View source for White House Chief Usher

{{Short description|Head of staff and operations in the White House}}
{{Infobox US Cabinet
| post = White House Chief Usher
| insignia = US-WhiteHouse-Logo.svg
| insigniasize = 175
| insigniacaption = 
| department = Executive Residence
| image = 
| incumbent = [[Robert B. Downing]]
| incumbentsince = December 1, 2021
| incumbentend = 
| first = [[Edson S. Densmore]]
| appointer = President of the United States
| formation = {{start date and age|1887}}
| website = 
}}

The '''White House chief usher''' is the head of household staff and operations at the [[White House]], the official residence and principal workplace of the [[President of the United States|president of the United States of America]]. The position is currently held by Robert B. Downing.

==About the chief usher==
===History===
Although the White House has had staff since it opened, the head of household operations for most of the 1800s was the [[First Lady of the United States|first lady of the United States]]. The informally recognized chief servant was often called the steward or stewardess, sometimes the doorkeeper, and beginning with President [[James Buchanan]], the usher.<ref name=WHHlist>{{cite web|last1=Faulkner|first1=Claire|title=Ushers and Stewards Since 1800|url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/ushers-and-stewards-since-1800|publisher=White House Historical Association|access-date=September 1, 2017}} Originally published in ''White House History'', Number 26, Fall 2009.</ref> The position of chief usher was not established until 1891, in the administration of President [[Benjamin Harrison]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2013|pages=6–7, 10}} The term "chief usher" had been used by the press as early as August 1887.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chief Usher at the White House|work=The Evening Star|date=August 1, 1887|page=3}}</ref> It was not created as an official title until 1897.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehousehistory.org/history/white-house-facts-trivia/facts-white-house-chief-usher.html|title=Who is the chief usher and why is this White House employee important?|website=White House Historical Association|date=April 3, 2015|access-date=April 13, 2015}}</ref> [[William Dubois (usher)|William Dubois]] was the first to use the official title, but it applied only for the last four of his five years in the role. [[Thomas E. Stone]] was the first individual to have the official title of chief usher bestowed on him throughout his tenure.

The average length of service for a chief usher is 10 years.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}} The longest serving White House chief usher is [[Ike Hoover|Irwin H. "Ike" Hoover]], who served as chief usher for 24 of his 42 years in the White House.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Adam|title=The Man Who Ran 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 24, 2013|page=C1}}</ref> The second-longest serving chief usher is [[Gary J. Walters]], who spent 21 years in the position.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Argetsinger|first1=Amy|last2=Roberts|first2=Roxanne|title=The Reliable Source|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 28, 2007|page=D3}}</ref>

===Administrative position===
Administratively, the Office of the Chief Usher resides within an agency known as the Executive Residence, which in turn was made part of the [[Executive Office of the President]] (EOP) in 2002.{{sfn|Michaels|1997|page=115}}{{sfn|Patterson|2006|page=54}}<ref>{{cite report|url=http://wwwfas.org/irp/agency/doj/olc/oa-foia.pdf|last=Engel|first=Steven A.|title=Whether the Office of Administration Is An "Agency" For Purposes of the Freedom of Information Act|publisher=Office of the Counsel to the President. The White House|date=August 21, 2007|page=5, fn. 3|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref> Within the Executive Residence are three offices:  The Office of the Chief Usher, the [[White House Office of the Curator|Office of the White House Curator]], and the [[Graphics and Calligraphy Office|Office of Calligraphy]].{{sfn|Patterson|2006|page=54}}

The Office of the Chief Usher is one of 60 offices within EOP, an executive branch agency which provides operational (rather than policy) support to the president and first family.{{sfn|Patterson|2012|page=196}} The actual room used as an office by the Chief Usher is on the [[Executive Residence#State floor|State Floor]] of the White House, opening off the [[Entrance Hall]] near the entrance from the North Portico.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}}{{sfn|White House Historical Association|2011|page=8}}

The chief usher serves at the pleasure of the president, and has no job tenure or civil service protections.<ref name=Trumanusher />{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}} The chief usher has a personal staff of seven,{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}} but oversees a total Executive Residence staff of about 90.{{sfn|Patterson|2010|page=528}}

