White House China Collector

I can't believe I didn't post this one.

When Mary and Katie played at the mansion they were hosting the legislative spouses for a luncheon, a Mr. Set Momjian was brought in as a speaker. Mr. Momjian is the foremost collector of White House China.

Mr. Momjian related a story about Ronald Reagan that I will try to retell as well as I can.

An 83-year-old widow named Frances Green received an invitation to attend a dinner at the White House. Figuring that such an invitation deserved a hand-written response, she discarded the preprinted RSVP card and quickly wrote her acceptance of the invitation. Mrs. Green lived on a $500 a month Social Security check, but she saved her money and purchased a cross-country train ticket. She lived in California, and couldn't afford a sleeper car, so she slept sitting up for the four-day journey.

Upon arriving in Washington D.C., she checked into the most inexpensive hotel she could find, donned a white dress complete with hat and gloves, and walked to the White House to be admitted by the Secret Service. As she stood in the line, she struck up a conversation with Mr. Momjian who was a Ford Executive and had been very involved with Presidents from both parties.

As she arrived at the front of the line to be admitted, the Secret Service agent told her that her name was not on the approved list and she would have to step aside. She would not be allowed into the White House.

Mr. Momjian had some pull in the White House, so he tried to figure out what had happened. Apparently for the last twenty years, Mrs. Green had sent a donation to the Republican National Party. It was only a dollar or two, but because she was a regular donor, she had been sent an invitation to the event. The RSVP card, that she had thrown away, contained directions for remitting a sizable donation to the party as a condition of attendance to the dinner.

Mr. Momjian tried to get security to relent, but [insert joke about reality TV stars crashing parties at the White House here] he was unable to make any headway.

He went back to Mrs. Green and got her a cab back to her hotel. Mrs. Green was emotionally devastated. It was a dream come true to meet with President Reagan and now it had all fallen apart. It was July 3rd, and Mrs. Green was stuck in Washington until July 5th when her bank could wire her money for her return trip. He asked her if she could return on the 5th for a personal tour of the White House. She begrudgingly agreed.

That night, Mr. Momjian got in touch with Anne Higgins who was the President's Director of Correspondence. He related Mrs. Green's story, and Ms. Higgins related the story to Kathy Osborn who was the President's personal secretary. Ms. Osborn made no promises, but she said that she would try to squeeze in a personal meeting with President for Mrs. Green.

So on the fifth Mr. Momjian picked Mrs. Green up at her hotel and took her to the White House. He had told her to wear the same white dress that she had worn to the dinner. That weekend two events had unfolded that made a visit with President Reagan highly unlikely. Edwin Meese, Reagan's Attorney General, had resigned under fire, and a U.S. warship had shot down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf.

As they approached the Oval Office, with Mrs. Green being unaware that they were anywhere near the President, Mr. Momjian tried to catch the eye of the President's Assistant to get an indication of whether the President would be able to give a quick hello or not. They were told to wait and she disappeared into the room.

They were then asked to come in where they were greeted personally by President Reagan in the Oval Office. President Reagan put his arms around her and told her, "Those damn computers fouled up again. Of course you had an invitation, Mrs. Green. They should have called me from the gate and told me you were there. I wanted to have you here today to apologize personally."

President Reagan had arranged to have the White House photographer present, and a picture was taken to be given to Mrs. Green.






Newspaper Article

(I include those for doubters)

President Reagan spoke with Mrs. Green for about fifteen minutes, that he really didn't have, and when she was leaving she told him to wish Nancy a happy birthday. Mrs. Green thought that President Reagan may have forgotten it.


I'll add another post in a few days to show some of the China he displayed.