I thought this chick was sposed to be the Social Secretary —— not a social butterfly who plays Dress-UP in designer gowns and attends events. For instance, how many state events did any of Jacki O’s Social Secretaries ever attend?
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No rest for White House party czar - Social director has hosted 50 events in 60 days
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Sunday, April 12, 2009
Author: Kate Andersen, The Chicago Sun-Times
Desiree Rogers went from herding 160 middle-schoolers to an a capella concert in the White House East Room to seating 50 governors at a black-tie dinner.
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While the United States is mired in recession, the White House entertainment scene is booming under Rogers , the 49-year-old social secretary who was a Chicago friend of the Obamas.
In her first 60 days at President Obama’s White House, Rogers has coordinated more than 50 events — twice as many as President Bush held during the same period of his first term. The Obama effort surpasses even the pace of the party-loving Clinton White House, says Dee Dee Myers, who was President Bill Clinton’s press secretary.
“Glamor is a force-multiplier,” says Myers. “The Obamas are creating a sense of optimism and fun.”
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A fashionista — she has worn trendy black nail polish to White House events — Rogers was recently declared “Washington’s best-dressed woman” by the Huffington Post.
She’s in charge of planning all events on White House grounds, from bill signings and Cabinet appointments to cocktail parties and state dinners. The first African-American to hold the position, she’s making her mark by defying tradition in her duties, as well: for example, mixing and matching china from different eras at formal dinners and including Republicans in every congressional event.
Rogers , who met the president and first lady through her ex-husband, says her job is more than planning seating charts and hors d’oeuvres. “President Obama wants to show that, even though we might disagree on issues, it is so important to develop relationships,” she says.
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Some critics, though, question how appropriate the festivities are with the nation going through an economic slump. The president should show a “certain amount of humility and shared sacrifice with the American public,” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget-watchdog group in Washington.
Rogers says there’s a serious purpose to the partying. She’s helping Obama fulfill a pledge to reach out to Republicans.
“I think that the environment is so important in terms of what kind of relationships you might be able to create, how people get to know each other,’’ she told the Washington Post. “I’m from New Orleans, and I know that people do like to sit and talk and drink and, you know, have conversation, you have dialogue.”