The White House
A few days ago, I received an email from one of my high school classmates that gave a short report on the Trump administration staff that compared it to the Obama administration staff. That seemed to be a good subject for a column, so I began to do research on this.
As a point of interest, our total official U. S. population at the end of 2016 was 323,127,513. The federal executive branch work force was 1,868,027 including military, which is .578 percent of the total population. There are many others that work for the legislative and judicial branches. There are 377 employees who are described as White House employees. The pictures that we see of the White House shows that it is not a large building. I began to search to see how that many people could work in that size house. I have heard the term West Wing and East Wing in the past but I did not understand what was meant by these two locations. They are two buildings that are connected to the White House proper. There are no political offices in the White House proper. It is the home of the President and his family and guests. Even the Oval Office is not located in the White House proper. The Oval office is on the ground level of the West Wing in the back corner position looking at the White House proper. What we do not see from the outside view because of the trees is that there are ground floor passageways from the both the east and west sides of the White House proper leading to office buildings that accommodate the staffs of both the President and the First Lady. The East and West Wings appear to be separate buildings at first examination. The White House proper has a basement level, a ground level and two floors above the ground level. Both the East Wing and the West Wing have two floors each.
The East Wing is dedicated to the needs of the First Lady of the United States. Michelle Obama had 24 employees serving her needs in the East Wing. Melania the assistant secretaries are serving at $ 47,000 per year and two former chief executives are serving with a $ 30,000 per year salary. The salary of the President is $ 400,000 per year and President Trump is donating his salary back for specific initiatives on a quarterly basis. His first quarter contribution went to the construction and repair needs at military cemeteries. Ivanka Trump Kushner has changed her status and is now a federal employee with the salary of $ 1 per year. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is serving as President Trump’s personal representative to the Middle East without any pay. Real Estate investor Reed Cordish is serving on the President’s staff and not taking a salary. We did not hear of any staffers in the Obama administration that served without being paid.
It is too difficult for the President’s family to use entertainment in the city of Washington because of security issues. The White House grounds has a large swimming pool. It has a billiard room. It has a bowling alley. It has a library with the latest books. It has a weight room with exercise equipment. It has a private movie viewing room. It has an auditorium that permits entertainers to come and put on their normal shows.
President Trump is an experienced manager and puts people in positions that he expects them to manage without assistance from him. He does not micro- manage any part of his organization. He gets involved when his help is needed. He takes his campaign promises seriously and is working hard to do what he said he would do during his campaign.
Across the street from the West Wing is another office building that has additional executive branch offices. The offices of the Vice President and his staff are located in this building. The Vice President can walk from his office to the office of the President in just a few minutes.