Our Visit With The President and First Lady

We were invited to The White House by Ben and Julie Crenshaw, one of the Sr. golfers that attend the Fellowship on Friday evenings. Ben and the President have known each other for many years. Ben and Julie were with the Bush’s when they found out that he had won the election for President. Another couple that would be there were Scott and Julie Sayer also from Texas and longtime friends. There would be just eight for dinner in the private residence at 7:00 pm on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2003.

We drove from Baltimore (where the tournament was that week) with the Crenshaw’s into Washington D.C. As we approached The White House we had some trouble finding the right gate but we finally did. We passed by the South Lawn looking through the fence at the lit up White House. It is such a beautiful place. We were cleared at the first gate then pulled up some so a dog could sniff the underside of the car. Then we pulled up through several cement barricades to approach the gates of the South Lawn area. As we were let into the gates we drove up a curving drive right below the Truman Balcony. As we got out of the car and looked up the Mall we could see the fountain and the lit Washington Memorial. Behind us was a nice lady from the Usher’s Office that met us and led us into the building. Another sight as we got out of the car was of a man dressed completely in black fatigues carrying a machine gun peeking out from behind the trees. Julie told me that they are everywhere around us but we can’t see them. Quite impressive though!

We entered into a hall that led to a small elevator lined in wood. An older man operated the elevator for us. Up one floor and we exited into another hall. Turning left we were in the private residence! As we turned the corner The President and First Lady got up and came to greet us. Before I knew it I was shaking hands with the President! I was surprised that it all happened so quickly! The private residence is the length of The White House. It is like a very long, wide hall with rooms that lead off of it. We entered and then sat at one end of this "hall". It was all yellow and gold and very comfy. The dogs were both there and Mr. Bush played with Barney almost the whole time. Barney had a toy that he hung on to and pulled on as the President just held on! Spot was there, too. Mrs. Bush explained that Spot was a puppy of the famous White House dog of the first Pres. and Mrs. Bush, Millie. Millie wrote her own book about the White House. Spot is now quite old and almost blind and deaf. He just moved from person to person to be quietly petted. A very friendly black cat also joined us. I didn’t learn the cat’s name. On the coffee table and the sofa table behind me were vases of yellow roses… dozens of them. Beautiful! Before we got too settled in the President suggested we take the pictures so the photographer could go home. It was a young lady and she took a group photo and then a picture of each couple with the Bush’s. I went to stand next to Mrs. Bush and the President told me to get next to him. "Don’t you know how to take a picture?" he kidded me. "Apparently not," I answered! I asked Julie later how we could get a copy of that photo and she said it will come to our house. How do they know my address? "Oh, they know," Julie said!

Our conversation as we had some drinks was about people they all knew in common, the kids, etc. The President knew something about us and asked us some questions about where we live, etc. Tom told him about the Philippines a bit and the orphanage. When Tom mentioned that he was going back to the Philippines next month the President said, "Oh! Me, too!", like they might see each other there! He is going for a State Dinner with President Arroyo but it isn’t safe enough there for him to stay overnight. So they will fly in from Tokyo and after dinner fly out to Singapore. He mentioned he thought Pres. Arroyo was doing a good job on terrorism. He felt though that she was fighting an uphill battle with all the corruption in the ranks of the government. Way down to the little guy. This was not new news to us! He also mentioned that he had met Gracia Burnham. She had come to The White House with her children. He was very impressed with her testimony and her strong faith. The President also talked about the general condition of the world specifically mentioning how dangerous Iran was right now. He concluded by saying that the only way to have peace is for a society to be free and open with a free exchange of ideas.

The President had not participated in the larger memorial services that day so that more family members could participate without all the security problems him being there would create. They had gone to Walter Reed Hospital in the afternoon to visit soldiers back from Iraq. Both the President and Mrs. Bush seemed really moved by the visit. They met a young man that had fought and had been wounded but wasn’t even a US citizen. He was from the Micronesian Islands. The President told us that he had passed a Presidential decree that anyone that was not a US citizen but still fought in the US military would automatically become a citizen. The Filipinos would have loved that after WWII. The President told us that the young man’s father was so grateful because the US had brought him to Washington to be with his son. He had no money, no passport or visa, and yet here he was. The President was there to deliver Purple Heart medals to the soldiers.

