Presidential Perks Gone Royal Read online

  On a few high-profile occasions, each president will use Camp David to entertain a foreign visitor, or to hammer out an important international accord, in a natural (and highly security-friendly) environment. More often than not, however, he will use it for personal recreation.

  Unlike first family’s private stays at Camp David, use of the facility when there is an international visitor present always receives big coverage in the news media. Therefore, most taxpayers think Camp David is regularly used for matters of national and international importance. In truth, Camp David has been used to host foreign visitors on only a few dozen occasions since 1942, the year FDR took over the Camp for the exclusive use of presidents. During the 21,000-plus days since then, only first families and their lucky foreign or domestic guests (or campaign contributors) have enjoyed the vast complex provided so freely by the largess of us taxpayers.

  The athletic Kennedy family loved to play touch football on Camp David’s lawns and on its acres of rolling hills and perfectly groomed fields. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter liked to picnic beneath the mighty oaks on the mossy banks of one of the rolling streams, or ride bicycles through the nature trails. After a fresh snow, Gerald Ford liked to race a snowmobile around Camp David, surrounded by the beauty of landscaped forests and an assortment of carefully planted and cared-for trees. And, since the figure-eight swimming pool is heated to 72-degrees year-round, including in winter, President Ford would encourage his dogs to go in the pool for a dip.

  Excellent horsemen, Nancy and Ronald Reagan liked to ride off the trails and explore new paths, even outside the security fences. George H.W. Bush liked to pitch horseshoes at Camp David. His family loved the place so much that daughter Doro chose to have her wedding at Camp David instead of at the White House. And son George W. Bush spent no fewer than 487 of his days as President at Camp David. That’s more than one full year out of his eight years in office!

  President Obama and the First Family boarded Marine One to make their first 30-minute flight up to Camp David only three days after the President was inaugurated, then spent 27 more days there—all within his first year in office! And, since at least three helicopters are involved in a trip to Camp David, at the Marine Corps’ operating cost estimate of $8,450 an hour, each roundtrip a president makes to the Camp costs the taxpayers $25,350. And that is only for the fuel!

  It may surprise a reader to learn that at all times there are one hundred and fifty military personnel at Camp David. It may be an even greater surprise to learn that when the president is in residence, the number of personnel tasked with supporting and serving him and his guests or his family can swell to four hundred, not counting the Secret Service men and women!

  These are not added Secret Service men and women responsible for guarding the president and his guests; these are extra military personnel, largely Seabee members of the Navy, who are there to maintain the Camp—literally, to tend to everything from its plumbing, electrical, air conditioning and heating needs, or to act as waiters and cooks, and otherwise serve the first family and any guests they bring along. The payroll just for the military staff at Camp David to serve the First Family was over $8,000,000 in 2009! These expenses, like most expenses for the benefit of presidents, are conveniently cloaked in the “expenses” of other departments or bureaus or agencies. In this case, it is among the Seabee subsection of the appropriation for the United States Navy’s part of the Defense Department’s budget. If that is not deliberate obfuscation, it certainly is a convenient way to frustrate a writer trying to put an accurate figure on the cost of our presidency.

  So what is this costing us? In his book, The $1.8 Billion Dollar Man, John F. Groom estimated the combined transportation and personnel costs of a president’s visit to Camp David to be $295,000 per night.

  If a president had to pay for Camp David visits from his own pocket, wouldn’t you agree the odds are great that he more often than not would find a way to make do with the 137 rooms of the White House and its country club facilities?

  “On June 28, 2011, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request seeking the mission taskings, transportation records, and passenger manifests for Michelle Obama‘s Africa trip…Judicial Watch calculated the total cost to American taxpayers was $424,142 for use of the aircraft…The expense records also show $928.44 was spent for “bulk food” purchases on flight. Overall, during the trip, 192 meals were served for the 21 passengers on board…‘This junket wasted tax dollars and the resources of our overextended military. No wonder we had to sue to pry loose this information,’ said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.”

  —US News & World Report, October 4, 2011

  Chapter Six

  The First Lady’s Queenly

  Prerogatives

  Because the first lady officially serves the nation in her capacity as hostess of the White House and receives no compensation for that service, who can deny her some special perks of her own, like designer dresses and make-up artists on call for every occasion? Most people would agree that she deserves the accouterments she needs to make a favorable impression in public and on state occasions. Nonetheless, taxpayers should be aware of the wildly disproportionate increase in the First Lady’s perks and distaff budget since 1789, when Martha Washington first represented the country in this capacity.

  All the first ladies who held that position up until the time of Bess Truman had no special help, unless their husbands paid for it out of his own incomes. Mamie Eisenhower’s secretary was paid out of President Eisenhower’s salary.

  First Lady Michelle Obama has a staff of some twenty individuals to help her with the pressures of her role as hostess of the White House and mother of two.

