P103109PS-0609

First Lady Michelle Obama hands out treats during a Halloween reception for military families and children of White House staff in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 31, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

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Comments

lat454205 / Lisa says:

What a cute kitty. Mrs Obama and the girls add a lot of fun to watch in the White House.

My post I am about to put doesn't belong under this photo.....but I've changed my mind about the positive comments I made on the family shot of the President, Mrs. Obama and girls by Annie Leibovitz.

I think she should do it over and I commented that it was very good. In reading all of the "photography" critiques.....it most definitely could have been done a lot better by a very well known photographer.

She needs to read the "photography" comments and reschedule another photo shoot.....as much as I like her.....it needs redone.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

stevej_1960 says:

Why change your mind because others don't like the portrait? LOts of people don't like my shots, but so what? I like them and a few others do too. Lots of us like the Liebovitz portrait.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Jason From Duluth says:

I dunno....those treats look kinda boring to me. I mean...where's all the snickers and kit-kats? :)
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

quigley_brown says:

Do they say 'Official White House' on the wrappers?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

quigley_brown says:

Yup, they do. I looked a little closer. No kid is going to open that treat. They'll end for sale on ebay.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Mona Loldwoman Happy New Year says:

Treat Bags, not just one piece of candy, but an assortment of "stuff". and all of it will have the White House seal on it. Even if it is a snickers. LOL can you imagime a simple wrapped candy bar with the White House seal and just the word 'Snickers'.... funny. & kinda scary....
Nice candid capture Mr. Souza.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

SLH Photography 2009 says:

A nice perspective view from the White House. Great color on such a festive event. The inner-action was good here with Michelle handing out treats to the invited children. Good job Pete.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

lat454205 / Lisa says:

I didn't change my mind, Stevej, because others did not like it......by reading their comments made me look at her portrait even more and by doing so.....most definitely agreed there are a lot of things that should have been done better.

I can't think she would do a lot of these things on purpose.

Go back and read the comments.....possibly you'll see what I mean. I, for one, am NOT a forum fighter....so please don't think this is what my posting was all about. I'd just love to see another nice portrait done of them by Annie. That's all....simple as that. : )
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

wiro.karen says:

Diva!!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

*Summer's Rose says:

Lei e' semplicemente...una gran bella diva!!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

nbklx17 (Sandy) says:

Love this shot of Mrs. O!
Her make-up looks great, and she has cheekbones to die for! Love all the bracelets, too!
How's that for a "deep", intellectual comment? ;-)
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

sliperymule says:

Coolest First Ladies for decades
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Travis_Simon says:

Happy Halloween, Michelle!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Scot Patrijspoort says:

"Cheekbones to die for", that is an efficient comment indeed. We ought to discuss about "colors and taste and women", even if the ancient Roman expression says we cannot.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

jdog1063 says:

Mrs. Obama:
Now, remember kids! You have to tell your parents to vote Democrat if they want to continue getting handouts like these!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

fondant.com says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called THE FONDANT CLUB, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Hi Mrs. Obama! Those sure look like decorated cookies you are handing out! Love it! And I love your kitty costume too!
patricia
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

denebola2025 says:

Cool! What a great Halloween!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Σταύρος says:

beautiful lady !
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Happy New Year 2010 says:

Michelle Antoinette, Let them eat Candy at tax payers expense, the poor and hungry can do without.

Total Personal Staff members for other first ladies paid by taxpayers:

Mamie Eisenhower : 1 paid for personally out of President's salary

Jackie Kennedy: 1

Roseline Carter: 1

Barbara Bush: 1

Hilary Clinton: 3

Laura Bush: 1

Michele Obama: 22

How things have changed! If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Ms Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by YOU, John Q. Public:

