Read Online Margaret Truman by The President's House: 1800 to the Present : The Secrets, History of the World's Most Famous Home - Free Book Online

Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, the aides replaced the servants and Secret Service men who had formerly assisted, directed, and, if necessary, evicted guests at official events.
    The military aides, who are chosen for their smart appearance, are an attractive addition to White House parties, but their duties go beyond being merely decorative. They are what you might call social traffic cops, charged with seeing that schedules are adhered to, receiving lines keep moving, and ceremonies begin and end on time.
    The use of military aides at White House social functions is considered part of their duty to serve their commander in chief. This is also true of the U.S. Marine Band, a group of extremely talented musicians in scarlet uniforms who provide the music for state dinners and receptions and perform on the South Lawn for the arrival ceremonies for foreign leaders.
    The Marine Band is the country’s oldest professional musical organization. It was established by an act of Congress in 1798 and charged with providing music for the president of the United States and the commandant of the marine corps. Its first White House performance was for President John Adams’s New Year’s Day reception in 1801. A few months later, the band played for Thomas Jefferson’s inaugural, and it has performed at every presidential inauguration since. Jefferson, an accomplished musician himself, affirmed the unique status of the band by naming them “The President’s Own.”
    The members of the Marine Band are graduates of the country’s most prestigious music schools. They audition for places just as they would for a major symphony orchestra. Some or all of the band members appear at the White House over three hundred times a year. They may be called upon to provide strolling violinists, a string quartet, or a dance band, and they can probably play “Hail to the Chief” with their eyes closed.
    VIII
    Entertaining at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue involves complications and potential pitfalls that are unlikely to bedevil the average host or hostess. Some of the thorniest problems involve visiting royalty. When Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth and her husband, the duke of Edinburgh (now Prince Philip), visited the United States in 1951, my father decided to meet them at the airport. The State Department had a conniption. According to protocol, the president only shows up at the airport to greet heads of state. Dad, being Dad, went anyway.
    An early diplomatic crisis arose in 1877 when Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, arrived in the White House. Strong supporters of the temperance movement, they never served wine or liquor in their home in Ohio. They planned to continue this practice in Washington to set an example for the rest of the country.
    The State Department feared the ban might provoke an international incident. The White House guest list regularly included diplomats and other representatives of foreign countries. They were used to having wine with their meals and would be noticeably unhappy if it were omitted.
    The first test came early on when two emissaries of the czar of Russia, Grand Duke Constantine and Grand Duke Alexis, visited the United States. Protocol required that they be given a formal dinner at the White House.
    The State Department immediately went on red alert. Secretary of State William Evarts regarded it as unthinkable to subject the two young men to a “cold water” meal. To forestall such a possibility, Evarts enlisted the aid of a distinguished attorney who was an old friend of the president’s.
    In view of what they were accustomed to in their own country, the attorney argued, “a dinner without wine would be an annoyance, if not an affront” to the grand dukes and, by extension, an affront to Russia, a longtime ally of the United States. To Secretary Evarts’s enormous relief, Hayes was persuaded.
    The dinner was a splendid affair. The State Dining