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White House Story: A Democratic Memoir
White House Story, a Democratic Memoir, is a behind-the-scenes look at life and work in the world's most powerful house. Melinda Bates is the only person in history to run the White House Visitors Office for all eight years of an administration. From her perch in the East Wing she organized brilliant Easter Egg Rolls, fireworks viewings, and ceremonies for visiting heads of state. Breakfast with Tom Hanks, lunch with Michael Douglas, gifts from the King of Morocco, and dinner seated next to President Bill Clinton were all in a day's work. The author is uniquely qualified to take the reader backstage as celebrities, dignitaries and political power brokers visit President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. How does the White House work? What happens when it doesn’t work so well? How does someone get a job there? Everybody loves the White House and White House Story is a zany, sometimes heart-breaking, and always compelling first-hand account of eight amazing years of American history, told by the ONLY person who went along "for the whole ride." This book is the same book as Clintonista, only the title changed.
300 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 10, 2018
I saw Ms Bates speak recently on a cruise ship and her presentations were as engaging as her writing. I thoroughly enjoyed both.
February 26, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this "behind-the-curtains" glimpse at the fascinating world inside President Bill Clinton's White House. The author's perspective as President Clinton's college classmate and friend, then his Special Assistant and Director of the White House Visitors Office, was candid and highly entertaining. She is the only person to have held that Visitors Office position for all eight years of an administration, and what a time it was!
Melinda Bates experienced a heady world populated with high profile guests, powerful officials, power brokers, and world leaders, and she seemingly held back little in this book in terms of personal opinion: high praise or scathing criticism. Her days could be gloriously exciting, emotionally and physically exhausting, or charmingly moving, but she obviously relished every moment of it. She organized Easter Egg Rolls, Fourth of July fireworks, and ceremonies for visiting heads of state. She controlled visitor passes for everyone, including senators and congressmen, and she took seriously the Clintons' desire to have the most accessible White House in history.
She movingly conveyed the hurt and betrayal she and other staff members felt when rumors of Clinton's philandering were proven true, but she fiercely defends his intelligence, his and Hillary's high goals for America and the world, and their passionate commitment to leaving the world a better place for his having been President. She pulls no punches about her disdain and hatred for the dirty partisan politics, including the antics of special prosecutor Ken Starr, that were so disruptive as to hinder the government from doing its job effectively.
Personal pictures throughout added to the stories. President Clinton endorsed the book himself in a cover testimonial, "Bates reveals the behind-the-scenes reality of a beloved symbol of our nation."
Melinda Bates experienced a heady world populated with high profile guests, powerful officials, power brokers, and world leaders, and she seemingly held back little in this book in terms of personal opinion: high praise or scathing criticism. Her days could be gloriously exciting, emotionally and physically exhausting, or charmingly moving, but she obviously relished every moment of it. She organized Easter Egg Rolls, Fourth of July fireworks, and ceremonies for visiting heads of state. She controlled visitor passes for everyone, including senators and congressmen, and she took seriously the Clintons' desire to have the most accessible White House in history.
She movingly conveyed the hurt and betrayal she and other staff members felt when rumors of Clinton's philandering were proven true, but she fiercely defends his intelligence, his and Hillary's high goals for America and the world, and their passionate commitment to leaving the world a better place for his having been President. She pulls no punches about her disdain and hatred for the dirty partisan politics, including the antics of special prosecutor Ken Starr, that were so disruptive as to hinder the government from doing its job effectively.
Personal pictures throughout added to the stories. President Clinton endorsed the book himself in a cover testimonial, "Bates reveals the behind-the-scenes reality of a beloved symbol of our nation."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews