodand

drinksforahundredpeopleateight o’clock,” she recalled.She expected to hear somepushback. “They said, ‘Oh,nobigdeal,we’vegotit.’”Ina matter of hours they wereable to pull off amemorablenight for the West Wingworkers, who drankcelebratorychampagneontheTrumanBalcony.

For former White Housespokesman Reid Cherlin, it

wastheonlytimeheeversetfoot in the living quarters.(The Obamas are especiallyprivate and only a few closefriends, including ValerieJarrett, are frequently seenupstairs.) Cherlin called thememory “vivid, because Iknew I would never be abletogoagain.”

Whiletheywereenjoyingthe champagne, speechwriterAdam Frankel asked Reggie

Love if he could take a lookattheLincolnBedroom.Sooneveryonewantedtojoininonthe impromptu self-guidedtour.

“Walk around,” thepresident told the festivecrowd.

That was all it took.“Everyone from the toppeople on down to the mostjunior people were justwandering around the

bedrooms on the secondfloor. Everyone had thebiggestsmilesontheirfaces,”Cherlin remembers. “Thepresident was in a goodmood.”

“Icanonlygetawaywithhaving you guys up herebecause Michelle is out oftown,” Obama told them.Pointing out the copy of theGettysburgAddressdisplayedin the Lincoln Bedroom, the

president—whotakesprideinhis own handwriting—toldtheyoungstaffershowmuchhe admired Lincoln’sbeautifulpenmanship.

For a politiciansometimes viewed asstandoffish, Obama oftentalks about theWhite Housewith akindofboyish charm.Shortlyaftertheinauguration,Frankel brought a newspeechwriter to the Oval

Office.“Is this your first time

here?”Obamaasked.“Yes, sir,” Frankel’s

colleaguereplied.“Prettycool,huh?”

EXECUTIVE CHEF WALTERScheib is quick to say howhonoredandgratefulheisfortheopportunitytoworkattheWhite House—even as he

compares it to being inprison.

“You work for the samepeople every day, you don’thave any personal life,family, social life, you workwhat we used to call ‘WhiteHouse flex time’—that is,you chose any eighty-fivehoursyouwant toworkeachweek. You lose your family,loseyoursociallife,loseyourpersonal life, and in many

cases even lose yourprofessional life because youworkwith the samegroupoffolks every day, day in anddayout.Soyouhavetofindanewwaytostayfresh.”

Many of the butlers Iinterviewedweredivorced,inpart because of their work.ButlerJamesRamseyinsistedhe was never happier thansince his 1995 divorce, eventhough he lost his house and

his car in the process. “Mylifenow,Icomeandgo.IdowhatIwant todo.Iain’tgotnobodytotellmewhattodo.I love my life.” Having noone to answer to is helpfulwhen working suchunpredictable hours. Ramseysometimes left the house atfive or six o’clock in themorning and didn’t returnhome until two o’clock thefollowing morning if there

wasastatedinner.Butler James Hall

(nicknamed “Big Man” byNancyReagan) started at theWhiteHousein1963andwasdivorcednineyearslater.Hallwas called to work statedinnersandhelpthefull-timebutlers if they were short-staffed.He often got the calllast-minute in addition to thefull days he worked as alibrary technician in the

NationalArchives.Hall passed away around

thetimethathisfriendJamesRamsey died. Before hisdeath, I interviewed Hall athis tidy apartment in aretirement home in Suitland,Maryland, where his secondbedroom was a shrinededicated to his career. Hissouvenirs included lettersfrom Chief Usher RexScouten,thankinghimforhis

work at a dinner honoringprisoners of war fromVietnam, and for his help atTricia Nixon’s weddingreception. The letters hungnext to a condolence notefromPresidentClintononthedeathofhisfatherin1995.

Hall harbored noresentment about his divorceor the late nights he spentworking at theWhiteHouse.Hereminiscedaboutthedays

during Nixon’s presidencywhenthebutlersusedtoweartails and white vests: “Theyhad us take the white vestsoff and wear black vestsbecause they said we were‘sharperthantheguests.’”

Ofcourse,workingontheresidence staff didn’tjeopardize every worker’smarriage. In fact, somecouples even found eachother while working at the

White House. After muchcajoling, Head HousekeeperChristineCransfoundtimetofall in love with EngineerRobertLimerickin1980.Thetwo met when Crans wasmeasuring Limerick for hisuniform.Limerick’sboss,thechief engineer, kept teasingthem—until finally,Christinerecalls, the two decided,“Okay,we’regoingtogooutto make him happy.” Less

than a year later they weremarried.

When she told NancyReaganshewasengaged, thefirst lady was thrilled. Andrelieved. “I think she wasworried I might become aspinster,” Limerick said,laughing. The housekeeperbefore her had married thepastry chef, and ever sincethen, “the joke is thathousekeepers come in trying

to find a husband.” At theirsmall wedding ceremony inDeale,Maryland, about fortyof the sixty-five guests weremembersoftheWhiteHousestaff and their spouses,including Gary Walters andRexScouten.

Still, theirbusyschedulescould be challenging. Whenthe Clintons were in theWhite House, Limerick hadtoworkeveryChristmas,and

she and Robert eventuallydecided it would be better ifhe left his job as a WhiteHouse engineer because theschedule was too grueling.Adding to the frustration ofcoordinating schedules, theLimerickscouldn’ttalkmuchwith each other about theincredible things they heardand saw on the job—eventhough they both worked inthe White House. Limerick

insists, “We didn’t alwayscome home and spill thebeans.”

USHER SKIP ALLEN, whoworkedintheresidencefrom1979 until 2004, knew onememberofthestaffwhoevengave his life for the job.Frederick“Freddie”Mayfieldstarted as a houseman in1962,vacuumingandmoving

heavyfurniture.Whenhewaspromoted to doorman, hebecame something of aninstitutionwithhissilverhair,white tie, and black tailcoat(he shared the same quietdignity as his colleaguePreston Bruce). As thedoorman, he waited by theelevator at night to bring thepresident to the residence.“He had the greatest smile,”said Luci Baines Johnson.

“EverydaywasChristmasforFreddieMayfield.”

One day, Mayfieldconfided to Allen that hisdoctor told him he neededbypass surgery—immediately. Mayfield said,“I know I have to have itdone, and the doctor said Ihad to do it right away, butI’ll just wait until after thenextpresidentialtrip.”Bythetime the next trip came

around, it was too late.Mayfield had a heart attackonhisway towork anddiedat just fifty-eight years old.“Henevergothisheart fixedbecausehekept saying, ‘Thepresident needs me now, I’llwaituntilhegoesonthisnexttrip and then I’ll go to thehospital.’He nevermade it.”It wasn’t that Mayfieldthought he was the onlypersonwhocoulddohis job,

Allen said. “It’s just pride instation. It’s ‘Iwant todomybest for the president,’ andtheygooutoftheirwaytodothat.”

Nancy Reagan attendedMayfield’s funeral on May17,1984,andwassoaffectedbyhislossthatshesaidatthetime, “It doesn’t seem righthere without him.” ButlerHerman Thompsonremembers being moved

when he saw her in theaudience. “I thought it wasvery respectful.” Decadeslater, she said she stillremembers getting the callthat he had died, and how“shocked and saddened” shewas by the news. She knewright away that “it justwouldn’tbethesamewithouthis smiling face at theelevator.”

The staff are all like

familytoeachother.Manyofthem played golf togetherback during FreddieMayfield’s day, and everyFriday night a group ofworkers would gather in theEisenhower ExecutiveOfficeBuilding’s small bowlingalley to play against SecretService agents and policeofficers. When NelsonPierce’swife,Caroline,heardher old friend Freddie’s

name, her face lit up. “Heliked turkey necks. I’d havetosavetheturkeyneckeveryThanksgiving to send toFreddie.”

That camaraderie persiststoday. When one of theworkers has a death in thefamily, or is having troublepaying medical bills, his orher colleagues pool togethertheir money in a jar in theButler’s Pantry on the first

floortohelpwiththecosts.“You could be having a

bad day and a butler wouldcomeinthatmorningandsayhello to you and get youlaughing,” Usher NancyMitchellrecalled.“Somebodyalways comes in and picksyouup.”

Butler James Jeffriescomes from a long line ofWhiteHouseworkers.Infact,nine members of his family

have worked at the WhiteHouse. His mother’s brotherCharles Ficklin was themaître d’ at the house, andanother uncle, John Ficklin,wasabutlerandlaterbecamemaîtred’aswell.

When Jeffries’s motherdied in 2012, he recalledtearfully, “practicallyeverybody was at mymother’s funeral except thepresident.” His mother had

never worked at the WhiteHouse, but Butlers BuddyCarterandJamesRamseyandStoreroom Manager BillHamilton all came to showtheir support for the Ficklinfamily. And his colleaguescontributed almost fourhundred dollars in memorialdonations, though none ofthem were wealthythemselves. But Jeffries waseven more amazed when the

same thing happened afterone of his uncles died. “Myuncle, he didn’t work at theWhite House. But he was aFicklin, and he had passedaway down in Amissville,Virginia, andwe’re goingonand having the funeral, andall of a sudden I heard thedoor open in the church andMr.West and the ushers andquiteafewotherpeoplefromtheWhiteHousecame to the

funeral. I think they had aletter somebody read in thechurch from the president.”He paused. “I started cryingbecause I felt so good thatpeople thought enough of ustocome.”

Jeffries still works acouple of days a week as abutlerattheWhiteHouse;hesays he’ll retire “when mylegs don’t want to let mestandup.”Whenhearrivesat

the White House, the firstthing he does is check a liston the cabinet in the pantrythatgiveshimhisassignment.He could be on first-floorpantry duty, bartending, orpickup (carrying a tray topick up dirty glassware). Hesaid he prefers working as abartender or cleaning dishesin the back, because holdingtrays loaded with glasses ishard work for a man in his

seventies with arthritis. Hesaid his manager recentlyaskedhim if hewas all rightafter he became breathlessrushing between the Butler’sPantry and the East Roomcarryingtwoplatesata time.But he brushes off any suchconcerns—“I don’t want tocomplain,” he says—andthesedayshiscolleaguessavehim from doing much heavylabor, just as he did for the

olderbutlerswhenhestarted,backin1959.

“OnetimeIrememberthebutlershadgottensooldthat,when they were holding atraywithglassesordrinksonit, all of a sudden you couldhear those glasses clangingbecause they didn’t have thestrength in their arms,” hesaid. “I would go out thereandtakethetrayfromtheguyandtakehisplacesohecould

goonintheback.”Butlers often make a

lastingimpressiononthefirstfamily and their aides.Desirée Rogers remembersthe loss of longtime butlerSmile “Smiley” Saint-Aubin,whopassedawaysuddenlyin2009.Rogerscalledhisdeath“one of the most poignantthings ofmy tenure, and ourteam’s tenure.” Talking asthough it were a loss in her

own family, she said theObamasheld a service inhishonor at the White Housewithhisfamily.

“He was just anincredibly graciousmanwhowas very, very good at whathe did. That’s why they callhim ‘Smiley’—alwayscheerful, always ready toserve, and always so helpful,whether it be something thatour office needed or one of

his peers needed,” she said,adding,“Ithinkforallofusitwas an incredible loss soearlyon,atatimewhenallofuswerejustlearningourway.Itwasatoughtime.”

The staff’s sacrifices donotgounrecognized.CharlesAllen, the son of Butler andMaître d’ Eugene Allen,remembers a story his fatheronce toldhim that shows themutual devotion between the

first family and their staff.Lady Bird Johnson was soworried about a butler’scancer-stricken wife that shekept pressing him about hertreatment. When she did notlikehisanswer,shecalleduptwo of the country’s mostwell-regarded oncologists.That afternoon they flew infromNewYorkandlandedatWashington National Airporttomeetthebutler’swife.

In a similar display oflove and respect, ElectricianBillCliber remembers SecretService agents approachinghimafterthebirthofhisson.

“Where’s your wife at?”theyasked.

“She’s at WashingtonAdventistHospitalinTakomaPark,”hetoldthem.“Why?”

They saidLadyBirdwasthinking of sending herflowers. He pauses, tears

beginning to fill his eyes somany years later. “No,” hesaid, disbelievingly. “Thefirst lady went and gotflowersandshe took themtoherandgavethemtomywifein the hospital.” His wife,Bea, sat next to him as hespoke,butshe justshookherhead when I asked her toelaborate. It’s a memory shewants to keep only forherself.

When Cliber thankedLady Bird the next day, shetold him it was the easiestthing she ever had to do asfirstlady.

CHAPTERVII

RaceandtheResidence

ForanyAmericanthatunderstandsthecomplexhistoryofthiscountry,youfeelit.Especiallywhenyoulookatthedrawingsofhowthishomewasbuiltandyouseemanyslaveswhocouldn’tenterthebuildingworkingtocreatethe

building.SomeofthosefolkscouldbemyancestorsandthereisaprofoundpowerandsensethatcomeswiththefactthatwearethefirstAfricanAmericanfamilytooccupythisresidenceovertheyears.

—FIRSTLADYMICHELLEOBAMA

President Obama’s historic2008 election marked animportant turning point inAmerican history and washailedbymanyasacrowning

achievement of the civilrights movement. Not muchmore than forty years beforehis election, AfricanAmericans were legallydiscriminated against in theJim Crow South; about ahundred years before that,slave pens were set up inLafayette Square within fullview of the White House.Now, the nation’s firstAfricanAmericanfirstfamily

arebeing servedby amostlyAfricanAmericanbutlerstaff.

Whentheyfirstmovedin,theObamaswerecircumspectaround the residence staff.Someobserversbelievedtheymay not have been entirelycomfortable having butlerswaitonthem.Thefirstcoupleare, of course, deeply awareoftheiruniquehistoricstatus.Not only is Obama the firstAfrican American to be

elected president, but—as henoted in a much-heraldedspeechaddressingraceduringthe2008primary season—heis also “married to a blackAmericanwho carrieswithinher the blood of slaves andslave owners.” MichelleObama’s great-great-grandfather Jim Robinsonwas a slave; her great-grandfather Fraser Robinsonwas illiterate when he was a

teenager, though he laterlearnedtoread.Indeed,someof Mrs. Obama’s familymembers had jobs that werequite close to those of theresidenceworkers—includingher maternal grandfather,Purnell Shields, who was ahandyman in Chicago, andone of her aunts, whowas amaid.

Since his election thepresident has mostly tried to

avoid getting mired in racerelations, and his aides havehad little to say about therelationship between thehousehold help and the firstfamily. But Chief UsherStephenRochon,who retiredin 2011 as the first blackchief usher, says that henoticed a special kind ofunderstanding between theAfrican American staff andtheObamas because “they’re

from the same culture.” Hecited the “sense of pride”among the residenceworkers“that this country had grownto this level to have a blackpresident.”

ForDesiréeRogers—nowthe CEO of JohnsonPublishing, publishers of JetandEbonymagazines—beingthe first African Americansocial secretary, for thisparticular first family, had a

special significance. “OnInaugural Day, what wasmostcompellingtomeisthatI looked at all thesegentlemen preparing for thearrival of the first AfricanAmerican president—I couldnot helpbut be taken at howthey looked. They remindedme, quite frankly, of mygrandfather, who obviouslywas a pillar in our family.”Shesaidshewisheshecould

havebeentheretoseeit.Rogers often heard the

butlerssaytheyneverthoughttheywouldsee thedaywhenthey’d be serving the firstAfrican American president.They may have even tried alittle harder than usual. “Icould just tell the pride thattheyhadinpreparingfor thisfirstfamilytocomein.Itwasa very touching moment formeasweprepared thehouse

for their arrival and as I sawall of these gentlemenworkingsodiligentlytomakesure that everything was justperfect when they arrivedfromtheparade.”

Lonnie Bunch, thefounding director of theSmithsonian’s NationalMuseumofAfricanAmericanHistory and Culture and amemberoftheCommitteeforthePreservationoftheWhite

House, said he would besurprised if Michelle Obamanever talked to the AfricanAmerican staff at the WhiteHouse about their specialshared circumstances. He’squicktopointoutthatthefactof the Obamas’ race alonedoesn’tnecessarilymean thattheir relationship with theAfricanAmericanstaffisanycloser or more personal thanthose of their predecessors.

“But there’s an obviousunderstanding andappreciation of who thesemenandwomenare,”hesaid.“I think there’s a feeling, asMichelle has said, this couldhave been me or this couldhave been members of myfamily.”

Operations SupervisorTony Savoy, who retired in2013, insists that Obama’sarrivalattheWhiteHousedid

not affect how he conductedhis job. “I’m going to givemy best, all I can, to theperson, regardless of who itis,” he said. “I couldn’t givenomore tohimthanI’dgiveto a lady president or toanother white president. Itwouldn’tmakenodifference.I would still give my 110percentallthewayacrosstheboard.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S TWOWhite House victories areespecially remarkable giventhe troubled relationshipbetweentheWhiteHouseandslavery.Therewasa thrivingslave trade inWashington inthe nineteenth century,though therewere alsomanyfree people of color: by thetimeoftheCivilWar,censusrecords show 9,029 freeblacksand1,774slavesliving

inWashington,D.C.Back in1792 when construction oftheexecutivemansionbegan,the new capital city was aprimitive swamp, farremoved from any majoreasternhubs—andcarvedoutof the slave states ofMaryland and Virginia. InNovember 1800, when JohnAdamsmovedin,one-thirdofWashington’spopulationwasblackandmostof themwere

slaves. African Americans—free and enslaved—helpedbuild much of the nation’scapital, milling the stonesused in the pillars and wallsof the White House and theU.S. Capitol. These workerswere leased from theirmasters to work atgovernment quarries inAquia,Virginia, paid only infood (pork and bread) anddrink (daily rations of one

pint of whiskey each). Littleis knownabout thembeyondalistoffirstnames—“Jerry,”“Charles,” “Bill”—thatappears in governmentrecords.

It’s hard to imaginewhatthe grounds of the WhiteHouse looked like as it wasbeing constructed. A stoneyard was erected on thenortheastsideofthemansionwith dozens of large sheds

housing worktables used forcutting stone. Close to thenewwalls of the houseweretwo tall tripod rigs forhoistingthestoneblocksintoplace. The rigs supportedhugepulleys,someashighasfifty feet,which loomedoverthemassiveconstructionsite.Despite the grandeur of itsarchitecture—itwaslikelythelargest house in the UnitedStates until after the Civil

War—the White Housewould remain a relativelyunrefined place to live fordecades after its first stonewaslaid.

Once the mansion wasoccupied, slaves werebrought toworkintheWhiteHouse by every Southernpresident until 1860,including Thomas Jefferson,JamesMadison, andAndrewJackson. In 1830, during

Jackson’s administration, theU. S. Census recordedfourteen slaves living on thepremises, five of them undertenyearsold.“Inessence,theAfricanAmerican fingerprinthasbeenontheWhiteHousesince its inception,” LonnieBunch points out. Becausethe country’s earliestpresidents had to pay theresidence workersthemselves, they had much

less help; Jefferson only hadabout a dozen servants. Ofthe dozen, only three werewhite; the rest were AfricanAmerican slaves fromMonticello, Jefferson’sVirginiahome.

Many of the earlySouthern presidents tried tocutcostsbyreplacingsalariedwhitesandfreeblacksonthestaff with their own slaves.PresidentJamesMadisonalso

relied on slaves from hishome, Montpelier. His valet,aslavenamedPaulJennings,eventually bought hisfreedomandwentontowritethe first ever memoir of lifeintheexecutivemansion.

President AndrewJackson, a Tennesseeslaveholder, decided to savemoneywhenhemovedtotheWhite House by replacingseveral white servants with

slaves from his Tennesseehome. The slaves who werevisible to the public woreelaborate blue coats withbrass buttons and yellow orwhitebreeches.Mostofthemlivedincrowdeddormsinthebasementortheattic,withitssteep ceiling and poorlighting.Thebasementroomswere off of a forty-foot-longkitchenwith giant fireplaces.During the first half of the

nineteenth century, salariedservants and slaves slept onworn-outcotsandmattresses.

By the time ZacharyTaylor took office in March1849, Northerners wereexpressing outrage about thepracticeofslavery.Inabidtosavemoney,hesupplementedthe four servants he had onstaffbybringingaboutfifteenslaves, some of themchildren, from his home in

Louisiana, but he kept themlargelyoutofviewforfearofthepublic’s reaction.Slaverywas finally abolished in thecapitalcityin1862.

The roles of residenceworkersevolvedgradually.In1835, the principal gardenerwas the only person listed ina managerial role in theFederal Register. Congresscreated the official post of“steward” in 1866, when

President Andrew Johnsonhired William Slade, anAfricanAmericanwhowasapersonal messenger forPresident Abraham Lincoln,making him the first officialmanageroftheresidence.Thejob description is in manyways akin to that of themodern-day chief usher,supervising all executivemansion staff and overseeingevery public and private

event. Because Slade wasresponsible for allgovernment property in themansion he was bonded forthirty thousand dollars—anastronomical sum in thenineteenth century. Slade’ssmall office was locatedbetween two kitchens in thebasement. Ithadfreestandingcupboards full of silver andporcelain and big leathertrunks with china and

flatwaredatingbacktoJamesMonroeandAndrewJacksonthat were still being used indinner service after the CivilWar. Slade personally keptthe keys to the trunks andchecked off each piece as itwas washed and put awayafter formal dinners. TheWhite House would not seeanother African Americanchief usher until AdmiralStephenRochontookthepost

in2007.More thanacenturyafter

President Jefferson trimmedhis expendituresby replacingwhite servants with blackslaves,FranklinD.Rooseveltbrought white housekeeperHenrietta Nesbitt from HydePark to help control the firstfamily’s wild spending. Notlong after the inauguration,Nesbitt helped the first ladyreorganize the household

staff.EleanorRooseveltmadethe decision to fire all thewhite household staff (withtheexceptionofNesbitt) andkeep only the AfricanAmericans. Yet, given hergenerally outstanding recordasanadvocateofcivilrights,her reasons were surprising:“Mrs. Roosevelt and Iagreed,”Nesbittwrote in hermemoir, “that a staff solid inanyonecolorworksinbetter

understanding and maintainsa smoother-runningestablishment.”

Before this dismissal ofthe white staff, there wereseparate dining rooms forwhite and African Americanworkers. When AfricanAmerican staffersaccompanied the president tothe Roosevelts’ home inHyde Park, New York, theywerenotallowedtoeatinthe

dining room designated forthehelp,accordingtoAlonzoFields, an African Americanbutler at the time. Instead,they were told to eat in thekitchen. Because of thispractice, Fields wrote in hismemoir, “I had myreservations concerning theWhite House as an examplefortherestofthecountry.”

AS THE DECADES passed,African American stafferswould capitalize on theirprestigious positions. Eventhough they were servants,they were servants in themost important home in thenation. Lynwood Westraystarted his thirty-two-yearcareerasapart-timebutleratthe White House in 1962.Born and raised inWashington, D.C., he

remembers making just sixdollars a week working as agrocery store clerk in 1939.Nowninety-three,herecalledhis time at theWhite Houseashesatinthethree-bedroombungalow in northeastWashington that he boughtfor $13,900 in 1955—a fewyears after he and his wife,Kay, were married. Outside,four lanes of trafficwhiz by.(“People are crazy now,

driving each other off theroad!”) In his entryway,framed pictures of AbrahamLincoln and Barack Obamahangsidebyside;aMichelleObama doll sits on a sidetable.Two framedChristmascards from the Johnsons andtheCartershanginthediningroom.

WestraywasamemberofPrivate Butlers Incorporated,agroupofAfricanAmerican

White House butlers whohelped one another find jobsinprivatehomesonthenightswhen they were not busy at“the house.” They werecapitalizing on a growingneed,Westraysaid.Peopleingovernment would often callthe maître d’ at the WhiteHouse and ask for names ofbutlers to work their parties,givingthemachancetohaveworld-class service (and

bragging rights) at privateevents. So when he wasn’tworking his full-time job atthepostalservice(heworkedhis way up from clerk toforeman), or working part-time at the White House,Westray served members ofCongress, ambassadors, andother Washington powerbrokersatGeorgetowndinnerparties.

“They were tickled to

death. They would introduceyou, not as Sam, or John, orCharles,butas‘mister.’IwasMisterWestray!”

Westray says that servingas a butler has traditionallybeen considered “a blackjob.” He said his friendsdidn’trealizehowimpressivehis position was “until theyfound out that we weremaking all [that] moneyoutside!” Because of their

White House connection,Westray said, “The butlershaditmadeinthistown!”

During one of our firstinterviews,Westray’seyeslitup when his wife, Kay,walked slowly into the roomsupported by her walker,wearing bright red lipstickand a blue pantsuit. Theiraffection for each other wascontagious; they teased oneanother constantly. When

askedwhattheirsecretwastosuch a long marriage, Kaysaid: “You love a little, youcussa little, andyoupickupandyoustartalloveragain.”

Lynwood chimed in,beaming, “The first fiftyyearsarethehardest.”

Kaypassed away inMay2013,aftersixty-fiveyearsofmarriage, and now Westraysayshehardlyknowswhattodo without her. He talks

about kissing her foreheadrightbeforeshepassedaway,not with sadness but with asort of wonder. “Death is apart of living,” he says. Hekeepsalaminatedcopyofherobituary in his shirt pocketandherashesinanurnonthefireplace mantel, above herChristmas stocking, whichwas still hanging there on aspring day a year after herdeath.Buthe’sdoinghisbest

to move on. “I’m learninghow to be single. I’mcooking, washing clothes,cleaning,allof thosethingsInever did,” he says sadly.When he cooks for himself,he makes Kay’s favoriterecipes, like fried apples, toprove to his family that hecanmanage on his own. Buthe won’t even considerdating:“I’mtooold!”

For the first ten years,

LynwoodWestrayworked atthe White House part-time,supplementing the incomefromhismain jobat thepostoffice.Afterretiringfromthepostoffice in1972, the chiefusher invited him to join theregular force. “My wifedidn’twantme tobecauseofthehours.”ButtheWestrays’only child, Gloria, said thather father’s job “opened updoors for them.” She loved

telling people that her fatherworkedattheWhiteHouse—andfoundthatitaddedtoherown self-esteem. “I hadstandards that were higher,”she says now. “I couldn’t beoutbeingmischievous.”

As a teenager, Gloriasays, she once came homefrom school to find the FBIwaiting for her. “Mymotherwaslivid.ApparentlythisguythatIhadbeendating,hewas

a little older, and he wasinvolved in something thatwasn’tgoodandtheFBIwasquestioning me, and I waslike, ‘I honestly don’t knowanything.’Youcouldimaginewhen my dad came home.”She promised her father thatshewouldnever see themanagain; his reputation—andtheir family’s livelihood—wereatstake.

She said she was often

asleep when her father camehome from work, but shewould press him the nextmorning at breakfast aboutthe glamorous dinner he hadserved the night before.Usually, the most she couldgetoutofhimwasthemenu.

ThoughWestray kept hissecrets throughouthis career,as he aged, he began sharinghis stories. During oneinterview,hewenttoacloset

to retrieve mementoes,including photos of himselfserving drinks at a 1970picnic on the South Lawn, aphoto of him with ReverendBillyGrahamafteroneofhisSundayprayersessionsattheWhite House, and even ajewelry box containing asmall piece of hardenedvanilla cake from TriciaNixon’swedding.

Westray happily recalls

one night in 1976 whensomething extraordinaryhappened.IttookplaceintheRed Room, with its ornatecarved furniture and wallslined with gold-embroideredscarlet twill satin, nestledbetween the Blue Room andtheStateDiningRoomontheState Floor. On the night inquestion, Queen Elizabeth IIandPrincePhilipwereguestsat theWhite House, there to

celebrate the bicentennial ofthe American Revolution.Westray, dressed in histuxedo uniform, and hisfriend and frequent workingpartner Sam Washington,happened upon Prince Philipsitting alone late at night intheRedRoom.

“Your Majesty, wouldyou care for a cocktail?”Westray asked, presenting atrayofcocktailstotheprince.

“I’ll take one . . . only ifyou let me serve it,” Philipreplied.

Westray glanced atWashington. “He couldn’tbelieve it. No one had everasked us that before.”Westray and Washingtonaccepted the invitation,pulling up chairs, in shock,and allowing him to servethem a drink. He can’tremember what they talked

aboutorwhattheydrank,butthat night the Duke ofEdinburgh wanted to feelnormal,ifonlybriefly.

“He wanted to be one oftheboys, that’sall.”Westraypaused for amoment. “Iwasserved by royalty. It blowsyourmind.”

In 1994, more than threedecades after he first walkedthrough the mansion’simposingwrought-iron gates,

Westray retired from theWhiteHouse.Hemighthavestayed longer, but afterlearning he needed triplebypass surgery, he did whathe thought was best for thedignity of the executiveresidence and for the stafferswho make it tick: “I wouldhave been a disgrace to themen serving in the WhiteHouse if I dropped a platteron someone,” he said. “It

wouldbebetterformenottobethere.”

WESTRAY WASN’T THE onlybutler to see a less-than-formal side of the Duke ofEdinburgh. Alonzo Fields,who served as a butler andmaîtred’from1931to1953,describeda similar encountera quarter century earlier. Ithappened while he was

serving the royal couple andtheir entourage breakfast atBlair House, where mostforeigndignitariesstay.Afterthen-Princess Elizabeth andher staffwere seated, no onewaited for her husband’sarrival to start eating. Afterthe royal party had “nearlyfinished their melon,” thedukerushedin,saying,“‘I’mafraidIamalittlelate.’”

“He was in his

shirtsleeves with his collaropen and he grabbed a seatbefore anyone could seathim,” Fields, who died in1994,recalledinhismemoir.“The princess did not stopeating her melon, althoughthe others stood while theduke was taking a seat.Seeing the duke there in hisshirtsleeves with his collaropengavemethefeelingthatthis was the behavior of a

commoner and not what youwould expect from royalty.And I admired his audacity,for I knowwhat a blasting Iwouldhavegot if Ihadbeenvisitingwithmywifeandhadcome out in myshirtsleeves. . . . It waspleasing to find the duke tobe a human being who, nodoubt, felt more comfortableinhisshirtsleeves.”

Prince Philip wasn’t the

only member of the royalfamily who surprised theWhite House staff with anendearing moment ofinformality. Once QueenElizabethIIshockedthestaffby undressing herself after astatedinner—and leavingherdiamond tiara, a heftydiamond necklace, and otherpriceless jewels strewn abouttheroom.

AGENERATION YOUNGER thanFields, Herman Thompsonwas destined to work at theWhite House. Though heworked full days as asupervisorattheSmithsonianPrinting Office, his fatherworked at “the house” as apart-time butler (and one ofthe founders of PrivateButlers Incorporated) and hisuncle worked there as ahouseman. He was friends

with Maître d’ CharlesFicklin, and with EugeneAllen, who lived nearby. Heeven used to get his hair cutby Preston Bruce, whoworked as a barber when hewasn’tescortingdignitariestomeet the president. “All ofthemknewmebeforeIknewmyself,” Thompson says ofthe close-knit group ofAfricanAmericanbutlers.

The staff watched each

other’sbacks,bothpersonallyand professionally,Thompson recalls.“Everybody wanted tosupport Charles, then it wasJohn, then Eugene,” he said.“The main objective was tohelp out the maître d’,becausewe had blackmaîtred’s and you wanted to makesure they looked good.” Inturn, the maître d’s kept aRolodex of reliable part-time

butlers, chosen because theyknew how to do everythingfromsettingatableflawlesslyto making a world-classmartini.

“Youdidn’thavetoteachthem anything, you didn’thavetotellthemwhattodo,”said Thompson, who startedworking at the White Housein1960andleftattheendofPresident George H. W.Bush’s term. Now seventy-

four, Thompson still sets thefamily table for dinner everynight for his wife of morethanfiftyyears.

At state dinnersThompson was in charge ofserving wine—with adifferent vintage selected toaccompany each new course.He had to make sure eachbottlewasopenand ready topour when the food wasserved. “That might sound

like something simple,” hesaid, but not when you hadtenpeopletoatable“andyouhad to keep that goingthroughout the night.”Christmas parties, he recalls,were especially difficult—inpart because it fell to him tocarveahugesteamshiproundroast.

But Thompson alwaysconsideredthejobaprivilege,and one that could disappear

in an instant. If a butlerchatted too much with theguests—after all, you neverknew who you were talkingto—or scraped the plates tooloudly in the adjoiningpantry, he might never beasked back. Guests “weresupposedtobegiventhebestservice that you could get intheUnitedStates,”Thompsonsaid. “There were peoplefrom all over the world

watching.”

EVENMARY PRINCE couldn’tbelieve how her luck hadchanged. Less than a yearafter being handed a lifesentence for killing aman inthe small town of Lumpkin,Georgia, the AfricanAmericaninmate,whowasinher midtwenties, was tradingher Georgia penitentiary cell

for the governor’s mansion,where she would beresponsiblefortakingcareofGovernor Jimmy Carter’sthree-year-old daughter,Amy.

“When I first got the callto go to the governor’smansion, I didn’t knowwhatto expect,”Mary Prince toldme.“AfterIwentthere,Amyand I—we hit it off the veryfirstday.Imeanwereallyhit

itofftheveryfirstday.Fromthat day on, it was me andAmy.”

Prince was part of aprison trustee program thatassigns prisoners to work atthe governor’s mansion indifferent capacities: some doyard work, others cook, andsome even take care of thefamily’s children. Prince hadno idea at the time that herclose ties with Amy would

catapult her to an evenmorebizarre reality: four yearsliving and working inAmerica’s most famoushouse.

