December 22, 2017 • 39 mins
Who decided there should be a beekeeper on staff at the White House? Who manages the First Family's budget and makes sure they're paying for their own toothpaste? And can you just find these job postings on Craigslist? Will and Mango look at some of the most surprising non-political jobs in the White House. Featuring Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guess what, Mango, what's up. Well, so it's that time
of year again when everybody's sending out their holiday cards.
But if you think your hand is cramping from all
the cards you've had to address, just take a guess
how many handwritten envelopes are addressed each year for the
holiday card mailing from the White House. I have no
idea how many. Now this number is a few years old,
and I'm not sure how many of the Trump White
(00:21):
House is sending. But the number I saw was ten thousand,
all handwritten. Now, I know you're super into calligraphy, Mango,
always scribbling over there, but even you have to admit
that is a ton of handwriting. I mean, it makes
my hand heard just thinking about it. How do they
put it off? Well, I was wondering the same thing.
(00:42):
But it turns out the White House employees three full
time calligraphers who create everything from invitations to menus to
place cards at state dinners, official documents. The list goes on,
and they're often written by hand, and not surprisingly, sometimes
with the help of a computer. But it's still a
ton of work. But even with three full timers like
(01:04):
that's a crazy amount of writing. It really is, but
it's one of those jobs that you often don't stop
to think about, but clearly it's a job that has
to get done, and that's what God is thinking. You know,
we obviously here constantly about the president and everyone working
on the political side, but how many non political employees
are working behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly
(01:26):
and what do they all do? So that's what we're
talking about today. Let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners,
(01:52):
welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as
always I'm joined by my good friend man guest Ticketer
and on the other side of the soundproof glass wearing
a very fancy top hat, that's our friended producer Tristan McNeil.
It's really really fancy, don't you think fancy. Well, today
we're asking the question who works in the White House,
And of course we're not talking about the obvious of
the President and the other political employees of the government.
(02:15):
We're talking about the non political employees who really make
the White House run. Yeah. So this episode was super
fun to prepare for it because I really had no
idea how many people are working behind the scenes, and
of course some are more visible than others. But I mean,
when you've got three full time calligraphers, that's got to
be a pretty big staff. Yeah, so we're we're looking
at somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty
(02:37):
people who keep their residents in operation. Now, around a
hundred of those are full time and others are part time.
So we're talking everything from ushers to painters, florists, to
plumbers and plenty of other very interesting positions. And pretty
much all of these people are paid for by the
thirteen million dollars that's allocated by Congress each year to
keep the residents running smoothly. I mean, third teen million
(03:00):
dollars is insane. That's a lot of a lot of money,
that's no kidding. But we should definitely talk about who
oversees that budget. But why don't we say that for
a little bit later and first talk about the people
in charge and making sure the president's day goes smoothly.
Did you just did you just set up a teaser
for later in the show, and I like, stay tuned.
We're going to tell you who oversees the White House
residential budget. I mean, you wish you could know now,
(03:23):
but we're going to keep you hanging nicely done there,
thank you. I've been studying up on how the best
reality shows do it. But but before the show, you
were telling me about the people responsible for the president's
whereabouts each day, and I really thought it was so
fascinating And would you mind if we started there? Yeah,
that makes sense, and you're right, I did find this
fascinating too. Why don't we start with the Director of
(03:44):
Oval Office Operations. Now, this is the person who makes
sure the president always has everything he needs while he's
working in the White House, and he's always keeping a
very close eye on the president's schedule. Yeah. I think
you were mentioning an article about Obama's director. What was
his name again, was Brian Mastler. Yeah, there was an
interesting article about him from the Washington Post last year
and it described him as the quote anticipator in chief,
(04:08):
and I thought that was a pretty interesting title. And
the article said, quote, when Obama's in Washington, every move
the president makes, every person he meets, and every meeting
he attends has been carefully orchestrated by Mastler. He knows
where Obama likes his waterglass placed on the table at
meetings and whom he'd want to sit beside. He knows
how he prefers the height of his lectern. He researches
(04:29):
ahead of State's favorite drinks so that the president can
offer it. He read He's Obama's remarks and sets them
open to the first page wherever the president will be speaking.
He tells Obama what a sock is bunched at his ankle,
or his shirt is wrinkled before an interview. I mean,
it goes on and on here. It's pretty crazy. I mean,
I do feel like we could use that position in
the studio. You know, sometimes I sit down in this
(04:50):
chair to record and it's just a little too high
for my preference, or sometimes a little too low, and
I actually have to adjust it myself. Oh my gosh, mango.
And also I went and got this couple of water
for myself, so I know the struggles we deal with.
It's a tough life here at how stuff works. But
actually hearing this story, it reminds me of the time
I was traveling to Detroit for some meetings. You know,
(05:11):
this was back in our mental floss days, and as
a little joke, the assistant in the Detroit office had
one of those fancy ice buckets, you know in the
hotel rooms. It was placed right at the entrance of
my hotel room with three diet Mountain dues just chilling
and just waiting on me. So I wouldn't argue with
that kind of thing happening everywhere I went. Yeah, but
I mean in the White House, that's a lot of
(05:33):
job for one person, and everything from like sock bunching
to lecturing heights is kind of crazy. It does seem
like sock bunching watching should be like that dedicated job.
But you know, you hear about mustel are getting to
his desk about an hour before the president would every morning,
and then he'd unlocked the door from the Rose Garden
area and that's where the president would enter every day,
(05:54):
and then he would stay until after Obama was done
in the Oval office for the day, he'd lock up,
and then he was the one who would actually turn
off the lights. How weird is that's so weird? It's
like he's a shopkeeper or something. Yeah, but you know,
you're right, the hours were crazy, and can you imagine
how stressful it is to make sure that every single
minute of a president's day is scheduled? Most efficiently. So
(06:16):
I heard you mentioned this job, and I think I've
been confusing it with the role that's called, like I
think the body man. But but that's not the same thing, right, No,
I mean, you know, the director of the Oval Office
operations and the body man would certainly be in close contact.
But the body man, or perhaps more appropriately called the
personal aid to the President, that's the person really at
the president's side all day, keeping him on schedule, providing
(06:39):
anything that the president needs. And the job often goes
to a friend or a family member because they really
have to be so close to the president. And is
this the president You hear about having to actually keep
the president on schedule and also having to interrupt the
president to tell him to go to the next meeting
or whatever. Yeah, it's definitely a position that requires an
ability to handle these types of situations. Really delic it,
(07:00):
Like you actually hear how tough a job it was
for Chris Ensko. He was the one that worked for
President Clinton. Oh yeah, I mean Clinton was known for
running along with every meeting and always being late and
just like loving an audience in front of him, right,
I mean, I can't imagine how stressful that job was
for an aid, but it was Ensco who would have
to try and keep him as close to on schedule
as possible, and then if things were off, he'd have
(07:22):
to figure out how to quickly handle to you know,
transition to the next meeting and figuring all of that out.
But you know, he's also responsible for things like making
sure the president has greeted everyone he needs to in
a crowd, and sometimes if you watch video of a
president at a gathering, you'll often see a body man
pointing out people he needs to make sure and greet.
It seems like almost every job in the White House
(07:43):
has insane hours, but this one especially definitely. It's also
another one where they have to be at work ready
to go before the president arrives, and they aren't done
until after the President is done for the day, or
at least done with meetings and appearances. And you know,
other than the Secret Service and sometimes the first Lady,
the body man is often the only other person to
join the president on long trips. I remember reading about
(08:05):
Obama's body man, Reggie Love, and all the things he
kept on him at all times, from hand sanitizer to
energy bars to nicarette, and that's got to be a
fascinating job in a fascinating bag he's carrying around, but
also just a totally exhausting gig. Right, Oh yeah, I can't.
I can't even imagine. Actually, here, here's a quick fact
I wanted to mention. Jocelyn noted this and some of
(08:26):
her research that Meriwether Lewis, you know of Lewis and
Clark fame, of course, actually served in this role for
Thomas Jefferson before heading out on his big adventure. And
so it's actually not uncommon for aids in this role
to go on to some pretty big things. That's crazy.
I didn't know that. So we probably talked about the
two people who pay most close attention to, like the
(08:46):
president's whereabouts each day. Well, we can't forget the president's
valets of course. Valets. Well, you know, I said, the
president's body man is by his side, tending to his
every need. But that doesn't necessarily apply to every single need,
you know, especially his personal needs. It's like packing for trips,
or getting a cup of coffee or an extra shirt
if he spills something. I mean, these kinds of jobs
(09:06):
fall on the presidents to valets. Interestingly, they're actually military
personnel who work in shifts and who are standing by
at all times in case the president needs anything. And
when the president is traveling by motorcade, you'll often find
a valet and one of the other vehicles, you know,
just ready with any sort of supplies the president might need.
