Duchess Harris, "The State of Black Women in Politics Under the First Black President"
(page 5 of 8)

Desiree Rogers

An original "Obama woman," appointed as White House Social Secretary in November 2008, Desiree Rogers is a New Orleans native, Harvard graduate, and a personal friend of Michelle Obama. Rogers successfully promoted what she called the "Obama brand"[27] for a year, making the White House seem like a fun, welcoming place by planning events like an Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn, inviting local children to trick-or-treat at the White House, and hosting dinners with dance floors and music provided by bands like Earth, Wind, and Fire. She drew criticism for her expensive fashion choices, as well as for attending events like New York Fashion Week, but it was uninvited guests at a White House dinner that resulted in a media fiasco ending with Rogers' resignation.

On November 24, 2009, the Obamas held their first state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. During the event, Virginia socialite couple Tareq and Michaele Salahi slipped past security, even though their names appeared on no guest lists. The couple joined the party, posing for photos with Vice President Joe Biden, and even shaking the President's hand. The security breach led to a Secret Service investigation and heavy criticism of Rogers. According to The New York Times, in planning the party Rogers consulted and followed records from two of Laura Bush's dinners, stationing someone at the East Portico of the White House to ensure guests were on the Secret Service list; at this dinner, however, no one was placed at an outer checkpoint as had been done in the past.[28]

Despite the ensuing investigation, it appeared at first that the administration was standing fully behind Rogers. During a White House briefing, Robert Gibbs, Obama's Press Secretary, in response to a question regarding Rogers' planning, said, "The first family is quite pleased with her performance."[29] When Rogers' resignation was announced at the end of February, barely two months later, she publicly asserted that she felt her work in creating a "people's house" was complete, that it seemed like a good time to examine her prospects in the corporate world and that "the incident at the State Dinner was not a deciding factor ... but it did show me a side of the job and of Washington that I had not seen before."[30]

News of her resignation began leaking before she planned to make it known,[31] and the speed in which her replacement, Julianna Smoot, was announced suggests that her departure was not solely of her own volition (Rogers' resignation was announced on February 26, and Smoot was confirmed as her replacement later the same day).

Writing for The New York Times, Peter Baker said that trouble for Rogers began before the Salahis crashed the White House dinner. She met with Senior Advisor David Axelrod after her May 2009 appearance in WSJ Magazine. Axelrod reprimanded her both for referring to the President as a brand and for her lavish dress and jewelry in the spread during an economic recession. Baker wrote, "her profile was deliberately lowered."[32] After the White House security breach and the following public scrutiny of Rogers, she felt that no one in the White House did much to defend her or correct the record, said Baker, quoting unnamed sources. He continued:

After the Salahi incident, these associates said Ms. Rogers was barred by the White House from testifying before Congress or giving interviews or even answering written questions. She was told she could not attend the Kennedy Center Honors, a major annual Washington event. And even her decision to finally resign leaked before she could secure a new job.[33]

Considering her success in planning White House activities—in 2009, she organized 309 events, while there were only 231 events during Bush's final year[34]—and the personal friendship she had with the Obamas, the lack of defense from the President and Mrs. Obama was both surprising and disappointing. Yet upon comparing the Desiree Rogers incident with Obama's overall record on African-American women within his administration, and race in general, the surprise is diminished. In fact, the reaction just seems standard.

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