throughout the century working conditions at the white house would improve. over the 20th century, hundreds of people have worked behind the scenes at the white house, preparing family meals, serving state dinners and welcoming visitors. today a household staff of approximately 95 full-time, domestic and maintenance employees, ushers, doormen, carpenters, plumbers, all work together under one roof to maintain and preserve the 132 room residence. many of these workers today are african-americans and many notable figures of the past have also been african americans who have spent decades employed at the white house. some of the most famous are lillian rogers parks who was a seamstress and maid who first came to the white house as a young girl helping her mother, a white house maid, during the taft administration. her tale would eventually become a book and tv mini series called "backstairs at the white house." she and other long time workers such as alonzo fields, butler mater -- mate ra de and chief butler from 1952 to 1987, have been integral to the white hou

johnson came into the white house. well, it wasn't like when anybody else came into the white house. i mean, the president had been shot. in the johnson's home state, and mrs. johnson said the world l k looks at the limits of the abyss, so it was an awful time for them to come into the white house. and it was some weeks before they did move into the white house. and mrs. johnson was continually asked and her press secretary liz carpenter was just asked repeatedly when are the johnsons moving into the white house and finally mrs. johnson had just had that up to here, and she said heaven would that i could help mrs. kennedy's comfort, but at least i can help her convenience. so, after that the questions stopped. but what a question. mrs. johnson was just an adventurer. when you came in to see her, she always wanted to know what you were doing. what was new with you. what was the latest. and when she traveled, she always had these little spiral notebooks about like this and she kept them in her purse with a ball point pen

white house and created this room, they gave them back to the white house. the rest of it, most of it was there, you know, the lamps and things i don't know, but the other things were, the carpet patterns after one in an old drawing. that table in the middle, which is almost unimaginably weird, with cranes carved all over it, that was the roosevelts -- the theodore roosevelts thought that was the most beautiful table they'd ever seen. so it was being hauled out to send to the trash and they stopped the cart and made them bring it back in and put it in the house because they loved victorian furniture. so this is now the lincoln bedroom, and adjacent to it is the lincoln sitting room and to the right would be the treaty room, which is where the little passage was in lincoln's time. so this is a popular state bedroom created by truman. president hoover actually started the idea because he had the treaty room fixed up for his lincoln collection, and then someone on the staff said, well, mr. lincoln's office was right next door. and hoover said, let's change it.

and because i knew there was this really magnificent collection of white house furniture, didn't move anything with us. we had just moved into our ranch house which is where all of our furniture went. so i brought one chest of drawers for my dressing room that was george's grandmother's, i just have that there, just to remember her, and then brought some of our books, a few of our books, also knew we would get lots of books, didn't bring our whole library and personal photographs and had a wonderful time going to the big warehouse. you can't call it a warehouse, because it's really climate and temperature controlled with a conservator, storage space where the furniture is kept and bringing back pieces to the white house. >> to what extent are you aware of other presidents and their -- their first wives or first ladies being there. >> i think very much. i think there is a place in the white house that later became closets for ladies clothes, where i hung my evening clothes and things, if walk down, looking out at lafayette square where presidents made great pronouncements to people and

the white house that we know first came into being, came to be the white in white house. and edith roosevelt -- and theodore roosevelt wanted it to evoke its sort of colonial roots and so it's a very federal, formal white house. the beautiful pillars. the great entryway. the new grand staircase that she put in. it also helps to bolster -- the roosevelts brought in the imperial presidency, a much more regal, formal worldwide presidency. this is when america really moves into the greater world as a power. and this white house was built to command respect for that and to show the power of that presidency. and mrs. roosevelt was in charge of the decoration of that white house. >> and she added a first ladies portrait gallery? >> she did. she consolidated the portraits of the first ladies. commissioned hers to be added to it and established a first ladies portrait gallery on the ground floor of the white house. >> politically, policywise, what is she known for? >> she's a first lady that steps away from policy. certainly is someone that can restrain her husband, and i'm sure h

white house versus president gets use loosely. so let's just take the largest question. in your role as, in fact, the communicator not representing the administrator, but representing white house liaison, that role in which your job was to communicate, to have no surprises, nothing unknown to the people of the white house, both political and nonpolitical, wouldn't you ordinarily have reported something like this in that role? >> the role of the white house liaison is to on board appointees to different offices and executive branch agencies and departments. >> no, but here's the whole point. when you worked for senator obama, i'm sure your chief of staff told you, no surprises for the senator, right? >> i don't remember having that conversation in the senate. >> so you would have kept something like this that could embarrass the president? you would have kept it a secret when he was your boss as a senator? or would you have told the chief of staff then? >> i don't know how to answer a hypothetical question. >> well, no. this is not

james madison and james monroe rebuilt the white house. except for new furnishings now and then, this is the house that lincoln entered in 1861. no president to come would be more closely identified with the white house than lincoln. it is likely that had the history not taken place in the white house, there would be no white house today to stand proud as the world symbol. the house was threatened after his time on many occasions. in 1867 the core of army engineer engineers planned a portion to be built in the park. the draws were lost and general grant came to the presidency in 1869. he spoke of the aizations of the house meaning lincoln, washington and those associated with it. president and mrs. garfield asked how best they might restore the house. yet president arthur attempted to secure it's demolition in 1882. congress in the public rose to opposition. no one thereafter mentioned the demolition although a series of expansion plans brought forth. none made it. the last try was an el face aa fated one.aaa this plan might have worke

the grounds of the white house were 18 acres. had been intended to be 85 by washington when he built the house. jefferson cut it down to 18. or 15. and it's 18 today. that fountain was installed by b.b. french, who did a dummy for it in town from his own yard. he never could make the wall work real well. but it's a terra-cotta thing with dolphins on it on the back lawn. it was there from buchanan to lincoln. they tore the fountain down because the one you just saw on the first image was built in 1873 by grant. two of them, one on the north, one on the south. they still function, although they're electric powered now. so the south front here was considered the private part. the right-hand side is a wing. jefferson added two wings to the white house to incorporate all these things you needed. the white house, some of the previous servants' quarters wash house. they were never finished. they were still there in lincoln's time. the one on the right had things for the garden, the yard, and the little fire engine. and then on the left,

memoir as decreed by the white house historical association. the full text is an appendix in the book. it was in 1865 that jennings' memoir was published. so again, i have gotten ahead of myself. let me rewind to 1837. in the book, i start each chapter with what we might call a vignette or scene. the one i would like to read for you opens chapter 5 and finds jennings back in washington after two decades in virginia. it is february 1837 and he is preparing the widow dolly madison's city house for her return to president's square. in the third week of february, judith reeves, the madison's virginia neighbor in washington because of her husband's senate career wrote a letter to dolly madison at montpelier. i took the liberty of going to your house a few weeks ago and walking all about it. on asking a little girl who came to the door if there was anyone there, she said there was a gentleman. then she told me it was only a colored gentleman. good uncle paul stepped forth and quite justified her appalachian by inviting me in and escorting me about in

bush where she planned and implemented all white house entertaining within the white house complex. and then lastly laurie firestone who is a california native. she served as white house social secretary to george h.w. bush and first lady barbara bush for eight years, at the vice president's residence and four years at the white house. her duties included planning and executing state dinners, luncheons, receptions at the white house and abroad. i know you're going to enjoy this conference, or this panel. thank you. [ applause ] >> this is like a sporting event. >> good morning, everyone. you're in for a treat. we have about half a century of white house history represented here. one of the things that defines the white house social secretary, first of all, it's a job that i think is -- is redefined in some ways with every occupant and with every first lady, but one thing that persists is that a social secretary has a unique relationship and perspective on their first ladies. i recently had the opportunity, thanks to the goodness of the white house historical association, to do an or

so the white house was very quiet. that very first christmas of 2001, you know, we invited friends from all over, the christmas parties. a lot of people didn't come. lot of people were still afraid to fly. >> didn't come? >> afraid to fly. >> the plane. >> then the street got closed. was that when the street got closed? >> pennsylvania avenue was already closed. when that plane flew into the white house when president clinton was there. >> is it closed now? >> it is closed now. >> we were thinking of opening it and then that happened and then we worked with michael, the same landscape architect that's doing the bush library over here, doing the landscaping for it, to then landscape pennsylvania avenue so it didn't look luke so much like a closed street. >> on the south lawn. >> pennsylvania avenue. the south street is closes periodically but it is not closed always. >> isn't impossible to imagine in lincoln's time people could just walk into white house. they didn't need a card. floating around and he is going between

