The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower

Kate Andersen Brower was once the White House correspondent for Bloomberg News.  While there she got invited to a luncheon of First Lady Michelle Obama's and noticed the butlers quietly moving about in the background and became interested in them and them and in the rest of the staff.  Getting former staff to talk to her (she only got one current member of the White House residence staff to talk to her) proved to be a difficult task.  They were fiercely loyal even after all these years.  Some refused to say a bad word about any of the first families no matter what.  But Brower would get them to open up and once they found out that others were talking it made it easier for them to talk.

The resident staff is the utmost in efficiency. This is most evident when moving one president out and one president in.  The outgoing president has the House until noon on Inauguration Day and the new president will be back at the House at around five o'clock. In this amount of time, they will have moved out the old president and arranged everything of the new president's according to the president decorator if he has one and overseen by the social secretary.  The  Obamas would be the first to hire a man for the position of social secretary in 2011.  

Other firsts include the first African-American Chief Usher which went to former Coast Guard Admiral Stephen Rochon in 2007.  In 2011, the position became another milestone when the first woman and second African-American held it.  The Chief Usher oversees all of the over 90 executive resident staff.  Each office has its own head, such as Head of Housekeeping, Maitre D' who is the Head Butler, Head Florist, Head Chef, plumber, electrician, painter, etc...  You don't apply to get a job at the White House. You get recommended by someone who works there.  There are generations of families who have worked there.  

The staff lives to serve and become exacerbated when the First Families won't let them.  However, they understand and enjoyed when Chelsea wanted to learn how to clean and cook on her own and looked to them to teach her.  First Lady Michelle Obama insisted that Malia and Sasha make their own beds and do their own laundry and her mother wouldn't let them anywhere near her unmentionables so she did her own laundry too.  

Basically, the George H.W. Bushs were looked upon the most favorably. They seemed to truly care about the staff as people--asking about their personal lives and insisting they go home at an early hour so they could spend time with their families.  Nancy Reagan made the Head of Housekeeping quit for a while because she couldn't handle her angry tirades and her strict perfectionism and nearly impossible requests.  The Clintons drove the Curator nuts because they kept moving furniture around and it has to be recorded at all times.  There were also some heavy fighting where there was blood on the sheets in the morning from when Hillary had clocked Bill with a book in the head.  Johnson had an obsession with the shower needing the pressure to be hard and the temperature to be hotter than hell. It caused one of the staff to be hospitalized due to a nervous breakdown he was having such a hard time making the shower just right for the president.  Pat Nixon didn't want the staff to look at them when they were in the room so they would have to turn their bodies away. 

This book looks back at fifty years and ten presidents who came and went while the resident staff stayed on taking care of the House and its every changing occupant keeping their secrets.  Brower interviewed over a hundred resident workers, presidential aides, and first family members to write this wonderful and well-researched book.  I really loved this book and it's behind the scenes look at how the East Wing of the White House is run.  I found it touching how close the staff could sometimes be with the first family.  Doorman Preston Bruce was asked by Jacqueline Kennedy to be with the family at the funeral and graveside of John F. Kennedy.  Chief Usher West meant so much to her that she asked Nancy Reagan if he could be buried in Arlington and he was.  When James Ramsey, a favorite butler from the Carter administration to 2010 died in 2014 Laura Bush spoke at his funeral and letters from both Presidents Clinton and Obama were read aloud.  This was a fabulous read and I highly recommend it.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Residence-Inside-Private-World-White-ebook/dp/B017R5FBFE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520853343&sr=8-1&keywords=the+residence+inside+the+private+world+of+the+white+house           

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