That's so funny, you know, you know what that is?
(09:28):
Like I whenever I hear the term valet, I think
it deals with cars and valet as like a butler,
because that's how the British pronounce it. But but I
would say the president is pretty well covered if he
needs anything between all these positions. Yeah, no kidding. But
actually it turns out not all presidents love being waited
on constantly by valets. Apparently, George W. Bush wasn't a
(09:49):
big fan of having them. According to the book The
Residents Inside the Private World of the White House, Bush
wasn't aware he would even have valets when he first
arrived at the White House. And then he says to
his dad, these two men just introduced themselves and they said,
they're my valets. I don't need a valet. I don't
want a valet. So his dad just looked at him
and replies, you'll get used to it. It sounds like
(10:12):
a dad thing to say, like get used to it. Yeah, exactly,
But I mean I can see that it's like overwhelming
at some point to be waited on constantly, But I
mean I'd be willing to give it a tribe. And
you know what one thing we should talk about is
that level of security clearance that the people in these
positions have to get. I mean, it's got a specific name, right, Yeah,
(10:33):
it's a term I wasn't previously familiar with, but it's
called top secret presidential proximity and it sounds really important
at least, and and that's because it is. And the
presidential proximity part means that these are people who are
allowed to be very near the president and the first
family without the Secret Service around. Yeah. I mean I
have to imagine it's a small number of people who
get this level of clearance, oh for sure. And I
(10:55):
don't know the exact number, but it's definitely not everybody
in the White House. All right, Well, let's shift gears
a little here. I know, we should do a rundown
of the different types of jobs in the White House.
But before we do, there was something you mentioned as
we were doing our research, and I thought it was
pretty interesting. And that's the couple of big positions that
Jacqueline Kennedy added to the White House staff. Yeah. Sure,
So why don't we start with the position of executive
(11:17):
chef with Jackie Kennedy created back in nineteen one, And
of course there had obviously been cooks at the White
House from the beginning, but she definitely took that position
to this whole other level when she hired this French
chef named Rene Verdon. And including Verdon, they've actually only
been seven people to hold that position. So the current chef,
who's Cristata Comerford, has been in the position for over
(11:40):
a decade now, and she's not only the first woman
to have served in the position, but it's the first
person of color to be hired as the White House
executive chef. But I mean, she obviously is the only
one cooking at the White House, right, No, not even closed.
So the White House Executive Chef manages a team of
I think it's like seven chefs, and and they of
course cook every day for the First Family, but they're
all are responsible for the huge dinners and the special
(12:02):
events that take place of the White House so we're
talking more than seventy thousand guests a year. Oh wow,
that's a ton of people. But you know, something else
I found really interesting is that the president's family pays
for their own food, and as a side note, they
actually pay for their own toiletries and other personal products
as well. Really, I had no idea. I just thought
this was one of the presidential perks. I mean, why
why would you run for president if you have to
(12:22):
pay for your own toothpaste? I know, and listen too,
but it gets charged back to the president each month.
But of course, having a chef and a team turn
like those products and foods into delicious meals is pretty nice. Yeah,
it's pretty wild. Well, I do assume that each chef
kind of brings their own style to the kitchen, even
though I'm sure they get certain requests from each family
(12:43):
that lives there. Definitely, And in fact, there's a pretty
funny story about chef for dun and Lyndon Johnson. And
this is after Lyndon Johnson moved into the White House
and sadly after Kennedy was assassinated. But Johnson moves in
and he's not a big fan of French cuisine, you know,
he's more of a burghers and steak type of guy,
and very Don was not pleased with some of Johnson's requests.
(13:05):
In fact, there's a quote from Verdon that he told Johnson.
He said, you can eat at home what you want,
but you do not serve barbecued spar ribs in a
banquet with the ladies in white gloves. That's pretty great,
And I have to say it doesn't sound like they
were best, but yeah, not at all. And you know,
Johnson didn't love to be told what to do, and
(13:26):
Verdon eventually just resigned. Wow. Well, Actually, on a slightly
different food related topic, I was wondering how they ensure
the food is always safe for the president eat, Like
does he have tasters or something to make sure that
it's all safe. Yeah, you know, I was curious about
that too. The President doesn't have a taster, you know,
the way you think of old royalty. But before the
food ever reaches the White House kitchen, it goes through
(13:47):
the supply chain that's been heavily vetted by the Secret
Service and also the FBI, and these suppliers are kept
secret even from the guest chefs who come in for
special events. Like state dinners. Okay, well that that makes sense.
Well what about when the president it's not at the
White House, like if if they're traveling somewhere, Well, they
do have security that screens his food. And it's interesting
because those responsible for feeding the President his family very
(14:08):
depending on where he is. So most of the time
when he's traveling, it falls on the Navy, but on
Air Force One, it's the Air Force that figures out
the food situation, and at Camp David it's the Navy again.
But back to the White House, screening even applies to
things like snacks. Like they're so secretive about this that
many times when the President decides he wants a certain
kind of snack, the White House will often arrange to
(14:31):
have it delivered to one of the homes of a
residents staff member, just so no one knows his head
to the president. Isn't that crazy? And you know, we
were talking about security clearance earlier, and there was a
great quote from the former executive chef Walter Shud in
this interview with the site Munchies, and he said, in
terms of the few of us that are in the
kitchen who have that clearance, if you think about it,
(14:52):
We're not just around outside and next to the president,
We're physically inside of him in a way. You may
be one of the singularly most trusted people in the
whole country. Wow. I had honestly never thought about that.
But I assume this is another one of those really
long hour jobs as well. Definitely, so the executive chef
often puts in eighty five hours a week. Wow. Alright,
(15:13):
so the executive chef was one of the big jobs
outed by Jackie Kennedy. So what was the other one? Yeah,
happily go into that, But why don't we take a
quick break first, you and your cliffhangers today, mango. Okay,
(15:38):
before the break, we were talking about Jackie Kennedy creating
the position of executive chef, and then you just left
us hanging on what the other position was. Yeah, and
I'm actually gonna keep you hanging for just a little
while longer. While I said, okay, I think for a
minute about how many important people visit the White House
each year, and foreign dignitary specifically. So it's actually kind
(15:58):
of wild to read about how much thought goes into
the messages the White House wants to send whenever a
foreign leader arrives. So what do you mean. Well, when
the White House is planning a state dinner, for example,
there's always a balance of wanting to find a way
to project American values and that's everything from the food,
to the entertainment to the decor, while also finding a
way to honor and welcome the guests. So I'm wondering, like,
(16:22):
how do you think they can do that in a
very visible way other than by you know, offering the
food served. I don't know, through by what they're wearing. Yeah,
I mean, that's not a bad guess. And that's usually
when the president travels abroad and uh dresses in the
style of the country. But here, one way to do
that is through special flowers. So there's a great description
of this from Columns, which is a publication, and here's
(16:44):
how they describe one big dinner. During a state dinner
for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dowling chose a floral motif
rendered in molecular designs in honor of Merkel's academic achievements
and her doctorate in chemical physics. It featured her favorite
color yellow and acknowed ledge her passion for cooking and baking,
with plum colored flower and fruit designs. The Chancellor is
(17:05):
apparently known for making a famous plumb cake. Wow, that
is so much thought going into that. So Jackie Kennedy
had something to do with us or what? Yeah, and
that name I mentioned in their Dowling that was Laura Dowling,
who served as the Chief Floral Designer under President Obama,
and this was definitely a position that was created by Kennedy.
(17:26):
The chief floral Designer oversees the operations of the White
House flower Shop and it's a ridiculously demanding job. So
just think about how many events the White House hosts
every single year. There are three full time assistants, but
they frequently bring in volunteers to help with the big projects,
and several of the events like state dinners and such,
does actually take months to plan, and dowlings that are
schedule often involved hundred hour weeks. Wow. Well, you know,
(17:50):
there's definitely one thing I feel like I have a
better understanding of after doing our research for this episode,
and yeah, that's the fact that pretty much anyone who
works in a full time capacity at the White House,
they're working really long hours and it's kind of amazing
that they last as long as many of them do.
I know, you almost see these positions as more patriotic
after you hear about them. But there have only been
(18:11):
five chief floral designers since Kennedy created the position, and
a couple of them were in that position for decades. Well,
I would imagine this is another one where they get
to know the president's taste pretty well and maybe even
factor that into the style of what they're doing. Definitely
so during the Obama administration, for example, you'd often see
the private quarters with orange and blue flowers and I
didn't realize it's earlier. I but it kind of makes
(18:32):
sense now. And that's because Obama loved the Chicago Bears.
