Cspan two book tv. Up next on book tv former White House Correspondent Kate Andersen brower talks about daily life in the white house through interviews with white house butlers, made command other staff. Reporting on what its like to take care of the for staff. Clicks want to get started . Yeah. Welcome, everyone. Thank you for spending part of your evening with us at barnes noble in bethesda. We are excited to welcome the bestselling author Kate Andersen brower with her extraordinary book inside the private world of the white house. My name is a Million Euros the the Business Development manager at barnes noble command all of us are so happy you are with us today. Kate Andersen Brower has written a meticulously researched and fascinating book that chronicles 50 years of service by white house resident staff and she will speak to us about the writing of the book and read from her book. And accomplished. Accomplished journalist who covered the first term of the Obama White House for Bloomberg News and is a former cbs news staffer and former fox news producer. She and her family are local residents right here in the washington dc area. Please join barnes noble in bethesda and extending a warm welcome to Kate Andersen brower. [applauding] quakes thank you very much, million. Yes, i set out to write this book almost three years ago. I was a reporter of Bloomberg News and came up with the idea when i was invited to a lunch with Michelle Obama for about a dozen reporters who cover. The butler came in and out and served her and clearly had a rapport with the first lady. First lady. It made me wonder who the people are behindthescenes but this culminates, ushers, enforce. I set. I set out to interview them. Oldfashioned reporting. Ninetysix fulltime residents workers at the white house. And i set out to interview former workers because current staffers cannot speak. One of my favorite sources is here in the front row admiral stephen who was the chief usher of the white house for the bush and obama administrations for several years. And he as a chief usher basically as general manager and runs the residence and is in charge of all of the white house resident staffers and is the conduit between the first lady and the resident staff. The chief usher plays a really crucial role and i am excited he came. These are fiercely devoted people who really devote their lives to the white house. They work something called white house flextime. And they were very generous invited me into their homes and i get a sense of these people as human beings some of whom met the white house and fell in love some got married, one of the head housekeepers met her husband, the chief engineer measuring him for his uniform which is a great story. And so i set out to get to know these people. I feel like ive done them a bit of the service. They seem happy. A few of them have passed away since the book came out you know, i hope to pay tribute to them with this book. As one staffer told me what goes on in the white house stays in the white house. Was not always easy to defend open up. It took two years. Im going to read a couple different parts of the book to give you a sense of three of my favorite stories. The story is about lindsay little too was a house met the white house and the housman is someone who works in a housekeeping staff who moves every furniture, the second and third floors of the white house and vacuums. Like a lot of the staffers, he worked there for decades, which is decades, which is incredible. He started in the 60s. And actually started in the 70s, im sorry. Gordon robbinsville, north robbinsville, north carolina, town of fewer than 1,000, help them take care of the six brothers and sisters. His father was a sharecropper. Head north to washington. He started working working at the white house in 1979 leaving his townhouse. He would have the house ready for public tours by 730 setting up when the tours rover he would take it all down only to start again the next morning. Her morning. Her quick breakfast you would get a call from the executive housekeeper who would tell he and his colleagues when the family was out. His relationship with the first president bush extended far beyond cleaning up around the house. One of the handful of household staff who played horseshoes with the president several times a month. The pres. And his son would happily had out to the horseshoe pitch and play with he and his supervisor when they got off work. They all got so into the game that there were tshirts made. We always made. We always beat him until the end. Last year we were there they won the championship. Barbara bush said she and the pres. Were so upset when i left because they knew the clintons were not likely to continue the tradition. The pres. The president asked little to join him in the family dining room. We sat there and talked. Sitting at the table with the pres. Having a conversation, none of the rest of them were done nothing like that. He quickly forgave mistakes that would have enraged other president s. President s. Outplaying horseshoes and asked a staffer for some bug spray. The worker sprayed the pres. President from head to toe before realizing he doused in an act container of industrial grade pesticide. By the time they got there the