309. Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Recommended by: Katy Fassett
Author: J.B. West, Mary Lynn Kotz
Genre: Non Fiction, History, Memoir, Biography
398 pages, published June 21, 2016
Reading Format: Book
Summary
Upstairs at the White House is a behind the scenes chronicle of the first families during the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon administrations told by Head Usher J.B. West who served in the White House for 28 years. West offers fly on the wall observations of the personalities, victories, challenges, and the times of each President he served as well as their wives, and children (as well as houseguests–including friends, relatives, and heads of state).
Quotes
“The secret was loyalty to the White House and to the Presidency, rather than to whoever happens to be occupying the office for four years, or eight.”
“The staff did have a little difficulty adjusting to Mr. Churchill’s way of living. The first thing in the morning, he declined the customary orange juice and called for a drink of Scotch. His staff, a large entourage of aides and a valet, followed suit. The butlers wore a path in the carpet carrying trays laden with brandy to his suite. We got used to his “jumpsuit,” the extraordinary one-piece uniform he wore every day, but the servants never quite got over seeing him naked in his room when they’d go up to serve brandy. It was the jumpsuit or nothing. In his room, Mr. Churchill wore no clothes at all most of the time during the day.”
“It took twenty big army trucks, jam-packed to the corners, to move the Roosevelts’ monumental twelve-year collection of possessions out of the White House. We packed night and day, for one entire week.”
“The next evening, Fields, his pride hurt, dumped two big splashes of bourbon over the ice and served it to Mrs. Truman. She tasted the drink. Then she beamed. “Now that’s the way we like our old-fashioneds!”
“There’s just one thing I draw the line at,” he said, “and that’s any kind of attack on my family. Any man can make mistakes, even if he’s trying with all his heart and mind to do the best thing for his country. But a man’s family ought to be sacred. There was one columnist who wrote some lie about my family when I was in the Senate and instead of writing him a letter I called him on the phone and I said you so-and-so, if you say another word about my family, I’ll come down to your office and shoot you.”
“The Trumans did not reserve fancy entertaining only for the great or near-great. They catered also to their old friends, who had never had an appointment with destiny.”
“I have but one career, and its name is Ike,” Mrs. Eisenhower once announced.”
My Take
I found Upstairs at the White House to be a fascinating inside look at the personal lives of five twentieth century Presidents and their families. The time period covered (World War II through the Vietnam war) was one of the most tumultuous in American history and West offers a unique, unparalleled view of it. I especially enjoyed his description of Winston Churchill clothing habits while visiting FDR. For Winston it was either his one piece jumpsuit or nudity as several unassuming members of the White House staff discovered.
