Upstairs at the White House/J.B West/587 pgs

Author J.B West shares his memories of being Chief Usher at the White House. Starting in FDRs administration and ending with the Nixons, West worked closely with the First Ladies, making sure everything ran smoothly. I appreciated that the book wasn't political but really focused on the personalities of the first families. I really love reading inside scoop of the White House and here are things that I found interesting:

Eleanor Roosevelt was ALWAYS busy and always bustling. Inside the WH reminded me of a circus, so many people going in and out. Also, security was reallyyy lax at this time. Eleanor and FDR had an acquaintance type of relationship and didn't really spend a lot of time together. She helped her husband a lot, and many people didn't realize what kind of influence she had on him politically. FDR had polio, which was kept secret from the public, and his secret service men had to carry him up to make it look like he was walking. The WH during this time seemed kind of shabby and dirty. 

Harry Truman came in as president when FDR died in office. The Trumans were pretty uneventful but a tight close family that treated the staff well. During their stay, the WH became dangerous to live in as it was never updated since the 1800s and the floors almost caved in. There was a total renovation and the Trumans had to live in Blair House streets down. During the stay at Blair house, there was an attempt assassination on the president .From then on security became tighter. 

The Eisenhowers seemed like the White House grandparents, although Mamie Eisenhower became sort of a popular figure to the staff. 

When the Kennedys came in the whole atmosphere changed inside the WH and it became youthful and less constrictive. Jackie completely refurbished the WH and did a famous tour of the inside. She was really intelligent and mischievous and had really high standards. They threw great parties and were seen as a glamorous Hollywood type of couple. When the president was assassinated the whole staff was devastated. 

After Kennedys assassination, Johnson became the president. He could be really rude, really loud and really vulgar. Much different from the Kennedys and took some adjustment from the staff. He was very unpredictable and was up at long hours of the night. The Johnsons threw many parties, particularly to gain popularity. Lady Bird Johnson was very popular with the staff as she was soft spoken and very nice. 

The Nixons were next into the WH but the author didn't really spend much time with them as he was retiring. His memories of them seem to make them out as sort of stiff but overall nice.