white house press secretary is here with us.ou also know him as the white guy from every lens crafters commercial. one of his jobs is to keep track of all the hilary rosen said. for all of you unfamiliar, cam, lindsay, she is the woman who said that can run may never worked a day in her life. the administration tried to distance herself from those comments. her name appeared in the white house visitor lot of 35 times. this is where it gets hilarious. he said it wasn't sure it was the same hillary rosen, i perosnally know there of them. where did they all come from? did you put them in the rose in the garden of -- rosen garden? that sounds like president clinton's worst nightmare. is that slut rush limbaugh here? there is a reason he said what he said, and it is percocet. to clear things up, here is the difference between him and bill maher. the people who watch him know he is a -- just in case a spelling bee breaks out, we are covered. numerous members of the print media in attendance. it reminds me of a riddle. what is a black

the steward of white house well knew the wormley family. two of his daughters named two of james' sons during the war. unfortunately, both women passed before the end of the decade. the save -- slave family knew the wormleys because they attended the same presbyterian church you heard about this morning. another little known fact is that james wormley was called upon to attend to president lincoln at his death bed. it's not well-known and documented in news paper accounts. it's challenged by senators sumner and surers. general mcclellan during the war years lived on and around la fayette square including madison house and was noted as dining frequently at wormleys giving elaborate meals for 20. by now the reputation of wormleys was international in scope. it was widely known as the residence of choice for many european and south american delegates and financiers and was described by the famous european author, anthony trollip, author in his multivolume treatment of his travels in america. while in washington in 1860, he was a frequent guest

and it is where the main springs were that fed the white house. there was a heating system. so he had a sore throat all ó]ó] winter.ó=ó=ó= you can see, that is your he called it the damed all house. it was a bit like a hotel but again, still a house. you know the story of the stables burning. these pictures turned up at the end of the year of that stable. we looked forever for a picture of it. it was built by an drew jackson for his race horses. here is the south front of the house in the distance. and the temporary fences and this is where the horses were. the reason it burned so fast was the lantern on the roof. and it acted as a chimney and burned the house the building down. another relatively new peicture is this one which most people think is lincoln out on the north driveway. can't tell, but here is a little boy and he was out there all the time. the rail that go you see beyond that is a 14 foot drop that served the basement. all of these railings were put in, in the 1830s. the lamps were put there in the 1850s by pierce. all of what you see stunned, that whole top of

them moving into blair house -- not the white house, to blair house. i think i took three photos i was so nervous. it just -- you don't want to intrude on their private time, but you do have to intrude on their private time because it is for all of us. eventually you have to think ten years, 20 years, down the road. this is telling history. >> david, you had won the pulitzer prize at age 25. you were in the white house several years later. did you have to approach the job differently upon landing in the white house? >> i had -- i got to know the fords before the day -- the day i photographed soon-to-be president ford, the day spero agnew resigned. i can say that in this room and most of you know who i'm talking about. i give a lot of lex tours as schools and it's a little dicy. i even have to explain who president ford is sometimes. but i had an ongoing relationship with him starting -- the first "time" cover i ever had was of him when he was designated by nixon to be the replacement for agnew and then "time" had me covering them. i got to know the fam

the white house correspondents dinner.er know i'm not drunk, i'm not inebriated, i'm not hate. i'm just having fun. it's the white house correspondents dinner. come on, lighten up a little bit. and if you're home az said get up and walk your own red carpet. 9:30 we're going to take you there live, continuous coverage. if you're inside this room we're look at, that's the red carpet. but if you're in that room, let me tell you what's happening. oh, tom, oh, my god, i love that story you did on -- you're so aweso awesome. oh, thank you so much. you look so great. look at your shoes. where did you get them? that's what's happening right now. ha, ha, ha, i'm so glad we're here. that's what's going on. is that jon stewart? no? see, if you say there's something there and then -- oh, someone says i'm going to be on jon stewart for doing that. no, i'm just telling the people at home what's happening. a lot of gladhanding. a lot of patting each other on the back, congratulatory things. but it's all really for a good cause because it

