The new president and Inauguration Day day. This is about 30 minutes. Host gary walters, when did you begin to think about the events that would unfold on january 20 with the inauguration of a new president . Mr. Walters we had to began because of the budget issues a year and a half before that. Each fouryear cycle we have to prepare for the possibility and change of administration, even with a sitting president. Began down the road in the budget cycle of putting additional money in for inaugural activities. Which included packing up one family, letting ready to receive a new family and the overtime associated with that. We began about a year and a half to get money and the budget cycle. Summer,went to the next gathering information as each of the candidates started to announce that they would be running for president. We started to gather information that we could gain from the media, whether it be television or newspapers or magazines, about what their favorite likes and dislikes. Just together general information. Once we got into the summer, we had the republican and and aatic conventions president ial candidate was selected. Then we would start getting rid of all the information of the other candidates and had the information and start gathering more intently the information of the two candidates. Forprimary candidates republican and Democratic National committee. We would go from there and continue to gather information until election day. Host over the years you have had a unique, personal, firsthand account to history. Lets talk about you for a moment. When did you first go to the white house, under what circumstances . Mr. Walters i started off there as a uniform Division Officer of the secret service. It was called the executive protective service at the time. That was in 1970. In 1975, 1 of the ashes was leaving the position, and the position became open. Chance into have a that position. I had gotten to know some of the activities in the executive residence and people that work there. I just finished my College Degree in business, and he was looking for someone who had the ability to oversee the budget. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was chosen by the chief usher in 1976. When he decided to retire 10 years later in 86, he recommended me to president and mrs. Reagan as the next chief usher. I stayed until 2007. About 1976 and 1977, gerald ford loses in one of the closest elections in history, for the first time you had to prepare for a brandnew president , including one with a young daughter. That is true. The ushers office, led by the , give user at the time our responsibilities. Gather information, put together things. I was the new guy on the block and try to learn as much as i day i arrivedural there at 3 00 in the morning to see what was going to go on from morning until late at night. Dayctual job on inaugural while the president and president elect went down to the capital to take the oath of office, was to go across the the cartersing cat back from the blair house. That was one of my primary jobs. There is a lot that goes on in the preparation leading up to inaugural day. Gathering information, chief usher talks to the first family. Principally the first lady about the way she would like the house on the first day there. The activities they will be associated with on those days. I remember the carters invited everybody who marched in the parade to come to the white house over the next three days. The carters greeted them and shook hands with everybody that participated in the parade. On inaugural evening you have to plan for the family activities before they go out to the inaugural balls. The transition between finishing watching the inaugural parade and then going to the inaugural balls that have additional family members and helping them get ready. It is a pretty active time around the white house. In particular, for the resident staff. We have a great picture of the North Entrance of the white house and our studio. Ne of two formal entrances did it surprise you that the white house is not quite as big as people might think it is . Mr. Walters television has given the impression, starting with mrs. Kennedys tour of the white house after it was redone in her early days. It just gives an impression that the rooms are larger than they are. Movenk most families who into the white house have a misconception of what the size of the rooms are. The second of and third floor are large for a family. Would you have a family like the carters had, they had two sons move in with their wives. We had a baby born in the white house with James Earl Carter the fourth. Large, canalthough want to sayt intimidating for some families, because it is an extremely large house. It is not as large as it appears on television. Host lets talk about the tour as we saw last month. We saw Melania Trump tour with michelle obama. What happens on that day . Where does the first lady take the incoming first lady . To walters traditionally, my memory it was a meeting at the south cortical. They go upstairs to the private , theers where they meet first ladies talk about children. Be childrengoing to involved. In the Reagan Administration there was not. Trump,s. Obama and mrs. Im sure they spoke about raising a child and the environment of the white house. They walk around the second floor and possibly the third floor to show them what their new home will be like , what changes they can make to the different areas, how they can use those areas to their wants and needs. Believe that mrs. Obama went down to the first floor and Walkthrough Part of the first four, the historic floors. Red, blue and green rooms to give a sense