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Previous Issues > February 2008 > What's It Like To BE... > What's It Like To Work At The White House?
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 What's It Like To BE...
What's It Like To Work At The White House?
With Presidents Day occurring this month, I started thinking about what it must be like to be the President or First Lady of the United States. And then I thought, you know, it takes a lot of people to help the President and First Lady to do their jobs. I wonder what it's like to work at the White House? I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Anita McBride just that question. Mrs. McBride is the Chief of Staff for First Lady Laura Bush. She has worked in the White House for two decades and for three Presidents, so she knows all about what it's like to work at the White House. She really loves her job and being able to contribute to our country through her work with the First Lady.
TRUMAN: It sounds as if you have a very important job as Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff to the First Lady. What do you do each day? Describe a typical day on the job.
MCBRIDE: The day starts very early. I catch up on the news; I get up about at 5 o'clock in the morning and get ready to try to be here at work at 7 a.m. I catch up on the news and start with the first meeting of the day at 7:30 in the morning with the senior staff. That's a meeting that is held by the president's chief of staff. I sit around a table in the Roosevelt room in the White House with my colleagues, and we go over the activities of the president for the day, and I go over the activities of Mrs. Bush. My job is really to coordinate what Mrs. Bush's events and activities are with the west wing and with the president's staff and to plan for her events and for her travel.
TRUMAN: What is the most interesting of the things that you do as Chief of Staff to the First Lady?
MCBRIDE: I think there are so many fun and fascinating and interesting and challenging parts of the job. One of the things I do enjoy the most is planning the First Lady's foreign travel; I think part of that comes from having worked at the State Department, which has given me a good foundation to be able to support her role as an international ambassador, and her role as the nation's ambassador for the good work that Americans do around the world. Working on events here at the White House is a lot of fun as well.
TRUMAN: Do you travel a lot with the First Lady?
MCBRIDE: I do. I participate in all of her foreign travel, and we travel extensively, particularly in this second term. We were at 25 or 26 countries in 2005, and we averaged that over the last three years. I also travel domestically with her sometimes. I may not do all of those trips, particularly if they are short trips, so that gives me an opportunity to catch up on work here in the office.
TRUMAN: What is your favorite place you've visited?
MCBRIDE: I've thought about so many of the places that we've gone to together in these last three years. I'd have to say riding the camels in Petra in Jordan was one of the things at the top of my list. Seeing the pyramids at Giza in Egypt was exciting. One of the other most memorable things for me was going far beneath the altar at the Vatican and seeing the tombs of St. Peter. That was one of the highlights for me personally. Also, planning Mrs. Bush's secret trip to Afghanistan in March of 2005. I have to put all of those in the category of favorite places.
TRUMAN: Whats the hardest part of your job?
MCBRIDE: The hours are the toughest. I'm not a morning person by nature, but I certainly have become one. But thankfully I'm in good health, and my family supports me tremendously, and that really helps meet the challenge of the hours.
TRUMAN: What is the best part of your job?
MCBRIDE: You know, I think it really is exciting to walk in here every day and know that you are some little small piece of history, and to work with such a wonderful First Lady and knowing that in some small way, we are helping to support her in her role in our nation's history. I don't lose that profound sense of importance every day that I come in here.
TRUMAN: How do you get a position like this? What kind of education or personal qualities does it take? Did you ever dream of working in the White House?
MCBRIDE: It definitely takes a lot of dedication and determination. I never anticipated being here. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and be a doctor. I had been a volunteer in a hospital since I was 16 years old; I always wanted to work with the elderly. I never in my life would've imagined working in the White House. But I did get involved in college in a presidential campaign, the presidential campaign of 1980 as a volunteer. That sort of sparked my interest. I moved to Washington after the inauguration of President Reagan in 1981 and worked in an internship here at the Department of Commerce while I finished college at American University. And I really realized that I liked being in a place where the local news was national news. It just really fascinated me, and I wanted to be a part of it. Really, in some small way, I felt a real obligation and responsibility to get involved.
TRUMAN: Everyone wants to know, what is the White House like? Do you actually work in the White House?
MCBRIDE: If you see pictures of the White House, you see the executive residence with the big south lawn, and that's the museum part of the White House. The top floors are the residence where the president and first family would live. On either side of the residence are two wings; the west wing is where the president's oval office and a good number of his staff are. That was built in 1901 under President Teddy Roosevelt. Mrs. Bush's offices, the first lady's offices, traditionally have been in the east wing of the White House, which is connected to the mansion on the other side. That was built in the early 1940s; in fact, the cornerstone was laid in 1942 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And that is where the First Lady's offices are. So yes, we are in the White House. And it's fun and exciting. It's really something to walk through here; you're very inspired just walking to work. You're reminded everyday that you are living through history, and you recognize the history that comes before you, but then also what the future would hold. We know we're temporary occupants of these offices, and there'll be many more that will come after us.
