European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The White House celebrates its 200thby Patricia Dane Rogers and Nancy l. Ross the Washington Post Harry s Truman called it a Quot glamorous prison Quot to Gerald r. Ford it was Quot the Best Public housing i be Ever seen Quot Mary Todd Lincoln referred to it As Quot that whited  the White House which is 200 years old this year has been the Home of 39 presidents and their families since John Adams moved in. The original mansion look eight years to build. When his wife Abigail arrived in november 1800 with her eight servants to become its first chatelaine she found a House that bore Little resemblance to the executive mansion of today. In a letter she complained that the main staircase had not been built yet and that the meager Supply of firewood had been used to dry the plaster Walls Quot it is an establishment big enough to need 30 servants to run it properly. There is a great unfinished audience room the East room i make a drying room of to hang up the clothes in. Bells Are wholly wanting and promises Are All you can  almost two centuries later first lady Barbara Bush tells a vastly different tale. A thanks to Nancy Reagan those private quarters Are perfectly Beautiful Quot she writes in a recent essay Quot in fact because of her work this is the Only old House that George and i have Ever moved into. Where everything works Quot Nancy Reagan herself would describe the White House with Awe Quot there s a feeling of wonderment Quot the former first lady recalled Quot Are you really in this Beautiful House where so Many have lived before you so much history has been made 1 in Reagan s memoirs my turn she details perquisites that made it feel like a Palace. It was her son Ron concluded Quot an eight Star  but living there can have its bittersweet moments according to former first families who agreed to be interviewed Foi this article. Betty Ford recalled feelings of loneliness after years in an Alexandria a. Neighbourhood Quot you also Leel very much that you Are in that proverbial fishbowl everybody talks about Quot she said. Luci Baines Johnson who was 16 when her father Lyndon became president after the assassination of John f. Kennedy recalls those Days with emotion. Quot for me it was the Bestol times and the worst of times but it s a March through history and there s not a moment you live there that you Are Able to be oblivious to that Quot the Cornerstone of the executive mansion which no one has been Able to locate during the current renovation was Laid oct 13,1792. In the years since White House has been sacked and burned gutted extended modified improved renovated and redecorated the main House designed by James Hoban. Now covers 55.0p0 sume Leel on Lour floors not including basements and wings there Are 130 rooms give or take a Lew Broom closer those most often seen by the Public and visitors Are the Blue red. Green and East reception rooms on the Mam floor Ami the Oval Soltice in the West Wing the living quarters consist of five rooms on the second floor designated Lor private use a the West sitting Hall a readers action Lin Reader lights a Candle under customs maps a w,1 re in using permanent change of station and have been told try the customs maps that we Are not allowed to ship Wax candles Back to the states i tie Only reason the maps gave was that that is the regulation m battled t v this stipulation. I was allowed to ship numerous Holiday decorative candles overseas some of these i be had Tor years now i m told i can t return them to the  this ust does no to make any sense especially when we were not informed of this Rule when we moved Over seas l m awau1 i can mail them Back to the Stales but this is a needless hassle in an already confusing Tim thirty nine presidents have resided in what has been called the a whited  dining room a dressing room one bedroom and a sitting room a plus the third floor which by .1927 had added six bedrooms and three sitting rooms. There is no constitutional requirement that the president live in the White House according to Seale. Grover Cleveland disliked it so much that he and his wife lived elsewhere a in Northwest Washington a As much As they could until his second term of office ended in 1897. In her Memoir first lady from Plains Rosalynn Carter remembered How her family found privacy on the White House roof where they sunbathe. Quot there s no place to hide no place to stomp your feet Quot Luci Johnson said. Quot Harry Truman was chastised Tor building the Truman Balcony but he said he did it because he wanted to have a place to sit alone with his  As a teen Ager she said she courted in the third floor solarium. So did other presidents children. Over the years the White House  10 weddings and seven deaths involving immediate presidential family members plus a Skeleton embedded in the Walls found during a 1902 renovation number of births illnesses courtship and affairs. While Early presidents frequently had Large extended families living in the White House and numerous children smaller arrangements have generally become the Rule. In fact in her Book simply Barbara