of history of the house. Host First Lady Michelle Obama had redone the dining room. Laura bush we did that lincoln bedroom. Are there constraints in terms forhat any president and city can and cannot do to the white house . Physicalrs constraints, there are none. The whole house wants to the first family, they can do what they want. I dont think any first lady thed consider that, but ground floor and the first floor of the residents are historic. I think there has been an established with mrs. Kennedys efforts in 1961 to 63. Those rooms have a historic basis. On the second floor in the private quarters, there are traditional guest bedrooms on the second floor at the east end of the building. The lincoln and the queens bedrooms. Those are the traditional guest bedrooms when the family has personal guest. The other rooms up there can be used in any way that the first family desires. It is their home, as well as the third floor. During the years there have been different family members who have resided there. President carter had his two sons and his wives. This administration, mrs. Obamas mother was up on the third floor area. Those areas are private areas for the family. They get use the way the family wishes. Host this is the transition process we are now. What is going on in the white house . Mr. Walters in the white house, the first thing that is going on is the christmas holidays. With all of the activities going on, and with the president leaving going to hawaii. In the evening there is the candlelight tour is for the public. Month of december, the actual activities for the white house of the traditional activities to december. When the president returns there will be some degrees of thank yous for the people that help them during the previous four or eight years. Day there will be activities of the president ial parade. Day,iately after inaugural the incoming president will probably do receptions or dinners. Whatever they have for the people that help them get elected. To make thetart preparations for the move out of one family and the movement of the second family. Family, it isirst their home until noon on inaugural day. The staff makes every effort to see that the family is not slighted in any way. That they are taken care of and it is their home. When the sitting president and andpresident elect to part head down to capitol hill, that is when things get a little crazy. I have referred to it as organized chaos. Arefamilys belongings moved out and the other families are moved in. With the important thing of trying to get the house of established by the time they get finished with the inaugural parade around 5 00 in the evening. They walk into a house that has been transformed into their house, and something that they are comfortable with. The things they have chosen, the pieces of furniture, the pieces of artwork that can be changed out. All of those things are done when they walk in the door. There are no boxes in the corner that have not been unpacked. They are out of the way. The American People always have a great interest in what the president doesnt the old lossless oval office. The president , very soon after the host parade inaugural parade like to go into their office. It has been converted into their office with the items they want to represent for their administration. Into if you could go detail, organized chaos requires a lot of planning. The staffrough what is doing on january 19 at what happens at noon as the president departs for the capital. The ceremony begins at high new and you have about six hours to transform the white house. The staff is doingmr. Walters hopefully f has the opportunity to go home and get a good nights rest. That does not always occur. The hope is that everything is in place. The next day the staff has been divided into that group that is responsible for moving the family out, that grew for that is responsible for moving the family in. We use two different elevators. One for things going out and one for things coming in. All of those things are pretty decided leading up to the 20th. Youreh is a day when trying to get everybody organized and make sure they know what their job is. There is no time for decisions are somethingt that has not been decided. It all has to be choreographed. There is a limit of time of only andt five hours, maybe six, everything is choreographed. Everybody has a job and every buddy goes and does those jobs. It is similar to an anthill. It is chaos, but it is extremely well organized. Things,re packing people are unpacking things. People are placing things and taking things away. If white House Furniture is being brought in from the warehouse, that is prepositioned overnight, but not on the white house grounds, and brought in early in the morning. They are escorted by security. If there are things going out of the first family that have not clothing, thatte is taken care of by a group of people that has been designated to do that. It is a very organized way that we go about it. And itery choreographed, is hard to explain the amount of effort that goes into that by everybody that is involved. The other thing is that we dont these people from the outside. There are now hundreds of people involved. For the first familys privacy, we only use the resident staff. And the few people that may be there who have been there for years that help us from the state dinners. We only have six buffers, see have to call in additional people. Most people have been around for a long time. There is a very small cadre of people. It is the resident staff that do this move. Issue, we do not need a lot of extra people who are there that want to volunteer , because they get in the