Prince’s troubles hadbegunonenightinApril1970when her cousin got into afightwithamanandanotherwoman outside a bar.According toPrince,shewastrying to wrestle the gunaway from them when it

accidentally went off. Butanother eyewitness said thatPrince grabbed the gun anddeliberatelykilledthemanindefenseof her cousin.Princestands by her innocence. “Iwasinthewrongplaceatthewrong time,” she insists. “Igot caught up in a situationthat I did not understand. Ittooksixyearsandtenmonthsforthemtoclearmyname.”

At the time, Prince was

ill-served by the justicesystem. She met her court-appointed attorney for thefirst time when she enteredthe courtroom for her trial.He advised her that if shepledguilty, hewouldgetheroffwith a light sentence, butthe plan didn’t work. MaryFitzpatrick,asshewasknownat the time,was sentenced tolife inprison.(Shetookbackher maiden name in 1979

after officially separatingfromherhusband.)

Yet before the year 1970had come to an end, Princehad been selected byRosalynn Carter to care forherdaughteratthegovernor’smansion. Mrs. Carter wasconvinced that the youngwoman had been unjustlyconvicted. “She was totallyinnocent,” Rosalynn Cartersays. Forever loyal to their

daughter’snanny, theCartershave practically adopted heras amember of their family.“She had nothing to do withit,” Rosalynn said firmly,sounding agitated by thequestiondecadeslater.

When Jimmy Carter wonthe presidential election in1976, Prince’s work releasewas terminated and she wassentbacktoprison—hergoodluck seemingly coming to an

end. ButMrs. Carter was soconfident in Prince’sinnocence that she wrote tothe parole board and securedher a reprieve so thatAmy’sbelovednannycouldworkforthem at the White House.Even more remarkably, thepresident had himselfdesignated as Prince’s paroleofficer. Ultimately, after areexamination of her case,Prince was granted a full

pardon.Theformerfirstlady,who

has been by her husband’ssideashe’spursuedsomanyhumanitarian projects duringAmerica’s longest post-presidency, says that Princewasconvictedbecauseofherskin color. “It was toughdays, itwas tough at home,”she said. When PresidentHarry Truman desegregatedthearmed forces, she recalls,

“we came home to thedesegregated South”—butracism was by no meansobliterated. “You just didn’tmentiontheraceissue.Itwaseasy to see why Mary waspicked up.” President Carter,who took heat for thedecisiontobringPrincetotheWhiteHouse,agreedwithhiswife’sassessment.“Herswasa story all too commonamongthepoorandtheblack

before some of the legalreformswereimposedonournation,” the president wroteinoneofhismemoirs.

During her first sixmonthsasthecountry’smostfamous nanny, Prince saidshe got about fifty letters aday,andpeoplepretendingtobelong-lostrelativescalledtoplead with her to ask thepresident for favors. “I wasworldwide news,” she said,

notsoundingtooupsetbyherstardom at the time. “Goingfrom prison to the WhiteHouse.” But the presscouldn’t believe that theCarterswouldletaconvictedmurderer take care of theirlittle girl, and not all theattention was kind: the storygot so much traction thatSaturday Night Live evendevoted a skit to it, withactress Sissy Spacek playing

a young Amy Carter andcomedian Garrett Morris indragplayingMary.

The media firestormcouldn’t have been easy, butPrince took solace in herfaith. “I’m a Christian and Iprayedabouteverything,”shetoldme.“IaskedGodifIdidanything wrong to please letme know and forgive me.And I guess that’s why thegood Lord blessed me with

thegood life that Ihad sincethen.Itwasarealblessingfora prison inmate to go to thegovernor’s mansion and getclosetothefamily.”

Even within the WhiteHouse,thingsweren’talwayseasy. Prince had a hard timemaking friends with theresidence staff, who viewedher as an outsider—and onewith a controversial past.Some of them resented her

because she was brought inby the president and got tolive inherownapartmentonthe third floor. Others,evidently,enviedherpositionof power: if Prince decidedshe wanted to cook aSouthern-style dinner for thefirst family, she could sendall the cooks home at amoment’s notice. She didn’thave to play by anyone’srules as long as she kept the

Carters happy. And theylovedher.Oneeveningwhenshewaswalking by the poolonthesouthsideoftheWestWing,shehappeneduponthefirst lady doing laps. “Comeon in!” Mrs. Carter shouted.Prince wasn’t in a bathingsuit. “Just dive in in youruniform!” the first lady said,laughing. So she kicked offhershoesandjumpedintothepool in her starched white

nanny uniform and showedthe first lady what she hadlearned in her swimmingclass.(Amylovedtoswimsoshe started taking lessonsherself.) Prince says thatevening,“justmeandthefirstlady together out thereswimming,” is her favoritememory of her time in theWhiteHouse.

But rumors flewbackstairs and some former

staffers even believed shewasguiltyofmurder.“That’sagoodwaytogetridofyourhusband,” one worker joked,unaware that she’d neverbeen accused of killing herhusband.

Prince paints a differentpicture of her time in theresidence and says that theluxuriesoflivingintheWhiteHouseneverfazedher.“Noneof that was exciting to me.”

Instead she focused on herwork,andongettingher twosons settled after relocatingthem from Atlanta to anapartment in Suitland,Maryland, a working-classsuburbofWashington.Whenshe was done taking care ofAmyat night she took a taxito see her boys, who werelooked after by her sisterduring the day. She’d helpthem with their homework,

make sure their schoolclotheswereready,andtakeataxibacktotheWhiteHouselateatnightsothatshecouldbe up early with Amy thenext morning. She neverasked the Carters if her sonscould move in, even thoughshemissedherboysterribly.

“I never thought it wasappropriate for me to havemyfamilylivingintheWhiteHouse under their roof. That

wasmyjob.Iwasabletopayfor them to be close to meand have their own place.”She valued the boundarybetweenherworklifeandherlife at home with her boys.When she was throughworking, she says, “I couldalwaysgohometothem.”

She never thought racewas much of an issue in theWhite House until an ushercame to her with a message

that made her furious. “Mykids are always dressedneatly,” she says, “because Imade sure of it.” But one ofher sons worked at aGeorgetown tennis club, andsometimes when he visitedPrinceattheWhiteHousehewouldarrivestillwearinghistennis shorts. One day, anusherapproachedher:“Mary,I got a phone call that yourkids were coming in here

withraggedyclotheson,”theusher told her. “But don’tworry about it. It’s gossip.I’ve never seen those kidscome here not dressedneatly.”

To Prince, it was a dualinsult: calling her AfricanAmerican children unkempt,and implying that shewasn’tdoing her job as a parent. “Iguess they thought I wasdirt,” she said. She never

found out who it was thatlodged the mean-spiritedcomplaint. “I think it wassomebody who was justprejudiced against the ideathat President Carter got meoutofprisonandbroughtmetotheWhiteHouse.”

But Prince rose above itall, finishing her time at theWhiteHousewithdignityandmaintaining her warmrelationship with the family

that saved her from prison.Today she lives just threeblocksawayfromtheCartersin Plains, Georgia; she stillsees them almost every daywhen they’re in town—andtakes care of theirgrandchildren.

USHER NELSON PIERCE knewhehadaproblem—andithadtobefixedimmediately.

When he first got to theUsher’s Office as a youngman, in 1961, he wasresponsible for bringingresidencestaffpersonnelfilesup to date. This meantlookingatwhateveryworkerwas paid. “I was amazed atthe salaries,” he said. TheAfrican American staff weremakingsignificantlylessthantheirwhitecolleagues.

The timing of the

revelationwas terrible. Inhisfirst State of the Unionaddress, President Johnsondeclared “an unconditionalwar on poverty,” at a timewhen the poverty line wasacceptedtobearound$3,000a year or less (around$23,550 in today’s dollars).“Ourjointfederal–localeffortmust pursue poverty, pursueit wherever it exists—in cityslums and small towns, in

sharecropper shacks or inmigrant worker camps, onIndian Reservations, amongwhites as well as Negroes,among the young as well asthe aged, in the boomtownsand in the depressed areas,”the president said in hisJanuary 8, 1964, addressbefore a joint session ofCongress.

It turns out that povertyexisted right under the

president’s nose.The higher-paying jobs at the WhiteHouse—ushers, florists,executive chefs, headhousekeepers,carpenters,andplumbers—were viewed asmore professional, and weregiven to white workers. Thetraditionaldomesticjobs,likebutlersandmaids,werefilledmostlybyAfricanAmericansandpaidfarless.(Asayoungusher, Pierce was making

almost six thousanddollarsayear, twice as much as theunderpaid new hires.)Everyone on staff was paidless than they would havebeen at an equivalent job intheprivatesector,butoverallthe white staffers fared farbetter.

OnJanuary9,Pierce toldChief Usher J. B. West thatthey needed to talk. Thepresident had hired two new

people who fell below thepoverty line. “Before thepress finds out that we havepoverty casesworking in theWhite House,” Pierce saidurgently, “you better up thesalary of the two newmaidswe just hired at $2,900 ayear.”

West knew the salaries—in fact, he’d hired the maidshimself—but it hadn’toccurred to him that the

media could seize upon thisinformation to label thepresident a hypocrite. Westraisedthetwomaids’salariesimmediately.

It wasn’t lost on Piercethat it tookapublic relationsscare to force West’s hand.“The residence staff, asdedicated as they were toevery president that theyworkedfor,itwasamazingtome that they weren’t paid

more than what they werepaid.”

Curator Betty Monkmanwouldn’thavebeensurprisedby the pay discrepancy.Almost as soon as she cameonboard,in1967,sherecalls,shesensedanundercurrentofracism—“this Southernthing,”shecalledit—beneaththe surface bonhomie of theWhite House. For example,she could not believe that

everyone called DoormanPreston Bruce by his lastname. “He was a verydistinguished man, he had agreat presence about him,”she said. “When I first camethere everybody would callhim‘Bruce,’soIjustthought‘Bruce’ was a first name.Then,afterawhile,Irealizedit was his last name. I justwas appalled that I had beencallinghimthat.”

STOREROOM MANAGER BILLHamilton insists that he wastheonewho led the revolt toget equal pay for theunderpaid African Americanstaff. That runs contrary totheimpressioncreatedbyLeeDaniels’TheButler, the filmloosely based on ButlerEugene Allen’s life, whichshows the title charactergoing into the head Usher’s

Officedemandingaraise.Bymostaccounts,Allenwastooshy and too respectful of theinstitutional hierarchy to besobrazen.

Hamilton, however, isneither. He was born eightblocksfromtheWhiteHouse.Hismotherstayedathometoraise her ten children. Afterliving on Capitol Hill, shetoldhim,sheneverwantedtolive in awhite neighborhood

again. Hamilton was justtwenty years old when hestartedasahouseman,duringthe Eisenhoweradministration. TheEisenhowers ran the WhiteHouse like a militaryoperation. He remembersvacuuming after the toursended for the day, trying toerase any footprints from therugs before MamieEisenhower could see them.

Whenaguestwalkedthroughthe Ground Floor, thehouseman would turn thevacuumoff and turnhis facetoward the wall. (WhenPresident Kennedy saw theworkers behaving this way,he asked a staffer, “What’swrongwiththem?”)Hamiltonworked nine to five in thestoreroom to support hisseven children (at one pointfour of themwere in college

at thesametime), thendrovea cab afterwork until eleveno’clock at night. “I workedlike a dog,” he said. “But IalwaysmadesureIwashomefortheweekends.”

Whenever a newpresident takes office,Hamilton says, his politicaladvisers tend to treat theresidence staff with disdain.“The West Wing staff justthinktheyarebetterthanyou.

Then they learn their lessonafter they get there: it takesallofus to run this showforthe president.” But Hamiltonresented being mistreated,and he had to find a way toexpresshisfrustration.

“I’ll never forget whenwe went up to see J. B.West,” Hamilton recalled athis home in a quiet, middle-class retirement communityin Ashburn, Virginia, about

an hour outside Washington,D.C. He made his move inthe late 1960s, around thetime of Martin Luther KingJr.’s assassination and thedays of riots that followed.Washington was on fire asangry protestors, enraged byKing’s murder and theinequality they saw aroundthem, tossed Molotovcocktails and looted stores.Some came within just two

blocksoftheWhiteHouse.Insidethegates,Hamilton

was furious. Everyone elseseemed to be getting a raise,he said, except for theAfrican Americans on staff.Inspired by the civil rightsprotestors, he gathered ahandful of his fellowhousemen—the workers incharge of vacuuming andheavy-duty cleaning—andmadeanannouncement.

“They’re having a statedinner tonight and we’re notworking.”

Therewasalongpauseashiscolleaguesmulleditover.They had already agreed tohelp that evening. (Staffersfromthedifferentshopswereoften asked to help out atevents, as they had alreadybeen cleared throughsecurity.)

“Whatdoyoumeanwe’re

notworking?We’regoing tolose our jobs,” one of themsaid.

“This is what I’m tryingto tellyouall. Ifweall learnto stick together, there’snothingtheycando.”

“They can’t bringsomebodyinoffthestreet”towork the event, he argued,because they wouldn’t haveclearance.

Hamilton finally

convincedhiscoworkers,andtogether they went to seeChiefUsherJ.B.West.

West was furious. “Areyou the spokesman for thegroup?”heaskedHamilton.

“You could say that,” hereplied.

West was as “red as abeet,”Hamiltonremembered,laughing.Foronce,hehadhisbossoverabarrel.

“Youexpectmetoputon

thatlittleblackbowtie,whiteshirt, and suit? If somebodydrops something I’ll go pickitup?”Westaskedthegroup.

Hamilton did not waver:“Sir, I don’t give a damnwhat you do when I leavehere.”

ContrarytotheportraitinThe Butler, it wasn’t thebutlers who questioned thesalary discrepancies;according to Hamilton, they

“didn’tmake anywaves.” Infact, Hamilton wasdisappointed that they didn’tjoin him—it was the butlerswho had the real poweramongtheWhiteHousestaffbecause they worked in theclosest proximity to the firstfamily. If they got up thecourage to tell the presidentand the first lady that theywere being underpaid,Hamiltonwassuresomething

would be done to correct it.But not only did the butlersrefuse to join him in protest,some were angry at him forpotentially putting their ownjobsatrisk.

“We were not active inthe civil rights movement.Our role was to serve thepresident and his family.Period,” said former ButlerandMaîtred’GeorgeHannie.In 1963, Hamilton said he

was the only residenceworker who went to hearMartin Luther King Jr.deliverhis famous “IHaveaDream”speechattheLincolnMemorial during the MarchonWashington.Hedescribesthe experience as “thrilling.”But by following hisconscience and demandingaction years later he wasangering his colleagues. Hesays, “I had more of my

people mad with me” fordemandingaraise.“ButIhadkidstotakecareof.I’mgoingto make sure my kids aregoingtobebetterthanwhatIam. I didn’t care what ittakes,itwasgoingtohappen.Iwenthomeandtoldmywifeone day, ‘I’m tired of thesepeople [white managementpaying African Americansless]. Imightnothavea job,but from now on I’m taking

no stuff from nobody downthere.’”

When Hamilton and hisfellow residence workersfinally stood up, however,justice prevailed. Two daysafter they sat out that statedinner, the black staffmembers got their raise.Hamilton thinks it wasbecauseJ.B.Westcouldseethe writing on the wallsbeyondtheWhiteHouse.“He

knew, with everything goingonontheoutside,hecouldn’tgetoutofit.IknewIhadhimwhen I had him. Wasn’t nodoubtinmymind.”

Even though he’s stillangry about the blatantracism at the White House,Hamilton talks about hisfifty-fiveyearsservingelevenpresidents with a sense ofawe.“WhenIwalkedintotheWhite House for my

interview, it felt like the firstday of my life,” he said. Hehad never been to theWhiteHouse,evenforapublictour.“Ijustcouldn’tbelieveit,andmy parents couldn’t believeit.Itjustdoesn’thappen!”

EUGENE ALLENWAS certainlymore careful about rockingtheboatthanBillHamilton.

When Allen’s only son,

Charles, was in Vietnam, hedreaded the prospect offighting on the ground. “Theonly time I ever asked myfather to do me a WhiteHouse favor was when Iasked him to ask PresidentJohnson to get me out ofthis,”herecalls.

Inhisletterhebeggedhisfather out of sheerdesperation: “Go to theman,get me out of the infantry. I

will stay in thewar, but justget me out of the infantry.We’re walking ten to twentymiles a day. I’m starving todeath.” Charles added: “I’mnot a physical coward, Dad,but can you see if Mr.Johnson can get me in anaviationunit?”

WhenCharlesheardbackfromhisfather,itwasnottheresponse he was hoping for.“Hewroteme back and said

somethingtotheeffectthatifthe Kennedys were still inpowerhethoughthecoulddosomething.IfBobbywasstillaround.” But the JohnsonWhite House was a differentstory. “I don’t know thesepeople that well,” he said.“So you’re going to have tostickitout.”

WHITE HOUSE BUTLERS,

maids, pot washers, andhousemenwereconsideredtohave good, solid jobs inWashington’s AfricanAmerican neighborhoods inthe 1960s and 1970s. “Therewas always a sense ofelegance, a sense ofrecognizing that this is aspecial occupation,” LonnieBunchsaid.Heattributed thesense of pride andprofessionalism in these

trades to the fact that manyfamilies passed the work onfrom generation togeneration: “The fatherteaches the son who teachesthegrandson.”

For generations of blackAmericans,ajobattheWhiteHouse was more than just ajob. “They recognized thattheir servicewas aboutmorethan them. They really feltthat they were carrying a

double burden. They had toworkhard tokeep their jobs,[but] theywere also carrying[certain] expectations andattitudes toward their race.They wanted to make surethat they were at the top oftheirgame.”

The fact that the WhiteHouse butlers were mostlyAfrican Americanssometimes raised questions.Usher Chris Emery

remembers when Sovietpolitical leader MikhailGorbachev made his historicvisit to the White House in1987 and they had toscrambleatthelastminutetoprotect the twoworld leadersfrom a sudden downpour ontheSouthLawn.

“[Chief Usher] GaryWalters saw all the butlersstandingtherewithumbrellasand said, ‘I can’t have all

these African Americansholding umbrellas for theseworld leaders. It will lookterrible.’” So Walters askedEmery and another whiteusher to go outside and holdumbrellas over Reagan andGorbachev so that theWhiteHouse would not look like“the last plantation,” asEmeryputit.

Butler HermanThompson, a member of the

first fully integrated highschool class inWashington’spublic schools, was on thefront lines of desegregation.The discrimination andoutright hatred he saw in hiswhite classmates made him“veryrebelliousasaperson,”hesaidrecentlyoverlunchata downtown Washingtonrestaurantnotfarfromwherehe grew up. “It was notpleasant.”

Thompson saw the samekind of racism in the WhiteHouse that he did in the restof the city, and he tried tofight it, but moresurreptitiously than BillHamilton. “Many times,when African Americanpeople were there as guests,wewouldmake it a point tomake sure that they werelooked after, that theywouldhave the same type of

attention as everyone elsehad,” he said. As late as theNixon administration, butlersstill wore tails for statedinners. As more blackmusicians like DukeEllington and theTemptations started playingattheWhiteHouse,however,and more African Americanguests appeared, the butlersweretoldtostopwearingtailsto avoid exacerbating the

appearanceofa socialdividebetween the workers and theguests.

“We used to joke thatthey changed the tailsbecause the world waschanging. A lot of timespeople who would come in,theywouldn’t knowwho thebutlers were and who theguests were.” He chuckled.“You had some verydistinguished-looking

gentlemenworking there andpeople would makepredecisions about who waswho.”Thompsonsaidhewasmistaken for a guest a fewtimes.

Even though he had seenthings slowly improve, hewas shocked when he metAdmiralStephenRochon,thenew chief usher, at EugeneAllen’sfuneral.“Youfigureditwouldbeacolddayinhell

before any black personwouldgetthejob!”

Rochon,whowasbornin1950, grew up in NewOrleans at a time when 10percent of Americans stillcouldn’t eat at Woolworth’scounters. He still vividlyremembers an incident thatoccurred when he wasthirteen, when a red 1957Chevrolet with a bigConfederate flag in its back

window pulled up to himwhile he was walking to aBoy Scout meeting. The carwas full of white teenagerswho shouted “nigger” andthrew a Coke bottle at him.Because of that painfulexperience, he said, he toldhis White House staff hewould always listen to theirconcerns aboutdiscrimination.“Ididn’twantsomeoneelsetohurt theway

Idid.”He did occasionally hear

charges of racism. The onlyAfricanAmericanworkinginone of the shops came toRochononedayandtoldhimhe thought he was beingtalkeddowntobecauseofhisskin color. Rochonimmediately got the man’ssupervisor in his office andtold him he wouldn’t standfor it. “Word travels fast at

theWhiteHouse,”hesaid.“Ifit was with one department,believeme,everydepartmentknewaboutit.”

There’s a divide betweenworkers like Bill HamiltonandHermanThompson,whosawclearracismattheWhiteHouse and felt compelled tocombat it,andEugeneAllen,LynwoodWestray,andJamesRamsey, who made do withthewaythingswere.

Butler Alvie Paschall,nowninety-threeyearsold,isa lot likehisfriendLynwoodWestray. He was just fouryears old when he startedpicking cotton inHenderson,North Carolina. He and hissix brothers and sistersworked straight through theGreatDepression,andhesayshisparents taught them toberespectful of authority.Reluctant to share toomuch,

he represents an oldergeneration of AfricanAmericans who were taughtnot to be “mouthy,” he says,because that could cost themtheirjobs.“You’rethereforaparticular thing: you’re thereto serve. Your job comesfirst.”

Dressed nattily insuspenders and a cream-colored silk tie,Paschall toldmethathecarriedthatlesson

with him all the way to theWhite House, where hestarted his career during theTrumanadministration.Whentherewasafight,oraprivateconversation he knew hewasn’t supposed to hear, hehadtodecidequicklywhetherto leave the room discreetlyorstayandpretendhehadn’tnoticed. “I did all of thosethings!”Helaughed.

Westray is incredibly

forgiving. The segregationistAlabama governor GeorgeWallace, whose “segregationnow, segregation tomorrow,segregation forever” speechwas a black mark on thepolitics of the 1960s, soughttoredeemhimselfintheeyesofthepublicaftersurvivinga1972 assassination attempt.Westray recalls that he alsotriedprivatelytowinovertheAfrican American residence

staff during visits to theWhite House. “After GeorgeWallace got shot you wouldthink he was one of ourbuddies,” Westray said,shakinghishead.“Everytimehe’dcomedowntotheWhiteHouse,thefirstthinghe’ddowas come back and want tobe back there with us, backthere in theButler’s Pantry.”The assassination attempt“changed him completely,”

Westray said. “The Lordworks inmysteriousways. Ittookabullettostraightenhimout.”

Instead of snubbingWallace, the AfricanAmerican butlers sat aroundand joked with him. It wasnot about holdinggrudgesorabout forgetting pastoffenses, it was about doingtheir jobs—which sometimesmeantbitingtheirtongues.

Butler and Maître d’EugeneAllen’s son, Charles,said that his fatherexperienced more racism atthe high-end KenwoodCountry Club in Bethesda,Maryland, outsideWashington, D.C., where heshined members’ golf shoes,thanheeverdidat theWhiteHouse. Not because theracism didn’t exist, butbecausenoonewantedtoget

on the bad side of thepresident.

“People are going to becareful about the way theytreat you because of thewaythese first families feel aboutthese people. You can seeyourself sailing out of thegateifyou’redisrespectful.”

LynwoodWestrayagrees.The White House “was oneplace where you didn’t haveall that foolishness,”he says.

“Even though we were allblack butlers, people thoughtmore of us because thereweall were meeting kings andqueens.”

Outside theWhite Housewas a different matter.Westray loves to recount astory about his old friendArmstead Barnett, whoworked and lived in theWhite House when FranklinRoosevelt was president.

“One day he caught a cab togohomeandhetoldtheguy,‘Take me to 1600PennsylvaniaAvenue.’Itwasa white cabdriver and hedidn’t want to take him.‘TherearenoblackslivingattheWhite House,’ the drivertold him.But he finally tookhim,andwhentheygottothegate Armstead got out to goin, everybody knew him, hedidn’t evenhave to showhis

identification.” Westraysmiled.“Whenhewentinthegateanddidn’tcomeout,thecabdriver was still sittingthere wondering, ‘Where inthehellisthatguygoing?’”

PresidentKennedyshareda crowning moment of thecivilrightserawithDoormanPreston Bruce. Less thanthree months before hisassassination,KennedyaskedBrucetojoinhiminthethird-

floor Solarium and listen tothe throngs of peoplegathering to hear MartinLuther King Jr.’s historicspeech at the LincolnMemorial. They could hearthe crowd singing the civilrights anthem, “We ShallOvercome,” as they stoodtheretogether—Brucethesonof a sharecropper andKennedy the scion ofAmerica’s royal family. The

president gripped thewindowsill so hard that hisknuckles turned white. “Oh,Bruce”—he turned to hisfriend—“I wish I were outtherewiththem!”

The respectKennedy hadfor the African Americanresidence workers wasreturned.EugeneAllennevermissed a day of work inthirty-four years and nevercomplained about his

coworkers or his bosses, thepresident and first lady. Hisson, Charles, said the onlytime he ever saw his fathercrywaswhenhewasputtinghiscoatontogobacktoworkat the White House afterKennedy was assassinated.“It depressed him terribly atthat moment,” Allen saidthoughtfully of his father.“But, to use militaryterminology,hewasasoldier.

You buck up. The onlytragedythathedidn’trecoverfrom was when my motherpassed. He couldn’t pullhimselfbackupfromthat.”

Allen, who passed awayin 2010, was the last personwhowouldhaveeverwantedamoviemade about his life.Byallaccountshewasashyand gentle man who wouldnever have agreed to talk tothe media were it not for

prodding from Helene, hiswife of sixty-five years. Shesaid she wanted people torecognizeEugene’sservicetothecountry.

“When he walked in thatdoor, he never complainedabouthiscoworkers,henevertalkedabouttheprincipalsheworked for inabadway.Hekept that stuff close to hisvest. That was ourlivelihood.”

James Ramsey wasanotherresidenceworkerwhoshared that attitude.He grewupworking in tobacco fieldsinNorthCarolina,sometimeshelping to serve lunch in hishigh school cafeteria “just togive me a plate of food toeat.”He came far in life andwas grateful for theopportunity to work in “thehouse.”Ramseysaidhehatedto hear stories of butlers

going directly to the chiefusher to complain aboutworking conditions or theirpeers. “We didn’t have noproblem. All of us stucktogether.”

Healsosaidthatheneversaw any racism, or he chosetoriseaboveit.“Peoplehavebeen very nice to me sinceI’vebeencomingup.BecauseI used to do the part-timecatering and meet a lot of

people. Segregation?” heasks.“It’soverwith—done.”

One thing that may havehelped Ramsey weather theindignitiesofsegregationwashis healthy sense of humor.Chef Frank Ruta remembersRamsey joking openly aboutrace,pokinghisheadintothesecond-floor family kitchento ask Ruta, who is white,how he wanted his coffee:“Do you want it like me, or

doyouwantitlikeyou?”Yet James Ramsey

conducted himselfwith prideand dignity, and herecognized the momentouschangethat the2008electionbrought to theWhite House.Whatwasitliketobeablackman working for the firstAfrican American firstfamily?

“It was beautiful. It wasbeautiful.”

ZEPHYR WRIGHT WAS truly apart of the Johnson family.Hired by Lady Bird Johnsonwhen she was still a homeeconomicsstudentataTexascollege, she cooked for theJohnsons for twenty-sevenyears in Texas and inWashington,D.C.,where theJohnsons brought her to livewith them at the WhiteHouse.

Astheydrovethroughthesegregated South on theirway to Washington, LadyBirdstoppedthecaratahoteltolookforaplacetostaythenight.SherefusedtostayinahotelifZephyrcouldnotalsostaythere.

“Do you have rooms fortonight?”LadyBird asked atonehotel.

“Yes,wehaveaplaceforyou,” the woman behind the

desktoldher.“Well, I have these other

two people,” Lady Birdreplied, gesturing towardZephyr and another AfricanAmericanwhoworkedfortheJohnsons.

“No. We work ’em butwe don’t sleep ’em,” thewomanreplied.

LadyBirdwas disgusted.“That’s a nasty way to be,”shesaidoverher shoulderas

shestormedout.After that humiliation,

Wright wouldn’t drive backtoTexasuntil adecade later.The journey was one factorthat informed the presidentand the first lady’s zeal forcivil rights legislation. AfterPresidentJohnsonpushedtheCivil Rights Act thatoverturned so-called JimCrow laws throughCongressin 1964, Wright agreed to

visit the statewhere shewasborn. “It’s very differentnow,” Johnson reassuredher.“You can go any place youwant togo;youcanstopanyplaceyouwant tostop.”LBJwas proud that the historiclegislation that hespearheaded would have adirect impact on his friend’slife.

JohnsonlookedtoZephyrWrightasakindofsounding

boardforhiseffortsonbehalfofcivilrights.Duringhisvicepresidency, he asked her forher feelings about MartinLuther King Jr.’s March onWashington. As president,whenheappointedThurgoodMarshall as the first AfricanAmerican Supreme Courtjustice, he rushed to tellWright the news. Johnsonwas persistently insecureabout whether African

Americans appreciated thereforms he enacted on theirbehalf, and sometimescomplained to Wright aboutit:“Ican’tseehowtheycan’tseewhat I’mtrying todoforthem.”Sincehisdeath, ithasbeen alleged that Johnsonusedthewordniggerevenashe fought to pass civil rightslegislation.OneJohnsonaidetoldmethatthepresidentdiduse the racial slur when he

wasexpressinghisfrustrationwith certain AfricanAmerican civil rights leaderswho wanted bolder reforms.“They were just being sowretched, making it harderfor him,” the aide said. Forsome, incremental changewasnotenough.

One frequent WhiteHouseguestofJohnson’swasGeorgia senator RichardRussell, a mentor of

Johnson’s in the Senate butalsoaleadingopponentofthecivil rights movement. Atfirst, Zephyr Wright knewhimonlyasavisitor.“Hewasa very nice person” behindcloseddoors,shesaid.Asthecivil rights battle played outin public, however, she sawRussell more clearly. “WhenI read about and heard aboutthe things he was doing andsayinginCongress,thenIgot

a different feeling abouthim.” But she never let herfeelingsshow.“Ifelt,‘HereIam; I’mworking forLyndonB. Johnson. These are hisfriends. I must accept themthe way they are because heaccepts them. There isnothing else I can do aboutit.’”

Many of those whoworked closely with theJohnsonshadno idea thathe

would be announcing hisdecision not to seekreelection on the night ofMarch 31, 1968. SocialSecretary Bess Abell foundout when she turned on theTV.Wrightwasathometoo,andshecriedwhensheheardher longtime boss say hewould be leaving the WhiteHouse. She knew this wouldmarktheendofhertimewiththe Johnsons: Washington

washometohernow,andshewantedtostay.

Wright admired Johnson,both for his civil rightsreforms and for the sheereffort it took to push themthrough Congress. “He hadalways been such a fighter,”she said. Politics was his“whole life,” she recognized,and she was convinced thathegave it upbecausehe felthis presidency’s greatest

accomplishments were beingovershadowed by thealbatrossofVietnam.

Johnson’s frustrationswere no secret among theresidence workers. Once,around the time of hisannouncement, Dog Keeperand Electrician TraphesBryant walked into a roomjust as Johnson was railingaboutthewar.“Theyshotmedown. The only difference

between the KennedyassassinationandmineisthatIamstillaliveandfeelingit,”helamented.

To Wright, Johnsonseemed at peace with hisdecisiontoleaveWashington.“Atlastwearegoinghome,”he said to Wright the dayafterhisannouncement.“Areyougoingwithus?”

“No, I’m staying here,”shetoldhim.

Hewasstunned.“Itwon’tbethesamewithoutyou,”hesaid,sadly.

Wright was sad too, andin a way she felt abandonedby the president’s decision.“Tomeitwasjustlikelosinga family.But itwaswhat hewantedtodo.”

Afterhewentback tohisranch in Stonewall, Texas,Johnson suffered frommajorheart problems and he fell

intodepression.HisdaughterLuci would call to check onhimandseeifshecouldhelp.“There’s nothing you cando,” he told her. “I justmisssome of my creaturecomforts.” He especiallymissed the custard that hismother and Zephyrmade forhim.

“MaybeIcouldhelp,”sheoffered.

“No, you can’t. Your

mother doesn’t cook. Mymother’s dead, and Zephyrgot uppity and left me,”Johnsoncomplained.

“Zephyr got uppity andleftyou?”Lucirepeatedbackto him, aghast. It seemedabsurd for her father, whowas a champion of the civilrightsmovement, tobeangryat Wright for pursuing herdreamsandstayingwhereshefelt most at home. “You

spilled your life’s bloodtrying to give her moreopportunitiesinlife,andthenwhen you left Washingtonshe chose to stay in thatcommunity because shefound them and discoveredthemandwasabletoenjoyagreat deal more opportunityinWashington,D.C.,thanshewouldhaveinTexas.”

Herfatherrecognizedthathe was being selfish, but he

said he still missed hercustard and comfort food.Luciofferedtohelp.“Daddy,Zephyr told me that I couldeither get out of her kitchenorlearnhowtocook.Sowhatis it that you want that sheused to make for you?BecauseIcanmakeitandI’lldrive down from Austineveryday.”

The former presidentwent through a litany of

foods, asking if she couldmake each one. When shesaid yes, “all of a sudden Iwentupintheworld.Itmeanta lot tome.ThoughI’msureit didn’t mean much to hiscardiologist.”

IN 1959, JAMES Jeffries wasjustseventeenyearsoldwhenhe joined a family traditionand started working in the

White House kitchen. Hisuncles Charles, John, andSam Ficklin were never faraway if he needed them.“When Iwent towork downthere, theyused togivemeafive-gallon bucket of icecreameverydayandIateicecream all day long. Theyweretryingtofattenmeup!”