===Duties===
The chief usher is charged with "the effective operation of the White House Complex and [[Executive Residence]]... [The chief usher] develops and administers the budget for the operation, maintenance, and utilities and supervises the Executive Residence staff."<ref name=Trumanusher>{{cite web|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/news/whitehouseusherfiles.htm|title=Harry S. Truman Library and Museum to Open Truman's White House Chief Usher Files|website=Harry S. Truman Library and Museum|date=February 1, 2010|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|French|2010|page=430}} The chief usher is responsible for creating the budget for the office of the Executive Residence, overseeing disbursements from the budget, the purchase of supplies, ensuring the physical safety and integrity of the White House's decorative arts and furnishings collections (including theft prevention), and the generation of hand-written (but not printed) White House items such as menus, placards, or invitations.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}} The chief usher oversees the first family's private as well as public life, meeting the private needs of the family and working to ensure that public and private events do not conflict.<ref name=Trumanusher /> Generally, the chief usher hosts a meeting with all White House offices early on every Monday morning to review the week's events and ensure that there are no problems.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=398}}

The chief usher's budgetary duties are extensive. The chief usher oversaw an Executive Residence budget of $16.4 million in 2001. [[Overtime#Federal overtime law|Overtime]] is extensive: In 2001, 19 work-years of overtime were budgeted. The chief usher also works closely with the Office of the Social Secretary to ensure that expenditures are charged to the correct government agency. For example, costs for a [[state dinner]] must be charged to the [[United States Department of State]], rather than the Executive Residence.  The first family may host an event at the White House, but the event might actually be paid for by an external sponsor. Political events at the White House must be paid for by the sponsoring political party. The rules governing charges are extensive and onerous. After it learned that many government agencies and external sponsors had unpaid bills at the White House (some going back more than a decade), Congress enacted legislation in 1988 that requires sponsoring agencies or organizations to pay for charges in advance. Severe financial penalties are imposed if the sponsor fails to pay overages in a timely fashion.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=398}}

The chief usher coordinates very closely with the [[Executive Office of the President]], the [[General Services Administration]], the [[National Park Service]], the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]], the [[White House Military Office]] and other government agencies as needed.<ref name=Trumanusher />{{sfn|French|2010|page=430}} Much of the chief usher's daily coordination is with the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance, which supervises and manages the president and first family's schedules.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=188}} The chief usher meets every morning with the Scheduling and Advance Office to review plans for the day's events.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=189}} The chief usher's office is linked to the Scheduling and Advance Office via an inside-the-house-only computer system which provides a minute-by-minute schedule for the president and first family. The system is updated on the fly, and generates an alert as delays or advances occur.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=398}} A device in the physical Office of the Chief Usher reports the location of each member of the first family at all times, so that the chief usher and office staff can stay aware of when the president or family members will be arriving at the White House or what they are doing within the executive mansion.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=397}} The White House Calligraphy Office—which provides hand-drawn menus, notes, invitations, cards, and similar items—is part of the chief usher's office.  However, the Calligraphy Office works most closely not with others in the chief usher's office but with the [[White House Social Secretary|Office of the Social Secretary]] (which oversees all entertaining sponsored by the first family).{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=298}}

For operations involving official ceremonies, such as the [[State Arrival Ceremony|state arrival ceremony]] or state dinner at the White House, the chief usher coordinates activities with the [[White House Social Secretary|White House social secretary]] in the East Wing,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/ask/20031003.html|last=Walters|first=Gary|title=Ask the White House|date=October 3, 2003|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref> and the [[Chief of Protocol of the United States|chief of protocol of the United States]], an official within the [[United States Department of State]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/news/rogers-named-white-house-social-secretary/|last=Skinner|first=Deborah Creighton|title=Rogers Named White House Social Secretary|newspaper=Black Enterprise|date=November 25, 2008|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref> Early in the [[Bill Clinton]] administration, the Office of the Social Secretary was given an ''ad hoc'' oversight role over the chief usher. Whereas in the past the Office of the Social Secretary oversaw only entertainment events at the White House, now it was responsible for all events held on White House grounds. The goal of the oversight was to enhance accountability, so that a single "desk" (individual) within the Office of the Social Secretary was responsible for ensuring an event happened flawlessly. With this reorganization, the Office of the Social Secretary now forms an ''ad hoc'' committee for each event, with a representative from the Office of the Chief Usher participating in this group.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=294}}

