Living in the White House does come with certain privileges, but it also comes with restrictions.
Are First Ladies ever allowed to drive? What parts of the house can they redecorate?
Keep watching to find out those answers and more.
Those who enjoy being behind the wheel should probably reconsider being first ladies.
During her time as the first lady, Michelle Obama spoke with Stephen Colbert
about the changes in her life and the losses that came with holding her title.
Telling him of one thing that she wished she could do while living at the White House, she said,
"I want to go to Target! I want to drive."
Unfortunately for her, losing her driving privileges was one
disadvantage that continued even after her husband Barack Obama's presidency ended.
In an interview with People, she addressed some of the drastic changes to the family's
life that came along with her husband's presidency, saying,
"No driving for me. We still live in a bubble."
However, it would seem that becoming a passenger during and after being
the first lady is commonplace. An article from the Daily Mail revealed that former first lady
Hillary Clinton hasn't driven a car since the late '90s. She said at a conference in 2014,
"The last time I actually drove a car myself was 1996, and I remember it very well and
unfortunately so does the Secret Service, which is why I haven't driven since then."
Clinton went on to say that losing access to this activity was one of
the unsatisfactory adaptations that came with the political title. She added,
"I have to confess that one of the regrets I
have about my public life is that I can't drive anymore."
While first ladies are expected to decorate when they first move into the White House, there
are still limits to where and what they can do. According to ABC News, first ladies can refurnish
the areas they live in, typically the second and third floors of the White House. Additionally,
certain historic areas are off limits without approval. These include the Lincoln Room and
the Yellow Oval Room. Kate Andersen Brower, the author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of
America's Modern First Ladies," stated why certain places are difficult to modify. She explained,
"Some parts are essentially historic rooms and belong to the American people,
not to the families who live there.”
According to Slate, if first ladies or their families want to make any changes to any public
areas, they need to request approval from the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.
Still, even though there are limits to what a first lady can do in terms of decorating, they
are nonetheless given a fair amount of liberty with the residential spaces. The best part is that
these alterations don't cost them a dime. Every four years, Congress provides funding to uphold
or retouch appropriate rooms to the first family's liking. Additionally, the outlet added that George
W. and Laura Bush were given $100,000 to cover decorating costs for the president's second term.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, First Lady Michelle Obama informed
the host of a surprising rule that came with presidential living. She stated,
"In the White House, you can't open a window."
She then recalled a time when her daughter Sasha decided to
crack a window for some fresh air, saying,
"It never opened again."
In a separate chat with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show," Obama admitted,
"One day as a treat, my lead agent let me have the windows open on the way to Camp David."
“It was like five minutes out, and he was like, “Windows open! Enjoy it!”
Similarly, French First Lady Brigitte Macron commented on the constraints of
living in the White House after visiting with Melania Trump. The Guardian reported
Macron stating that the United States' first lady, quote, "cannot do anything." She added,
"[Melania Trump] can't even open a window at the White House. She can't go outside.
She's much more constrained than I am. I go out every day in Paris."
Clearly, when it comes to security, the White House's Secret Service isn't
taking any chances with the safety of the first lady or her family.
Sometimes that means complying with some extreme measures.
Receiving gifts seems like a pretty straightforward process, but getting
a present isn't quite so simple for first ladies. According to the Congressional Research Service,
any items given to the president or the first lady are not theirs to keep if
they come from a foreign government unless they receive consent from Congress. Gifts
that receive congressional approval are typically considered "minimal value" or
something that must be accepted if refusal causes, quote, "offense or embarrassment."
Additionally, if it creates conflict between the United States and the foreign party then
it might get a greenlight. Still, anything costly is considered property of the United
States and is handled by the National Archives and Records Administration.
On the other hand, if the gift comes from anywhere else, the first lady can
do whatever she likes with the item after a rigorous screening process. Even so,
the public is discouraged from sending anything considered perishable,
any form of currency, and anything with substantial sentimental value. Still,
further issues need to be considered regarding domestic gifts. Depending on the object's value,
the president and first lady might need to pay federal taxes on the present should they choose
to keep it. Even more disheartening, due to the considerable quantity of gifts sent to them,
there's a good chance neither the president nor first lady will ever even see the item.
The polished image of the first lady and the everyday items that come with
it are expenses she has to pay for herself. According to The Guardian,
Nancy Reagan was shocked by this practice. Not long after moving into the White House, she said,
"Nobody had told us that the president and his wife are charged for every meal,
as well as for such incidentals as dry cleaning, toothpaste and other toiletries."
The overall cost of day-to-day necessities and fabulous clothes
has taken a toll on some first ladies and their families. Laura Bush shared,
"I was amazed by the sheer number of designer clothes that I was expected to buy."
