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"They're all intense here, everyone's intense here!"
Take a 360 Virtual Tour of the White House
Working in the POTUS White House
Since POTUS is a work of satire, it isn't meant to necessarily reflect an accurate representation of what it's like to work at the White House. In fact, the playwright has commented that the play could be "put in any institution, any office, many homes. It's about systems of oppression and systems of injustice."
Good satire is based in truth. But this section isn't about working at the real White House as much as it is about the rules of the White House as it functions and is satirized in the play.
Rule #1: There is no work-life balance. Staffers are on-call 24/7, or whenever a crisis arises. Women have to work extra hard to prove that they're up for the demand. For women, kids and families are liabilities to their career and require major compromise. This one is true for the real White House workers too.
Rule #2: The environment is fast-paced and intense. POTUS is an idiot, and his staffers are responsible for hiding that from the voters. They are expected to be largely invisible and able to respond immediately to issues that might sometimes be the difference between nuclear war or avoiding conflict. They problem-solve on a dime.
Rule #3: Those who work in the White House speak the same language. They don't need to wonder and research gender politics in Bahrain or why Chinese diplomats would be offended by the word "cunty." They're like doctors in the ER with a lingo and shared knowledge base that they can quickly (and confidently) throw into a conversation. It's also kind of like when a bunch of Theatre majors who have been working together for a while hang out to gossip and say "slay" a lot. An outsider or a newbie won't get it.
Rule #4: The pay sucks. For example, the current White House Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients, earns $168,000 per year. This sounds like a lot until you move to Washington D.C. (where the cost of living is 47% higher than the national average) and realize that your job is to basically run and coordinate the entire White House. Also, see Rule #1 for more details.
Rule #5: Political ambitions run rampant. The woman you're working beside (or against) right now might be running for president in eight years - or at least dreaming about it. Therefore, everyone who is a part of POTUS's administration has a stake in keeping his political image clean. No matter what he does, you can't just leave him to ruin his own reputation.
Rule #6: There's a weird contradiction between the foul language and insults that occur behind closed doors and the very careful political propriety that is maintained when no one can hear. Working in this environment requires a thick skin and a quick wit. Crises arise when the line between these two types of language is blurred, like saying "cunty" in a meeting or publishing "Get off my dick" in the press.
A great example of a similar satire of the White House is HBO's series Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, a Vice-President of the United States who wants to be the President. Here is a compilation of clips that demonstrate some of these rules in action.
Veep - "How to Survive Office Politics"
AND FINALLY... while we're throwing things at presidents, NEVER FORGET:
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