Hisjobwastoputoutthedesserts: “They didn’t haveall of these fancy desserts

back then, they only hadvanilla ice cream and we’dsprinkle some chocolate ontop. I had fun working.” Heworked in the kitchen foraboutayearbeforehemovedupstairs to become a pantryhelper.

Jeffries, now seventy-four, was born in Virginia.HismotherhadtodrivefromtheirhomenearWarrentontogive birth to him at the

Freedmen’s Hospital, whichprovided medical care to theAfricanAmericancommunityinthearea.Hewasawarethatthe lingering racism of thetime also existed inside theWhite House. “Back in theday white folks alwaysthoughttheyweresuperiortoblack folks,” Jeffries saidduring an interview in hisWashington row house. “Iwould not let nobody talk to

meanykindofway.”At the end of eachweek,

JeffrieshadtogiveExecutiveChefHenryHaller avoucherwithhishours tosignso thathe could get paid. “Somepart-timechefcameinandhelooked at my sheet and sawthat I was making moremoney than he made,”Jeffriessaid.Thenewlyhiredwhite worker went to ChiefUsher Gary Walters and

asked how an AfricanAmerican pot washer couldbemakingmoremoney thanhewas.

Jeffrieswas furiouswhenhe learned about thecomplaint. The answer wassimple: “I was putting inmorehours.Therewerea lotoftimeswhenI’dbeworkingtwo or three hours afterthey’d all gone home.” Heapproached Haller and said,

“Henry, howwould you feelifyouhadayoungguycomein starting at the same salaryas you? I’ve been workinghere years before this guywas even thought of. I don’twant to watch my pay gobackward.”

Haller replied: “You’rerightaboutthat.”

Jeffries remembers thescene from decades agovividly. “It was funny, that

daywehadsomematsonthefloor thatwereaboutan inchthick or so and he stood onthe edge of the mat rockingback and forth and said‘Jimmy, let me think aboutthis.’ He walked over towhere the oven was and hesaid, ‘Jimmy, how do youfigure you have the right totalktomelikeyou’retalkingtome?’”

“I put my pants on the

same way you put yours on.Whyshouldn’t I talk toyou?I’m telling you the way Ifeel,”Jeffriesreplied.

Haller looked at him andsaid, “Jimmy, you aren’tgoing to ever have to worryabout your money. Not aslong as I’m here.” And hewasasgoodashisword.

THE WHITE HOUSE has long

been used to showcaseAmerican talent. TheKennedys invited theAmerican Ballet Theatre toperform in the East Room,and when the Clintons wereinoffice,EricClapton,B.B.King, and Yo-Yo Ma allperformedthere.

In 1969, twenty-three-year-oldTriciaNixon invitedthe Temptations, the chart-topping Motown group, to

perform. Jeffries remembershowthemembersofthebandlingered in the Old FamilyDining Room with theserving staff when theyweren’t onstage, because“they could relate to us andhave a personalconversation.”

“Igottoseethem,Igottoshake hands and party withthem,” Jeffries says. “Theydidn’t stayout in theparlors,

they came in the backbecause at the time most allofusinthebackwereblack,”he said. “James Brown andthe [Famous] Flames—theyall came back there.” Theresidence workers made thestars more than welcome:“Whatever food we’d haveback there, they’d have thatfood and drinks and stuff.”That night in 1969, whilethey were chatting, the band

invited Jeffries to bring hischildren to come play at thepool at their hotel in theWashington suburb ofRockville, Maryland. “Ididn’t, that’s theonly thing Iregret.Ijustgotbusy.”

Otis Williams, the lastsurvivingoriginalmemberofthelegendaryMotowngroup,told me that they made it arulenot to talkpoliticswhenthey performed at the White

House. “Ourmind-set is justto entertain. We don’t gothere with politics in ourmind.We strictlygo there toperform.”

Williams does notremember the specifics ofthat night in 1969—he hasperformed at the WhiteHouse at least half a dozentimes—buthedoesrememberwatching the AfricanAmerican staff at work.

“They didn’t show anydisgust about the way theywere treated. They wereconsummate professionals.”While he and his bandmateshad certainly experiencedracism outside the WhiteHouse,thesingerrecalled,henever felt it when heperformedthere.

Williams says thatperforming in front ofPresident Obama was a

special honor: “We neverwouldhaveimagined—inourlifetime anyways—[that wewould] see a black man bepresident.”

For Jeffries, having theObamas in the White Housemakes him want to keepworking: “That just makesmefeellike,‘Okay,I’llgotoworkasoftenasIcan.’”

CHAPTERVIII

BackstairsGossipandMischief

I’mloyaltodoingmyjobforthefamily,butI’mgoingtogobackandsay,“Doyouknowwhattheydidtoday?Ican’t

believetheysaidthat!”

—BILLHAMILTON,HOUSEMANAND

STOREROOMMANAGER,1958–2013

The staff is discreet, butthey’re also human. Theynaturally swap stories overlunch, not only sharingimportant information butalso bonding over theincredibleeventstheywitnessand, sometimes, theinherently funny situationstheygetinto.

One of Social SecretaryBess Abell’s favorite storiesinvolved the White Housechina. In 1966, the Johnsonsdecided toorderanewchinaservice. Lady Bird workedclosely with designers fromTiffany & Company and themanufacturers CastletonChina to create designs thatreflected her commitment tothe beautification ofAmerica’s roadways and

parklands. The dinner platesfeature an eagle, and theborders of each plate weredecorated with differentAmerican wildflowers. Thedessert plates showcased thestate flower of each of thefiftystates.

When the china finallyarrived it was breathtaking,Abell recalled—except forthe dessert plates. The stateflowers were ugly and

unformed. “They looked likepuppies had squatted inthem.” She laughed, asthough she’d seen them justyesterday. At the time,though, it was not so funny.She was horrified. Abell ranto show them to J. B.West.(Westwas a favorite of bothAbell and JacquelineKennedy. “He was divine,”Abell recalls. “He made thebest frozen daiquiris—one of

the reasons he and Mrs.Kennedygotalongsowell!”)

West’sdaiquiris,shesaid,“fueledoneof thegreat littleextravaganzas” at the WhiteHouse. Because standardsrequired that anything thatwasnotperfectwouldhavetobe destroyed, a set ofreplacementswere ordered—and then the staff found aclever way to destroy thefaulty plates. Instead of

throwing them in thePotomac River (a longtimegraveyard for broken WhiteHousechina),theydecidedtohave some fun. Abell,West,and a few others went downto the bomb shelter with theplates—and a pitcher ofdaiquiris. They hung bull’s-eyes on the wall with thenames—and in some casescaricatures—of their leastfavorite West Wing staffers

andthrewtheplatesatthem.“It was better than a

Greekwedding.”

IN 1975, FORMER residenceworker Traphes Bryantbecame one of the firstinsiders to exposeKennedy’snow-famousphilanderinginabook. Most of the workershad known about it at thetime,buttheyhadresolvedto

keep the secret toprotect theinstitution of the Americanpresidency. According to theKennedys’ press secretary,Pierre Salinger, the workerswere explicitly asked “not toengage in publicity whichmightadverselyreflectontheWhite House as a nationalmonument.” And, though hesaid he never signed anondisclosure agreement,Carpenter Milton Frame

remembered: “We were toldnot to talk to thepressor thenews media when I washired.” Another staffer wasaskedtosignapieceofpaperthedayheretiredthatsaidhewouldn’twriteamemoiruntila grace period had passed—theWhiteHouse suggestedawhoppingtwentyyears.

As Bryant’s bookrevealed, President Kennedytook advantage of his wife’s

long absences. She spent asmuch time away from theconfines of theWhite Houseas possible, preferring toretreat to Glen Ora, a four-hundred-acre farm theyleased in Virginia’s horsecountry. (They later built ahouse nearby that she namedWexford after the county inIrelandwhere the president’sancestorscamefrom.)

When she was away, the

president liked swimmingnude in the heated indoorWhite House pool, built in1933 as part of PresidentRoosevelt’s therapy regimento treat his polio. Kennedyoftenrendezvousedtherewithhis female paramours, someof whom worked assecretaries in the WhiteHouse.Whenhenoticedmaleresidence workers peering inat the pool through the glass

door, he demanded that thedoor be frosted. (Thepresidentwouldaskthecooksto prepare some food anddrinks—small sausages withbacon and daiquiris—andthendismissthemfortherestoftheday.Thesausageswerekeptinaportablewarmerandthe daiquiri pitcher waschilled in the refrigerator soguestscouldhelpthemselves.“I can take care of it,” he’d

tellthekitchenstaff.)Once,astafferwasasked

by an usher to fix a problemwiththepool.Sincethatkindofworkwasusuallysavedfortimes when the first familywasn’t around, the residenceworker assumed that no onewould be there. When heopenedthepooldoor,hewasshocked to see KennedyadviserandclosefriendDavePowers sitting by the pool—

naked—with two ofKennedy’s secretaries. Themortified staffer ran out andimmediately assumed hewould be fired. Nothing wasever said about the incident,however,andthestorywouldremain a family secret foryears.

The residence workersknew that when JackieKennedy was away thesecond floor was off limits.

One night, though, it slippedBryant’s mind when he tooktheelevator to the third floortocheckonanappliance.Theelevatorstoppedatthesecondfloor accidentally. “I couldhear lovey-dovey talk,” hesaid.Anothercolleaguesawanakedwomanwalkingoutofthe kitchen when he wentupstairs to see if thegaswasturnedoff.“WhenJackiewasaway,ridingtheelevatorwas

hazardous duty,” Bryantrecalled.

Everyone backstairsraisedaneyebrowwhen theyheard one female politicalstaffer giving her family atour of the second floor.When she got to thepresident’s bedroom, she“pretended she didn’t knowwhere it was and had neverseen itbefore.” In fact, she’dbeentheremanytimes.

Bryant never told anyoneoutsideoftheWhiteHouse—not even his wife—aboutKennedy’s affairs while thepresident was still in office.But downstairs they couldn’thelpbutgossip.Theyneededto know how to conductthemselves, and sharingstorieshelpedthemfigureoutwhichhallwaystoavoid.

Johnson too generatedgossip among the staff. He

liked to corner the prettiestgirlintheroomatapartyandtry to kiss her on the cheek.By the end of the night he’doften have lipstick marks onhis face. An embarrassedLady Bird, who wassometimes in thesameroom,would plead with herhusband, “You’re wantedover there, Lyndon. You’reneglecting some of yourfriends.”

RumorhaditthatJohnsoneven “inherited” two femalereporters fromKennedy. “Hewould mention one or theothertomeas‘allwoman’or‘a lot of woman’ and evenaccord them the ultimatecompliment he ordinarilyreserved for his favorite dog,Yuki, telling me they were‘pretty as a polecat,’”Bryantwrote. Ina signof the times,Lady Bird stoically stood by

as her husband flagrantlyhumiliatedherinpublic.

Ironically, Johnsonwas apossessive husband.One dayBryant, who was originallyhired as an electrician, wastold to go to Lady Bird’sroomandinstallanextensioncord for her manicure table.The outlet was behind adresser where the first ladyhappenedtobesitting.Bryanthadto lieontheflooralmost

underneathher toplug in thecord.

Johnsonwalkedinjustashe was getting up off thefloor. The president’s mouthwas “wide open” and he hadthe expression of “a jealoushusband.”Bryantstammered:“Mr. President, I was justputting in an extension cordfor Mrs. Johnson’s manicuretable.”

Lady Bird seemed to

enjoy turning the tables foronce.

SOMETIMES WHITE HOUSEguests want to bring a pieceofhistoryhomewiththem.

Usher SkipAllenworkedduring state dinners,monitoring the south end ofthe State Dining Room tomakesurenoone’swineglasswas empty.He always had a

service of silverware andextranapkinsattheready,sothat if someone dropped afork he could appear almostinstantlywithanewone.Andevery now and then henoticedaguestsurreptitiouslyslipping something into ahandbag.

The help never askssomeone directly whetherthey have taken a piece ofchina or silverware. They

usually shame them intohanding it over by playingdumb and asking politely.“Whenyoupickuptheplate,youask for theknifeand thefork, and if it’s not there Isay,‘Oh,maybeyoudroppedit.’ We look around on thefloor and they usually say,‘Well,hereitis!’”

As Jackie Kennedy’swardrobe assistant, AnneLincoln helped schedule hair

appointmentsandbuyclothesbefore she was promoted tohead housekeeper andassignedtotheimpossiblejobof keeping food costs down.During the Kennedyadministration, she says,stealing a piece of Camelotwas common. By the end ofone luncheon, she recalls,they were missing fifteensilver teaspoons, two silverknife dishes, and four silver

ashtrays. “People come herewiththeideathatthisistheirproperty, so they just helpthemselves.” She remembersone occasion when the soft-spoken first lady gotaggressive. “One night shesaw one of the guests slip avermeil knife into hispocket,” she said. Afterdinner, but before the guestshad left, she askedMaître d’Charles Ficklin to count the

vermeilsilverservices.WhenCharles reported that a knifewas indeed missing, Mrs.Kennedywentrightuptothestunned guest and asked forthe knife back. He handed ittoherwithouthesitation.

Jackieknewhowadinnertableshouldbesetandhowagourmet meal should taste,but she had no idea how tocook herself; Lincoln neversawhergointothekitchento

fix dinner or a late snack.President Kennedy was alsohopeless in thekitchen. “Thepresident loved soup beforehewenttobedandwehaveacan opener up there on thesecond floor—and I think ittook him about eightmonthsto learn how to use it,”Lincoln said. “I don’t think[the first lady] knew how touse it either.” The butlerswould laugh about it with

Lincoln the next morning:“Oh, the poor president hadtrouble with the can openeragainlastnight.”

In mid-October 1963, afew weeks before herhusband’s assassination andshortlyafter thelossofasonnamedPatrickwhowasbornprematurely that summer,Jackie called the chief usherinto her bedroom. “Oh, Mr.West,” she whispered in her

childlike voice. “I’ve gottenmyself into something. Canyou help me get out of it?”Shehad invited aprincess tostay overnight on the secondfloor, but she and thepresident decided theywanted some time aloneinstead. The devastating lossoftheirsonhadbroughtthemcloser together than ever.“Could you help us cook upsomething sowe can get out

of having her as a houseguest?”shebegged.

Jackie devised anelaborate ruse to get out ofhosting. She told West tomake it look as though theQueens’ and LincolnBedrooms—the only two fitfor royalty—were still beingredecorated,so thatherguestcouldn’t possibly stay at theWhiteHouse.

“Her eyes twinkled,

imagining the elaboratedeception,”Westwrote.

West called BonnerArrington, Reds’s brother,who worked in theCarpenter’s Shop, and gavehimthegameplan:

“Bring drop cloths up tothe Queens’ Bedroom andLincolnBedroom.Rolluptherugs and cover the draperiesand chandeliers, and all thefurniture.Ohyes,andbringa

stepladder.”Next he called the

painters and asked for sixpaint buckets for each room,including two (empty)buckets of off-white paint ineach room.Andheasked fora few dirty paintbrushes. Healso brought in ashtrays fullof cigarette butts so that itwould look like a crew hadbeen hard at work. In atestamenttotheWhiteHouse

residence staff’s hierarchyand mutual trust, no oneinvolved in the intricateschemeaskedquestions.

When she arrived, theprincesswastreatedtoa tourof the residence by thepresident. JFKpointed to thepaint cans anddropcloths inthe Queens’ Bedroom, “Thisis where you would havespent the night if Jackiehadn’t been redecorating

again,” he sigheddramatically.

ThenextmorningthefirstladycalledWest,giggling,tothank him. “The presidentalmostbrokeupwhenhesawthoseashtrays.”

THE ARRINGTONS WERE justshy of their sixtieth weddinganniversary when Redspassed away in 2007. “We

had a good life,” his wife,Margaret,saysfondly.

The stories he told herspan his thirty-three years asa White House plumberworkingforsevenpresidents;she clearly loves recountingthem,astheyhelphertokeephis memory alive. Some ofthem involve presidentialquirks—such as JFK’s habitof asking Reds to fill hisbathtub up with water the

night before so that the nextmorning he could save timebyjusttoppingitoffwithhotwater. Or the time when theKennedys’ nanny, MaudShaw, calledReds in apanicafter accidentally flushingJohn-John’s diaper down thetoilet.

Beforehisdeath,Redsdidan interview recounting thetime when he almost caughtthewrathofLyndonJohnson

—andhisjobwassavedonlythanks to the intervention ofJohnson’s valet. One nightReds was working late onLBJ’s infamous showerpumps,fixingthemwithpipedope, a material used totighten and seal pipes. Thenext morning he got a callfromJohnson’svalet.

“Reds,youandyourmenbetter get up there and cleanthe showerheads out. When

the president got out of hisshower this morning, he hadblue pipe dope all over hisback.” He added, “I haven’tsaidawordtohim.Ijusttooka towel and kind of pattedhim dry.” But the presidentliked to get amassage everymorning, so his valet had tocallhismasseusetowarnhimnot to say anything when hesaw the president’s blue-stainedback.“Don’taskhim,

‘What’s all this stuff’ on hisback,” the valet instructed.“Just takesomething,alcoholorsomething,andjustkindofclean him up. Because if heknows that there’s pipe dopeonhisback, all theplumbersare going to be fired.” Redswas thankful that Johnsonneverfoundout,andhewentontoworkseveralmoreyearsathisbelovedWhiteHouse.

Reds told his wife that

when Queen Elizabeth IIcame to visit, the plumbershad to build a chair thatwould fit over the toilet seatfor her majesty—almost likea throne. “Reds just said thatwas really a ‘royal flush!’”Shegiggled.

When the queen came tovisitWashington in1976shewas already such a frequentguest that most of theresidence staff were

completely unfazed by herpresence. Just before thewhite tie state dinner, theFords, following tradition,met the queen and PrincePhilip at the entrance to theDiplomatic Reception Room.They escorted the royalcouple to the elevator, ontheir way to spend a fewminutes in the residence tochatbeforedinner.

As they waited for the

elevatortotakethemupstairs,it suddenly opened to revealthe president’s twenty-four-year-old son, Jack Ford, injeans and a T-shirt—hardlyappropriate attire for a royalgreeting. Without missing abeat, the queen turned toBetty Ford and said: “Don’tworry, Betty, I have one ofthose at home too.” Shewasofcourse,referringtohersonPrinceCharles.

ON DECEMBER 21, 1970, in ascenethatcouldneverhappenin today’s age of heightenedsecurity, an unlikely gueststopped by theWhite Housefor a surprise visit. Thatwasthe day that Elvis Presleyasked for an impromptumeetingwithPresidentNixon(he had a bizarre request: hewanted to be sworn in as anundercover Federal agent),

andendedupinthemiddleofa small office party bymistake.

BillCliberandagroupofother staffers were singing“Happy Birthday to You” toone of the curators when helookeduptoseeElvisandhisbodyguards standing in thedoorway of the tiny GroundFlooroffice.

“I just wanted to sayhappy birthday!” the

country’s most famousentertainersaid.

The room went silent,mouthsagape.

“Everyone wasdumbfounded,” Cliberrecalled,stillshakinghisheadindisbelief.

A minute later, a WhiteHouse police officer tappedPresley on the shoulder andasked if any of hisbodyguards was carrying a

gun.“Yeah,”Presleyreplied.“Could you leave it with

me while you go see thepresident?”

“Sure,” Presley saidcasually. “Ralph, give himyourgun.”SomehowPresleysnuck in a Colt .45 pistol,which he gave the baffledpresidentasagift.

IVANIZSILVA

Maid Ivaniz Silva spentmost of her time in thefamily’sinnersanctumonthesecondandthirdfloorsoftheresidence.Usually things ranlike clockwork, with themaids keeping track ofwhenthe president and the firstladywereoff the secondandthirdfloorssothattheycouldgo in and work without

disturbing them. But oneevening things did not go asplanned.

Usually theWhite Houseassigns around fourmaids toworkintheresidence: twointhe morning and two in theevening.Oneday,Silva,nowseventy-six,was in PresidentReagan’s bedroom after 5:30P.M., turning down the bedand closing the curtains. Butwhen she went into the

bedroom’s sitting room, shecouldn’t believe what shesaw: the president, sittingthere reading the newspaper,withoutastitchofclothing.

“Iwalkinthesittingroomandtherehewas,naked,withthe papers all around him!”she said. She rushed out ofthe roomblushing before thepresident had time to say aword. Hemust have been assurprisedasshewas.

Later, she passed him inthehallway.Reaganlookedatherwithatwinkle.“Hey,whowasthatguy?”heasked.

“I don’t know, sir,” shesaid,laughingshyly.

Silva is still bemused bytheincident.“HeknewIsawhim naked, so he had to saysomething.”

Reaganmay have been abit embarrassed, but bymostaccounts he was fairly

comfortable being naked,even when it may haveunnerved the staff. About amonth after Reagan’sinauguration, Usher SkipAllen had finally completedhis training and was clearedtoworkalone.Ononeofhisfirstsoloshiftshereceivedaneyes-onlypackagethathadtobe brought up to Reaganimmediatelyforhissignature.

Allen went up to the

second floor in search of thepresident.Hewasnowheretobe foundsohe trackeddownReagan’s valet to ask wherethepresidentwas.

“He’s in there,” the valetsaid, pointing to a closeddoor.Allenknocked.

“Who is it?” Reaganshouted.

“It’s SkipAllen from theUsher’s Office. I have aneyes-onlypackageforyou.”

“Comeonin.”Whenheopenedthedoor,

Allen realized it was thepresident’sbathroom.Reaganwas just coming out of theshower.

“Allhehadonwasaskimofwater!”Allenremembers.

“Bring it over here,”Reagan told him. ThepresidentsignedhisnameandAllenwentbackdownstairs.

Not long after, at around

nineo’clock that samenight,another eyes-only packagecame for thepresident.Allenwas told that the presidentandfirst ladyusuallywent tobed at nine o’clock, but hehad no choice; he had tointerruptthem.

He nervously wentupstairs to track down thepresident again.This timehesawlightsonintheReagans’bedroom.His hands shaking,

heknockedontheirdoor.“Who is it?” Nancy

Reaganasked.“It’s SkipAllen from the

Usher’s Office. I have apackageforthepresident.”

“Comein.”Just then, the president

was coming out of hisdressing room wearing onlyhisunderwear.

“Oh,Ronnie,youcouldatleast put on a robe,” Nancy

scoldedhim.The president looked at

her. “Oh,Mommy,” he said,using his pet name for her,“don’t worry about it. He’salready seen me naked oncetoday. We’re old friends.”Theyallburstoutlaughing.

The Reagans’ son, Ron,said thathisparents’ relaxed,unselfconscious naturearound the staff probablymade working there easier.

The Reagans were used tohaving housekeepers around,andtheyneverworriedaboutwhat the help thought ofthem. “It’s hard to be in theposition of a butler, orsomeone like that, if theperson who you’re trying toserve is very self-consciousabout the fact that you’rethere. But my parents werenot.”

Ron also acknowledges,

however, that his parents’nonchalance could beinterpreted as dehumanizingthe staff. “It says they don’tcount, because they aren’tworth making someone feelself-conscious.” There doesseem to have been adistinction between theReagans’ cavalier attitudetoward the staff and Georgeand Barbara Bush’s equallycomfortable but more

respectful attitude towardthem. When PresidentReagan stopped and chattedwith workers, it was usuallyto talk about himself or tomake a joke. The Busheswould ask workers abouttheir families and expressconcern about the amount oftime they spentwith them athome, recognizing that theyenjoyed a life beyond theWhite House gates—a

gesture that may not haveoccurredtotheReagans.

Some White Housestories take on a differentlight in retrospect. Towardthe end of Reagan’spresidency,onebutlerrecalls,hesawthepresidentunawareof what was happeningaroundhimat a crucial time.“The movie star was thepresident,” he said, “and Iwas working down in the

kitchen. The next thing Iknow, I looked around andsmokewascomingoutofthevents.” A butler working onthe fireplacehad forgotten toopen the damper, so smokewas billowing back into theroom Reagan was sitting in.“I heard the fire truck andpeople came rushing in andran upstairs to the secondfloor.”

Not long thereafter, one

of the firefighters, a woman,came back downstairs,laughing.“What’ssofunny?”thebutleraskedher,surprisedthat she wasn’t moreconcerned.

Barely able to answerthroughherlaughter,shetoldhim: “Do you know thepresidentwassittingupthereas if nothing was going on?JustwatchingTV,readinghisnewspapers.”

“He didn’t even realize,”thebutlerrecalled.

Atthetime,nooneknewthatthepresidentmayalreadyhave been suffering from thebeginnings of Alzheimer’sdisease. In the moment, itseemedlikejustanotherquirkofapresidentwhowasrarelyflustered in the eyes of thestaff.

SOME OF THE most enduringgossip comes from stafferswho cannot get along witheach other. Working at theWhite House can sometimescreatebigegosandfosterbigpersonalities. Many of thestaffers who get hired,especiallyaschefs,arehighlyaccomplished professionalswho consider themselves thebest at what they do. Thiskindofcompetitivespiritcan

lead to professional rivalries—the most glaring recentexample being the open feudbetween Executive ChefWalter Scheib and ExecutivePastryChefRolandMesnier.

Eleven years of workingside by side did nothing todiminish the animositybetween the twomen,whichtheyfeel justasacutelynow,a decade after they both leftthe White House. Mesnier,

now seventy years old, washired by the Carters; Scheib,tenyearshisjunior,washiredbytheClintons.Theydislikedeachother somuch that theyoften refused to discuss thedishes they were preparing.Scheib would simply handMesniertheweeklymenussothat Mesnier could planaccompanying desserts.Scheib admits that he’s lessgregarious than Mesnier and

runs his kitchen more like amilitary commander. (“If Iwantedfriends,”hesays,“I’dgo volunteer at a youthgroup.”) Mesnier, whopresents his creations withgusto, is an artisticFrenchman who gave all ofhiscolleaguesacakeof theirchoosing each Christmas,makingdozensanddozensoffruitcakes,stollen,andpoundcakes each year. (“The staff

were not just other workersforme,” he says, “theyweremyfamily.”)

ScheibscornsMesnierforhis books and televisionappearances,whichheseesasspotlight-hugging. “He hasmadehimselfbigger than thefamilies, and this isunfortunate.” Mesnier claimsthat the comparatively trimScheib (who looksmore likea business executive than a

chef)was hired because he’sattractive and articulate, agood spokesman for HillaryClinton’s campaign topromote healthy Americancuisine.“WalterandI,wedidnotgetalongbecauseIknewhe couldn’t cook,” he saysdismissively.

“The ushers would jokethat if Roland and I werespotted having a beersomewhere everyone should

fall down on their knees andpray because the apocalypseis clearly upon us,” saysScheib.

Mesnier did show greataffection for Scheib’spredecessor, French ChefPierre Chambrin, but theClintonsfiredChambrinafterhe refused to exchange hisheavy French menu for ahealthier one featuringAmerican cuisine. Hillary

Clinton wanted to promotehealthy American food,especially as she embarkedonherefforttorevamphealthcare. But Chambrin said therealreasonhewasletgowasabout appearances, notcuisine. “I am French, I amfat, and my English isterrible.Ididn’tfittheprofilethey wanted to show to theAmericanpeople.”

For the Clintons,

Chambrintoldme,“foodwasfuel” and nothing more.“From thebeginning, I knewI was doomed with theClintons. I did what theywanted.Ieventriedtopleasethem with no butter, no fat,make the menu withoutFrench words. But how doyou say sauté without usingthewordsauté,forinstance?”

Chambrin hated theClintons’ casual relationship

withfood.UnliketheBushes,theClintonswanted to eat inthe kitchen. “When wechanged from the Bushes tothe Clintons, we went fromtherichtothegrits.”

WhenScheibwashiredasChambrin’s replacement, thecramped Ground Floorkitchenbecamean incrediblyuncomfortableplace towork.Chef John Moeller startedworking at the White House

soon after Mesnier got hisownsmallpastrykitchenandsayswithoutahintofhumor,“Ifhehadstayedinthatmainkitchen and worked with ussidebyside,theremighthavebeenblood.”

CHAPTERIX

GrowingUpintheWhiteHouse

IaskyoutoconsidertheeffectofsayinggoodnighttoaboyatthedooroftheWhiteHouseinablazeoffloodlights

withaSecretServicemaninattendance.Thereisnotmuchyoucandoexceptshakehands,andthat’sno

waytogetengaged.

—MARGARETTRUMAN

When twelve-year-oldChelsea Clinton moved intothe White House in 1993,Steve Ford sent her a letter.Hisadvice:makefriendswiththe Secret Service, as theymightbecomeyouronly linktotheoutsideworld.Hesaysthathehad it relatively easy,

with so many siblings toshare the experience. ForChelsea,anonlychild, livingintheWhiteHousewouldbeharder. And of course thatendedupbeingthecasewhenshe had to endure theembarrassmentofherfather’svery public indiscretionswithout any siblings to helpshoulder the burden. “Ithought she always had amuch,muchtoughersituation

than the other families thatusually had two or threesiblings.” Looking back onChelsea’s time in the WhiteHouse, though, Ford saysnow, “I just thought shehandleditwonderfully.”

When childrenmove intothe White House, theresidence staff wants toprotect them.Theyhaveseenwhat it’s like for otherchildren growing up in the

residence and they want tohelp them live theirchildhoods as normally aspossible.Alongwiththeextraresponsibilityoflookingafterchildren, though, the staffoften relishes having arambunctious toddler or afun-loving high schooleraround. Presidential childrencanbringadegreeofwarmthandinnocencetoahousehold,lightening the often-stressful

atmosphere of the executivemansion.

Storeroom Manager BillHamilton watchedgenerations of presidentialoffspring learn to live in thebubble of the White House.The younger the childrenwere, he says, the easier itwasforthemtoadjusttotheirclaustrophobic new lives.Caroline and John-JohnKennedy found it relatively

easy to be themselveswithinthe mansion’s walls; theywere so young when theycametotheWhiteHousethatthey didn’t really knowanything different. ForChelsea Clinton, and forSasha and Malia Obama,beingateenagerintheWhiteHouse means coping withadolescent angstwhile livingin the spotlight. And olderchildren, like theFords,Luci

and Lynda Johnson, andBarbaraandJennaBush,mayhave had it hardest of all, inHamilton’s view, when theyrealized they would have togive up a level of freedomtheywereusedto,andwouldnot have it back again untiltheirfathersleftoffice.

“Once you’re up in thatcollege age where you’vebeen out there drinking beer,running with guys, going to

partiesandallthat,itmakesabigdifference,”hesaid.

George W. Bush’sdaughters—affectionatelydescribedas“wildlittlegirls”by their grandmother,Barbara Bush, when theywere younger—were alreadyfamiliarwiththeresidencebythe time their father waselected;theyhadplayedhide-and-seek when theirgrandparents lived there, and

spenttimeintheFlowerShopmakingarrangements.Duringtheirfather’spresidency,theyconfided in Usher NancyMitchellabouttheirboyfriendproblems. (Jennawould lateradmit to a “little hanky-panky” on the White Houseroof.) Staffers say the girlsacted like typical nineteen-year-olds, and Jennagrew soattachedtotheresidencestaffthat she asked Head Florist

Nancy Clarke to do theflowers for her Texaswedding.

Still there will always becertain constraints that comewith life in that particularbubble. “It’s amiserable lifefor a teenager,” said UsherNelson Pierce. “It was verydifficult to be confined,knowingthatyoucouldn’tdoanything without [the SecretService]rightonyourtail.”

NOT SINCE THE Kennedys’departure have such youngchildren lived in the WhiteHouse. When the Obamasmoved in, Malia was tenyearsoldandSashawasonlyseven. Now sixteen andthirteen, the girls have spentsix years growing up with aslew of maids, butlers, andchefs,inahousewithitsownprivate movie theater, tennis

and basketball court, andswimming pool. And that’sjust theirday-to-daylife: thatdoes not include the elegantdinners and catered partiestheysometimesget toattend,or the private JonasBrothersconcert on the night of theirfather’sfirstinauguration.

Barbara and Jenna Bush,who graduated from highschool the year their fatherwas elected, gave Malia and

Sasha a full tour before theyleft, including stops in themovie theater and thebowlingalleyandevenafewsecret hallways. Clearlyenjoying the idea of anotheryoungerpairofsisters takingtheirplace, they told them toslide down the banisterseveryonceinawhile,advicethat Sasha Obama, the morebubbly of the sisters, nodoubtenjoyed.

Like the Kennedys, theObamas are committed tohaving their children leadnormal lives. Florist BobScanlan,whoretiredin2010,describes seeing a scene thatplays out in so manyAmerican households onSunday mornings: airmattressessplayedoutonthefloor of the Solarium from asleepoverthenightbefore.

Thegirlsgetdessertonly

onweekends, butwhen theirgrandmother, Marian, is incharge, they splurge, eatingice cream and popcorn. She“really gives the family theirprivacy.Shelivesonthethirdfloor for themost part, [and]in the time that I was theretook her meals separately.The girls eat with theirmother and father in theirown space on the secondfloorandMrs.Robinsoneats

on the third floor,” Scanlansaid. “I’m going home,”Marian would say beforedinnerasshewalkedupstairstoherprivatesuite,givingherdaughter time alonewith herhusbandandchildren.

“She had fresh flowersputinherlivingroomandherbedroom. She was alwaysverykind,verygracious,veryappreciative of everythingthat she got.”When Scanlan

came in to replace a floralarrangement,shewouldoftentellhimnottobother.“That’sfine, but the other flowersstill look good tome,” she’dsay.

Michelleaskedthefloriststo labelall the flowers in thearrangements in their livingquarters so that she and herdaughters could learn thedifferent names. The firstlady also asked beloved

longtime butler Smile“Smiley” Saint-Aubin, whowas from Haiti and spokebeautiful French, to speak inhis native language whenserving her daughters so thatthey could start learning thelanguage.(Hepassedawayin2009.)

Scanlan wanted theObamastohaveaspecialfirstChristmas season at theWhiteHouse (they spend the

holiday itself in Hawaii), sohemade boxwoodChristmastrees and put one onMalia’sdresser and one on Sasha’smantel.

Malia especially likedhers.WhenScanlanwentintoherroomtocheckonthetreehefoundastickynotewaitingforhim:“Florist:Ireallylikemy tree. If it’s not toomuchto ask could I please havelights on it? If not, I

understand.”Hersign-offwasaheart.Scanlantookthenoteoff thedresserandbrought itdown to the Flower Shop.“Nowyoutellme,howcouldInotput lightson that tree?”Helaughed.

Staffers provide extranurturing because they knowwhat scrutiny these childrenface. In 2014, Sasha andMaliacameunderattackfroma Republican House staffer

during the annual WhiteHouse turkey pardonceremony. “Dress like youdeserve respect, not a spot ata bar,” wrote ElizabethLauten in a Facebook post.Lauten, who wascommunications director forRepublican representativeStephen Fincher at the time,was referring to the girls’short skirts. Her disparagingcomments came under

criticismfromDemocratsandRepublicansalikewhomostlyagree that the children ofsitting presidents should beoff-limits. Lauten resignedbecause of the mediafirestorm; the episodereinforces the incrediblestrain of growing up in theWhite House under constantsurveillance.Theglareof thespotlight has only intensifiedwith an endless news cycle

andtheriseofsocialmedia.

CAROLINE AND JOHN-JOHNKennedy, in turn, were theyoungest children to live inthe White House sinceTheodore Roosevelt’s broodfamously wreaked havocthere at the turn of thetwentieth century. Carolinewas three years old, and herbrother just two months old,

when their parents movedinto the residence. JackieKennedy desperately wantedto raise unspoiled children;she made them sign thank-you notes when they wereinvited to other children’sparties (young John-Johnmerely scribbled) andalwaysbrought them down to thekitchen after their birthdayparties to thank the staff.Caroline and John-John

learned the meaning of “no”at just two years old, saidLetitia Baldrige; whenintroduced to Secretary ofDefense RobertMcNamara’swife, theylookedherstraightintheeyeandsaid,“Howdoyou do, Mrs. McNamara?”(Though in John-John’s caseit may have been more like“Mrs.Nama.”)

“Itwas ‘Howdoyoudo’day and night, not only to

MommyandDaddy’sfriendsbutalsototheushers,butlers,maids, policemen, SecretService, and gardeners, andthepeople in thekitchenandin the butler’s pantry—whomever they happened topass,”saidBaldrige.

Unlike first ladies beforeher, Jackie Kennedy didn’tallow her children to addressthebutlersbytheirlastnamesonly; she considered that

rude, especially since theywere speaking to older,dignified gentlemen, most ofwhom had been working inthe mansion for decades. “Itwas, ‘Mr. Allen,’” saidCurator Jim Ketchum,referring to Eugene Allen.“They called Preston Bruce‘Mr. Bruce.’ She was notabout to have them say‘Bruce’or‘Allen.’”

Sometimes, though,when

Jackie wasn’t around,Caroline and John-Johntreated the staff with afamiliarity that their mothermight not have approved of.Usher Nelson Pierce’sfavoritememory in all ofhistwenty-six years working atthe White House involvedsimply reading a story toJohn-John. “Mrs. Kennedy’sstereo wasn’t working right,andIhadtoescortoneofthe

SignalCorpsmen upstairs towork on it,” he recalled.“John-Johnpickedupabookandbroughtitovertomeandtoldmehewantedmetoreadit.”

Pierce did as hewas toldand sat on the edge of thesofa.Hethoughttherewasnoway such an active little boywouldsitstilllongenoughtoactually make it through thebook. “I thought he’d stand

beside me while I read thebook, but no.He got up andthengotdownandpushedmein the chest and said, ‘Sitback, sit back!’ So I put myarmaroundhimandwe readthe book. As soon as I readthe story he jumped down,tookthebook,andputitbackwhere it was.” For Nelson,spending time with theKennedy children was awelcome break and a

reminder of his four childrenathome.

One evening, theKennedys’ nanny, MaudShaw, called down to Piercefor help. She was in theFamily Dining Room on thesecond floor and John-Johnhadn’t quite finished dinner.Meanwhile Caroline, whowasalreadydoneeating,wasdownonthefloortryingtodoa somersault—to no avail.

ShelookedupatPiercewhenhewalkedin.

“Mr. Pierce, I have aterrible time. My legs eithergo to the right or they go totheleft.”

“Caroline,thinkveryhardabout making your feet gostraight over your head,” hetoldher.

Her next attempts weremuchimproved.

“Mr. Pierce, do

somersaults with me!” shebegged.

Pierce laughed at thememory, “Fortunately,MaudShawcametomyrescuesoIdidn’thavetodosomersaultswith Caroline on the diningroomfloor!”

Decades later, ChefWalterScheibexplainedhowthe staff viewed the firstfamily. “While a state dinneris themosthigh-profile thing

youdo,at thesame time, theday of the state dinner, youmight get a phone call fromthe residence saying Chelseaor one of the Bush twinswants a bowl of oatmeal orblueberriesorsomething,andsuddenly that becomes yourpriority.Itisn’taboutcuisine,it’s about offering firstfamilies a little island ofnormal in a very, very crazyworld.”

Sometimes,what the firstfamilywantsismundaneandfrustrating for the skilledchefs, especially when thereare kids living in theresidence. John Moellerremembers one morningwhen he and a newly hiredchef were making pancakesforChelseaClinton.Thenewhire spotted realmaple syrupintherefrigeratorbutMoellertold him thatChelsea prefers

theimitationmaplesyrupthatmost kids eat. The new cheffought him, insisting that thereal thing is always better.Eventually, Moeller relentedand sent the butlers up withthe high-end syrup. Twominutes later it came backwith a request from the firstdaughter for the fake stuff.Thefirstfamily’spreferencesoverrideeverythingelse.

Residence staff must

provide a safe place for thepresident’s children to bethemselves. Johnson’s eldestdaughter, Lynda BirdJohnson Robb, rememberedfinding solace in theresidencestaffatatimewhenoutsiderscouldneverbefullytrusted. “The people whoworked there, they were justwonderful. I’m sureeverybody who’s lived therehas appreciated them and

thought how luckywe are tobesurroundedbypeoplewhowant to help us andwho arenot trying to get anythingfromus.Theywerenotgoingtogosellusout.”

Lynda met her husband,Charles“Chuck”Robb,whenhewas amilitary social aideat theWhite House. His jobwas to make sure thepresident’s guests werecomfortableatreceptionsand

dinners, chatting withpartygoerswhowerenervoustomeetthepresidentandfirstlady, and directing them totheirseats.Nooneoutsidethestaff knew that Lynda andRobb were dating. After hewas done working, Robbwould rush up to theSolarium to play bridgewithLynda.Thebutlerssawthem,of course, but they guardedherprivacyabsolutely.

Robb was first in hisMarine Corps officers BasicSchoolatQuantico,Virginia;he earned a Bronze Star inVietnam,andlaterwentontobecome governor ofVirginiaand serve two terms in theSenate. When Robb wasdeployed, Lynda waspregnant with their firstdaughter,Lucinda.Whileshewaslyingawakeatnight,sickwith worry about her

husband, she could hear theshouts of Vietnam Warprotestors outside herbedroomwindow.

Lynda had CarolineKennedy’s former room,facing Pennsylvania Avenue;there was nowhere to hide.Her younger sister, Luci,livedinwhatwasonceJohn-John’s bedroom. Betweenthemwasthesmallroomthathadbelonged toMaudShaw,

which they converted into awalk-in closet for their out-of-seasonwardrobes.

President and Mrs.Johnson’s room overlookedthe South Lawn, so theydidn’theartheshoutingquiteasclearly,butLyndaandhersister shuddered at the angryprotests.“ItwasdistressingtoLuci and to me when youcouldhear thepeopleyellingfromacross the streetallday

and night about the war,particularly sincebothofourhusbands were over there.They were sacrificing, and Iwaspregnant,andtheywouldsay things that were veryhurtful about my father. Iknewhowmuchhewantedtoendthewar.”

Curator Betty Monkmanremembers gathering in theUsher’s Office and lookingout at the protestors. She’d

turn to her older colleaguesand say, “Those could beyour children standing in thepark.”

“Youcan’t escapewhat’shappeningaroundyouthere,”she said. “It feels likeyou’rein a little cocoon, but you’revery aware of everythingthat’shappeningoutside.”Ona bitterly cold day, PresidentJohnson—desperate to quellthe protestors’ rage—even

asked the butlers to bringthemallhotcoffee.

“I was quite young then,in my late twenties,”Monkman recalls, “and Iwould go to parties and IwouldnottellpeoplewhereIworked, because if I did thereaction to me would be sonegative. So I would say, ‘Iwork for the Park Service,’because they’d want to ventto me about their politics.

Maybe I felt the same way,butIdidn’twanttohearit!”

On Tuesday throughSaturday,partsoftheGroundFloor and the State Floor ofthe White House were opento the public, and duringthoseyearsofconstantpublicprotests, the lack of privacygrew unbearable for Lynda.“Even after the assassinationwe didn’t have the kind ofsecurity [we should have

had], and so the touristswould be there right underour window early,” she said.“They would be right undermy window and they wouldbe saying, ‘Stand over here,Myrtle,’ and I would betryingtosleep!”

Texas first lady NellieConnally once told Lyndathatshe’doftenthoughtaboutdropping a water balloon ontourists from the window of

thegovernor’smansion.“I laughingly said I

wanted to do the same,”Lyndasays.“Ineverdid.”

It wasn’t the affabletourists who were the realproblem,however; itwas theprotestors outraged by thecontinuation of the war whomadelifeintheWhiteHouseso difficult. Usher NelsonPierce remembered oncewhen“kids”onapublic tour

dumped vials of their ownblood in the State DiningRoom of the residenceworkers’belovedhouse.“Wehad to dry-clean the drapes.”Sometimes visitors evenunleashed cockroaches insidetheWhiteHouse.“Wehadtotrain the housekeeping staffonwhattodoifsomeofthesesituations occurred,”Monkmansaid.

A pivotal moment for

LBJ camewhen Lynda wentto him in the middle of thenight,intearsafterseeingherhusband off to Vietnam, andaskedwhyRobbhadtogotowar. The president faltered,realizing that he had noanswer. It wasn’t longafterward that Johnsonannounced he would not beseekingreelection.

STEVEFORDWASjustacoupleweeksawayfromstartinghisfreshman year at DukeUniversity in August 1974whenhisfatherwassuddenlythrustintothepresidency.

“All of a sudden we allgottenSecretServiceagents,andlifechanged.Trustme,ateighteen years old, that’s notreally the group you’rehopingtohangoutwith.”

Ford decided to forgo

college and moved toMontana to work on a ranchand avoid the spotlight. Still,hespenttwomonthsatatimestaying with his parents in aroom on the third floor,where his three siblings alsohadrooms.

“TheWhite House reallybelongedtothestaff,becausetheyweretheoneswhowerethere for four, five, sixdifferent administrations,” he

said.“Theleaseonthehousewas very temporary. Forsome of us shorter thanothers!” (Ford’s father spentfewer than three years in theWhite House, leaving in1977.) But Ford remembersthose years vividly. “It wastruly like living in amuseum,” he says.“Everything dates back toLincoln or Jefferson. I canremembermoving in there—

athomeusuallyIputmyfeetup on the table where welivedinAlexandria,butMomgoes,‘Don’tputyourfeetupthere! That’s Jefferson’stable.’”

For the Ford family,movingintotheWhiteHousewas an earth-shatteringchange. For almost twentyyears,whileGeraldFordwasin Congress and even whilehe was vice president, they

had lived in a four-bedroom,two-bathroom redbrickColonialonaquarter-acreloton Crown View Drive inAlexandria, Virginia, acrossthe Potomac from theWhiteHouse.

When Ford became vicepresident in December 1973,after Spiro Agnew’sresignation, their two-cargarage became home to hisSecret Service detail, and

bulletproof glass wasinstalled in their masterbedroom. (It wasn’t until1977 that the U.S. NavalObservatory became the vicepresident’s officialresidence.)

ChiefUsherGaryWalterslater recalled howapproachable theFordswere.Once he got a phone callfrom President Ford askinghim to sendsomeone to look

attheshowerinhisbathroomin the White House becausetherewasnohotwater.Ithadbeen like that foracoupleofdays and he was just usingthe shower in his wife’sbathroom. But no rush, Fordtoldhim.

The Fords had to wait tomove into the White Housefor seven days after theirfather became presidentbecause the Nixons needed

timetomovetheirthingsout.When they finallymoved in,the president and first ladybrought their favorite chairsfrom home—his was acomfortable leather chair—for the private sitting roomofftheirbedroom.

Susan Ford, the youngestof President Ford’s fourchildren, remembers beggingher parents to let herredecorate her room and

switch out the blue shagcarpet.Theywouldn’t letherbecause thecostwouldcomeoutoftheirownpockets.“Myfather didn’t believe inmortgages; he was truly aDepression baby,” she toldme.

Like most normal kids,the four Ford children, all intheir teens or early twenties,could not wait to causetrouble. On the day they

movedintotheWhiteHouse,Steve Ford called his bestfriend, Kevin Kennedy, wholived around the corner fromhim in Alexandria. “Kevin,we finally moved in. Yougotta come over—you gottaseethisplace.”

He cleared his friendthrough security and gavehim a tour, showing him hisroom on the third floor andtaking him to the Solarium,

with its rooftop access. Theytookout a stereo and blastedLed Zeppelin’s “Stairway toHeaven”onaturntableontheroof of the White House.“That was my first night intheWhiteHouse,”Fordsaid.“Eugene, the butler, knewwhat we did, and I was sothankful that he never rattedme out to my parents. Thestaff knows everything youdo.”

But they trynot to judge,Ford said. In part becausethey greatly sympathize withall thechildrenwhodosomegrowing up in the residence.“There were no moral billyclubs.”

FOR GENERATIONS OFpresidentialchildren,livingintheWhite House was both ablessing and a curse.

Margaret Truman called theexecutiveresidence“thegreatwhite jail,” and some otherchildren even took pains toescape.

Susan Ford recallssneaking out, making herfamously softhearted fatherfurious. In a practical jokegone wrong, Ford somehowmanaged to make a run forher car, which was sitting atthe semicircle on the South

Lawn(“Youalwaysleftyourkeys in the car in case theyhave to move it,” she said)and drove straight out of theWhiteHousegate.TheSecretServiceagentsassignedtohercouldn’t shut the gate orchase after her because hermother’scarwasdrivinginatthesametime.

Susan picked up a friendand went to a Safewayparking lot, where they

shared a six-pack of beer.Eventually shewent toapayphone and told the SecretService agents she wouldreturntotheWhiteHouseby7:00 P.M. (She had to comehometopickupHall&Oatesconcert tickets.) As soon asshe returned, her fatherwantedtoseeher.

“The fun is over,” sheremembered thinking. “Nowrealitysetsin.”

Thepresidentsaidhewasdisappointed in her.Hemusthave been furious, knowingthat the radical SymbioneseLiberation Army (the groupthat had kidnapped heiressPatty Hearst) had threatenedto take her hostage. Susanwas the only Ford child tohave Secret Serviceprotection before her fatherbecame president. What wasa lighthearted adventure

could have turned into anationalcrisisifshehadbeenkidnapped. (Susan clearlydidn’t mind the SecretService that much; later shewould marry a formermember of her father’sprotectivedetail.)

Likehissister,SteveFordtried to live a normal life. Itdidn’t always work. “Whenwemoved in, IhadayellowJeep that I drove,” he said,

laughing at his own naïveté.“IusedtopullinandI’dparkit in front of the diplomaticentranceonthedriveway.I’dgo upstairs and I’d look outmy window and it would begone.” The staff didn’t thinkaJeepwasanappropriatecarto park in front of theWhiteHouse.“EverytimeI’dcomehome they would move itaroundbackandkindofhideit. I’d get frustrated and I’d

go down and move it outfront again and they’d moveitback.”

AMY CARTER, WHO was nineyearsoldwhenshemovedin,left her mark on the WhiteHouse—literally.Hernameiswritten in Magic Marker onthewallbetweentheelevatorshaft and the second-floorservice elevator. “Amy

openedthedoorandstuckherhand between the elevatorshaft and wrote her name,”said Operations SupervisorTonySavoy.

Amy wasn’t contentstaying upstairs in theresidence, Savoy recalled.She wanted to explore. “Shewas curious. You have thisgreat big house, all thesedoors,let’slookin’em.”

TheCartersfamouslysent

their daughter to publicschoolinWashington,D.C.Itwashard for agirl trailedbySecretServiceagentstofitin,especially when her teacherkeptherindoorsduringrecessin a misguided effort toprotect her.By the time theygot to the White House, hermother Rosalynn recalls,Amy—their fourth child andonly daughter—was used tobeing an outsider. “It was

what she knew, because shewasthreewhenwemovedtothe governor’s mansion. Itwas not different for her.Mary came to be with us. Itwasjustherlife.”

Nanny Mary Princehelped Amy feel morecomfortable with it all,Rosalynn said, but thefreckle-faced girl knew thatherlifewasdifferent.Backinthe Georgia governor’s

mansion, she’dhadeven lessprivacy: there, just getting tothe kitchen meant braving awave of tourists. But Amywasaself-possessedchild,somuch so that she sometimesseemed oblivious tooutsiders. “When she wasthree years old,” her mothersays, “everybodymade a bigfussoverthebabywhentheysaw her and she’d just walkstraight through and look

straight ahead. I rememberwhen shewent to school thefirst day in Washingtoneverybody was so distressedbecause Amy looked solonely. That was just hernormallife.”

When they first movedinto the White House,Rosalynn says, Amysometimeswentdownstairstothe State Floor during thepublic tours, but “people

made such a fuss over her”that she stopped. When thetours were done for the day,she returned—and wentroller-skating through theEastRoom.

Membersoftheresidencestaff were fond of the feistylittle girl. Mary Prince oftencalled Nelson Pierce at hisdesk to see when he wouldcome over to themansion totune Amy’s violin (“Music

andbaseballwerethethingsIlived for,” Pierce said.).Butler James Jeffries saidAmy would sometimes askhim for help with herhomework when he wasupstairsinthefamilykitchen.Life lived in governmenthousing—albeit elegantgovernmenthousing—wasallAmyknew,andthestaffwerelike family to her. One dayshe went to all the different

shops in the residence withher Secret Service agent toask the staff for money tohelp sponsor her in a walk,saidCuratorBettyMonkman.“Wewere her neighborhood.She was coming to solicit.Then we pledged a certainamount—and then she cameback to collect!” saidMonkman. “She couldn’t gooutinthestreetanddothat.”

The Carters tried to

provide some sense ofstability and normalcy forAmy. Monkman rememberspassingtheChinaRoomnearthe Curator’s Office one daywhen she saw Amy and herfriends carving pumpkins—and “there was PresidentCarter, down on the floorwiththem.”

Mary Prince insists thatAmy was not tainted by hercelebrity—contrary to some

whosaidsheinsultedforeignguests by reading a bookduring a state dinner. “Shewas not a spoiled brat. Shereally never tried to get herway. She was just a youngkidhavingfun.”

Chef Mesnier describesAmyasawhimsicallittlegirlwhowasnotoverawedbythemajesty of theWhite House.After school, she sometimesrandowntothekitchentoask

himtosenduptheingredientsforherfavoritesugarcookies,which she liked to makeherselfinthesmallkitchenonthesecond floorandbring toschool the next day. Often,though, after putting them inthe oven, she would startroller-skating or playing inher treehouseandcompletelyforget about them; when thesmell of burned cookieswafted through the hallway,

at first a slew of SecretService agents would run tothe Pastry Kitchen thinkingthatthatwastheoriginoftheproblem.Mesnierwouldlookat theharried agents and justpoint upstairs. They wouldthen go racing up to thesecond floor to open thewindows and rescue theruined cookies. The nextmorning Amy would usuallycome to the kitchen and tell

the chef that she wassupposed to take cookies toschool and she didn’t knowwhat to do. When Mesnierasked her what happened totheingredientshesenthertheday before she would reply,blushing, “Therewasa smallaccident.” (Hegot soused tothis routine that, when Amywanderedintothekitchenthenextmorningtoaskforsomecookies to take to school, he

would have a backup batchreadytogo.)

The Carter children liveda charmed life even beforecomingtotheWhiteHouse—their father was a successfulfarmer who had served twoterms as a Georgia statesenator and one asGeorgia’sgovernor. Sometimes theyseemed totally disconnectedfrom the real world,especially from the people

whoservedthemeveryday.One butler remembers

chattingwith one of Carter’ssons,whowasinhistwentiesat the time.Hewassitting inthefamilykitchenreadinganarticleinthenewspaperaboutrising rent prices inWashington. He looked upfrom the paper at the butlerand said: “I’m glad that I’mallowed to stay here in theWhiteHouse.”

The butler turned to himand said: “Yes. That’s onereason I’m in here, workingtwo jobs because the rentcosts so much. I’mstruggling.”Carter’s sonwasshocked.He couldn’t believethis dignified man had toworktwojobsjusttopaytherent.

“You come outside andlivewithmeandyou’ll see,”thebutlertoldhim.

THE CLINTONS FIERCELYguarded their daughterChelsea’s privacy, and askedthe media to limit theircoverage of her to publiceventsonly.Forthemostpartjournalists complied. But themedia had other ways ofplunging her name into thenews. In a 1992 “Wayne’sWorld” skit on SaturdayNight Live, Mike Myers,

playing the goofy Wayne,jibed that adolescence “hasbeen thus far unkind” toChelsea, adding “ChelseaClinton—not a babe.” TheskitenragedtheClintons,andthe remarks were edited outof rebroadcasts.Meyers evenwrote a letter of apology totheClintons.

Like theObamas and theKennedys, theClintonsfelt itwas importantnot to let their

children become spoiled inthe White House. In fact,Chelsea often told the chefnot to worry about cookingforher.She’dbemakingherown dinner: Kraft macaroniandcheese.

Byandlarge,Chelseawasadoredbytheresidencestaff.Maid Betty Finney said shewas like their own child—they felt protective of her.“Teenagers, you’re thinking

rudeness. That was never,ever Chelsea. I had neverseenherberudein theentirestintIhadthere,”Finneysaid.“She wrote me a notethankingme formyservices.That’sjustthewayshewas.”

Still, Chelsea was a“normal” teenager in someways.Forstarters,shehardlyevermade her bed.And likeall teenagers, she likedhangingoutwithherfriends.

Well before DowntonAbbey showed Lady Sybilgetting cooking lessons fromdownstairs cook Mrs.Patmore,ChelseaClintonandsome friends from her poshprivate school, SidwellFriends,didasortofinformalinternship with the residencestaff. (Years before, Jackiehad taken five-year-oldCaroline to theWhite Housekitchen to bake tiny pink

cupcakes from a toy bakingset Caroline had gotten forherbirthday.)Chelseaandherfriends spent part of the dayin each department, learningfrom the best how to cook,clean, and arrange flowers.She proudly showed herparents her flowerarrangement—which wasdisplayedintheRedRoom—and made them try some ofthe meals she learned to

prepare.“Mrs. Clinton had

decided theywantedChelseato be a little bit more self-sufficient and didn’tnecessarilywanthergoingtothe dining hall and out torestaurants each night,”Executive Chef WalterScheibrecalls.“SoIgotacallfromMrs.ClintonaskingifIwould teach Chelsea how tocook.” There was another

factor at play:Chelseawas avegetarian, and her motherwanted to make sure shewould be able to preparehealthyfoodforherselfwhenshe was in college. Thesummerofher senioryear inhigh school, before shewentoff to Stanford University,Chelsea wandered down tothe kitchen to learn thebeginning and intermediatelevelsofvegetariancooking.

“She was an extremelyquick study, and as everyoneknows now she is very, verybright,” Scheib said. Even atseventeen, Scheib said, shewas acutely aware of thestaff’ssacrifice.“She’saveryintense person who didn’ttake this opportunity lightly.She respected ustremendously in terms of usofferingherourtime.”

At the end of their

lessons, he gave her a chef’scoat inscribed: CHELSEACLINTON,FIRSTDAUGHTER.TheWhite House calligrapherseven made her a diploma:“Walter Scheib’s WhiteHouse Cooking School.”Later, Chelsea sent Scheib anote: “Thank you verymuchforlettingmetakeyourtime.I hope I wasn’t too muchtrouble.”

“I think back to what I

would have been like had Ibeen the first son atseventeen,”Scheibsaysnow.“Iwasabitofajerk;shewasso modest and understatedand so thankful for allof thethings we did. I rememberChelseawould call down forbreakfast and say, ‘If it’snottoomuch trouble . . .’And Iwould say, ‘Chelsea, it’s nottoo much trouble. It’s myjob.’”

The butlers later toldScheib they’d overheardChelsea talking with hermother about what she’dlearned fromhim that day inthe kitchen. “Mrs. Clintonand Chelsea were very, veryclose. The first lady wouldchange her schedule ifChelsea was available for ameal.” The residence staffoften saw this softer side ofHillary, counter to her hard-

charging public persona. “Inprivate shewas a doting andcaring and truly lovingmother. She thought Chelseawasthebe-allandend-all.”

For Scheib, it was thatkind of access to the firstfamilies that made hisgrueling job special. “This iswhat working at the WhiteHouse is. Some will talkabout, ‘I made this cake,’ or‘I made that soup,’ or ‘I

arranged these flowers.’That’s not what the job is.The real beauty of the job isgetting to see theserelationships. It was neverabout us. It’s not about thepastrychef,it’snotaboutthechef,it’snotabouttheflorist,it’s not about thegroundskeeper. It’s aboutfamilies.”

NO MATTER HOW friendly thestaff become with thechildrenof the residence, thelinebetweenthehelpandthefamilywasalwaysclear.“Forall the fancy titles, we’redomestic staff, we need toremember our place,” saidScheib. During the Bushyears, he said, “Ouronly jobwastobesurethatJennaandBarbara had exactly whattheywantedfor lunchor that

the president’s meal comingback from church on Sundaywasexactlyashewantedit.”

They always wanted toimpress the first family. ForHillary Clinton’s fiftiethbirthday, Mesnier created anover-the-top cake made ofblownsugarballoons—withahand-painted reproduction ofherbest-sellingbookItTakesaVillage.

For Chelsea’s sixteenth

birthday,hestruggledtothinkofsomethingthatwouldwowher and her parents. He didnot know what to make forherandemphaticallyrefused,inhisheavyFrenchaccent,to“makeacakewithflowersonit for a sixteen-year-old. Iwant something withmeaning!”

Two days before herbirthday,Mesnier still hadn’tsettled on the right idea for

her cake. Then, on hiscommute to work, he heardona radio show thatChelseawanted a car and a driver’slicense forherbirthday.Thatsettled it. He made ahandmadeWashington,D.C.,driver’s license and a carmade out of sugar. But theClintonswerecelebratingherbirthday at Camp David inMaryland’s CatoctinMountain Park about sixty

miles north of the WhiteHouse, so thecakehad tobesent all the way out there—and Mesnier was so worriedabout the trip that he loadedthecake into thevanhimselfand gave the driver strictinstructionsonhowtohandleit. “If you don’t listen,” hesaid,“you’regoing tohaveaproblem.” Then hemade thedriverpromisetotakeaphotoofthecakeonceitarrived.

IT MAY BE hard for somepresidentialchildrentoadjustto life in the White House,but the residence staff isalways happy to see them.They bring a levity andjoyousness that is otherwiseabsentinthestaidandelegantrooms. The second and thirdfloorsarecheerierwhenkidsare runningupanddown thehallways. “Everybody was

old when I got there,” saysBill Hamilton, who startedduring the Eisenhoweradministration. When theKennedy family arrived,however, the difference waslike night and day. Heremembers seeing Carolineand John-John playing withtheir menagerie of animals,including a pony namedMacaronithatCarolinewouldride on the South Lawn. “It

was just so nice to see. Youdidn’t think this would everhappenintheWhiteHouse.”

CHAPTERX

HeartbreakandHope

Istillcan’ttalkaboutit.

—WENDYELSASSER,FLORIST,1985–2007,ONWORKINGINTHEWHITEHOUSEONSEPTEMBER11,2001

Pierce, hurry up and get totheoffice.Thebosshasbeenshot,” a panicked SecretService officer barked atNelson Pierce as he walkedthrough the White Housegates to start his shift on theafternoon of November 22,1963.

More than five decadeslater, Pierce rememberedevery minute of that day in

1963. Once he got throughthe gate he raced to theresidence and rushed to theUsher’s Office, where agroup of horrified staffersweregatheredaroundtheTV.

Unlike the rest of thecountry,Piercehadnotimetomourn. He had a job to do.Like most of the residencestaff, he showed very littleoutward emotion that day.Everyone on the household

staff went on “automaticpilot,” said Curator JimKetchum.“Ithinkmostofuswereintentoncarryingon.”

As theusheronduty thatterrible day, it was Piercewho got the official wordfrom a Secret Service agentcalling from ParklandHospitalinDallasconfirmingthepresident’sdeath.

Pierce was steering theship in unchartered waters.

No modern president hadever been assassinated, andnever before had there beenfootageof the eventwith theviolent images playing overandover.

Itwas the beginning of alongandemotionallydrainingweek. Piercewalked throughthe White House gates on aFriday and didn’t leave untilthe following Wednesdaynight. There was so much

work to be done. The firstthing he did, in a state ofshock, was to call theengineers and order them tolower the flag on the roof oftheWhiteHousetohalf-staff.He let himself break downonlyonce—whenhesawthatflag being lowered. Aftercomposinghimself, he calledthe General ServicesAdministration ControlCenter to notify all U.S.

embassiesandshipsatsea tolowertheirflagsinkind.

Within ten minutes ofleaving Dallas, Mrs.Kennedy’spersonalsecretary,MaryGallagher,calledPiercefromAirForceOneand toldhim that Jackie wanted herhusband’s funeral to be asmuchlikePresidentLincoln’sas possible. Pierce wasn’tsure what that would entail,but he immediately set to

work. “We had no trainingfor anything like that. It wasjust something you fell intoautomatically—we weredoing what the first ladywanted,” he said.He quicklygot in touch with theCurator’sOffice, and they inturnworkedwith theLibraryofCongresstofigureouthowbest to replicate Lincoln’slyinginstateandfuneral.

Curator Jim Ketchum

foundanoldengravingoftheEast Room draped in blackfor Lincoln’s funeral. To re-create the effect,West calledLawrence Arata, the WhiteHouse upholsterer, whoproposed using blackcambric,athinblackmaterialstretchedacrossthebottomofchairs to disguise theirsprings. As it happened,Arata had ordered a newhundred-yard roll just a few

daysbefore.Arata and his wife

quicklygot towork, hangingthe fabric exactly asinstructed by the president’sbrother-in-law, SargentShriver, who supervisedfuneralpreparationsatRobertKennedy’s request. TheAratas hung the black clothover chandeliers, windows,and doorways. They workedwith the help of their grief-

stricken colleagues from latein the evening until thepresident’s body returned intheearly-morninghours.

“Alotofpeoplethoughtitwas silk material, but it wasplain black cambric. Mrs.Kennedywanteditvery,veryhumble, the same asLincoln’s funeral. Nothingfancy,”Arata said. “I pinnedthe cambric on the draperiesandtriedtodrapethematerial

to give it a customappearance.”

A grief-stricken PrestonBruce directed friends andfamily who were arriving inshared disbelief to beginpreparations for thepresident’sfuneral.Hehelpeddrape the black fabric on themain floor of the WhiteHouse as the first ladyinstructed. In theEastRoom,Bruce andMaître d’ Charles

Ficklin placed giant tapers—long, slim candles—next tothe platform that wouldsupport the president’scasket. From the momentBruce arrived at the WhiteHouse at 2:22 P.M. onNovember22untilthehearsepulled under the NorthPortico after four the nextmorning, Bruce said he had“onlyoneideainmymind.Iwould wait for Mrs.

Kennedy.Iwantedtobetherewhen she came back to theWhiteHouse.”

Chief Usher J. B. Westwas at home when he heardthenewsontheradio,andherushed to the office. Hewrites in his memoir aboutthe following hours: hedirectedthebutlerstopreparecoffee and themaids to startreadying all the guest rooms,“little meaningless gestures,

but a signal that our workmustgoon.”

“We were told originallythat the president’s bodywould arrive at the WhiteHouseabout10:00P.M.Well,we got the call at 10:00 P.M.that they didn’t know whattime it would be so it wasabout 4:25 A.M. when thepresident’s body arrived attheWhiteHouse,”Piercesaidwith sadness sweeping over

his face. “We were up allnightandallthenextday.”

Pierce helped the butlerssettle Kennedy familymembers into their rooms atthe residence. Over the nextfour nights, he and the otherusherssleptonfoldingcotsinthe basement. There was anarea there that they used tochange into tuxedos for statedinners,andtherewasatleastabathroomanda shower for

themtoshare.When Pierce saw Jackie

for the first time in the earlymorningonNovember23,henearly froze. “When Mrs.KennedyandTedandRobertcamearound thecorner fromthehall to the elevator Iwaswondering what I would sayto Mrs. Kennedy. Our eyesmet as she came around thecorner and we had a rapportthat I had never had with

anybody that I knew—Ididn’t have to say anything,”he recalled, tearing up whenhe talked about seeing hersuit caked in her husband’sblood. The traumatized firstlady was only thirty-fouryearsold.“Welostafriend,averyclosefriend,”Piercesaidas he thought back to themood among the residenceworkers that fateful day.Social Secretary Letitia

Baldrige remembered beingasked by Robert Kennedy toselectacoffin;shedecidedona midpriced casket, since itwould forever be hiddenunderneath the Americanflag.

