 Gary Walters is responsible for overseeing all activities at the Executive Residence. |
As the nation's chief usher, the position responsible for the operation of the executive residence of the president of the United States, the tree he's after is no ordinary one: It's the official White House Christmas tree. Walters, whose Washington career has spanned seven presidents, from Nixon to "W," and who has spent the last four as chief usher, is well versed in the history of how the capital tree is selected.
"Back in the Johnson administration," he recalls, "a relationship was established with the National Christmas Tree Association. At its biennial conventions the association chooses, through a spirited competition, a grand champion grower who is then 'permitted'"—he says this with a smile—"to donate the tree that ends up as the White House Christmas tree."
For the last 30 years, the tree (often a Fraser fir, Douglas fir or Colorado Blue Spruce) has been set up in the Blue Room, where the ceilings are 18 1/2 feet tall—which means the tree has to be, too. "You may have the world's most beautiful, perfect tree," he warns, "but if it's only 18 feet, don't bother to apply." It seems that those twinkling strings of lights that make Christmas trees so festive require a major electrical source. Every year, staffers take down the chandelier to make way for the incoming tree, which "has to reach the chandelier support, because that's where we get the electricity, and where we connect the tree so it doesn't fall down." In other words: "We can and do cut trees down," he laughs, "but we can't build 'em up."
Although they work on a much grander scale, Santa Walters and his elves face the same basic Christmas tree problems as the rest of Americans: hauling the thing inside, hoisting it up, getting it decorated and then hauling it back out. "One of the reasons we go out and inspect the tree before we get it to the White House," says Walters, "is to make sure we can get it through the doors. The National Park Service maintains a staff here on the grounds—it usually takes 12 to 14 of them to get the tree up and in place."
When asked if any of his trees has ever toppled over, Walters, a former military man, answers resolutely, "No! Absolutely not. We can't allow that to happen. That's why we tie it to the top of the chandelier support. We have too many people coming through here, both the public on tour and for the holiday events. We decorate the tree pretty heavily, so it has to be stable."
When this man says decorate, he's not kidding. Over four days, under the supervision of the White House's chief floral designer, a small army consisting of 60 to 65 staff and volunteer florists from all over the country change a beautiful, if bare, tree into a spectacle. Walters says the entire process, from the time the list of potential themes is sent to the First Lady until the tree is ready to be seen by the public, takes almost a year. Speaking of themes, last year's was "books and reading," Mrs. Bush's particular passion; as for this year's, Walter's lips are sealed. The theme will remain a closely guarded secret until November 29, 2004, the date when this season's tree is revealed.
"Mrs. Clinton once joked that not long after she moved into the White House, this person called 'the chief usher' came up to her and said, 'It's April. We need to start thinking about Christmas.' Actually, for the staff here, as soon as we get one up we start thinking about the next one."
The real power behind the tree, Walters emphasizes, is the First Lady. And he should know, having worked with seven of them. It's she who takes the ideas from his staff (94 people, from chefs to florists, calligraphers to carpenters, as well as engineers and electricians, painters and plumbers), her own staff, and adds whatever specific ideas she may have. "It all gets synthesized at some point," says Walters, "and the First Lady decides which direction she wants to go, and we act upon it."
When asked why the First Lady has so much clout, Walters simply responds, "It's her house."
Unlike the vast majority of American households, the White House keeps its tree up for a full month, which means it can't be allowed to dry out or drop needles all over the floor. "We don't want people to call it a Charlie Brown tree," says Gary Walters. Once the tree is up and glowing, his number one priority is to make sure it always has enough water. With a tree that's 12 to 15 feet in girth, the chief usher cannot, like the rest of us, crawl beneath it to stick his finger in the stand. Irvin Williams, the White House's executive grounds superintendent, solved that problem some years ago by inventing a "remote" floating gauge that lets them know when to add water.
With a skilled long-term staff that's been doing the job for years, Walters says there have been very few surprises. The unforeseen, however, does sometimes arise. "One year, the sculptor Dale Chihuly donated a couple of glass trees at the last minute, and we weren't sure how we were going to handle that, but we did. In this and several other administrations, we put snow on trees in rooms like the East Room and the Grand Foyer—plastic snow—and that always creates a bit of a disaster for the housekeeping staff because it floats in the air and gets everywhere."
Hard investigative journalistic question: Do the lights on the official White House Christmas tree ever go out? "Sure," says Gary Walters, "but we don't let people see it." Okay, what happens when the season is over and the tree has been taken down? Does the White House chief usher shove the stand into the back of the same closet, year after year? "Of course," says Gary Walters. "Doesn't everyone?"