>> we're going to crown. >> okay. >> back to the white house. back to the white house.awhide is okay. >> so, they're heading back now towards the white house. and drew is flying, the driver of the limousine, hurtling down connecticut avenue. it's closed to traffic. there want to be traffic here in 1981 on march 30th because they've closed the streets for the limousine's expected ride back. at about -- as they're driving around, the limousine is alone, they have no support. they've left the motorcade behind. the follow-up cars, armored car with two guys brandishing uzis is following behind and another agent gets up here them, too. police cars are starting to follow up and the police motorcycles are getting ahead of the limousine, as they're going through right about, jerry parr realizes that something's wrong with the president, he's saying he's having trouble breathing. "i'm having trouble breathing, i don't know." is it your heart? reagan said, i don't think so and he starts dabbing blood from his lips and it's bright and frothy blood. from parr's training he knows tha

>> we're going to crown. >> okay. >> back to the white house. back to the white house. rawhide is okay. >> so they are heading back now towards the white house. and drew is flying, the driver of the limousine just hurtling down connecticut avenue. it's closed to traffic. wouldn't be traffic here in 1918 on march 30th because they closed the streets for the limousine's expected ride back. now at about -- as they are driving along, remember, the limousine is alone. they have no support. they have lost the motorcade behind. the followup car, armored followup car with two men brandishing uzis catches up to him and the spare limousine with the president's physician in and another agent finally gets up near them. they are going along and the police cars are now starting to follow up and the police motorcycles are getting ahead of the limousine and as they are going right through about here jerry par realizes there's something wrong with the president. he's having trouble breathing. are you having a heart attack? is it your heart and reagan said he doesn't think so and he star

washington to the white house in 1901. so it was decided that rather than having one large tea for everyone, first lady hoover would have several teas. they had five in all. at the first four, there were approximately 180 to 200 persons in attendance. then the final tea of 15 persons was the one in which mrs. de priest was invited. there were several different lists of drafts of guests who were to come, and the final shows mrs. hoover's sister, jean hoover large, her secretaries, supporters of her husband's from different parts of -- different representatives. an invitation was sent to mrs. de priest on june 5th, the date of the fourth tea. it was emphasized to be very confidential about this and to caution the messenger from refraining giving any information about it. the event was pleasant and held in the green room of the white house. however, afterwards there was a storm of criticism in the press mostly from the south and also some state legislatures issued resolutions of condemnation. for today there are 1,000 letters

so we are expecting a statement from the white house. that statement will provide some clair cla trity inf where the food aid stands. the white house has made it quite clear they would see this as a provocation if north korea moved forward with this laumpl. t the white house has gotten criticism for putting food aid on the table. the reason why is north korea has renigged so many times in the past that why would the administration think that this deal would be any different. of course, there is a new leader right now in north korea, kim jong-un. very little is known about this leader. we asked the president of south korea if he could shed any light on this new leader who is quite young, thought to be in his 20s and even president lee said that he didn't know much even though they are neighbors. so there's not a lot that is known but the u.s. was certainly quite hopeful that this new leader would decide to take north korea in a different direction and not move forward with this rocket launch and essentially adhere to the terms of the deal

were donated at the time of their visit will at the white house. -- at the wormley hotel.will at white house. -- at the wormley hotel. in 1868, james was elicited to accompany him to help set up his house hold in london and to introduce the chesapeake delicacy to the diplomatic core. while there, he travelled to par ris to gather other service items and recipes for his kitchen. for the latter years of the war,s the thisinitial effort to social club arose and had rooms in a building located on the southwest corner of the intersection of 159 and 8th street where the american bar association building now stands. james was its first steward and was highly cared, but th regard. by april of 1869, and not 1971 as asserted, james had taken over the building and opened the next major phase in the evolution of the wormley hotel business. in his new and larger facilities, james had greatly expanded his capacity with 150 rooms, dining rooms, barer shop, liquor stores, his establishment has become even more the center of political and social life of washington.establishment has be more the center o

