Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J. B. West

Mr. West begins at his beginning when he first entered the White House to serve as assistant to the Chief Usher, which was during the Roosevelt Administration before the war, from there we move on to to each Administration, to when he is promoted to Chief Usher, and to when he leaves during the beginning of the Nixon Administration. He takes you through the day to day settling in and change over from the old to a new Administration, all the things they will bring, what they want removed, to what staff will come with them and who will have what room. He gives the like and dislikes of each first lady and how they adapted to the job, as well as how they thought the White House should be represented., and how they interacted as couple with their spouses and their family. He reflects his observations of each first lady organization skills from one who just let things roll like Mrs. Roosevelt to Mrs Nixon,who he thought was too thin, to those who thought they own the place like Mrs. Eisenhower, but then those who were true partners and stayed out the limelight like Mrs. Truman, and Mrs Kennedy who loved the White House for its history and its need to be preserved He also gives vivid details of how the Presidents did the Nations work when at home and how they preferred to relaxed.. He also discusses the various interpersonal relationships within the staff upstairs and downstairs, like a French chief who was a hangover from Mrs. Kennedy’s day and Zephyr who the Johnson’s have had for many years and did most of the cooking an ignited a pay and hours debate that Mr. West had to settle. Like all buildings and agencies the White House has an yearly budget and there is never enough money, for running state dinners to just feeding staff and the First Family. Not to mention china, furniture and painting walls and repairs. Mrs West takes you through his clever ways of working around these constraints and shortfalls with each First Lady to keep them and the budget analysts happy.

Mr. West presided over the First Families that occupied the white house for 28 years. When you get to the Kennedy’s it is clear his favorite occupant was Jacqueline Kennedy whose restoration of the White House occupied Mr. West for several years and is very much always on West’s mind. This book is very entertaining and if you love the backstory of history then you will love “Upstairs at the White House”.

This recollection of life in the White House during a series of presidential wives and of their different personal influences upon the political and social life of modern America written from the intimate perspective of the White House’s Chief Usher is both a glimpse behind the curtain of historical change and a warm personal memoir of the individual women. The author keeps a tight focus on the First Ladies and their work and lives and thus humanises them and their family relationships. Neither succumbing to saccharine hagiography nor moralising judgements the author offers us an evenhanded portrait of the personalities of each of the women. They are not compared to each other according to any personal preferential basis. They are also each presented within the relevant social contexts of their eras and backgrounds. This is therefore a warm, well-rounded description of the First Ladies from a diplomatic, intelligent, devoted public servant which reminds us that history is also written by ordinary citizens who do their jobs exceptionally well under exceptional pressures.

J.B. West made a career of working in the White House, and Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies with Mary Lynn Kotz is a fascinating look at the inner workings of the White House. West began in 1941, working under Franklin Delano Roosevelt and ended in 1969 as Chief Usher, retiring soon after Richard Nixon began his first term. Kotz wrote this book based on interviews with West.

The job of the Chief Usher is a very important one, and the White House serves as a museum, as a home, as an office, and as a command center. The job brings him mainly into contact with the first ladies, and West met with them almost every morning. During West’s tenure, he served under Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon. West doesn’t really dish the dirt on any presidency, and many of the stories that he tells are already known. Also, current employees are now forbidden from writing such books. But what I found fascinating about the first ladies is how they reacted and related to their husbands. The sections on Jackie Kennedy were especially interesting in that she not only did so much for the White House, but she was such a private person throughout her life. During West’s 28 years, he helped plan several weddings, the funerals of two sitting presidents, state banquets, private dinners, inaugurations, the gutting and restoration of the White House, and a major redecoration project.

I also enjoyed reading about West’s impressions of the first couples. Eleanor and Franklin “had the most separate relationship I have ever seen between man and wife. And the most equal.” The Truman’s were perhaps the most grounded of first couples and “they asked for very little…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.” Mamie Eisenhower was high-drama and high-maintenance and ran the White House with military precision. Yet her staff loved her because she took such an interest in their personal lives. Jackie Kennedy tried to keep her family life entirely separate from the political White House. And although Lyndon and Lady Bird came into the White House with great expectations, they left greatly dispirited as a result of Vietnam. Whether these women wanted to be first lady or not, all of them grew into the job. It was also fun to read about the various children and grandchildren in each family.

Upstairs at the White House also has lots of tidbits and trivia, much of which I did not know. For instance, “Liquor was quite an expense during the Kennedy years—primarily because we had to stop serving bootleg whiskey. During the Eisenhowers, the White House very discreetly accepted bottles of confiscated distilled spirits from the General Services Administration at no cost.” This book also contains dozens of pictures of the White House from the West years. Unfortunately, the map of the upstairs rooms were missing the room numbers in the Kindle edition.

I enjoyed reading this book about the First Ladies of the White House. I found it entertaining and it brought back an element of history about our Presidents as well. I’ll pass this along to my friends who will enjoy reading it like I did.

My friend had mentioned she wanted to read this book and it peaked my interest. Loaned from the library, it took me about a month to finish, but i thoroughly enjoyed the story.

I learned a lot about the different First Ladies from Roosevelt to Kennedy. About what they valued and how their marriages were run. My favorite couple was probably the Truman’s which i would have never said previously.

JB West included a lot of detail that i may have skipped over at times, but still enjoyed the book.