# Does the president get house keys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538 "2009-09-25T16:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Shig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shig)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/21 "2009-09-26T14:26:15Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I can’t imagine why he’d have to pay for any small item. If I owned a 7-11 type place, anything the president needs would be free of charge. Bullshit! The president better pay me! He’s not hurting for cash, and taking free stuff from a store certainly isn’t helping the economy any. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/22 "2009-09-26T14:29:46Z")
There must be a lock on the master suite to get some privacy from the kids, or to lock hubby out when he comes home drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/23 "2009-09-27T02:56:42Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > This would make a killer, “what’s in your wallet” commercial. Totally! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/24 "2009-09-27T03:01:07Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > President Ford kind of got locked out of the White House once: [http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/pets2.htm](http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/pets2.htm) Did he say [“D’oh!”](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F09.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/25 "2009-09-27T03:02:10Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Would you want to be the one responsible for buying the First Lady’s tampons? If I were the First Lady, I’m not sure I would want to carry them up to the counter myself. Reporters, civilans filming you with their camera phone. Uh-uh. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/26 "2009-09-27T03:06:35Z")
Except for the War Room, the President never has a locked door between himself and his security detail. That door has a biometric (hand) scanner. All other doors are the Secret Service’s problem, not his. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/27 "2009-09-27T09:10:59Z")
The familys apartments in the White House would presumably have locks and they would have keys. ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/28 "2009-09-27T15:17:27Z")
It is a little known fact that a spare key is under the welcome mat ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/29 "2011-03-24T15:36:12Z")
[President Barack Obama gets locked out of White House](http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/president-barack-obama-locked-out-of-white-house) Personally, I think this is Obama’s swimming killer rabbit moment. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/30 "2011-03-24T15:44:01Z")
> [@Shig](#): > > Bullshit! The president better pay me! He’s not hurting for cash, and taking free stuff from a store certainly isn’t helping the economy any. And who does he think he is; Lindsey Lohan? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/31 "2011-03-24T15:53:24Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > This OP also made me wonder if he carries a wallet? Money? Credit cards? Does a Secret Service guy carry them for him? Does he have any use for them anyway? > > These things might be handy if he needed to stop for gas and a Big Gulp, or show his ID to get into a summit meeting. 😉 I bet they only card the black Presidents. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/32 "2011-03-24T15:55:54Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > [President Barack Obama gets locked out of White House](http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/president-barack-obama-locked-out-of-white-house) > > Personally, I think this is Obama’s swimming killer rabbit moment. I don’t see how. Carter’s bunny rabbit moment was odd because he appeared to have been panicking over a rabbit, but this just looks to have been a minor oversight by staffers that was quickly corrected, and Obama doesn’t appear to have been at all perturbed by it (at least not while the cameras were on him anyway…somebody might have gotten their ass chewed after he got inside). If anything, it reminds of the incident when GWB tried to exit out the wrong door after a press conference. That was humerous, but not really a big deal. The kind of thing that can happen to anybody. I think it was made more funny by the fact that he was trying to escape from reporters at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/33 "2011-03-24T16:12:16Z")
This new story is surprising to me. I’d think that the arrival of the president at the White House wouldn’t be a surprise to the staff. Isn’t there a whole bunch of coordination between the Secret Service and the White House staff any time the president move around? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/34 "2011-03-24T16:19:54Z")
I gather it was just a question of getting wires crossed about what part of the building he was going to enter. The story said the staff didn’t know he was going to “come back to work.” I’m wondering if they thought he was going to go to the resdential area, and he decided to go to the Oval Office first, so they had the wrong door unlocked? In any case, yes, you would think the SS would keep the staff inside appraised of exactly where the President was, but it’s conceivable he made a spur of the moment decision to peel off to a different, unprepped, entry point. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/35 "2011-03-24T16:30:04Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t see how. Carter’s bunny rabbit moment was odd because he appeared to have been panicking over a rabbit, but this just looks to have been a minor oversight by staffers that was quickly corrected, and Obama doesn’t appear to have been at all perturbed by it (at least not while the cameras were on him anyway…somebody might have gotten their ass chewed after he got inside). > > If anything, it reminds of the incident when GWB tried to exit out the wrong door after a press conference. That was humerous, but not really a big deal. The kind of thing that can happen to anybody. I think it was made more funny by the fact that he was trying to escape from reporters at the time. Eh, any of those things could happen to anybody, but it’s an open question as to whether it will catch on and crystallize public perception of a president. The bunny rabbit wasn’t actually a big deal, nor was Ford bumping his head on the door frame of his aircraft, nor was George Bush Sr. s apparently marveling at an ordinary grocery store checkout device. But fairly or unfairly each image caught on as a symbol of each president’s shortcomings. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/36 "2011-03-24T16:41:31Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Eh, any of those things could happen to anybody, but it’s an open question as to whether it will catch on and crystallize public perception of a president. The bunny rabbit wasn’t actually a big deal, nor was Ford bumping his head on the door frame of his aircraft, nor was George Bush Sr. s apparently marveling at an ordinary grocery store checkout device. But fairly or unfairly each image caught on as a symbol of each president’s shortcomings. I think it would have had more potential to affect public opinon if he’d shown some kind of noteworthy reaction to it - getting angry and yelling at staffers, pounding on the door, staring in stupid confusion, something like that. Taking it in stride and merely moving on to another door (whistling as he walked) kind of took any potential for bad imagery out of it. If anything, his reaction makes him look good. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/37 "2011-03-24T16:48:31Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > [President Barack Obama gets locked out of White House](http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/president-barack-obama-locked-out-of-white-house) > > Personally, I think this is Obama’s swimming killer rabbit moment. I think it’s the person in charge of coordinating this stuff’s killer rabbit moment. How do you not know to the exact second the President of the United States arrives. This is a serious security screw up. Someone should be fired over this without question. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/38 "2011-03-24T17:17:47Z")
They just ran a documentary on the Presidents life and perks about 2 weeks ago. Usually there’s a marine guard outside the Oval Office door. He was visible as the Prez went outside to that breezeway in the documentary. I guess the door guard leaves if the Prez is out of the white house? Maybe he stands somewhere else. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/39 "2011-03-24T17:27:47Z")
Come to think of it… As Prez, I’d want some personal keys. For example my oval office desk and file cabinet. I’d certainly have a personal password on my computer. Just in case the staff wants to snoop around. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538/40 "2011-03-24T17:31:10Z")
when i saw the prez. being locked out clip, i did laugh a bit. reminded me of the “beer” summit. when he was talking about if he got locked out of the house and was seen jiggling at the door. he paused and then he and the room cracked up. thankfully the swarm of marines packing heat did not occur. he did seem very non-chalant about it. just went on to the open door. bush kinda hammed up his locked door moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-get-house-keys/511538.md?page=3)