but when i read the john dean book i came away feeling like there was a white house within a white house that i didn't know anything about. i didn't even know it existed. and i had come to believe that the white house can be more compartmentalized than you would think. look, i work for two or three years next to -- sitting next to mike dever in the west wing in the reagan administration. i knew mike had a glass of wine. i knew he liked terrific wine. i didn't know he was an alcoholic. i didn't know he had a dependency. there's a tendency i think if you're working in the white house to -- you're so focused on the job at hand and you have so much coming at you so fast that maybe you are blind to some things going on around you. there is a famous experiment psychologists have that putting a group of people in a room and saying we have a ball we're going to ask you to toss back and forth and we want you to toss this as fast as you can and count the number -- see how many times you can do it without dropping it. so you get six or seven people tossing that ball around and about and this has be

sonny jumped in the car and we took off up the street to the white house. >> so you get to the white house and this time they let you in. >> we got in, yeah. guards were family. >> did they -- you don't expect -- actually, you don't personally expect to go to the oval office. >> no, in fact we were told because elvis was the first one to mention it and only mr. presley can go and it was -- oh, and after elvis left there was some conversation, you know, sonny and i said, you know, elvis is really hard to say no to and the white house aide said, you know, it's not even up to the president and it's a secret service. it has to be a certain secret service contingency to, you know, how many people there -- i don't know. anyway, the phone rings, and the same guy that told us that answered the phone, and i just saw his face. he was dumbfounded, and he said the president wants to meet mr. presley's friends, and of course, we go into the other room. >> now, before presley went into the oval office, before elvis went into the oval office they took his gun away from him, didn't they? >> well, elv

at the same time, the white house ruled out any misconduct by white house staff members. that was the conclusion of an internal investigation led by the white house legal counsel's office. >> the white house counsel's office has conducted a review of the white house advance team and in concluding that review came to the conclusion that there was no indication that any member of the white house advance team engaged in any improper or conduct or behavior. >> now the controversy moves to capitol hill on wednesday, but homeland security director janet napolitano testifies before a senate judiciary oversight hearing. now, over the weekend, senator joe lieberman was asked about reports that cocaine was found in the room of one of the secret service agents. >> there's a rule that a secret service agent cannot be using what is described as an intoxicate within six hours of when he or she goes on duty. i want to take a look at that. >> the secret service has taken action against 12 agents in what is very much an ongoing investigation. larry? >> all right, many thanks, hampton pear

and work with communication people at the white house and advance people at the white house.or sure that what went on within the secret service, 11-13 people, was any of that going on at the white house. that is the purpose of the letter. >> greta: i assume you would agree nobody has greater interest in making sure that the white house is not involved than the white house itself. the president essentially is the greatest goal of the secret service is to protect the president? >> of course, that is what this is all about. to make sure that the president is properly protected, in the future. this is part of the culture of the secret service is the white house have the same problems. is it just an isolated incident or has it been going on? you are worried about the protection of the president. is there any national security issues involved. >> greta: white house thinks it has done. military investigates its own people and white house thinks they have done enough to investigate their people. >> i know they have announced that today. i sent the letter on friday. on saturday and su

our chief white house correspondent, ed henry, is at the white house with more. ed? >> reporter: megyn, good to see you. it's being called the worst scandal in secret service history, all over $47, apparently, the amount of money one secret service would not pay a prostitute, allegedly. that caused a big fight that brought in the colombian police. i'm told it reached diplomatic levels as ambassadors were brought in to deal with this. eventually, the secret service agents involved were tossed out of the country, sent back here to washington. a new unit was rushed in. they were staying, these secret service agents, at a hotel where the media was staying as well, and all of this going on before the president even had arrived in colombia. so this second unit of secret service agents were rushed in to make sure the president would be secure when he eventually landed in colombia. the president at a news conference yesterday making clear he was not happy that this ended up overshadowing the entire summit. >> what happened here in colombia is being investigated by the direct

i'm in the white house. i've never been in the white house before. i probably will never be asked back either. but it's -- it's really very cool, actually. >>> all right. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. welcome back. cnn's live coverage of the white house correspondents' dinner. they're showing a video there right now. so we're going to get to the heart of it when the president comes on, when jimmy kimmel comes on. you're going to see all of it live right here at cnn. joining me live, goldie taylor is here in atlanta. darrell hammond, one of the funniest comedians around who did the white house correspondents' dinner in 2001, he joins me. ana navarro, who is a republican strategist, also joins me. we're going to go -- we've got it all covered for you. stand by. more on that in a minute. but first we want to give you some other news here on cnn. >>> one person is dead after violent storms hit st. louis. 16 oth

