When Theodore Roosevelt stepped into the presidency in 1901, his six children easily adapted to life in the White House.
Bonnie Angelo, who served as a White House correspondent with Time Magazine during the past few decades, told the story of Roosevelt's children taking kitchen pans and using them to sled down the stairs while political leaders worked on the floors below.
During a speech Tuesday in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Angelo shared stories of presidential families dating back to George Washington.
She recently completed "First Families: The Impact of the White House on Their Lives" - a book that provides anecdotes about presidents, wives, children and pets who have lived in the White House.
"'First Families' tells stories of not just the president, but family, the struggle to find the line between family and presidency," Angelo said.
She said her favorite parts of the book involve members of the family getting in trouble and how they deal with it.
Angelo also said she loved the stories of bachelors in the Oval Office, such as Woodrow Wilson, who tried to juggle a social life. "It's so impossible."
During the years she learned to cut the families some slack because she has realized they do have to be in the spotlight, she said.
Angelo ended her years of White House reporting during the Carter administration when she moved to London to become a bureaucratic chief.
