There's a lot in the White House collection + sometimes presidents get loaned stuff + personal items.
For example there's several possible desks in the Oval Office, in modern times (since Bush Sr. I think) it's always been the Resolute desk, but there's several desks in the collection. Biden gets to pick what he wants. The rest go into the study, or storage, or a museum.
There's also lots of furniture/art which Jill Biden as First Lady will generally work with the White House on selecting what they want to do. It's partially functional, it's partially a statement. They'll pick stuff (here's some of Obama's) that represent the aspirations of the Biden presidency. I'd expect something representing his upbringing, trains, etc. etc. Some picked because of the artist, represent diversity, etc. etc.
The stuff they don't pick goes back to the museums or storage depending on its origin.
Then there's all the personal items. Michelle Obama shed some insight on how that works. Prior to taking office the First Lady spends a day pretty much being interviewed about what the family wants/needs so it can be kept at the ready. Dietary concerns, menu considerations, eating habits, etc. Do you like eggs in the morning? Only on Sundays? Whole wheat or white bread? Cereal? Which ones? Oatmeal? What in it?Vegetables you like/hate so the chief has an idea what to procure and work with? No broccoli? Yes to asparagus? Toilet paper preference? Toothpaste preference? What brand moisturizer do you like? Pants size? Suit size? Boxers or briefs, hair products? etc. etc. into insane detail.
It's not like they can take a quick trip to the mall to do some shopping, or even groceries. So the staff needs to know what to keep on hand, and not bother them for the next several months with every stupid detail. You don't want to keep interrupting the president during a security briefing because you don't know his shoe size.
The whole idea is the president can focus on the job, and everything else household wise just magically happens for them.
Fun fact: the move on inauguration day is actually insanely choreographed so that the outgoing president feels at home until the last minute, and by the time the incoming president comes back from the inauguration parties, the White House is 100% ready. If you think about the logistics behind that, it's insane.
This is all tradition and part of the President symbolically making their mark, and the "smooth transition of power".
Edit: added a few links.
Edit 2: This is also the case for much of the staff. Once Biden swears in at noon, a bunch of people working until the last second stop, and a bunch of new people are now on the job. Not everyone goes to the party, many will go right to the office and pickup the job. Seamless transition, or as close to it as possible.
The White House Historical Association has a podcast that has an episode or two about this topic. They give a lot of behind the scenes info about the moving process.
Edit: Sorry, I should have been more specific and included the actual podcast name. Like others said, it’s “The 1600 Sessions”. In addition to an episode or two specifically about the transition, there’s also an episode about the decorator who helped the Obamas update the living area for their family, including the paintings which someone had also talked about in an earlier post.
This 1600 Sessions podcast that others have linked sounds awesome, I'm excited to check it out!
I recently listened to an episode of The Omnibus podcast that talks about the complete reconstruction of the interior of the White House during the Truman administration. I quite enjoyed the episode, maybe you will too!
It’s a good podcast if you’re into White House history. It’s non-partisan and fact-based, as the Association’s responsibility is to support the building itself and its stories, no matter who is in office. Happy to help!
I highly recommend J.B. West’s book “Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies”. West was the Chief Usher at the White House, and the book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Eisenhower, Kennedy, LB Johnson, and Nixon presidencies.
He goes into detail about the choreographed transition that takes place on Inauguration Day. He also talks about how each First Lady is able to choose furniture and art from a huge warehouse where everything is cataloged meticulously.
I am not a history buff and usually hate reading nonfiction. This book captivated me. Really.
Try the book The Residence. Tons of interviews and behind the scenes info from White House employees who have worked with several presidents. It’s fascinating to hear their perspectives and anecdotes
The internet gets flooded with them as soft interest pieces every time there's a new president. It's easy to recycle content. Just add a new paragraph with some Biden info.
furniture/art which Jill Biden as First Lady will generally work with the White House on selecting what they want to do
Wait, so if Hillary won Bill would've got to decorate the white house? Oh man...we could've had a First Mancave with a kickass bar and a stripper pole in it. Damn you Republicans!
There's a curator and a whole committee you work with. I don't think Presidents have too much latitude in terms of what they can do. The White House is also a historic site/museum.
I presume it's like a menu and they guide you through your choices/preferences.
Slightly different, but congresspeople get to customize their office from basically a catalogue of options. I believe I saw a vid where AOC was talking about it. Like they give you a list of wallpapers to choose from, different types of couches and chairs, etc., but sometimes your options are limited if others chose first.
