57 pages • 1 hour read
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
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Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Trumans”
Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary
On April 12, 1945, West heard about President Roosevelt’s death on the radio. He phoned Crim, and they returned quickly to the White House. The staff had no time to mourn, and West learned that the “secret of White House existence” (52) was loyalty to the institution, not the occupants of the presidential office. The ushers had to locate a bible to use for President Truman’s oath of office. Eleanor requested a few minutes alone with her husband’s body. The coffin was opened for that purpose and then permanently closed. When packing up her husband’s office, Eleanor encouraged West to take a remembrance from the many personal effects of the Roosevelts. He asked and was granted a playpen used by the Roosevelts’ grandchildren. When she left the White House, Eleanor shook hands with Crim and all the ushers.
The Trumans were down-to-earth people, quiet and modest. There was no class difference between Bess Truman and West, as there had been with Eleanor. West became the main contact for Bess for operations in the White House. She was funny, with a dry wit, always impeccably groomed but not with glamour. Comfortable in her own skin, she treated the staff with respect and asked little of them. Indeed, the Trumans introduced the staff to their visitors. Bess’s mother, Mrs. David Wallace, moved into the White House with the family. After 19 days in office, President Truman requested a tour of the White House. He had poor eyesight and was his own man. West observes that the Trumans, Harry, Bess, and their daughter Margaret, were “very close” (60), closer in fact than any other first family during his tenure. They were very private and ate together informally.
Bess worked at her desk in the morning, joined the president for lunch, and received charity groups and others in the afternoon. The Trumans had cocktails together at the end of the day, preferably straight up, and took dinner at seven o’clock in the evening. Afterward, they would talk to each other and watch movies. At nine o’clock at night, Harry and Bess would go into a study and work on speeches and politics until 11 o’clock. While Bess said nothing of her involvement in politics publicly, this educated and intelligent woman had influence. President Truman’s staff referred to him as the boss, and he, in turn, referred to Bess that way. West notes that Margaret, who had her friends over to the White House, was the “most unspoiled of all the Presidents’ children” (68) he had known.
The early days of Truman’s presidency saw public jubilation on May 8, 1945, when victory was declared in Europe, which was also the president’s birthday. Then, more celebrations followed on September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered. However, four days later, when Truman introduced his domestic proposals to Congress, an anti-Truman movement was launched. Truman, who was punctual and began his days with physical exercise, was well aware of the broadening role of the US in international politics as well as domestic hurdles.
Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary
One of Bess’s requests was that the White House be kept clean. Housekeeping did not do a great job at this time, and there was a tense relationship with the housekeeper. It came to a head “over a stick of butter” (71). Bess went to the kitchen to request a stick of butter for a potluck luncheon, and the housekeeper refused her. Soon after that, that housekeeper was replaced with a new one. At this time, the president had to pay personally for the meals of his own family and guests. Before 1945, presidents were also expected to pay for servants, but that was untenable for Truman. Funding was provided for that from other departments. However, Bess had to be frugal about the food.
Given their daughter’s gift for singing, the Trumans brought music to the White House. They also invited guests, but in smaller numbers than the Roosevelts did. Bess attended to the guests. They entertained on a small scale initially consistent with the war years. However, in the fall of 1946, the formal social season resumed with six official dinners. The president enjoyed entertaining, while Bess was not as much of a fan of it. There was only one mishap that season at a dinner for the diplomatic corps. Because there were so many ambassadors, there were two separate dinners, with the odd numbers one night and the even another. To Bess’s dismay, one ambassador found this system offensive and canceled. The president, angry that this ambassador had upset his beloved wife, wanted to expel him. Bess prevailed upon him not to do so. Representative Adam Clayton Powell was excluded from guest lists because he had insulted the first lady for attending a Daughters of the American Revolution event. The president was fiercely protective of his family. In 1948, with international hunger abroad, the social season was once again curtailed.
Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary
With the president’s popularity at a low of 32%, Congress refused the White House’s plans to expand the West Wing. The president was able to find the funds to build a balcony that his family desired, but it received little use. More importantly, the White House was structurally in trouble. An initial warning came when a chandelier started shaking simply because someone walked across a floor upstairs. At the president’s request, Congress created a commission on the renovation of the White House. It found the structure in very bad shape, given the timbers, poor wiring, and rotted walls. It proposed three options, two of which involved demolishing the White House and rebuilding and the third of which would gut the interior and preserve the outer walls. With the president’s support and public backing, the third option was chosen. The scope of the reconstruction was huge, with two additional underground floors also added. During the reconstruction, the Trumans had to move to Blair House, and the president worked in the adjacent Lee House.