The chief usher is an ''[[ex officio]]'' member of the [[Committee for the Preservation of the White House]], which coordinates the decoration, maintenance, refurbishment, and historic preservation of the White House. Other members of the committee include the [[White House Office of the Curator]], [[Smithsonian Institution#Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution|Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution]], chairman of the [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]], and director of the [[National Gallery of Art]], with whom the chief usher works closely.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020628-12.html|title=Appointments|date=June 28, 2002|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Carter|1984|page=168}} Once a month, the chief usher hosts a meeting with the [[National Park Service]] (which owns the main White House building and its grounds), the [[General Services Administration]] (which owns the [[East Wing]], [[West Wing]], and ancillary buildings scattered in the [[South Lawn]]; the [[Eisenhower Executive Office Building]]; the [[New Executive Office Building]]; the [[Blair House]]; and various other government-owned townhouses and structures on [[Jackson Place|Jackson Place NW]]), the Secret Service, and the [[White House Military Office]] to review maintenance, repair, security, and other needs at the White House and plan for upkeep.{{sfn|Patterson|2000|page=406}}

The chief usher also works closely with the [[White House Historical Association]], the government-chartered, private [[nonprofit]] organization which assists with the furnishing of and the acquisition of art for the White House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/04/white-house-announces-new-chief-usher-angella-reid|title=White House Announces New Chief Usher, Angella Reid|date=October 4, 2011|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref> As part of their duties, the chief usher also oversees all gifts which become part of the White House collection (e.g., are not personal gifts to the president or first family).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/08/us/clintons-return-household-gifts-of-uncertain-ownership.html|last1=Burros|first1=Marian|last2=Leland|first2=John|title=Clintons Return Household Gifts of Uncertain Ownership|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 2001|access-date=September 2, 2014}}</ref>

