George Bush with Rockey Vaccarella-1, August 2006

Rockey Vaccarella is a resident of

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and a

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

survivor/activist. He attracted international attention in August 2006 for driving his

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

trailer to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

to thank President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

for the mobile homes provided to Katrina victims by the federal government. He is also a former GOP candidate for city council in St. Bernard Parish.

Bush press conference with Vaccarella

President Bush and Vaccarella met together in a White House press conference on August 23, 2006. Bush began by introducing Vaccarella: Vaccarella thanked the President for his efforts in aiding Katrina victims:

Political response

Democratic Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

called the press conference a "public relations blitz that the survivors of Katrina

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

ill afford."

References

External links

Forgotten on the Bayou: Rockey's Mission to the White House
(archived link, November 2, 2010)
5 years later: Rockey's new mission
(archived link, July 11, 2011) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Louisiana Republicans People from New Orleans {{US-activist-stub