For “The Residence,” political journalist Brower interviewed more than 100 former members of the notoriously secretive White House residence staff, as well as former first ladies Laura and Barbara Bush and Rosalynn Carter and several former first children, for an intimate look at the personal sides of our presidents. …

First Lady Jackie Kennedy spent long getaways at the couple’s Virginia farm, and when the wife was away, the president played, swimming in the nude in the White House pool “with his female paramours, some of whom worked as secretaries in the White House.”

One staffer who came by to work on the pool got an unexpected eyeful.

“When he opened the pool door, he was shocked to see Kennedy adviser and close friend Dave Powers sitting by the pool — naked — with two of Kennedy’s secretaries.” The staffer ran out, and the incident was never mentioned.

It was well known among staffers that whenever Jackie was away, they were to avoid the second floor of the White House. Sometimes, however, it was unavoidable, as with one staffer who, Brower writes, “saw a naked woman walking out of the kitchen when he went upstairs to see if the gas was turned off.”