the first family lived in private quarters in the white house.
the first family lived in private quarters in the white house.
where do the first family live in the white house?
private quarters
during his time at the white house, as sous-chef and executive chef, raffert planned, prepared, and cooked for the first family as well as for state dinners and other formal and informal social functions at the white house. among some of the major events he cooked for were a "welcome home" for 1,200 former vietnam war prisoners of war on the south lawn of the white house on may 24, 1973, and a september 1978 dinner for 1,300 on the south lawn to celebrate the signing of the camp david accords. he enjoyed cooking for the first family very much. first lady pat nixon liked roast duck (a raffert favorite as well), while president jimmy carter and his family a large meant on sundays after church and were very much like the average american family. (first daughter amy carter would bake cookies in the white house kitchen, overseen by raffert.) he also approved of the way first lady nancy reagan handled state dinner menus, personally approving the food and wine choices rather than allowing a committee of staff to argue at length over them. raffert was the first white house chef to create a gingerbread house as part of the executive residence christmas decorations.
hans raffert
the chief usher coordinates very closely with the executive office of the president, the general services administration, the national park service, the secret service, the white house military office and other government agencies as needed. much of the chief usher's daily coordination is with the white house office of scheduling and advance, which supervises and manages the president and first family's schedules. the chief usher meets every morning with the scheduling and advance office to review plans for the day's events. the chief usher's office is linked to the scheduling and advance office via an inside-the-house-only computer system which provides a minute-by-minute schedule for the president and first family. the system is updated on the fly, and generates an alert as delays or advances occur. a device in the physical office of the chief usher reports the location of each member of the first family at all times, so that the chief usher and office staff can stay aware of when the president or family members will be arriving at the white house or what they are doing within the executive mansion. the white house calligraphy office—which provides hand-drawn menus, notes, invitations, cards, and similar items—is part of the chief usher's office. however, the calligraphy office works most closely not with others in the chief usher's office but with the office of the social secretary (which oversees all entertaining sponsored by the first family).
white house chief usher