Stewart McLaurin Browse All Authors Top 10 quotes by Stewart McLaurin It is not our role to say,' Do this, do that.' That is up to the first lady and her team, we have worked with 12 presidents since the Kennedys, and we naturally have a longer arc of knowledge as to what is needed, or what would be a good investment, but our role is not to criticize. We want to be supportive. Stewart McLaurin The recent services have been made to mix and match with other services, creatively designing the patterns and colors so it would blend very well with other services in existence, that enables first ladies and White House social secretaries to create different looks and feels. Stewart McLaurin Those requests come to us, if a chair from the 1800s is located at an auction, for example, we would acquire it and bring it back. These are things Mrs. Kennedy wisely put in place as part of the association's charter, things that might be uncomfortable to go to Congress for funding but are still needed. That's where we come in. Stewart McLaurin I'm sure all kinds of things are considered all the time by a first lady and her office, we thought crystal would have been a needed item, and we would encourage any presidency to consider that, objectively. Stewart McLaurin We would always encourage American products first. For the art and decorative arts and any other piece, we would like that to be American. So likewise, we would encourage glassware manufacturers to be American, but sometimes that's not possible or feasible, with Mrs. Melania Trump, some of the best crystal in the world could be made in Slovenia, and that is a nice connection to Melania Trump history, Melania Trump heritage. For it to be from Slovenia, it was a thought we had, but that would be just a thought. It's not our role to go out and create and have it delivered. Stewart McLaurin We would say we are not lobbying for this at all, it is just a consideration we make. We want to be respectful of every first lady's role, and our role is to be supportive of White House on behalf of the American people. Stewart McLaurin The last crystal that was acquired for the White House for a full state service was during the Nixon era. Stewart McLaurin If Dr. Biden wanted to use the Lincoln china, she could, in small numbers. Stewart McLaurin Melania Trump did a variety of things that contributed to the historic integrity of the White House. Stewart McLaurin Be reminded that staff have items of their own that they brought to White House and can take those items home as they wish. Some items are on loan to staff and offices from other collections and will be returned to those collections. Stewart McLaurin
