The White House has fired Angella Reid, its chief usher. Reid was the first woman to hold the post and the second African-American to be hired to serve in the position. White House residence staffers…
The White House has fired Angella Reid, its chief usher. Reid was the first woman to hold the post and the second African-American to be hired to serve in the position.
Officials at the White House have not released any details about Angella Reid’s dismissal. A statement from an official merely wished the now former chief usher the “very best” and expressed gratitude for her service. Angella Reid was hired to be the White House chief usher by Barack Obama in 2011.
“I think it’s best if the White House explains, ” was all Reid herself would say when contacted by the press about her notable absence from the residence staff.
NEWS: White House fires chief usher Angella Reid, the first African-American woman to hold the post. https: //t.co/MQss3dNS0F
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) May 5,2017
White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Angella Reid departed on good terms, according to Fox News. Reid was allegedly close to both Barack and Michelle Obama.
Some White House insiders claiming to have inside knowledge of the environment surrounding the chief usher and the staff claim tensions have emerged among the residence workers supervised by Angella Reid.
“For the staff, she was a little tough on them because they could be free-wheeling, ” a former White House official who reportedly maintains contact with current residence staff, said.
The White House chief usher has traditionally been a job which boasts a long tenure with employment of the residence staffer remaining in place during changes of presidential administrations. There have only been a grand total of nine chief ushers since the early days of the 20th century.
The chief usher is tasked with supervising all activities related to the White House residence. The top residence staffer also typically works closely with the first family to provide insight when choosing art, decor, and furnishings for the residence and offices.
While serving at the post, Angella Reid also acted as the general manager of the buildings and oversaw the massive staff butlers, chefs, maids, florists, and engaged in typical office administrative duties.
Angella Reid, the first Black woman chief usher at the White House has been fired: https: //t.co/WR7SJpDryh pic.twitter.com/VfcEQhLptg
— The Root (@TheRoot) May 5,2017
Before being tapped by former President Obama to become the White House chief usher, Angella Reid worked for the Ritz-Carlton. Reid replaced the first African-American chief usher, Admiral Stephen W. Rochon when he left the post to take a job at the Department of Homeland Security.
“Knowing Angella, I doubt seriously that she would have done something herself to cause this, ” Rochon. “She worked for years in top management in hotels. She knows about hospitality. She is definitely professional but you’ re not going to please everybody.”
In 2014, the White House usher’s office was blamed, at least in part, for the knife-wielding fence-jumper who got well inside the building before being caught. The Secret Service blame the extensive time it took to detect and capture the fence-jumper on an alarm near the front entrance being silenced by the usher’s office because it was allegedly too noisy and malfunctioned frequently.
Chief Usher during the George W. Bush administration, Anita McBride, spoke well of Angella Reid, but also noted her hospitality sector background might have not prepared her for the residence staff supervisor position.
“These are the people that have the most intimate details and knowledge of how you live your life, ” McBride said when detailing the relationship between the residence staff and the first family. “You just come on board and you have to click, in the past it would not have occurred to [a first family] to make a change at the top like that. There was more of an expectation that there are certain things that come with the White House.”
What do you think about White House chief usher Angella Reid being dismissed from service?
[Featured Image by Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock]
