Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

For her tour of the White House with Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy had requested a wheelchair. She had recently had a caesarian section delivering her son, John F. Kennedy Jr., on November 25, 1960. Mamie, who did not want to wheel her around, told the staff to have the wheelchair in the closet and to give it to her only if she requested it. Later, Jackie asked West why no wheelchair was provided. When he told her that she had not asked for it, she laughed and said that she was too afraid of Mamie. Later, Jackie quickly came to take charge in the White House.

With an incredible sense of detail and wide-ranging knowledge, Jackie transformed the White House into a national monument. West describes her personality as complex. In public, she was aloof and elegant, but in private, she was “casual, impish, and irreverent” (179). She had a great sense of humor but did not cross a line with the staff into familiarity. She roamed the White House, discovering treasures and removing horrors (181). The pink colors favored by Mamie were replaced. Borrowing paintings from the Smithsonian, the walls of the White House resembled galleries.

Jackie commanded the staff to have no receiving lines, more fresh flowers, and fires in all the fireplaces for the first state function.