Oh yeah, that does make sense again, something I could
get used to. All the flowers reflected my own taste.
But all right, well, I think it's time for us
to get back to the larger teams that really make
the residents at the White House run. And it's also
time for you to finally reveal the answer to that
big teaser you set up earlier in the show. You
(18:52):
know that the answer to who controls that thirteen million
dollar budget for operating the residents there? Yeah, I think
it's time. So are you ready? Music? Please? It? Uh,
that's the job of the chief Usher. So the title
really doesn't accurately reflect the size of the job. And
(19:14):
you could think of the chief usher as being like
the general manager of a big hotel. But the main
difference is there's just one family to please. Oh that's interesting,
all right. So the chief usher oversees what like the
whole residents staff. Yeah, that's everything from the team of ushers,
to the housekeeping staff, to the butlers but which we
should talk about as well, and the chefs, the florists
and anyone else involved in running the Residents. So all
(19:38):
thirteen million dollars worth the cost falls under the chief Usher.
And since I've been talking a lot about Jackie Kennedy
and her influence on the White House, I'm actually gonna
quote her. She described their chief usher, JB. West, as
the most powerful man in Washington next to the President.
I know, it's crazy, right, And so I know you
mentioned the book by Kay Anderson Brower. It's called The
(20:00):
Residents Inside the Private World with the White House. And
in the book she actually talks about West and all
the tasks he does is really stunning. So he did
everything from helping search the residents for Carolyn Kennedy's missing hamsters,
to like try and fix the water pressure for President
Johnson because he was always complaining that the water pressure
wasn't strong enough. That's pretty crazy, right, So so what
(20:23):
about all the other ushers under the chief what what
do they do? Well, in addition to seeing after the
needs of the First Family, they also prepared the White
House for you know, the over seven thousand tourists that
come in every single week, and that's no small task.
But back to the First family side, and usher is
always on duty when the president's awake, so until he
goes to sleep at night, there's one right there, which
(20:45):
often means being on duty late into the night. And
each night one of the ushers will actually deliver the
President's briefing book. This is the briefing put together by
the president's West wing staff that brings him up to
speed for the next day. All right, Well, you should
also talk about the preparation that goes to the presidential
transition and what the ushers do with that. Yeah, it's
actually wild how early the chief usher and their staff
(21:06):
begin preparing for the next First family. It starts well
before the election. They often begin pulling together information about
the top candidates during the primary season just so that
you can be as prepared as they can, like before
someone's elected and eventually moves in. That's pretty fascinating, you know.
One of the things I was thinking about is how
many people are around the president his family and and
(21:27):
other officials too, you know, like when they're having these
very private or confidential conversations, and I guess they sometimes
just have to kind of disappear into the background when
all that's going on. Yeah, and this is the case
with two other sets of employees, the housekeeping staff, which
is about twenty and the six full time butlers. So
Anderson and Brower has this really interesting section on the
housekeeping crew having to work around the First family, and
(21:49):
here's how she describes it after a conversation with Christine Limerick,
who managed the housekeeping staff for about thirty years. Limerick
describes a delicate dance the maids must do as they
try not to disturb the First family. If they walk
in the room, they look at you and say you
can finish. You don't have to leave. If they tell
you to stay, you do what you need to do.
But you have an ability to let what's going on
(22:10):
around you just go over your head. Even if the
First family wanted time alone, the residents workers would often
leave one room and go to work in an adjoining chamber.
Limericks said the maids followed the same code as the butlers.
They see, but they don't see. They hear, but they
don't hear. They don't speak to members of the First
family or the guests unless spoken to, and they never
approached them with personal requests. That's really interesting. And then
(22:33):
you mentioned the butler. So they mainly serve the meals
and or is that what they do? Yeah? So what
what is the fancy state dinners or just everyday meals
for the First family? These are served by the butlers.
They also got snacks for the family and prepare food
in the off hours if the chef staff isn't on duty.
Though apparently Michelle Obama didn't want her daughters to get
too used to being waited on, so she was pretty
careful about how much she would allow them to serve.
(22:54):
Sasha Emiliyah, Yeah, I can definitely see how that might
be a concern with kids. All right, Well, there's there's
one of the group. I think we should talk about.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break. Alright, Mango,
it's quiz time, and I know we've been talking about
(23:16):
people that work at the White House, so you put
together a really fun quiz for us today. And we
are joined by a couple of our friends here who've
actually been on the show, I think three or four
times now if I'm not mistaken. We've got Ben Bowling
and Noel Brown, the co host of Stuff they Don't
Want You to Know, but also the host of a
brand new show here and how stuff works called Ridiculous History.
(23:37):
Welcome guys, Thanks, thanks for having us. We're actually boned
up on this quiz thing because we just introduced a
segment on Ridiculous History where our nemesis, Jonathan stricklingister the
quister to torture and brate us with ridiculous quizzes. So
if you're into this kind of quiz action, you should
check out the show, check us out. Well, we want
(23:58):
to hear a little bit more about it. Tell us
how what what's Ridiculous History all about? We love the show,
but we want our listeners to know about it. Oh gosh,
thank you so much. Well, so history is riddled with
things that are beautiful, brutal, and at times ridiculous. So
in our show that comes out twice a week, Nolan,
I look at little known episodes throughout the stories of
(24:20):
human civilization, like, um, get a little fun nuggets like
did you know that there were a class of Russian
hipsters that bootleg music by etching them into discarded X
ray films? Or that uh, there is a reason British
lawyers insisted upon wearing those anachronistic wigs. I love that episode,
(24:40):
by the way, Thank you, thank you so much. We
learned stuff every time we do one of these, and
part of the fun is that we're we're not experts,
you know, We're we're we're pretty we're pals and we
get a kick out of like reading up on this
stuff and discussing it. But we always learned something every
time we do one, and we kind of tend to
like to surprise each other, which makes it fun for us.
We hope it makes it fun from people listening. But
(25:00):
do you I know you guys are into music. Do
you do you have any of that bone music? Like
any of those records? We found some, Yeah, we did
find some. You can you can find some online. You
can actually buy some of the original recordings. We do
have to say, however, that they were made on these
uh these discarded X ray film and although they are functional,
(25:24):
the quality does show. Yeah, we had UM at the time.
Super producer Alex who, speaking of music, did an amazing
job at composing the interim music. A lot of email
about UM. He found some examples and kind of strung
a few together into kind of like a bone music
mixtape that happens in the end, So you can hear
a lot of stuff like weird like instrumental jazz, and
(25:47):
then there's like Elvis, anything that you can think of
that would have been popular, like and uh illegal in
in opposition to what the USSR saw as their ideological values.
So you're listening to very dangerous music looks because this
stuff is creepy looking. It's like kind of cigarette burn
(26:07):
that makes the hole where you put it on the turntable,
and the rest of it's just kind of cut out
with scissors, so it's got these real rough edges and
typically it's like a stern um. Yeah, really creepy less
super metal, like a nine inch Nails T shirts. That's well,
speaking of dangerous, though. I think it's time to put
(26:27):
you guys to the test now again, listeners, I hope
you will check out Ridiculous History. It is an awesome
new show here from How Stuff Works. But we've got
a quiz to get to Mango. What is our quiz today?
It's called that Other white House Quiz that Oh, that's
a good name, all right. So there are dozens of
knockoff white houses scattered around the world, so this quiz
obviously is to locate just a few of them. So
(26:48):
we're gonna give you a white house and a clue
and you just have to tell us where it is.
Now we're gonna have you guys face off. The fact
that we learned earlier is that Ben loves cows. So
Ben is going to move when he's ready to answer.
And no, I don't know if you love birds, but
you get to know I'm terrified of Oh you're terrified.
(27:09):
Put that fear to use. That's right. This is gonna
be a way for you to kind of take ownership
of your ornophobia. I think you were telling me it's
called I'm diagnosed. Yes, well, this is gonna be good
for you. Mandy. You could call Ben Okay, here we go.
Question number one. The most famous upside down white house
(27:30):
in the world features an upside down briefing room an
upside down oval office, both of which are manned by
animatronic robots. But if you want to go there, you'll
have to go to the state known as America's dairy land.
Good alright, No, what state are we talking about? Wisconsin?
Well done? All right, tell me more about this upside
(27:51):
down white house. It's actually one of at least three
upside down white houses. So the others are actually right
side up when you walk through the doors, and they're
mostly have arcade since a little bonus to end. I'm
confused about this. It's like just like a bizarro white house.
It's called the top Secret white House, and it's it's
just in the tells of Wisconsin. Sounds like there's so
(28:13):
many different white houses, perhaps that you have to find
an angle. I think I think you need an angle, alright.
