Have you met Rotus?

[babylonsister]

From Serving in Iraq to Welcoming White House Guests

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Darienne M. Page, answering calls in the West Wing last month, carries the title of receptionist of the United States, or Rotus, the nickname President Obama uses.

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: May 17, 2009


WASHINGTON — Have you met Rotus?

This is a question President Obama has taken to asking some of his visitors to the White House. In a bureaucratic world awash in abbreviations and acronyms, this one in particular seems to amuse him.

Mr. Obama, of course, is Potus (president of the United States). Michelle Obama is Flotus (first lady of the United States). And the title of Rotus (receptionist of the United States) is worn by Darienne M. Page.

“This is the receptionist of the entire United States,” Mr. Obama said, introducing Ms. Page to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

“How long was your confirmation hearing?” Mr. Holder asked with a smile.

“You want to say, ‘Hello, Potus,’ ” Ms. Page said later, recalling her interactions with Mr. Obama, who picked up the Rotus nickname from young aides and now uses it nearly every time he sees her. “But then you say, ‘Hello, Mr. President.’ ”

snip//

Her path to the White House began in a bar in downtown Chicago, where she and a group of friends from the University of Illinois stopped by for happy hour and dinner one night in fall 2007. A man in a “Veterans for Obama” shirt was sitting nearby, and they began talking about the campaign. Soon, she was a volunteer. A few months later, she was hired to work in the operations department to make travel arrangements and handle logistics for campaign field workers and senior strategists.

“You can tell a lot about a person’s temperament based on how they travel and what they’re willing to take and what they’re not willing to take,” Ms. Page said. “It helps dealing with them now.”

This is her first White House job, but Mr. Obama is the second president she has served. The first was George W. Bush, her commander in chief when she was an Army sergeant stationed in Iraq.

Ms. Page joined the military after finishing high school in Maryland, following a long line of others in her family. She worked as a paralegal in Baghdad, taking depositions in the Abu Ghraib prison. She still wears a metal bracelet on her right wrist inscribed with the name of Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore, her commander, who was killed when enemy fire struck his helicopter in late 2003.

“He taught us to lead, but to lead with a smile and be calm under pressure,” she said. “A lot of lessons that I learned in the Army help me here. There is a lot that goes on that I have to do with a smile even if I really don’t want to.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/us/politics/18rotus.html?hpw

[elleng]

1. All for $36,000!

.

[babylonsister]

2. I might do that job for free if I had a place to live.

Sounds very interesting. Then, I'd hit DU at night. The stories she could tell. Well, maybe not. ;)

[elleng]

3. I'm sure lots feel that way,

buts its an expensive city, and she probably doesn't get much if anything from her earlier service. I hope someone's giving her wardrobe and make-up!

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Wow, she took depositions at Abu Graihb...

that's interesting.

That's a cute story of the nicknames, Holder asking how long her confirmation hearing was, etc.

:)

[Clio the Leo]

5. If I ever met the President, it would take all of my intestinal fortitude....

.... to not look at him and say, "well hey there Great POTUS Head!"

Just my pet nickname for him. :)

[rvablue]

6. Cute story! n/t

[LisaM]

7. POTUS, FLOTUS, and SCOTUS are bad enough

Do we really have to have a ROTUS, too?