Vivid, elegant legacy

Washington Times by Stephanie Green | Jan. 8, 2009 (Other)
First lady displays Bush china

Mrs. Bush says the china designs have been in the works for years, and the services were delivered just recently, so she did not have a chance to show them to her successor, Michelle Obama. "I think she'll have fun discovering all those," Mrs. Bush said.

It is customary for presidents and first ladies to design their own china and leave it as a memory of their time in the world's most famous home, although some presidents, including President ... Full Story »

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2.9
 by Marsha Iverson - Jan. 8, 2009

Descriptive account of new Bush china gives a look at the more genteel side of the White House.

I find it ironic, given all the other aspects of the Bush Presidency, that two sets of china for White House events, valued at $492,798 (a 14-piece service for 320), and $74,000 (a spare 7-piece service for intimate occasions with parties of 75), arrive during the last days of an eight-year administration whose legacy in most other areas is memorable for all the wrong reasons.

In one of her last ceremonial duties as first lady of the United States, Laura Bush yesterday unveiled the George W. Bush State China Service, Magnolia Residence China Service and two new rugs at a private press viewing in the Family Dining Room of the White House. “I hope that the next family will be happy to have these two sets, to be able to entertain their heads of state that come in, as well as for their closest family and friends,” Mrs. Bush said, referring to the Obama family, who will move into the White House on Jan. 20.

First Lady Laura Bush deserves full credit for being a gracious presence throughout her husband’s administration.

“What makes this collection so special is that it represents Mrs. Bush’s legacy,” says Amy Zantzinger, Mrs. Bush’s social secretary. “It’s very elegant and reflects the style of the period. It will become a house antiquity.” Mrs. Zantzinger cited as an example the china from Rutherford B. Hayes’s presidency, which was far more colorful and flamboyant than that of other presidential eras but “indicative of its time” in Gilded Age America.

Ironic comparison of legacies and times.

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