Question number two. Not far from the actual white House,
a Vietnamese immigrant built himself a replica white house that
we put it up for sale once he was feeling
(28:34):
emptiness syndrome. What state also known as the birthplace of
presidents is this house located in move I'm gonna get
this one wrong with Grace and of plum. Is it Maryland?
It's not mary He is gonna get this one wrong.
I'll take a steel Nebraska, just completely complete shot in
the dark, not far from the actual White House? So
(28:55):
are are host here is struggling a little bit? It's
actually in Virginia? Yeah, that was his other guests. You
guys did not specify US presidents though. Oh that's a
good that's because you totally would have nailed it otherwise.
But how many US presidents who were born in the
state of Virginia? Eight? Al Right, here we go, redemption, Here,
(29:17):
here we go. Number three White House replicas built mostly
out of tiny Danish bricks. Are house that this theme
park with locations in Florida and California? I mean the
birds scared him so badly that a boop came out Disney. No,
(29:42):
it is not alright, a boop. You want to take
another shot at this tiny Danish bricks, tiny Danish bricks. Oh,
go for it again. He's not ready. I'm all I
was thrown by my my bird. Focus is it? Is it? Uh?
Is it? Lego related it? And can I say the
(30:05):
Lego land in Atlanta entirely underwhelming. In a mall, it's
a good mall. It's still not recovered from the boob
that was terrific. Okay, guys, it is one to one. Okay,
I know we're laughing here, but things are pretty tight.
(30:25):
All right. There's two questions left, one to one. Question
number four, the replica White House in this country is
now being used as a school. You might know the
country better for having the third busiest McDonald's in the world,
or for its capital of Kiev. Alright, let's hear it
is Ukraine. Wow. Alright? Question number five, I think we
(30:48):
have to for Ben. Is that right? Okay, here we go.
Last question. This is your chance. This one is actually
a two point knol so you have the chance for
the wind. Okay, I'm ready. A real estate mogul and
Iranian immigrant built himself a three fourth scale model of
the White House with shrubbery that reads God Loves You
in the front lawn. What city also home to You're ready?
(31:10):
The CNN Center, the Cocoa. Oh, what do you think, mango?
I think I think I think I heard a bird sound.
Let's hear it, Atlanta. It is Atlanta, Georgia. Wow, No, wait,
why is it a three fourth scale? You've you've built
seventy five in size of the White House. Why would
you just not go? Yeah? Maybe he used he used
(31:35):
that extra uh to make a one fourth size replica
of something else? Could I like that? I like that guy.
I think you get a bonus point for that one,
which I think brings these guys three to three. I
do want to think again. Ben and Noll, the host
of the awesome Ridiculous History, for joining us today. I mean, yeah,
(32:00):
Rochambeau for it. Let's do it to you guys, all right,
one to shoot we got uh? He crushed me crushed?
Well done? Rock speak scissors should stick as a tie.
Thank you so much for having us all guys. We
are huge fans of Part Time Genius. Time we want
(32:20):
to do a little like a crossover rochambo event with
all four of us where we'd like do a podcast
shared topic. Let's do it Ridiculous History and Part Time Genius.
All right, get ready for that, guys. But thank you
guys for coming on. Welcome back to Part Time Genius.
(32:46):
So before the break, will you were saying that there
was one more group of non political employees at the
White House that you wanted to talk about. Yeah, And
in fact, they might actually be the biggest group, and
that's the Uniform Division of the Secret Service. Now, you know,
we're all pretty familiar with the Secret Service members who
protect the President and the first family, but when it
comes to making sure that the White House as a
whole is secure, that job falls on a division of
(33:08):
the Secret Service known as the Uniform Division. This is
a police force of about thirteen hundred officers, so many
more than I thought would be there. Yeah. Yeah, Well,
they're the ones that come face to face with the public.
You know, they screen the visitors to the White House.
Their tasks with keeping bad people from getting anywhere near
not only the President, but even the special agents who
(33:29):
are around the president. And do they only protect the
White House That's a good question, but but no, they're
also responsible for protecting the Vice president's residents as well
as the Treasury Building and then all the foreign diplomatic
missions and embassies that are scattered throughout d C. And
there are several specialized units as well, from the Canine
Unit to the counter sniper Team, the Motorcade Support Unit,
(33:52):
the Emergency Response Team and several others as well. Well.
I mean, this is clearly an incredibly important division. And
not that I know us how many locations they keep secure,
it does make sense they're be you know, well over
a thousand of them. Speaking of keeping the White House secured,
did you wonder before researching for this episode, how difficult
it is to get hired by the White House? Oh? Definitely.
(34:13):
And it doesn't appear that you're going to find White
House jobs just posted on like monster dot com or anything,
because I checked. But in most cases people get hired
because they had a friend or a family member recommend them,
and some families have had several members work in the
White House. But yeah, for the most part, there's a
much greater comfort when somebody already on the inside can
(34:34):
vouch for a potential new hire, and then of course
after that they're heavily vetted from there. Sure that's pretty interesting. Well,
I feel like we've learned a ton about several of
the key behind the scene jobs at the White House.
But I've saved a couple of them because you know
what time it is, it's fact off time. H So
(34:57):
I think it's interesting to look back at jobs that
might have been, say in the past, but aren't really
needed anymore. And one of those jobs is theater projectionist.
So FDR had a movie theater built in the White
House in the forties and a projectionist was later hired
to be on call around the clock, you know, in
case a member of the First Family wanted to watch
a movie at three AM. And one of the White
House projectionists, Paul Fisher, worked there for over thirty years
(35:21):
until and he served seven presidents. He actually kept a
log of the over five thousand movies he showed in
that time. Oh wow, it would actually be really interesting
to see what movies were shown to which presidents. But
al right, well, one of the roles you don't hear
about much now but must have been very interesting, is
that of a nanny for the First Family. And just
(35:42):
to show how close those nannies could be to the families.
And this one is heartbreaking. But maud Shaw, the Kennedy's
British nanny, she was apparently the one who told Caroline
and John Jr. About their father's assassination. That is heartbreaking.
So I actually had a fact about a White House
nanny as well. And we've referenced the story before where
I think, but it's really interesting. So a young African
(36:03):
American woman named Mary Prince became the Native Jimmy Carter's
daughter Amy, while also serving prison term for murder, and
at the time, Carter was Governor of Georgia and Prince
was assigned to work at the governor's mansion. She became
really close to the family, and when he was elected President,
Rosalind Carter secured parole for Prince, who she believed was
wrongly convicted, to come join them in the White House
(36:24):
and continue as Amy's nanny. President Carter actually served as
her parole officer, and Prince later received a full pardon
from the state, not from Carter. Huh. Well, you talked
earlier about the executive chef, but we didn't talk about
the White House Executive pastry chef. So this is a
position that was made permanent back in nineteen seventy nine.
But they get to work on some pretty big projects,
(36:47):
like the four hundred and seventy five pound dark chocolate
covered gingerbread house that was a big part of the
holiday decorations overseen by Michelle Obama one year. I love
that there's a four hundred seventy five Hungener Bright houses,
and that's a big one. Yeah. So the White House
is such an old and big place that there's both
a paint shop with two full time painters who are
(37:08):
just like constantly touching up and repainting the walls, and
a carpenter shop where the carpenters built furniture and work
on other necessary projects. I mean, it really just is
amazing how many people are constantly working behind the scenes there.
But speaking of carpenters, I don't know if he meant
to do this, but I appreciate the set up here, Mango,
because one White House carpenter, his name is Charlie Brands.
(37:29):
He actually transitioned into a very different job in two
thousand nine, and this is when he brought in some
bees from hives that he looked after at home. Now,
to be clear, he was asked to do this. He
didn't just bring in a bunch of bees to the
White House. But you remember Michelle Obama installed her famous
vegetable garden in the South Lawn that year, and and
the White House chef wanted a couple of bee hives.
So Brands provided the bees and ended up becoming the
(37:51):
White House beekeeper the first of these, and he retired
as a carpenter but continued taking care of the bees.
I mean, isn't that you know a sweet story? Well,
it is, But anyone bold enough to tell a good
story and then follow it with a pun like that
deserves a trophy. So I think you get the trophy
for today's backed off. Thank you very much and thanks
(38:12):
for listening today. I do want to thank Jocelyn Sears
for the great research for today's episode and also the
terrific book by Kate Anderson Brower, The Residents. If you
guys have any facts about the White House or anything
related to presidents that you feel like we should know,
we love to hear from you. You can always email
us part Time Genius at how stuff Works dot com
or call us on our seven fact hotline one eight
(38:33):
four four pt Genius, or as always, you can hit
us up on Facebook or Twitter. But thanks for listening,
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
(38:54):
of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things. We couldn't even
begin to understand. Christa McNeil does the editing thing Noel
Brown made the theme song and does the mixy mixy
sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gaveluesier
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including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve.