Washington Post reporter Donnie Radcliffe writes that Nancy Reagan had advised Barbara Bush not to have her children live in the White House. Nancy Reagan recently denied she had offered such advice but in any Case the Bushes five children and 12 grandchildren visit but do not live in for children the experience seems to have been mixed. The sons of Abraham Lincoln regarded the mansion As Akin to a prison. When he was 7, Tad aggravated visitors by pulling their beards. He once stood in a window above his father at a military review waving a Confederate Flag according to Seale Teddy Roosevelt s six children roller skated on the wooden floors Slid Down the banisters and walked up the carpeted stairs on stilts according to chief usher Ike hoovers forty two years in the White House. Quot i roller skated on the Marble floors in the Walkway Between the East and West wings Quot Susan Ford Bales said in an interview but looking Back Luci Johnson said Quot id have Given anything for someone a a peer a to Tell me How to learn to avoid mistakes. There was none. Almost every chronicler oilers a glimpse of How expensive it is to live in the White House in her Memoir Nancy Reagan expressed Surprise the first family would be charged for every meal they and their personal guests ate in the private quarters and All personal expenses. Jacqueline Kennedy expressed Shock when the Bills for her first month s Champagne and caviar parties were presented. West remembered that Mamie Eisenhower whose husband was not wealthy read the newspapers for food ads and personally called store managers and sent the secret service to take advantage of special sales. Woodrow Wilson went around turning off the lights. Jimmy Carter turned the heat Down when the Price of Oil skyrocketed. Quot the Nixon wanted it to be the most Beautiful House in America Quot said Conger Quot and we did it. It still is except for the damage done by Ted Graber. He put in modern sofas. Graber redecorated for Nancy Reagan. Since Abigail Adams arrived with eight servants the White House has been filled with servants. A number of presidents born in the South including James Madison and Jefferson had House slaves. However by 1850 pressure from abolitionists persuaded the Taylors to restrict the slaves to the family quarters according to an aide s letter. Today White House curator Rex Scouten lists 96 people on the executive appropriation payroll. For nearly two centuries the presidential mansion has been the Center of official entertainment. Gone Are the Days when Quot old Hickory Quot Jackson could open the doors of the White House and invite the Public to come in Tor cheese and crackers As reported in the Washington City chronicle. In two hours a 1,400-Pcund Cheddar was consumed. Presidential families have always sought ways to entertain on a More intimate scale As Well. Mamie Eisenhower entertained her Canasta playing friends upstairs. The hardings invited friends up to their bedroom or the Library where they kept bottles during prohibition As recounted in a secret service agent s Book. In addition to the usual dogs and cats the presidential residence has also harboured some unusual pets the Alligator of the Marquis de Lafayette parked in the East room when he visited John Quincy Adams wrote Margaret Truman in White House pets. Jefferson s mockingbird Sang along when the president played his violin William Mckinley s Parrot squawked Quot look at All the pretty girls Quot and whistled Yankee Doodle. When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her children returned for the first time after the assassination to see the portraits of the late president and herself As first lady the family spent several hours with the Nixon. President Nixon told Caroline then 13, and John Kennedy jr., 10, that they would have Good Luck if they touched the Lincoln bed. In her memoirs Julie Nixon Eisenhower describes How the former first lady wrote the Nixon Quot the Day i always dreaded turned out to be one of the most precious ones i have spent with my  can anyone give me the logic behind this7 Linda Lavelle Heilbronn Germany a maj. Martin j. Mckinley adjutant 42nd my group custom replies As a Courtesy to our colleagues in Usa eur transportation otties and As a service to shippers of personal property our customs inspectors will Point out items which though not banned by u s customs or department of agriculture Laws Are deemed harmful to the shipment such articles Are prohibited by traffic management regulations however in this Case our inspector thought a recommendation by the local transportation officer that people not ship candles was in fact a ban this misunderstanding has been cleared up at the Field office involved and we sincerely regret any inconvenience this May have caused the shipper. . Customs Laws do not ban the importation of Wax candles into the United states and to our knowledge there Are no other regulations which forbid them from personal property  to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Ail letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers Page 16 a the stars and stripes wednesday. January 29, 1992