==List of stewards and chief ushers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! Image
! width=150|Name<br/><small>(Birth–Death)</small>
! colspan=1|Term of office
! President(s)
|
|-
!–
|
|John Briesler<br />(<small>1756–1836</small>)
|November 1, 1800 – March 4, 1801
|[[John Adams]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Joseph Rapin<br />(<small>1766–1841</small>)
|March 4, 1801 –  September, 1801
|[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Étienne Lemaire<br />(<small>d. 1817</small>)
|September 1801 – March 4, 1809
|[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Jean-Pierre Sioussat<br />(<small>1781–1864</small>)
|March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817
|[[James Madison]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Joseph Jeater
|March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
|[[James Monroe]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Antoine Michel Giusta<br />(<small>1785–1872</small>)
|March 4, 1825 – 1833
|[[John Quincy Adams]]<br />[[Andrew Jackson]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Joseph Boulanger<br />(<small>1791–1862</small>)
|1833 – 1845
|[[Andrew Jackson]]<br />[[Martin Van Buren]]<br />[[William Henry Harrison]]<br />[[John Tyler]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Henry Bowman
|1845 – March 4, 1849
|[[James K. Polk]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Ignatius Ruppert<br />(<small>1819–1880</small>)
|March 4, 1849 – March 4, 1853
|[[Zachary Taylor]]<br />[[Millard Fillmore]]
|
|-
!–
|
|William Riley Snow<br />(<small>1808–1885</small>)
|March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857
|[[Franklin Pierce]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Louis Burgdorf<br />(<small>1828–1880</small>)
|1857 – 1859
|[[James Buchanan]]
|
|-
!–
|
|Wm. Richard Goodchild<br />(<small>1830–1878</small>)
|1859 – 1861
|[[James Buchanan]]<br />[[Abraham Lincoln]]
|
|-
! –
| [[File:Edson Densmore.jpg|80px]]
| [[Edson S. Densmore]]<br />(<small>1849–1892</small>) || early (?)1887 – July 1887 || [[Grover Cleveland]]
|
|-
! –
| 
| [[John McKenna (usher)|John McKenna]]<br/>(<small>1841–1898</small>) || August 1, 1887 – February 1889 || [[Grover Cleveland]]
|-
! –
| [[File:Edson Densmore.jpg|80px]]
| [[Edson S. Densmore]]<br/>(<small>1849–1892</small>) || February 1889 – November 13, 1892 || [[Grover Cleveland]]<br/>[[Benjamin Harrison]]
|-
! –
| 
| [[Carlos E. Dexter]]<br/>(<small>1842–1919</small>) || March 20, 1893 – December 3, 1895 || [[Grover Cleveland]]
|-
! –
| [[File:William Dubois.jpg|80px]]
| [[William DuBois (usher)|William DuBois]]<br/>(<small>1831–1910</small>) || June 3, 1896 – 1897 || [[Grover Cleveland]]
|-
| colspan=6 align=center|''Position of Chief Usher formally established in 1897''
|-
! 1
| [[File:William Dubois.jpg|80px]]
| [[William DuBois (usher)|William DuBois]]<br/>(<small>1831–1910</small>) || 1897 – January 2, 1902 || [[Grover Cleveland]]<br/>[[William McKinley]]
|-
! 2
| 
| [[Thomas E. Stone]]<br/>(<small>1869–1959</small>) || January 2, 1902 – March 5, 1909 || [[Theodore Roosevelt]]
|-
! 3
| [[File:Irwin h ike hoover - 1922.jpg|80px]]
| [[Irwin "Ike" H. Hoover]]<br/>(<small>1871–1933</small>) || 1909 – September 14, 1933 || [[William Howard Taft]]<br/>[[Woodrow Wilson]]<br/>[[Warren G. Harding]]<br/>[[Calvin Coolidge]]<br/>[[Herbert Hoover]]<br/>[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
|-
! 4
| [[File:Raymond Muir (cropped).jpg|80px]]
| [[Raymond Muir]]<br/>(<small>1897–1954</small>) || September 18, 1933 – April 4, 1938 || [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
|-
! 5
| [[File:Howell G. Crim.jpg|80px]]
| [[Howell G. Crim]]<br/>(<small>1898–1959</small>) || April 4, 1938 – June 1957 || [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]<br/>[[Harry S. Truman]]<br/>[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
|-
! 6
| [[File:Jb-west-c1959.gif|80px]]
| [[J. B. West]]<br/>(<small>1912–1983</small>) || June 2, 1957 – March 1, 1969 || [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]<br/>[[John F. Kennedy]]<br/>[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]<br/>[[Richard Nixon]]
|-
! 7
| [[File:Rex Scouten and Ted Graber.jpg|80px]]
| [[Rex Scouten]]<br/>(<small>1924–2013</small>) || March 1969 – January 1986 || [[Richard Nixon]]<br/>[[Gerald Ford]]<br/>[[Jimmy Carter]]<br/>[[Ronald Reagan]]
|-
! 8
| [[File:White House Chief Usher Gary J Walters - 2005 .JPG|80px]]
| [[Gary J. Walters]] || March(?) 1986 – January 31, 2007 || [[Ronald Reagan]]<br/>[[George H. W. Bush]]<br/>[[Bill Clinton]]<br/>[[George W. Bush]]
|-
! 9
| [[File:Stephen W. Rochon (cropped).jpg|80px]]
| [[Stephen W. Rochon]] || March 12, 2007 – May 2011 || [[George W. Bush]]<br/>[[Barack Obama]]
|-
! 10
| 
| [[Angella Reid]] || October 4, 2011 – May 5, 2017 || [[Barack Obama]]<br/>[[Donald Trump]]
|-
! 11
| 
| Timothy Harleth<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/politics/trump-timothy-harleth-chief-usher/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |title=Trump family hires familiar face as chief usher |first=Kate |last=Bennett |date=June 23, 2017}}</ref>|| June 23, 2017 – January 20, 2021 || [[Donald Trump]]
|-
! 12
| 
| [[Robert B. Downing]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/30/politics/bidens-hire-chief-usher-white-house/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |title=Bidens hire Robert B. Downing to be the new White House chief usher |first=Kate |last=Brower |date=November 30, 2021}}</ref> || December 1, 2021 – present || [[Joe Biden]]