  It is a matter of public record that Mrs. Obama’s chief of staff is paid $172,200. Four others on her staff are paid between $114,000 to $140,000. All told, Mr. Obama’s staff budget last year was nearly a million and a half dollars! It may be hard for out-of-work Americans to believe these figures, but if the king is spending money like there’s no tomorrow, why should his queen feel inhibited?

  In addition to permanent staff members, Michelle Obama, in her capacity as first lady, also has on-call services of hair stylist Johnny Write, and make-up artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles. Both are paid on a part-time basis and get to travel with the First Lady on Air Force One.

  As I reported earlier, in addition to the twin Air Force Ones, there is a group of large jets known as “the Presidential Fleet.” During Easter week, 2011, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, traveled together to New York for a fun-filled fling and a television appearance on the popular daytime television program The View. Returning to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, they were traveling in a Boeing 737 from the Presidential Fleet when its landing was aborted because it was too close to the flight path of a C-19 cargo plane.

  This mishap led the Federal Aeronautics Administration to decree that, in the future, all flights taken by the First Lady or the “Second Lady” (as the wife of the vice president is sometimes called) would be handled by an air traffic supervisor, not just a mere flight-path controller, the person who handles flights for Joe Publics like you and me. Most people who fly on a regular basis have been onboard a plane whose landing was aborted or delayed due to the usual safety precautions that are ably handled by our nation’s well supervised flight traffic controllers. But when a first lady’s televised hoopla-fest results in what is, in essence, a typical occurrence, whole departments of our federal government change their protocol to make sure she will not be inconvenienced again.

  First Lady Michelle Obama drew flack from the media and irate citizens when it was disclosed that, not counting Saturdays and Sundays, she spent 42 days on vacation—within the span of one year. And not only did she enjoy more vacation time than the average American, she also took “40 of her closest friends” (source: her own White House spokesman) on a vacation trip to Marbella, Spain, where Michelle Obama and her retinue occupied more than sixty of the best rooms i
n the super-elegant Villa Padierna Hotel. For this trip, Mrs. Obama used the C-3A (a Boeing 757 jumbo jet), an airplane that serves as Air Force Two, the lookalike or “Wannabe” to Air Force One. Like most of the expenses connected with the First Family, it is impossible to get an accurate accounting, but using the best estimates available to him, a top-ranking Defense Department representative estimated that the cost to taxpayers for this one excursion was over a million dollars—and this was just for operation of the aircraft.

  The extravagance of this trip prompted the New York Daily News to headline its story, “Material Girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette,” a reference to the French royal who lived in luxury while the people of France suffered in fiduciary doldrums. The First Lady also took vacations to Panama City and other locations in Latin America, to Martha’s Vineyard, to Hawaii, to South Africa, and to the elite ski-resort towns of Vail, Colorado and Corvallis, Oregon.

  First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, mother Marian Robinson, niece Leslie Robinson and nephew Avery Robinson on safari in the Madikwe Game Preserve, South Africa. June 25, 2011.

  (Photo with permission from AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool)

  There was criticism when Mrs. Obama took several of her relatives and friends on a trip to South Africa and Botswana—a trip estimated to cost taxpayers between $700,000 and $800,000, not including the expenses incurred by Mrs. Obama’s staff, the pre-advance expenditures, and the expense of Secret Service protection.

  Michelle Obama’s visit to Botswana was a “goodwill mission” to that country. Typically, first ladies take on a highly visible cause to which they dedicate their efforts and bring press attention. Promoting “youth wellness” was among Mrs. Obama’s stated goals for her African trip.

  Back home, at state dinners and other functions, first ladies rule the roost when it comes to laying out a lavish gourmet spread. Americans have a right to be proud of the superb quality of these occasions. But taxpayers should be aware that they pay dearly for the fact that official White House entertaining has achieved a world-class level of excellence. The grand scale on which personal and official guests are received at the White House, right down to rosewater finger bowls proffered to guests by footmen, is unsurpassed anywhere in the world.

  Since President Grant gave the first state dinner in 1879 to honor King Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii), state dinner invitations have become the most sought after, and the dinners the most press-worthy, of all the state-sponsored feasts around the globe. In many ways, as a former White House chef put it, “the State Dinner has become more like a Broadway play than a dinner.” These events are perfectly choreographed in every detail, from the invitation’s arrival to the final course of the meal, and beyond.

  A guest receives a keepsake-quality invitation printed on heavy cream-colored stock with the details spelled out in elaborate calligraphy. Obviously, refusal of an invitation from the first family is considered the ultimate social blunder. When a woman invited to an Eisenhower state dinner did not arrive, the First Lady expressed her dismay to her social secretary. The social secretary suggested they not be too hasty as the woman may have died—to which the usually mild-mannered Mamie responded, “She better have.”

