White House gossip

by Edna M. Colman

It was in this manner that the President invited Booker Washington, the well-known Negro educator, to eat luncheon in the White House—an act that was severely criticized at the time. In speaking of the incident at a later period, Mr. Roosevelt said he was in the midst of an interesting discussion with Washington when the luncheon hour arrived, and without thinking of the man’s colour, asked him to the meal in order that they might continue the conversation.

Both the President and his wife sought to bring people together at this meal who would enjoy meeting, and they both did their best to draw their guests into informal frank discussion of the subjects uppermost in their interest. Delightful, natural, wholesome, with a spontaneous hospitality entirely devoid of ostentation, a luncheon at the White House in the Roosevelt régime was an education and an adventure. Helen Nicolay, in her recent book, has this to say of one of these luncheons:

“The luncheon yesterday at the White House was great fun. The party consisted of the President and Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Hay, Mr. Von Briesen, a New York lawyer with a white beard, a strong accent, and eyes blue as a baby’s, Mr. Wilcox of Buffalo, likewise a lawyer and a good judge of horseflesh, I take it, Theodore, Jr., and yours truly.

“The whole lower floor of the White House is in a mess, undergoing alterations that will improve it immensely. There was a strong smell of turpentine everywhere, and we were relieved of our wraps while standing in the great vestibule, on one foot, so to speak, clutching our skirts to keep them out of the carpenters’ dust on the floor. Then we were ushered into the Red Parlour whose walls have been covered with deep red velvet, with results rather startling. At least to my mind, they combine the fascinations of a pall and a sleeping car. The room is at present furnished with a misfit collection of leather chairs and lounges. The real furniture is being made to order, we are told. It also is to be covered with leather, because the room is to be used for smoking on occasion, and the furniture must not be of a material to hold the smoke. Fancy—with those walls!

“In a few minutes Mr. Von Briesen was ushered in. Then Mrs. Roosevelt appeared, dressed in white wool. She has a wonderfully pleasant voice and a sweet face. A few minutes later Mr. Wilcox was announced. After that there was a long wait, during which conversation of a kindly gossipy nature was carried on, chiefly by the two matrons. When a little after two o’clock the door opened and the President came in—teeth and all—no time was lost in making for the dining room. He took out Mrs. Hay, the rest of us followed in a group. Mrs. Roosevelt stopped a moment at the door of the state dining room to point out some change, and the President, having seated his lady, came bouncing back, like a rubber ball, to see why we did not come on. The poor man was frankly hungry, having been on his feet since 9:20 A. M. seeing people, deciding questions all in a minute, and emphatically leading the strenuous life. He said he felt as though he had been galloping.

“He talked most entertainingly throughout the meal, and managed besides to dispose of a goodly amount of food. You will laugh when I give you the menu—bouillon, salt fish, chicken with rice, rolls, and baked beans. Of beans and the salt fish the President had a second helping. For dessert there was Bavarian cream, served with preserves and cakes. There was one kind of wine, which most of the party declined, and tea, poured by Mrs. Roosevelt, who made it for all the rest just as her husband liked his ‘and no questions asked.’ Cigars were passed after the meal, and lighted by the two lawyers. Mr. Roosevelt did not smoke.

“The china was miscellaneous; nice enough, but not extraordinary. I only remember some pretty Haviland, and that the bread and butter plates were in the form of flags of the different nations. The President had the Star-Spangled Banner, the rest of us got what was left. The German drew the tricolour; I the Union Jack. The waiters were two spry slim coloured youths, not in livery, and they were kept rather busy. My impression is that they were always moving toward the President.

“If my life depended on it I could not tell you about the centrepiece. There must have been one; but the truth is that Mr. Roosevelt was so rattlingly lively, yet so earnest and dignified, his wife so kind and unaffected, and the whole meal so informal in character, that what was on the table dwindled to minor importance. Theodore, Jr., appeared after we were all seated, shook hands all around, took part in the talk with the aplomb of young America, and excused himself before dessert to go riding with his small sister—having meanwhile extracted from his mother permission to use her horse.

“It was just a nice lively United States family entertaining with heartiness and pot-luck chance visitors of the hour. The only visible difference was that the President was served first, then Mrs. Roosevelt, and after them the guests. Oh, yes. Another detail not customary. U. S. was embroidered on the plate doilies. The President and Mrs. Roosevelt sat opposite each other at the sides, not the ends, of the oval table.

“The talk ranged over many subjects—importunate Senators; Colonel Hay’s Bavarian ancestors; the Negro problem; the impossibility of doing more than establish certain fixed principles in his own mind and live up to them regardless, and his feeling of the deep obligation he was under, as President, to do this; anecdotes of pet riding horses and a humorous account of a portrait recently painted of him, which was, he said, the only portrait of himself he had ever liked. He liked it because it did not resemble him in the least, but looked as he would like to look. It was the picture he wished to leave to his grandchildren, if he ever had any.