White House Kids

by Susan Edwards

It's a place where heads of state and kings and queens are invited for dinner, where the doors are open to the public for tours, and where the most powerful people in the world meet to determine the fate of the Earth. The White House is also home to the first family, and for nearly two hundred years its walls have reverberated with the laughter and shrieks of children who found fun and mischief in every nook and cranny. Tales of their outrageous adventures provide a candid glimpse of the times and the people who lived in the world's most illustrious house. A couple of presidential children made the spacious East Room their personal roller skating rink, others brought their own menagerie of exotic pets to live in the White House, and children from the Lincolns to the Kennedys rode ponies on the lawn. Presidents have opened the doors of the White House for Christmas and birthday celebrations, the annual Easter egg roll, and parties for all kinds of children, grandchildren, and dozens of their friends. The daughters of Presidents Johnson and Nixon were even married in the White House. Most important, the children who grew up in the White House each spent a few years at the center of American life. Here is a touching, amusing, and enlightening look at the human side of the families who are part of American history.

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Samantha Gronberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re curious about the lives of the children and grandchildren of US presidents then this book is definitely for you. I learned, I laughed, I was reminded why Lyndon B. Johnson was such a narcissist. Overall a good read with a lot of insight. It left me with a list of books to add to my want to read list and at least one cultural icon I NEED to know more about (hello Alice Roosevelt Longworth!!). I will say it wraps up right before the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal which makes it even more interesting as its far more focused on Regan’s drama and Nixon’s and is truly a time piece of the late 1990’s. A quick but informative read for any American Political History nerd.