president s face was already read. He needed to he needed to be decontaminated in the shower. President bush said okay we just want to get back to our horseshoe tournament and no one was fired. I like the story because i think it shows the staff devotion to the book family. They were beloved. Barbara bush would wander into the kitchen in the Early Morning before her swim with her bathing suit on in the bathroom of their in poker had in and talk to the cooking man pastry chef who she called the cooking and. It really was eyeopening. The book is not partisan in any way and i did not know what i would find out. One thing almost uniform, bush senior and misses bush were very kind of the staff. The second staff. The second story was about Lyndon Johnson. Very upset obsessed with the white house shower. The way the story reveals a new bit of information plumbing sermon buzz arrington may have found president Lyndon Johnson amusing, but he was soon made completely miserable. He started in the white house in 1946 and retired in 1979 and passed away in 2007. His wife wrote done many stories. She remembers many stories. She remembers how johnsons erratic schedule affected their lives. We were at a restaurant and an annapolis and they came through saying white house calling mr. Harrington. I just thought that was so funny to read president johnson wanted something done. Johnson tortured him with his obsession with water pressure and temperature. No matter what the staff did the water never came hard a hard enough. When the president was in a mood to dole out letter grades the shower get an f every time. He started his Career Office high school teacher. He would wander the basement floors and give people grades to tell them how they did. And did. And everyone was a bit afraid of him because of that. His shower fixation was made clear from the start. On on december 91963 justice chief usher returning from his first day off since pres. Kennedys assassination and was summoned to meet the president at the ground floor elevator landing immediately. Two days after the johnsons have moved into the white house, and house and the president had a pressing matter to discuss read if you can get that shower fixed i will have to move back to the elms. The johnsons washington dc mention the clip of the shower like nothing the staff had ever seen water charging out of multiple nozzles would be like intensity and hugely powerful force. This part i this part i was not sure was going to say out loud. It makes you chuckle. Came to the find his relationship. He wanted the water pressure at the white house. He wanted a simple switch to change temperature from optical immediately. A few a few minutes after Lady Bird Johnson asked to speak with him. I guess you have been told about the showers. Yes maam. Anything done or needs to be done has been comes first, the girls second man i will be satisfied with what was left. I love the story because it also love that story because it also shows a real depth of lady birds character. I i just want to skip ahead. To thought everyone was involved. More and more people are summoned to 1600 pennsylvania avenue in an effort to fix the crisis. One usher jumped in this shower in his bathing suit to test it out. He said he came out as red as a lobster. Five were placed in the shower. They would not do. The the plumbers even had a special water tank installed with its own pumped up the pressure and added six to nozzles located at different heights. The post sprayed hundreds of gallons of water per minute and it still was not good enough. The funniest part of the story is preservation came into the white house and took one look at this elaborate shower set up and say get rid of this. So all of it was for nothing. It is also a sweet story story because it shows how committed the staff was. In fact. In fact, the plumbing foreman had a nervous breakdown of the shower and was hospitalized which i dont think something that people would know. Margaret told me that. She wanted people to know how committed he was to the job and how seriously took it. The final thing i wanted to share is about hillary clinton, and it says a lot about her and what it is like to live in the bubble of the white house. One weekend in august 1998 this before the president made his address the first lady called the usher with an unusual request. I want to go to the pool but i dont i dont want to see anybody except you. Yes, maam. I understand. He knew exactly what she meant. She did not not want to see your Service Secret Service detail anyone tending to the grounds or anyone on a tour. Not up for any of that. Just one of the few hours apiece. He would need five minutes to clear the premises to iran to find her lead secret Service Agent and told her it would have to work together. If anybody sees her or she sees anybody im going to get fired. And you probably will too. The secret Service Agent protocol is for one agent to walk ahead and wonder why behind. She will turn around and look for you. She just doesnt want to see your face and doesnt want you looking at her face. He met he met mrs. Clinton at the elevator and escorted her to the pool. She was wearing red reading glasses and carrying a couple books, did not have on makeup and hair wasnt done. She seemed