Secretary to the President of the United States

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John G. Nicolay and John Hay photographed by Alexander Gardner
on November 8, 1863 in Washington, D.C.

The Secretary to the President (sometimes dubbed the president's Private Secretary or Personal Secretary) was a 19th- and early 20th-century White House position that carried out all the tasks now spread throughout the modern White House Office. The Secretary would act as a buffer between the president and the public, keeping the president's schedules and appointments, managing his correspondence, managing the staff, communicating to the press as well as being a close aide and advisor to the president in a manner that often required great skill and discretion. In terms of rank it is a precursor to the modern White House Chief of Staff.

Stature

Every American president had a private secretary, but the position was not an official one until the McKinley administration. At the time of its peak the Secretary to the President was a much admired government office held by men of high ability and considered as worthy as a cabinet rank;[1] it even merited an oath of office.[2] Three private secretaries were later appointed to the Cabinet: George B. Cortelyou, John Hay and Daniel S. Lamont.

History

During the nineteenth century, presidents had few staff resources. Thomas Jefferson had one messenger and one secretary (referred to as an amanuensis in the common parlance of the time) at his disposal, both of whose salaries were paid by the president personally. In fact, all presidents up to James Buchanan paid the salaries of their private secretaries out of their own pockets; these roles were usually fulfilled by their relatives, most often their sons or nephews. James K. Polk notably had his wife take the role.

It was during Buchanan's term at the White House in 1857 that the United States Congress created a definite office named the "Private Secretary at the White House" and appropriated for its incumbent a salary of $2,500. The first man to hold such office officially and to be paid by the government instead of by the president, was Buchanan's nephew J. B. Henry.[3] By Ulysses S. Grant's presidency, the White House staff had grown to three.[4]

By 1900, the office had grown in such stature that Congress elevated the position to "Secretary to the President", in addition to including on the White House staff two assistant secretaries, two executive clerks, a

stenographer, and seven other office personnel. The first man to hold the office of Secretary to the President was John Addison Porter whose failing health meant he was soon succeeded by George B. Cortelyou.[3] Radio and the advent of media coverage soon meant that Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson too expanded the duties of their respective secretaries to dealing with reporters and giving daily press briefings.[5]

Under

Press Secretary.[9]

In 1933,

Louis McHenry Howe
who had died in 1936) and had many of its duties supplanted by the Appointments Secretary.

In 1946, in response to the rapid growth of the U.S. government's

Truman administration
.

In 1961, under

Nixon administration that the Chief of Staff became a permanent fixture in the White House, and the appointments secretary was reduced to only functional importance. In the 1980s the job was re-designated to the White House Office of Appointments and Scheduling
.

List of presidential secretaries

Private Secretary

Year(s) Image Secretary President
1789–1793
1794–1797
Tobias Lear[a] George Washington
1789–1791
Maj. William Jackson[b]
1797–1801
William Smith Shaw John Adams
1801–1803
Cpt. Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson
1803–1804 Lewis Harvie
1804–1805
William A. Burwell
1805–1809
Isaac Coles
1810–1815
Edward Coles James Madison
1816–1817 James Payne Todd
1817–1820 Joseph Jones Monroe James Monroe
1820–1825 Samuel L. Gouverneur
1825–1829
John Adams II John Quincy Adams
1829–1831
Andrew Jackson Donelson Andrew Jackson
1831
Nicholas Trist
1831–1837
Andrew Jackson Donelson
1837–1841
Abraham Van Buren II Martin Van Buren
1841 Henry Huntington Harrison William Henry Harrison
1841–1845
John Tyler Jr. John Tyler
1845–1849 Joseph Knox Walker[c] James K. Polk
1849–1850
Cpt. William Wallace Smith Bliss Zachary Taylor
1850–1853
Millard Powers Fillmore Millard Fillmore
1853–1857 Sidney Webster Franklin Pierce
  1. ^ Washington had several young assistant secretaries who made copies of his correspondence. Among these were
    Robert "Bob" Lewis, Howell Lewis, Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr., and George Washington Craik.
  2. ^ As aide-de-camp.
  3. ^ His wife Sarah Childress Polk, it is said, too was his personal secretary.

