random life documentation

Remembering Miss Beazley

“…our beloved dog, Miss Beazley, was put to rest after a battle with lymphoma. She was a source of joy during our time in Washington and in Dallas. She was a close companion to her blood relative, Barney. And even though he received all the attention, Beazley never held a grudge against him. She was a guardian to our cats, Bob and Bernadette, who — like Laura and I — will miss her.” -George W. Bush

September 12, 1967. Lady Bird hosts a Country Fair at the White House for the children and grandchildren of Members of Congress, Cabinet Members, and government officials. The Fair included cotton candy, hot dogs, pony rides, a carousel, a fortune-teller, and carnival games with prizes.

Top Secret Service officials ­ordered members of a special unit responsible for patrolling the White House perimeter to abandon their posts over at least two months in 2011 in order to protect a personal friend of the agency’s director, according to three people familiar with the operation.

The new assignment, known internally as Operation Moonlight, diverted agents to a rural area outside the southern Maryland town of La Plata, nearly an hour’s drive from Washington. Agents were told that then-Director Mark Sullivan was concerned that his assistant was being harassed by her neighbor, the three people said.

Two agents were sent twice a day, in the morning and the evening, to monitor the home of the assistant, Lisa Chopey. The trips began June 30, 2011, and extended through the summer before tapering off in August, according to people familiar with internal shift records.