she seemed heartbroken. They did not exchange a word do you need any but the service asked her . No. Anything at all . No its a Beautiful Day and i want to sit here and enjoy sunshine. I will call you when im ready to go back. Okay. As 12 oclock. As 12 00. I get off of one. I will call you when im done. Yes knowing that that meant she would have to stay until whenever she chose to leave. He did leave. He did not get the call until nearly 330. The company the first lady of another worthless walk. Before she stepped off the elevator the first lady let them know how much his efforts meant. Grab me by my hands, gave him a squeeze a squeeze and looked at me and said thank you. It touched my heart. It meant the world to me. I love the story because it shows how the white house staff can give the president and first lady a bit of time alone. To us a couple hours by the pool on a summer weekend would not seem very unlike a big thing to ask for called to them it really is. I think that is a really touching story. One thing is that kevin spacey and his Production Company bought the tv rights to this book. So i am curious to see what they do with it. I think it. I think that the dynamic between the first lady and president is an interesting one. If you have watched house of cards, it really really plays out. Obviously is a lot darker than this book but there are some kind of inside stories that i i think will be interesting to see. We shall see how that plays out. Overall the book is a tribute to the resident staffers who have worked so hard to make a white house run. And just so very kind, wonderful people. I i have received several letters. One from a butler a parttime a parttime butler who started during the kennedy administration. She sent me a note with a check and said, go out out to lunch and celebrate which i thought was the sweetest thing and very unusual for an author to get that from a source. It was very meaningful to me. Obviously me. Obviously i dont think ill use that check. Anyway, thank you very much for listening and for sharing and appreciating the stories. Thank you. [applauding] thank you. Adm. , come on up. I love putting you on the spot. One of my best sources right here. It took a lot to pry things out of me because we do have that unwritten code of not revealing all those things for the privacy of the first family. Kate was able to capture things that i didnt even know from your couple years of interviewing a lot of people. I think it was about as accurate as anyone has come close to getting it without revealing too much. Like mom always told me when you dont have something nice to say dont say anything at all. I only served to president s to have actually come i served a i served a presence in uniform in the military and to and civilian suit in the white house. And for the most part i think what i appreciated most about the book is that she is able to talk to a lot of folks so much on. And so careful not to blast any first lady for president. Maybe some of them deserve it. And i think second book i am a little bit leery about that one. Clicks you are supposed to help me with that one clicks i gave her a coin the other way, military tradition, any military folks here . It is called a challenge coin. You president of someones hand. If you see them again and you a coin and they dont have a coin of the coin you gave them they have to buy the next round of drinks. Drinks. And so shes going to have to buy a lot of drinks to get much more out of me. But it was done so nicely. She is just a pleasure to work with. With. I picked up the book and could not put it down. I put my life on hold is used to me going on is sneaking up to my study and turning and turning on the light but at night until i finished it. It it was so well written so easy to read. Like i said just extremely accurate. One day she called me up. The book was done and published. She called me i dont know if it was a good or bad day, she asked me a question in my heart started bleeding out about a particular first a particular first lady. She said, why didnt you tell me this before. I said well maybe its good that i didnt. You caught me at a time where i was able to just open up. People see how book number two goes. I can see why this one is a bestselling. It is extremely well done. Thank you. Thank you. [applauding] also a coast guard adm. Who is beloved along the forces bushes and obamas approach this next book will be of the same vein. I was not out to get anybody it is an oral history of what these people do. And the chief usher who is so important to the running of the white house. Jackie kennedy called chief usher the second most powerful man in washington. Nancy reagan named her dog after rex scout the chief usher and had him buried make sure he would be buried in arlington. Work that out so that he could be married millington which is unusual because he had not served in the military. So they military. So they really love the chief ushers. I know laura bush has a real fondness and love for you. It is a special relationship so it so it is a pleasure to work with you and a pleasure to interview these incredible people. Thank you very much. Thank you. Worthington. Do you want to come up your . Come on. Clicks expecting a visit. And of course everything