Added some miscellaneous stuff the other day from Truman and Bush 1.
Also, I got a nice note from a retired USSS man (Ike and Johnson eras) and chatted with him by phone about the history of the USSS in the WH. He says the USSS has added an archivist who is gathering history to assemble a better picture of the service over the years.
He described the decision to convert a storage room under the Oval Office into a USSS shift leader office around 1965 (the press was lobbying for that space, but his security detail convinced LBJ that having journalists a few feet directly under his office was a bad idea). That's the only security office I have labeled. I've been very hands-off when it comes to WH security measures, but if the officials in the service see fit to release a comprehensive book, I'll borrow from that to add to the site.
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Facinating stuff!
ReplyDeleteI think if I were president that right under the Oval Office would be a bit too close for comfort. If I were president, I would be more inclined to put the Press Room in an un-airconditioned butler building in Bethesda.
It amazes me that the President, any president, thinks it necessary to have the press corps gaggling a few feet away from the Oval Office. Allowing that body to have such proximity only inflates its already over-inflated sense of itself. Space in the Eisenhower building seems close enough. There's already an auditorium in that building that can accommodate more reporters than can the White House.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of give and take, I think. Every president wants easy access to the public to get his message out. And just the act of allowing yourself to be challenged by the press shows that you're an open leader and not a dictator or monarch.
ReplyDeleteApparently the press aren't allowed to get past the security desk by the PS office. I was watching an interview with George Stephanopolous (sp?)and he talks about how in trouble he was when he instituted that rule. They used to walk all over the place and hang out in the lobby.
ReplyDeleteWingnut's comment only reinforces my statement earlier that the press corps has an exaggerated sense of its own importance. To the EEOB with 'em! Pronto!
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