Some of the outstanding designer pieces seen on first ladies are donated. However,
there's a catch. If either the president or the first lady receives designer clothing as a gift,
they can only wear the piece once and then it must be donated or, presumably, paid for out of pocket.
According to The Washington Post, Reagan caused quite a stir after it was discovered that she
received approximately $1 million worth of luxury clothing during her eight years as
the first lady. Allegedly, she never paid taxes on any of them. She later denied any wrongdoing
and stated her disbelief at the backlash in her book "My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan."
She questioned how she would have been perceived if she wore affordable clothing, writing,
"Instead of calling me extravagant,
the press would have started referring to me as 'dowdy' and 'frumpy.'"
Even though a first lady isn't technically a government official,
there are still certain rules she has to follow when it comes to doing business.
While first ladies are allowed to have personal email accounts, they're not allowed to use them
when sending government-related correspondence. This particular rule gained public attention back
in 2020 when The Washington Post reported that Melania Trump was using a private
Trump Organization email address for government business. According to Stephanie Winston Wolkoff,
her former senior advisor and friend, this was a regular occurrence. She said to the news outlet,
"Melania and I both didn't use White House emails."
The Post confirmed that messages with Melania Trump's private email and messaging accounts were
used while she was the first lady. These emails were related to and discussed government hires,
contracts, and itineraries for foreign business trips. According to a comment
from former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter regarding the first lady,
"If she is doing United States government business,
she should be using the White House email."
“Correct.”
After the article's publication, the former first lady's spokeswoman
and chief of staff made a statement to The Post, saying,
"In consultation with White House ethics officials,
from the beginning of the Administration, the First Lady and her staff have taken
steps to meet the standard of the Presidential Records Act,
relating to the preservation of records that adequately document official activities."
Though it doesn't seem to be an official rule, it's not that surprising that first ladies
and their families are expected to leave the premises in the event of the president's passing.
Though there aren't any cases where the partner of a deceased president was kicked
out of the White House, it would appear that first ladies are required to make new living
arrangements within a reasonable amount of time. Notably, First Lady Jackie Kennedy left with her
children two weeks after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy,
according to The White House Historical Association. After moving out, she
only returned to the White House once to view a portrait of her husband.
In Kennedy's case, it was revealed that the widow sent President Lyndon Johnson a letter
regarding her family's living situation after her husband's funeral. In the correspondence, the
former first lady thanked him for his treatment of the situation and reassured the president
that she and her children would be vacating soon. In her closing paragraph, she stated,
"It mustn't be very much help to you your first day in office — to
hear children on the lawn at recess. It is just one more example of your
kindness that you let them stay — I promise — they will soon be gone."
With the amount of work that goes into being the first lady, it seems natural to assume that
her contributions are rewarded with a generous paycheck. However, the reality is that being the
first lady is a job with the salary equivalent of an unpaid internship. That's right — all the
expectations and rules that come with the role are respected and followed without compensation.
“I think that’s ridiculous.”
According to How Stuff Works, the first lady is meant to project the image of a likable,
unbiased figure, and if she were to receive a salary,
she would be viewed as a politician. Author Lauren A. Wright explained,
"The White House depends so much on their unpaid and unofficial status.”
Similarly, Money noted that the unpaid position, which has been unsalaried since its conception,
does come with a certain amount of benefits. However, even with these accommodations,
the job is still the equivalent of, quote, "wage inequality." Unsurprisingly, questioning the first
lady's lack of salary isn't a new concept. In a 1982 interview, Ronald Reagan remarked,
"You know, with the first lady the government gets an employee free;
they have her just about as busy as they have me."
The White House's annual Correspondents' Dinner is considered a pretty big deal over in Washington.
According to ABC News, the star-studded event is attended by both celebrities and journalists and
traditionally involves a comedy routine headlined by a famous comedian who roasts the president.
Additionally, the dinner honors journalists with well-earned scholarships and awards.
According to the White House Correspondents' Association, both the president and the first
lady are expected to attend the yearly White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Still, this rule isn't set in stone. Former first lady Melania Trump and her husband Donald
Trump did not go to these dinners during Trump's presidency. As noted previously,
the expectation that the two would attend was based on tradition, and unsurprisingly,
there was public backlash about their empty seats. According to NBC News, the former president was
the first to not attend the dinner in over 30 years. Of course, during the Covid-19 pandemic,
it looks like the return of this special affair will have to wait even longer to see a president
or first lady in attendance. According to Deadline, the last two Correspondents'
dinners were canceled due to the pandemic, but the event is expected to return in 2022.
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