Meet the Staff Who Make the White House a Home

[left-of-center2012]

WELCOME TO THE WHITE HOUSE

A former first lady salutes the long-serving staff who keep the nation’s foremost residence running smoothly
story by Laura Bush, as told to Jennie Rothenberg Gritz; photographs by Tina Hager

Many people don’t realize that members of the White House staff often stay for decades. The doorman who greeted us each morning, Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, served 11 presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama. He died of Covid-19 this past May.

All the other men and women shown in this article, who were photographed during my husband’s presidency, are still working at the White House (as of this article SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE | November 2020)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/white-house-residence-staff-behind-scenes-180976017/

The above is a magazine article.

A good book on the subject is:
“The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House” by Kate Andersen Brower

Offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas.

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.

[underpants]

1. I had the pleasure of eating lunch a few years ago with a gentleman

who had just recently retired from working there. He started cutting grass during LBJ’s administration. No real dirt but he had some fascinating stories.