Upstairs at the White House Quotes

“The secret was loyalty to the White House and to the Presidency, rather than to whoever happens to be occupying the office for four years, or eight.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The Trumans usually celebrated Thanksgiving in the White House, but they spent most Christmases in Independence, quietly, with their families. And every year they instructed the kitchen help to prepare two full Christmas meals to go to two needy families in the District of Columbia—and to tell nobody.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“When a butler or doorman or usher would enter the room, the Trumans would introduce him to whoever happened to be sitting in the room, even if it were a King or a Prime Minister. They introduced all the staff to their visitors—something I’d never seen the Roosevelts do.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The staff did have a little difficulty adjusting to Mr. Churchill’s way of living. The first thing in the morning, he declined the customary orange juice and called for a drink of Scotch. His staff, a large entourage of aides and a valet, followed suit. The butlers wore a path in the carpet carrying trays laden with brandy to his suite. We got used to his “jumpsuit,” the extraordinary one-piece uniform he wore every day, but the servants never quite got over seeing him naked in his room when they’d go up to serve brandy. It was the jumpsuit or nothing. In his room, Mr. Churchill wore no clothes at all most of the time during the day.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Now I know why they say Lincoln’s ghost walks around up here at night,” President Truman chuckled. “He’s just looking for his bed.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“And each of them has performed a great public service to the people of America, filling a role that is nonappointive, nonelective, certainly nonpaid, the most demanding volunteer job in America.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“On Monday morning, she called me into her bedroom. Her dark hair was tousled, her light robe very feminine against the soft blue of her bed. Her eyes were full of mischief. “Oh, Mr. West,” she whispered in her beguiling child’s voice. “I’ve gotten myself into something. Can you help me get out of it?” “What can I do?” I asked, wondering who was next in line to be fired. “I’ve invited someone to stay here,” she said, “but now we’ve changed our minds.” She cast a glance in the direction of the President’s bedroom. “Could you help us cook up something so we can get out of having her as a houseguest?” Without waiting for a reply, she rushed on, her request becoming a command in mid-breath. “Would you fix up the Queen’s Room and the Lincoln Room so that it looks like we’re still decorating them, and I’ll show her that our guest rooms are not available.” Her eyes twinkled, imagining the elaborate deception. “The guest rooms will be redecorated immediately,” I said, and almost clicked my heels. I called Bonner Arrington in the carpenter’s shop. “Bring drop-cloths up to the Queen’s Room and Lincoln Bedroom. Roll up the rugs and cover the draperies and chandeliers, and all the furniture,” I instructed. “Oh yes, and bring a stepladder.” I called the paint shop. “I need six paint buckets each for the Queen’s Room and the Lincoln Room. Two of the buckets in each room should be empty—off-white—and I need four or five dirty brushes.” I met the crews on the second floor. “Now proceed to make these two rooms look as if they’re being redecorated,” I directed. “You mean you don’t want us to paint?” said the painters. “No,” I said. “Just make it look as if you are.” The crew had a good time, even though they didn’t know what it was all about. As I brought in the finishing touches, ashtrays filled with cigarette butts, Bonner shook his head. “Mr. West, all I can say is that this place has finally got to you,” he said. That evening the President and Mrs. Kennedy entertained a Princess for dinner upstairs in the President’s Dining Room. Before dinner, though, President Kennedy strolled down to the East Hall with his wife’s guest. He pointed out the bedraped Queen’s Room. “… And you see, this is where you would have spent the night if Jackie hadn’t been redecorating again,” he told the unsuspecting lady. The next morning, Mrs. Kennedy phoned me. “Mr. West, you outdid yourself,” she exclaimed. “The President almost broke up when he saw those ashtrays.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“I believe that every woman over fifty should stay in bed until noon,” she said, quite seriously.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“believe that every woman over fifty should stay in bed until noon,” she said, quite seriously.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“My loyalty was not to any one President, but rather, to the Presidency, and to the institution that is the White House.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“As First Ladies of the land, these women filled the most demanding volunteer job in America. They were not elected, they were legally responsible to no one except the man with whom they had exchanged marriage vows. They had no official title. First Lady was a term popularized by a newswoman many years ago, but it has remained the only designation given to the woman who is married to the man we call “Mr. President.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“You can’t be mentally fit unless you’re physically fit.