had to be polished everything in order. The president was going out to what bonnie one day. He said worthington kind of a jovial guy and he likes to joke a little bit. President bush came out and says, worthington what is all this mess going on here. He knew what was happening but he decided this is something Say Something that did not take too long for the president. Well, we are doing this all for you. The president looked at him and said, dont bowl should make a moment. And he is a big guy really huge. He did not he did not say a word after that. The president as i think you mentioned in your book he really got to the. On things. He was not at all shy about about calling the shots. And this guy tried to seriously very them up a a little bit of a strict amount. In the bushes were so close to some staffers. New line developer who passed away. Laura bush delivered his eulogy at his funeral and flew from texas to dc to go to that the funeral. I think that people dont know the bond that is shared it is it is fair to say that the reason might be because these are the only people who dont want anything from you. I you. I just want to serve you and make your life easier whereas lucianne linda johnson, the jets and two daughters told me that everyone else is always asking for favors. They cant ask for favors because there would be fired and they dont want to. They are there to serve the institution of the presidency. That presidency. That is a beautiful thing that we have lost in a way. That nonpartisan nature of what these people do. Thank you very much. Does does anyone have any questions . [inaudible question] absolutely. Absolutely. They were very afraid. A cantankerous, difficult person. But i think the way i kind i kind of think it is lovable in retrospect. The fact that he with vietnam raging in all these issues for the fact that he was channeling it into the shower is so bizarre and an interesting way of looking at his community. Humanity. They were absolutely afraid of them. Very difficult. They thanked him they thanked him at the very end of his career. It was right before Lyndon Johnson was leaving the white house and was using the toilet. He would often have meetings on the toilet. He. Vitamin and said i just want to thank you for the shower. That meant the world to him. But that seems kind of sad that is 5 years all you got was one thank you, and it was enough. Think it think it absolutely does show the fear. This . I was wondering everyone says the first lady means along the white house. In some ways is the spirit of the house. I was wondering if you take that the first lady the one that gives the kind of power to the white house . Very with staff collection it was better at answering this question is sitting right there. Certainly play out quickly who really runs things. The 96 that. We bring in for events. Yes. My position all the way down to the bumpers and cooks in the flower shop they know their own areas. We know above us. The pres. The president is too busy dealing with issues. Way too busy. It is the first lady who dictates what happens in that house from the flower shop to the type of meals that are served at the state i think it is mentioned in the book that is in coordination with the social secretary. It is the first ladys righthand when it comes to events. Between the social secretary, secretary first lady, they determine what flowers to put out the meals that are cooked but it goes well beyond that. Believe me. Believe me. I would know quickly if she was not happy. And when and when it came to high positions she was not satisfied with it is usually have the first ladys level and that person will be dismissed. Would be dismissed. They really did set the mood in the house. Even upstairs in the private course. Some first ladies did not mine staff being around to do their jobs. Other first ladies did not want to see the staff at all will what you it everything in order. So they really do have control over the Beautiful House in washington. Going to with the emil said it is interesting to note that Barbara Bush George bush may have had an easier time the staff because there are used to having a staff. You are used. Exactly. And i think of how i would feel on a personal level. Sending their insisting on making you and him and all you wanted to do a scramble some eggs and be left alone. Record tells that exact story winchelsea was sick. The bumpers were rushing around trying to make her some elaborate meal. We can all kind of relate to feel awkward about having staff around. I think that there is no positive or negative judgment on the necessarily, but for the staff it is easier when you have the bushes who are fine with you being there. And there is a story about the reagans. During the iran contra scandal reagan was there visiting his father after dinner. The came over with a platter my mom was telling his father how angry he was about the scandal and berating him. He turns around and this butler standing over his shoulder with a plate of cookies. He thought, my my god this person is heard. This would make headlines. Here i am attacking my father. And his father said, dont worry about it. Its fine. It is not that he is just about nobody is there to serve and we will not talk about this. They have to