VIDEO: Jamaican Angella Reid , First Female Chief Usher at the White House, Interviewed for NBC by Former First Daughter Jenna Bush Hager
Angella Reid Jamaican White House Chief Usher
Angella Reid Jamaican White House Chief Usher

Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former U.S. president George W. Bush and granddaughter of former president George H.W. Bush, paid a visit to her old home at the White House and did some catching up with some of her favorites there. While Hager, 34, hasn’t lived at the White House for years, she has warm recollections of how the staff there made the historic house a home, she said. Hager took the opportunity of her visit to interview Jamaican Angella Reid, the first woman – and only the second African American – to held the position of Chief Usher at the traditional home of U.S. presidents, a post that has had just nine such ushers since 1885. Reid, 56, was born in rural Jamaica, and began working at the White House in 2011 after a career in hotel management and 25 years at the Ritz-Carlton hotel organization. As Chief Usher, Reid is responsible for managing the 100 rooms and 90 staff members at the White House, including butlers, cooks and florists. She organizes many of the venue’s major events, such as State Dinners and the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Hager, who conducted the interview for NBC, noted that her family became very fond of Reid and her crew during their years at the White House and particularly cited Reid’s determination and willingness to take a risk as the qualities that got her the prestigious job as Chief Usher.