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
(39:16):
If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,
and if you really really like what you've heard, maybe
you could leave a good review for us. Do we
forget Jason? Jason who
Guess what, Mango, what's up. Well, so it's that time
of year again when everybody's sending out their holiday cards.
But if you think your hand is cramping from all
the cards you've had to address, just take a guess
how many handwritten envelopes are addressed each year for the
holiday card mailing from the White House. I have no
idea how many. Now this number is a few years old,
and I'm not sure how many of the Trump White
(00:21):
House is sending. But the number I saw was ten thousand,
all handwritten. Now, I know you're super into calligraphy, Mango,
always scribbling over there, but even you have to admit
that is a ton of handwriting. I mean, it makes
my hand heard just thinking about it. How do they
put it off? Well, I was wondering the same thing.
(00:42):
But it turns out the White House employees three full
time calligraphers who create everything from invitations to menus to
place cards at state dinners, official documents. The list goes on,
and they're often written by hand, and not surprisingly, sometimes
with the help of a computer. But it's still a
ton of work. But even with three full timers like
(01:04):
that's a crazy amount of writing. It really is, but
it's one of those jobs that you often don't stop
to think about, but clearly it's a job that has
to get done, and that's what God is thinking. You know,
we obviously here constantly about the president and everyone working
on the political side, but how many non political employees
are working behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly
(01:26):
and what do they all do? So that's what we're
talking about today. Let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners,
(01:52):
welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as
always I'm joined by my good friend man guest Ticketer
and on the other side of the soundproof glass wearing
a very fancy top hat, that's our friended producer Tristan McNeil.
It's really really fancy, don't you think fancy. Well, today
we're asking the question who works in the White House,
And of course we're not talking about the obvious of
the President and the other political employees of the government.
(02:15):
We're talking about the non political employees who really make
the White House run. Yeah. So this episode was super
fun to prepare for it because I really had no
idea how many people are working behind the scenes, and
of course some are more visible than others. But I mean,
when you've got three full time calligraphers, that's got to
be a pretty big staff. Yeah, so we're we're looking
at somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty
(02:37):
people who keep their residents in operation. Now, around a
hundred of those are full time and others are part time.
So we're talking everything from ushers to painters, florists, to
plumbers and plenty of other very interesting positions. And pretty
much all of these people are paid for by the
thirteen million dollars that's allocated by Congress each year to
keep the residents running smoothly. I mean, third teen million
(03:00):
dollars is insane. That's a lot of a lot of money,
that's no kidding. But we should definitely talk about who
oversees that budget. But why don't we say that for
a little bit later and first talk about the people
in charge and making sure the president's day goes smoothly.
Did you just did you just set up a teaser
for later in the show, and I like, stay tuned.
We're going to tell you who oversees the White House
residential budget. I mean, you wish you could know now,
(03:23):
but we're going to keep you hanging nicely done there,
thank you. I've been studying up on how the best
reality shows do it. But but before the show, you
were telling me about the people responsible for the president's
whereabouts each day, and I really thought it was so
fascinating And would you mind if we started there? Yeah,
that makes sense, and you're right, I did find this
fascinating too. Why don't we start with the Director of
(03:44):
Oval Office Operations. Now, this is the person who makes
sure the president always has everything he needs while he's
working in the White House, and he's always keeping a
very close eye on the president's schedule. Yeah. I think
you were mentioning an article about Obama's director. What was
his name again, was Brian Mastler. Yeah, there was an
interesting article about him from the Washington Post last year
and it described him as the quote anticipator in chief,
(04:08):
and I thought that was a pretty interesting title. And
the article said, quote, when Obama's in Washington, every move
the president makes, every person he meets, and every meeting
he attends has been carefully orchestrated by Mastler. He knows
where Obama likes his waterglass placed on the table at
meetings and whom he'd want to sit beside. He knows
how he prefers the height of his lectern. He researches
(04:29):
ahead of State's favorite drinks so that the president can
offer it. He read He's Obama's remarks and sets them
open to the first page wherever the president will be speaking.
He tells Obama what a sock is bunched at his ankle,
or his shirt is wrinkled before an interview. I mean,
it goes on and on here. It's pretty crazy. I mean,
I do feel like we could use that position in
the studio. You know, sometimes I sit down in this
(04:50):
chair to record and it's just a little too high
for my preference, or sometimes a little too low, and
I actually have to adjust it myself. Oh my gosh, mango.
And also I went and got this couple of water
for myself, so I know the struggles we deal with.
It's a tough life here at how stuff works. But
actually hearing this story, it reminds me of the time
I was traveling to Detroit for some meetings. You know,
(05:11):
this was back in our mental floss days, and as
a little joke, the assistant in the Detroit office had
one of those fancy ice buckets, you know in the
hotel rooms. It was placed right at the entrance of
my hotel room with three diet Mountain dues just chilling
and just waiting on me. So I wouldn't argue with
that kind of thing happening everywhere I went. Yeah, but
I mean in the White House, that's a lot of
(05:33):
job for one person, and everything from like sock bunching
to lecturing heights is kind of crazy. It does seem
like sock bunching watching should be like that dedicated job.
But you know, you hear about mustel are getting to
his desk about an hour before the president would every morning,
and then he'd unlocked the door from the Rose Garden
area and that's where the president would enter every day,
(05:54):
and then he would stay until after Obama was done
in the Oval office for the day, he'd lock up,
and then he was the one who would actually turn
off the lights. How weird is that's so weird? It's
like he's a shopkeeper or something. Yeah, but you know,
you're right, the hours were crazy, and can you imagine
how stressful it is to make sure that every single
minute of a president's day is scheduled? Most efficiently. So
(06:16):
I heard you mentioned this job, and I think I've
been confusing it with the role that's called, like I
think the body man. But but that's not the same thing, right, No,
I mean, you know, the director of the Oval Office
operations and the body man would certainly be in close contact.
But the body man, or perhaps more appropriately called the
personal aid to the President, that's the person really at
the president's side all day, keeping him on schedule, providing
(06:39):
anything that the president needs. And the job often goes
to a friend or a family member because they really
have to be so close to the president. And is
this the president You hear about having to actually keep
the president on schedule and also having to interrupt the
president to tell him to go to the next meeting
or whatever. Yeah, it's definitely a position that requires an
ability to handle these types of situations. Really delic it,
(07:00):
Like you actually hear how tough a job it was
for Chris Ensko. He was the one that worked for
President Clinton. Oh yeah, I mean Clinton was known for
running along with every meeting and always being late and
just like loving an audience in front of him, right,
I mean, I can't imagine how stressful that job was
for an aid, but it was Ensco who would have
to try and keep him as close to on schedule
as possible, and then if things were off, he'd have
(07:22):
to figure out how to quickly handle to you know,
transition to the next meeting and figuring all of that out.
But you know, he's also responsible for things like making
sure the president has greeted everyone he needs to in
a crowd, and sometimes if you watch video of a
president at a gathering, you'll often see a body man
pointing out people he needs to make sure and greet.
It seems like almost every job in the White House
(07:43):
has insane hours, but this one especially definitely. It's also
another one where they have to be at work ready
to go before the president arrives, and they aren't done
until after the President is done for the day, or
at least done with meetings and appearances. And you know,
other than the Secret Service and sometimes the first Lady,
the body man is often the only other person to
join the president on long trips. I remember reading about
(08:05):
Obama's body man, Reggie Love, and all the things he
kept on him at all times, from hand sanitizer to
energy bars to nicarette, and that's got to be a
fascinating job in a fascinating bag he's carrying around, but
also just a totally exhausting gig. Right, Oh yeah, I can't.
I can't even imagine. Actually, here, here's a quick fact
I wanted to mention. Jocelyn noted this and some of
(08:26):
her research that Meriwether Lewis, you know of Lewis and
Clark fame, of course, actually served in this role for
Thomas Jefferson before heading out on his big adventure. And
so it's actually not uncommon for aids in this role
to go on to some pretty big things. That's crazy.
I didn't know that. So we probably talked about the
two people who pay most close attention to, like the
(08:46):
president's whereabouts each day. Well, we can't forget the president's
valets of course. Valets. Well, you know, I said, the
president's body man is by his side, tending to his
every need. But that doesn't necessarily apply to every single need,
you know, especially his personal needs. It's like packing for trips,
or getting a cup of coffee or an extra shirt
if he spills something. I mean, these kinds of jobs
(09:06):
fall on the presidents to valets. Interestingly, they're actually military
personnel who work in shifts and who are standing by
at all times in case the president needs anything. And
when the president is traveling by motorcade, you'll often find
a valet and one of the other vehicles, you know,
just ready with any sort of supplies the president might need.