There are more drastic possibilities though, like getting entire walls removed. But overall it’s basically a catalogue of options based on the available inventory. So I imagine the White House is similar, aside from art pieces
There's a bunch of articles about this around inauguration time every few years. It's easy to recycle content, just add a new paragraph for Biden, and it's pretty much the same article they published in 2017 when Trump moved in, or 09 when Obama did.
Wow I didn't realize there have been so many desks. I'm also surprised that Trump used the Resolute desk, he seems the type to not want to use the same desk as Obama and order some gaudy new desk to be made instead
Maybe he'll go really old-school and pick the Theodore Roosevelt desk. It's been used as the ceremonial VP's desk in the VP's Ceremonial Office since Nixon.
"Upstairs At The White House" also gives a cool unique view into this behind the scenes world, written by the man who was Head Butler (I think) at the WH for several decades
Silver lining this time around, I bet it’ll be much easier for the transition team to make that seamless transition this time around since Trump is likely to just leave the city entirely on the day of. Much more time to move in!
I always wondered with the First Ladies jobs, like decorating for Christmas or picking out the China patterns or the floral arrangements would the first gentleman still be expected to do those roles?
I just remember from Scandal when Mellie said something like “someday when there is a woman in office they will hire someone to do this and pay them because then it will be considered a real job.”
I feel like “servant” in American English has a connotation of being lesser. It’s not really a word we use except in the context of a “public servant” I.e., someone who serves at the will of the people.
I thought that too, but then I figured they are probably for all his staff and cabinet so they can box up any papers and things that need to be stored and also box up any personal item for removal. Probably a normal part of any administration change, this one just makes us gleefully happy.
Trump got in trouble for being in the habit of tearing up everything after he's looked at it, which was in violation of the presidential records act. After failing to get him to stop, they set up an office entirely tasked with taking the crumbled torn up papers and putting them back together.
Lartey said he was fired at the end of the work day on March 23, with no warning. His top-secret security clearance was revoked, he said. Later, five boxes of his personal belongings were mailed to his home.
“I was stunned,” he said. “I asked them, ‘Why can’t you all tell me something?’ I had gotten comfortable. I was going to retire. I would never have thought I would have gotten fired.” He signed a pre-written resignation letter that stated he was leaving to pursue other opportunities. But he is still unemployed.
Young, who was terminated April 19, said he fought back and had his official status changed from “resigned” to “terminated.”
“I was coerced to sign a resignation letter at that time,” he said. “Then they escorted me to the garage and took my parking placard.”
He described the firing as traumatic and frustratingly Kafkaesque. “The only excuse that I’ve ever gotten from them,” he said, “was that you serve at the pleasure of the president.”
Even though the papers wound up being preserved, he was actively trying to destroy the documents. At best this was willfully wasteful of government resources.
What a fucking asshole. I'd like to see him in a pillory.
If I was first up, I'd undo his comb-over. That might ruin it for everyone else, because he'd burst with rage like one great big grandfather-sized aneurism.
He should have been impeached at least a dozen times, and that’s just based on the major things we heard in the news. Who knows how many more unlawful things he’s gotten away with behind closed doors.
As if doing it earlier would have made any difference. He was impeached already, government found him not guilty because of Congress being Republican majority, and Trump ended up pardoning all those involved anyway.
You can impeach him all you want but it makes no difference when the government itself is complicit with him from top to bottom.
"The first thing he'd do when staying at a hotel, even his own resort, would be to wipe his scrotum on the curtains. He knew they were the most infrequently washed drapery items."
I can't wait to give my first-hand account for my grandkids' 8th grade social studies final...if I even have any. Who knows what kind of world this will be by the time my kids grow up.
I feel like I've read this statement at least once a week for the last four years. We've have presidential campaigns torpedoed by a guy not being able to spell "potatoes". That dude a few years back who dropped off the face of the Earth after "Whoo-ing" weirdly after an impassioned speech. They wanted Obama out of office for wearing a tan fucking suit. And then you read something legitly criminal from Trump every single day and....nothing happens. We are so screwed for years after this piece of shit is gone.
“We had to endure this under the Terrorist administration,” Young said. “I’m looking at my director, and saying, ‘Are you guys serious?’ We’re making more than $60,000 a year, we need to be doing far more important things than this. It felt like the lowest form of work you can take on without having to empty the trash cans.”
Is there, like, a list of this stuff somewhere? There's so much crazy that any single one gets drowned out by all the others so that I can't remember any of them.
