A Teen in the White House.

What's it like to grow up in the White House? You'd have to ask a White House kid. Here is Susan Ford's description of living in the White House from A Kid's Guide to the White House by Betty Debnam (Andrews McMeel Publishing; 1997).

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Susan Ford moved into the White House in 1974. Her father, Gerald Ford, was Richard Nixons Vice President and became President when Nixon resigned. "Its like a fairy tale," Susan said. "The people you meet--the kings, queens and movie stars--and the experiences."

Even so, while at the White House Susan lived a normal teens life--she even held her high school prom in the East Room! Susans mother, Betty Ford, made sure that she was not spoiled. "I dont think my mother wanted me to become a little princess or a prima donna," Susan said. "She said that `Susan will still get up in the morning and make her bed every day,' and so I did.

As it is for any teen, Susans time alone was precious. When she was in her third floor room, she could close the door and have as much privacy as any kid whos lucky enough to have her own room. "I was not conscious of tourists going through downstairs," she said. "I didnt even think about it."

And even though the White House is a museum, Susan could express her own style. A teen in the White House can decorate her room any way she wishes. "I could stick up things on the walls," she says.

Still, Susan lived in the Presidents house and there were advantages. "The service is absolutely delightful," she says. "You can be waited on hand and foot if you want that. If mother and dad were at an event, Id have the food brought upstairs to my room."