it was the white house calling. it was ray price on the line. he said i interview everybody, i'd like you to come to work for me. i said i can't believe it. i said, i want to remind you. he said that's fine. he said why don't you come for a year, it's 1971. we won't have an election campaign. i'll try you out, you try me out. we'll see how it fits. but i think we need diversity around here. i like the fact that you have views that are not consistent with everybody else. we have pat buchanan as far over to the right as you are to the left is a good fit. let's try it. and let me run interference on the fact that you're not a big nixon loyalist and didn't work in the campaign, et cetera, et cetera. i said okay, for a year, what the hell. sounded like great fun, very interesting. what ray did not know is i'm probably the world's worst administrator. i have as my team will tell you, you cannot give me any piece of paper without having a duplicate because you will lose it. we will lose it within about 15 minutes. my office was like the worst pig pen y

so the white house didn't have its start here. he served as the first president in that house from april of 1789 until february of 1790. he then, with the congress, senate, house of representatives, and the rest of the federal government, relocated from new york city to philadelphia. and there he occupied a mansion located in the central part of that city, once occupied by robert morris. washington finished his term in office in philadelphia. he never served as president in washington, d.c. and then he was followed up there by john adams, who was the second president of the united states, who occupied that same building until he -- until the white house was completed here in the district in 1800. so for nearly a decade the philadelphia mansion served as the white house of the united states. it was the seat of the executive branch of the federal government and was a place for both the public and the private activities of george washington. he met dignitaries there. he met his members of the congress there. it was the center of the a

they're wondering if anybody in the white house staff was involved, causing the question is the whiteouse here an opponent? she's on the house oversight committee and he's a pulitzer prize-winning columnist. i always builds him up because he deserves it. congresswoman, thank you. i've always respected your work. let's look at this thing objectively. where are we right now in terms of targeting of people? a number of them have already resigned, we have one person who has been sort of cleared, we have people added to the list again. where does this stand? >> well, i spoke to director sullivan on saturday night, and he is determined to get to the bottom of this. they are under a thorough investigation, but i'd like to respond to your initial comments. i believe that these attempts to implicate the white house on innuendo not based on fact at all is nothing more than a fishing expedition, and i believe the american people are focused on jobs and growing the economy and that they will judge this type of witch hunt very harshly. the white house did their own internal investigation and said

they are letting them in the white house.onference tomorrow to say this proves that the president mr. obama and mr. biden and mr. donnelan and lew, male heavy white house staff doesn't care about the issues of women. i'm kidding but i'm trying to say how ludicrous the war on women is. and this is a tough policy dealing with the situation they deal with. i don't, i think ultimately the failure to deal with syria and iran is what the administration is going to be judged on with the complicated mini west of different groups of egypt. >> bret: susan, many say the muslim brotherhood said they weren't going to put up a presidential candidate. they did. that is the history and dealing with the group. they say one thing and change down the road in the future. what about this? >> there are reason not to trust the muslim brotherhood. also the case in a country with a revolution, we choose between bad and worse and worse. in this case, there is somebody becoming popular running two is much worse if that is possible than what we hear abo

something that the white house is pushing back on.ole issue, can it be debated during this election? can it really, can people get down in the weeds and really fight over specifics in an election environment? >> they could. do i expect it? not at all. what secretary geithner said and what democrats have adopted as the argument on medicare for instance, they just ignore social security. on medicare, to say well, it will change social security, or the medicare as we know it. well, of course it will. that is what you have to do. you have to change and we have a system now where it incentivizes overuse. by doctors, procedures and everything. it guarantees that they will spen more than they need to. that is the idea of the premium support plan proposed by paul ryan. alex rittlin has a version. senator from oregon joined in. it's out there. to have to denounce it, this guy is the treasury secretary. for heaven's sake. adopt -- the announcement today, adopt a political line. i think it's shameful. you know what is the one encourage thing? i