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“She simply set firm rules for her private life and never deviated from them. The full impact of Bess Truman’s contribution to the history of America, and, indeed, of the world, will probably never be measured. Only she can supply the details, and I’m sure that she won’t. Her keen intelligence, calm reasoning, and unswerving devotion to her husband were rarely revealed to the public”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The President was silent for a long time, then he handed Acheson the receiver. “You must not let Harry do what he’s going to do,” Mrs. Truman told him. So Mr. Acheson said, “Perhaps you could help me, Mrs. Truman,” and, still holding the phone, began “repeating” to the President what Mrs. Truman was saying, although she, on the other end of the line, was saying nothing. “She says the press will tear you up,” Secretary Acheson said to Mr. Truman, “… that you’re acting too big for your breeches … that you don’t need that kind of criticism right now.” Finally, the President reached over and took the phone. “Well,” he said to his wife, “if you two gang up on me, I’m just lost.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The Trumans did not reserve fancy entertaining only for the great or near-great. They catered also to their old friends, who had never had an appointment with destiny.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The next evening, Fields, his pride hurt, dumped two big splashes of bourbon over the ice and served it to Mrs. Truman. She tasted the drink. Then she beamed. “Now that’s the way we like our old-fashioneds!”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“I believe there is a point at which efficiency is best served,” he told me. “After you spend a certain number of hours at work, you pass your peak of efficiency. I function best in my office when I relax in the evenings.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Quite often, but only when Mrs. Roosevelt was out of town, the President invited his friend Mrs. Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd to the White House.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Mr. Johnson and his wife had bought Perle Mesta’s old house, the place where the hostess with the mostest threw some of her most lavish parties. The Vice President of the United States had translated its French name, Les Ormes, to The Elms.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Johnson had grown up in the wide open spaces. Everything about him was oversized—his gestures, his voice, his friendliness, his temper, his work habits, himself, at nearly six foot four. When he swept his arm around the room, you could tell he hadn’t spent much time cramped in subways, afraid to touch the next fellow. When he walked down the hall, you could tell he had spent time on a horse, and his long legs covered a lot of territory with each step. He hugged, kissed, patted on the back, arm-around-the-shouldered all he was close to, showering compliments on the same people he thundered at. Every time he came back from a trip, his luggage was loaded with gifts—sets of china, dresses, or paintings—all presents he’d bought for the people in his office or those who worked closest around him on the second floor of the White House. He made the greatest demands on his staff of any President I worked for, and at the same time he drew the greatest loyalty and devotion from them. As one of his assistants told me, after working until 3:00 a.m. only to be awakened by the President three hours later, “I wouldn’t”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Inauguration Day is easily the busiest day of the year for the entire Executive Mansion staff. While the changing-of-the-guard takes place officially a mile away at the Capitol steps, it happens physically at the White House. Not only do we gear up for receiving important visitors from all over the country, sometimes with a formal reception after the Inaugural Parade, but we also must move the outgoing President’s belongings out, and the incoming President’s belongings in during the two hours of Inaugural activities at the Capitol.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“You don’t know how many years it took to tone it down to that.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“We always accompany guests to a formal appointment with the President and First Lady. We simply announce their names. The rest of the time, we run the place. I have a budget of $152,000 a year, a staff of 62, and a free hand to furnish and direct the mansion as I see fit.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Truman’s”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“as”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Is completely responsible for the efficient operation, cleanliness, and maintenance of the 132 rooms of the Executive Mansion containing 1,600,000 cubic feet; $2,000,000 of mechanical and air-conditioning equipment.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“be good maids—like Wilma—easy is to be”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“was orphaned and had to educate”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“Some months the bill might run $10,000 or even $12,000. More than 200,000 guests received invitations to the Johnson White House during the five years they lived there.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

“The material in this book was compiled from tape recordings, from the rich store of memory of J. B. West, and from his extensive personal files. To prepare for interviewing Mr. West, I read the following books, as a background on White House history. I am also grateful to James R. Ketchum, a true White House historian, for his assistance in research and preparation of the manuscript.”
― J.B. West, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies