Royal Meet & Greets with the First Family

Her Majesty Queen Rania meets with First Lady Michelle Obama in the Yellow Oval Room on the second floor and private residence.  Queen Rania is an active mom that also attends  her children's soccer matches as do the Obamas.  Photo courtesy of White House.

Royal status arrives upon birth or a wedding fit for a king, queen, prince or princess.  A first lady must travel the interstate and freeways of the nation and meet thousands upon thousands of happy, upset, aggrieved or excited people in the tiniest hamlets and the biggest cities before getting the keys for a four year stay to the world's most famous executive residence.  The White House at 55,000 square feet with 35 bathrooms is rather small in comparison to Tokyo's Imperial Palace, Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Versailles.  Modern royals interact more with people and promote causes and charities on the international stage. 

Traditionally, the formal place to meet privately with royal guests is in the Yellow Oval Room.  It is also where select guests meet before two heads of state descend the Grand Staircase for a formal state dinner of which the Obamas are yet to host.  Barbara Bush gifts Princess Diana with a book dictated to her by her dog, Millie.  Photo courtesy the George H. W. Bush Library.

Friendships that last a lifetime spring up among American first family's with many royals as they are very familiar with the shared isolation known as the impenetrable Bubble and the protocols for heads of state.  One of my favorite stories from last year was candidate Obama went to the Middle East, including Jordan and to the Aqaba palace.  As a candidate he did not have formal privileges to get a ride from the State Department.  King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein drove him to the airport in his own personal car.  They broke the speed limit and both president and the King are Trekkies.  As seen in the top image now their powerful spouses are getting a chance to know each other as well.  From Former First Lady Nancy Reagan came to the White House for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall's visit for the formal dinner.  Nancy Reagan and the president both attended Lady Diana's 1981 royal wedding deluxe to Prince Charles.  She hosted the very famous dinner for their visit that had a svelte Princess Diana twirling across the floor with John Travolta in the Grand Foyer which works marvelously well as a dance area.

Prince Charles & The Duchess during their visit with President George W. Bush and the First Lady.

The Place setting from the formal White House dinner hosted by the Bushes

Malia's will get a teen-scale briefing on the formalities for her first formal state dinner akin to the scene from the movie Pretty Woman where all the knives, forks, goblets get a full explanation.  White tie dinners at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are rare and usually reserved for Kings & Queens.  Black tie is for everyone else of extraordinary rank including the Prince of Wales and Camilla on their first visit after their nuptials.  The last was in 2007, when President & Laura Bush entertained Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II & her husband Prince Phillip on a full state visit.  Michelle Obama & the Queen Elizabeth are quite chummy with phone calls and two visits to Buckingham Palace by the First Lady.  Malia & Sasha got a personal tour and met Her Majesty afterwards for a spot of tea and what had to be some delightful scones.  A former Princess and mother of two princesses, Sarah Ferguson quietly went to the White House to lobby Michelle to participate in a charity project.  The Duchess of Cornwall and her husband Prince Charles met the Obamas during the G20 summit at a social even hosted by the Queen.  He focused on the Kitchen Garden.  Not too many are aware that the Queen has started a little patch with her own veggies on the palace grounds.

President Clinton, Queen Noor, Hillary Clinton and his Majesty King Hussein of Jordan have an American style Lunch complete with french fries.  It was one of the last happy visits to the USA before King Hussein succumbed to his illness.

Kings have friends among American presidents.  The American-born Queen Noor visited the White House often with her husband King Hussein.  In 1998, Hillary Clinton held lunch for the King & Queen of Jordan on the Truman Balcony.  The balcony is accessed from the Yellow Oval Room where a more casual setting can take place. First Ladies plan each detail when meeting with royals.  The amount of protocol can be overwhelming as Michelle found as she exchanged a fond pat with Queen Elizabeth. 

At the reception in Buckingham Palace, the bonding Moment seen round the world.

President & Mrs. Obama meet for the first time in Her Majesty's formal living room at the Palace.

The waves of royals have a generational component that works well with the Obamas.  Felipe, HRH The Prince of Asturias has a very young family with former television anchor as his Princess, Letizia. His suave parents the King & Queen Sophia of Spain are still on the throne.  From Japan, the new Prime Minister's wife has made no secret of her desire to meet Michelle Obama.  The Emperor & Empress of the Chrysanthemum Throne will be a highly structured first meeting for the Obamas.  The Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan & his American educated former diplomat & lovely wife Crown Princess Masako have yet to meet the Obamas and they have a young daughter near Sasha's age.

In the Yellow Oval Room (seen from another angle) the Obamas host the Dutch Crown Prince, Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange & Crown PrincessMáxima of the Netherlands in September 2009. Their oldest child is five.

Note:  My hand is now better and I have better motor control to type.  My shoulder well we'll keep hoping....Stay tuned for the next post.

Michelle's First White House Christmas Tree

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb celebrating Christmas in the Blue Room with the presidential grandchildren in 1968. Photos courtesy the White House

Plans proceed apace as the Sundbacks of Sheperdstown, West Virginia won the White House Christmas Tree Sweepstakes or better yet, are now known officially as the Grand Champions of the National Christmas Tree Contest. Since 1956, the couple, Eric & Gloria Sundback, now in their eighties, have discouraged deer and fought hard against Mother Nature's more harmful weather whimsies to keep the trees growing strong while some are tall. Their tenacity won spots to have their trees ferried to the White House several times over the decades. Horticulture and forestry experts, they started because they could never find a tree that suited them, so hence their own orchard. Rosalynn Carter & Nancy Reagan also decorated trees from the Sundback farm. Michelle Obama's first Christmas in the White House will see her taking receipt of a Fraser Fir tree from a lifetime of hard work finding better needle retention and increasing branch strength on a horse drawn sleigh. This is the third year in a row the Fraser Fir has beat out the Pines, Spruces and Nobles.

Hillary Clinton had a spectacular tree skirt from 1993 as part of her A Visit from St. Nicholas theme.  The ornaments were from architecture students that was pretty spectacular under this 1995 Fraser Fir. For comparison below, the 1993 Tree which was Hillary's first at the White House.

There are exactly 118 days until Christmas, but the Obama White House must have the up to nineteen foot tree (and no higher) selected from Eric & Gloria Sundback Trees delivered a few days after the presidential turkey pardon on the picturesque sleigh. The tree will have a special topper that cannot brush the ceiling directly below the gilt ceiling medallion to make the holiday tableau wonderful for what will be one of the most highly photographed and trafficked areas for the Obamas first Holiday Season. The velvet ropes around the tree keep people form handling the sometimes delicate or antique ornaments. Pat Nixon sent waves a shock through the choice of an atomic symbol rather than the sedate star normally used. As discussed on White House Christmas in July post on the volunteer elves need three days to trim out the place with decor that follows the theme which remains a closely guarded secret for the Obama White House. Sasha, Malia and Bo will have some definite ideas about what goes on the tree and under the tree. A gingerbread house is in order for this year and perhaps Michelle will ask Roland Mesnier to consider making one and decorating it as he has in the past for Laura Bush.

President Kennedy & Jacqueline Kennedy displayed this official tree as part of the Nutcracker Theme of 1961 inaugurating the idea of a theme. Barbara Bush repeated the Nutcracker Suite theme in 1990. Hillary Clinton took another swing at the popular Nutcracker theme in 1996.

In 2002, Laura Bush had an almost nineteen foot Noble Fir delivered from Hedlund Christmas Trees from the northwest in Elma,Washington. They too were experienced with the rituals of White House Trees having made the trip a few years before after winning the honor to give first lady Hillary Clinton the tree. You have to win the contest from the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) first. Next, the tree selected for either the White House or The Vice President's place at One Observatory Circle is a direct result of a full scale competition complete with airline reservations, refrigerated trucks and professional tree handlers. My best analogy is its like the Westminster Dog show for elite, carefully bred living trees with 5 categories and a gnarled tree twist. One American farm gets to enter their top two trees and if selected the winner by a panel of outside judges, that farm is retired from competition for the next three years.

