US presidents have always worked from home

While most of us are just getting used to confinement in our home offices, the most powerful men in the world have the whole caper down to a fine art.

They long ago learned they could do official business in their PJs. They knew the pain of juggling kids with the job -- Abraham Lincoln's mischievous son Tad reputedly once worked out how to ring all the service bells in the White House at once. JFK's kids turned the Oval Office into a playroom.

Cute little John-John never lived down the famous picture of him hiding under his Dad's desk, which years later took on extra poignancy after both suffered early deaths.

We're all finding out how domestic bliss can interfere with your to-do list, but John Adams, the first President to live in the White House, knew all about that. His wife, Abigail, used to hang laundry in the East Room.

And those mornings flapping around for something to wear are a thing of the past -- you can just work in your pajamas, as Gerald Ford discovered in his hotel home-away-from-home on a trip to Japan.

One good thing about working from home is that you don't have to go out to eat -- Ronald Reagan often made the 45-second commute from the Oval Office to the White House residence for dinner with the first lady.

Barack Obama wrote in 2016 that "perhaps the greatest unexpected gift of this job has been living above the store." The 44th president used to drop everything to eat dinner with his wife and daughters each night.

Another unexpected revelation about working from home is that the barriers between work and home life soon tumble. Lyndon Johnson's aides found this out to their cost when the then-President insisted on dictating notes while on the can.

When your home is your office, you can steal a few quiet moments off the grid -- and catch up with that book you've been reading -- as Harry S Truman loved to do on the balcony that now bears his name.

Working from home is often seen as a perk -- but by the time the coronavirus pandemic blows itself out, we might all be desperate to get back to the office. Most presidents could empathize; they often say that though they love the White House, sometimes they'd appreciate a change of scene.

Still, the dog loves having you home.