What Happens Inside the White House on Inauguration Day

this is how you transform the White House from one president to another make America powerful again moving out cleaning repainting and so much more is a Herculean task however the roughly 100 members of The White House staff assigned to these duties have less than 6 hours to make it all happen worse yet any simple mistake could turn the president's first day in office into a disaster in a number of ways packing of the White House is much more complicated than renting a U-Haul and a trailer putting all your junk in it and slapping the ratchet

straps with a that's not going anywhere for you see the White House is a massive historic mansion with six floors and 20,000 ft of living space within an area known as the executive residence starting from the bottom there are two stories to the basement the lowest one houses machinery and support systems for the White House while the first four the basement host the kitchen tons of storage and other ancillary service equipment while the executive residence is actually six floors including two basement an attic and a public ground floor the first and second floors are where

the actual living quarters are the first family normally occupies the first floor while the second floor houses mainly guest Suites and other living spaces all told the 20,000 Square ft of the executive residence has dozens of rooms in including approximately 20 bedrooms and 35 bathrooms among other office and personal spaces that must be packed up cleaned out and moved in with new stuff in less than 6 hours this makes picking up that pile of dirty laundry from your floor that's been sitting there all week seem like a cakewalk just how the White House manages to

pull this off is nothing short of extraordinary how in the world is the White House supposed to plan for such a massive undertaking believe it or not the planning actually starts right after election day traditionally once the race is called and it's clear who the winner is the White House will begin working with the incoming Administration the person in charge of this process is the white house chief Usher the white house chief Usher oversees roughly 100 Butlers Maids chefs housekeepers engineers and other staff serving the first family at the executive residence after the election the

chief Usher will send questionnaires to the incoming president's transition team which will want to know everything from what kind of foods the president likes to what kind of toothpaste he uses Additionally the chief Usher will work hand inand with the incoming first lady to begin decorating her new home because the White House is like a Living Museum it has accumulated several hundred years worth of artifacts Furniture artwork and other presidential memorabilia though some of these Priceless artifacts are on site of at the White House most of the collection is housed in a large storage facility

in Maryland it is customary for the first lady to pick whatever pieces she desires from The Collection to help decorate and furnish the White House due to the historic significance of some of these artifacts some will remain on permanent display at the White House the Lincoln bedroom is one such part of the executive residence that looks just as it did when President Lincoln passed away from an Assassin's bullet in 1865 including the B where he actually spent his final moments however many of the Furnishings include specially commissioned ART furniture and gifts given to previous administrations

if the president wanted to he could sit in George Washington's chair or the first lady could hang a lamp that was gifted by the brother of Napoleon bonapart first families can also choose to decorate the White House for political reasons a recent example is one of the choices President Biden made when he picked a bust of civil rights leader Caesar Chavez to Adorn the Oval Office he specifically chose this bust since Chavez was a key figure of the Hispanic population Biden said he wanted to be reminded of his leadership and example each day when he

went to work in addition to helping to pick out some of these historic Furnishings the new president and first lady also make it known their desires for any interior remodeling whether new rugs carpets paint or whatever the case may be the chief us ensures the first family's requests are documented and coordinated well before inauguration day however some of these requests are certainly a tall order to fill for example after President Truman took office he directed the staff to construct a balcony on the south Portico of the white house that has since become a symbolic fixture

of the building before president nickon took office he insisted that the White House construct a on Lane Bowling Alley in the basement however Nixon was not the only one who wanted to bring his personal touches because of President Teddy Roosevelt's love of the outdoors and hunting he insisted that he' be allowed to display his collection of Taxidermy animals while many raised their eyebrows they couldn't tell the president no and during his administration the White House was transformed into a sort of Museum of Curiosities of course these are just a few examples of some of the

major changes that a president and first lady have made but there are limitations on what can be approved when Hillary Clinton wanted to decorate the White House with more contemporary modern art she faced a massive backlash from the White House historical Association and she backed down when President Reagan requested an outdoor pool be built on the south lawn the Secret Service turned him down because of the security implications but for those lavish crazy or extraordinary requests that are approved there is a catch no changes can be made until the sitting president actually leaves the White

