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America's First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family. These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion's 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d'oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level's basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love. Combining first-person anecdotes from extensive interviews with scores of White House staff members with archival research, Kate Andersen Brower tells their story. She reveals the intimacy between the First Family and the people who serve them, as well as tension that has shaken the staff over the decades. From the housekeeper and engineer who fell in love while serving President Reagan to Jackie Kennedy's private moment of grief with a beloved staffer after her husband's assassination to the tumultuous days surrounding President Nixon's resignation and President Clinton's impeachment battle, The Residence is full of surprising and moving details that illuminate day-to-day life at the White House.… (more)
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But there are also lots of funny stories--LBJ's insistence on super-powered water pressure for his showers and his battles with the plumbers over this, for instance. Other petty demands include Nancy Reagan's last minute choice of a dessert for a state dinner that required the chef to work day and night.
One fascinating factoid: On each Inauguration Day between late morning when the old first family leaves and late afternoon when the new first family appears, the staff must entirely move out and clear away all the old family's stuff and move in and set up the new family's stuff, so that when the new first family arrives they can rest and relax after the day's ceremonies before moving on to the inaugural balls.
Recommended for the voyeur in us all.
3 stars
It was nice to learn about the children of the first families. They were typical kids, the teens pushed the envelope sometimes, played loud music and were generally normal. The younger children often entertained the staff and guests with their antics. Still, their lives in the White House were not normal. They had no privacy or freedom and had to learn to live with a constant shadow lurking nearby.
The first families and the staff mostly grew to love and respect each other. The staff worked hard to make each family feel special, to welcome them and support them when needed. They made every effort to anticipate their moods and requirements so that often, they did not have to be asked to do something; they simply knew to do it. They revealed that the Clintons were the most difficult to move into the White House and also entertained many unsavory friends who could not get clearance to enter the White House under ordinary circumstances. Without the express permission of the Clintons, overriding the rules to accommodate them, they would not have been admitted. They had a decorator who spent 8 years in the guest room at the White House because the decorating for them was an ongoing project. Chelsea was always polite and never gave them an ounce of trouble. They revealed that Hillary made excessive demands, at times, that Obama’s personal secretary, Rogers, was unprepared, and Clinton’s staff resented the Bushes for having defeated Gore, that Nancy Reagan had unrealistic expectations, often disregarding the fact that they had other lives outside and often needed or wanted to be home, yet the demands were always met. The Johnson girls and Ford boys were typical kids. Amy Carter stretched the envelope. The Obama girls were and are always well behaved. Their grandmother always gives their family private time and lives on a different floor. The description of Lyndon Johnson’s crude behavior was sometimes comical and the recollection of Nixon’s shame is a memorable, if not touching experience, for those who can recall that moment in time. The Kennedys brought class to the White House and the description of the scene that took place after the President’s assassination was particularly moving. The atmosphere in the White House on 9/11, was harrowing as the chaos and confusion is described. There was no plan in place for the evacuation of the staff in case of emergency. On the street, people were running all over, cars were abandoned and left running. In the aftermath, the staff thought about how it could have been them who were named as victims if the White House had been hit, and if the brave people who brought down the plane that was meant for it, had not acted as they did. Barbara and George H. W. Bush as well as Laura and George W. Bush, were especially devoted to the staff. They were used to having a staff to help them, so they got along very well, with mutual respect for each other, making few demands. Most of the families grew so close to some of the staff that they seemed like family and some relationships continued long afterward.
Although they were supposed to be non partisan, they were human and many resented Johnson after Kennedy’s death, Bush when he defeated Gore. Soon, however, they all adjusted to the new family and served them with dignity because that was their job and they did it well or they don’t remain. From Margaret Truman to Sasha and Melia Obama, all of the memorable moments of White House history are covered. The election of the first black President was especially moving for the mostly African American staff. Many never thought they would ever live to see such a day. In reality, most, regardless of background, probably never thought they would see that day in their lifetime. America has made progress.
This is the story of several decades of families in the White House and the staff that serviced their needs, kept them safe and loved them like family. Over several administrations, the staff is generally loyal and long term. They become totally devoted to the current residents and the feeling is usually in both directions. After several years together, relationships are formed. Few impart secrets for fear of some kind of retaliation, loss of job, pension or retribution of some kind. Few do because they also have deep respect for the occupants and their jobs.