way. I have had numerous requests over the years for having the press come in. Cant we just take a picture here or there . The answer is no, we dont have time for that. We have time to accommodate andts and various things people that are there who do not have a specific purpose in a move. Host either family members for the outgoing and incoming families to say we want this year or we want that picture next to that window . Mr. Walters there could be, but i would hope that would not be the circumstance. I hope that would have been decided in the weeks leading up to the move. Usually the first ladys work with an interior decorator who has taken a look at the floor plans, and the various items that will be moved in. That gives us an idea of where those things will be placed. Specifically, in each administration i have dealt with, we had those decisions made well before inaugural day. We had diagrams of where pieces of furniture. Small pieces of furniture of their own, but they use the majority of the furniture that has been in the white house inventory for years. Some things are moved out entirely, other things are moved in. In the transition from the reagans to the bushes, when the reagans were there there was president reagan and wishes mrs. Reagan. When the bushes came in they had a large family. Mrs. Bush was concerned on an inaugural day they would have to bring in 12 additional beds and all the things that goes with that to convert some of the sitting rooms in to for the bush family. She had great concerns that we would be able to do it, but when she came in and walked around, and everything was in its place, she was very happy. Host she knew what she wanted . It was just a concern of the amount of things that had to be moved in. When youre talking about moving in and out antique beds, carpets, putting art on the wall, taking other art off the wall, moving in books. President s move in with lots of reading material. Bush was a great advocate of literacy and she came with her own set of books and wanted to know where those would be placed. We were able to a publisher. Theyve resident staff is a very accomplished group. Not to say that it is easy, because it is not, but it is wellplanned leading up to inaugural. Back to one to go day, january 20, 1981. You had jimmy carter, still trying to release the hostages, up all night and on the phone as president elect reagan was coming over to the white house. Here you had a working white house until noon when Ronald Reagan took over on that day. Do you remember what happened . Was there that night on my long. I had taken over some leverage beverages during the course of the evening because everyone else was gone. The president staff, with the exception of his advisers had ready much departed. Placeperation was taking with the National Security council. The majority and the rest of the staff had moved on and moved out. Lot that was going on, as i said, i took over some beverages during the evening. Coffee, tea, water, couple pillows and blankets. Aswas a very intense time you and many others remember. None of usthing that knew was going to occur leading up to inaugural day. Were they going to leave, had they been moved from one location to another . It was very intense all night long. On the other side, president reagan, im sure he was getting briefings on what was going on. Of course he was at the blair house. We were not involved with that, we were just trying to make as possiblemforting and maintain the fact that the white house was still a sitting president s house until noon. That,e able to accomplish at least our small part of it. I cannot speak for all of the people that work so hard at trying to get the hostages released. It just shows that the white house is an active place, and that inaugural moment of noon on when power shifts, the sitting president is still in power. That thise remarkable country operates and can operate in that manner. Host you have seen so much over the years. What happened in 1981 is one. With anything regards to this transfer of power stand out in your mind . Mostalters the thing that people talk about that i am aware of is that it is a smooth transition. It is very seldom, if at all that there is acrimony. , the way our government operates is interval to what happens in the world. We have this wonderful transition of power, peaceful people are talking to ofh other and walking out those north doors as they go down to the capital. It is a remarkable thing that this country does. We have had a president in , itce for eight years, yet changegural going to very smoothly on inaugural day. What do you remember and what do you think is going through their mind . What do you think will be going through Donald Trumps mind . Mr. Walters i think after standing in front of the capital and giving the inaugural address. Standing and having the inaugural parade, there is on us a sense of relief walking in the doors. On thatare for once day, out of the public eye for a brief moment. For myself, i had the great honor and pleasure of being able to walk up to the president s and say, mr. President s, welcome to your home. That is a great honor for me and the chief ushers that preceded me. That is our choice. We want to be there and make sure the president understands that this is his home. He and his family. It is not just a house that the American People own, but for the next years it is their home. That is the transition that has to take lace. The resident take place. Haveesident staff will been with the previous family for four or eight years and become fond of them. You have the few short hours when there is a transition and the resident staff is a long term staff that