After visiting for awhile we moved into the private dining room which used to be a bedroom. Willie Lincoln died in that room. Mrs. Roosevelt had the room changed into a dining room/kitchen so she and Pres. Roosevelt wouldn’t have to go downstairs to eat. The President sat at one end of the table and the First Lady the other. I was told to sit to the right of the President, Tom to the right of the First Lady, Julie Sayer was beside me with Ben at the left of Mrs. Bush. Julie C. was across from me and Scott beside her. The flowers on the table were a huge bowl of green hydrangeas with white lilies. A Georgia O’Keefe painting hung on the wall. It was a painting of a flower that they have a lot of on the ranch in Crawford. There were several other paintings and Mrs. Bush knew them all. The dishes we ate off of were the Clinton china. The charger plate was gold with a relief of the White House at the top. The plates were white rimmed in a wide border of a yellow trellis pattern. It was called Millennium.

As we sat down the President asked Tom if he would say grace for us. And then he added that, "We hold hands at this table." So here I was holding hands with the President while my husband said grace. My hand got a big squeeze as Tom said amen. Quite the moment!

Our first course was a Tex/Mex dish of crab tortillas with a salsa type sauce over them. Really yummy. The main course was roast pork, broccoli, and potatoes with a small side salad served at the same time. Dessert was quite impressive. It was a huge mound of ice cream under a flaky crust. I think it was Baked Alaska. The ice cream was rum raison and accompanied by baked pineapple slices. Everything was served by two waiters that just glided in and out of the room. The President and Mrs. Bush were served first and then they would disappear and bring in the plates for the rest of us. We noticed that the President dug right into his food and ate quickly so the rest of us were always behind him!

By the way, the evening was supposed to be casual we had heard. So Tom had packed some nice things but not a suit coat. Well, the night before we found out that a coat might be good so we went out Thursday morning and got Tom a new sport coat, shirt and tie. He looked great. I wore a black pantsuit. The First Lady also wore black pants and a sparkly sweater set. The President was the most relaxed. He had on a purple golf shirt, a sport coat, and slip in (like clogs) tennis shoes with no socks!

Our conversation at dinner ranged from politics to sports. Julie C. kept up the conversation at our end of the table. She talked about the Dem. debates, the French trying to settle again with the Libyans over the downed Pan Am thing, etc. When she started talking about the French, the President just quietly said not to ruin his dinner by talking about them! He asked if Tom and I had any children and when I told him no he said well we really had 36 referring to the orphanage. He knew where Saginaw was (I showed him on my hand anyway) because he had been there on a campaign trip sometime. He also mentioned how sad the situation was at Baylor with the mess in the basketball program there. The First Lady mentioned that they were already working on the Christmas decorations for the White House. The theme this year is a storybook one. All the decorations will be lollipops, candy, primary colors, large wooden storybooks, etc. The President also told a story of an exchange he had had with some reporters at the ranch. Tom Cochran had asked the President if he watched him on the TV news. When the President said he didn’t a young Reuters reporter seemed stunned and just blurted out, "Then how do you know what the people are thinking?" Mr. Bush answered that believe it or not people don’t necessarily form their opinions by just what they hear on the news or read in the papers. What they write is not necessarily indicative of what people think either. He also mentioned the fish are getting bigger in his lake at the ranch that they stocked and they had a great time clearing cedar during their vacation there.

After dinner the President offered to show us the Oval Office. But first he ducked out to another room and while he was out the First Lady offered to give us a tour of the private residence. Apparently, the President was going to check the internet to see if it was still raining in Crawford!

Mrs. Bush led us from room to room down this long hall. It is lined with beautiful paintings that she knew all about. One of the first rooms we looked into was the famous Lincoln bedroom. The room was originally President Lincoln’s office. There is only one picture of what it looked like and they keep trying to get it back to what it was then except for the bed which was huge! This room looks out over the Jefferson Memorial. The coverlet on the bed and the drapes were green silk. The rug was flowered and quite worn but Mrs. Bush said they are trying to recreate a new one from the photo. One thing I noticed in this room full of old historical things was a large flat screen TV in the corner! The next was a large living room that they greet State guests in. The Dali Lama had been there the day before. It was all gold and yellow but a couple of chairs were in an orange, flocked fabric that Jackie Kennedy had chosen and have never been changed. The view from this room is out over the Truman Balcony directly towards the Jefferson Memorial. Beautiful at night! Mrs. Bush has been doing a lot of fixing up. Things hadn’t been painted since the Reagan’s and much of the furniture was in bad shape. The Bush girls have their own bedroom suite which we didn’t see which is next to The Queen’s Bedroom. This is where the older Bush’s stay when they come for a visit. It was all done in coral and light green. Off this room was a small sitting room in dark blue and white. It had been done by Jackie Kennedy and had never been changed. Apparently, she had an American decorator for show but she really loved the French style so the French decorators did the work. One of the oldest pieces in the residence is a Chippendale couch at the end of the hall.

