The Official Online News
Source of the Coast Guard
Retired Rear Adm. Stephen Rochon, director of the Executive Residence and chief usher at the White House, pauses in the Green Room on the State Floor.
Rochon still keeps his mustang flag mug on his desk.
Rochon walks away from the Oval Office in the West Wing passing the rose garden on his right.
Rochon leans against a guilded chair in his favorite room, the State Dining Room beneath a portrait of President Lincoln.
Rochon jokes with senior butler James Ramsey in the coffee mess. Ramsey has worked at the White House since the Carter administration.
Good Morning Mr. President
Story and Photos by PA2 dan bender
That’s how retired Coast Guard Rear Adm. Stephen Rochon starts each day. As the director of the Executive Residence and chief usher at the White House, he is responsible for the 55,000 sq. ft. of White House built by George Washington and the rest of the 18 acres between Pennsylvania Ave.
It is the home of the leader of the free world and the epicenter of the world’s only superpower. But running the White House hasn’t gone to his head. He hasn’t forgotten that he was once a seaman recruit. The enlisted insignia of a third class petty officer in the ordinary oak shadow box on his office wall is proof.
But above this are his two stars and all of the ranks in between, including the anchors of an honorary chief. Together they represent the journey of a man of uncommon virtue through a life of unassuming service. They represent the reason why he was chosen for this daunting job and why sometimes Laura Bush had to come down the marble steps from her office above his and politely ask him to pipe down.
Rochon has a warm and genuine smile that only disappears when he is absorbing what someone else has to say. He is a ubiquitous character in the White House, revealing his first lesson on leadership. Walk around.
“You learn a lot from people walking around you normally wouldn’t learn if you sat at your desk the whole time handing down directives,” he said.
It’s a brisk Wednesday in January, six days before the inauguration. In spite of the mountain of work ahead of him, he begins his methodical morning walkabout. On his way towards the basement he stops in the kitchen to say good morning to the executive chef who is surrounded by hundreds of delicate racks of lamb on tall rolling carts. He listens intently as she lists her preparations for a 500-person luncheon in a few hours. He jots a quick note in the slim black leather folio he is carrying as the focused look of someone who is not just listening but absorbing is displaced by his normal smile.
Down a set of stairs, on the chilly basement floor, he turns into the office of the National Park Service groundskeepers and horticulturalists where President Bush’s Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, are grabbing breakfast. Even they get a hello and a scratch behind the ears from the admiral. After a quick chat, and one with the groundskeepers too, Rochon is off.
He checks in on his carpenters and pokes his head in the florist shop and is soon back up to the ground floor where he runs into James Ramsey, the chief butler, who has worked here since the Carter Administration. He and Rochon slap each other five like cool kids meeting up after school.
Rochon introduces him as “Mr. Ramsey, the president’s favorite.” They laugh loudly and Ramsey reveals two more of the reasons for Rochon’s success. Follow the rules and be fair.
“He’s a man who believes in being right and treating people right,” says Ramsey. Rochon is still smiling but visibly humbled by the older Southern gentleman’s words, probably because they ring so true.
“Treat people fairly; if you take care of your people, they’ll take care of the mission,” is how Rochon describes being a good leader. But it’s not quite that simple. Doing the right thing won’t always endear your people to you in the short-term. “Some people will think you’re too rigid.” That doesn’t seem to be the case with Rochon’s team at the White House. They all light up in the admiral’s presence and it’s plain to see that they all carry with them a sense of purpose. This is the admiral’s next lesson. Tell your people why their job is important.
“It’s a privilege to be here and I try to tell my folks to think about that every single day,” he said.
Later in the morning, after a quick meeting with his team he puts his words into action. Rochon is talking with someone about getting the Obama family’s belongings to the White House during the inauguration. After they’re done, I ask what the man’s job is. He says he’s in charge of a warehouse. Rochon politely interjects and reminds him, “it’s not just a warehouse, it’s the Executive Storage Facility.”
The man grins a bit, obviously buying into the admiral’s way of thinking. On the surface it’s a miniscule comment but his comments have a cumulative effect because he’s constantly making them. “If these vans aren’t here on time we could ruin the president’s schedule. The first lady is counting on you. The President really needs to impress these people, we’ve gotta get this right.”
When people believe in their work, the work just gets done. When he was interviewed for this job by Josh Bolten, President Bush’s chief of staff, he was asked how he would handle being outside of the military and unable to order people around. Rochon said he couldn’t remember the last time he gave a direct order. “I ask or put it in a way that they want to do it,” Rochon said.
He is living, breathing proof that leadership has little, if anything, to do with giving orders. His principles elevated him from a seaman to an admiral and then to the White House. They aren’t complicated to understand, but they aren’t easy to master either.
It’s crunch time at the White House and people are buzzing around on every floor in every room. Most of them are working long days, some are even having to stay overnight in the run-up to the inauguration, but everyone on Rochon’s staff is upbeat. There are no long faces. No one even seems tired. You can’t help but believe the climate Rochon has created has a lot to do with this.
It’s going to be another 14-hour day for Rochon, but that won’t phase him. He’s too busy having fun planning a playground on the South Lawn for Sasha and Malia Obama. This is his final secret to success. Have fun and love what you do.