This is the 2007 delivery of a Fraser Fir with Laura Bush as she kicked off the Holiday in the National Parks theme that required an ornament to commemorate each of the 391 National Park Service sites.

The trees take almost a decade to get to the required height, but that may be more accidental than planned. Since 1966 the NCTA has presented the tree. The first lady's team in the East Wing strive to come up with a theme that the Residence staff of exemplary pastry chefs, carpenters and electricians work to implement. In 2008, the Obamas spent Christmas in the Aloha State before changing climates to arrive in an icy DC in time for the girls to start a new term at a new school in their new home city. This is Michelle Obama's maiden Holiday season and it will be interesting to see how many fresh and exciting new ideas she can come up with to celebrate a cherished part of the Season! We shall be eating a few sugar plums with joyous anticipation as snugly in bed as the laptop allows and watching ... closely just like Santa Claus does for the Obamas. It will be so different from 2008 getting the tree.

Malia & Dad go searching for their last tree in Chicago as a family before entering the White House. A new level of entertaining ahead as the White House has not had presidential children to celebrate the Holidays in decades.

Update:  Here is another link explaining a bit more about the White House Holiday planning process that picked up steam in July.

Painted Ladies of the White House

There were a number of firsts with the painting of Hillary Clinton's portrait. The first African American portrait artist Simmie Knox did a tandem of her and President's Clinton's official oil portraits. She is wearing a pantsuit with her hand touching her best selling book with an example of historic White House China on the table. The painting hangs on the Ground floor in the Hall. Portraits courtesy of the White House Collection.

All over the White House the painted eyes of presidents and first ladies watch the new occupants as they settle into the presidential manor. President Nixon used to speak with the portraits and keep himself in the wilting humidity of a Washington summer closeted in
the Lincoln Sitting Room with the fireplace crackling. Nancy Reagan was very particular about the portraits and where certain first ladies would grace the walls. Her portrait is a stunning red visage that matches perfectly the red carpets on the Ground Floor and Cross Hall - it was not an accident. Part of the tradition in modern times is to select a portrait artist and the result is part of a White House Ceremony unveiling the art. Usually, the second term in office is when the president and first lady start thinking about their formal portraits and start to select or audition painters of the first brush. The styles change over the years, with portraits of the first First Couples being part of living in the early days of the republic. (President Obama & Nancy Reagan on Ground Floor in the hallway pass her portrait on the way into Diplomatic Reception Room as he signs The Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission honoring his memory.)

Teacher for the Deaf & crochet expert Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge 1923 - 1929 as First Lady Teetotaler Lucy Ware Webb Hayes 1877 - 1881 as First Lady Daughter-in-law Angelica Singleton Van Buren acted as hostess/First Lady 1839-1841 as Hannah Van Buren had passed away. Permanently displayed in the Red Room. Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (1825-1829) is the daughter-in-law of Abigail Adams is the first lady who advocated for females and their rights.

Wearing French empire and showing shapely cleavage, the Dolley Payne Todd Madison portrait (1804) in oil by her friend Gilbert Stuart is so well known it graces alongside presidential portraits. She was the official hostess for Thomas Jefferson when the portrait appeared and later she became first lady With 44 presidents and 46 first ladies in total, (some presidents were widowers and remarried or bachelors or married for the first time while in office), the wall space in the 55,000 square foot Executive Mansion has prime space and lesser space. The current president and first lady select who goes where. One prime piece of real estate is just beneath and around the Grand Staircase just off the foyer or anything on the state floor and mostly, it is the presidents in the corridors with special first ladies or hostesses of presidents inside the colored salons off the Cross Hall.

Tourists see the Vermeil Room on the ground floor where its incandescent light makes Jackie Kennedy's acclaimed portrait seems as if its always hung there in its rightful prominent place. Martha Dandridge Custis Washington has the most prominent space along the same wall and same height of her husbands Gilbert Stuart painting of her husband George in the White House's largest formal space, the East Room.

