WASHINGTON — Eugene Allen, who endured a harsh and segregated upbringing in his native Virginia and went on to work for eight presidents as a White House butler, died Wednesday of renal failure at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md. He was 90.
Allen and his wife, Helene, were profiled in a Washington Post story in 2008 that explored the history of blacks in the White House. The couple were excited about the possibility of Barack Obama’s historic election and their opportunity to vote for him. Helene, however, died on the eve of the election, and Allen went to vote alone. The couple had been married for 65 years.
Afterward, Allen, who had been living quietly in a simple house off Georgia Avenue NW in Washington, experienced a fame that he had only witnessed beforehand. He received a VIP invitation to Obama’s swearing-in, where a Marine guard escorted him to his seat. Eyes watering, he watched the first black man take the oath of office of the presidency.
Allen was born July 14, 1919, in Scottsville, Va. He worked as a waiter at the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va., and later at a country club in Washington. In 1952, he heard of a job opening at the White House and was hired as a “pantry man,” washing dishes, stocking cabinets and shining silverware for $2,400 a year.
He became maitre d’, the most prestigious position among White House butlers, under Ronald Reagan. During Allen’s 34 years at the White House, some of the decisions that presidents made within earshot of him came to have a direct bearing on his life — and that of black America.
Allen was in the White House when Dwight Eisenhower dealt with the Little Rock desegregation crisis. Eisenhower once asked him about the cancellation of Nat “King” Cole’s TV show, which the president enjoyed. Allen told him that the show had difficulty attracting advertisers, who were worried about white Southern audiences boycotting their products.
Allen served entertainers including Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey and Elvis Presley. He flew on Air Force One. He sipped root beer at Camp David with Jimmy Carter and visited Eisenhower in Gettysburg, Pa., after he left the White House.
