Being the president isn't easy, but it's not so easy being a different
part of the first family either. From widespread scrutiny to security protocols,
there's plenty about being in the White House that is pretty restrictive and
annoying. These are the rules America's first families always have to follow.
The lead up to January 20, better known as Inauguration Day,
gets pretty busy for an incoming first family. There are transitions to manage,
staff and cabinet positions to hire and appoint, and a multitude of meetings and
briefings that have nothing to do with the moving vans. Making things more complicated
is that the new first family can't move into their new place even one minute early.
Incoming first families and their staff aren't allowed to start the process of moving into the
White House until around 11 a.m. on Inauguration Day. That's when the outgoing president,
the incoming one, and their entourages all head off from a hopefully civil coffee date to the
inauguration ceremony. While they're switching over presidents, a full move-in team leaps
into action. Their mission? To move out all of the old stuff and bring in the new.
This massive undertaking doesn't just involve luggage or furniture. Move-in day can also mean
repainting some areas, changing out carpets, and setting things up like the new first
family has always been there, right down to the toiletries in the bathroom cabinet.
West Wing staffers, meanwhile, aren't allowed into their new offices until the president's
officially in, which means they might be waiting for hours. To help with the effort,
some outgoing staff members reportedly work for up to a week without their personal effects,
all so move-in day can speed along as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Consider the simple pleasure of opening a window. Maybe it's a little stuffy in your house,
especially if you happen to live in, say, a Neoclassical mansion that's been continuously
inhabited since the 19th century and has a full staff walking around everywhere. It
would be lovely to just open a window or two and get a fresh breeze going, right?
Well, if you're a member of the first family,
too bad. Those windows pose a pretty significant security risk. If you try to open one,
it's all but certain that you'll have a member of the Secret Service at your side in a moment,
respectfully asking you to take your hand off the sill.
Same thing if you attempt to roll down the window in your motorcade. First lady Michelle Obama said
that one of the things she looked forward to most in her post-White House life was this very action.
"I want to go to Target! I want to drive!" "I'm sorry, but you don't have
security clearance to open that window." "I can't open my windows. I really can't."
She recalled that, as a treat, her Secret Service lead agent once allowed her to roll down the car
window for a mere five minutes on the way to Camp David, the president's country retreat.
Within the first two weeks of their term, the president has to have a plan ready — not for
their goodbye to the office four or eight years later, but a far more irrevocable goodbye. This
means that, by the time February is finished, the president should have planned their own funeral.
It makes sense, when you think about it. Four sitting presidents have been assassinated,
with yet more surviving failed attempts on their lives.
So, grim as it may be, it makes sense for a president to make their wishes for their
funeral and burial arrangements known. The U.S. government, much like any other administration,
is a complex thing that needs as much planning as possible. It would at least ease things
somewhat if a team already knew what a deceased president wanted,
whether they passed from natural causes or not. Still, it must be a chilling
thing to put down on paper, both for the president and the rest of the first family.
Though it's clearly a high-pressure job, surely there are some bright spots to being
a member of the first family. Think about all of those diplomatic trips,
the far-flung locales, the interesting people one gets to meet, and, of course,
those nice gifts given to you by presidents, popes, and more.
Well, except you don't get to keep any of those presents. Oh, you thought those
were for you? Of course not. According to the Congressional Research Service, the president
legally cannot receive personal gifts from foreign dignitaries and members of state,
assuming that said gift is more than "minimal" value. That would skirt far too close to bribery,
you see. The same rules apply to the first family.
Gift giving still happens, though, so what's the deal? Instead of personally
accepting an ultra-valuable bauble, the president or other member of the
first family is actually accepting it on behalf of the United States and its people.
It eventually gets passed into the hands of the National Archives and Records Administration,
where it presumably goes to sit in a vault somewhere and gather dust forever.
Cell phones are ubiquitous nowadays, but they can be vulnerable to attacks from hackers. That's
bad enough for everyday folks, but consider the issues that might come up for the president and
first family. They could get some very sensitive messages and calls that come
through on their mobile phones, to the point where national security might be at risk.
That's why most presidents and their families have installed
rigorous security features on their phones. That includes routinely switching out phones
and allowing security experts to take a look at their devices on a regular basis.
"I can't use phones with recorders in them,
so a lot of the newfangled stuff, for security reasons, I don't get."
President Barack Obama reportedly handed his phone over every month
so staffers could make sure he hadn't been hacked or had his communications
otherwise compromised. However, this isn't a hard and fast rule.
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States,
repeatedly declined this advice, describing the security measures as "inconvenient."
Despite what it may look like, the first family hardly gets a free ride during
their time in the White House. The president and their family can rack up quite a bill
for themselves, between personal costs, food bills, and, sometimes, legal fees.
Hillary Clinton, who served as first lady during her husband Bill Clinton's two terms
in office from 1993 to 2001, even went so far as to say that her family left the White House
"dead broke." Given the legal costs incurred during President Clinton's impeachment trial
and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, that's pretty believable.