  Some presidents have even hosted as many as a dozen or more state dinners a year. With various configurations of traditional rectangular tables and seating arrangements, approximately 100 guests can be fit comfortably into the State Dining Room. Using the round tables Jackie Kennedy first introduced, the room can accommodate as many as 130. The large number of guests and the frequency of events might seem daunting to the homemaker who is challenged by something as simple as entertaining a bridge foursome or putting up relatives at the holidays. But our country’s first lady has more than a little help when she has guests.

  Place setting at state dinner in honor of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and wife Kim Yoon-ok, October, 2011

  (Photo with permission MANDELNGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

  Dining room setting for state dinner in honor of Australian Prime minister John Howard, May 16, 2006

  (Photo with permission Shealah Craighead/White House/Getty Images)

  Official calligraphers write out invitations, place cards and menus—they are veritable “works of art” (for which many guests concoct the wildest excuses as they slip them into their pockets at the end of the dinners).

  The vermeil tableware, which consists of sterling silver silverware dipped in gold, had been purchased by President Monroe in 1817 for the White House after it was burned to the ground by the British and had to be rebuilt and refurbished from the ground up.

  The White House china collection is a historical wonder, as well as a connoisseur’s dream come true, but not all patterns are available in enough settings to serve full-blown State banquets. Often, first ladies choose their own patterns or use the State Department Service with its “stars and stripes” border, copied from the original set purchased by First Lady Edith Wilson in 1918. Often the particular china used at a state dinner changes with each course. And at every place, pearl-handled knives and solid silver gold-filled spoons and forks are provided—just like all the other pieces of flatware at each place.

  The White House chefs are also some of the most celebrated in their field. Of course, when they leave office, their cookbooks fly off the bookstore shelves! During their time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, at least one of them is on duty at any hour—night or day— to cater to the slightest craving of any member of the presidential family or guests. For the state dinners, they meet the challenge with spectacular dishes, even preparing favorites from the home countries of a dinner’s honoree.

  As noted previously, a vestige of the White House’s thrifty beginnings survives in the fact that first families pay for the food content of their personal meals; even so, the total grocery budget of the White House is staggering. Whether for fancy menus at official dinners or for those more modest occasions when the president or first lady is only feeding the on-site staff, the taxpayers pick up the tab.

  For White House state dinners, there is, of course, the matter of deciding on the guest list, approving the menu and choosing the after-dinner entertainment. First ladies generally do involve themselves in this fun component of the whole process. If you haven’t been invited to the White House for dinner, you can find solace in the excuse given to a social hopeful by a former first lady: “We want to leave room for natural growth of the list over the years.” one can only hope to be included in that organic process!

  Almost from the nation’s start, dancing has been a part of presidential entertaining. Dolly Madison introduced dancing as part of a typical state dinner, and was the cause of the first First Lady’s furor when the dance she introduced was the waltz. Other critics of this then scandalous dance called it “the hugging process set to music.” if you find that hard to believe, further evidence of how outrageous the dance was considered is the fact that an early nineteenth century Pope outlawed the dance throughout the city of Rome.

  Americans, however, embraced the trend that was so popular with nobles and royalty all through Europe. Other presidential administrations also added dancing, right up to the time of the plain-speaking former general of the Union Army, Ulysses S. Grant, who said about his musical knowledge, “I only know two tunes. One is ‘Yankee Doodle’ and the other isn’t.”

  Today, if there is dancing at the White House, it usually takes a back seat to performances by the many famous entertainers and musicians whom the President can easily commandeer. After all, there aren’t many musicians whose careers wouldn’t benefit from being invited to the White House. Stars in any field are eager to perform pro bono at the White House for after-dinner entertainment in exchange for the publicity that comes with such a gig. And musicians invited to state dinners even get some down time: during the reception period before dinner, show tunes and lively music will be played superbly by “the President’s own,” the beautifully uniformed
members of the historical Marine Concert Band—a group created by an Act of Congress in 1779.

  Should the first lady prefer to attend a singer or musician’s concert on a night when affairs of state call for a lavish dinner, she can leave all of the details to her experienced specialists. Absent a first lady’s involvement, the State Department will determine who sits where, according to the diplomatic ranking of guests; the five-star chefs will plan and prepare the dinner; and the Floral Arranger will set up the centerpieces. The White House staff will then set each place according to tradition, while the Social office will determine the entertainment for the night. In short, if a first lady wishes to leave all the details to the specialists, all she need do is pick out her dress for the evening—and she even has someone whose job it is to help her into it.

  “Michelle Obama told ABC‘s Barbara Walters that Bo has an enviable life, and she wouldn‘t mind being reincarnated as the family pet in her next life.“

  —Olivia Katrandjian, ABC News Blog, December 24, 2011

  Chapter Seven

  Even the First Canine

  Lives Like Royalty

  Matched against the many significant and high-value benefits that come with the presidency, something so minor as pet sitting may seem like a matter of little consequence.