“Hundredsofpeoplewerewalking around thosecorridors silently, numbly,”sherecalled.“Theyusedtobesuch happy, bustling, noisycorridors.Nowpeoplemoved

slowly, bowed, and whenthey spoke, they whispered,as if afraid their emotionswouldburstforth.”

Within fifteen hours, bythe time thepresident’sbodywasbackattheWhiteHouse,the staff was able to arrangefor the casket to rest on thesame catafalque used forLincoln nearly one hundredyears earlier. PresidentKennedy’sbodywasreturned

afterhoursatBethesdaNavalHospital, where thepresident’s autopsy wasperformedwhileJackiepacedthe halls smoking cigarettes.Representativesofeachofthearmed services carried thecoffin up the North Porticostairs. Father John Kuhn ofSt.Matthew’sChurchofferedashortprayer.Onlyafter theflag-draped coffinwas in theEast Room did the first lady

leave her husband’s side. Inthe coffin she placed a lettershe wrote to her husband, apairofgoldcufflinksshehadgiven him, the presidentialseal carved on a whale’stooth, and a note fromCaroline and John-John totheirslainfather.

For Mrs. Kennedy, thepresident’s loss wascompounded by the couple’srenewed intimacy after the

devastating death of theirbaby, Patrick BouvierKennedy,onAugust9,1963,less than four months beforethe president’s assassination.About ten days beforePatrick’s premature birth,Jackie wrote HeadHousekeeper Anne Lincolnand asked her to go out andbuy some baby hangers.Lincoln was putting off theerrand, since the baby was

not due for several moreweeks.

The boy died just twodays after he was born fiveand a halfweeks early. “Thewhole room was fixed up,and I know the secondwhenPatrick died [that]we got upthere justas fastaswecouldand took everything out andput itallaway,”sherecalled.They didn’t want thepresident and first lady to be

reminded of their gut-wrenching loss when theyreturned.J.B.WestcalledtheCarpenter’s ShopimmediatelyuponlearningofPatrick’s death, and orderedthem to get rid of the rug,crib,andcurtainsintheblue-and-white nursery. NowJackie was being forced toendure another life-changingdeath.

BillCliberhadjuststarted

asanelectricianat theWhiteHouse that year. He helpeddrapetheblackclothoverthechandeliers, andwhen JackieKennedy came to review herhusband’s body, he quietlywalkedtotheoppositesideoftheroomtogiveherprivacy.

“We knew how todisappear,” he said.And thiswas a moment when theresidence staff wereespecially aware of the first

lady’sneedforprivacy.Fortwenty-fourhours,the

president’sfamilyandfriendspaidtheirrespectsintheEastRoom. After a small massthat Saturday, Jackie walkedup toChiefUsherJ.B.Westand threw her arms aroundhim. “Poor Mr. West,” shewhispered.

“I couldn’t speak. It wasallIcoulddotostand,”Westsaid. “I just held her for a

moment.”Knowingthatsheandher

childrenwould have to leavetheWhiteHousesoon,Jackieasked him to take her to seetheOvalOfficeonelasttime.Shockingly, it was alreadybeing taken apart. Modelships, books, and thepresident’s rocking chairwere being carted away bythe residence staff. “I thinkwe’re probably in the way,”

shemurmured, trying to takein every last detail of theroom.

She walked the shortdistancetotheCabinetRoomand sat at the imposingmahogany table. “Mychildren. They’re goodchildren, aren’t they, Mr.West?” she asked the chiefusher, who had become afriend.

“Theycertainlyare.”

“They’renotspoiled?”“No,indeed.”“Mr. West, will you be

my friend for life?” the firstlady,whohadseemedtohaveit all just a day earlier,pleaded.

He was too upset tospeak. He could only nod.The Sunday after theassassination, the flag-drapedcoffinwascarriedonahorse-drawn caisson, the same one

thathadcarriedthebodiesofLincoln, FDR, and theUnknown Soldier, to theCapitolRotundawhereitlaidinstatefortwenty-onehours.The procession mirroredLincoln’ssocloselythattherewas even a riderless blackhorse just as there had beenalmost a hundred yearsearlier.Twohundredandfiftythousand people went to paytribute to the president. The

state funeral was held onMonday,November25.

“WewerestandingoutontheNorthPortico, and itwasjustaquietday,couldn’thearnothing but those horses—click, click,” longtimeresidence worker WilsonJerman vividly recalls. “Itwasaverysadday.”

Shortlybeforethefuneral,Usher Rex Scouten calledPrestonBruce intohisoffice,

where Robert Kennedy waswaiting for him. KennedytoldBrucethatJackiewantedhim to walk in the funeralprocession to St. Matthew’sCathedral.Acarwoulddrivehim to the cemetery for theburial.

Thefuneralservice“wentby like a dream,” Brucerecalled. He rememberedseeing John-John salute hisfather’s casket, and

remembered that that nightJackiehadarrangedforcake,ice cream, and candles to gowiththelittleboy’sdinner tocelebratehisthirdbirthday.

The great-grandson ofslaves,Brucehadnevergoneto college, so he wasastounded to find himselfstanding feet away fromGeneral Charles de Gaulleand Ethiopian emperor HaileSelassie, dressed in their full

regalia, at the president’sfuneral atArlingtonNationalCemetery. They were justsome of the dignitaries frommore than one hundredcountries who came toWashington to share in thenation’s grief. For Bruce,JackieKennedyhaddonehimthe honor of a lifetime:positioning him alongsideheads of state and includinghim among the president’s

familyandclosestfriends.

JIMKETCHUMHADjustlefttheOval Office, where he hadbeen working all morningwith a crew from theSmithsonian. Itwas less thana year before the 1964presidential election, andKennedywasalreadymakingplans for his presidentiallibrary in case he was

defeated. The presidentinsisted that his library haveanaccuratecopyoftheornateResolutedeskthatwascarvedfrom the timbers of aBritishArctic Exploration shipnamed the H.M.S. Resolute.Kennedy was the firstpresident to have it installedin the Oval Office, and itbecame world-famousbecauseofaplayfulphotoofJohn-John peeking his head

out from a built-in panelunderneath it as his fatherworked. That morningKetchum and the team fromthe Smithsonian wereexamining every square inchof the iconic piece offurniture.

As soon as he sat backdowninhisoffice,heheardapolice officer talking in thehallway. “We just had wordfrom Dallas that the

presidential motorcade hasbeen hit and we think thepresidentwasinvolved.”

Ketchum and two otherpeopleintheCurator’sOfficetook the elevator to the thirdfloor and rushed to find aguest room with a TV towatch the news. Not longafter, Ketchum got a callfrom Mrs. Kennedy herself,onboardAirForceOne.Sherepeated the order her

secretary gave to the ushers:shewantedhimtofindbooksdescribing how the EastRoom was decorated duringLincoln’sfuneral.

Around dusk thatevening, helicopters startedlanding on the White Houselawn in quick succession.Lookingbackon that terribleday,Ketchumtoldmethathecouldonlylikenthesighttoascene from the epicVietnam

film Apocalypse Now,released years later. Thecopters were coming fromAndrews Air Force Base,carrying some of the peoplewho had been on the flightback from Dallas and otherswhom Johnson had asked tocomemeethimtodiscussthetransition.Ketchumspent thenext several hours preparingthe East Room. He didn’tleave to go back to his

northern Virginia apartmentuntil Sunday morning. Aftergettinga fewhoursof restathome, he got a phone call ataround six-thirty onMondaymorning, the day of thepresident’s state funeral. ItwasMrs.Kennedy.“Shewasobviously getting next to nosleep,” he said. She wascalling about a small detail,showingheralmostobsessivefocusonappearancesevenas

she faced the enormity oflosingherhusband.

“Shewasgoingtoreceivemost of the visitingdignitaries in theRedRoom,butshewantedtohavepeoplelike [French president] deGaulleandahandfulofotherindividualswhowould reallybe considered the top of theranking, in the Yellow OvalRoom just above the OvalBlueRoom,”hesaid.

Jackie was worried thatthey would see the paintingby French post-Impressionistpainter Paul Cézanne in theYellow Oval Room. “I’dreally like tohave somethingmoreAmerican tosharewiththese people,” she toldKetchum resolutely. “Wouldyou, and could you, as soonaspossible,getintotheWhiteHouse and take down theCézanne?” By 8:15 that

morning, the Cézanne hadbeen replaced by a newlyacquiredseriesoflargeprintsof American cities. “Theywere the perfect substitute,”Ketchumsaidproudly.

Ketchum was surprisedthat Chief Usher J. B.West,who was so close to Mrs.Kennedy, didn’t show moreemotion after theassassination.Westexplainedtothegrief-strickenKetchum:

“I came to theWhite Housein 1941 and my president[Roosevelt] died in April of1945. If the first presidentunderwhomyou’veservedintheWhiteHouse dies, it is amuchmore tryingexperiencethanthosethatcomeafter.”

When President Kennedydied, Ketchum says, hefinallyunderstoodwhatWestmeant.Therewasadegreeofcomposure that was always

expected from the domesticstaff. Andwith the widowedfirst ladysettinga stoic tone,everyone else fell in line. Ifthepresident’swifewasableto keep herself together, acurator at the White Housewho barely knew thepresident should certainly dothesame.

West was surprised thatthe campaign-averse Mrs.Kennedy had wanted to

accompany her husband toDallas, but he rememberedhow close the couple hadgrown since Patrick’s deaththatAugust.Later,JackietoldWest she was glad she hadbeen there in her husband’sfinalmoments:“TothinkthatI very nearly didn’t go! Oh,Mr. West, what if I’d beenhere—out riding at Wexford[their house in Virginia’shorse country] or

somewhere....ThankGodIwentwithhim!”

Mrs. Kennedy was sofondofWest,andgratefulforhiskindnessinthatdarktime,thatwhenhe passed away in1983 she asked NancyReagan ifhecouldbeburiedat Arlington NationalCemetery, even though it isreserved for career militarypersonnel and their families.TheReagansobliged.

IT WAS NANNY Maud Shawwho broke the news of thepresident’s death to thechildren. Caroline was fivedays short of her sixthbirthdaywhenher fatherwasassassinated. John-John wasjust threedays fromhis thirdbirthday. As helicoptersnoisily landed on the SouthLawn, Caroline pointed ateach one and asked if that

was the helicopter carryingher fatherback fromhis trip.Shaw chose her wordscarefully. “There was anaccident and your fatherwasshot,” Shaw said haltingly,almost unable to control herown grief. “God has takenhim to heaven because theyjustcouldn’tmakehimbetterinahospital.”

Shaw told Caroline thatshe would be reunited in

heaven with her father andtheirbabybrotherPatrick,butin themeantimehewouldbewatching over her and hermother and her brother.Carolinewas justoldenoughtostartcrying.

John-John was so youngthat Shaw tucked him intobed without telling himanything. He soon learnedenough, though, to say: “Mypoormommy’s crying. She’s

crying because my daddy’sgoneaway.”

ATFIRST,LADYBird Johnsonthought someone was settingoff firecrackers. That wouldhavebeenentirelyinkeepingwiththefestiveairoftheday,as children waved signs andpeople threw confetti andleaned out of office buildingwindows to wave at the

gorgeousfirstcouple.TheJohnsonswereriding

twocarsbehindtheKennedysonNovember22,1963.Theirlives, like those of theKennedy family, would beforeverchangedbytheeventsofthatday.

Mrs. Johnson couldn’tbelievethat thepresidenthadbeenshotuntiltheypulledupto the hospital. She glancedoverattheKennedys’carand

saw “a bundle of pink, justlikeadriftofblossoms,lyingon the backseat. It wasMrs.Kennedy lying over thepresident’sbody.”

Whenshewenttoseethefirst lady outside theoperating room, she wasamazed at how alone shelooked.“Youalwaysthinkofsomeone like her as beinginsulated, protected,” shewroteinherdiary.LadyBird

huggedJackieandwhispered,“God,helpusall.”

On the flight back toWashington, with PresidentKennedy’s casket in theplane’s corridor, Lady Birdwent to see Jackie again.Jackietoldherthesamethingshe later told West: that shewasgladshe’dbeenwithherhusbandinhisfinalmoments.“What if I had not beenthere?”shewonderedaloud.

WhenLadyBirdasked ifshe could find someone tohelp her change out of herbloodstainedsuit,sherefused“with almost an element offierceness—if a person thatgentle, that dignified, can besaid to have such a quality.”The gory sight was deeplymoving.Itwasashocktoseethat “immaculate womanexquisitely dressed, andcakedinblood.”

“Iwant them to seewhatthey have done to Jack,”Jackietoldherdefiantly.(Thestrawberry pink suit was anexact replica of a Chaneldesign,madebyasmallU.S.dressmaker;thefirstladyhadchosen it to avoid criticismfor wearing too manyexpensiveforeignlabels.)

The country wasconsumedbygriefandpanic.For Luci Baines Johnson,

sixteen years old at the time,therewasadeepfearthatthenewsreportsshewashearingsecondhand were incompleteand that her parents had alsobeen hurt. Shewas sitting inSpanish class atWashington’s NationalCathedral School when herteacher announced the news.“No one ever said a wordabout my father or mother,”she recalled. Class was

swiftly dismissed and shewandered into the school’scourtyardaloneandinadaze.“I looked over and saw thatthe Secret Service had verythoughtfully sent a man Iknew, one of my father’sdetail—and I turned and ranin the other direction as if Icould run away from theinevitable. And of course, Iwasn’t capable of outrunninga Secret Service agent.” The

agent grabbed her and said,“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,Luci.” She beat on his chestand screamed, “No!” Henever said that the presidentwasdead,shesays,“Becausethe words were justunsayable.” It wasn’t untilshe asked him, “And DaddyandMother?” that she foundout that her parents wereunharmed.

Ninety-nineminutes after

President Kennedy waspronounced dead, VicePresident Lyndon BainesJohnsonwassworninonAirForce One. When Johnsonstepped off the plane atAndrewsAirForceBase,thistimeaspresident, he told thewaiting press: “We havesufferedalossthatcannotbeweighed. Forme it is a deeppersonal tragedy. Iknowthatthe world shares the sorrow

that Mrs. Kennedy and herfamily bear. I will do mybest.ThatisallIcando.Iaskforyourhelp—andGod’s.”

The specter of tragedywould haunt the Johnsonsthose first fewmonths in theWhiteHouse.Theirtransitionwas made worse becausesome members of theKennedys’ loyal staff wouldnevertrustthenewpresident,whomtheyconsideredaloud,

uncouth bully. (Even JackieKennedy had referred toJohnsonduring thecampaignas“SenatorCornpone.”)

Caroline Kennedy’s lifemay have been changedforever, but her motherwanted her routine to stay inplace for as longaspossible.At Mrs. Kennedy’s request,Lady Bird Johnson allowedthe little girl to continue toattend kindergarten with a

group of her friends in theirthird-floor Solariumclassroomuntiltheendofthefirstsemesterinmid-January.Little Caroline was droppedoffattheSouthPorticoeverymorningandpickedupeveryafternoon. The elevator tookCaroline and her classmatesto the linoleum-flooredclassroom, complete withchalkboardsandcubbies.Theother students were the

children of longtime friendsofthefirstcouple.Caroline’sballet class sometimes stillpracticedontheSouthLawn,“fluttering like little pinkbirds in their pink leotards,tulle tutus, and balletslippers,” recalls SocialSecretaryLetitiaBaldrige.

After her father’s death,Carolineneverstoppedtoseeher old room on the secondfloor or bounce on the

trampoline, J. B. West said.“Exceptforafewsentimentalservants, she was generallyignored.LyndaandLuci [theJohnsons’ teenage daughters]werethenewPrincesses.”

ForNelsonPierce,seeingCarolineeverydaybroughtasense of solace, not sorrow.“We were so glad that shewas continuing with schooland her friends,” he toldme.“Of course, she was young

enoughsothatthelossofherfather, when it was schooltime, it was forgotten. Sheblended in with the kids andhad a good time.” (OnceCaroline finished thesemester, Luci and Lyndamade the Solarium into ateenage hideaway, completewithasodabar,abigTVset,andtworecordplayers.)

In the wake of theassassination, security at the

White House was enhanced.Butler Lynwood Westrayrecallsthattheresidencestaffwere all subjected to a newclearance check by lawenforcement—theirbackgrounds scrutinized andtheir friends and familiesinterviewed. “One or two ofthe guys couldn’t make thegradeafterhavingbeenfoundokay” before, he said. “Theywere just cut off from

working there after that.”Westray said his phone wastappedaftertheassassination.“They wanted to make surepeoplethereweredoingwhatthey were supposed to bedoing.”

Kennedy’s death changedthe course of history and ithadadeep,personaleffectontheresidencestaffwholovedhim so much. A certaininnocence would be forever

absent from the halls of theexecutivemansion.

NEARLY FORTY YEARS later, avery different kind oftraumatic event shook theWhite House. On a latesummer morning, under acloudless azure sky, themansion was buzzing withactivity. The Bushes werehosting the annual picnic for

members of Congress andtheir families. One hundredand ninety picnic tablesadorned the South Lawn.Executive Chef WalterScheib was working withTomPerini,afavoritecatererof the first family’s fromBuffaloGap,Texas,tocreateafestive,Texas-stylecookoutfor the fifteen hundredexpected guests, completewith chuck wagons and a

green chili and hominycasserole.

Warm weather and clearskies were forecast for theafternoon barbecue. Maidswere cleaning the Queens’Bedroomonthesecondfloor,where George H. W. Bushand Barbara had spent thenight before. The formerpresident and hiswife left at7:00A.M. for an early flight.President George W. Bush

was in Florida, visiting aSarasotaelementaryschool.

Evenwith all the activityswirling around her, LauraBush seemed alone in theWhiteHouseon themorningof September 11, 2001. Shewasgettingdressedinsilencein the Bush’s second-floorbedroom, rehearsing thestatementshewassettomakebefore the Senate EducationCommitteethatmorning.She

wasnervousabouthervisittoCapitolHill,whereshewouldbe briefing the committeeabout an early childhooddevelopment conferenceshe’d organized earlier thatsummer.

The first lady and theresidence staff—from themaids,butlers,andflorists,tothe cooks prepping for theannual picnic—were all lostin the events of a typically

busy day. But that day wasanythingbuttypical.“HadtheTV been turned on, I mighthave heard the first fleetingreport of a plane hitting theNorth Tower,” Laura Bushsaid.

A fewminutes after 9:00A.M. Laura got into herwaiting car at the SouthPorticotoheadtotheRussellSenate Office Building, lessthan two miles away. The

head of her Secret Servicedetail told her that a planehad slammed into one of theWorld Trade Center towers.Chief Usher Gary Walters,standingbesidehim,wasalsohearing thenews for the firsttime.How could a plane flyinto theWorld Trade Centeron such a clear day? Hewonderedaloud.

“Gary, you need to goinside and watch the

television,” the agent toldhim.

Thefirstlady’smotorcadespedupPennsylvaniaAvenueto the Capitol to make thehearing.Waltersheadedbackinside to the Secret Serviceroom on the Ground Floor,locatedbehindthepresident’selevator,whereheknewtherewas a television. But theroom was crowded withpeople in frontof theTV,so

hewenttotheUsher’sOffice,where he ran into somehousehold workers. He gavethem quick instructions onthe setup for the picnic, stillunaware of the extent of thedevastation.

When he got to hispersonal office, which isseparate from the Usher’sOffice,ittoowaspackedwithpeople huddled around theTV.Hewalked in justas the

second plane flew into theSouthTower.

“How in the world didthey get that on television?”heasked,stunned.

“Because that’s thesecond plane,” someoneresponded.

Once Walters realizedthat the event wasn’t anisolated accident, he calledthe Bushes’ social secretary,Catherine Fenton. They

decided to cancel the event,andWalterswentbacktotheSouth Portico, where he hadjust seen Laura Bush offmoments before. There wasso much confusion anduncertainty but he couldn’twasteamoment.

Just as they had afterPresident Kennedy’sassassination, the residencestaff delved into their workwith a single-minded focus.

Walters coordinated with theNational Park Service, incharge of the White Housegrounds, to determine whowould be moving the picnictables and cleaning up thechuckwagons.

“As I walked out of theSouth Portico, I saw theterrible smoke and flames atthe Pentagon,” Waltersrecalled. It suddenly struckhim: the White House could

benext.Even as people started to

evacuate the White House,Walters knew he would bestaying: “As far as I wasconcerned, my responsibilitywas there at the WhiteHouse.”

His job was to make thehouserunatallcosts,evenifit now felt like he wasworking in the center of agiant bull’s-eye. He couldn’t

do it alone. He asked theuniformed division of theSecret Service to allowExecutive Chef WalterScheib,whohadalreadybeenevacuated, to return. Hegrabbed a few others,including Chief ElectricianBill Cliber, and told themthey needed to stay and helpclear the picnic tables, evenas the Secret Service wasscreaming for everyone to

drop everything and run fortheir lives. “I got the wordthat everybody wasevacuating, but we hadsomething that we needed todo,”Walterssaid.

Meanwhile Walters’sdaughter, a studentatBostonCollege, was anxiouslywatching the news, terrifiedfor her father after someonemistakenly told her that aplane had crashed into the

White House, not thePentagon. Walters and hissmall crewwere too focusedon clearing space for thepresident’s helicopter to calltheirfamilies.

Cliber’s wife, Bea, washome watching TV withrelatives. She didn’t knowwhether her husband wasgoing to be all right. “Itwaspanicsville,” she recalled.“Wejustsatandwaited.”She

didn’t hear from him untileighto’clockthatnight.

On his way up thedriveway—and, potentially,back into harm’s way—Scheib yelled at thecolleagues streaming towardhim out of the mansion toleave the grounds as fast astheycould.Heshoutedatthepresident and first lady’sstaffs, already racing out ofthe West and East wings,

warning them that the policewere saying another planewas heading for the WhiteHouse.

“Everyone who workedfor me in the East Wing—they were mainly youngwomenwho expected a veryglamorous job at the WhiteHouse—weretoldtokickofftheir high heels and run,”LauraBushrecalls.“Canyouimaginewhatitwouldbelike

to all of a suddenhave a jobwhereyouweretoldtorun?”

Walters and the otherscleared 190 picnic tables,weighinghundredsofpoundseach, from the South Lawn.“Mykneesbanged together,”Walterssaid.“Itsoundedlikea bass drum.” Rumors offurther attacks kept comingin,buttheyblockedthemout.“We’ve got a job,we’ve gottodoit,”Clibersaid.

Even then, when theworld felt like it was turnedupside down, the residencestafffocusedonkeepingtheirbeloved house running andnot spilling any secrets. Assome reporters noticed themfeverishly working to clearthe South Grounds, theyasked whether the presidentwas coming back toWashington right away.“Haven’t heard a word,”

Clibertoldthem,eventhoughhe knew they were workingto help speed up thepresident’sreturn.

The first lady’s car wasdriving up PennsylvaniaAvenue toCapitolHillwhenshe learned that a secondplanehadhittheotherWorldTradeCentertower.“Thecarfell silent; we sat in mutedisbelief,” she wrote in hermemoir.“Oneplanemightbe

astrangeaccident;twoplaneswereclearlyanattack.”

WHEN MAID BETTY Finneystarted working at theWhiteHouse in 1993, she had nohousekeeping experienceexcept for taking care of thehome she shared with herhusband and their twodaughters. She was workingat a steakhouse in Myrtle

Beach, SouthCarolina,whenher husband died suddenly.She needed a job—fast. Aswith most White Housepositions, hers came througha connection: her daughterknewExecutiveHousekeeperChristine Limerick, whobroughtheronboard.

BETTYFINNEY

Eight years after shewashired, she found herselffearingforherlife.

Finney was cleaning thesecond floor Queens’Bedroom, where thepresident’s parents had spentthe night on September 10.Whentheyleftfortheairport,the Bushes had forgotten toturnofftheTV.Finneyanda

couple of other terrifiedmaids gathered around it,watchingasthesecondtowerwas hit. Like so many othertragedies that affected thepresidency,evenastheywerestanding at the heart of thestory, the residence workerswere left to learn the newsfromtheTV.

“IrandownthehalltotheYellow Oval Room andlooked out the window, and

you cannot see the Pentagonfromthere,butIsawsmoke,”shesays.“Iwentback to theQueens’Bedroom and then Ihad to run upstairs forsomething.”

Before shemade it to thethird floor, she heard one ofthe Secret Service agentsyelling“Getoutofthehouse!Get out of the house!” Shenever made it upstairs;insteadsherandownstairs.“I

didn’t know what was goingon. I didn’t know they hadstarted the evacuation. Wegotoutandeverybodywasonthestreets.Itwasreallyscary.Everybody just went in adifferent direction, wherevertheycouldgetout.”

On Capitol Hill, LauraBush got out of the car tomeet with Senator EdwardKennedy, chair of theEducation Committee, both

knowing that there would beno briefing that day. Heescortedhertohisoffice.

Oddly,evenasanoldTVinthecorneroftheroomwasblaring the devastating newsout of New York, Kennedywouldn’t look at the screen.Insteadhegave the first ladya tour of the familymemorabilia in his office,including a framed note thathisbrotherJackhadsenttheir

motherwhenhewas a child.Itsaid,“Teddyisgettingfat.”

“All the while,” the firstlady said, “I kept glancingoverattheglowingtelevisionscreen.My skin was startingtocrawl,Iwantedtoleave,tofind out what was going on,toprocesswhatIwasseeing,but I felt trapped in anendlesscycleofpleasantries.”Later she wondered ifKennedyhadsimplyseentoo

much death in his lifetimeand couldn’t face anothertragedy, especially one onsuchamassivescale.

After they made astatement to the press tellingthem there would be nobriefing and expressingconcern about the attacks,Bushwalkedtowardthestairstogoback tohercarand theWhiteHouse.TheleadSecretServiceagentstoppedherand

her staff abruptly and toldthem to run to the basement.Deeply worried about herhusband’s safety, she waitedwith her friend Senator JuddGregg, the rankingRepublican on the EducationCommittee, in his privateinterior office in the lowerlevel of the Capitol. There,they huddled together andcalled their children tomakesure they were safe. Reports

were coming in fromeverywhere, some lessreliable than others—including one rumor thatCampDavidhadbeenhitandanother that a plane hadflown into theBush ranch inCrawford,Texas.

Momentsafterthesecondplane hit the South Tower,ChristineLimerick ran to thelinen roomon the third floorand told her staff to drop

everything and leave.Immediately.

She heard AmericanAirlines Flight 77 crash intothePentagon.“Itsoundedlikeanexplosion,”sherecalled.

Whenshe returned toheroffice, she realized shecouldn’t account for maidMaryArnold.Shetriedtogoback upstairs into theresidence to search for her,but the Secret Service

wouldn’tlether.Shewastoldshe had two minutes to getout of the White House andthataplanewasonitsway.

“Nobody questions themwhen it’s on lockdown,” shesaid.Arnoldsomehowgotoutof theWhite House and hadenough money on her to gethome.

Limerick remembersbeing haunted when sherealized that not everyone

wouldbeallowedtoevacuatethepotentialtarget.“Thelookon the faces of the SecretServiceagentswhoweretoldthat they had to stay,” shesaid. “I will never forgetthat.”

Workers say the SecretServicetoldeveryonetoheadnorth because they thoughtthe plane would come fromthe south—a less obstructedflight path to the White

House. Cooks, butlers,carpenters, andmaids fannedout, running for their lives.Somemembers of the PastryShopwalkedacrossArlingtonMemorial Bridge, crossingthe Potomac together andgathering at the nearestperson’shome.

Finney and half a dozenofhercolleagueswenttooneof the florists’ houses onCapitol Hill, where they

huddledaroundthetelevisionindisbelief.Theyhadall runoutsofastthathardlyanyonehad time to collect theirpurses, leaving them allwithout wallets. That nightthey walked miles to theircarsbackattheWhiteHouseanddrovehome,manystillinshock.

Somestaffersdidn’tmakeit out in time to evacuate atall.Therewerebutlersonthe

second and third floors whowere working on setting upthe bars for the picnic—peeling lemons and makinglemon wedges—who didn’tget the word that somethingwas going on until nearly anhour after the house wasevacuated. A few engineerswere stuck in the basementfor hours, oblivious to thepanicupstairsand thedangertheywerein.

Amid the chaos, onebutler randown tohis lockerinthebasementtochangehisclothesbeforeridinghomeonhis motorcycle. The gateslammed behind him,trappinghim,andhecouldn’tgetoutuntil aSecretServiceofficer recognized him andfinallyopenedthegate.

A LITTLE AFTER ten that

morning, a fewminutes afterthe World Trade Center’sSouth Tower collapsed andabout twenty minutes beforethe North Tower followed,the first lady was collectedfrom Senator Gregg’s officeby Secret Service agents andan Emergency ResponseTeam dressed in blackwielding guns. “GETBACK!” they shouted toCapitol Hill staffers as they

racedthestartledfirstladytoa waiting car. At about thesame time, United AirlinesFlight 93 crashed in a fieldnear Shanksville,Pennsylvania, when a groupof brave passengers tried towrestle control of the planefrom the terrorists. If theyhadn’tacted,thatplanewouldlikely have headed straightfor the Capitol or the WhiteHouse. Many White House

workerscredit thepassengerson thatplane for saving theirlives.

There was a lot ofdiscussion about where totake the first lady duringthose confusing hours. TheSecret Service eventuallydecided to move her to theirown headquarters, a fewblocks away from theWhiteHouse. She sat there forhours, in a windowless

basement conference room,watching the video of thetwin towers falling over andover.

Phone lineswere jammedthat day as petrified familymembers tried to make suretheir loved ones were safe.Even the president hadtrouble reaching his wifefromAir Force One after hetookofffromFlorida.Alittlebefore noon, after three

unsuccessful attempts, theBushes finally managed toconnect. She told him she’dreached their daughters andthattheyweresafe.

Meanwhile dozens ofresidence workers dressed intheir uniforms gathered inLafayette Square acrossPennsylvania Avenue fromthe White House. Chef JohnMoeller described theaftermath of the Pentagon

attack: “I could see hugeplumes of smoke swirling inthe sky—it was a beautifulday—itwasasblackasblackcan be. They were justswirling, swirling, swirlinginto the sky. I’ve never seenan explosion that big in mylife.” Finally, a group ofworkers decided to walk tothe nearby Capital Hilton insearch of bathrooms,landlines,andatelevision.

Nearby, the busyConnecticut Avenuecommercial district was inchaos.Drivershadgottenoutoftheircarsandgonerunningdown the street, worried thatthey would be caught in anattack. “Mass hysteria hadtaken over,” Walter Scheibrecalls. “I rememberwalkingbyaBMW700 series sittingin themiddle of ConnecticutAvenue with the doors open

and the engine running andnobodyinit.”

Laura Bush saw none ofthis.After hours of sitting inthe windowless conferenceroom,shewasfinallybroughtto thePresident’sEmergencyOperations Center beneaththe White House. VicePresident Dick Cheney andother top officials had beengathered there since thatmorning. Built for President

Franklin Roosevelt duringWorldWar II, the commandcenter is accessible onlythroughaseriesofunfinishedunderground hallways withpipeshangingdownfromtheceiling.Thereshewouldwaitto be reunited with herhusband.

Florist Bob Scanlan wasputting the finishing toucheson the picnic tablearrangements in the small

Flower Shop underneath theNorth Portico when a friendcalledandtoldhimthenews.Stunned, he wound up atnearby Freedom Plaza,severalblocksfromtheWhiteHouse.

As he walked there withseveral colleagues, he heardthe piercing noise ofAmerican Airlines Flight 77slamming into the Pentagon.“Wedecidedthatwecouldn’t

stay there,” he said. “Wewere like lost souls.”Heandacoworkerwalkedmorethantwo miles together to reachtheirhomesonCapitolHill.

AFTER HELPING CLEAR thepicnic tables, Scheib and agroup of residence staffworked in the kitchen fromtwo o’clock in the afternoonuntil nine o’clock that

evening, serving food (muchof it prepared earlier for thebarbecue) to the SecretService,NationalGuard,D.C.police,andWhiteHousestaffwho had to stay behind.Leftovers were sent to therelief effort at the Pentagon.“Four of them [residenceworkers] served over fivehundred meals to the staffthat were in and around theWhiteHouse,”Walterssaid.

Whenpeoplethankedhimfor the food, Scheib replied,“Justkeepwhateverthehell’sontheoutsideontheoutside,willyou?”

Once the lawn wascleared,Cliber and a handfulofothersfinallytriedtoleavetheWhiteHouse,onlytofindthemselves locked in bysecurity doors. A plane hadbeen spotted overhead, andthe Secret Service ordered

them down to the bombshelter, a corridor runningwest to east under theWhiteHouse. They stayed down inthe old shelter until aroundeighto’clock thatnight. (Theplane overhead turned out tobeaU.S.militaryaircraft.)

When they learnedof thedeath toll—all told, nearlythree thousand people losttheir lives that day—allanyone who works at

America’s most famoushouse could think was, Thatcouldhavebeenus.

Thateveningthefirstladyfinallygottoseethepresidentwhen they were reunited inthe President’s EmergencyOperationsCenter.

The Secret ServicerecommendedthattheBushessleep on an old bed in thebasement, but they refused.“I’vegottogetsomesleep,in

our own bed,” the presidentsaid. To the Bushes, theWhiteHousewashome.Theywere even more fiercelyattached to it now that it hadnarrowly missed totaldestruction.

AFTER THE ATTACKS, theSecret Service wanted toclose the White House totours. Early on the morning

ofSeptember12,ChiefUsherGaryWalters approached thepresidentashewalked to theOval Office and lobbied forthe public tours to remainopen. “Mr. President, lastnight you said everybodyshould go about their normalactivities. One normalactivity that will be watchedverycloselyisthattheWhiteHouseisopenfortours.”

The president paused and

replied,“You’reright.”Inthewakeoftheattacks,

however, the decision wasmade to close them. TheSeptember11attacksweren’tthe only cause for concern;just a week later, letterscontaining anthrax sporesarrived at the offices ofseveralnewsmediafiguresaswell as two Democraticsenators. Walters said thatsome members of the

residence staff were put onpreventative drugs in casetheywereexposedtoanthrax.

Bill Cliber would neverbe the same after 9/11. Heknewhowitfelt tobescaredashewalkedintoworkeveryday; after all, his WhiteHouse career had startedshortly before Kennedy’sassassination. But this wasdifferent.

“It shook me. I had my

time in,”hesaid, referring tothe years of service thatgovernment workers need inorder to qualify to get asignificant portion of theirpay in retirement. Still, hewouldn’t leave because hehadpromisedhimself thathewould work at the WhiteHouse for forty years, so hekeptongoing.

After September 11,though, themood changed at

the White House foreveryone. The Curator’sOffice deposed members ofthe staff, asking them to talkaboutwhattheywentthroughthatdayfortheirrecords.Theglamour of working at theWhite House was overtakenby fear. Pastry Chef RolandMesnier said that he and hisstaff were completelyunawarewhytheywerebeingevacuated so urgently,

because they didn’t have aTV in their kitchen.Afterward he demanded thatone be installed. After 9/11,most of the workers decidedtokeepabitofcashandtheirWhiteHousepassonthematall times in case theyneededtoleavequickly.

BettyMonkman,whowasin charge of preserving andcataloguing all of theimportant artwork and

furnitureintheWhiteHouse,had to worry not only aboutsaving her own life but alsowhichhistoricpiecesmustbesalvaged in case of anemergency. The Lansdowneportrait of GeorgeWashingtonintheEastRoomand the Gettysburg Addressin the Lincoln Bedroom areamongthetoppriorities.

Reflectingonthathorribleday, she says she is still

furiousthattherewasnoclearevacuation plan for thebuilding.“Thisyoungwomanwho worked in the Usher’sOffice came running throughour office saying, ‘Get out,getout,getout!’andthentheWhiteHousepolice said ‘Gosouth!’andthensomepeoplesaid ‘Go north!’ It was sochaotic.”

Monkmanhad decided togo to the bomb shelter that

morning, but when she gothalfway down she thought,Oh my God, if they bombedus we’d be buried under therubble. So she headed backupstairsandwenttoLafayetteSquare, where ambulancesandfiretrucksblazedpastherontheirwaytothePentagon.

Scheibsaidthehouseholdworkersarenotthepriorityina crisis and shouldn’t expectthe Secret Service to worry

about them. “We aredomesticstaff,wearenotthethrust of anything,” he said.“If you’re going to be there,you have to understandthere’satargetonthebackofevery person who works attheWhiteHouse.”

Scheibwassadtoseetheenormityoftheattacksweighon the president. Bushseemedasifhe“literallyhadtheweightoftheworldonhis

shoulders.” Always aware ofhow food affects moods,Scheib went from creatingmorecontemporarycuisinetopreparing pure comfort foodfor the president and thecountless world leaders whocametoshowtheirsympathyandtostrategizeintheweeksfollowingtheterroristattacks.“Iwentback tomymother’stable,”Scheibsaid.

Counselors from

Bethesda Naval Hospitalcameintotalktotheworkersabout the trauma they hadexperienced. Cliber spokewith a counselor, but no onehad any time-tested advicefor the staff: “Nobody hadeverbeenthroughthat.”

Florist Wendy Elsassersays she still can’t talkaboutthat day without crying. Formonths, Mesnier had panicattacks taking his morning

shower. His wife and sonbeggedhimnottogobacktowork, and he listened whenGary Walters gathered thestaff about aweek after 9/11and said they should leave ifthey couldn’t stand thepressure.

But just like Bill Cliber,Mesnier couldn’t bringhimself to go. “You have tounderstand, I believe this jobwas made for me,” he said.

“It’swhereIbelong.”First Lady Laura Bush

was comforted that no onequit out of fear. She toldmethat watching the residencestaff go back to work madeherfeelbetterabout livingintheWhiteHouse. “We knewweweregoingtobethereandwe were confident that wewould be safe, but on theother hand they could havechosen another job or just

said, ‘You know, this is justtoo much stress now. I’drather go on,’” she said.“They didn’t. None of themdid.”

Epilogue

OhmyGod,shewouldbesoproudofme.

—BUTLERJAMESRAMSEYONHOWHISMOTHERWOULDHAVEREACTEDTOHISWHITEHOUSECAREERIFSHE

HADLIVEDTOSEEIT

It was ninety-eight degrees,another sticky Washingtonsummer day. Awindow unitis working overtime in thethree-bedroom redbrick rowhouse in northeastWashingtonthatButlerJamesJeffries bought in 1979. Hequickly and unnecessarilyapologizes for his half-painted living room walls.“This would have all been

paintedbeforeEaster,butI’mseventy-two and I get tiredquick.”

With theHistoryChannelblaring in the background,and his lanky teenagegrandson wandering in andout (“I used to look just likehim”), we sit at a tablecovered with photographs ofhis children andgrandchildren, and Jeffriestells the story of how the

White House came to definehisfamily’slegacy.Inaslowand deliberate voice, heexplains how he was eitherrelatedtoorknewmostofthepeoplewhoran theresidenceover the last fifty years. Hisname might be Jeffries, buthe’saFicklin;ninemembersof his family have workedthere.

Even themembers of thestaff who he wasn’t actually

relatedtobecamelikefamily.EugeneAllen,whotookoveras maître d’ after Jeffries’suncle John Ficklin retired,“was just like an uncle too.”DoormanPrestonBrucelivedin thesamehousingcomplexas his aunt, and Jeffries saysBruce was a father figure tohim.

“Mr. West, Mr. Scouten,they stayed in thebackground.Myuncle[John]

ran the White House,”Jeffries says, proud of theclose-knit circle of AfricanAmericans who made theresidence tick. Familyfolklore has it that his uncleCharles got the family afoothold in theWhite Houseby impressing PresidentFranklin Roosevelt whileworkingonamilitaryshipinthe navy. Roosevelt askedhim to draw a table setting,

and he sat down and drew itexpertly.Years later,Charleswas asked to come to theWhite House for aninterview.

Jeffries is continuing hisfamily’s tradition. He startedworking at the White Housewhen he was just seventeenyears old, in 1959. Heremembers the exact date:January25.Hissonisabutlerthere now, and even though

Jeffries himself is long pastretirementage,he stillworksat “thehouse”part-time.Thejob pays twenty-five dollarsan hour. “They help me outdown there, they don’t haveme doing any hard lifting ornothing.”

Jeffries is a witness toAmerican history. He is oneof a handful of people stillalivewho rememberswhat itwas like working in the

KennedyWhiteHouse,whena new generation and newtechnology brought theresidence into America’sliving rooms. He remembersa side of the first lady thatfewpeopleeversaw.

“I remember Mrs.Kennedy would comedownstairs, shemight ask usto put a chair over there oreven have us take the chairout of the room, and maybe

fifteen or twenty minuteslater she wanted us to bringthe chair right back.” Helaughs. “Another guy andmyself, we were theyoungsters, and all the olderguys would disappear! Inever felt like Ihad to run, Iwanted tobe right therewithher. I just stood by and didwhateversheaskedmeto.IfIcould move it by myself, Imovedit.”

OneSaturdaynight,yearslater, he was told to stopwashing dishes and goupstairstothesecondfloortohelp Betty Ford withsomething. When he gotupstairs, Ford asked, “Whereare the butlers?” She waslooking for the full-timebutlers.

“They just wentdownstairs.Icangogetthemforyou,”hetoldher,pushing

theelevatorbuttontogobackdown.

“AllIneedisaman,”shecalled to him, impatiently,from the Family DiningRoom.

Helaughswithawink.“Isaidtomyself,Waitaminute,what is this lady getting meinto? So I went to see whatshe wanted and all shewantedmetodowastakethenineteen-inch television into

thebedroom!”Like so many of his

colleagues, Jeffries fondlyremembers President GeorgeH.W.Bush’skindness. “OldmanBushmademefeellikeIwas just a person, just thesameasheis.IwassogladIhadwatchedafootballgame,because the next day, or onedayduringtheweekafterthefootball game, I happened towalkin to taketheordersfor

drinksuponthesecondfloorand he was talking to theotherguestsandheaskedme,What did I think about thegame?Imanagedtotalkwithhimaboutit.ItooktheordersandwentonbackandwhenIcamebackhesaidsomethingelsetomeaboutthegame.”

Jeffries remembersservingdrinkstotheClintonsand their friends one nightbefore a formal dinner, and

running into an exhaustedPresidentClinton on hiswayinto the Solarium. Clintonconfided in him, “If RobertMitchum weren’t a guest Iwouldn’t even bother goingdownstairstonight.”

Jeffries felt sorry for theweary president. “You needtotakeabreak,”hetoldhim.

They are a dying breed,these people who actuallyhold dear personal memories

of the Kennedys andJohnsons, the Nixons, Fords,Carters, and Reagans. Theirrecollections paint theseiconic figures in a rare andintimate light. In the smallmomentsthatmakeupa life,theresidenceworkerscatchaglimpse of the humanity inthepresidentsandfirst ladieswhose true personalities arerarely known beyond thewalls of the White House.

Just like anyone else,America’s leaders havemoments of indecision,exhaustion, frustration, andjoy.

All too often, now, theveteran residence staff seeeach other only at retirementpartiesandfunerals.TheytrytokeepupoverFacebookande-mail, but the older staffers,who aren’t perpetuallyplugged in, sometimes find

out about a colleague’spassinglongafterthefact.

During the course of ourconversations,Ihateditwhena pained expression wouldsweep across one of theirfaceswhenImentionedthatacolleagueoftheirshadpassedaway, unaware that theydidn’tknowalready.

There were delightfulmomentstoo.Inthecourseofresearching this book I

sometimes had the happyoccasion to reconnect peoplewho had long lost touch. Igave Usher Chris EmeryHead Housekeeper ChristineLimerick’s e-mail address.Nelson Pierce asked me forBill Hamilton’s phonenumber.

“I’ve got to call thatturkey,” James Ramsey said,eyes twinkling, when heasked me for his old friend

ChefMesnier’snumber.Residence workers look

on patiently as each newfamily learns to live withinthe confines of the WhiteHouse.Theyknowit’sonlyamatter of time until theirloyaltyanddiscretionbecomelifelinesforthepresidentandthe first lady.They are, afterall,theonlypeopletherewithno motivation other than toserveandcomfort.

The first family and theiraides rely on the residenceworkers, inpartbecause theyknow so much about howfirst families live their lives.“Whenitcomesdowntoit—andthisisnotjustformebutfor most of the people whowent to work there—there’sno track record, there’s noinstitutional knowledge thatyou have” that can help youlearn the job, said former

Obama aide Reggie Love.“You basically are showingupwith a clean slate and noinstructionmanual.”

Despite the archivalresearch I conducted beforesetting forth on theseinterviews,IhadnoideawhattoexpectwhenIbegansittingdown with the residenceworkers—many of whomgenerously opened theirhomestome.Iwassohappy

todiscoverthatwhatyouseereally is what you get. Mostof them are not cynical orcompetitive, like so manypeople in and aroundWashington politics; theirdesire tocontributesmallbutintegral roles in thefunctioning of America’sdemocracy is genuine. Theymaynotinfluencepolicy,buttheir jobs are arguably asimportant as those of many

political appointees. Withoutthem,theWhiteHousewouldbeuninhabitable.

From preparing quietmeals for the first family toserving celebrities, membersof Congress, and worldleaders, they represent thebest in American service,while practicing their ownunique brand of diplomacy.And, implicitly or explicitly,their efforts are rewarded

withthegratitudeofthemostpowerfulmenandwomenonearth.

ADMIRAL STEPHEN ROCHONbecame chief usher in 2007,just a couple of monthsbefore one of QueenElizabeth II’s many statevisits. “We impressed thequeenenoughthatsheinvitedme and a couple of my

staffers to BuckinghamPalacetoseehowtheBritsdoit.”

When he arrived atBuckingham Palace, Rochonwas astonished when thequeen walked through theirversionoftheStateFloorandmadeherwayrightuptohim.“Who are you, youngman?”sheaskedhim.

“Well,YourMajesty,I’mAdmiral Rochon, the chief

usher of the White House,”he told her. “We entertainedyouforyourstatevisit.”

The queen’s face lit upandshestartedwavingacrosstheroomtoherhusband,“OhPhilip, oh Philip, comequick!”

One reason the residenceworkers leave such a lastingimpression is that theymakeit all lookeffortless. “Butlersscurry around providing

service that is both smoothandsubtle.Yougetyourfoodwithoutbeingquitesurehowyou got it,” recalled BettyFord’spresssecretary,SheilaRabb Weidenfeld, aboutattending her first statedinner.“Everythingisperfectandeveryoneisbeautifulandelegant,becausetheyarepartof the most beautiful andelegantsettingintheworld.”

When crisis or tragedy

strikes, the staff is at theirbest.During the Iranhostagecrisis, First Lady RosalynnCarter told me, “They wereespecially attentive duringthat time because they wereconcerned. They wereconcernedaboutus.”

Residence staffers arecompletely in tune with thefamily they serve. Theywoulddoalmostanythingforthem—often sacrificing their

own marriages, countlesshourswiththeirchildren,andin the sad case of FreddieMayfield, even their lives.“They are the greatest conartists in the world,” LuciBaines Johnson joked. “Theymake every administrationfeeltheylovethembest.”

And it’s true: ButlerJames Ramsey knew whenPresident George W. Bushwas inneedofagood laugh.

Executive HousekeeperChristine Limerick knew tobiteher tongueduringoneofNancyReagan’s tirades.AndChef Roland Mesnier knewexactlywhenHillaryClintoncould use a slice of herfavoritemochacake.

Ramseydidnotseemneardeath when I interviewedhim. He knew he was sick,though—hehadcoloncancerthatwasspreadingtohisliver

—andhekeptputtingoffmypersistentrequeststomeetforlunch. (“You’re a nice lady,baby. We’ll do it. I’ll callyou.”) Always jovial, henever let on how much painhe was in. Ramsey washopeful about life and hisfuture, animatedly describingdinner dates with a newgirlfriendand talkingaboutatriphewashoping to take toLas Vegas with Storeroom

ManagerBillHamilton.His daughter would later

tellme that he had turned toherbalmedicine to help fightthe cancer that was ravaginghisbody.

Whenhepassedaway,onFebruary 19, 2014, thefamilies he loved so muchreturned his affection: LauraBush spoke at his funeral,attended by dozens of hisWhiteHouse colleagues, and

letters fromPresidentObamaand President Clinton wereread at the service. Hispallbearers were fellowbutlers.

“He always seemed toknowwhenweneededalittleboost of his humor, whichhappens a lot in the WhiteHouse,” President Clintonwrote. “Hillary,Chelsea, andI all have our Ramseymemories.Themancouldtell

a story, and his opinions onunfolding events, frompolitics to sports, were oftenhilarious.” The Obamaspraised Ramsey’s“unwaveringpatriotism.”

“James witnessed greatmoments in our nation’shistory,”theysaid.

Laura Bush brought herdaughterJennatotheservice,which was held at TrinidadBaptist Church in northeast

Washington,D.C.Theformerfirstladyeulogizedthebutlerwho brought her husbandmuch-needed moments oflevity when it seemed theworld was crashing downaround him. (“She broughttears to my eyes,” saysRamsey’s daughter, Valerie.)Ramseywasmorethanjustastaffer, Mrs. Bush said, hewas a devoted friend. And,like all his colleagues, he

possessedqualitiesofloyalty,devotion, and discretion thatcannotbelearned.

She told the congregationthat Ramsey did more thanpamper the presidents: “Hemadethemlaugh.Hecheeredthemup.He brightened theirdays.”OnbehalfoftheentireBush family, she said, “Wethank God that JamesRamseywasinourlife.”

For Ramsey, serving

America’s first families gavehislifemeaningandpurpose.WhenIaskedhimhowhefeltwhen he first set foot in theresidence decades ago, hesaidwistfully,“OhmyGod,Iwasjustsohappy.”

Acknowledgments

A few weeks after ourdaughter Charlottewas born,I went outside to get somefreshairandcheckthemail.Iwas surprised to find a crispwhite envelope with a return

addressof1600PennsylvaniaAvenue. In it was a notesigned by the ObamascongratulatingusonCharlie’sbirth. This kind of letter issent to VIPs and friends andfamily ofWhiteHouse staff,and I couldn’t think of whowouldhavedonesuchathingfor us. That’s not because Ididn’t know anyone whowouldhavegonetothatkindof trouble; it’s because there

weresimplytoomanypeopleto choose from who wouldhavebeensothoughtful.

I’ve interviewed morethan a hundred residenceworkers, presidential aides,and first family membersduring the course of myresearch, and so many ofthem were profoundlygenerous. Eventually, Inarrowed it down to formerstoreroom manager Bill

Hamilton, who started hiscareer in the executivemansion when PresidentEisenhower was in office.When I called to thank him,Hamilton replied, “Sorry Ididn’t get it to you sooner.”That’s just the way thesepeople are. They devotedtheircareerstotakingcareofthe first family and they arefar from the quintessentialself-serving political

operatives in this town. Infact, they seem to remainprofessionalcaretakersfortherestoftheirlives.

This book took me on ajourneythatbeganinOctober2012when Iwas taking careofournewbornson,Graham,at all hours of the day andnight. Bleary-eyed, I startedwatching a marathon ofDownton Abbey and becamefascinated by the fraught

relationship between twogroups of people sharing aphysical space so close inproximitybutsofarremovedin every other way. Itimmediately tookmeback toan intimate reporter luncheonI attended with First LadyMichelleObama.Irememberthe bright pink and greenfloral arrangements andchampagne glasses clinkinginthemiddleoftheday—for

a reporter used to eatingsandwiches in a tiny officecubicle in the White Housebasement it was all soluxurious. But most of all, Iremembered a butler whoseemed todriftnoiselessly inandoutoftheroom.

I set out to meet thesepeople who make theresidencetickandithasbeenmoreeye-openingthanIevercould have imagined. I’ve

had the privilege ofinterviewingstafferswhosawa playful side of JackieKennedy when she wasrelaxing in the family’sprivate quarters, and Iinterviewed theWhiteHouseelectrician who accompaniedPresident Richard Nixon onthe emotional walk from theOval Office to the residenceafter he announced hisresignation.

None of that would havebeen possible without thegenerosity of the followingresidence workers, many ofwhom opened their homesand their hearts to me,includingChristineLimerick,Lynwood Westray, SkipAllen, Betty Finney, BobScanlan, Bill Hamilton,James Jeffries, RolandMesnier, Nelson Pierce,Frank Ruta, Cletus Clark,

Stephen Rochon, Bill Cliber,Linsey Little, WendyElsasser, Chris Emery, RonnPayne, James Hall, WilsonJerman, Worthington White,Gary Walters, BettyMonkman, Mary Prince,Walter Scheib, VincentContee, Milton Frame, JohnMoeller, JimKetchum, TonySavoy, Ivaniz Silva, NancyMitchell, ProvidenciaParedes, Ann Amernick,

Pierre Chambrin, AlviePaschall, and HermanThompson. MargaretArrington shared storiesabout her deceased husband,Reds, and Charles Allenspoke lovingly of his father,Eugene. I especially want tothank James Ramsey whosesmile lit up a room. I’mgrateful for the time I spentwithhim.

Absolutely none of this

would have been possiblewithout my literary agent,Howard Yoon. Howardbelieved inme from thestartand was there every step ofthe way. Beyond being anincrediblytalentedagent,he’salso a good friend who’sgiven me some wiseparenting advice over theyears.I’malsothankfultotheremarkableGailRoss, and toDaraKaye,whoisanintegral

part of the ace team at theRoss Yoon Agency. Theirmotto is “Books changelives.”Well,they’vecertainlychanged mine and I am sogratefulforit.

IsoenjoyedworkingwiththeverygiftedCalMorganatHarperCollins whose editshelped bring life and clarityto the manuscript, and I’mthankfultothetalentedEmilyCunningham for bringing so

much energy to this projectand for working to make itthe best it can be. I’m alsogratefulforthesupportofthevisionary Jonathan Burnhamand for the guidance of myfirst editor Tim Duggan,whosepassionforthesubjectmatter was contagious. Andthank you to RobinBilardello, who exceeded allof my expectations with hercoverdesign, andBethSilfin

forherexpertadvice.I’m so thankful to my

husband, Brooke, whom Ialwayswant to seemoreandmore of and who makes mylife somuch sweeter.And toour incredible children,Graham and Charlotte, whobring us so much happiness.Thank you to my mom,Valerie, the smartest andmost loving woman I know.(She also happens to be a

highly skilled editor whohelped me organize thesestories and find my voice.)And to my wonderful dad,Christopher, who is my rolemodel and who has instilledso much confidence in mysister Kelly and me. Kelly,it’sfunwatchingyougrowupinto such a smart and kindwoman. And thank you toNancy Brower (aka MomMom), our entire extended

family, and to Mini andElizabeth. I’ll always wishthat we had more time withBillBrower,whowasagoodman, a great father, and alovingPopPop.

The first ladies Iinterviewed wanted to helpshine a light on the peoplewhomadetheirlivesbearablein the White House. Iappreciate their time and amgrateful for their insights as

ultimate White Houseinsiders. LauraBush toldmeabout the horror of 9/11 andthe healing process that sheand the staff went throughtogether. Barbara Bushrecounted her playfulfriendships with thehousehold workers. (“Youdon’t tease people that youdon’t like. You tease peopleyou like. . . . They teasedback, and I deserved it.”)

Rosalynn Carter praised thestaff for making her familyfeelmorecomfortableduringthe tense 444-day Iranhostage crisis. She seemedgenuinely moved by thekindness they showed her.TriciaNixon,LuciandLyndaJohnson, Steve and SusanFord, and Ron Reagan allhelped revealwhat it’s reallyliketoliveinthe“greatwhitejail.”

I also greatly enjoyedtalking with former socialsecretaries Amy Zantzinger,Desirée Rogers, JuliannaSmoot, and Bess Abell, andam so appreciative for thehelp of Sally McDonough,Kaki Hockersmith, MelissaMontgomery, DeannaCongileo, and Wren Powell.Thankyoutothepresidentialaides who provided animportantperspectiveintothe

relationship between thepolitical staff and theresidence workers: AnitaDunn, Reggie Love, KatieJohnson, Katie McCormickLelyveld, Reid Cherlin,Adam Frankel, JuliannaSmoot,AndyCard,andAnitaMcBride. And thank you toEmmy Award winner PeteWilliams, who verygenerously took my bookjacket photo and made me

laughintheprocess.I’malsograteful to the White HouseCurator’s Office, the WhiteHouseHistoricalAssociation,andtothestaffsattheJohnF.KennedyPresidentialLibraryand Museum, the LyndonBaines Johnson Library andMuseum, the NixonPresidential Library andMuseum, the Richard NixonFoundation, the Gerald R.FordPresidentialLibrary,the

Jimmy Carter PresidentialLibrary and Museum, theRonald Reagan PresidentialLibrary and Museum, theGeorge Bush PresidentialLibrary and Museum, theWilliam J. ClintonPresidential Library andMuseum, and theGeorgeW.BushPresidentialLibraryandMuseum.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmongave me this simple and

necessaryadviceaftermonthsandmonthsofinterviewsandresearch: “Sit down and startwriting!”Abestsellingauthorand accomplished journalistherself, Gayle was animportant soundingboard forme throughout this journey.And thank you to ChristinaWarnerandAnnieKatePons.Annie,Ilove“doinglifewithyou” too, even if we are onoppositecoasts.

I’m eternally grateful toBloomberg’s Al Hunt whogave me the chance of alifetimewhenheassignedmetotheWhiteHousebeat,andtoeditorsJoeSobczyk,SteveKomarow, JeanneCummings, and Mark Silvawho helped me discover thejoysofreporting.

SourcesandChapterNotes

NOTEONREPORTINGMyresearchforTheResidenceincludedcandid conversationswithmore than ahundred White House insiders. Iinterviewedthreeformerfirstladiesandthe children of four presidents, alongwith numerous presidential aides. Butthe most revealing details came from

my conversations with roughly fiftyformerresidenceworkersandacurrentstaffer,mostofwhomhadneverspokenin such detail about their experiencesworkingforAmerica’sfirstfamilies.Infact, most had never even beenapproachedbya reporterbefore.Manyof these conversations were in person.Inrarecircumstancessourcesaskednotto be named because of the sensitivityof the subject matter and I respectedtheir wishes. These firsthand accountsof life in the residence weresupplemented by extensive researchfrom archival materials, including oralhistories from presidential libraries,memoirs penned by residence staffers

andpoliticalaides,andbiographies.

INTRODUCTIONInterviewsubjects includeLauraBush,RosalynnCarter,BarbaraBush,ReggieLove,ReidCherlin,SusanFord,FrankRuta, Betty Finney, Amy Zantzinger,Stephen Rochon, Ron Reagan, CletusClark, Katie Johnson, Tricia Nixon,Julianna Smoot, Katie McCormickLelyveld, Bob Scanlan, Tony Savoy,Nelson Pierce, Christine Limerick,WalterScheib,SkipAllen,RonnPayne,Roland Mesnier, and WorthingtonWhite. Published sources includePreston Bruce, From the Door of theWhiteHouse (NewYork:Lothrop,Lee

and Shepard Books, a division ofWilliam Morrow and Company, Inc.,1984); Lillian Rogers Parks withFrances Spatz Leighton, My ThirtyYears Backstairs at the White House(New York: Ishi Press International,1961); Faye Fiore, “JacquelineKennedy’sPinkHatIsaMissingPieceofHistory,”LosAngelesTimes,January26, 2011;DominiqueMann, “InWakeof New Film ‘The Butler,’ Black Ex-White House Staffers Reflect,”MSNBC.com, September 14, 2013;Hillary Rodham Clinton, interview ofthe first lady for House Beautiful,November30,1993,byMarianBurros,WilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibrary;

“Jacqueline Kennedy in the WhiteHouse,” John F. Kennedy PresidentialLibrary and Museum; Sue AllisonMassimiano,“ThoseWhoServeThoseWho Serve,” Life, “The White House1792–1992,” October 30, 1992; (FY)2014CongressionalBudgetSubmission—the White House; Preston Bruce’soral history is available at the John F.Kennedy Presidential Library andMuseum; Liz McNeil, “JackieKennedy: New Details of HerHeartbreak,” People, November 13,2013; Carol D. Leonnig, “SecretService Fumbled Response to 2011Shooting,”WashingtonPost,September28, 2014; Carol D. Leonnig, “White

House Intruder Was Tackled by Off-Duty Secret Service Agent,”WashingtonPost, September 30, 2014;William Safire, “Inside the Bunker,”NewYorkTimes, September 13, 2001;Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart(New York: Scribner, 2010); LetitiaBaldrige,ALady,First:MyLife in theKennedy White House and theAmericanEmbassiesofParisandRome(New York: Viking Penguin, 2001);JamesBennet, “Testingof aPresident:The Overview; Clinton AdmitsLewinskyLiaisontoJury;TellsNation‘ItWasWrong,’butPrivate,”NewYorkTimes, August 18, 1998; CourtneyThompson, “Obamas Called on

Chicago Vendors for State DinnerDécor, Stage, and Lighting,” BizBash,December 2, 2009; Abigail Adams,“Letter toHerDaughter from theNewWhiteHouse,”WhiteHouseHistoricalAssociation, November 21, 1800;WhiteHouseDimensionsandStatistics,WhiteHouseHistoricalAssociation; J.B. West with Mary Lynn Kotz,Upstairs at the White House: My Lifewith the First Ladies (New York:Warner Books, 1973); Carl Cannon,“November 21, 1963,” Real ClearPolitics, November 21, 2013; ClaireFaulkner, “Ushers and Stewards Since1800,”White House History: At Workin the White House: Journal of the

WhiteHouseHistoricalAssociation,26;RobertKlara,TheHiddenWhiteHouse:Harry Truman and the Reconstructionof America’s Most Famous Residence(NewYork:ThomasDunneBooks,St.Martin’s Press, 2013); William Seale,ThePresident’sHouse,Volumes I andII (Washington, D.C.: White HouseHistorical Association with thecooperationoftheNationalGeographicSociety, 1986); Katherine Skiba,“Chicagoans at Forefront of WhiteHouse Holiday Décor,” ChicagoTribune, December 5, 2013; WalterScheib and Andrew Friedman, WhiteHouse Chef: Eleven Years, TwoPresidents, One Kitchen (Hoboken,

N.J.:JohnWileyandSons,Inc.,2007);Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, First Lady’sLady: With the Fords at the WhiteHouse (New York: G. P. Putnam’sSons, 1979); John and ClaireWhitcomb, Real Life at the WhiteHouse: 200 Years of Daily Life atAmerica’s Most Famous Residence(NewYork:Routledge,2002);WilliamSeale, “Secret Spaces at the WhiteHouse?”WhiteHouseHistory: SpecialSpaces: Journal of the White HouseHistoricalAssociation,29(2011).

CHAPTER I: CONTROLLEDCHAOSFor this chapter the author drew on

conversations with Desirée Rogers,LuciBaines Johnson,RosalynnCarter,StephenRochon,BarbaraBush,NelsonPierce, James Jeffries, KakiHockersmith, Bill Cliber, BettyMonkman, Laura Bush, GaryWalters,Bess Abell, Christine Limerick, BobScanlan,TonySavoy,SkipAllen,KatieJohnson, Jim Ketchum, Chris Emery,Linsey Little, Ronn Payne, WalterScheib, Michael “Rahni” Flowers,Daryl Wells, David Hume Kennerly,MiltonFrame,RolandMesnier,ReggieLove,IvanizSilva,CletusClark,SusanFord, Lynwood Westray, and KatieMcCormick Lelyveld. Publishedsources include Michael Ruane and

Aaron C. Davis, “D.C.’s InaugurationHeadCount: 1.8Million,”WashingtonPost, January 22, 2009; KrissahThompson and Juliet Eilperin, “TheElusiveMrs. R:Marion Robinson, theWhite House’s Note-So-Typical Live-InGrandma,”WashingtonPost,March31, 2014; Kate Andersen, “RogersHeatsUpObamaSocialCalendarThatEconomy Can’t Chill,” Bloomberg,April 10, 2009; Kate Andersen,“Obama Invites LeBron James to Playin White House Court Opener,”Bloomberg, June 20, 2009; LetitiaBaldrige,ALady,First:MyLife in theKennedy White House and theAmericanEmbassiesofParisandRome

(New York: Viking Penguin, 2001);Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart(NewYork: Scribner, 2010); interviewwithPresidentBarackObama,TheTomJoyner Morning Show, August 27,2013; interview with First LadyMichelle Obama and Jill Biden, TheGayle King Show, April 19, 2011;ThomPatterson,“SpecialOps:How toMove a President in a Few Hours,”CNN, January 19, 2009; TraphesBryant with Frances Spatz Leighton,Dog Days at the White House (NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.,1975);PrestonBruce,FromtheDooroftheWhiteHouse (NewYork: Lothrop,Lee and Shepard Books, a division of

William Morrow and Company, Inc.,1984); Alonzo Fields,My 21 Years inthe White House (New York: CrestBooks,1961);AnneKornblut,“ReggieLove, Obama ‘Body Man,’ to LeaveWhite House by Year’s End,”WashingtonPost,November 10, 2011;Carl Anthony, “Jackie Kennedy’s LastWhiteHouseDays&WhatSheFoundin JFK’S Desk,”carlanthonyonline.com, December 6,2013; Patricia Leigh Brown, “ARedecoratedWhiteHouse,theWaytheClintons Like It,” New York Times,November 24, 1993; “Power ShiftsHands in Flurry of Activity,” USATODAY,January22,2001;SallyBedell

Smith,For theLoveofPolitics: Insidethe Clinton White House (New York:Random House, 2007); Ann DevroyandRuthMarcus,“ClintonTakesOathas 42nd President Asking Sacrifice,PromisingRenewal,”WashingtonPost,January 21, 1993; Nancy Gibbs andMichael Duffy, The President’s Club:Inside the World’s Most ExclusiveFraternity (New York: Simon andSchuster, 2012); Lauren Collins, “TheOtherObama:MichelleObamaandthePoliticsofCandor,”NewYorker,March10, 2008; Jodi Kantor, The Obamas(New York: Little, Brown andCompany,2012);RolandMesnierwithChristian Malard, All the President’s

Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in theWhite House (Paris: Flammarion, SA,2006); Lady Bird Johnson, A WhiteHouse Diary (New York: Holt,Rinehart and Winston, 1970); NancyMitchell interview by James DeutschfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchivesandCollections,CenterforFolklifeandCultural Heritage, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C., August27, 2007; Henry Haller, interview fortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchivesandCollections, Center for Folklife andCultural Heritage, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C., August27, 2007; Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “OnMovingDayfor2FirstFamilies,aBit

ofMagic by 93 Pairs of Hands,”NewYork Times, January 20, 2009; J. B.WestwithMaryLynnKotz,UpstairsattheWhiteHouse:MyLifewiththeFirstLadies (New York: Warner Books,1973); Tim Carman, “White HouseMemories: Chef John Moeller onPretzels, Maple Syrup and Calorie-Counting,”Washington Post, February18, 2014; Nancy Reagan and WilliamNovak,MyTurn (New York: RandomHouse, 1989); Liz Carpenter, RufflesandFlourishes(NewYork:Doubleday,1970);JohnandClaireWhitcomb,RealLife at theWhiteHouse: 200 Years ofDaily Life at America’s Most FamousResidence (New York: Routledge,

2002); Hillary Rodham Clinton,interview of the first lady for HouseBeautiful, November 30, 1993, byMarian Burros, William J. ClintonPresidential Library; President BillClintonandFirstLadyHillaryRodhamClinton, interview for NationalGeographic, July 25, 1995,William J.Clinton Presidential Library; the AnneLincoln and J. B.West Oral Historiesare available at the John F. KennedyPresidential Library and Museum;“ClintonOk’dUsingLincolnBedroomfor Contributors,” CNN, February 25,1997; JimKuhnhenn, “ObamaReturnsto Chicago Home After IllinoisFundraiser,” Associated Press, June 2,

2012; Barbara Bush,Barbara Bush: AMemoir (New York: Scribner, 1994);Andrew Rosenthal, “Bush Encountersthe Supermarket, Amazed,”New YorkTimes,February5,1992.

CHAPTERII:DISCRETIONThis chapter was based in part oninterviewswithRosalynnCarter,JamesRamsey, Stephen Rochon, Skip Allen,Jane Erkenbeck, Betty Monkman,Worthington White, Reggie Love,Cletus Clark, Laura Bush, GaryWalters, Bill Hamilton, Barbara Bush,Herman Thompson, MargaretArrington, Frank Ruta,Walter Scheib,Roland Mesnier, Nelson Pierce, Ron

Reagan, Steve Ford, Vincent Contee,Luci Baines Johnson, Ronn Payne,Ivaniz Silva, James Jeffries, SusanFord, Bess Abell, Andy Card, KatieMcCormick Lelyveld, Katie Johnson,Tony Savoy, Chris Emery, andChristine Limerick. Published materialincludes Gerald Boyd, “NancyReagan’sMaid Is Accused of Helpingto Export Ammunition,” New YorkTimes, August 14, 1986; Irwin “Ike”Hoover,“Who’sWho,andWhy,intheWhiteHouse,”SaturdayEveningPost,February 10, 1934; Wilson Jerman,interviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchives and Collections, Center forFolklife and Cultural Heritage,

Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C., October 2, 2007; Walter Scheiband Andrew Friedman, White HouseChef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents,One Kitchen (Hoboken, N.J.: JohnWiley Sons, Inc., 2007); RolandMesnierwithChristianMalard,All thePresident’s Pastries: Twenty-FiveYears in the White House (Paris:Flammarion,SA,2006);AlonzoFields,My21Years in theWhiteHouse(NewYork:CrestBooks,1961);SheilaRabbWeidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: Withthe Fords at the White House (NewYork: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979);White House Historical Association,“TheWorkingWhiteHouse;”Douglas

Jehl, “Chief White House Usher‘Grounded,’”New York Times, March18, 1994; John and Claire Whitcomb,RealLifeattheWhiteHouse:200Yearsof Daily Life at America’s MostFamous Residence (New York:Routledge,2002);J.B.WestwithMaryLynn Kotz, Upstairs at the WhiteHouse: My Life with the First Ladies(New York: Warner Books, 1973);TraphesBryant,DogDaysattheWhiteHouse (New York: MacmillanPublishing Co., 1975); BettyMonkman’sOralHistory canbe foundat the Gerald R. Ford PresidentialLibrary; Hillary Rodham Clinton, AnInvitation to the White House (New

York: Simon and Schuster, 2000);“Maid Cleared, Nancy Reagan WantsHerBack,” United Press International,November 4, 1986; and BettyMonkman interview for the RalphRinzler Folklife Archives andCollections, Center for Folklife andCultural Heritage, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C., August27,2007.

CHAPTERIII:DEVOTIONInterview subjects include BarbaraBush, Cletus Clark, Rosalynn Carter,JamesJeffries,LetitiaBaldrige,NelsonPierce, Roland Mesnier, WorthingtonWhite, Wendy Elsasser, Linsey Little,

ChristineLimerick,ChrisEmery,GaryWalters, Skip Allen, Katie Johnson,Luci Baines Johnson, Desirée Rogers,Stephen Rochon, Nancy ReaganthroughherassistantWrenPowell,andTonySavoy.PublishedsourcesincludesBarbara Bush, Barbara Bush: AMemoir(NewYork:Scribner,1994);J.B. West with Mary Lynn Kotz,Upstairs at the White House: My Lifewith the First Ladies (New York:Warner Books, 1973); Sheila RabbWeidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: Withthe Fords at the White House (NewYork: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979);IrwinHoover,“Who’sWho,andWhy,intheWhiteHouse,”SaturdayEvening

Post, February 10, 1934; ZephyrWright’sOralHistory can be found atthe Lyndon Baines Johnson Library;Isaac Avery’s Oral History can befound at the John F. KennedyPresidential Library andMuseum; SueAllison Massimiano, “Those WhoServe Those Who Serve,” Life, TheWhite House 1792–1992, October 30,1992; Carol D. Leonnig, “SecretService Fumbled Response to 2011Shooting,”WashingtonPost,September28, 2014; Carol D. Leonnig, “WhiteHouse Intruder Was Tackled by Off-Duty Secret Service Agent,”WashingtonPost, September 30, 2014;RolandMesnierwithChristianMalard,

All the President’s Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in theWhite House (Paris:Flammarion, SA, 2006); Gerald Boyd,“Nancy Reagan’s Maid Is Accused ofHelping to Export Ammunition,”NewYorkTimes,August14,1986; “FormerWhite House Chief Usher RecallsServing 7 President at Oakland TownHall,” Oakland Press News, April 9,2014; “Maid Cleared, Nancy ReaganWants Her Back,” United PressInternational,November4,1986.

CHAPTER IV:EXTRAORDINARYDEMANDSFor this chapter the author drew onconversations with Luci Baines

Johnson, Barbara Bush, Skip Allen,Margaret Arrington, Bill Cliber,HermanThompson,ChristineLimerick,Frank Ruta, Wendy Elsasser, RolandMesnier, Cletus Clark, Bess Abell,RonnPayne,LyndaBirdJohnsonRobb,and John Moeller. Published sourcesinclude Hillary Rodham Clinton,interview of the first lady for HouseBeautiful, November 30, 1993, byMarian Burros, William J. ClintonPresidential Library; President BillClintonandFirstLadyHillaryRodhamClinton, interview for NationalGeographic, July 25, 1995,William J.Clinton Presidential Library; SueAllison Massimiano, “Those Who

Serve Those Who Serve,” Life, TheWhite House 1792–1992, October 30,1992;TraphesBryant,DogDaysattheWhite House (New York: MacmillanPublishingCo.,1975);HillaryRodhamClinton, An Invitation to the WhiteHouse: At Home with History (NewYork: Simon and Schuster, 2000);Adam Bernstein, “Rex Scouten,Longtime White House Chief Usher,Diesat86,”WashingtonPost,February22, 2013; J. B.West withMary LynnKotz,UpstairsattheWhiteHouse:MyLife with the First Ladies (NewYork:Warner Books, 1973); Preston Bruce,From the Door of the White House(NewYork:Lothrop,Lee andShepard

Books, a division of William MorrowandCompany,Inc.,1984);SheilaRabbWeidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: Withthe Fords at the White House (NewYork: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979);Zephyr Wright’s Oral History can befound at the Lyndon Baines JohnsonPresidential Library; Wilson Jerman,interviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchives and Collections, Center forFolklife and Cultural Heritage,Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C.,October2,2007.

CHAPTERV:DARKDAYSInterview subjects include BarbaraBush, Bill Cliber, Walter Scheib,

Herman Thompson, Gary Walters,Laura Bush, Cletus Clark, NelsonPierce, Jim Ketchum, Tricia Nixon,RolandMesnier,BettyMonkman,RonReagan,JamesHall,LinseyLittle,SkipAllen, Chris Emery, Bill Hamilton,Worthington White, James Ramsey,Betty Finney, Ronn Payne, and TonySavoy.PublishedsourcesincludeSheilaRabb Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady:With the Fords at the White House(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons,1979); Laura Bush, Spoken from theHeart (New York: Scribner, 2010);Preston Bruce, From the Door of theWhiteHouse (NewYork:Lothrop,Leeand Shepard Books, a division of

William Morrow and Company, Inc.,1984); Traphes Bryant with FrancesSpatzLeighton,DogDaysattheWhiteHouse (New York: MacmillanPublishing Co., Inc., 1975); ToddPurdum, “With Resolve, First LadyLays Out Defense,” New York Times,January 17, 1996; Hillary RodhamClinton, interview of the first lady forHouse Beautiful, November 30, 1993,by Marian Burros, William J. ClintonPresidential Library; Susan Thomasesinterview,Miller Center,University ofVirginia, William J. ClintonPresidential Oral History Project,January6,2006,LadyBirdJohnson,AWhite House Diary (New York: Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, 1970); J. B.WestwithMaryLynnKotz,UpstairsattheWhiteHouse:MyLifewiththeFirstLadies (New York: Warner Books,1973); Monica Lewinsky Timeline,WashingtonPost, September 13, 1998;RolandMesnierwithChristianMalard,All the President’s Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in theWhite House (Paris:Flammarion, SA, 2006); Douglas Jehl,“Chief White House Usher‘Grounded,’”New York Times, March18, 1994; the Oral Histories of MaudShaw and Lawrence J. Arata can befound at the John F. KennedyPresidentialLibraryandMuseum;JaneWhitmore, “Mr. Nixon’s ManManolo

Finds His Job Fetching,” PittsburghPost-Gazette,May21,1969;BillCliberinterviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchives and Collections, Center forFolklife and Cultural Heritage,Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C., August 22, 2007; Henry Haller,interviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchives and Collections, Center forFolklife and Cultural Heritage,Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C., August 27, 2007; RichardNixon/Frank Gannon interview,University of Georgia SpecialCollections Libraries, The Walter J.Brown Media Archives and PeabodyAwardsCollection,June10,1983.

CHAPTERVI:SACRIFICETheauthordrewonconversationswithNelson and Caroline Pierce, DesiréeRogers, Walter Scheib, Bess Abell,Charles Allen, Katie Johnson, WendyElsasser, Reid Cherlin, Chris Emery,Worthington White, James Ramsey,James Jeffries, James Hall, AdamFrankel, Linsey Little, Skip Allen,HermanThompson,ChristineLimerick,Luci Baines Johnson, Nancy ReaganthroughherassistantWrenPowell,andLynda Johnson Robb. PublishedmaterialincludesJ.B.WestwithMaryLynn Kotz, Upstairs at the WhiteHouse: My Life with the First Ladies(New York: Warner Books, 1973);

Isaac Avery’s Oral History can befound at the John F. KennedyPresidentialLibrary andMuseum; JodiKantor,TheObamas(NewYork:Little,Brown and Company, 2012);Associated Press “Frederick Mayfield,58, Dies; Doorman at the WhiteHouse,” New York Times, May 16,1984; Nancy Mitchell interview byJames Deutsch for the Ralph RinzlerFolklife Archives and Collections,Center for Folklife and CulturalHeritage, Smithsonian Institution,Washington,D.C.,August27,2007.

CHAPTER VII: RACE AND THERESIDENCE

This chapter was based in part onconversations with Rosalynn Carter,Luci Baines Johnson, Bess Abell,Lonnie Bunch, Lynwood and KayWestray, Gloria Nuckles, AlviePaschall, Mary Prince, Charles Allen,Nelson Pierce, Bill Hamilton, JamesJeffries,ChrisEmery,StephenRochon,Otis Williams, Frank Ruta, BettyMonkman,HermanThompson,DesiréeRogers, James Ramsey, and TonySavoy. Published material includesPreston Bruce, From the Door of theWhiteHouse (NewYork:Lothrop,Leeand Shepard Books, a division ofWilliam Morrow and Company, Inc.,1984); Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith

(New York: Bantam Books, 1982);CatherineClinton,Mrs.Lincoln:ALife(New York: Harper Perennial, 2010);ClareCrawford,“AStoryofLoveandRehabilitation:theEx-ConintheWhiteHouse,” People, March 14, 1977;Alonzo Fields, My 21 Years in theWhiteHouse (NewYork:CrestBooks,1961);William Seale, The President’sHouse, Volume I (Washington, D.C.:White House Historical Associationwith the Cooperation of the NationalGeographic Society, 1986); John andClaireWhitcomb,RealLifeattheWhiteHouse: 200 Years of Daily Life atAmerica’s Most Famous Residence(New York: Routledge, 2002); White

House Historical Association, AfricanAmericans and the White House,1790s–1840s; “Michelle Obama’sAncestors:PurnellShields,”HuffingtonPost,February24,2012;interviewwithMichelleObamaonABCNews’GoodMorning America, May 22, 2007;Nancy Tuckerman’s and PamelaTurnure’s Oral Histories can be foundat the John F. Kennedy PresidentialLibraryandMuseum;ZephyrWright’sOral History can be found at theLyndon Baines Johnson PresidentialLibrary; Traphes Bryant with FrancesSpatzLeighton,DogDaysattheWhiteHouse (New York: MacmillanPublishing Co., Inc., 1975); Saturday

Night Live, March 12, 1977; JodiKantor,TheObamas(NewYork:Little,Brown and Company, 2012); DahleenGlanton andStacySt.Clair, “MichelleObama’s Family Tree Has Roots in aCarolina Slave Plantation,” ChicagoTribune,December1,2008.

CHAPTER VIII: BACKSTAIRSGOSSIPANDMISCHIEFInterview subjects for this chapterincludeBessAbell, Bill Cliber, LyndaJohnsonRobb,ChristineLimerick,BillHamilton, Skip Allen, Ronn Payne,RolandMesnier,Walter Scheib, IvanizSilva, Pierre Chambrin, Ron Reagan,JohnMoeller, andMargaretArrington.

Published material includes TraphesBryant with Frances Spatz Leighton,Dog Days at the White House (NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.,1975);RobertRosenblatt, “HarassmentatWhiteHouseAlleged,”LosAngelesTimes,September14,2000;J.B.WestwithMary LynnKotz,Upstairs at theWhite House: My Life with the FirstLadies (New York: Warner Books,1973);AnneLincoln’sOralHistorycanbe found at the John F. KennedyPresidential Library and Museum;Zephyr Wright’s Oral History can befound at the Lyndon Baines JohnsonLibrary; Reds Arrington, interview fortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchivesand

Collections, Center for Folklife andCultural Heritage, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C.; BillCliber, interview for theRalphRinzlerFolklife Archives and Collections,Center for Folklife and CulturalHeritage, Smithsonian Institution,Washington, D.C., August 22, 2007;Tyler Cabot, “White House Chefs,”Atlantic,May1,2005.

CHAPTER IX: GROWING UP INTHEWHITEHOUSEInformationinthischapterwasbasedinpart on conversations with RosalynnCarter, Lynda Johnson Robb, LuciBaines Johnson, Bob Scanlan, Roland

Mesnier, Wendy Elsasser, WalterScheib, Mary Prince, James Jeffries,Michael “Rahni” Flowers, GaryWalters, Susan Ford, Barbara Bush,SteveFord,TonySavoy,NelsonPierce,Bill Hamilton, Amy Zantzinger, BettyMonkman,andBettyFinney.Publishedmaterial includes Nancy Mitchellinterview by James Deutsch for theRalph Rinzler Folklife Archives andCollections, Center for Folklife andCultural Heritage, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C., August27, 2007; Letitia Baldrige, A Lady,First: My Life in the Kennedy WhiteHouse and theAmericanEmbassies ofParis and Rome (New York: Viking

Penguin, 2001); Victorino Matus,“Notes from aWhite House Kitchen,”Weekly Standard,March 5, 2014; JoseA. DelReal and Ed O’Keefe, “HillStafferElizabethLautenResignsAfterRemarks About Obama Daughters,”Washington Post, December 1, 2014;Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart(New York: Scribner, 2010); TraphesBryant,Dog Days at theWhite House(NewYork:MacmillanPublishingCo.,1975); Roland Mesnier with ChristianMalard, All the President’s Pastries:Twenty-FiveYears in theWhiteHouse(Paris: Flammarion, SA, 2006); DougWead, All the Presidents’ Children:Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of

America’s First Families (New York:Atria Books, 2003); Sheila RabbWeidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: Withthe Fords at the White House (NewYork: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979);Helena Andrews, “Jenna Bush Hager,Hanky-Panky, and the White HouseRoof,”Washington Post, December 4,2014;J.B.WestwithMaryLynnKotz,Upstairs at the White House: My Lifewith the First Ladies (New York:WarnerBooks,1973);BettyMonkmaninterviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklifeArchives and Collections, Center forFolklife and Cultural Heritage,Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C.,August 27, 2007;C.W.Nevius,

“JustAskChelsea, Jenna andBarbara:Escaping the Glare of the SpotlightIsn’tEasy forKidsWhoseDadsWorkin the Oval Office,” San FranciscoGate,January22,2004;RachelSwarns,“First Chores,” New York Times,February22,2009.

CHAPTERX:HEARTBREAKANDHOPEAuthor drew on conversations withLaura Bush, Bill and Bea Cliber,Wendy Elsasser, Betty Finney,Christine Limerick, Roland Mesnier,Nelson Pierce, Jim Ketchum, GaryWalters, Betty Monkman, WalterScheib,BobScanlan,IvanizSilva,Skip

Allen, John Moeller, and LynwoodWestray. Published material includesLady Bird Johnson, A White HouseDiary (New York: Holt, Rinehart andWinston,1970);MimiSwartz,“Them’sFightin’ Words!” Texas Monthly, July2004; Letitia Baldrige, A Lady, First:My Life in the Kennedy White Houseand the American Embassies of ParisandRome(NewYork:VikingPenguin,2001);PrestonBruce,FromtheDooroftheWhiteHouse (NewYork: Lothrop,Lee and Shepard Books, a division ofWilliam Morrow and Company, Inc.,1984); Tom Wicker, “Kennedy IsKilledbySniperasHeRidesinCar inDallas; Johnson Sworn In on Plane,”

New York Times, November 22, 1963;Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart(New York: Scribner, 2010); WilsonJerman,interviewfortheRalphRinzlerFolklife Archives and Collections,Center for Folklife and CulturalHeritage, Smithsonian Institution,Washington, D.C., October 2, 2007;Transcript: Richard Nixon/FrankGannon interview, University ofGeorgia Special Collections Libraries,The Walter J. Brown Media Archivesand Peabody Awards Collection, June10,1983;ChristopherAndersen,JackieAfter Jack (New York: WilliamMorrow and Company, 1998); J. B.WestwithMaryLynnKotz,Upstairsat

theWhiteHouse:MyLifewiththeFirstLadies (New York: Warner Books,1973); interview with Luci BainesJohnson on CBS News’ Face theNation, November 17, 2013; the OralHistoriesofMaudShaw,AnneLincoln,andLawrenceJ.Aratacanbe foundatthe John F. Kennedy PresidentialLibraryandMuseum.

EPILOGUEInterviewsubjectsincludedLauraBush,RosalynnCarter,JamesJeffries,NelsonPierce, JamesHall,SkipAllen,ReggieLove,LuciBaines Johnson, James andValerie Ramsey, and Stephen Rochon.Published material used: Sheila Rabb

Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: Withthe Fords at the White House (NewYork:G.P.Putnam’sSons,1979).

PHOTO INSERT SOURCES ANDCREDITSInsert one: David Kennerly/WhiteHouse,courtesyDavidKennerly;AbbieRowe/National Park Service, courtesyMargaret Arrington; JackRottier/National ParkService, courtesyLynwood Westray; RobertKnudsen/White House, courtesy JohnF. Kennedy Presidential Library andMuseum,Boston;HaroldSellers/WhiteHouse, June 7, 1963, courtesy John F.Kennedy Presidential Library and

Museum, Boston; RobertKnudsen/White House, December 6,1963, courtesy John F. KennedyPresidential Library and Museum,Boston; Robert Knudsen/WhiteHouse,December 19, 1963, courtesy John F.Kennedy Presidential Library andMuseum, Boston; Margaret Arrington,courtesy Margaret Arrington; officialWhite House photograph, courtesyLynwood Westray; JackKightlinger/White House, courtesyRichardNixonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum; David Kennerly/WhiteHouse, courtesy Gerald R. FordPresidential Library andMuseum; BillFitz-Patrick/White House, courtesy

Jimmy Carter Presidental Library andMuseum; Ricardo Thomas/WhiteHouse, courtesy Gerald R. FordPresidential Library and Museum; allfour photos of President andRosalynnCarter by Jack Kightlinger/WhiteHouse, courtesy Jimmy CarterPresidentialLibraryandMuseum.

Insert two:SusanBiddle/WhiteHouse,courtesy Chris Emery; PeteSouza/White House, courtesy RonnPayne; Pete Souza/White House,courtesy Ronald Reagan PresidentialLibrary; official White Housephotograph, courtesy Linsey Little;Official White House photograph,courtesy Ronn Payne; Barbara

Kinney/WhiteHouse,courtesyWilliamJ. Clinton Presidential Library andMuseum; Official White Housephotograph, courtesy ChristineLimerick; Official White Housephotograph, courtesy Roland Mesnier;courtesyJamesJeffriesandGeorgeW.BushPresidentialLibraryandMuseum;Official White House photographs,photographersfromtop:SusanSterner,Paul Morse, Eric Draper, courtesyGeorge W. Bush Presidential Libraryand Museum; AP Images/RonEdmonds;Callie Shell/Timemagazine;Official White House photograph bySamanthaAppleton.

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Index

Thepaginationofthiselectroniceditiondoes not match the edition fromwhich it was created. To locate aspecific entry, please use your e-bookreader’ssearchtools.

Page Numbers in Italics Refer toPhotographs.

Abell,Bess,55,56,130,202,207–8Abell,Daniel,130Adams,Abigail,23,27Adams,John,23,26,176Adams,JohnQuincy,32Adams,Louisa,32AfricanAmericans,184,196discriminationagainst,173,186,195free,176,177segregationand,178–79,197,200seealsoslaves,slaveryAfricanAmericans,inresidencestaff,12,20,67,155,206,270

as butlers, 38, 42, 174–75, 178–80,183

aschiefushers,12,177–78,196JFKand,199

Obamaand,38,42,173,174,200prideof,194–95,200racismand,188,190,193,195,196–97,198,204

segregationof,178–79slavesas,176–77unequalpayfor,189–91,192–93seealsospecificindividuals

Agnew,Spiro,233Allen,Charles,170,194,198,199Allen, Eugene, 85, 170, 183, 190–91,

194,196,197,198,199,234,270Allen,Helene,199Allen, W. F. “Skip,” 9, 99–100, 101,

111, 115, 136, 139, 142, 150, 167,211,217–18

AmericanBalletTheater,205

AmericanLegionBoysNation,32AmericanRevolution,181AndrewsAirForceBase,2,250,254ApocalypseNow,250Arata,Lawrence,244–45ArlingtonNationalCemetery,249,252Arnold,Mary,262Arrington,Bonner,59,94,213Arrington,Margaret,94,126,127,128,

129,213,214Arrington, Reds, 94, 125–26, 127–29,

213–14Avery,Isaac,131,162

Baldrige, Letitia, 13, 35, 43, 227–28,246,255

Barnett,Armstead,198Beatrix,QueenoftheNetherlands,111

Berman,Lea,14Bernard,Jeremy,13BethesdaNavalHospital,246,268Blair,Frankie,155BlairHouse,41,51,182Blige,MaryJ.,10,11Bo(theObamas’dog),39Brown,James,206Bruce,Preston,167,183,190,270JFKassassination and,1–4,60, 124,245,249

Kennedy family’s close relationshipwith,2–3,4,48–49,159,199,249

LBJand,124–25,132Nixonand,153–54,159

Bruce,Virginia,1,4Bryant, Traphes, 57, 71–72, 77, 107,

125,157,202,208–11Bull,Steve,162Bunch,Lonnie,175,176,194Bush, Barbara, 9, 91, 119, 137, 224,

256Emeryand,122,150–51friendly, easygoing character of, 46,75,117–18,120–21,122,136,218

personal expenses in White Houseand,63,65

onpresidentialtransitiontoFord,61tourgiventoHillaryby,32intransitionbacktocivilianlife,70–71seealsoBushfamily(GeorgeH.W.)Bush,Barbara(daughter),73,83,99,136,224–25,229,241

Bush,GeorgeH.W.,62,85,87,184,256

failedreelectionof,151–52friendly, approachable character of,81,118,119–20,121–22,218,271

GeorgeW.and,16,32,118horseshoesplayedby,119,120Littleand,119–20in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,51,70

nicknameof,117–18residencestaff’sdevotionto,75secondtermlostby,34,74and transition back to civilian life,70–71seealsoBushfamily(GeorgeH.W.)Bush,GeorgeW.,65,85,88,99,104,

110,116,241daughtersof,224–25;seealsoBush,Barbara,Jr.;Bush,Jenna

eventshostedby,67GeorgeH.W.and,16,32,118Guyand,89inaugurationof,73in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,68

aspracticaljoker,83presidential transition to, 32, 51, 69,72–73

Ramseyand,8,82,83,274Rochonand,12,35,38September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand,256,259,264,265–66,268

voterecountof2000and,72

seealsoBushfamily(GeorgeW.)Bush,Jenna,73,83,99,136,224–25,229,241

Bush,Laura,9,16,97GeorgeW.’sinaugurationand,73mealsand,14,69onpresidentialtransitions,29–30presidential transition to George W.and,69,72

residence staff and, 14, 88–89, 106,110,275

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand, 256–57, 259, 261, 263, 264,265–66,268

WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,65–66seealsoBushfamily(GeorgeW.)

Bush,Marvin,119Bushfamily(GeorgeH.W.),260accessible, friendly demeanor of,117–18,218

Emeryand,121–22,150–51mealsand,140,221in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,32,51,70

residencestaffand,117–22Bushfamily(GeorgeW.),35,83,256,

275

CampDavid,64,99,121,152,242,262Capitol, U.S., 31, 43, 51–52, 77, 176,

257Capitol Hill, 256, 259, 261, 262, 263,

265CapitolRotunda,248

Card,Andrew,83,87Carpenter,Liz,56Carter, Amy, 184–85, 186, 187, 188,

235–38Carter,Billy,98–99Carter,Buddy,84,140,168Carter,Jimmy,85familyguestsof,98–99asfarmer,238flowerexpensesand,64–65inflationand,106Iranhostagecrisisand,74,106Princeand,184,186,188onresidencestaff,11secondtermlostby,34

Carter,Lillian,98–99Carter, Rosalynn, 9, 64, 92, 185, 186,

236,274Carterfamily,98–99,179,220,236–37,

272Princeand,184–89White house personal expenses and,63

Cassini,Oleg,26,47Castelo,Anita,117Cézanne,Paul,251Chambrin,Pierre,220–21Charles,PrinceofEngland,215Cheney,Dick,89,264Cherlin,Reid,15,164Chicago,Ill.,33,40chiefushers,11–12African Americans as, 12, 177–78,196

residence staff book created by, 34,46

rigoranddisciplineof,12seealsoWhiteHouseresidencestaff,ushersof;specificchiefushers

CivilRightsAct(1964),201civil rightsmovement, 173, 178, 191–

92,193,199,201,202CivilWar,U.S.,27,175,176,178Clapton,Eric,205Clara(maid),71Clark,Cletus,60,88,91,94,133,159–

60Clarke,Nancy,30,35,140,225Claus,PrinceoftheNetherlands,111Cliber,Bea,171,258Cliber,William“Bill,”157,215

Clinton presidential transition and,52–53

Johnson family and, 125, 128–29,131–32,170–71

Kennedyassassinationand,247MonicaLewinskyscandaland,142Nixonand,8,156,158September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand,258,259,265,266,268

Clinton,Bill,62,85,98,142,166,275Bush, George W.’s presidentialtransitionand,32

electionof,74–75extramarital affairs of, 152; see alsoLewinsky,Monicascandal

foodcravingsof,69frogcollectionof,54

asgovernorofArkansas,152impeachmentof,7,142,147inaugurationof,51–52,100–101Jeffriesand,271residence staff and, 30, 53, 137–39,146

staffof,72–73WhiteHouseredecorationand,50,55see also Clinton family; Lewinsky,Monica,scandal

Clinton,Chelsea,51,55,85,137,152,224,229,275Hillaryand,18,240,241Mesnierand,149–50,241–42MonicalLewinskyscandaland,149–50,223

in move in, move out of White

House,30,73parents’ protectiveness over, 101,238–39

residencestaffand,153,239–42Scheib’scookinglessonswith,240SteveFord’sletterto,223

Clinton,Hillary,138Chelseaand,18,240,241frogcollectionof,54healthand,220Mesnierand,274Monica Lewinsky scandal and, seeLewinsky,Monica,scandal

in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,30,73

as potential first female president,147

presidentialtransitionand,32–33privacyand,152–53Ramseyand,84,275residencestaffand,100Scheibhiredby,69SkipAllenand,150assympathetictowomen,137WhiteHouseredecorationand,50,52

Clintonfamily,97,116,119,205arrivalinWhiteHouseof,31Christine Limerick and, 30, 95, 96,137–38,140,166

Emeryand,53–54,150–52eventsandpartieshostedby,67,110,271

friends(“FOBs”)of,53–54inconsistencyof,139

mealsand,69,139–40,220–21in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,30,73

phonesystemchangedby,53,100presidential transition to,32–33,50–55,74–75

privacyand,152–53,238–39residencestafffiredby,150–51residence staff not fully trusted by,100,150

secrecy and paranoia of, 100, 101,150–51

SecretServiceand,152–53WhiteHouseredecorationby,50–51,52–53,54,55

Comerford,Cristeta“Cris,”37Committee for the Preservation of the

WhiteHouse,175Congress,U.S.,11,124,177,189,201,

202,233,256seealsoSenate,U.S.