Former first lady Laura Bush backed up this claim. In her memoir, Spoken From the Heart, Bush wrote
that when it comes to presidential room and board, the room is covered -- the board is not, though
presidents and their families are fortunately not responsible for a mortgage or utility bills.
The Obamas also had to pay for their own meals, including, as The Guardian reports, their
Thanksgiving dinner. Their personal costs also included mundane things like clothes, toiletries,
and private parties like the one Barack Obama threw for his wife Michelle's 50th birthday.
While the president is off doing the business of running the country,
the first lady must contend with her own roles. A few of these tasks might be tough
for someone who doesn't necessarily consider themselves to be stylish or fashion forward,
but tradition and outside pressure dictates that they at least put forth an effort.
"We keep it in tip-top shape. We call it sometimes 'tippy-top shape.'"
First ladies are generally expected to put their own spin on the inside of the White House, to the
point where many have hired their own interior decorator to spruce up the look of the place.
Architectural Digest writes that the modern version of this tradition
largely stems from first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, whose extensive restoration efforts
eventually made it to a live television broadcast. Both Michelle Obama and Hillary
Clinton made an effort to include the work of American artists in public and private
spaces throughout the White House. Earlier first ladies took it even further, as when
Bess Truman had the deteriorating structure gutted and completely refurbished in 1948.
First ladies are also supposed to extend this energy into the holidays.
Beginning in the 20th century, the first lady began to pick an annual Christmas theme,
complete with elaborately decorated trees and other holiday decorations.
Currently, there's no word on whether or not a hypothetical first gentleman would be expected
to care about an official state Christmas tree or redoing the wallpaper in the master bedroom.
Though the first family is traditionally supposed to manage things like redecorating, some historic
rooms are off limits. In fact, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy pushed to have the White House
officially declared a museum, which it was in 1961. This means that, though the first family can
put their mark on some parts of the White House, they have to follow strict rules while doing so.
Sometimes, they're not allowed to even think about touching the most historic parts of the building.
The historic nature of the White House is such a big deal that the building even has its own
curator. This is no small job, either. The White House curator must care for an estimated
50,000 pieces in the permanent collection. They sometimes also have to gently lay down the law,
while also considering that the building is also a home that's subject to a semi-chaotic
changeover every four to eight years, as presidential administrations move on.
The upside of this is that the first family at least has a high-class collection of
artworks and objects they can carefully sort through and use to decorate their spaces.
They just have to remember to respect the historic space in which they live
and also to play nice with the current White House curator.
For many adults, driving themselves around is a privilege that they may
not even recognize as such. Indeed, they may dream
of the luxury of having a dedicated driver who will motor them about town as needed.
For presidents, however, that luxury may start to seem restrictive after only a short time.
Neither presidents nor vice presidents are allowed to drive on public roads. Former holders
of either office are restricted from driving as well. In 2017, former President George W. Bush
revealed to Jay Leno that he hasn't driven on a public road in 25 years because of this rule.
"I have not driven on a road since '93." "Wow."
Technically, it's not a law, but this directive is pretty strongly encouraged
for security reasons. The president or vice president and their entourage are
usually driven by Secret Service agents, who have extensive training in evasive
and defensive driving. Hilary Clinton, whose runs as a presidential candidate
and term as Obama's secretary of state garnered her own security detail, has said,
"One of the regrets I have about public life is that I can't drive anymore."
A president might be able to drive themselves if they're on a private road,
but they almost always have an agent right next to them, in case something goes wrong. For many,
that's the only chance they have to get behind the wheel once the White House has entered their life.
Some of the rules the first family are obliged to follow are odd but at least make sense.
Others are just odd. Consider the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.
The tradition got started in 1876. On Easter Monday of that year,
an estimated 10,000 children made their way to Capitol Hill, carrying colorful
dyed eggs. The area was just perfect for the old occupation of egg rolling.
The kids tore up the lawn, however, and Congress told them they were no longer welcome.
Two years later, a group of kids approached the White House and asked if they could use
the mansion's lawn for egg rolling purposes and to avoid the killjoys on Capitol Hill. President
Rutherford B. Hayes gave them the go-ahead, and an official annual tradition was born.
The White House Easter Egg Roll has now been going on for well over a century. There have
been a few interruptions, namely during World Wars I and II. It's traditionally hosted by the
first lady and the rest of the first family, who also need to think about the design for a
custom wooden Easter egg given to attendees, a tradition begun by first lady Nancy Reagan.
Though they all have lived in a fancy historic mansion with a full staff on call,
many first kids have been expected to do their part. For quite a few,
that's meant a burden common to many kids throughout the nation: chores.
Of course, this will vary from family to family. The New York Times reports that the Obamas were
especially adamant that their daughters, Sasha and Malia, were expected to continue
with their chore list even though they'd moved into one of the most famous homes in the nation.
First lady Michelle Obama even made sure to let the staff know that they could skip
making the first daughters' beds, saying in an interview with ABC News,
"They have to learn these things."
Many have agreed that routine and structure is important for children growing up in the
White House, where intense public scrutiny can be punishing for adults as well as kids.
"Michelle and I try to emphasize to them that they don't want to be on TMZ."
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