Truman campaigned for the presidency in 1948 via his whistle-stop tour. He spoke to people on the platforms of trains. His victory was a tremendous one for the family. Given that they were living in Blair House, the Inauguration was simpler than usual. After graduating college, Margaret moved to New York to initiate a singing career. Bess and Harry spent much time together, and the president was saddened when Bess left for the summer to take her mother to Independence, Missouri. He was happy upon her return but consumed with the Cold War. McCarthy was raising the alarm about the Communist threat: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had developed a nuclear bomb, and North Korea invaded South Korea. The US was to be once again fighting in a war. That brought a moratorium to entertainment, though Bess held teas for the wounded soldiers.
Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary
On November 1, 1950, approximately 20 minutes after President Truman had walked into Blair House, there was the sound of gunfire outside. Puerto Rican nationalists were making an assassination attempt in hopes of encouraging a revolution in the US, which would allow for the independence of Puerto Rico. One assassin and one police officer were killed, and another police officer was injured in this thwarted attempt on the president’s life. Following this incident, people were no longer able to walk directly in front of Blair House, and freedom of movement for the first family was more restricted. The numbers of Secret Service and police increased.
Responding to a bad review of Margaret’s singing performance, the president wrote a scathing letter to the reviewer. He received bad publicity as a result, and more criticism followed when he fired General Douglas MacArthur on April 11, 1951. He also had to deal with a Chinese invasion of Korea. On all matters, Truman confided in his wife, and West stresses her influence over the president.
The Trumans were finally able to move back into the White House on March 27, 1952. As the White House then had air conditioning and other places followed, Washington, DC, was transformed into a “year-round city” (112). The White House was opened for tours and Bess, working with a tight budget, transferred Filipino workers on the presidential yacht to help with cleaning in the White House. While Truman campaigned for Adlai Stevenson, Dwight Eisenhower was elected to be the next president that fall. Bess’s mother died in December, but the family returned from Missouri to celebrate their last Christmas in the White House. West witnessed for the first time the ritual of the outgoing president greeting the incoming one on Inauguration Day. He commented that the close-knit Truman family was not changed too much by their time in the White House (115).
Part 2 Analysis
West initially depicts the Truman White House as a place filled with music and, after the war, as the setting of many large social gatherings. Peacetime brings a return of dinners and other state events. However, within three years, the image shifts when structural and safety concerns emerge, and a major renovation and reconstruction is undertaken, forcing the Trumans to move to Blair House. The decision to move the first family to a different home necessarily placed a lot of responsibility on the White House staff, who undertook maintenance and improvement projects as well as inventorying and moving essential items needed in the substitute lodging. While presented matter-of-factly by West, The Important Role of Behind-the-Scenes Workers in helping the Trumans maintain both their home life and their official duties in this unique situation cannot be underestimated.
The author paints a vivid portrait of the President and Mrs. Truman, who, unlike the Roosevelts, very much functioned as a couple, spending a great deal of time together. The first couple and their daughter Margaret were also very close and remained so after the president left office. The Impact of Public Scrutiny on the Life of the First Family was evidenced by President Truman’s strong reaction to any offense or insult to his wife and daughter. Given his fierce love for Bess and Margaret, he acted in their defense when the press or a political actor insulted one of them, a habit that, owing to the salient nature of his position, caused him political problems. For example, his letter to a negative reviewer of Margaret’s singing became national news. Knowing this dynamic, Bess stopped him from expelling an ambassador who offended her. After the assassination attempt on Truman, the first family was more restricted in their movement, and more police and Secret Service surrounded them. While their close family ties were never really threatened, the scrutiny still impacted their family life.
Once again, the narrative presents detailed depictions of the president and the first lady. Unlike with the Roosevelts, there was no real class difference between West and the Trumans, who treated the staff with more respect and introduced them to their guests. West also highlights The Contribution of First Ladies to the Presidency through descriptions of the relationship between the president and his wife. Every night, the first couple would discuss politics, and Bess would act as the president’s advisor on speeches and other matters. This role was not known to the public. However, Truman only half-jokingly referred to Bess as the boss. He valued and trusted her advice, as she had his best interests in mind.
Truman faced a world unknown to his predecessors and one in which the powers of the office had been greatly expanded. After World War II, the US did not disband or greatly reduce its standing army as had been done in all previous wars. The presence of nuclear weapons raised the stakes of military decisions enormously. A series of new alliances, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), additionally equated an attack on US allies with an attack on the US. Therefore, while the president’s constitutional role of commander-in-chief had not changed in the US Constitution, reality made the role much more significant. The president had an army to command in peacetime, for example, and did not rely on Congress to raise one. Given this new role and strain in international relations, with the beginnings of the Cold War and the invasion of South Korea, Truman relied on his wife not only for advice but also solace, a fact that West observed in his behind-the-scenes role.
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