White House Butler

? When watching the recently released movie "The Butler", US President Obama was moved to tears.

"I shed tears not only for the black butlers working in the White House, but also for the talented but discriminated generation who cannot go further in life." He lamented in a radio program road.

Eugene Allen, the real person behind "The Butler", experienced such a life.

The only butler invited to the state banquet

Eugene Allen comes home late every day, and his wife Helen sits quietly in the kitchen waiting for him.

In the White House, he is close to dirty dishes but distant from the big table in the Oval Office. But Helen didn't mind, she was proud of her husband.

He is the story behind the history books and the silent figure in the White House kitchen. If we must find something special, it is that in the 34 years he has worked in the White House, Allen, who has seen eight presidents come and go, has never missed a day of work.

When the couple was alive, photos of President Reagan and his wife and the other seven presidents Allen served hung in the living room. In one of the photos, President Ford was opening birthday gifts, with Allen standing not far away.

Allen had the same birthday as President Ford. Whenever a birthday party was held, Allen was the first staff member invited to attend. Mrs. Ford, who had a sweet smile, would always remind everyone that "today is also Gene's birthday" and lead everyone to sing and celebrate for him, until the housekeeper in a tuxedo walked away embarrassedly.

One day, Nancy Reagan suddenly came to the kitchen and reminded Allen that the president would have dinner with Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Alan promised that he was ready, right down to the china. But Nancy tells him he doesn't have to work that night, which scares the dedicated butler.

"You and Helen will be guests at the state banquet hosted by President Reagan and me." Nancy smiled and said, "I tell you, you are definitely the only housekeeper invited to the state banquet."

That night, Helen dressed up particularly brilliantly and talked with the heads of state. The butler on duty seemed to make a point of pouring champagne into their glasses, the same ones Ellen kept in the White House storage room.

"Jack Kennedy was a very nice guy," Allen recalled. "Mrs. Kennedy too." Helen echoed.

On the day Kennedy was assassinated, Allen, who was working in the kitchen, was invited by Mrs. Kennedy to attend the funeral, but he voluntarily stayed in the White House to serve. The tie worn by the president given to him by Mrs. Kennedy was solemnly kept by him.

Sometimes, people will ask Allen which president is his favorite, and the old man will always answer: "I like them all."

"I have shaken hands with eight presidents. ” he once proudly told a reporter from the Washington Post. "I was there, too, honey." Helen reminded from the side. "Maybe in the back, but I also shook their hands."

President Truman called him "Gene," and President Ford liked to talk to him. He talks golf, flew on Air Force One with President Nixon on a visit to Romania, and drank beers with President Carter at Camp David.

When Allen bid farewell to the White House in 1986, he received a large number of farewell gifts and various photos. President Reagan wrote him a sweet handwritten note, and Nancy hugged him tightly.

After leaving the White House, he went to Gettysburg to visit the elderly President Eisenhower. Since then, he has received cards from many former first families every year on his birthday or Christmas.

The black man is getting closer to the center of power, closer than he ever dreamed

In the White House kitchen, the impact of racism is not apparent, as nearly all staff It's black. But this does not mean that the high wall of apartheid has disappeared here. Just looking at the name "White House", it is not difficult to imagine.

When he first arrived at the White House in 1952, young Allen was just a kitchen employee responsible for washing dishes, tidying cabinets and wiping silverware. He could earn $2,400 a year, but he worked six days a week and didn’t even Allowed to use public restrooms.

“We never had anything,” he recalled of the hardships faced by black Americans at the time, “but I wanted things to get better.

"

In 1957, when President Eisenhower was dealing with the crisis of racial discrimination in Little Rock schools, he asked Allen for advice on canceling a television program. The temporary "advisor" told the president that the program would be difficult to attract advertisers. , because they were worried that white southern audiences would boycott the show.

In February 1963, Kennedy invited 800 black people to the White House to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Black celebrities were scheduled to attend. Sammy Davis was taken off the guest list by the White House because she was married to the white Swedish actor May Britt, but was secretly added by civil rights activists. When Kennedy saw this "black and white pair" appearing at the White House. "Horrified," he "turned red and instructed the photographer not to photograph the mixed race couple." But this was not the last time Davis Allen visited the White House. Witnessed that he was invited by Nixon to the White House to discuss the Vietnam War and black issues.

In 1963, Martin Luther King was invited to the White House by President Kennedy. King said: "I have a guest. Dream, I dream, that one day a new civil rights bill passes both the House and the Senate. "

Three months later, President Kennedy was assassinated with this dream. Five years later, King died on the road to pursue his dream. But Allen always remembered that when he looked up in the kitchen that day, he saw There was a lone figure at the door. At that time, King insisted on talking to all the staff, and also praised Allen's dress for "the tailoring".

Later President Lyndon Johnson realized their dream. He pushed through the Civil Rights Act with great energy and determination, even appointing the first black member of the National Security Council, but there were not many blacks on his staff, and Allen, who was in charge of White House internal affairs at the time, was not qualified to be considered one of them. .

In March 1967, when angry crowds stood outside the White House to protest the Vietnam War, it was Allen who brought glasses of milk and whiskey to the embarrassed Johnson to appease his hunger and panic. .

With the establishment of the Civil Rights Act, the political status of blacks gradually increased. Colin Luther Powell was the first black general and the first black secretary of state. When he saw Powell in the Oval Office, he was serving refreshments to the other party. Years of deportment training prevented him from showing any strange expression, but he couldn't help but be proud: The black man was getting closer to the center of power than he had ever dreamed.

He hopes he is just a humble steward

On the eve of the birth of the first African-American president of the United States, Allen sat in the living room with his elderly wife and talked excitedly about this. Something.

“Imagine that! "She said.

"It's amazing! "He said.

They discussed praying for Obama and made an appointment to vote together. Helen walked slowly towards the voting area on crutches, holding her husband's arm... Their election day plan had been rehearsed more than once. .

After Obama was elected, Ellen received a guest invitation to the presidential inauguration, but Helen was not able to witness this unforgettable moment for countless black people - she left her company forever just the day before the vote. Husband of 65 years.

The 88-year-old man walked a mile from the subway station to the podium, as if he were watching Obama deliver his speech every step of the way. Wet Again

“I remember how happy he was when Colin Luther Powell came to the White House, but when Obama became president, he couldn’t have imagined it. "That's when we realized this was really going to happen," said Alan's son, Charles. He looked at me and said nothing. He was not a talkative person, and that look in his eyes made me understand how satisfied and happy he was. " Charles described Allen's feelings to an MSNBC reporter.

Attending Obama's inauguration made Allen famous overnight. He received hundreds of letters, some He came from as far away as Switzerland; people called him to thank him for his service to his country; neighbors swarmed him on the road and introduced him to their children.

TV stations across the United States invited him to appear on shows, and publishers invited him. He published books and was invited by many organizations to speak. Allen refused all these invitations until his death at the age of 90. Charles said: "He hoped that he would do so. Just a humble steward. ”