After our tour we said good-by to Mrs. Bush and then headed to the little elevator with the President for our tour of the Oval Office. We had a full elevator with the six of us guests, the President, the elevator operator, and then a Secret Service man crowded in, too! I hadn’t seen anyone until all of a sudden there he was in there with us. Very cozy! As we got off the elevator the SS man just blended into the woodwork. Tom said another man followed with "The Football." He carries a brief case with the codes in it. I didn’t even notice him.

We walked out alongside the Rose Garden. We stopped outside the office and looked out on the garden. There are two steps down and the President showed us where he stands during press conferences but if it rains he stands on the top step. Then as we took a few more steps we were in the office. The first thing that hit me was how bright it was. The main light came from behind some big crown molding that ran around the upper rim of the room. The second thing that hit me was the rug. In the center is the seal of the US and has dark and light gold rays running out to a border. Each President gets to design his own rug. The First Lady designed this one. Directly above this seal is one on the ceiling done in relief with a ring of gold stars around it. A young man in the small office next door stuck his head in a said hello to the Crenshaw’s and Sayers. Then the President told him goodnight and told him to go ahead and make the room oval again (or close the door!) This was the Presidents personal assistant, Dean. The flowers in this room were also roses but in an orange color.

The President proceeded to tell us about the things he had chosen to put in the room. Directly across from the desk are two couches facing each other. On the wall there is a portrait of George Washington. To the left is a portrait and bust of A. Lincoln. He told us he chose Lincoln because he admires him so much. He was able to hold our country together and keep it united in the worst of times when it was divided against itself. That was what he wanted to be able to do, too. Keep us all united. He casually mentioned that that was Nixon’s problem. He didn’t understand how to keep us united. Just to the left of his desk was a small table with a framed copy of an old Methodist hymn, "A Charge to Keep I Have." Above it was a painted illustration of that hymn. Tom walked over to see it more clearly and the President moved there with him. Tom mentioned a quote from the first President Bush that we had read just a few days before this. It was that Pres. Bush believed that anyone that was President had to have faith in God to do it. The current President Bush looked right at Tom and very forcefully said, "Tom, I believe that."

My Bible Study group had given me a card that everyone signed to let the President know he was prayed for. We had given it to Ben because we thought he might know better when to give it to him. Ben gave it to him then and he put in into the IN box on his desk. Then he told us about the desk. It was an old desk used by many presidents. It had been carved and made from parts of an old British ship that had shipwrecked and the men had been saved by Americans. A queen had the desk made as a thank you. It was very ornate with a leather top. It was the same desk used by FDR, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, etc. This is the desk that John John Kennedy peeked out of in that famous photo. A story about the desk that was interesting was that originally it didn’t have a closing over the part in the front where you could see legs. FDR commissioned a door made to cover his legs because of his braces. The door has the Presidential seal on it but is a bit different than the present day one. Originally the eagle which holds in one set of talons the olive branches of peace. The other side are the arrows of war. The eagle on this little door faces the arrows of war. After WWII when Truman was in office he thought the eagle should face the olive branches of peace. So the seal in the rug and on the ceiling face the olive branches. As President Bush told us this story he finished by saying, "But, sometimes you have to use the arrows."

Tom realized it was just after 9:00 pm and said that we should let this man get some sleep and so we backed out of the room to walk back to the main hall. We walked past the lit cabinet room with the big table and big leather chairs around it. The President’s chair is just a little higher in back than everyone else’s.

We said our goodbyes in the hall before the President turned to get into his little elevator. We turned and walked outside to our cars. It was around 9:15 pm.

This was quite the amazing experience. Our overall impression of the Bush’s was one of respect. They are very likeable, comfortable people. But the main impression I got from the President is that he has a huge amount of respect for the office of President. He feels the charge to do his best and to do it with the Lord’s help.

Frankly, I was so nervous I wish I could go back again sometime and have a good time! Really, I loved every minute of being there and tried to just absorb it all. I was just hoping I wouldn’t burst into tears or something like that. I waited until I got into our hotel room and then cried!

The next morning we flew to Oklahoma and spent several days there. On Friday, Sept. 12 we ate dinner with Gil and Jeanine Morgan in a small neighborhood Mexican restaurant and it seemed life was back to normal again!