Published on Show Me Mizzou April 24, 2026
Story by Alex Schiffer, BJ ’17
Photos courtesy Jean Becker
Jean Becker BA ’78, BJ ’78, translated her School of Journalism education into a long career working in the inner circle of a presidential family. The Martinsburg, Mo., native spent 30 years working for President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. After spending 10 years as a journalist, she became the First Lady’s deputy press secretary, and after the Bushes left the White House she became the former president’s chief of staff.
She’s continuing to share stories from her experiences, along with those of her peers from past presidencies. Becker’s third book, Don’t Tell the President: The Best, Worst, and Mostly Untold Stories from Presidential Advance, was released in February. It’s co-authored by Tom Collamore, who also worked in the first Bush administration with her.
The book focuses on the groups of specialized White House staff and volunteers responsible for planning and coordinating a president’s travel and itinerary outside the White House. The duties include scouting future presidential stops to assess press access, motorcade routes and security.
Becker’s first two books were about Bush, but she originally pitched Don’t Tell The President to HarperCollins after the success of her debut book, The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush’s Post-Presidency. The publisher expressed interest, but asked for another Bush book first, which led to Character Matters (2024), about the life lessons she learned from the former president.
Upon completion of Character Matters, discussion turned to her earlier idea. Shelves are filled with books about presidents and the worlds they inhabited. Few, if any, had examined advance teams and the logistics of presidential travel, at least not until Becker’s book.
“I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit to in bars with presidential advance people,” Becker says. “They all have unbelievable stories.”
The book features stories from 96 former members of presidential teams, from the administrations of Lyndon B. Johnson to Barack Obama. They share first-person accounts of historical moments, along with more light-hearted recollections. Even 95-year-old Lloyd Hand, Johnson’s chief of protocol, contributed.
“They were trained to operate in the shadows, behind the curtain and never let the sun shine on them,” co-author Collamore says. “To the casual reader I think it really helps them understand all that goes into a presidential appearance at the White House or a complex one at some foreign capital.”
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