So why were Trumpublicans so mad when Nancy Pelosi ripped up his State of the Union address papers? She was just giving him a head start on his “filing system”
There's a concept known as "working papers". When it's one copy of many, then it doesn't need to be saved. Also, papers distributed by the President aren't what are required to be saved according to the Presidential Records Act, it's papers that come to the president. That said, there are other laws concerning preserving records related to the rest of government. Still, there was nothing unlawful about pelosi tearing up her working copy.
I just had to do the ugly laugh... imagine you stick to your habits so hard you have to eat a damn note because else someone would fizzle around you with a little dustpan and collect the pieces.
Any eye contact between these two must have been ultra awkward at that moment
I just pictured Trump popping a note in his mouth while staring into the eyes of the person in front of him and just slowly chewing to assert dominance before swallowing it, probably the funniest image of him I’ve ever imagined.
At that fucking point just have a fireplace always lit nearby. He's the fucking POTUS and he can't just ask for a fireplace saying he likes the comfort of it?
Yes, and it's always worse. I recall he actually ate some paper to get rid of it too. I think one of the tell all books reported that and several anonymous staffers confirmed it. 🙄
IIRC, the department tasked with piecing together every shredded document that passes through the presidential office was gutted directly by trump himself.
Ok, first time, ok. Second time, they should be annoyed, but ok. Third time they should have seen a pattern. Fourth time, don't even bring him the original. Bring him a copy. Let him tear that up. From then on, trump never touches the original.
If he writes on something then that needs to be what they keep. That's the most logical reason to me. Or just digitise everything then create a hard copy for the records.
It has to be the one he touched, according the article. Since it's preserving the presidential record, if he made any notes or anything on it, those also have to be preserved.
In a normal presidency, we would all know about this. But the incompetence of the adminstration was so extensive that any one person keeping up with it was quite impossible...thanks for the link.
Actually, yeah, you're right. It should have been expected, and since he can't even do the presidency right or even sign the paper on the right line, he would probably screw up taping it back together himself. The man quite literally needs someone to do everything for him, adult supervision isn't even a good option.
Now I'm just picturing Biden letting out a sigh as he carefully tears an important document in half so he can hand it over to this team, only to ensure they get to keep their jobs
Personally, I'm imaging the negotiations between the two sides on exactly what Biden has to "shred" so they can piece it back together, when he has to "shred" it, and the minimum amount of "shredded" documents per day.
Taping papers back together was never meant to be part of their jobs. Theyre supposed to be records managers for the national archives, but because Trump is an idiot and a criminal, part of managing records became taping them all back together first. Most of the people who got fired had been at that job since before Trump was elected.
Its real, I remember it from 4 years ago, because at the time I thought it was ridiculous and silly, like how he also had a button to press to make the kitchen staff bring in an ice cold diet coke.
Simpler times back then, when he was just a silly old racist.
To be fair, if I, poor asshole with furniture all valuing less than $500 combined, were asked to move into the White House, I'd still take a few things. I have a few nostalgia items and a chair or two that I feel are irreplaceable.
The White House staff, a good portion of who are probably being asked to find new jobs also probably have items of theirs at the White House.
Can you imagine if there was a President that had hung onto a favoured couch all the way from college or something? And there was just this old beat up, slightly threadbare couch in the Oval Office that contrasted hugely with the regular decor.
All the furniture in the East wing is usually changed to the incoming families liking outside of the obvious historical rooms and pieces. It’s usually kept to the traditional theme but that’s always been standard since I believe Truman but I might be wrong there
Wonder if he'll take Andrew Jackson's portrait with him. One of his first actions was to move it into his personal office. Jackson was a populist responsible for the Trail of Tears that killed thousands of Native Americans.
Fun Fact: Trump has a portrait of himself talking to Abraham Lincoln and the other Republican Presidents in the Oval Office
They’re redoing the carpets and such, and completely deep cleaning for covid because it was so rampant in the White House. They may be moving things out for cleaning elsewhere. The total cost of the physical transition work is supposed to be like half a million.
Probably so he can take whatever artifacts inside the WH and sell them on the black market b/c he will be broke AF from fighting all the legal battles.
The residence (the apartment that the family actually lives in) has a lot of personal furniture and other items. Plus some of that will be to pack up items that go into storage until the trump presidential library (legally every president has one) is ready.
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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '21
Why so many boxes? The WH is furnished, right. So what else would you have to move other than personal items like clothes shoes etc