TRUMAN: What advice would you give to kids who are interested in working in the White House one day?
MCBRIDE: Well, the first thing I would advise them to do is to work hard and really study hard. Know your government, understand our government and get involved in politics later in life as a volunteer, or even as a student. I think what's particularly exciting about this presidential campaign is that so many young people are getting involved. They can't vote now, but they certainly understand what it means to be a participant in our society and to be knowledgeable about candidates that are running for office. And then later on in life vote, and understand that their participation is critical to the future of our country. So working really hard, taking a risk and volunteering and getting involved are important. There are worlds of opportunities in our government that are out there. I certainly didn't start as Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the United States. My first job working for Ronald Reagan was reading his mail. I started in the correspondence office in the mailroom, opening up his mail and sorting it and helping to identify letters that we thought would be interesting for President Reagan to see about what the American people were thinking. There were hardship cases, there were letters that were sad and there were letters that were positive. I started at a very low level, or staff level, but I loved it and by working hard hard work is recognized by people it gave me a tremendous number of opportunities over the years to move into different positions. I have been lucky; I have worked for three presidents, and the significance of that really hasn't even fully hit me yet.
TRUMAN: What do your children think about their mom working in the White House with the First Lady?
MCBRIDE: My seven-year-old daughter is very fascinated by it. She thinks it's very cool that her mom works in the White House, and of course she gets to come here occasionally and maybe share in some of the ceremonial things here. My son is now studying American government and history in the 4th grade, and its starting to impact him a little bit more, that what I see and do here is some of what he's learning and studying. I think they like it. I think they wish they had me around a little bit more, but I keep telling them that in another year, we'll be back to somewhat of a normal schedule.
TRUMAN: What are you planning to do after the presidential election? Is your job one that will change when a new president takes office?
MCBRIDE: My job will change most definitely. It's a position of a personal and confidential nature, so any person coming in would want someone who knows them and knows the way that they like things done. So yes, my job will change with the transition, but the good news is I have been through several transitions before. The transition with President Reagon of course I worked here with his administration, and we were able to plan for that transition. We knew what was coming after two terms. And I stayed on into the first Bush administration. But then we had that transition in 1992; of course, we were not planning for that one, so it so it came a little more abruptly. And I did help transition the former president by working in his transition office for six months, so that's given me some experience with transitions and knowing that our system of democracy is so wonderful that we can move peacefully from one election and one inauguration to the next in a very organized fashion. I mean, it's a real example of democracy around the world. I'm not sure exactly what my plans are going to be. Im sorting through some of that now. Ive been exposed to so many wonderful issues and events and things that have really interested me. And that's the good thing about working here; its a very dynamic place. You'll learn something new every single day.
TRUMAN: Tell us about the First Lady. What is Mrs. Bush like as a person?
MCBRIDE: What you see in public is what we know in private. She is a very committed, honest, kind and gentle-hearted woman who really cares about so many things and really cares about important issues that face our country. She feels a real responsibility in her role as First Lady, and with this platform, to talk about issues that are important to our nation's young people, as well as to the future of our country and its security. One of the things that is very important for Laura Bush, and she talks about it a lot, and this is what makes planning her foreign travel so important, is that she really wants Americans to be proud of what they contribute and do as a nation for other people around the world. We are a nation of great compassion and generosity. And she feels particularly proud to represent the American people around the world and bring that message back home that we really are making a difference.
TRUMAN: Presidents' Day is just around the corner. Who was your favorite president and why?
MCBRIDE: This question is so hard. I have to say as a matter of historical context, you really do feel the presence of all the presidents before you when you are working here. The more and more I study about President Lincoln in fact my son just did a school project on him you really realize that he preserved our nation under the most difficult of circumstances. For a lot of reasons, I have to say that he's a favorite. But then I also have to say that President Reagan gave me a start. And my working here in his White House gave me this opportunity to learn and to grow here and to be able to work in a position like this. So he's also a favorite.
TRUMAN: Is there anything else that you think the readers of Kidsville News would like to know about your job or the White House?
MCBRIDE: It's hard work, but it's real fun. There are a lot of great books out there that kids can read, or even go online with your teachers. Go to the whitehouse.gov Website and go to "The American Journal," which is something that Mrs. Bush is real proud of. It's a student guide that our office just helped put together with the correspondence office, and it's something we would encourage them to go online and print off. It's a fun activity for kids and teaches them a little bit about the history of their country. There is also a series of books that are coming out now in cooperation with the Kennedy Center and the White House Historical Association; that is a series of books about presidential children. And the first one that's out is called Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major. Mrs. Bush has written the foreword to this book and will write for the series of books on presidential kids, and they are a lot of fun; they've even been turned in to plays and are traveling all around the country.
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