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Article: A Butler Well Served by This Election; For 34 Years, Eugene Allen Carried White House Trays With Pride. Now There's Even More Reason to Carry Himself That Way.
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 7, 2008
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Copyright informationThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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By Wil Haygood | Washington Post Staff Writer
For more than three decades Eugene Allen worked in the White
House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those
years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land.
He trekked home every night, his wife, Helene, keeping him out of
her kitchen.
At the White House, he worked closer to the dirty dishes than to
the large desk in the Oval Office. Helene didn't care; she just
beamed with pride.
President Truman called him Gene.
President Ford liked to talk golf with him.
He saw eight presidential administrations come and go, often
working six days a week. "I never missed a day of work," Allen says.
His is a story from the back pages of ...