trust. They could not to trust. They could not trust the staff life would be miserable. Is the. The only place where you can be alone. I thought that was an interesting story and interesting that some first ladies want that the second and third floor to be pristine, like nancy reagan and probably not to be bothered. I think we can all relate to the way. Anyway, way. Anyway, i think it is an interesting angle. I think they do set the tone in a lot of ways. Certainly the core. Any other questions . [inaudible question] clicks though they say that they have no allegiances to democrats, not either party, a lot of them really crew close to the bushes because they were there for so long. Long. Bush senior was there for the equivalent of 12 years eight years as Vice President and for as president. The plans were concerned so much so that one of the ushers who i just saw today told this story he was sitting in the ushers office in a another call from barbara bush. He lost a chapter of her memoir. He was trying to help her get the memo back at her computer. Hillary clinton had found out about this phone call and was just livid that it was a complete breach of trust talking to a former republican first lady and he was fired. The the might of been to the videos he didnt want to think that anybody is listening on the conversations. They could have thought he would be telling barbara bush all sorts of stories. So theyre very careful. I didnt i didnt sense any real partisanship. I couldnt tell what these people thought when i spent a lot of time with them. I can tell you who they voted for, and that is really unique. They put. They came and quickly got into the idea that it did not matter who you served because you have to serve for one president of the next. Your job is not to discuss or even think and it allowed us to become very close because they did trust. Some did not the most did because they knew that whatever they discussed in the west sitting room or the master bedroom would never get outside the house. That was the easy transition for me serving a presence. In uniform youre not supposed to clicks the social secretary the look on these older gentlemans faces the bumpers on the second and third floor, floor, a source of real pride for them. You think that is true . Definitely command i will say again if president obama was a republican they would have felt the same way. Most of the folks came from the deep south including myself. You would never think that this country would ever get to the. Where they were asked. So it was a sense of pride and accomplishment that no one would think they would see in their lifetime. It had nothing it had nothing to do with this party. It was a lot of pride. It is possible. And i have to admit i think i showed you one photo of president bush and misses laura bush wanted me to be the first want to welcome the obamas to the white house. This was within a few days after the election. He came there has president elect. And i felt a tremendous sense of pride being able to greet and have that playback on me when i was the first to become the chief usher. The publish were not supposed to be serving me. I do. I did not have to worry about a glass of water on a silver tray because they felt that sense of pride. Have nothing to do with politics. It was just well, this is something else. Quickly, i just have to go back even with the bushes although they were there, like you said, the pride that last day when president to have excuse me the president and misses bush left there was not a dry eye. On the on the entire house. It was a sad day. A proud day to see. It was a sad day to see the bushes leave. Clicks yes. They were so loved by the staff. I dont think you could say it enough. Enough. They would call staffers if someone passed away in your family and express their condolences and things like that. The way you treat your staff says a lot about you your character. I think that is interesting commanded is not matter, democrat or matter democrat or republican. It just is very telling about your personality. The only other first family to top that was bush 41 and barbara bush. Clicks any other questions . Yes . Has that changed over the years . Has anything changed . Clicks that last question is great for you. Sasha and melia came in when he was chief usher. You witness that change. Was it fun for you guys . I mean the youngest kids since carolina job in the white house having sasha moliere. What was the first part of the question . Clicks has that changed over the years . I think it is probably still the same. Some of the historical piece of it casebook has not changed. It is usually by wordofmouth. There is no usa. Gov usa. Gov, usa jobs. Gov to get a job inside the residence. Does not exist and is never advertised. It is usually a Family Member or friend. In in my case it was either one of those. I was ready to go back to new orleans and write my book. The hurricane drink in one hand. A call came from the white house commanded only happen because someone call this guy, hes retiring. So it usually is by wordofmouth. Almost every usher chef housekeeper, housekeeper forced, its on that way. And the president and president ial personnel take a great deal of stock in the authority there this is a good guy. A lot of times it also happens through parttime bowlers. They become fulltime parttime shifts. They even had my son show up because he is an aspiring new Orleans Creole chef. And hey son. Just come. You cant get paid. I will pay you on the side. You can get paid from government funds, but to give you experience. Chef chris given the opportunity to do some stuff. So those things happen strictly by wordofmouth. The second part of the question. Well, the children the white house. The children. That is a major shift in when you move from one president that has grown kids like jenna and barbara who came back to the house often were delightful. I still have some feathers from a party after they moved out jenna and barbara wanted to have a party of the house. So we did fix up the whole house the way i wanted. It was halloween. Halloween. She came dressed barbara came dressed as an angel. Huge wings. So after the party she didnt want them any longer. So they are my souvenir now. Instead of just going in the trash. But for the obama girls they were such a delight. You wanted to do whatever you can we did meet them until they came to the house. We knew there were some requirements. Melia had analogy. And so they had to make sure that every single 55,000 square feet of executive residence was Crystal Clean to help out. She also did not like the idea of a wall the doorway and arched doorway between her bedroom and the first ladies beauty salon so we so we had to close it up. And then had to be done you know, before they actually, it was none before. It was done after. She done after. She had to sleep in another room. You make those accommodations. The neatest thing i am proud of his picking out the girls swing sets. I flew to south dakota and went through 150 swing sets. And i. And i slid down one of the slides is a test ride. A 60 plus yearold man. I came i came back and call the president. I just found some pictures last week when they were going through the rainbow book the two girls intently looking at all the pictures. I whittled it down to. I was not going to let them look at 150. Five photos. The president the next morning my thing was to meet. The best ways that and i told the sliding board. So i know. The next day he went before the White House Press and told him that the chief usher when went out and picked up the best way said. He even went down the slide. The next morning was my only chance to two of the president. You have run my reputation. Yes. Your question about the girls. Clicks going write your own book. A positive experience. How to children of that age process things . The fact that they are now living in the white house and the father is the president. I am just curious. I think that was captured a bit, but it is tough. That is a major a major investment, even for the bush girls. I would say probably you know for sure even the kennedys. But i can tell you firsthand, it was really tough to transition these young children, to be followed and driven by the secret service everywhere they went waiting outside they could not just mingle on the street and talk with their classmates. You know this guy in a suit and a black suburban was waiting for them to take them back. They cant just take a bicycle ride on 17th street. And when they do it around the south lawn there are agents all over the place. I go swimming tennis agent. So that is a major adjustment for a kid. The staff we try our best to make it as comfortable as possible while they are in the house. The accommodations they want sleepovers or parties i think even the first night they kind of felt, well this may not be so bad. Right while the girls were at the inaugural ball the girls wanted to have a party so we had a little hunt with their friends went around the residence to go find things. We had the east room closed off. They did not know what was on the other side of the door. And so they were about ready to party. We opened up the door. There were the Jonas Brothers performing for them so we tried our best. Letting them pick out the lighting. Some of this was while stuff but in the white house i think, you know, jefferson and the rest of them would be turning in their graves if they saw blue lamps hanging from the ceiling and chandeliers and stuff but it was to make them feel as at home as possible. And misses robinson the grandmother played a big a big part in that. She kept them grounded and she took good care of them when the first lady got her duties to do. But do. But it is a major, major adjustment for a kid to go through. But that turned out pretty well. One well. One of the other staffers i interviewed says it is easier for younger kids because they dont know anything different. For the older, teenagers its a harder transition. That was is perspective. I interviewed Rosalynn Carter for the book and she talked about amy carter and other press thought that she was this poor little girl the press coverage of her going to his Public School and outside of scheduled. Mrs. Carter just said that was just amy. People want to judge and call these pre judgments on this little nine yearold girl who was just that was her character. She was criticized reading a book at a state dinner one night. You know it is sad to see your child is vulnerable little kid come under such criticism. I cannot imagine it. One of the things i want to ask you reggie love to one of pres. Obamas aides told me that walk in the oval office from the west wing sorry, the residents would be a time when the chief usher can talk to the president about water pressure the internet is not working all these silly little things, that is the moment when the president can kind of vent about what is going on in the residence is that true . That is very true. I often get an earful. President bush did not really talk too much because he was so used to the house and the staff knew how he wanted things to be except for one day ill tell you will one day the president was really upset because he was walking by out and says admiral, did you see the newspaper anbar is morning and i said yes, mr. President , i did. And he said thursday got reporters bashed my poor little guy. And he may have remembered me take a snippet reporter andrew blood. But i was right there. I was in the rose garden time i watch the whole thing. The reporter had a pattern is an was going to go pet party. The staff knows dont pet party. Body party. Body just doesnt like it. Beasley was even worse. You will get a snap. So it so it was threatening to poor little barney. The splitsecond. Here comes the blood. The reporter put in the paper the next day. The pres. Just tour of my little dog. I said, mr. President , dont worry about it. It was only a reporter. He kind of laughed little bit and brushed it off. But when president obama, he has this thing about basketball court. We have this little chance she court, a single goal. He wanted fullcourt. He wanted everything. This can be a big job. He says make it happen. We converted the tennis court and to a dual tennis court investable court. Spalding gave us nba quality hoops. The president was asked me every single day between the residence of the oval office when housley,. Well,. Well, mr. President is going to take a little while. Legal things. You cant cant just accept a gift without going through the whole thing. She said this is not rocket science, science, admiral. I said yes, mr. President. I kept the secret spalding was showing up monday to install the purity peer educator me and says, thousand every morning. I said well mr. President will be up 11 30 a. M. At 1030 was out of the court so it is quite enjoy. Sometimes it wasnt so pleasant when things were not right. He was also a shower man. Clicks really . Not as bad. You are saying too much. Not as bad as president johnson, but, yeah. They had to make sure those jets. Really . I think is funny because you know so much to read you think the people know it. A lot of the staffers are like that. Melia had analogy. I dont think a lot of people know that. Those little nuggets i think are so interesting about how the white house works. I just love those stories. They are terrific. Clearly one of the best sources. I promise, a lot of what you said is in the book. It is great to read a basketballs and stuff. Anything else . Well well, i interviewed more than 100 people for the book. Of the of the staffers, little more than 50 former staffers. One current parttime butler who has been there since 1959, nine members of his family were to the white house and he is incredible. He remembers the eisenhowers. It is just amazing. He talks about his two uncles who are matrices of the white house. He definitely was one of the most interesting people i interviewed for the book. I enjoy talking to him. He was great for the promotion of the book. He came with me on tv shows. He wanted to pay tribute to his family and saw this as an opportunity to. Out what his family had accomplished. Talking about the transition day leaving the furniture out the documentary that have been done on that. You covered that pretty well. You experienced it. For what for what you and others told me is five hours. You are one family and another out. The clinton transition was by far the most tumultuous because they had so many different people giving different advice and never knew. You know what was wanted. They wanted. They had a lot of friends from little rock. What was what was your experience with the bush obama transition . I dont know how my predecessor did it. A lot of those things you know, you leave the house before report on. There is no as we call in the military for relief except the deputy chief usher that was there he did a good job. We started at least six months ahead not even knowing who the next president , but you know there will be another present at the end of eight years. At least six months. And i brought some of my military jargon like sop Standard Operating Procedure what is this . Everything has to be written down because i i want to make sure it went like clockwork. It was organized chaos for five and a half hours. You can move the first family the current first family out because is still their home until 12 noon. Still their home. So you can start packing things in whatever. Except misses bush was so organized she had things boxed and packed well in advance, which made the job easy combo and a new family comes in when they want different closets. They dont want to stand on the same purpose or sleep on the same bed. We have to go out and shop for new mattresses. The furnishing, all that