Jan. 30, 2013

Buttrams visit with Vice President Biden while in D.C.

By KATHY ROE BUTTRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a proud American, I expected to be awed by the grandeur of the White House, the majestic building where U.S. presidents have walked, their steps echoing through time since 1800, when John Adams moved into the unfinished rooms.

I expected the pre-inaugural reception my husband, Dean, and I attended on Jan. 17 in the Red Room to be memorable, and it was. The president and first lady were warm and gracious, and I considered it an honor to meet them.

But it was the unexpected moments on a cold January day in Washington, D.C., that made our journey more remarkable.

We asked a young red-haired naval officer in dress uniform about his work at the White House. It is an assignment he loves, particularly the footnotes of history that were written here.

He told us about the portrait of John F. Kennedy in which he is looking down, as if weighed down by the burdens of a nation. But the portrait was painted after Kennedy was assassinated. The artist Aaron Shikler had painted Jacqueline Kennedy, and she liked his work so much, she wanted him to paint her late husband. He declined. He said he had to see a person's eyes to paint him. The eyes tell you who a person is. Shikler finally agreed, but we do not see Kennedy's eyes, just his bowed head.

As we walked through the rooms, I was moved by the power of Abraham Lincoln's gaze and the piercing intellect you see in John Adams' face, but it was the portrait of former first lady Nancy Reagan in a softly draped, red evening gown that captivated me. It is a fitting reminder of her elegance and grace.

Secret Service agents are accustomed to unexpected moments with Vice President Joe Biden, who remembered a train ride with Dean in 1988 on the campaign trail in Iowa. He took us by the hand and cleared the way through a crowd to introduce his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and his son Beaux. As the TV news reporters say, he is irrepressible.

Washington runs on the power of people like Biden and Obama, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, but its real power comes from the red-haired naval officer, the coat-check attendant from Birmingham, the cab driver from Ethiopia and the waitress from Belarus. It's the power that makes us America.