Alejandra Campoverdi Details First Days in the Obama White House in New Book (Exclusive Excerpt)

Alejandra Campoverdi’s debut book, ‘First Gen’ is out Sept. 12.Photo:Brie Lakin; Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

Brie Lakin; Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

Alejandra Campoverdiis sharing her story.In her debut memoir,First Gen, out Sept. 12 from Grand Central Publishing, the former White House aide and congressional candidate takes readers through her life and career, and all of its nuanced ups and downs, from ’80s and ’90s Los Angeles to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

Read an exclusive excerpt fromFirst Genbelow:The walk to the White House was a straight shot down 16th Street NW, and with each step, my nerves grew. I’d been warned that working in the White House was like drinking from a fire hose—a frenetic pace, sixteen-hour days, crushing stress, and little to no sleep. I tried to reassure myself that I was used to a brutal grind, having worked nonstop since I was in my early teens. But nothing could’ve prepared me for what I was about to experience. Not the campaign, not even Harvard.

As I walked through the grounds to find my office, each moment was more surreal than the last. My first stop was a Secret Service checkpoint at the entrance to the lower West Wing. A uniformed man with a buzz cut looked me up and down as I tried my best to not seem suspicious.“Badge?” he said, with a hint of annoyance that I wasn’t wearing one.“Oh, yes. Sorry.” I fumbled through the stack of folders in my arms for the lanyard I’d just been given.

Alejandra Campoverdi and President Obama.Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer

Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer

The West Wing housed only a few hundred staff in mostly two cohorts—the bold-faced names you read about in the paper and the young aides who were their assistants, fresh off the campaign and convinced we would change the world. We were all onboarding at the same time, leaving us little room to get to know each other, but I figured there would be plenty of opportunities for that as we settled into the coming weeks and months.

source: people.com