A Guest at the White House Talks

THE IMPROVEMENT ERA Vol 33-41 -y-^j- OCTOBER, 1930 No. 12 qA Guest at the WKite House Talks By MRS. REED SMOOT HAVING just returned home from Washington where I was a guest of President and Mrs. Herbert Hoover at the White House, I have been request- ed to write a brief description of my experiences. It is one of the most difficult things I have ever been asked to do and for a num- ber of reasons. In the first place I was the guest of the head of the greatest country on earth, and a guest is not supposed to talk. In the next place, by being a guest of the President and Mrs. Hoover, my honeymoon plans were very definitely changed. In the third Senator Reed Smoot place, if I gave a true expression of my feelings, I should undoubt- edly use too many superlatives. To appreciate my feelings as an honored guest of the President of the United States and the first lady of the land, you must know that I came to Salt Lake City as a little girl from England, one member of a family of six, my widowed mother having become a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Can you imag- ine any little girl, coming across the ocean and almost the width of the United States as a little emi- grant, dreaming that she would ever become the wife of a senator of the United States, a man who has for many years distinguished himself in both nation and Church? Is it not beyond the realm of imagination for such a girl to see herself, with her dis- tinguished husband, the honored guest of the head of the United States Government? ^7E had decided to spend our honeymoon on a trip to Hawaii. All our plans had been made before Senator Smoot re- ceived word from President Hoover that he might aid in combating an attack on the London Naval Treaty, a definite policy of the Hoover administration. The Pres- ident in his graciousness requested the Senator and myself to be guests at the White House. Regardless of that invitation, the wish of the President of the United States would have been considered a com- Mrs. Reed Smoot mand. We went as fast as possible and at times the two weeks there seem almost a dream. It is needless to say that every dignified, sweet, graceful thing that could be done to make our stay pleasant, was done. When we reached Washington one of the President's cars took us immediate- ly to the White House. We were presented to Mrs. Hoover and as- signed to the Rose Room suite. It is hardly necessary to say that President and Mrs. Hoover are probably the best educated, most traveled, and best read occupants the White House has ever had. While dignity marks every thing they do, good taste and the homely virtues of real Americanism are always apparent. To illustrate: The first thing President and Mrs. Hoover did was to give a wedding breakfast in our honor at which the only other guests present were the Senator's and my children. This breakfast was served on the front porch of the White House. It will long be remembered. Can you imagine the thoughtfulness which made the first function in

792 The Improvement Era for October, 1930 our honor a sort of family affair which permitted us the opportu- nity to receive the congratulations and best wishes of those most dear to us? I shall never forget that breakfast and the enjoyment of sitting on that porch looking out on one of the most beautiful parks in the country and having come to my mind the thought of the dis- tinguished hosts and guests who had occupied these same places over many, many years of different ad- ministrations. Do you wonder at the temptation to use superlatives? "PHE breakfast carried into lunch- *■ eon, which was served for President and Mrs. Hoover, Sen- ator Smoot and myself. After luncheon I had a-n opportunity to get acquainted with the Rose Room suite, which is located on the second floor of the White House and consists of two rooms and bath. The furniture i s upholstered in rose brocaded satin. The high -back chairs and quaint old canopied bed once occupied by A n d r e w Jackson, sev- enth .President of the United States, are in this suite. The drapes are of rose satin. In fact practically everything is rose in color, even to the blotters and pencils upon the writing desk. A few pictures of interesting scenes are hung on the walls and the rooms were a veri- table bower of pink roses, fresh ones being brought each morning and arranged by the house attend- ants. I rested until four-thirty in the afternoon when Mrs. Hoover en- tertained in my honor, and I had the great pleasure of meeting some of the most charming women in the United States including Mrs. William H. Borah of Idaho, Mrs. Brown, wife of the Postmaster General; Mrs. Dale, wife of the Senator from Vermont; Mrs. Dolly Gann, sister and hostess to the Vice President; Mrs. Hyde, wife of the Secretary of Agricul- ture; Mrs. Stimson, wife of the Secretary of State; and Mrs. Wil- bur, wife of the Secretary of the Interior. THINNERS in the White House ^ are formal affairs. At my first dinner in the White House the program of guests was most impos- White ing. President Hoover escorted me and Senator Smoot escorted Mrs. Hoover. During the course of the dinner I had the privilege of telling the President of some of the work that is being done by our Church and particularly by the Primary Association in which I have been interested particularly in our programs commemorating "Child Health Day." The move- ment to celebrate May first as "Child Health Day" was inaugu- rated by President Hoover himself. After dinner we were entertained with moving pictures of the Byrd expedition to the South Pole. We then conversed until about eleven o'clock when the President and Mrs. Hoover left, expressing pleas- ure that we had been guests. So ended the first glorious day. The days that followed were fully occupied. Luncheons and dinners, shopping, driving, walk- ing; and the best part of it was always being surrounded by per- sons of note and our loved ones. The memory of some of the drives I had with Mrs. Hoover through beautiful Rockcreek Park and some of those with members o f our families into Virginia for luncheon at some quaint and charming inn, will never leave my mind. There were days when I would go to the Sen- ate and meet Senator Smoot and fc a v e luncheon with him. I was constantly meeting dis- tinguished men and women who told me the most pleasant things about the man with whom I was having a honeymoon. They praised his in- tegrity and his loyalty and mar- veled at his capacity for work. A LL this made a very great im- 1 * pression on me, knowing that about twenty-eight years before there was a tremendous fight to keep the Senator from taking his seat — and today he is known and admired nationally and interna- tionally. The head of the greatest busi- ness on earth is the President of the United States, and he is per- haps the hardest worked man in the world. The White House is not only the President's residence, but the clearing house of every in- terest of importance to the hundred and twenty-two million people in the United States. One of the most interesting things to me was the perfect order in which the White House is administered. One is requested to be present at din- ner, is informed in advance whom she is going to be seated next to, and items which will be of com- mon interest are mentioned. Mrs. Hoover is an ideal hostess. Not a detail escapes her. There is no pretense in the White House un- (Continued on page 794 )