Elizabeth Kortright Monroe's (tenure 1817 -1825 though her daughter Eliza stepped in most of the time as hostess) oil portrait by John Vanderlyn retains a prominent place near the South Portico just before the entrance to the Green Room. Her ermine shawl is perfect for the French Empire design of the Blue Room she and her husband worked so hard to furnish.

The artists themselves are varied with some interesting stoeirs. Anders Zorn painted the youngest first Lady ever, Frances Folsom Cleveland. Howard Chandler Christy painted Grace Coolige with her collie, Rob Roy, beside her and the South Portico of the White House over her shoulder. Boldly sporting a nineteenth century pompadour, Henry Inman painted Angelica Van Buren who was related to Dolley Madison by marriage. Inmans work populates the vast White House Art Collection with many paintings of The First People. Modern twists occurred with Eleanor Roosevelt (1933 - 1945) the hands never still and Mamie Eisenhower (1953-1961) in her inaugural ball gown. Florence King Harding has a memorable coif immortalized in oils by Philip Alexius deLaslode lombos in 1921.

The chair pose is almost as popular as the ones with the White House as a backdrop.

Completed in 1967, Elizabeth (Bess) Wallace Truman seems to be the modern start for the seated pose. Above, wearing the famed triple strand is Barbara Pierce Bush (1989 - 1993) from 1992 painted in oils by Herbert E. Abrams. Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Ford painted by Felix De Cossio. It took awhile post presidency for the portrait of Rosalynn Smith Carter (1977-1981). In 1984, the softly hued oil portrait was completed by George Agusta. Rosalynn Carter has nothing on Martha Washington (1788-1796) whose official portrait came from Eliphalet F. Andrews who used a live model and dress from the nineteenth century when she was definitely a person of the eighteenth. The portrait was finally done a hundred years after the founding of America in 1878.

A new twist with oval portraits and using two Ediths. Edith Carrow Roosevelt (1901 - 1909) used a different frame, the south White House gardens while sitting on a bench. Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1913 -1821) was the second first lady of the Wilson Administration who approved who and what the president saw during his illness and recovery.

First lady oil paintings are fascinating with the variety of styles and choices for what they want to project for the American People in the centuries to come. These portraits are waves from the past that reflect on style, culture, and the individual - the American way!

These three are My favorites

Helen (Nellie) Herron Taft (1909 - 1913) had the idea of the South Portico First in 1910 painted by Karl Bror Albert Kronstrand

(Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1961 -1963) Photo courtesy of Robin at Big Red Kitchen) Aaron Shikler completed Jackie's in 1970 and indeed, did the famous oil painting of President Kennedy that has pride of place just outside the State Dining Room. Seventeen years later he created new magic with Nancy Davis Reagan's (1981 - 1989) oil portrait

Which are your favorites?

Note: An official photograph is also issued with the advent of technology. Mrs. Obama in oil ought to be as spectacular as the full official photo.

Washing, Waxing & Cleaning the President's House

Mary Kaltman works with chef on 1965 Christmas Cookies in White House Kitchen. Photo courtesy White House Historical Association.

Lady Bird Johnson had Mary Kaltman as food-coordinator-housekeeper and for a while she did the same for the Nixons in the White House. She wrote a book Keeping Up With Keeping House: A Practical Guide for the Harried Housewife for those female denizens against dust (known in the day as homemakers) who wanted the information on how to perform the domestic arts in grand style. In school, the subject used to be called Home Ec (for Home Economics), which made cooking and cleaning a subject for mostly girls. In prior years, Mrs. Mary E. Sharpe took upon herself as the housekeeper to make President Truman's waistline trim.