Michele Obama's personal staff:
1. $172,200 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Dep Asst to President and Dir of Policy And Projects for First Lady)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Spec Asst to the President and WH Social Sec for Mrs. Obama)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Spec Asst to President and Dir of Communications for First Lady)
5. $100,000 - Winter, Melissa E. (Spec Asst to President and Dep Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
7. $84,000 - Lel yveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
8.. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
11. $64,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Dep Director of Scheduling & Events Coord For The First Lady)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)
14. $57,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Assoc Dir and Dep Press Secretary To The First Lady)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Spec Asst for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
18. $43,000 - Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Dep Assoc Dir of Correspondence for the First Lady)
(total = $1,591,200 in annual salaries)

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Happy New Year 2010 says:

Slumload Millionaire, A friend of Michelle Obama Antonetta

Valerie Jarrett www.stopjarrett.com
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

BlueisCoool says:

What an incredible person Michelle Obama is - God Bless Her!

Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

*Summer's Rose says:

The chain e-mail’s author claims that "[t]here has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady’s social life." The author claims that "even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one." But the counts for those first ladies are incorrect – and they’re way off.

The combined annual salaries for the 22 staffers we can specifically identify as working for Michelle Obama come to $1.6 million. For the 18 we could identify as working for Laura Bush in 2008, the total is $1.4 million.

Dr. Myra Gutin, a professor of communications at Rider University and a first ladies historian, says that the first lady’s role has certainly "grown and evolved" since the 1960s, but generally speaking, the first lady’s "staff numbers about 14-16." Gutin told us she recalled "some first ladies have had staffs of more than that."

–D’Angelo Gore

Michelle Obama’s Staff
Bookmark and Share

Q: Does First Lady Michelle Obama have an "unprecedented" number of staffers

A: A spokeswoman for the first lady says that Michelle Obama currently has a staff of 24. That may indeed be the largest of any first lady, but Hillary Clinton, with 19 staffers, and Laura Bush with at least 18 and perhaps more, weren’t far behind.

FULL QUESTION:

Is this accurate? And how does it compare to prior first ladies’ staffs?

First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants

⬐ Click to expand/collapse the full text ⬏
Recession, Depression, What, Michelle Worry?

July 7, 2009

Dr. Paul L. Williams

"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," she said. "See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, " Michelle Obama.

No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.

How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:

1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)

2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)

3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary)

4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)

5. Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

6. $90,000 - Medina, David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)

8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)

9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)

10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)

13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)

14. Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)

15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)

16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)

17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)

18. Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)

19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)

21. Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)

22. Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)

There has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady’s social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense, when even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the President’s own pocket.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe.

FULL ANSWER:

The White House published the 2009 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff on its official blog on July 1, listing the title and salary of many White House office employees. A few days later, a fuss began online over the number of people who are assigned to work for the Office of First Lady and how much they earn per year.

A blog post from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet on July 6 put the spotlight on "What Michelle Obama’s Staffers Earn." The staff of TheLastCrusade.org, a Web site that describes itself as a place "where you can engage in the life and death struggle against the forces of Islam, apostasy, moral complacency, cultural relativity, and the New World Order," then took the information and posted a piece claiming that the first lady had hired an "unprecedented number of staffers" to "cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession." That piece was also posted on the conservative Web site CanadaFreePress.com under the byline of Dr. Paul L. Williams, who runs TheLastCrusade.org. That post has become part of a chain e-mail that some of our readers have passed on to us, and the e-mail expands upon Williams’ post, falsely claiming that some recent first ladies have had only one or three staffers.

How Many?

According to the 2009 White House report to Congress, there are 16 people with a title specifically indicating they work for Michelle Obama’s office. In other words, there are 16 people with "first lady" somewhere in their title, such as Jocelyn Frye, deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and projects for the first lady.

The list reported by Sweet and The Last Crusade, however, includes six other staffers who do not have "first lady" in their title but are a part of the first lady’s office staff, such as Desiree Rogers, special assistant to the president and White House social secretary, and Natalie Bookey, staff assistant.

We contacted Katie McCormick Lelyveld, Michelle Obama’s press secretary, to check the list’s accuracy. Lelyveld told us in an e-mail that the first lady’s current staff size is actually 24, not 22, as the chain e-mail claims. Lelyveld couldn’t provide a list of the staffers at that time.