House that morning for inauguration day around 10: to 11: a.m. this means that despite the several months of preparation and planning the team only has about 5 to 6 hours to pull everything off once the exiting first family leaves for the swearing in of the new president on inauguration day the White House staff rise as early as 4 in the morning to get a head start on any of the massive modeling projects mentioned previously that are going to take more than just a few hours to complete the White House Usher will also ensure people are

assigned to other projects that may take longer to accomplish like repainting rooms or changing out flooring however most of the staff will rise at their normal time so they can prepare for a White House tradition on a president's last day in office as part of this tradition all of the White House staff gather with the president and first lady to formally say goodbye as the president president and first lady make their rounds they often exchange words of encouragement or short stories of their fond memories with the staff as they have become a part of their

larger family at the end of the ceremony the chief Usher will present a gift to the president handcrafted in the White House's woodwork shop the gift consists of two American flags in handmade cases these flags were flown on his first full day and last full day in office at the conclusion of this ceremony the first family then leaves for the inocu duration and as they do an army of Staff begins packing up everything inside because of security concerns outside movers aren't allowed inside the White House this is a real problem considering that massive pieces of

furniture weighing hundreds of pounds large mattresses and ornate decorations along with all the family's personal belongings need to be packed up and moved any wrong move during this part could damage Priceless artifacts that are literally Irreplaceable but to get around the security concerns so these items don't go missing the entire staff comprises the army of movers needed to pack up haul down and load the trucks on the south lawn of the White House these trucks with one being empty and one being full of the new first family's belongings are among the few outside vendors allowed

during this process although there are some very interesting knickknacks and artifacts families can use to decorate the home these must all be turned back over to special antique movers since they are property of the US government however the staff cannot willy-nilly throw these things into boxes so while other people are moving giant mattresses and furniture There are staff members huddled in the corner feverishly packaging an 18th century lamp to make sure it doesn't break additionally any gifts a president receives also have to be turned over to the National Archives so if Trump's son gets gifted

A PS5 while in office that gaming system will become a historical artifact unless president Trump elects to pay the government the items fair market value but getting back to the stuff in the executive residence as the staff is boxing up personal items and moving furniture a dedicated cleaning crew comes in to make the place spotless and if there's any damage like Donald Trump spilling one of his Daily 12 Diet Cokes on the carpet the team will simply rip out the carpet and put in a fresh one because of all the different teams coming and going

from people packing old things unpacking new things cleaning and redecorating the actions of the staff are quite literally planned out to the minute and as the clock continues to run out the staff are on a strict timetable to ensure the rest of the inauguration day's activities go off without a hitch the last thing they want is for the first family to be awkwardly waiting on the front porch to be l in as the staff are still putting everything together but as all of this is happening another aspect of the white house makeover that goes down

at the inauguration could if done incorrectly and America as we know it whenever you see the president traveling out and about you often see a sharply dressed military officer close behind holding a big black briefcase and I know you're all wondering what all is in it and no it's not a meme generation machine Trump uses for his best buddy Elon instead it's actually the key to America's nuclear Arsenal known as the nuclear football this briefcase actually holds a robust communication Suite as well as the Verification codes the president needs to verify his identity if he

ever decides to use nuclear weapons because a potential nuclear attack could come at any time the nuclear Football goes anywhere the president goes including on inauguration day but how exactly are the keys to America's deadliest weapons turned over on that momentous day day as soon as the clock strikes noon the military officer currently holding the football will merely place it in the hands of the new officer appointed to carry it by the new president although the two officers will hide this act discreetly behind one of the pillars behind the president as he is speaking this

symbolic gesture plays a critical role that if done at the wrong time could leave America unable to defend itself from a nuclear attack on this day however for the White House handing over the nuclear football is arguably the least difficult task of the day back at the executive residence the staff is still hurriedly working to make sure all the renovations are complete and the new first family's things are moved in before the 5:00 deadline after the inauguration parade once all the heavy lifting including moving furniture and Priceless artwork cleaning and any Renovations or repairs are

done the task now comes down to turning the White House into a home for the new first family remember that questionnaire the white house chief Usher sends the new family this is now when this comes into play throughout the White House the staff is busy personalizing everything for example Obama wanted a new shower head installed in his bathroom and a swing set for his kids to play on the staff ensures every desire is met regardless of what the president and his family ask for whether it be their favorite shampoo towels bed sheets Foods or whatever

else they want as the staff continued to finish their preparations the new president and his family returned to the White House to begin the inaugural dinner followed by the inaugural ball however even at this late stage mistakes can happen one famous incident was when President Bill Clinton first took office on that day during the chaos of the move someone accidentally misplaced Hillary Clinton's ball gown in their daughter Chelsea's room well after 15 minutes of panic the staff found the dress and ensure that Hillary would not need to go out in her birthday suit for the

ball thankfully mistakes like this are few and far between thanks to the staff's dedication speed and desire to serve the president regardless of political party that is why whenever a new president enters the White House for the first time after his inauguration when Chief Usher says welcome home Mr President they truly mean it bye for now go