Hello and welcome back to a new episode of the Podforce One podcast. I'm Miranda Devine. This is the latest

installment in our weekly series featuring the most powerful people in the world. Today we're

coming to you from Blair House, also known as the president's guest house in Washington, D.C.

Our guest today is an author, a former TV personality, and an academic. Now she has the best job in

D.C. Ambassador and Chief of Protocol, Monica Crowley. Ambassador, thank you so much for having us here, and particularly in this absolutely

beautiful building, Blair House, that's your new office.

Tell us about where we're sitting.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Miranda.

And congratulations on this brilliant news show.

Well deserved.

So it's an absolute

pleasure and joy to welcome you to Washington and to welcome you to the Blair House, which is

an historic, historic complex of buildings. So it is a delight to come to work here every day. It was

built in 1824, and it is the president's guesthouse. So every head of state

who visits and gets an invitation from the president stays in this magnificent building

with incredible history, including Abraham Lincoln, who used one of the rooms as a regular

study. And General Robert E. Lee was actually offered the commission of the Union Army in one of

these rooms and declined because he was from the South and ended up obviously becoming the

General of Confederate Forces.

But every room has this extraordinary history, including Harry Truman, who actually ran his presidency

from here for four years while the White House was being renovated.

Oh, how interesting. It really is exquisite, all the rooms, the wallpaper, the furniture.

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