The Residence; Inside the Private World of The White House

New York: Harper [An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers], 2015. First Edition [stated]. Third printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Ray Kachatorian (Jacker photograph) and Pete Willi. x, 309, [1] pages. Main Cast of Characters. Sources and Chapter Notes. Selected Bibliography. Index. Kate Andersen Brower is an American journalist and author who has written three books about the White House, two of which have been New York Times bestsellers, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, First Women: The Grace & Power of America's Modern First Ladies, First in Line: Presidents, Vice presidents, and the Pursuit of Power, and Team of Five: The presidents Club in the Age of Trump. She covered the White House for Bloomberg News during President Barack Obama's first term and before that she worked at CBS News and Fox News as a producer. She is also a CNN contributor and has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, and The Smithsonian. Brower's book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House has been called a "groundbreaking" backstairs look at the maids and butlers and other professionals who work at the White House. The book hit number 1 on the nonfiction New York Times Best Seller list. Netflix has optioned the TV rights to the book with Shonda Rhimes producing. A remarkable history with elements of both In the President's Secret Service and The Butler, The Residence offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas. America's First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family. These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion's 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d'oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level's basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love.
Combining incredible first-person anecdotes from extensive interviews with scores of White House staff members, many speaking for the first time, with archival research, Kate Andersen Brower tells their story. She reveals the intimacy between the First Family and the people who serve them, as well as tension that has shaken the staff over the decades. From the housekeeper and engineer who fell in love while serving President Reagan to Jackie Kennedy's private moment of grief with a beloved staffer after her husband's assassination to the tumultuous days surrounding President Nixon's resignation and President Clinton's impeachment battle, The Residence is full of surprising and moving details that illuminate day-to-day life at the White House.