But Mrs. Kaltman was tough enough to send the domestic side of the Johnson white House into domestic hostility, sometimes famous in the East Wing. Seems she and the oo-la-la famed French chef, Verdon René, hired in April 1961 for his epicurean skills, ran into the budget minded housekeeper/Queen of Food at the White House who insisted on frozen foods, recipes from a common book and a president that wanted his fish slathered in sauce with the skin still on. Mon Dieu. They had a similar arrangement to what the Obama Family has now - on the second floor Sam Kass is in charge of the personal meals and he came with them from Chicago while the Executive Chef handles state functions. A hundred years earlier another battle ended as Mary Todd Lincoln had the housekeeping staff report directly to her. Now, that subject is split into two functions at the Executive Mansion, with cleaning it and cooking for it being two different, yet equal professional career paths. (Sasha clearly knows the ropes and speaks to one of the long tenured White House butlers about exactly what she wants while the First Granny looks on.)

Using the latest tools in 1955, the spic and span brigades wore ties while sanding, cleaning and waxing in the East Room during the Eisenhower era. Photo courtesy the White House Historical Association from a series on the Working White House and the national Archives and Records Administration.

The Cross Hall and Grand Foyer getting a thorough polishing in the Obama White House.

Wiping down, waxing a nations antiques, polishing heirloom silver and vacuuming the nap only one way on priceless rugs every day in the White House is akin to auto detailing a pristine parade of 100 Rolls Royces every 24 hours. Mrs. Kaltman believed in good old fashioned elbow grease and did not cotton to fancy tools or words. Her successor Shirley Bailey was of the same mind and used paste wax, one male person polished the brass fixtures and cleaned the little chandelier danglies day in and day out. She had her folks hand ironing all the linen napkins for events after they came out of the industrial strength washers and dryers. (From the Reagan era vacuuming the Blue Room)

There is a wonderful movie, Back stairs at the White House made on the life of an early twentieth century maid. Many of those at the White House worked for the first family while also working with an aunt, uncle, mother, father and brother. No matter the messes made, memoirs and anecdotes focus on the history and the occasions rather than any grist for the mill. Many serve for decades. An amusing anecdote shared by first lady Hillary Clinton came at the hands of an exuberant tween, Chelsea who had entertained friends with a movie. The popcorn did not exactly land in mouths and Hillary was horrified. The White House staff was in shock as Hillary had Chelsea clean up every kernel and they were not allowed to help. Kind of like Sasha & Malia have no bed service in the mornings - bed made with their own hands before leaving for school and they must help carry in the dishes in the morning for their breakfast.

From 1877, the staff/servants during Lucy Hayes' time as first lady. Almost sixty years later the staff was integrated by Eleanor Roosevelt. She felt the need to make White House domestic staff help African Americans only which kept wages lower and reduced any rancor. Photo courtesy Hayes Administration and Bob Cesca.

The Smithsonian has an exhibit, The Working White House, traveling the nation for the next two years about the Working White House and the staff that makes the Executive Residence run amidst thousands of daily events, an active family, and it being the home of the American head of state with an ambitious entertaining schedule. Christine Limerick, the Chief housekeeper during the Clinton years makes appearances to discuss what happens off camera and what the staff does in their daily and special circumstances. There are butlers, ushers, a presidential valet and a small staff of housekeepers who are mindful of the products they use on the nation's antiques. Laura Bush toted up almost 1500 formal events in eight years. That's a heap of cleaning done with dedication and attention to every fine detail. (Shirley Bailey on the second floor residence in the Nixon White house early 1970's.)

Shirley Bailey in 1970 learned her craft working for hoteliers before setting her keen eye about the executive mansion. The job always has perils such as the hate between the president and the person in charge of the food in the 1930s & !940s. Henrietta Nesbitt as the stern housekeeper overseeing cooking for FDR & Eleanor Roosevelt courted fame for the lousiness of the food served during her tenure. In 1926, single lady Miss Ellen Reilly was hired as the head of housekeeping for the White House and even traveled with President Calvin Coolidge being hired from managing a cafeteria at a retailing outfit in Boston. Blair House, the presidential guest house, has the same attention to excellence and the opportunities to transfer over to the White House when an opening becomes available allows them to serve the president directly.

Its not only the floors, walls, and dishes that get a good scrubbing in the White House. Liberty could usually be found in the Oval Office, but here is Susan Ford with Frankie Blair providing a vigorous doggy bath.

