A Day in the Working White House: Early 21st Century

Perhaps the most significant change for the White House and its workers during the past several decades has been that heightened security concerns have made the House an increasingly more enclosed environment, which the president leaves less frequently for offsite events.

The result, according to former chief usher Gary Walters, is that “we transferred from a house where we only occasionally did parties to a major catering facility. Now we are doing three or four events a day sometimes.”

In addition to visitors on official business, the White House also hosts approximately 7,000 tourists each week. From Tuesday through Saturday, the White House staff must prepare the public rooms starting at 6 a.m. As Walters explains, we “have to roll up the carpets, put down the mats on the floor, put out the ropes and stanchions, and get ready for tours each day.”

Gary Walters in the Chief Usher’s Office

Gary Walters served as chief usher from 1986 until his retirement in 2007. When he first started working in the White House, Walters was “just awestruck . . . walking down the halls where the presidents walk and listening to some of the wonderful warm stories that the older staff had about people living there. So many of the staff in the Executive Residence have spent their whole career there.”

The White House

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