So we're a little late to the party (at least we didn't crash it!), but White House Social Secretary Julianna Smoot is leaving her post after only ten months on the job to work on the president's re-election campaign. And with the news comes an interesting suggestion from the New York Times: maybe a man should take the reins.
And why not? Letitia Baldrige, social secretary to Jackie Kennedy, agrees, remembering that in 1961, "there was a man named J. B. West who was really the manager of the White House. He did everything that a social secretary should do; he set a style." However West, who was dubbed chief usher never wanted to be called Social Secretary because it sounded "too frippery."
So who are some possible male contenders for the job? According to the Times:
- Ebs Burnough or Joe Reinstein -- Smoot's top deputies
- Steve Clemons -- D.C. "social butterfly" and director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation
- Carlos Elizondo -- Vice President Biden's social secretary
- Chris Wayne -- former deputy director of White House advance for President Clinton
- Sam Kass -- Chicago chef
- George Stevens Jr. -- director and producer
What do you think?