WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is not the first president to want more space at the White House for entertaining, the executive residence’s longest-serving top adviser says, lending support to Trump’s rationale for his ballroom construction project.
Gary Walters spent more than two decades as the White House Chief of Staff to Presidents Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – a role akin to being the executive director of residence.
“Every president I’ve had the opportunity to serve has always talked about a possibility of expanding the area” for entertainment, Walters said in an interview with The Associated Press about his recently published memoir.
Trump has talked for years about building a ballroom at the White House, even before entering the political arena. In July, the White House announced that a 90,000-square-foot space would be built on the east side of the complex to accommodate 650 seated guests at a then-estimated cost of $200 million. Trump said it would be paid for with private donations, including from him.
The Republican president later increased the proposed ballroom’s capacity to 999 people, and by October had demolished the two-story east wing of the White House to build it there. In December, he updated the price to $400 million — double the original estimate.
Images of the east wing being demolished shocked historians, preservationists and others, but Walters said there is a long history of projects on campus, ranging from the conservatories, greenhouses and stables that were torn down to build the west wing in 1902, to the extension of the residence hall by a third floor, to the addition of the east wing during World War II to provide its staff workspace during World War II.
“So there’s always been construction around the White House,” Walters said.
Other presidents lamented the lack of space for entertainment
When Walters was on the job, the capacity of the White House’s largest public rooms was among the first topics he discussed with the incoming president, first lady and their social secretary, he said. The presidents he served all talked about the limited number of people he could manage in the White House.
When set up for a state dinner, the state dining room can seat about 130 people: 13 round tables each seating 10, Walters said. The East Room can seat about 300 – less if space is needed for television cameras.
Trump often complains that both chambers are too small. He also complained about the use of large tents on the southern grounds, the main solution for large events such as lavish state dinners for foreign leaders. Walters said the tents have had problems.
“When it rained, the water runs down and the grass got wet no matter what we tried to do,” Walters said. “We dug channels around the outside of the tent to try and get water.” The tents damaged the grass, requiring more work to reseed it, he said.
Walters admitted it was a bit of a shock to see the east wing torn down and said he has fond personal memories of the space. “I met my wife at the White House and she worked in the East Wing, so that was a joy for me,” Walters, 79, said.
His wife, Barbara, was a receptionist in the visitor’s bureau during the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford administrations. The couple recently celebrated 48 years of marriage.
Broken bones alter the trajectory of Usher’s career
Walters owes his place in history as the longest-serving head of the White House to the misfortune of a broken ankle.
He was 23 years old in early 1970, honorably discharged from the Army, and looking for a job that would allow him to finish college at night. The Executive Protective Service, a forerunner of the US Secret Service, employed and accepted him.
But shortly before the graduation ceremony, Walters broke an ankle playing soccer. He couldn’t patrol without a uniform, wearing a cast and hobbling around on crutches, so he was given a temporary assignment in the White House Police Appointments and Control Center. He stayed for five years.
“This injury also changed the course of my career,” Walters wrote in his memoir, “White House Memories: 1970-2007: Recollections of the Longest Chief Usher.” He gained a “thorough knowledge of the ways and security systems of the White House that would ultimately benefit me greatly in my future role in the Usher’s Office.”
A few months after being promoted to sergeant in 1975, he learned of an opening in the Usher’s Office. He applied and joined as an assistant in early 1976.
A decade later, he was elevated to chief aide by Reagan, who gave Walters the top job in the residence, overseeing maintenance, construction and renovation projects and food services, along with administrative, financial and personnel functions. Managed a staff of approximately 90 butlers, housekeepers, cooks, florists, electricians, engineers, plumbers and others.
Walters retired in 2007 after 37 years at the White House, including a record 21 years as chief usher. He served under seven presidents, from Nixon to George W. Bush.
During that time, Walters has seen a wide range of presidential history: the only president ever to resign, an appointed vice president becoming the only unelected president, a president impeached and remaining in office, a father and son becoming president, and the Supreme Court deciding the most closely contested presidential election in U.S. history.
He was often asked what he enjoyed most about his job, and “without hesitation I say it is getting to meet and interact directly with the president, first lady and other members of their families. It was an honor to know them with my own eyes and ears,” Walters wrote.