Angela Reid
Cite this Page
"Angela Reid," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1413.
- Position
- Chief Usher
- Presidency
- Barack Obama
- Biography
- "The Obamas hired or promoted first-generation immigrants and women of color to the roles of head chef and chief florist, and they replaced Rochon with Angella Reid, who is Black. She, too, was an outsider, coming to the White House from the Ritz-Carlton company, where she had worked for twenty-one years. Work was difficult for the residence staff under Reid, who earned respect but also a reputation as a taskmaster, and who ran the White House with the exacting and fear-inducing sensibilities of a luxury-hotel manager. Several people told me that Reid made a point of humiliating workers, disparaging their performance in front of their colleagues. (In a statement, Reid said that working at the White House “was not only a highlight of my career but memories I will hold dear for my entire life. I look back fondly and often think about the residence staff, continuing to root them all on. I wish them nothing but the best.”)"; See also Adrian Miller's The President's Kitchen Cabinet