The White House on Friday named Jeremy Bernard (right) to serve as social secretary to President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, the first male and first openly gay person to hold the position.
The high profile job, traditionally filled by a woman, will put Bernard in ultimate charge of dispensing sumptuous White House hospitality at events from state dinners to holiday parties, concerts and tours of the presidential mansion.
“Jeremy shares our vision for the White House as the People’s House, one that celebrates our history and culture in dynamic and inclusive ways,” Obama said in a statement.
“We look forward to Jeremy continuing to showcase America’s arts and culture to our nation and the world through the many events at the White House,” Obama said.
Bernard, a long-time Obama supporter and fund-raiser, has been serving as special adviser to the US ambassador to France at the US embassy in Paris.
“I am deeply humbled to join the White House staff as social secretary and support President Obama and the First Lady in this role,” Bernard said.
Hey Spencer,
I just finished reading your post about Jeremy Bernard becoming the First Male White House Social Secretary. Your blog has covered a lot of the facts on this announcement and it seems like a progressive step for the White House. I think that this is a good thing for the country to see a man in a traditionally female role and hope that this will open doors for people in the future. I know there is quite a bit of controversy about why exactly this man was appointed over other candidates, but I feel everything is politically motivated and if something wasn’t intentionally politically motivated- then it should have been. It’s all about getting ahead and people need to start realizing that trust has a loose definition.
I’d like to recommend the following video (http://www.newsy.com/videos/white-house-hires-first-male-social-secretary/) to you from http://www.newsy.com. It’s an analytical video that covers multiple news sources from the national level to the local level, and everywhere in between. The video is then syndicated into a short two minute video that is well worth your time. The site does not aggregate the news, like many news sites do, but it analyzes it with a variety of sources and raises questions to audience members. Newsy has many videos that can aid your blog site as they coincide nicely with some of the posts you’ve already written. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask! Thank you for your time!