Party's About to Start for Obamas' Social Secretary

Is White House social secretary to blame for Michaele and Tareq Salahi?

(NEWSER) - A week’s worth of finger-pointing over how Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed to crash a state dinner has now turned the spotlight on a controversial figure: White House social secretary Desirée Rogers. Unlike demure secretaries before her, the attention-grabbing Rogers “arrived in Washington this year to great fanfare, no small amount of it of her own making,” writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post —but the dinner ended up “tarnishing her vaunted reputation as an overachieving perfectionist.” More»

White House social secretary brings marketing savvy to the role

(NEWSER) - The White House is the jewel in the crown of the Obama brand and it’s her job to promote it, White House social secretary Desirée Rogers tells Amy Chozick of the Wall Street Journal. Rogers has taken the event-organizing role to a new level, Chozick writes, and unlike her predecessors, has made herself a powerful presence in the West Wing as well as the East. More»

Obama's social secretary thinks he hung her out to dry

(NEWSER) - Desirée Rogers is leaving the White House with a chip on her shoulder. In a profile in today’s New York Times , a host of sources close to Rogers say that Obama’s outgoing social secretary feels the administration hung her out to dry in the Salahi dust-up. “As she put it, ‘They never lifted a finger to help me set the record straight,’” says one associate. More»

(NEWSER) - When Barack Obama invited Stevie Wonder and 150 music lovers to the White House for a concert, it wasn’t just an excuse to hang out with a favorite musician. It was part of a carefully crafted political strategy to open up the White House, the New York Times reports. The Obamas have already hosted students, teachers, chefs, mayors, community leaders, and labor organizers at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. More»

Obamas must shelter girls from negatives, capitalize on positives on time in spotlight

(NEWSER) - Malia and Sasha Obama will be the youngest residents of the White House since 1977, and it will be a major responsibility for their parents to keep the spotlight from burning them, experts tell Newsday's parenting columnist. Today's 24/7 news cycle and the Obamas' status as the nation's first black first family have already intensified international fascination. "This is good and bad for children," said one educator. More»