Connally,Nellie,231Contee,Vincent,38Coolidge,Grace,27Cormier,Frank,88Cox,TriciaNixon,10,21,71,123,156,

160,181,205Crawford,Tex.,82,262Currie,Betty,138,144–45

DaughtersoftheAmericanRevolution,24

deGaulle,Charles,249,250DemocraticNationalConvention,33desegregation,186,195

Dickey,Helen,152Dickson,Reginald,114–15discrimination,173,186,195seealsoracism

DowntonAbbey(TVshow),103,239Dublin,23DukeBlueDevils,41duPont,HenryFrancis,25

Ebony,174Ehrlichman,John,154–55Eisenhower,Dwight,92,191,242Eisenhower,Mamie,25,191EisenhowerExecutiveOfficeBuilding,

168Eisenhowerfamily,35,46–47,48Elizabeth II, Queen of England, 181,

182,183,214–15,273

Ellington,Duke,196Elmsmansion,57,126,127,128Elsasser, Wendy, 101, 121, 133, 136,

243,268EmergencyResponseTeam,263Emery,Chris,195,272Bush (George H. W.) family and,121–22,150–51

Clintonfamilyand,53–54,150–52Reaganfamilyand,91

Erkenbeck,Jane,93

FamousFlames,206Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

92,114,181Fenton,Catherine,257Ficklin, Charles, 104, 168, 183, 204,

212,245,270

Ficklin,John,77,104,168,204,270Ficklin,Sam,204Ficklinfamily,13,168–69,269–70Fields,Alonzo, 29, 178–79, 182, 183–

84Fincher,Stephen,227Finney, Betty, 17, 22, 95, 143, 239,

259–61,260,262firstfamilies:childrenof,96–97,223–42comfort of, with residence staff, 81,88,128,129

demandsof,12,123,125–33,163guestsof,12,54,63,65,140maritalrelationsof,80,88,91,96personalexpensesof,34,62–66,178privacyand,4,7,82,91,97,98,151,

230,231,247residence of, see White Houseresidence

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

securingfoodfor,92–93,116assheltered,70slavesownedby,177as temporary residents of WhiteHouse,40,232–33

transition between, see presidentialtransitionssee also specific presidents andfamilies

firstladies,105,117residencestaffcoordinationwith,11,

14,21,46–47,64,69,135,137toursguidedby,32,34,58,75seealsospecificfirstladies

Flowers,Michael“Rahni,”39,41–43Ford,Betty,61–62,94,215,271,274Ford,Gerald,69,234asfather,235in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,74,94

relaxed,friendlyattitudeof,61,117secondtermlostby,34shorttermof,233asthrustintopresidency,232WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,64

Ford,Jack,215Ford,Steve,223,232–33,234,235

Ford,Susan,61,64,74,88,98,233–35Fordfamily,224,272asapproachable,233presidentialtransitionto,61royalvisitswith,214–15

Frame,Milton,62,107–8,208Frame,Wilford,107–8Frankel,Adam,164–65Freedmen’sHospital,204

Gallagher,Mary,244General Services Administration, 63,

244GettysburgAddress,164,267Glynn,Paul,88Goldman,Ikram,43Gonzalez,Omar,115Gorbachev,Mikhail,112,116,195

Gorbachev,Raisa,112Gore,Al,72Graber,Ted,160Graham,Billy,181GreatDepression,197Gregg,Judd,261,263Guy,Ron,89

Haiti,226Haldeman,H.R.“Bob,”154–55Hall,James,9,146–47,165–66Haller,Henry,60,127,204–5Hamilton,Theresa,107Hamilton,William “Bill,” 92–93, 168,

191HillaryClintonand,147as longest-serving residence worker,92,107,193–94

MonicaLewinskyscandaland,147inrevoltforequalpay,190,191–93White House racism and, 193, 195,197

wifeandmarriageof,107Hancock,Harold,89Hannie,George,117–18,193Hawaii,121,135Hearst,Patty,235Henderson,N.C.,197HimandHer(LBJ’sdogs),56Hinckley,John,Jr.,160HIV,145–46Hoban,James,23,24Hockersmith,Kaki,50–53,54–55Hoover,Herbert,46Hoover,Irwin“Ike,”79,103

HydePark,N.Y.,178

“IHaveaDream”(King),193,199inaugurationday,29,31,34,43–44,69,

76ofBush,GeorgeW.,73aschaotic,44ofClinton,51–52,100–101ofJFK,47,49nuclearstrikecodesand,44ofObama,33,36,37,41–42,68,174,225seealsopresidentialshifts

Iniki,Hurricane,121Iran-ContraAffair,80,81,117Iranhostagecrisis,74,106,274Iraq,105Ireland’sParliament,23

ItTakesaVillage(Clinton),241

Jackson,Andrew,176,177,178JamesS.BradyPressBriefingRoom,6Jarrett,Valerie,164Jefferson,Thomas,23,27,176–77,178,

233Jeffries,James,37–38,79–80,168–69,

204–6,237,269–71Jenkins,Beth,59Jenkins,Walter,59Jennings,Paul,177Jerman, Wilson, 77, 86, 89–90, 107,

123–24,248Jet,174JimCrow,173,201Johnson,Andrew,177Johnson,Johnny,159

Johnson,Katie,21,44–45,86,163–64Johnson,LadyBird:chinaorderedby,207–8inaugurationdaysdescribedby,29JackieKennedyand,57,58,253JFKassassinationand,252–54LBJ’scharacterand,210–11LBJ’spresidentialtransitionand,55–59

LBJ’sshowerdemandsand,127in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,75–76,77

residencestaffand,103–4,129,170–71

Westand,103–4,127WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,64

Wrightand,200–201Johnson,LuciBaines,76,224,255,274JFKassassinationand,253–54LBJ’spresidential transitionand,56,57,59

onLBJ’sshowerdemands,123,129LBJtakencareofby,203–4in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,71

onresidencestaff,89,167,274Vietnamprotestorsand,230–31WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,64

Johnson,LyndonB.,12,55–56,59,71–72,75,87,101,103–4,157,162–63,214asavoidedbyresidencestaff,124

Bruceand,124–25,132budgetreductionorderedby,130–32character of, 57, 123–25, 130, 210–11,254

CivilRightsActand(1964),201civilrightsreformsof,201–2,203demandsof,125–29,130–31,163first State of the Union address of,189

flirtingby,210foodsecurityand,116ashighschoolteacher,125JFKassassinationand,252–54penisnicknamed“Jumbo”by,126aspossessivehusband,210–11racialslursusedby,201,203reelectionnotsoughtby,202,232

shamelessnessof,88,125,128,129showerdemandsof,126–29sworninaspresident,254televisionsof,76–77toilethumorof,125VietnamWarand,87,129,194,202–3,230–32,250

Westand,126–27Wrightand,202,203–4

Johnsonfamily,179,272Cliberand,170–71andmoveoutofWhiteHouse,76presidentialtransitionto,55–59,254Texasranchof,127,129,203Wrightand,200–204

JohnsonPublishing,174JonasBrothers,225

Kass,Sam,40Kennedy,Caroline,12,27,55,57,224,

227–29,230,239,242,252,254–55Kennedy,Edward“Ted,”246,261Kennedy,Jacqueline,2,13,73,211–13,

270–71Bruceand,3,4,49,159,249casualdemeanorof,94JFK assassination and, 3–4, 244–51,253–55

JFK’spresidential transitionand,35,43

in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,55–59,76,248

inraisingofchildren,227–28,239runningofresidenceby,47–48West and, 12, 47, 58, 208, 212–13,

247–48,251–52WhiteHouseabsencesof,209–10WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,63

WhiteHouserestorationof,5,25–26,51

Kennedy,JohnF.,2–3,13,32,35,87,191,213,214,261assassination of, 1–4, 9, 56–57, 60,124, 126, 157, 159, 199, 203, 212,243–49,250–51,252–54,257,266

civilrightsand,199foodbilland,63funeralservicesof,4,244,245,246–49,250–51

ashopelessinkitchen,212inaugurationof,47,49

philanderingof,7,208–10presidential transitionto,35,43,46–49,50,242

Kennedy, John-John, 2, 3, 13, 55, 57,214, 224, 227–28, 230, 242, 249,252

Kennedy,Kevin,234Kennedy, Patrick Bouvier, 212, 247,

251,252Kennedy, Robert F., 3–4, 159, 194,

245,246,249Kennedyfamily,7,194,239,246,270,

272Bruce’s close relationshipwith, 2–3,4,48–49,159,199,249

dogsof,57,107entertainingandeventshostedby,48,

108,163,205fastpacedlivesof,162LBJ’sshowerdemandsand,127in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,225

presidential transitionto,35,43,46–49,50,242

Kennedy Warren apartment building,84,85

Kennerly,DavidHume,69Ketchum,Jim,58–59,243,244,249–51Khrushchev,Nikita,112King,B.B.,205King,MartinLuther,Jr.,201assassinationof,191–92“I Have a Dream” speech of, 193,199

Kuhn,John,246Kuwait,105

LafayetteSquare,264,267Lattimore,Neel,151Lauten,Elizabeth,227LeavesofGrass(Whitman),144LedZeppelin,234Lee Daniels’ The Butler, 85, 190–91,

192–93LeinsterHouse,23Lelyveld,KatieMcCormick,21,36–37,

39–40Lewinsky, Monica, scandal, 10, 27,

142–45,149Billand,7,27,141–45,147,223Chelseaand,149–50,223Christmasduring,144

Clintons’fightsduring,141,143,145Hillaryand,7,10,141,143,144–45,146–49,151

as public knowledge, 141, 142, 146,223

residencestaffand,142–43,144–45,146,147,149

LibraryofCongress,244Libya,90Life,127Limerick,Christine,14,17,62,76,95–

99,95,118,259,272Clintonfamilyand,30,95,96,137–38,140,166

marriageof,166–67NancyReaganand,134–35,166,274September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

and,262temporaryhiatusof,8,135–36onworkinginWhiteHouse,18–19

Limerick,Robert,95,166–67Lincoln, Abraham, 27, 164, 177, 179,

233,248funeralof,244,245,246,250

Lincoln,Anne,63,211,212,247Lincoln,Willie,27LincolnMemorial,193,199Little,Linsey,118–20,119,149Love, Reggie, 20, 40, 41, 45, 63–64,

82–83,94,164

McCaffree,MaryJane,35McDonough,Denis,44McKim,Mead&White,24McNamara,Margaret,116,227

McNamara,Robert,87,116,227Madison,James,24,176,177Mandela,Nelson,38,83–84MarchonWashington,193,201Marshall,Thurgood,201Mayfield, Frederick “Freddie,” 117,

167–68,274MayflowerHotel,96,135Mellon,Rachel“Bunny,”25Mesnier,Roland,28,93,136,272AmyCarterand,237–38BarbaraBushand,120Bush, George H. W.’s second termlossand,74–75

ChelseaClintonand,149–50,241–42Clinton’saidesand,72–73firstfamilyfoodpreferencesand,68–

69foodsafetyand,116HillaryClintonand,140,147,274MonicaLewinsky scandal and,149–50

NancyReaganand,110–12,133personallifesacrificedby,109–10Scheib’sfeudwith,219–20,221September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand,267,268

Millie(theBushs’dog),51Mitchell,Nancy,53,168,225Mitchum,Robert,271Moeller,John,140,221,229,264Monkman,Betty,30,74,190,231,237,

267Monroe,James,27,178

Morman,Lucinda,47,48Morris,Garrett,186Motown,205,206My 21 Years in the White House

(Fields),29Myers,Mike,239MyThirtyYearsBackstairsattheWhiteHouse(Parks),1

NationalArchives,165NationalGovernorsAssociation,32NationalMuseumofAfricanAmerican

HistoryandCulture,175NationalParkService,11,19,128,257NavalObservatory,U.S.,233Nesbitt,Henrietta,178Nicaragua,80,117Nixon,Julie,156

Nixon,Pat,60,62,75,77,155–56Nixon,Richard,88,91,98,162,215asbowler,155Bruceand,153–54,159butlerwardrobeand,166,196Cliberand,8,156,158daughters of, 10, 71; see also Cox,TriciaNixon;Nixon,Julie

paranoiaof,157presidential transition to, 75, 76–77,129

resignationof,60–61,158untrustworthyaidesof,153–55Watergate scandal and, 27, 60, 155,156,157–59

Nixonfamily,57,272formalstyleof,61,155,156

in move in, move out of WhiteHouse,233

Pierceand,155–56presidentialtransitionto,76–77

Normandy,invasionof,26Nuckles, Gloria (Westray’s daughter),

180–81

Obama, Barack, 7, 15, 17, 20, 33, 38,42,164–65,173–75,179,200,206AfricanAmericanresidencestaffand,38,42,173,174,200

basketballplayedby,41challengingpresidential transitionto,33,35–36

firstnightinWhiteHouseof,10–11healthcarelegislationof,163–64asIllinoissenator,33

inauguration of, 33, 36, 37, 41–43,68,174,225

KatieJohnsonand,21,44–45,86Loveand,20,63,82,273Ramseyand,84,85residence staff and, 37–39, 40–41,42,174–75,275

asstandoffish,164threatsfacedby,17,113–15WestWingstaffof,36,44–45,163–64

White House personal expenses of,64

Obama,Malia,28,33,38,39,68,224,225–27

Obama,Michelle,17,21,68,164,173,174,175,179,226

aidesof,36firstnightinWhiteHouseof,10–11Flowersand,41–43luncheonhostedby,5–6motherof,seeRobinson,Marianonresidencestaff,46shots fired into White Houseresidenceand,114

slaveryinfamilyhistoryof,174as unaccustomed to household help,33

Obama,Sasha,28,33,38,39,114,224,225–26,227

Obamafamily,9,13,225advisorsof,35eventshostedby,15,67oninaugurationday,41–43

presidential transition to, 33, 35–43,44–46,66–67

asprivate,39,164raisingofchildrenin,239residence staff and, 33, 38, 39, 45–46,170,173–74,175

Rochonand,38,39O’Donnell,Ken,124OldExecutiveOfficeBuilding,56Ortega-Hernandez,Oscar,113

Paredes,Providencia,4,35Parish,Sister,25ParklandHospital,244Parks,LillianRogers,1Paschall,Alvie,197Payne,Ronn,28,64–65,98,106,112,

132–33,136,145–46,153

PearlHarbor,56Pentagon,258,260,262,264,265Perini,Tom,256PersianGulfWar,117Philip,PrinceofEngland,181–83,214–

15,274Pierce,Caroline,161–62,168Pierce,Nelson,124,168,272on being inconspicuous, 79, 87–88,92

first family children and, 225, 228–29,237,255

JFKassassinationand,243–44,255LBJand,86–87longhoursworkedby,162,163Nixonfamilyand,155–56,157payof,189–90

personallifesacrificedby,161–62VietnamWarprotestorsand,232

PotomacRiver,208,233,262Powers,Dave,209presidentialtransition,29–77toBush,GeorgeW.,32,51,69,72–73

toClinton,32–33,50–55,74–75effectonresidencestaffof,69toFord,61good-byesand,30,61,70,71,74toJFK,46–49,50toLBJ,55–59,254logisticsof,29–30,31movingand,31,34–35toNixon,75,76–77,129toObama,33,35–43,44–46,66–67

preparationsfor,34toReagan,74redecorating for, 32, 50–51, 52–53,54,55

residencestaffasmovers in,31,53–54,61,74

residencestaffbooksfor,34,46routinechangesand,46–47,48,66sixhoursbetween,30–31,32titlesand,43traditionsand,40,53–54and transition back to civilian life,70–71

unexpected,55–59,60–62Presley,Elvis,215–216Prince,Mary,184–89,236,237PrivateButlersIncorporated,179,183

Racism,186,188,190,193,195,196–97,198,200,204,206seealsodiscrimination

Ramsey, James, 8–9, 82–86, 82, 90,165,168,197,199–200,269,272Bush,GeorgeW.and,8,82,83,274canceranddeathof,274–75MonicaLewinskyscandaland,146

Ramsey,Valerie,275Rayburn,Sam,56Reagan,Nancy,7,70,75,88,93,117,

165,217,218,252ChristineLimerickand,134–35,166,274

collectiblesof,134–35as difficult, 110–12, 132–33, 134,159–60

Mayfieldand,167Mesnierand,110–12,133personalquirksof,133asprotectiveofhusband,90asspoiled,133

Reagan,Ron,18,80–81,160,218Reagan, Ronald, 84, 85, 88, 91, 104,

111,139,144,195Alzheimer’sdiseaseof,219assassinationattempton,28,160ascomfortablebeingnaked,216–17electionof,106friendlycharacterof,159,218good-byestoresidencestaffof,70Iran-Contraaffairand,80,81,117presidentialtransitionto,74residencestaffand,159–60,216–18

Reagan family, 70, 91, 106, 110, 112,122,152,272

Rebozo,Charles“Bebe,”91Reid,Angella,12RepublicanNationalCommittee,61Resolute,H.M.S.,249Rex(theReagans’dog),134Robb,Charles“Chuck,”230Robb,Lucinda,230Robb, Lynda Bird Johnson, 57, 129,

162,224,230–32,255Robinson,Fraser,Sr.,174Robinson,Jim,174Robinson,Marian,33,39,42,114,226Rochon,Stephen,86,114–15,178,196atBuckinghamPalace,273–74Bush,GeorgeW.and,12,35,38

Obamafamilyand,38,39,40,41,64,174

Rogersand,68Rogers, Desirée, 36, 38, 66–68, 170,

174–75Roosevelt,Eleanor,178Roosevelt,FranklinD.,22,26,46,178,

198,248,264,270paralysisof,7polioof,209

Roosevelt,Theodore,24,227Rusk,Dean,87Russell,Richard,202RussellSenateOfficeBuilding,256Ruta,Frank,90–91,155,200

Saint-Aubin,Smile“Smiley,”170,226St.Matthew’sChurch,246,249

Salinger,Pierre,208Sally,Miss(staffcook),20Sam’sClub,71Sargent,JohnSinger,58SaturdayEveningPost,79SaturdayNightLive,186,239Savoy,Tony,13,31–32,85,105,108,

121,175,236Scanlan,Bob,15,32,36,45,67,69,72,

144,225–27,264–65Scheib,Walter,29,165,229,256Bush,GeorgeW.familyand,14ChelseaClintonand,240Clintonfamilyand,69,240,241foodsafetyand,115–16Mesnier’sfeudwith,219–20,221September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

and,258,264,265,267–68WhiteHousepersonal expenses and,66

Scouten, Rex, 53, 85, 124, 128, 134,160,166,249,270

Seattle,Wash.,155–56SecretService,34,94,136,154,168“donotadmit”guestsand,54first family children and, 223, 232,235,236,237–38

foodsecurityand,92,93HillaryClintonand,10,152–53JFKand,49JFKassassinationand,244,254LBJand,124MonicaLewinskyscandaland,10September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

and,256–57,258,260–61,263,266White House security breaches and,17,114,115

segregation,178–79,197,200Selassie,Haile,249Senate,U.S.,202EducationCommitteeof,256,261

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,116,243,256–68NorthTowerhitin,256–57Pennsylvaniafieldplanecrashin,263Pentagon hit in, 258, 260, 262, 264,265

South Tower hit in, 259, 260, 262,263

WhiteHouseevacuationin,258,261,262–63,267

Shaw,Maud,214,228–29,230,252Shields,Purnell,174Shriver,Sargent,245SidwellFriends,153,239Silva,Ivaniz,46,96–97,216–17,216Silva,Sylvia,97Slade,William,177–78slavepens,173slaves,slavery,2,174,175–76,249abolishmentof,177WhiteHouseand,175,176–77

Smith,Michael,35Smithsonian,249–50SmithsonianPrintingOffice,183Smoot,Julianna,13–14Sorensen,Ted,124SovietUnion,112

Spacek,Sissy,186Spot(theBushs’dog),89“Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin),

234StanfordUniversity,240Starr,Kenneth,142StateandMain,73Stonewall,Tex.,127,203Suitland,Md.,166,188Sullivan,Mark,114SupremeCourt,U.S.,72SymbioneseLiberationArmy,235

Taft,WilliamHoward,24Taylor,Elizabeth,38Taylor,Zachary,177Temptations,196,205–6Texas,2,127,129,201

Thomas,George,35Thomases,Susan,143Thompson, Herman, 81, 87, 99, 125,

154–55,167–68,183–84,195–97Tiffany&Company,207Travelgate,142Troopergate,152Truman,Harry,24–25,46,186,197Truman,Margaret,24,26,223,234Tuckerman,Nancy,63

UnknownSoldier,248Upstairs at the White House: My LifewiththeFirstLadies(West),161

Verdon,René,26VietnamWar,87,129,166,194,230–

32,250

Virginia,204,209Virginia, University of, Miller Center

at,143

Wallace,George,197–98Walters,Barbara,145Walters, Gary, 66, 81, 121, 151, 152,

166,195,205BarbaraBushand,75Fordfamilyand,233personallifesacrificedby,104–5presidentialtransitionsand,34,53September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand,257–59,265,266,268

WardmanParkHotel,107Warof1821,24Washington,D.C.,1,7,19,23,33,179AfricanAmerican neighborhoods in,

194civilrightsprotestsin,191–92publicschoolsin,195rentpricesin,238slaveryin,176–77

Washington,George,23,58,267Washington,Sam,181–82WashingtonPost,113,163Watergate scandal, 27, 60, 155, 156,

157–58“Wayne’sWorld,”239Weidenfeld,SheilaRabb,62,274“WeShallOvercome,”199West,J.B.,161,245,270JacquelineKennedy and, 12, 47, 58,208,212–13,247–48,251–52

JFKassassinationand,245,248,255

LadyBirdJohnsonand,103–4,127LBJand,126–27residence staff salaries and, 190,191–92,193

residencestafftrainedby,108responsibilitiesof,12onsecrecyofMapRoom,26–27WhiteHousetoursgivenby,154

Westray,Kay,179,180,181Westray, Lynwood, 49, 179–82, 197–

98,255Wexford,209,251White,Worthington, 10–11, 113, 120,

147–49WhiteHouse:African American guests in, 196,205–6

annualbudgetof,11basementof,19–20,26,94,177,263Blue Room of, 21, 22, 24, 37, 146,181

bombshelterof,26,265,267bootlegwhiskeyin,63Britishburningof,24CabinetRoomof,248Carpenter’sShopof,107,131,213chinaof,207–8ChinaRoomof,35,237construction and renovations of, 23–25,176

Curator’sOfficeof, 25, 58, 74, 139,237,244,267

daydrinkingin,86designfor,23

Diplomatic Reception Room of, 22,27,83,215

East Room of, 3, 5, 21, 27, 36, 60,115,205,236,244,245,250,267

EastWingof,13,19,20,21,26,36,143,258–59

EmergencyOperationsCenterof,26,264,266

EntranceHallof,21furnishingsof,37gardensof,6,25GreenRoomof,21,27,115GroundFloor of, 19, 20, 22, 26, 35,49,68,93,158,191,231,257

guestsof,stealingby,211–12JackieKennedy’s restorationof,25–26

LincolnSittingRoomof,27,55,76,158

MapRoomof,26–27mezzaninesof,19,22NorthLawnof,115NorthPorticoof, 11, 33, 51, 92, 93,246,265

Old Family Dining Room of, 5, 26,33,205–6,268

OperationsDepartmentof,13,31,62OvalBlueRoom,251OvalOfficeof,20,22,24,38,45,50,56,66,74,87,106,142,155,156,158,164,248,249,266

packagesnotacceptedby,93PastryShopof,22,147asphysicalsymbol,6,19

Plumber’sShopof,127publictoursof,5,10,20,44,45,194,231–32,236,266

racismand,188,190,193,195,196–97,198,204

RedRoomof,21,181,239,250royalvisitsto,181–82,214–15,273securityat,17,255securitybreachesin,17,67,113–15September 11, 2001 evacuation of,258,261,262–63,267

SituationRoomof,19slaveryand,175,176–77snipersonroofof,16,17,99,100SouthLawnof, 2, 5, 22, 25, 41, 52,60, 83, 113, 181, 230, 234, 242,252,255,256,259

SouthPorticoof,27,256,257–58StateDiningRoomof,5,21,27,30,70,87,154,181,211,232

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

TravelOfficeof,142TreatyRoomof,52–53,153Usher’sOffice of, 3, 11, 19, 45, 49,54, 94, 100, 111, 115, 130, 150,151–52,189,191,243,257

WestColonnadeof,81West Sitting Hall of, 48, 80, 132,133,144,145

WestWingof,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

WhiteHouseFineArtsCommittee,25WhiteHouseprivateresidence,3–5,7,

19,21–22basketballcourtof,41bowlingalleyof,155,225Family Dining Room of, 5, 26, 80,119,228,271

GameRoomof,160guestroomsof,21–22kitchenof,18,19,26,237Lincoln Bedroom of, 48, 99, 142,164,213,267

paidexpensesin,65partiesin,99–100personalcostoflivingin,62–66

phonesystemin,53,100poolsof,10,119,148,187,209pot-smokingin,98presidential transitions and, seepresidentialtransitions

asprison,17,234Queen’sBedroomof,22,48,55,99,213,256,260

Queen’sSittingRoomof,127redecorating of, 32, 50–51, 52–53,54,55

separatemaritalbedroomsin,49,62shotsfiredinto,17,113–15Solarium of, 27–28, 71, 76, 98, 99,111,160,199,226,230,234,254–55,271

staircasesof,22

storagefacilityfor,50–51,72televisionsin,76–77theaterof,3,73,143,225Truman Balcony of, 17, 22, 24–25,106,114,123,164

underagedrinkingin,97,98seealsofirstfamilies

WhiteHouseresidencestaff:advicesoughtfrom,37,45African Americans in, see AfricanAmericans,inresidencestaff

asapolitical,73backgroundchecksfor,85,150,255basementareafor,19–20,26Bush,GeorgeW.and,38,82,83,89Bush, George H. W. and, 38, 118,119–20,121–22,271

Bush family (George H. W.) and,117–22

butlersof,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

calligraphersof,13–14chefs of, 14, 64, 66, 68–70, 75, 90,109–12,116,139–40,219–20

ChelseaClintonand,153,239–42chiefushersof,seechiefushersClintonand,30,38,137–39,146Clintons’firingof,150–51ascohosts,10commutesof,108composurerequiredby,94coordination with first lady of, 11,

14,21,46–47,64,69,135,137curatorsof,74,139departmentsandshopsof,12,31,94,125,192,237,239

asdevotedto 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

discretionandloyaltyof,7–8,79–80,81, 85–92, 97, 101, 143, 181, 207,208–9,272

doormenof,1–4,38,48–49,86,124–25,167

drugtestsfor,150inearlyadministrations,23–24Eleanor Roosevelt’s dismissal of

whitesfrom,178as 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

flexibilityof,30,46,75floristsof,15,35,36,64–65,67–68,112–13,146,226

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

giftwrappingby,135,138,144gossip and stories swapped by, 207,

210,219groceryshoppingby,92–93hiringof,13,84–85,104,107,108HIVand,145–46asimportant,10,273Iranhostagecrisisand,106,274JFKassassinationand,1–4,124,159,199,243–49,250–51

LadyBird Johnsonand,103–4,129,170–71

largegatheringsand,5LBJand,124–25,129,130longhours 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

marriagesanddivorcesof,165,166–

67MaryPrinceand,187MonicaLewinsky scandal and,142–43,144–45,146,147,149

asmovers,31,53–54,61,74NationalParkServiceaspartof,11,19

NavyMessfor,20numberof,23,44Obamaadministrationand,36–37Obama and, 37–39, 40–41, 42, 44,174–75

Obamafamilyand,33,38,39,45–46,170,173–74,175

paintersof,105–6payof,108–9,189–91,192–93,204–5

personallivessacrificedby,6,104–5,107,109–10,161–62,165,274

presidential transitions and, seepresidentialtransitions

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

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

Reaganand,159–60,216–18responsibilitiesof,14,44,86,92–93royaltyand,181–82September 11, 2001 terrorist attacksand,257–63,264–65,266–68

slavesas,176–77socialsecretaryof,13–14astenantsofWhiteHouse,6,11,232traditionsand,40

trainingexercisesfor,108ushers of, 45, 81, 86–87, 91, 100,163–64,177–78,189–90

valetsof,16Watergatescandaland,157–58WestWingstaffand,44–45,163–64,191,208

onWhiteHouse,26seealsospecificpeople

Whitewaterlanddeal,142Whitman,Walt,144Who’stheBoss,91“Who’sWho, andWhy, in theWhite

House”(Hoover),79Williams,Maggie,151Williams,Otis,206WorldTradeCenter,seeSeptember11,

2001terroristattacksWorldWarII,26,264Wright, Zephyr, 103–4, 132, 200–201,

202–4

Yo-YoMa,205Yuki(LBJ’sdog),210

PhotoSection

WhiteHousebutlersinbetweencoursesduringa1976statedinnerforFrenchpresidentValéryGiscardd’Estaing.

PlumberRedsArrington(rightforeground)atworkinthePlumber’sShopintheWhiteHousebasementin

1952.ArringtonhadanervousbreakdownbecauseofPresidentLyndonJohnson’snever-ending

demandsconcerningtheWhiteHouseshower.“IfIcanmovetenthousand

troopsinaday,youcancertainlyfixthebathroomanywayIwantit!”the

presidentscreamedatRedsduringonetirade.

Standingsecondfromtheright:ButlerLynwoodWestray,servingatan

outdoorpicnicattheWhiteHouse,July29,1970.Westray,nowninety-three,getsemotionaldiscussingoneeveningwhenamemberoftheBritishroyal

familyinsistedonservinghimadrink.“Itblowsyourmind,”hesaysabout

thatnight,ahighlightofhisthirty-two-yearcareer.

HandsomeyoungPresident-electJohnF.KennedyandPresidentDwightD.EisenhowerdeparttheWhiteHouseforinauguralceremonies,January20,1961.PrestonBruce,theimpeccablydressedWhiteHousedoormanwho

wouldbecomeacloseKennedyfamilyfriend,holdsthedooropenattheNorth

Portico.

JohnKennedyJr.standsonthestepsofhistreehouseontheSouthLawnashisnanny,MaudShaw,andMaîtred’

CharlesFicklinlookon.OneoftheKennedys’ninedogs,aWelshterriernamedCharlie,takespartinthefun.

OntheirlastdayintheWhiteHouse,JacquelineKennedyandJohn-Johnsayatearfulgood-byetoresidenceworkers,includingDoormanPrestonBruce,

standingtotheleftofJackie.

CarolineKennedy(farleft)inthekindergartenclassroomcreatedforher

intheresidence’sthird-floorSolarium.Thephotowastakenlessthanamonth

afterherfather’sassassination.

TheJohnsons’longtimecook,ZephyrWright,atareunionforresidenceworkersheldatSmokeyGlenFarmoutsideWashington,D.C.,June1983.WrightwasoneofthefewpeoplewhocouldstanduptoLyndonJohnson.Shesaidsheknewshehadto“talkuptohim”wellbeforehebecamepresident.

LynwoodWestray(standingonthefarleft)withfellowbutlerandfriend

SamuelWashington(thirdfromleft)ataholidayreceptionwithPresidentJohnson,December16,1964.

PresidentNixonwithkitchenworkerFrankieBlair.Oneeveningtheybowleduntil2A.M.“Theremayhavebeenabottleofscotchinvolved,”recallsone

staffer.

SteveFordchattingwith(fromright)ButlerJohnnyJohnson,ExecutiveChefHenryHaller,ButlerEugeneAllen,andButlerAlfredoSaenz(standingonthe

left)outsidethefamilykitchenonthesecondflooroftheresidence.

AmyCarterandhernanny,MaryPrince,whohadbeeninprisonfor

murderwhenshemettheCarters,playingontheSouthLawn,February1977.Thetwowereinseparablefrom

themomenttheymet.

DoormanFrederick“Freddie”Mayfieldshakinghandswiththelegendary

MuhammadAliintheBlueRoomafterastatedinnerforJordan’sKingHusseinIandQueenAlia,March30,1976.

Mayfieldwassodevotedtohisjobthatheputoffhavingbypasssurgery

becausehedidn’twanttomisswork.Hewaitedtoolong—dyingofaheartattackin1984atjustfifty-eightyears

old.

PresidentJimmyCarterandFirstLadyRosalynnCarterwithWhiteHouse

workersatthestatedinnerfortheShahandShahbanuofIran,November15,1977.Clockwisefromtopleft:MaidViolaWise,ButlerandDoorman

WilsonGerman,DoormanFrederick“Freddie”Mayfield,andFrankieBlair,

whoworkedinthekitchen.

UsherChrisEmerywasaskedtostepinforanAfricanAmericanbutlerand

shieldPresidentReaganfromasuddendownpourontheSouthLawnduring

SovietpoliticalleaderMikhail

Gorbachev’shistoricvisittotheWhiteHousein1987.ChiefUsherGary

Waltersdidn’twanttheWhiteHousetolooklike“thelastplantation,”Emery

said.

NancyReaganexaminesaChristmasarrangementasPresidentReaganandWhiteHousefloristsNancyClarke

(thirdfromright)andRonnPayne(secondfromright)lookon,December1987.Mrs.Reaganwasaperfectionistwhocouldbehardtoplease.Oneincidentinparticularledabeloved

staffertoresign.

TheReagansintheOvalOfficesayinggood-byetoEugeneAllenonhislastdayin1986.Thelongtimebutlerandmaîtred’wastheinspirationforthe2013movieLeeDaniels’TheButler.

PresidentGeorgeH.W.BushandHousemanLinseyLittleplaying

horseshoesontheWhiteHouselawn,June24,1990.BushsetupahorseshoepitchnexttotheWhiteHouse’soutdoor

swimmingpool,wherehe’dplayagainstresidencestaffersseveraltimesaweek.BarbaraBushsaysshewas

especiallysadtoleavetheWhiteHousebecausesheknewtheClintonswouldn’t

continuethetradition.

BarbaraBushadmiresanarrangementintheFlowerShopwithFloristRonnPaynein1989.Mrs.Bushwouldoftenstopbytheshopintheearlymorninghourswearingonlyherrobeovera

bathingsuitasshemadeherwaytotheWhiteHousepoolforherdailyswim.

HillaryClintondoesalast-minutetouch-upintheBlueRoombeforethe1996NationalGovernorsAssociationdinneraslongtimebutlerJamesJeffries

standsby.TheClintons,liketheKennedysandtheJohnsonsbefore

them,lovedtoentertain,whichtookatollonthestaff.Jeffriesremembers

tellingawearyBillClinton,“Youneedtotakeabreak.”

TheClintonshadanespeciallycomplicatedrelationshipwiththestaff.HerePresidentClintonmeetsExecutive

HousekeeperChristineLimerickoutsidethelinenroomonthethirdflooroftheresidenceonInaugurationDay,January20,1993.MaidAnitaCastelo

lookson.

ExecutivePastryChefRolandMesnierwithHillaryClinton,March8,1996.

MesnierwastherethroughtheLewinskyscandal,andheknewtoexpectacallfromthefirstlady

requestingherfavoritedessertwhenshewashavingaparticularlyhardday.

ButlerJamesJeffriesandhismother,Estelle,whoisthesisteroflegendaryWhiteHousebutlersJohnandCharlesFicklin,ataWhiteHouseChristmaspartywithPresidentGeorgeW.BushandLauraBush,December19,2006.

PresidentGeorgeW.BushandhisfamilylovedButlerJamesRamsey.

AndRamseylovedthemback.“IfIlivetobeonehundred,”Ramseysaid,“I’ll

neverforgethisfamily.”

PresidentObamaconferswithChief

UsherStephenRochonduringoneoftheirdailywalksfromtheresidencetotheOvalOffice,March6,2009.Thepresidentusesthetimetoregisteranyhouseholdcomplaints.“Ifthewater

pressurewasn’tright,ortheWi-Fi’snotworking,you’vegottotalkto

somebodyaboutit,right?”saysformerObamaaideReggieLove.

ButlerJamesRamseyspeakswithSashaandMaliaObamaintheStateDiningRoomastheirgrandmotherMarianRobinsonlookson.The

ObamashaveauniquerelationshipwiththemostlyAfricanAmericanbutler

staff.

MorethanfiftyyearsafterhisfirstdayattheWhiteHouse,DoormanWilsonJermanescortstheObamastothe

residenceintheWhiteHouseelevator,May4,2009.Jermancanremember

standingunderneaththeWhiteHouse’sNorthPorticoandhearingtheclick,clickofhorses’hoovesasPresidentKennedy’sflag-drapedcasketwastakenfromtheWhiteHousetoliein

stateintheCapitolRotunda.

AbouttheAuthor

KATE ANDERSENBROWER spent four yearscovering the ObamaadministrationforBloombergNews. Previously, sheworkedatCBSNewsinNewYork and Fox News inWashington, D.C. She haswritten for the WashingtonPost, BloombergBusinessweek, and theWashingtonian. She livesoutside ofWashington,D.C.,

with her husband and twoyoung children. She can befollowed on Twitter:@katebrower.

Discover great authors,exclusiveoffers, andmore athc.com.

Copyright

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Street

Sydney,NSW2000,Australia

www.harpercollins.com.au

CanadaHarperCollinsCanada

2BloorStreetEast-20thFloor

Toronto,ONM4W1A8,Canada

www.harpercollins.ca

NewZealand

HarperCollinsPublishersNewZealand

UnitD1,63ApolloDriveRosedale0632

Auckland,NewZealandwww.harpercollins.co.nz

UnitedKingdomHarperCollinsPublishersLtd.

1LondonBridgeStreetLondonSE19GF,UKwww.harpercollins.co.uk

UnitedStatesHarperCollinsPublishersInc.

195BroadwayNewYork,NY10007www.harpercollins.com