That's so funny, you know, you know what that is?
(09:28):
Like I whenever I hear the term valet, I think
it deals with cars and valet as like a butler,
because that's how the British pronounce it. But but I
would say the president is pretty well covered if he
needs anything between all these positions. Yeah, no kidding. But
actually it turns out not all presidents love being waited
on constantly by valets. Apparently, George W. Bush wasn't a
(09:49):
big fan of having them. According to the book The
Residents Inside the Private World of the White House, Bush
wasn't aware he would even have valets when he first
arrived at the White House. And then he says to
his dad, these two men just introduced themselves and they said,
they're my valets. I don't need a valet. I don't
want a valet. So his dad just looked at him
and replies, you'll get used to it. It sounds like
(10:12):
a dad thing to say, like get used to it. Yeah, exactly,
But I mean I can see that it's like overwhelming
at some point to be waited on constantly, But I
mean I'd be willing to give it a tribe. And
you know what one thing we should talk about is
that level of security clearance that the people in these
positions have to get. I mean, it's got a specific name, right, Yeah,
(10:33):
it's a term I wasn't previously familiar with, but it's
called top secret presidential proximity and it sounds really important
at least, and and that's because it is. And the
presidential proximity part means that these are people who are
allowed to be very near the president and the first
family without the Secret Service around. Yeah. I mean I
have to imagine it's a small number of people who
get this level of clearance, oh for sure. And I
(10:55):
don't know the exact number, but it's definitely not everybody
in the White House. All right, Well, let's shift gears
a little here. I know, we should do a rundown
of the different types of jobs in the White House.
But before we do, there was something you mentioned as
we were doing our research, and I thought it was
pretty interesting. And that's the couple of big positions that
Jacqueline Kennedy added to the White House staff. Yeah. Sure,
So why don't we start with the position of executive
(11:17):
chef with Jackie Kennedy created back in nineteen one, And
of course there had obviously been cooks at the White
House from the beginning, but she definitely took that position
to this whole other level when she hired this French
chef named Rene Verdon. And including Verdon, they've actually only
been seven people to hold that position. So the current chef,
who's Cristata Comerford, has been in the position for over
(11:40):
a decade now, and she's not only the first woman
to have served in the position, but it's the first
person of color to be hired as the White House
executive chef. But I mean, she obviously is the only
one cooking at the White House, right, No, not even closed.
So the White House Executive Chef manages a team of
I think it's like seven chefs, and and they of
course cook every day for the First Family, but they're
all are responsible for the huge dinners and the special
(12:02):
events that take place of the White House so we're
talking more than seventy thousand guests a year. Oh wow,
that's a ton of people. But you know, something else
I found really interesting is that the president's family pays
for their own food, and as a side note, they
actually pay for their own toiletries and other personal products
as well. Really, I had no idea. I just thought
this was one of the presidential perks. I mean, why
why would you run for president if you have to
(12:22):
pay for your own toothpaste? I know, and listen too,
but it gets charged back to the president each month.
But of course, having a chef and a team turn
like those products and foods into delicious meals is pretty nice. Yeah,
it's pretty wild. Well, I do assume that each chef
kind of brings their own style to the kitchen, even
though I'm sure they get certain requests from each family
(12:43):
that lives there. Definitely, And in fact, there's a pretty
funny story about chef for dun and Lyndon Johnson. And
this is after Lyndon Johnson moved into the White House
and sadly after Kennedy was assassinated. But Johnson moves in
and he's not a big fan of French cuisine, you know,
he's more of a burghers and steak type of guy,
and very Don was not pleased with some of Johnson's requests.
(13:05):
In fact, there's a quote from Verdon that he told Johnson.
He said, you can eat at home what you want,
but you do not serve barbecued spar ribs in a
banquet with the ladies in white gloves. That's pretty great,
And I have to say it doesn't sound like they
were best, but yeah, not at all. And you know,
Johnson didn't love to be told what to do, and
(13:26):
Verdon eventually just resigned. Wow. Well, Actually, on a slightly
different food related topic, I was wondering how they ensure
the food is always safe for the president eat, Like
does he have tasters or something to make sure that
it's all safe. Yeah, you know, I was curious about
that too. The President doesn't have a taster, you know,
the way you think of old royalty. But before the
food ever reaches the White House kitchen, it goes through
(13:47):
the supply chain that's been heavily vetted by the Secret
Service and also the FBI, and these suppliers are kept
secret even from the guest chefs who come in for
special events. Like state dinners. Okay, well that that makes sense.
Well what about when the president it's not at the
White House, like if if they're traveling somewhere, Well, they
do have security that screens his food. And it's interesting
because those responsible for feeding the President his family very
(14:08):
depending on where he is. So most of the time
when he's traveling, it falls on the Navy, but on
Air Force One, it's the Air Force that figures out
the food situation, and at Camp David it's the Navy again.
But back to the White House, screening even applies to
things like snacks. Like they're so secretive about this that
many times when the President decides he wants a certain
kind of snack, the White House will often arrange to
(14:31):
have it delivered to one of the homes of a
residents staff member, just so no one knows his head
to the president. Isn't that crazy? And you know, we
were talking about security clearance earlier, and there was a
great quote from the former executive chef Walter Shud in
this interview with the site Munchies, and he said, in
terms of the few of us that are in the
kitchen who have that clearance, if you think about it,
(14:52):
We're not just around outside and next to the president,
We're physically inside of him in a way. You may
be one of the singularly most trusted people in the
whole country. Wow. I had honestly never thought about that.
But I assume this is another one of those really
long hour jobs as well. Definitely, so the executive chef
often puts in eighty five hours a week. Wow. Alright,
(15:13):
so the executive chef was one of the big jobs
outed by Jackie Kennedy. So what was the other one? Yeah,
happily go into that, But why don't we take a
quick break first, you and your cliffhangers today, mango. Okay,
(15:38):
before the break, we were talking about Jackie Kennedy creating
the position of executive chef, and then you just left
us hanging on what the other position was. Yeah, and
I'm actually gonna keep you hanging for just a little
while longer. While I said, okay, I think for a
minute about how many important people visit the White House
each year, and foreign dignitary specifically. So it's actually kind
(15:58):
of wild to read about how much thought goes into
the messages the White House wants to send whenever a
foreign leader arrives. So what do you mean. Well, when
the White House is planning a state dinner, for example,
there's always a balance of wanting to find a way
to project American values and that's everything from the food,
to the entertainment to the decor, while also finding a
way to honor and welcome the guests. So I'm wondering, like,
(16:22):
how do you think they can do that in a
very visible way other than by you know, offering the
food served. I don't know, through by what they're wearing. Yeah,
I mean, that's not a bad guess. And that's usually
when the president travels abroad and uh dresses in the
style of the country. But here, one way to do
that is through special flowers. So there's a great description
of this from Columns, which is a publication, and here's
(16:44):
how they describe one big dinner. During a state dinner
for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dowling chose a floral motif
rendered in molecular designs in honor of Merkel's academic achievements
and her doctorate in chemical physics. It featured her favorite
color yellow and acknowed ledge her passion for cooking and baking,
with plum colored flower and fruit designs. The Chancellor is
(17:05):
apparently known for making a famous plumb cake. Wow, that
is so much thought going into that. So Jackie Kennedy
had something to do with us or what? Yeah, and
that name I mentioned in their Dowling that was Laura Dowling,
who served as the Chief Floral Designer under President Obama,
and this was definitely a position that was created by Kennedy.
(17:26):
The chief floral Designer oversees the operations of the White
House flower Shop and it's a ridiculously demanding job. So
just think about how many events the White House hosts
every single year. There are three full time assistants, but
they frequently bring in volunteers to help with the big projects,
and several of the events like state dinners and such,
does actually take months to plan, and dowlings that are
schedule often involved hundred hour weeks. Wow. Well, you know,
(17:50):
there's definitely one thing I feel like I have a
better understanding of after doing our research for this episode,
and yeah, that's the fact that pretty much anyone who
works in a full time capacity at the White House,
they're working really long hours and it's kind of amazing
that they last as long as many of them do.
I know, you almost see these positions as more patriotic
after you hear about them. But there have only been
(18:11):
five chief floral designers since Kennedy created the position, and
a couple of them were in that position for decades. Well,
I would imagine this is another one where they get
to know the president's taste pretty well and maybe even
factor that into the style of what they're doing. Definitely
so during the Obama administration, for example, you'd often see
the private quarters with orange and blue flowers and I
didn't realize it's earlier. I but it kind of makes
(18:32):
sense now. And that's because Obama loved the Chicago Bears.
Oh yeah, that does make sense again, something I could
get used to. All the flowers reflected my own taste.