gets changed. The different feeling of mattresses, of course, some like pillowtop and dont. That has to change. The wallpaper changes. The paint changes. And so a lot of that is planned way in advance and purchased way in advance. They do have can an allowance of about 100,000 for each first family to spend. Not all of them spend that, but about 100,000. And so a lot of thats done in advance. But to get through this real quickly, theres one moving truck on one side of the south lawn with the incoming president , and theres another moving truck on the west side of the south lawn for the outgoing president. Mrs. Bush really tremendously gracious. She allowed us to load most of the obama things in the china room and so we had things packed with the doors closed, because we didnt want the current existing family to feel that we wanted them to move out. We really didnt want them to move out. We didnt want that feeling at all. So everything stayed until they jumped into the limousine with the president elect and first lady and as soon as they drove off, thats when 100 plus people went to work. And interior designer taking down paintings and putting up wallpaper, rolling up carpet putting out brand new carpet, changing the beds, changing the furniture thats a great beginning of a tv show actually that transition. [laughter] that movement. And i had folks stationed all over. They all had their stations to make sure that, you know certain the third floor was taken care of. Now some things they allowed we couldnt put chandeliers just the way the girls wanted it, so they knew certain things wouldnt be changed right away. But for the most part, when they came back at the end of the inauguration and the reviewing stand was done and they came back to get dressed for the inaugural ball, the obamas clothes were allmc folded into the drawers, mrs. Obamas dresses and gowns and everything were hung up with labels. The kids clothes were all folded and put into the drawers mrs. Robertson occupied a bedroom on the third floor so everything was set for her. When they came in, it was done. [inaudible] five hours. And they had everybody [inaudible] [laughter] a hundred people, right . I mean, practically the whole staff gets involved in it. The whole staff and some volunteers. My son showed up as a volunteer. He did . Oh, it was an honor for him to move furniture in the white house . Who did . His son. My son. Oh, okay. Yes. There any parts of the residence that simply dont change by tradition . Yes. Yeah. Thats an excellent question, because the move really entails the second and third floor. Thats the private quarters for the first family. What we call the state floor and the ground floor really go largely unchanged because thats the floor that has the most historic pieces, and thats what the tourists are used to seeing. The historians guard that really closely, and it takes a lot for a first lady except mrs. Kennedy was very successful in changing it but she did some beautiful changes. So we sort of schooled the staff before so they could let the first lady know these are your floors that you can change, but the blue room is not going to become the green room. [laughter] the red room will stay the same, the state dining room will not change. The east room will not change. The paintings will not change. The only paintings on the state floor that will change are maybe the positions of the president s. And thats about it. But nothing else will change on those two floors. And i hate to say it, but it is kind of a Downton Abbey feel in a way right . Theres the two basement floors of the white house and there was actually a basement mezzanine kitchen where the staff would hang out and have meals. And there was a chef there in the 60s and 70s named miss sally who wore these elaborate hats who was just wonderful and cooked for the staff. I think that dynamic is not actually that farfetched. It actually seemed like and there was a hierarchy among the staff, you know . You have the chief usher at the top, and then you have maybe i dont know who would necessarily maybe someone new who was in housekeeping or Something Like that, and then you have the executive florist and the top chef and the pastry chef and the egos in the kitchen battle. It was really to me, i was struck by how much it is our version of Downton Abbey if you will. Its the closest thing we have in this country to that. Any oh any other questions . Yes. [inaudible] no. Because every part of the house has to be cleaned. Theres times where they dont go on the second floor and thats when the first lady makes it pretty clear that, you know we want some quiet private time. So the housekeepers disappear, and the butlers disappear. Although theyre right there in case someone wants a cheese sandwich. Laugh [laughter] but, no, there is no place whatsoever in the residence that the staff cant go. Anything else . Im so lucky that you were here tonight. You really have so much to share, really. Thank you, really honored, thank you. [inaudible] yes yes, thank you very much. Thank you kate. Thank you. [applause] kate will sign your books for you, if youd like one [inaudible] sure, yes, yes. Absolutely. Thank you so much. It was a lot of fun. Thank you. 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