Numbers

The West Wing

How It's Used

“At a meeting of cabinet secretaries and other top officials in the West Wing of the White House in late February, Mr. Paulson burst in a few moments after Mr. Hubbard, the president's top economic adviser, asked Susan Schwab, the U.S. trade representative, to brief the group on global trade talks, according to two people who were there. After apologizing for being late, Mr. Paulson interrupted Ms. Schwab to say he had been talking to Mr. Bush about a sudden plunge in stock prices, these people say.”

“In the West Wing, Mr. Obama is a bit of a wanderer. When Mr. Bush wanted to see a member of his staff, the aide was summoned to the Oval Office. But Mr. Obama tends to roam the halls; one day last week, he turned up in the office of his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who was in the unfortunate position of having his feet up on the desk when the boss walked in.”

"The White House mess -- the military-inspired term for the West Wing cafeteria -- opens at 7 a.m. each day. And each day, there is a long line of hungry staffers who have already been at the office for well over an hour."

Links