But all right, well, I think it's time for us
to get back to the larger teams that really make
the residents at the White House run. And it's also
time for you to finally reveal the answer to that
big teaser you set up earlier in the show. You
(18:52):
know that the answer to who controls that thirteen million
dollar budget for operating the residents there? Yeah, I think
it's time. So are you ready? Music? Please? It? Uh,
that's the job of the chief Usher. So the title
really doesn't accurately reflect the size of the job. And
(19:14):
you could think of the chief usher as being like
the general manager of a big hotel. But the main
difference is there's just one family to please. Oh that's interesting,
all right. So the chief usher oversees what like the
whole residents staff. Yeah, that's everything from the team of ushers,
to the housekeeping staff, to the butlers but which we
should talk about as well, and the chefs, the florists
and anyone else involved in running the Residents. So all
(19:38):
thirteen million dollars worth the cost falls under the chief Usher.
And since I've been talking a lot about Jackie Kennedy
and her influence on the White House, I'm actually gonna
quote her. She described their chief usher, JB. West, as
the most powerful man in Washington next to the President.
I know, it's crazy, right, And so I know you
mentioned the book by Kay Anderson Brower. It's called The
(20:00):
Residents Inside the Private World with the White House. And
in the book she actually talks about West and all
the tasks he does is really stunning. So he did
everything from helping search the residents for Carolyn Kennedy's missing hamsters,
to like try and fix the water pressure for President
Johnson because he was always complaining that the water pressure
wasn't strong enough. That's pretty crazy, right, So so what
(20:23):
about all the other ushers under the chief what what
do they do? Well, in addition to seeing after the
needs of the First Family, they also prepared the White
House for you know, the over seven thousand tourists that
come in every single week, and that's no small task.
But back to the First family side, and usher is
always on duty when the president's awake, so until he
goes to sleep at night, there's one right there, which
(20:45):
often means being on duty late into the night. And
each night one of the ushers will actually deliver the
President's briefing book. This is the briefing put together by
the president's West wing staff that brings him up to
speed for the next day. All right, Well, you should
also talk about the preparation that goes to the presidential
transition and what the ushers do with that. Yeah, it's
actually wild how early the chief usher and their staff
(21:06):
begin preparing for the next First family. It starts well
before the election. They often begin pulling together information about
the top candidates during the primary season just so that
you can be as prepared as they can, like before
someone's elected and eventually moves in. That's pretty fascinating, you know.
One of the things I was thinking about is how
many people are around the president his family and and
(21:27):
other officials too, you know, like when they're having these
very private or confidential conversations, and I guess they sometimes
just have to kind of disappear into the background when
all that's going on. Yeah, and this is the case
with two other sets of employees, the housekeeping staff, which
is about twenty and the six full time butlers. So
Anderson and Brower has this really interesting section on the
housekeeping crew having to work around the First family, and
(21:49):
here's how she describes it after a conversation with Christine Limerick,
who managed the housekeeping staff for about thirty years. Limerick
describes a delicate dance the maids must do as they
try not to disturb the First family. If they walk
in the room, they look at you and say you
can finish. You don't have to leave. If they tell
you to stay, you do what you need to do.
But you have an ability to let what's going on
(22:10):
around you just go over your head. Even if the
First family wanted time alone, the residents workers would often
leave one room and go to work in an adjoining chamber.
Limericks said the maids followed the same code as the butlers.
They see, but they don't see. They hear, but they
don't hear. They don't speak to members of the First
family or the guests unless spoken to, and they never
approached them with personal requests. That's really interesting. And then
(22:33):
you mentioned the butler. So they mainly serve the meals
and or is that what they do? Yeah? So what
what is the fancy state dinners or just everyday meals
for the First family? These are served by the butlers.
They also got snacks for the family and prepare food
in the off hours if the chef staff isn't on duty.
Though apparently Michelle Obama didn't want her daughters to get
too used to being waited on, so she was pretty
careful about how much she would allow them to serve.
(22:54):
Sasha Emiliyah, Yeah, I can definitely see how that might
be a concern with kids. All right, Well, there's there's
one of the group. I think we should talk about.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break. Alright, Mango,
it's quiz time, and I know we've been talking about
(23:16):
people that work at the White House, so you put
together a really fun quiz for us today. And we
are joined by a couple of our friends here who've
actually been on the show, I think three or four
times now if I'm not mistaken. We've got Ben Bowling
and Noel Brown, the co host of Stuff they Don't
Want You to Know, but also the host of a
brand new show here and how stuff works called Ridiculous History.
(23:37):
Welcome guys, Thanks, thanks for having us. We're actually boned
up on this quiz thing because we just introduced a
segment on Ridiculous History where our nemesis, Jonathan stricklingister the
quister to torture and brate us with ridiculous quizzes. So
if you're into this kind of quiz action, you should
check out the show, check us out. Well, we want
(23:58):
to hear a little bit more about it. Tell us
how what what's Ridiculous History all about? We love the show,
but we want our listeners to know about it. Oh gosh,
thank you so much. Well, so history is riddled with
things that are beautiful, brutal, and at times ridiculous. So
in our show that comes out twice a week, Nolan,
I look at little known episodes throughout the stories of
(24:20):
human civilization, like, um, get a little fun nuggets like
did you know that there were a class of Russian
hipsters that bootleg music by etching them into discarded X
ray films? Or that uh, there is a reason British
lawyers insisted upon wearing those anachronistic wigs. I love that episode,
(24:40):
by the way, Thank you, thank you so much. We
learned stuff every time we do one of these, and
part of the fun is that we're we're not experts,
you know, We're we're we're pretty we're pals and we
get a kick out of like reading up on this
stuff and discussing it. But we always learned something every
time we do one, and we kind of tend to
like to surprise each other, which makes it fun for us.
We hope it makes it fun from people listening. But
(25:00):
do you I know you guys are into music. Do
you do you have any of that bone music? Like
any of those records? We found some, Yeah, we did
find some. You can you can find some online. You
can actually buy some of the original recordings. We do
have to say, however, that they were made on these
uh these discarded X ray film and although they are functional,
(25:24):
the quality does show. Yeah, we had UM at the time.
Super producer Alex who, speaking of music, did an amazing
job at composing the interim music. A lot of email
about UM. He found some examples and kind of strung
a few together into kind of like a bone music
mixtape that happens in the end, So you can hear
a lot of stuff like weird like instrumental jazz, and
(25:47):
then there's like Elvis, anything that you can think of
that would have been popular, like and uh illegal in
in opposition to what the USSR saw as their ideological values.
So you're listening to very dangerous music looks because this
stuff is creepy looking. It's like kind of cigarette burn
(26:07):
that makes the hole where you put it on the turntable,
and the rest of it's just kind of cut out
with scissors, so it's got these real rough edges and
typically it's like a stern um. Yeah, really creepy less
super metal, like a nine inch Nails T shirts. That's well,
speaking of dangerous, though. I think it's time to put
(26:27):
you guys to the test now again, listeners, I hope
you will check out Ridiculous History. It is an awesome
new show here from How Stuff Works. But we've got
a quiz to get to Mango. What is our quiz today?
It's called that Other white House Quiz that Oh, that's
a good name, all right. So there are dozens of
knockoff white houses scattered around the world, so this quiz
obviously is to locate just a few of them. So
(26:48):
we're gonna give you a white house and a clue
and you just have to tell us where it is.
Now we're gonna have you guys face off. The fact
that we learned earlier is that Ben loves cows. So
Ben is going to move when he's ready to answer.
And no, I don't know if you love birds, but
you get to know I'm terrified of Oh you're terrified.
(27:09):
Put that fear to use. That's right. This is gonna
be a way for you to kind of take ownership
of your ornophobia. I think you were telling me it's
called I'm diagnosed. Yes, well, this is gonna be good
for you. Mandy. You could call Ben Okay, here we go.
Question number one. The most famous upside down white house
(27:30):
in the world features an upside down briefing room an
upside down oval office, both of which are manned by
animatronic robots. But if you want to go there, you'll
have to go to the state known as America's dairy land.
Good alright, No, what state are we talking about? Wisconsin?
Well done? All right, tell me more about this upside
(27:51):
down white house. It's actually one of at least three
upside down white houses. So the others are actually right
side up when you walk through the doors, and they're
mostly have arcade since a little bonus to end. I'm
confused about this. It's like just like a bizarro white house.
It's called the top Secret white House, and it's it's
just in the tells of Wisconsin. Sounds like there's so
(28:13):
many different white houses, perhaps that you have to find
an angle. I think I think you need an angle, alright.
Question number two. Not far from the actual white House,
a Vietnamese immigrant built himself a replica white house that
we put it up for sale once he was feeling
(28:34):
emptiness syndrome. What state also known as the birthplace of
presidents is this house located in move I'm gonna get
this one wrong with Grace and of plum. Is it Maryland?
