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The Working White House: Witness to History

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  • The Working White House: Roland Harley

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    Roland Harley, a doorman in the Usher’s Office, shelters the Reagans from an April shower. When President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House on April 11, 1981, twelve days after he had been shot in the chest, he was greeted by 200 well-wishers on the South Lawn.

    Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
  • The Working White House: Daniel Spriggs

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    President James A. Garfield on his deathbed, 1881. After President James A. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, he lived for 80 days while doctors tried to save his life. Valet Daniel Spriggs (far left) remained at Garfield’s bedside for most of this time. Spriggs later served in the home of Garfield’s daughter, Mollie, and subsequently worked at the Government Printing Office.

    Kiplinger Washington Collection
  • Winston Churchill With Diana Hopkins

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    Winston Churchill with Diana Hopkins, 1941. During the Second World War, Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited the White House so frequently that staff members learned to anticipate his likes and dislikes. In late December 1941, Churchill posed on the lawn with Diana Hopkins, daughter of presidential aide Harry Hopkins, and Fala, the president’s Scottie.

    White House Historical Association
  • The Working White House: President Roosevelt and Vyacheslav M. Molotov

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    President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vyacheslav M. Molotov, 1942.

    Washington Star Collection, Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library
  • The Working White House: Journal Entry

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    When Vyacheslav M. Molotov, the Soviet Union’s foreign minister, visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House during wartime in May 1942, he did so surreptitiously, calling himself Mr. Brown. But maître d’ Alonzo Fields noticed “the foxy glint” in Molotov’s eye, and saw right through the subterfuge.

    Alonzo Fields’ journal entry about Vyacheslav Molotov, 1942

    Courtesy of Mayland Fields

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White House workers’ memoirs abound with recollections of significant international and national events and episodes. As they go about their daily business, members of the residence staff function amidst history in the making.

One of the most searing experiences for 20th-century White House employees was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Seeing the President and Mrs. Kennedy off to Texas on the 21st, hearing the news of the Dallas shooting the following day, receiving Mrs. Kennedy at the White House that same evening, and taking part in the funeral procession, Mass, and burial on the 25th, were a combined experience etched indelibly on the minds and hearts of White House workers. Still, the White House had to continue to function. The residence staff—as it had done for generations, and as it would continue to do through other trying times—moved forward to welcome members of a new first family and to make them feel at home.

When you first go to work at the White House, you are all eyeballs. Honestly, for the first month, your eyes are as big as teacups. . . . You’re actually drinking in history and current events.

— Russell Free, engineer, 1964–86

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