--- title: "4 J.B. West Quotes" description: "James Bernard West was the 6th Chief Usher of the White House serving from 1957 to 1969. His best-selling book, Upstairs at the White House: My Life wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/j-b-west-71078_loyalty_the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-hous_164779.jpg" --- # J.B. West **4** quotes in **10** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet James Bernard West was the 6th Chief Usher of the White House serving from 1957 to 1969. His best-selling book, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, documents his time in the executive mansion and is considered a good source of material on the First Families he served. ## Quotes by J.B. West > [“The secret was loyalty to the White House and to the Presidency, rather than to whoever happens to be occupying the office…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-house-and-to-the-presidency/) [J.B. West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/j-b-west-71078_loyalty_the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-hous_164779.jpg) > [“On Monday morning, she called me into her bedroom. Her dark hair was tousled, her light robe very feminine against the soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her-bedroom-her-dark-hair-was/) [J.B. West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/) [Dark hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-hair/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/j-b-west-71078_dark-hair_on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her_2383587.jpg) > [“ask the President and then tell the usher how many there will be. In the winter months,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-usher-how-many-there-will-be-in/) [J.B. West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/j-b-west-71078_trump_ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-ushe_2536585.jpg) > [“There’s just one thing I draw the line at,” he said, “and that’s any kind of attack on my family. Any man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-at-he-said-and-that-s-any-kind/) [J.B. West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/j-b-west-71078_failure_there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-a_2634259.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/#itemlist", "name": "J.B. West Quotes", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The secret was loyalty to the White House and to the Presidency, rather than to whoever happens to be occupying the office for four years, or eight.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.B. West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-house-and-to-the-presidency/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/j-b-west-71078_loyalty_the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-hous_164779.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/j-b-west-71078_loyalty_the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-hous_164779.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/j-b-west-71078_loyalty_the-secret-was-loyalty-to-the-white-hous_164779.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The secret was loyalty to the White House and to the Presidency, rather than to whoever happens to be…” — J.B. West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On Monday morning, she called me into her bedroom. Her dark hair was tousled, her light robe very feminine against the soft blue of her bed. Her eyes were full of mischief. “Oh, Mr. West,” she whispered in her beguiling child’s voice. “I’ve gotten myself into something. Can you help me get out of it?” “What can I do?” I asked, wondering who was next in line to be fired. “I’ve invited someone to stay here,” she said, “but now we’ve changed our minds.” She cast a glance in the direction of the President’s bedroom. “Could you help us cook up something so we can get out of having her as a houseguest?” Without waiting for a reply, she rushed on, her request becoming a command in mid-breath. “Would you fix up the Queen’s Room and the Lincoln Room so that it looks like we’re still decorating them, and I’ll show her that our guest rooms are not available.” Her eyes twinkled, imagining the elaborate deception. “The guest rooms will be redecorated immediately,” I said, and almost clicked my heels. I called Bonner Arrington in the carpenter’s shop. “Bring drop-cloths up to the Queen’s Room and Lincoln Bedroom. Roll up the rugs and cover the draperies and chandeliers, and all the furniture,” I instructed. “Oh yes, and bring a stepladder.” I called the paint shop. “I need six paint buckets each for the Queen’s Room and the Lincoln Room. Two of the buckets in each room should be empty—off-white—and I need four or five dirty brushes.” I met the crews on the second floor. “Now proceed to make these two rooms look as if they’re being redecorated,” I directed. “You mean you don’t want us to paint?” said the painters. “No,” I said. “Just make it look as if you are.” The crew had a good time, even though they didn’t know what it was all about. As I brought in the finishing touches, ashtrays filled with cigarette butts, Bonner shook his head. “Mr. West, all I can say is that this place has finally got to you,” he said. That evening the President and Mrs. Kennedy entertained a Princess for dinner upstairs in the President’s Dining Room. Before dinner, though, President Kennedy strolled down to the East Hall with his wife’s guest. He pointed out the bedraped Queen’s Room. “… And you see, this is where you would have spent the night if Jackie hadn’t been redecorating again,” he told the unsuspecting lady. The next morning, Mrs. Kennedy phoned me. “Mr. West, you outdid yourself,” she exclaimed. “The President almost broke up when he saw those ashtrays.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.B. West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her-bedroom-her-dark-hair-was/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/j-b-west-71078_dark-hair_on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her_2383587.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/j-b-west-71078_dark-hair_on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her_2383587.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/j-b-west-71078_dark-hair_on-monday-morning-she-called-me-into-her_2383587.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“On Monday morning, she called me into her bedroom. Her dark hair was tousled, her light robe very feminine…” — J.B. West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“ask the President and then tell the usher how many there will be. In the winter months,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.B. West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-usher-how-many-there-will-be-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/j-b-west-71078_trump_ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-ushe_2536585.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/j-b-west-71078_trump_ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-ushe_2536585.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/j-b-west-71078_trump_ask-the-president-and-then-tell-the-ushe_2536585.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“ask the President and then tell the usher how many there will be. In the winter months,” — J.B. West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There’s just one thing I draw the line at,” he said, “and that’s any kind of attack on my family. Any man can make mistakes, even if he’s trying with all his heart and mind to do the best thing for his country. But a man’s family ought to be sacred. There was one columnist who wrote some lie about my family when I was in the Senate and instead of writing him a letter I called him on the phone and I said you so-and-so, if you say another word about my family, I’ll come down to your office and shoot you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.B. West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-west/there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-at-he-said-and-that-s-any-kind/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/j-b-west-71078_failure_there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-a_2634259.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/j-b-west-71078_failure_there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-a_2634259.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/j-b-west-71078_failure_there-s-just-one-thing-i-draw-the-line-a_2634259.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There’s just one thing I draw the line at,” he said, “and that’s any kind of attack on my family. Any man…” — J.B. West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-west/#person", "name": "J.B. 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