Office of the First Lady of the United States

Office of the First Lady

Office overview
Formed	1977[1]
Headquarters	East Wing of The White House
Employees	24[2]
Parent Office	White House Office
Website	First Lady Michelle Obama

The Office of the First Lady of the United States is the staff accountable to the First Lady of the United States. The office and its responsibilities, while not mandated, have grown as the role of the First Lady has grown and formalized through the history of the United States.^[3] The Office of the First Lady is an entity of the White House Office, part of the Executive Office of the President.^[4]

The First Lady has her own staff that includes a Chief of Staff,^[5] White House Social Secretary,^[6] Press Secretary,^[7] White House Chief Floral Designer,^[8] White House Executive Chef.^[9]

History

Though the persona, activities, and initiatives of the First Lady have always been significant to the history of the United States, the first First Lady to hire federally funded staff was Edith Roosevelt, who hired Belle Hagner as the first White House Social Secretary on October 2, 1901.^[10] Eleanor Roosevelt became the first First Lady to expand the office beyond social and administrative secretaries by hiring Malvina Thompson as her personal secretary^[11] and Jackie Kennedy was the first to employ a Press Secretary^[12][3]

It was under Rosalynn Carter that the First Lady's staff became known as Office of the First Lady. She organized the office into four major departments: projects and community liaison, press and research, schedule and advance, and social and personal; and was the first to add a Chief of Staff.^[1]

Key staff, current (Michelle Obama)

• Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady: Tina Tchen
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady: Melissa Winter^[13]
  • Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady: Caroline Adler Morales^[14]
    • Press Secretary to the First Lady: Joanna Rosholm^[7]
  • Special Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Planning for the First Lady: MacKenzie Smith
  • Special Assistant and Director of Special Projects for the First Lady: Kristin Jones
  • Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Deesha Dyer
    • Deputy Social Secretary: Lauren Kelly

References

White House Office
Office of Cabinet Affairs Office of the Chief of Staff Office of Communications Office of the Counselor Office of the First Lady Office of Legislative Affairs Office of Management and Administration Oval Office Operations Office of Political Affairs Office of Presidential Personnel Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Office of the Press Secretary Office of Scheduling and Advance Office of the Senior Advisor Office of the Staff Secretary Office of the White House Counsel Office of Policy Development White House Fellows

White House Complex
White House
Executive Residence	Basement Basement Chief Floral Designer Ground floor China Room collection Office of the Curator Diplomatic Reception Room Library Map Room Vermeil Room State floor Blue Room Cross Hall East Room Entrance Hall Family Dining Room Grand Staircase Green Room Red Room South Portico State Dining Room Chief Usher Second floor Center Hall Dressing Room East Bedroom East Sitting Hall Family Kitchen Lincoln Bedroom Lincoln Sitting Room President's Bedroom President's Dining Room Private Sitting Room Queens' Bedroom Queens' Sitting Room Treaty Room Truman Balcony West Bedroom West Sitting Hall Yellow Oval Room Third floor Center Hall Diet Kitchen Linen Room Music Room Sun Room Work-out Room
West Wing	Cabinet Room Executive Office Oval Office Press Briefing Room Roosevelt Room Situation Room
East Wing	Office of the First Lady Graphics and Calligraphy Office Presidential Emergency Operations Center Social Secretary Visitors Office White House Military Office
Grounds	The Ellipse Jacqueline Kennedy Garden Lafayette Square North Lawn President's Park Rose Garden South Lawn
Annex	Eisenhower Executive Office Building New Executive Office Building White House Conference Center Blair House Trowbridge House Presidential Townhouse
Surrounding streets	15th Street 17th Street Constitution Avenue E Street East Executive Avenue H Street NW Hamilton Place Jackson Place Madison Place Pennsylvania Avenue State Place West Executive Avenue