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Anthony|first=Carl Sferrazza|title=First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power, 1789–1961|url=https://archive.org/details/firstladiessaga200anth|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Quill/William Morrow|date=1990|isbn=0688112722}}
*{{cite book|last=Brinkley|first=Howard|title=White House Butlers: A History of White House Chief Ushers and Butlers|location=Hustonville, Ky.|publisher=Golgotha Press|date=2013|isbn=9781621076315}}
*{{cite book|last=Carter|first=Rosalynn|title=First Lady From Plains|location=Boston|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|date=1984|isbn=0395352940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rLwaDAOD_gC}}
*{{cite book|last=Clinton|first=Hillary Rodham|title=An Invitation to the White House: At Home With History|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2000|isbn=0684857995|url=https://archive.org/details/invitationtowhit00clin}}
*{{cite book|last=French|first=Mary|title=United States Protocol: The Guide to Official Diplomatic Etiquette|location=Lanham, Md.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2010|isbn=9781442203198|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4P2RuXD0QjwC}}
*{{cite book|last=Landau|first=Barry H.|title=The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy|location=New York|publisher=Collins|date=2007|isbn=9780060899103|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentstablet00land}}
*{{cite book|last=Michaels|first=Judith E.|title=The President's Call: Executive Leadership from FDR to George Bush|location=Pittsburgh|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|date=1997|isbn=9780822974932|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentscallex0000mich|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Bradley H. Jr.|title=The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|date=2000|isbn=0815769504|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYh6kIdwZ5kC}}
*{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Bradley H. Jr.|chapter=The Bush White House Staff in the Second Term: New Structures? New Faces? New Processes?|title=The Second Term of George W. Bush: Prospects and Perils|editor-last1=Maranto|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Brattebo|editor-first2=Doug|editor-last3=Lansford|editor-first3=Tom|location=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|date=2006|isbn=9781403984418|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4QjGAAAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Bradley H. Jr.|chapter=White House, The|title=Encyclopedia of the American Presidency|editor-last=Genovese|editor-first=Michael A.|location=New York|publisher=Facts on File|date=2010|isbn=9780816073665|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam0000geno_c1p5|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Bradley H. Jr.|chapter=The Bush White House: Comparisons With Previous White Houses|title=George W. Bush: Evaluating the President at Midterm|editor-last1=Hilliard|editor-first1=Bryan|editor-last2=Lansford|editor-first2=Tom|editor-last3=Watson|editor-first3=Robert P.|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=SUNY Press|date=2012|isbn=9780791484845|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S6vRq8NL91QC}}
*{{cite book|author=White House Historical Association|title=White House Words: A Style Guide for Writers and Editors|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=White House Historical Association|date=2011|isbn=9781931917124|url=http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_publications/publications_documents/whha_publications-white-house-words.pdf| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150323075111/http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_publications/publications_documents/whha_publications-white-house-words.pdf| archive-date = 23 March 2015 }}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Hoover|first=Irwin Hood|title=Forty-Two Years in the White House|url=https://archive.org/details/fortytwoyearsinw00hoov|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|date=1934}}
*{{cite book|last1=West|first1=J.B.|last2=Kotz|first2=Mary Lynn|title=Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies|location=New York|publisher=Coward, McCann & Geoghegan|date=1973|isbn=069810546X|url=https://archive.org/details/upstairsatwhiteh00west}}

==External links==
*[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/usherhst.htm Records of the White House Usher (1945–1952 ), Harry S. Truman Presidential Library]
*[https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Research/Finding_Aids/W.html Records of the White House Usher (1953–1961), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114032445/http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Research/Finding_Aids/W.html |date=2009-01-14 }}
*[http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/textual/central/subject/wh.php Records of the White House Usher (1969–1974), Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library]
*[http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/WHCFWH.HTM Records of the White House Usher (1974–1976), Gerald Ford Presidential Library]
*[http://www.c-span.org/video/?196195-1/qa-gary-walters C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Chief Usher Gary Walters, January 21, 2007]

{{White House|state=collapsed}}

{{EOP agencies}}

[[Category:White House Chief Ushers| ]]
[[Category:White House Executive Residence Operations|Chief Usher, White House]]