It's not mary He is gonna get this one wrong.
I'll take a steel Nebraska, just completely complete shot in
the dark, not far from the actual White House? So
(28:55):
are are host here is struggling a little bit? It's
actually in Virginia? Yeah, that was his other guests. You
guys did not specify US presidents though. Oh that's a
good that's because you totally would have nailed it otherwise.
But how many US presidents who were born in the
state of Virginia? Eight? Al Right, here we go, redemption, Here,
(29:17):
here we go. Number three White House replicas built mostly
out of tiny Danish bricks. Are house that this theme
park with locations in Florida and California? I mean the
birds scared him so badly that a boop came out Disney. No,
(29:42):
it is not alright, a boop. You want to take
another shot at this tiny Danish bricks, tiny Danish bricks. Oh,
go for it again. He's not ready. I'm all I
was thrown by my my bird. Focus is it? Is it? Uh?
Is it? Lego related it? And can I say the
(30:05):
Lego land in Atlanta entirely underwhelming. In a mall, it's
a good mall. It's still not recovered from the boob
that was terrific. Okay, guys, it is one to one. Okay,
I know we're laughing here, but things are pretty tight.
(30:25):
All right. There's two questions left, one to one. Question
number four, the replica White House in this country is
now being used as a school. You might know the
country better for having the third busiest McDonald's in the world,
or for its capital of Kiev. Alright, let's hear it
is Ukraine. Wow. Alright? Question number five, I think we
(30:48):
have to for Ben. Is that right? Okay, here we go.
Last question. This is your chance. This one is actually
a two point knol so you have the chance for
the wind. Okay, I'm ready. A real estate mogul and
Iranian immigrant built himself a three fourth scale model of
the White House with shrubbery that reads God Loves You
in the front lawn. What city also home to You're ready?
(31:10):
The CNN Center, the Cocoa. Oh, what do you think, mango?
I think I think I think I heard a bird sound.
Let's hear it, Atlanta. It is Atlanta, Georgia. Wow, No, wait,
why is it a three fourth scale? You've you've built
seventy five in size of the White House. Why would
you just not go? Yeah? Maybe he used he used
(31:35):
that extra uh to make a one fourth size replica
of something else? Could I like that? I like that guy.
I think you get a bonus point for that one,
which I think brings these guys three to three. I
do want to think again. Ben and Noll, the host
of the awesome Ridiculous History, for joining us today. I mean, yeah,
(32:00):
Rochambeau for it. Let's do it to you guys, all right,
one to shoot we got uh? He crushed me crushed?
Well done? Rock speak scissors should stick as a tie.
Thank you so much for having us all guys. We
are huge fans of Part Time Genius. Time we want
(32:20):
to do a little like a crossover rochambo event with
all four of us where we'd like do a podcast
shared topic. Let's do it Ridiculous History and Part Time Genius.
All right, get ready for that, guys. But thank you
guys for coming on. Welcome back to Part Time Genius.
(32:46):
So before the break, will you were saying that there
was one more group of non political employees at the
White House that you wanted to talk about. Yeah, And
in fact, they might actually be the biggest group, and
that's the Uniform Division of the Secret Service. Now, you know,
we're all pretty familiar with the Secret Service members who
protect the President and the first family, but when it
comes to making sure that the White House as a
whole is secure, that job falls on a division of
(33:08):
the Secret Service known as the Uniform Division. This is
a police force of about thirteen hundred officers, so many
more than I thought would be there. Yeah. Yeah, Well,
they're the ones that come face to face with the public.
You know, they screen the visitors to the White House.
Their tasks with keeping bad people from getting anywhere near
not only the President, but even the special agents who
(33:29):
are around the president. And do they only protect the
White House That's a good question, but but no, they're
also responsible for protecting the Vice president's residents as well
as the Treasury Building and then all the foreign diplomatic
missions and embassies that are scattered throughout d C. And
there are several specialized units as well, from the Canine
Unit to the counter sniper Team, the Motorcade Support Unit,
(33:52):
the Emergency Response Team and several others as well. Well.
I mean, this is clearly an incredibly important division. And
not that I know us how many locations they keep secure,
it does make sense they're be you know, well over
a thousand of them. Speaking of keeping the White House secured,
did you wonder before researching for this episode, how difficult
it is to get hired by the White House? Oh? Definitely.
(34:13):
And it doesn't appear that you're going to find White
House jobs just posted on like monster dot com or anything,
because I checked. But in most cases people get hired
because they had a friend or a family member recommend them,
and some families have had several members work in the
White House. But yeah, for the most part, there's a
much greater comfort when somebody already on the inside can
(34:34):
vouch for a potential new hire, and then of course
after that they're heavily vetted from there. Sure that's pretty interesting. Well,
I feel like we've learned a ton about several of
the key behind the scene jobs at the White House.
But I've saved a couple of them because you know
what time it is, it's fact off time. H So
(34:57):
I think it's interesting to look back at jobs that
might have been, say in the past, but aren't really
needed anymore. And one of those jobs is theater projectionist.
So FDR had a movie theater built in the White
House in the forties and a projectionist was later hired
to be on call around the clock, you know, in
case a member of the First Family wanted to watch
a movie at three AM. And one of the White
House projectionists, Paul Fisher, worked there for over thirty years
(35:21):
until and he served seven presidents. He actually kept a
log of the over five thousand movies he showed in
that time. Oh wow, it would actually be really interesting
to see what movies were shown to which presidents. But
al right, well, one of the roles you don't hear
about much now but must have been very interesting, is
that of a nanny for the First Family. And just
(35:42):
to show how close those nannies could be to the families.
And this one is heartbreaking. But maud Shaw, the Kennedy's
British nanny, she was apparently the one who told Caroline
and John Jr. About their father's assassination. That is heartbreaking.
So I actually had a fact about a White House
nanny as well. And we've referenced the story before where
I think, but it's really interesting. So a young African
(36:03):
American woman named Mary Prince became the Native Jimmy Carter's
daughter Amy, while also serving prison term for murder, and
at the time, Carter was Governor of Georgia and Prince
was assigned to work at the governor's mansion. She became
really close to the family, and when he was elected President,
Rosalind Carter secured parole for Prince, who she believed was
wrongly convicted, to come join them in the White House
(36:24):
and continue as Amy's nanny. President Carter actually served as
her parole officer, and Prince later received a full pardon
from the state, not from Carter. Huh. Well, you talked
earlier about the executive chef, but we didn't talk about
the White House Executive pastry chef. So this is a
position that was made permanent back in nineteen seventy nine.
But they get to work on some pretty big projects,
(36:47):
like the four hundred and seventy five pound dark chocolate
covered gingerbread house that was a big part of the
holiday decorations overseen by Michelle Obama one year. I love
that there's a four hundred seventy five Hungener Bright houses,
and that's a big one. Yeah. So the White House
is such an old and big place that there's both
a paint shop with two full time painters who are
(37:08):
just like constantly touching up and repainting the walls, and
a carpenter shop where the carpenters built furniture and work
on other necessary projects. I mean, it really just is
amazing how many people are constantly working behind the scenes there.
But speaking of carpenters, I don't know if he meant
to do this, but I appreciate the set up here, Mango,
because one White House carpenter, his name is Charlie Brands.
(37:29):
He actually transitioned into a very different job in two
thousand nine, and this is when he brought in some
bees from hives that he looked after at home. Now,
to be clear, he was asked to do this. He
didn't just bring in a bunch of bees to the
White House. But you remember Michelle Obama installed her famous
vegetable garden in the South Lawn that year, and and
the White House chef wanted a couple of bee hives.
So Brands provided the bees and ended up becoming the
(37:51):
White House beekeeper the first of these, and he retired
as a carpenter but continued taking care of the bees.
I mean, isn't that you know a sweet story? Well,
it is, But anyone bold enough to tell a good
story and then follow it with a pun like that
deserves a trophy. So I think you get the trophy
for today's backed off. Thank you very much and thanks
(38:12):
for listening today. I do want to thank Jocelyn Sears
for the great research for today's episode and also the
terrific book by Kate Anderson Brower, The Residents. If you
guys have any facts about the White House or anything
related to presidents that you feel like we should know,
we love to hear from you. You can always email
us part Time Genius at how stuff Works dot com
or call us on our seven fact hotline one eight
(38:33):
four four pt Genius, or as always, you can hit
us up on Facebook or Twitter. But thanks for listening,
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
(38:54):
of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things. We couldn't even
begin to understand. Christa McNeil does the editing thing Noel
Brown made the theme song and does the mixy mixy
sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gaveluesier
is our lead researcher, with support from the Research Army
including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve.
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
(39:16):
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