Evening star., 1933-04-12
BY DOLLY GANN.

Y
are confronted with q schedule Of
social duties, ranging from formal din
ners to at-homes, and including an
unforeseen number Of meetings and
receptions, 50 nearly continuous that
few waking hours are free.
why don't you ease up q bit?" I
was frequently asked. "You should
not be expected to wreck your health
at this pace, and certainly 1t is not
necessary to be on the 60 perpetually."
Fortunately, was not obliged to
consider the physical aspect. as had
been blessed with strength and en-
ergy. Whether the social side Of Of
ficial life Is necessary" depends on
the point of view. Experience and ira
dition answer in the affirmative. The
President must be relieved Of routine
obligations which would render insup-
and 30 there has grown up the custom
Of regarding the Vice President as his
social representative.
Like any other duty, that Of the Vice
President could be shirked. My brother
Charles might have said, 81 don't like
1t and I won't have it," ! might have
echoed this. But we should not have
liked that. II we had liked it, we
should have chosen to do what should
be done.
It is as guest rather than host that
the Vice President most often repre-
sents the President, for the evenings
are rare when he IS not hidden to
the seat Of honor at formal dinners,
and his hostess must make innumera-
bic calls at the homes Of foreign diplo-
mats, officials and others. The din
ners which must be given by the Vice
President are comparatively few, but
they are prescribed by rigid precedent
and they should be notable for the per-
sonnel and the quality Of entertain
ment.
tertainment at which acted as
hostess was the reception to the dip
lomatic corps April 81, 1929. This Is
the first social obligation Of every Vice
President.
The vice President IS not expected
to return all the entertaining for him.
The functions are 20 numerous this
would be impossible. When brother
succeeded Gen. Dawes as Vice Presi-
dent was advised by the general not
to accept more than three invitations
q week. Soon we had given out the
three evenings and many more tnvi-
tations were coming IN. Then we de-
cided to keep only Sunday nights, but
soon we gave those, too.
StckIer for Punctuality.
I always felt, as did my brother, that
we should accept as many invitations
as possible, and from people In all walks
of life. The Vice President represents
all the people. He was elected by them,
and his associations should not be linn
tied to any particular class or group.
At each oficial function In Washing
ton the ranking guest should arrive
last and leave first, though late comers
sometimes interfere with the proper
order. Brother was q stickler for punc-
tuality. He arrived when expected and,
tried to leave around 10:30 o'clock. This
Is the correct procedure.
Tradition requires the Vice Presi-
dent, each member OF the cabinet and
the Speaker Of the House to entertain
each social season. The Vice Presi-
dents dinner comes frst. We had .
housekeeping apartment at the May
flower Hotel, and the first year brother
was Vice President we gave the dinner
to the President In our own apartment.
We had 20 guests.
A client Of Mr.. Cams had given me
two lovely table cloths from Czechoslo-
vakia. One was old ivory, the other
rich apricot. used the apricot one.
The decorations were talisman roses
and tall black candles In silver holders.
was overjoyed when the President re-
marked upon the beauty of the table.
No wonder women like Mr.. Hoover. He
understands them.
have great regard for the Chief
Executive, no matter who he Is, and I
had always realized the responsibility
of entertaining him; but I had not
realized it fully until it became our duty
to do the entertaining The Presidents
safety is of such vital concern that
there is little feeling of-shall say
relief?-when . party In his honor ends
and all has gone we'll This time
Secret Service man called on me sew
eral days before the dinner and in
quired who was to be the cook. The
reason was obvious. I had selected an
experienced Swedish cook I had en-
gagged On former occasions and who had
cooked at the White House SIX years.
She had accompanied President Will
sons party when they went to Europe
to negotiate the peace treaty In 1919.
The Secret Service man also inquired
about the walters. They had been
chosen from among the men who some
times served at the White House.
When entertaining the President one
always welcomes him at the front door
and escorts him to the door when he
departs. This we did, although our
apartment was on the tenth floor. One