While covering the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, I had the chance to interview Josh Bolten, former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, about Jewish life in the White House. You can read the resulting profile in Tablet and gain insight into Bush's taste in matza (or lack thereof), among other important matters.
But something that didn't make it into the piece was Bolten's description of hygiene aboard Air Force One. It came up in the context of him explaining why the White House staff looked so exhausted and bedraggled at the annual Hanukkah party one year after having just flown back from Iraq. Couldn't they have slept and washed up on the plane? Not quite, said Bolten:
But something that didn't make it into the piece was Bolten's description of hygiene aboard Air Force One. It came up in the context of him explaining why the White House staff looked so exhausted and bedraggled at the annual Hanukkah party one year after having just flown back from Iraq. Couldn't they have slept and washed up on the plane? Not quite, said Bolten:
There is a shower on Air Force One, and it’s for the president. Everyone else can just stink. There’s also a bed on Air Force One, and it’s for the president. So he was rested and smelled sweet. The rest of us, not so much.
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