First Ladies In Paris

Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961, at Versailles with Charles de Gaulle

No first lady will be the recipient of the wild adoration that enveloped Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy when she landed in France in 1961 as the spouse of a head of state. For her in a sense, it was going home, back to a beloved city where she received her junior year of education on the Left Bank at the prestigious La Sorbonne. The 31 year-old was there for a European state visit with all the pomp trimmings and managed to charm the irascible President Charles de Gaulle with her Française, élan and savoir faire. She ably served as the interpreter between the French and American presidents. The French state dinner was a feast in the Hall of Mirrors at the palace of Versailles followed by a Jackie Kennedy favorite performance art, the ballet, as Rendezvous pirouetted in the Louis XV Theater.

A video in the black and white cinematic features of the 1960's showing highlights of the three day state visit against the backdrop of President Kennedy's speech. Mrs. Kennedy's ensemble was Oleg Cassini in a pale yellow with a triple strand of pearl.
On June 8, 1994 another First Lady stood in Paris in the shadow of Jackie and embraced her. Mrs. Onassis had recently passed away and it was a sad opportunity for Hillary Rodham Clinton to pay tribute to her. Five years later, Hillary was in Paris again to present an award at the Sorbonne. By that time Parisians embraced her and what she represented as a woman with grace weathering through triumph and tragedy in the White House. It is remarkable how many modern First Ladies travel to Paris in June. First lady Laura Bush in Paris, France June 11, 2008, for a cultural evening with the American Ambassador to France, Charles Stapleton on the evening before the International Support Conference for Afghanistan. Mrs. Bush Photo courtsey Sheelah Craighead, White House.

A noble 65th D-Day anniversary is the cause for Michelle Obama to join the president in Colleville-sur-mer, France. As it was collective visits for heads of state and the crown prince of England, a state dinner is not possible on this trip as it was not a state visit. Hence, very little official pomp and circumstance for this particular trip though the French line the streets to the Notre Dame cathedral. Minus one daughter who had other plans, the adult Obamas dined at a hundred year old restaurant in the 7th arrondissement, La Fontaine de Mars on Rue St. Domonique after visiting the cathedral. The girls will have to wait (who knows, maybe they will get this treat) for the evening bateau moche ride where Paris is beautifully lit and travel the River Seine to the Île de la Cité, the island that hosts Notre Dame de Paris in all its 12th century French Gothic glory.

In their apartments, delighted Parisians take digital images as the Obamas exit their motorcade for the restaurant.

Awaiting the Obamas motorcade, Parisiens line the streets to get a glimpse as they tour Notre Dame. Sasha & Malia obliged by waving from the highest parapets. 2009

The Obamas got up early to see some world class modern art at the Pompidou Center or Site du Centre Pompidou completed in 1977. There is an exhibition in the Children's Gallery as well as Alexander Calder's, Les Années Parisiennes 1926-1933. There are over 60,000 works, including Vassili Kandinsky, in that museum alone. The building is quite colorful amidst all the steel and glassand here are the Obamas at one of the highest points with a heart stopping view of Paris. Personally, I like the view from Sacre Couer and the Petit Palace. No mention of the Obamas getting a private tour at the Louvre, with President François Mitterand and I.M. Pei no less, as the Clintons did on their state visit.

Obamas at Pompidou Center

Photo, exterior · Centre Pompidou · Paris, France

This was a second trip to France by the Obamas. Neither occasion was a full state visit. The French government needs to issue an invitation to France, as China has for September, and the full diplomatic response would kick into high gear and a response to hold a state dinner in return at the White House. Even in England the Obama trip was not a state visit, but it was a highly formal visit with introductions to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The Browns had a formal dinner for everyone. Only if the Queen issues the invite and held a state function with a full white tie dinner, would it be a full state visit. The Obamas have to be exceedingly careful about state dinners as America is in financial dire straits and the dinners would be seen as extravagant. The French wanted so badly to see the full Obama glamor against the backdrop that is the timeless elegance of Paris.