Irwin "Ike" H. Hoover

Irwin "Ike" H. Hoover

Irwin Hood Hoover, known as "Ike," was born in Washington, D.C., on October 24, 1871, the son of a grocer. As an employee of the Edison Company, he was sent to the White House on May 6, 1891, to install the first electric lights for the Benjamin Harrisons. He stayed on as permanent electrician, was soon promoted to the ushers' force, and under the Taft Administration was appointed Chief Usher. He held this position until his death on September 14, 1933.

During these forty-two years of service, Ike Hoover had intimate daily contact with ten Presidents, their wives, and their families. As Chief Usher he was the executive head of the household, in charge of all social affairs and entrusted with confidential matters of every description. It was also his duty to welcome guests of the President, to arrange the details of their visits, and—a difficult task—to make them feel at home in the White House.

Time Magazine Article - Death of Hoover, September 25, 1933President Roosevelt last week sent telegrams to the widows of Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge and to onetime President Herbert Hoover. The messages all carried the same news: the good friend and trusted aide of each & every one of them, Irwin Hood ("Ike") Hoover, longtime chief usher at the White House, was dead in Washington at the age of 62. He had left his cubby-hole office just off the White House foyer one afternoon, gone home, been suddenly stricken with a heart attack. Declared President Roosevelt who had known him since the days of T. R.: "It was Ike Hoover who met me at the door when I came into the White House as my home. . . . His passing is a tremendous personal loss. . . . The nation, too, has lost a true and faithful public servant."

In 1891, Edison Co. of New Jersey sent young Ike Hoover to Washington to wire the White House for electric lights. It was a six-month job. President Harrison, skittish about electricity, asked Ike Hoover to remain, take charge of the "incandescents," the bells and pushbuttons. President McKinley made him chief usher.

As major-domo of the White House he ran its social functions, stage-managed the ceremonious presentation of diplomatic credentials, arranged seating lists for dinners, kept a check on calling cards, directed Presidential receptions, herded the Cabinet about, told distinguished visitors, where to stand, what to say. As guardian of the front door, he knew whom to let in, whom to keep out. He managed the White House weddings of Alice Lee Roosevelt to Nicholas Longworth, of Eleanor Randolph Wilson to William Gibbs McAdoo. President Wilson trusted him with the secrets of his romance with Mrs. Edith Boiling Gait, let him arrange their marriage. Tall, immaculate, dignified Chief Usher Hoover's manners were rated second only to those of Oliver Wendell Holmes.

No man knew the private White House lives of the last ten Presidents so well as Ike Hoover. No loose-lipped gossip could have held his confidential job for 42 years. Once he was offered $50.000 to write his memoirs. He refused, saying: "When I pass out, everything I know goes with me."


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • White House Chief Usher — is the title of the head of household staff and operations at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. The Chief Usher is, by description, charged with the responsibility for the… …   Wikipedia

  • Huissier en chef de la Maison Blanche — Barack Obama et l huissier en chef Stephen W. Rochon participent à une cérémonie de plantation d un arbre dans le jardin nord de la Maison Blanche. L’huissier en chef de la Maison Blanche (en anglais White House Chief Usher) est le titre d …   Wikipédia en Français

  • literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium

  • Ronald Reagan — Reagan redirects here. For other uses, see Reagan (disambiguation). Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States In office …   Wikipedia

  • Bibliography —   Contents    I. Introduction 453    II. Presidential Papers 462    III. Bibliographies and Encyclopedias 463    IV. General Surveys 463    V. The Crash and the Great Depression 465    VI. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 466    VII.… …   Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era

  • Earl Warren — For the swing saxophonist and occasional singer, see Earle Warren. Earl Warren 14th Chief Justice of the United States In office October 2, 1953 …   Wikipedia

  • China Room — The China Room looking southeast during the administration of Bill Clinton. At right is a painting of Grace Coolidge …   Wikipedia

  • Cincinnati Reds all-time roster — The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one game for the Cincinnati Reds National League franchise (1890–1953, 1958–present), also known previously as the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1882–1889) and… …   Wikipedia

  • Philadelphia Phillies all-time roster — The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one competitive game for the Philadelphia Phillies National League franchise (by|1890 present), also known previously as the Philadelphia Quakers (by|1883… …   Wikipedia

  • 71st United States Congress - State Delegations — The Seventy first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”