First Ladies Past

The chain e-mail’s author claims that "[t]here has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady’s social life." The author claims that "even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one." But the counts for those first ladies are incorrect – and they’re way off.

Stephen Plotkin, reference archivist for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, told us in an e-mail that Jacqueline Kennedy’s office was "headed" by one person, but said that there were "at least 9 people working for Mrs. Kennedy, with the promise of a great many more" during her time at the White House.

Kim Coryat, an archives technician at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, told us it can be difficult to nail down a precise count of staff considering "White House staffing for all offices ebbs and flows with time." But she said in an e-mail that White House telephone directory records indicate that Hillary Clinton had at least a staff of 13 as of October 1993; 18 as of April 1997; and 19 as of March 2000.

Lelyveld said that Michelle Obama’s staff was actually no different than that of her predecessor, Laura Bush. "[W]e have exactly the same staff number as Mrs. Bush and our office organization reflects a similar staffing model, so insinuations otherwise are wrong," she said. Lelyveld said that the White House’s "personnel records indicate" that there were 24 staffers for Laura Bush at some point. We were able to verify at least 18 staffers for Laura Bush, as of June 30, 2008, via the 2008 White House staff list published in The Washington Post’s White House Watch column. Sixteen people were specifically referred to as a "first lady" staffer, and Amy Zantzinger and Dorothy Thornton served as White House social secretary and deputy social secretary, respectively. It’s possible that someone with the title of "staff assistant" was assigned to the Office of First Lady as well, as is the case with Michelle Obama’s staff.

The combined annual salaries for the 22 staffers we can specifically identify as working for Michelle Obama come to $1.6 million. For the 18 we could identify as working for Laura Bush in 2008, the total is $1.4 million.

Dr. Myra Gutin, a professor of communications at Rider University and a first ladies historian, says that the first lady’s role has certainly "grown and evolved" since the 1960s, but generally speaking, the first lady’s "staff numbers about 14-16." Gutin told us she recalled "some first ladies have had staffs of more than that."
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

infamouxxx says:

What in the world? Can't you people just enjoy the photos?? I mean, geez.
Posted 6 weeks ago. ( permalink )

{B E A U T I F U L} LEMONS says:

I've been looking at your Photostream and I think you've got an eye for interesting composition! I'm an admin for I Heart Photo and we'd love to have you as a new member!
I Heart This Photo
I Heart Photo Group

Posted 6 weeks ago. ( permalink )

ready aim click(Happy New Years!) says:

Looks like a lot of fun!
Posted 6 weeks ago. ( permalink )

forgetfulmare1 says:

Michelle looks fantastic!! It all looks like such great fun, and it's a terrific photo.
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

Corrin Green says:

Summer's Rose - Thank you for posting the Annenburg bit, so I didn't have to!

I love the openness of this administration, and the fact that we can even see the camera settings on official shots!

Can't you just hear the kid receiving the candy in about 40 years: "What do you mean? Yes, of COURSE that's me in the mask, son. You'll just have to trust daddy on this."
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

Happy New Year 2010 says:

A big show for self grandiosity
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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P103109PS-0609

Comments

lat454205 / Lisa says:

stevej_1960 says:

Jason From Duluth says:

quigley_brown says:

quigley_brown says:

Mona Loldwoman Happy New Year says:

SLH Photography 2009 says:

lat454205 / Lisa says:

wiro.karen says:

*Summer's Rose says:

nbklx17 (Sandy) says:

sliperymule says:

Travis_Simon says:

Scot Patrijspoort says:

jdog1063 says:

fondant.com says:

denebola2025 says:

Σταύρος says:

Happy New Year 2010 says:

Happy New Year 2010 says:

BlueisCoool says:

*Summer's Rose says:

infamouxxx says:

{B E A U T I F U L} LEMONS says:

ready aim click(Happy New Years!) says:

forgetfulmare1 says:

Corrin Green says:

Happy New Year 2010 says:

Would you like to comment?

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October 2009 (Set)

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