However, the anecdotes included are interesting. Karen White reads it fluidly in a composed manner. It is a very readable “memoir” of the White House years through the eyes of those who served it, and in some moments, also in the eyes of the former occupants, mostly the female occupants. They told interesting stories about how secrets were protected, odd behaviors were acknowledged, and procedures were learned by the new occupants as they adjusted to life in the White House. The difficulty in changing administrations was fierce; they only had a few hours to make the change, but they did it each time with grace.
Although the time line bounced around as different events are illustrated, and although it sometimes felt a bit repetitious, this was a very interesting read. It humanized the occupants of the White House. It was very poignant to read about the devotion of the staff, about their effort to provide structure, comfort and security to each new family, about their discretion as they went about their daily duties, respecting the families need for privacy and revealing no secrets. They knew their place and appreciated it.
I have been complaining recently in my reviews over the lack of copy-editing. I will now add audio direction and producing.
Brower did a prodigious amount of research. She evidently formed relationships with all the residence
My complaint of the written portion of the book was its disorganization. Perhaps if I had read it instead of listening to it, I could have discerned a pattern. But juxtaposing Johnson with Carter or Watergate with Bush made little sense. Even if the topics followed an unknown sequence, it would seem natural to relate them with some order. Stories were told by a wide variety of staff even within a particular topic.
There were a lot of staff. Lots of Ushers and several Chief Ushers--the same can be said of the housekeeping staff, electricians, plumbers, butlers, cooks, chefs, Secret Service, and on and on. There were families with children, families with pets, families with nannies... It was a lot to hold on to, and without disciplined organization, well, it was nearly impossible.
The narration was about the poorest I've ever encountered. White had no facility with accents. For quite a while I thought she was imitating an older, female, African American voice. Then I finally realized that was her "old person" voice. And there were many more older male voices than females! Sometimes she would get very breathy. At first I thought that was her Jackie voice. But then I realized she often used it at the beginning of chapters--so perhaps it was her own, natural voice.
I woul rate a print edition higher. There were some lovely stories told. But don't waste your time with the audible edition
I did find parts of the book very interesting and I don’t want to give too much away. The people who agree to these jobs are a rare breed; loyal, discreet and very hard working. Many of them stay in their jobs for decades despite long hours and erratic schedules. They all serve at the pleasure of the President as the saying goes. Many of them maintain their loyalties to all of the families they served and didn’t want to talk to the author. We learn that early on in the book and it is reiterated – a lot. This was my biggest problem with the book, there was a lot of repetition. One story would appear in several different chapters woven into different narratives but how many times can you read the same facts? It was almost as if the book were a compilation of essays with minimal editing. I did read an advanced reader copy so I don’t know if perhaps changes were made before final printing.
The writing style is easy to read and there were many interesting stories in the book and I did learn a bit about what it takes to keep the White House running. I also gained a very healthy respect for the dedication of the employees who work there.
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.
Crossing the border between tabloid-y gossip and discretion (if I had a dollar for how many times the word "discretion" appeared in the book...) on more than one occasion, it turned out to be not the type of story I am usually interested in reading. There were a few shining moments that partially redeemed Brower's attempt at a Downton Abbeyesque portrayal of White House residential staff.
Although White House staff are generally discrete, the author learned some very juicy details. These bits definitely held my interest, but what truly made this book difficult to put down was the author's ability to bring to life more quotidian events and her organization of the book, putting the presidents' daily lives into a larger context. I love when nonfiction that focuses on a small topic uses it to teach me about historical context as well. I also love nonfiction that I think could bring in readers who don't usually pick up nonfiction because it relates to another genre or interest. With this one, it is created for Downton Abbey fans. There are intrigues above and below stairs, widely varying interactions between different staff members and different presidents, and crazy amounts of pampering for the first families. So, in addition to recommending this to other lovers of narrative nonfiction on any topic, I'd highly recommend this to fans of the show.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.
Both of the previous books were written by former employees who were always discreet and stuck to telling about their work. The author of this book covered the Obama White House for Bloomberg News. Although she did a lot of interviewing of former White House employees, this is not quite the same as one with the voice of a person who actually worked there. One of the things I didn't like was that occassionally she includes gossip about the inhabitants. IMO no First Couple should have to be concerned about their personal lives in the White House being exposed in a book.