has served republicans and democrats. They serve the presidency, not the president. Day for you because the president and the first lady have the balls that go until 1 00, sometimes 2 00 in the morning. What time do you get to bed . Mr. Walters i did not. Most of the time there was Something Else going on. Asked us to do something with chelsea and her few friends that would either while all of the president s were off at the balls. We came up with a sophisticated , that also had a Scavenger Hunt for the young people that required them to go to all floors of the executive residence and find out historical facts and look for various things and paintings. It was an interesting time for the young people. Some running around their foot looking for the historical facts in the white house. That ended, that party ended around midnight. Then we waited up for the president and the first lady to come back and be there to answer any questions that they may have. The next morning, i think it was widely said by mrs. Clinton and president clinton that they woke up in the morning and said what do we do next . Im sure that goes through all of the families that are there. Hopefully, in that morning after january 20 they have a feeling that they are in a place where they are comfortable. Host what is the transition after that . Wednesdays to be done the first week or two with any Incoming Administration and family . Mr. Walters it depends on what the families wish to accomplish. Hopefully, most of the initial decoration has been done on inaugural day. Thoughtst there may be about having additional carpets done, or a painting of the rooms because they have been eight years in one color and maybe they want to change the color. Those kind of things go on. It is the events that will follow on. There will be some thank you president and mrs. Carter had the whole inaugural parade for three days after. They will be thank you parties after. Early in february, the president has 50 governors that had to stay at a state dinner event. There will be swearing in its of the staff. The white house staff. We do not slow down, it is just a change in administration. With the work of the presidency goes on and the work of the staff to support them goes on. Host i want you to relay the story happened on september the 11th, how quickly the staff has to react to international events. Of september 11 in 2001, you were preparing for a congressional barbecue. Mr. Walters we spent about three weeks in preparation for congressional barbecue that not many people are aware of. It was for that evening for senate, the house, president s senior staff. There were truck wagons and picnic tables, barbecue facilities that were on the lawn or it i went out in the morning mrs. Before 9 00 to escort bush, who was going down to congress to testify before senator kennedys committee on childhood education. She was being put in the car, her agent said, there hasnt a york. Le accident in new a plane has flown into one of the world trade centers. He turned to me as he was closing the door and said you ought to go in and see what is going on on television. Understandingh a that he and i had that there was something more there than just an accident. I at some point, after talking to some of my staff, because we were still preparing at that point and starting to cook meat for that night. I went in and went to my office. I saw at to my office plane on the television fly into the building in new york. I said to one of my assistants, my gosh, how did they get that on camera so quickly. And he said that is the second plane. It hit me in the stomach very hard. I immediately called the social secretary and told her that i was making the decision to cancel the picnic. I had to get a hold of the people that would be coming in to the barbecue that were helping set up for it. The people were there from texas to do this barbecue. We had to cancel that, we had to make arrangements for stopping the parttime butlers that would come in and help serve the 2000 people that would be there. We had a lot that we had to do. It was just a terrifying day on the south grounds. At one point everybody saw pictures of the Police Coming by and telling everybody to run, evacuate the white house and get out. I was able to keep seven men with me on the south grounds. We ended up during the day, causing a the president would come back, there was no doubt in my mind what he would do. He was coming back to the white house. The pentagon helicopter pad was no longer available because of what was going on. Cannot go to the Vice President s resident, so i knew he was coming to the white house. We cleaned the pit picnic tables off and got it ready for the president s return. Night aftern that flying in air force one for the good part of the day. He gave a speech to the American People. Ongoing difficult security situation in the next few days at the white house. Nobody knew if we would be hit again. Of myselfnumber and other people who spent three days there. We knew what we had to do. The president was coming back and he would talk to the American People from the oval office. I knew that from the beginning. Host you have had a front row seat to history. Mr. Walters through my whole career at the white house. , had an opportunity to greet or meet every head of state from the time i started working until i left in 2007. I would not change it for the world. My family wishes that i was probably home a little bit more. I probably should have been. The activities change from day to day. Host gary walters, former white house chief usher. Thank you very much. Announcer 1 you are watching American History tv all weekend every weekend on