Private Secretary to the White House

Year(s) Image Secretary President
1857–1859 James Buchanan Henry James Buchanan
1859–1861 James Buchanan II
1861–1865
John G. Nicolay
 Abraham Lincoln
1861–1865
Maj. John Hay[a]
1865 Col. William A. Browning Andrew Johnson
1865 Col. Reuben D. Mussey Jr.[a]
1865–1869
Brig. Gen. Robert Johnson[b]
1867
Edmund Cooper
1866–1869 Col. William G. Moore[a]
1869–1873
Robert M. Douglas[c] Ulysses S. Grant
1869–1872
Col. Horace Porter[a]
1869–1873
Brig. Gen. Frederick Tracy Dent[a]
1869–1876
Col. Orville E. Babcock[a]
1873–1876 Col. Levi P. Luckey[c]
1876–1877
Ulysses S. Grant Jr.[c]
1877–1881
Webb C. Hayes
 Rutherford B. Hayes
1881
Joseph Stanley Brown
 James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
1881–1885 Fred J. Phillips
1885–1889
Col.
Daniel Scott Lamont
 Grover Cleveland
1889–1893 Maj. Elijah W. Halford Benjamin Harrison
1893–1896 Henry T. Thurber Grover Cleveland
  1. ^ a b c d e f As Military Secretary.
  2. ^ "Bob," as he was called, was an alcoholic and was in asylums for treatment during several periods of his father's presidency.[10]
  3. ^ a b c Grant was closer to his military secretaries who did most of the work normally associated with the Private Secretary.

Secretary to the President

Year(s) Image Secretary President
1897–1900
John Addison Porter William McKinley
1900–1903
George B. Cortelyou
Theodore Roosevelt
1903–1909
William Loeb Jr.
1909–1910
Fred W. Carpenter William Howard Taft
1910–1911
Charles D. Norton
1911–1912
Charles D. Hilles
1912
Carmi Thompson
1913–1921
Joseph Tumulty Woodrow Wilson
1921–1923
George B. Christian Jr. Warren G. Harding
1923–1925
C. Bascom Slemp Calvin Coolidge
1925–1929
Everett Sanders
1929–1933
Walter H. Newton
 Herbert Hoover
1933–1936
Col.
Louis McHenry Howe
 Franklin D. Roosevelt
1937–1938
James Roosevelt
1941–1943
Col. Marvin H. McIntyre[a]
1944–1952 William D. Hassett[a]
Harry S. Truman
1952–1953 Beth Campbell Short[a]
  1. ^ a b c As "Correspondence Secretary to the President"

Appointments Secretary

The appointments secretary was the guardian of the president's time. He had the responsibility of acting as "gatekeeper" and decided who got to meet with him.

Eisenhower appointed Arthur H. Vandenberg Jr. to the position, but he took a leave of absence before Eisenhower's inauguration and later withdrew without ever having served.

The Appointments Secretary position was eliminated in 1981, with the responsibilities transferred to the recently created White House Deputy Chief of Staff position.

Year(s) Image Secretary President
1929–1931
George E. Akerson[a] Herbert Hoover
1931–1933
Ted Joslin[a]
1933–1938
Marvin H. McIntyre[b] Franklin D. Roosevelt
1938–1945
Edwin "Pa" Watson
1945–1953
Matthew J. Connelly
Harry S. Truman
1953 Arthur H. Vandenberg Jr.
On leave 		Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953–1955 Thomas Stephens
Acting during Vandenberg's term
1955–1957 Bernard M. Shanley
1957–1958
Bob Gray
1958–1961 Thomas Stephens
1961–1963
Kenneth O'Donnell[c] John F. Kennedy
1963–1965
Jack Valenti[c] Lyndon B. Johnson
1965–1968
W. Marvin Watson[c]
1968–1969
James R. Jones[c]
1969–1973
Dwight Chapin Richard Nixon
1973–1974 Stephen B. Bull[11]
1974–1977
Warren S. Rustand Gerald Ford
1977–1978
Timothy Kraft Jimmy Carter
1978–1981 Phil J. Wise
  1. ^ a b As Appointments and Press Secretary.
  2. ^ Before 1937 the title was only "Assistant Secretary to Appointments".
  3. ^ a b c d De facto White House Chief of Staff.

Personal secretary to the president

The prior role of Secretary to the President should not be confused with the modern president's personal secretary who is officially an administrative assistant in the Executive Office of the President. The role of personal secretary to the president should also not be confused with the personal aide to the president (commonly known as the "body man" or "body woman").

Year(s) Image Secretary President
1933–1941 Missy LeHand Franklin D. Roosevelt
1941–1945 Grace Tully
1945–1953 Rose Conway Harry S. Truman
1953–1961 Ann C. Whitman Dwight D. Eisenhower
1961–1963 Evelyn Lincoln John F. Kennedy
1963–1969 Gerri Whittington Lyndon B. Johnson
1969–1974 Rose Mary Woods Richard Nixon
1974–1977 Dorothy E. Downton Gerald Ford
1977–1981 Susan Clough Jimmy Carter
1981–1989 Kathleen Osborne Ronald Reagan
1989–1993 Linda Casey George H. W. Bush
1993–2001 Betty Currie Bill Clinton
2001–2005 Ashley Estes Kavanaugh George W. Bush
2005–2009 Karen E. Keller
2009–2011
Katie Johnson
 Barack Obama
2011–2014 Anita Decker Breckenridge
2014–2017 Ferial Govashiri
2017–2019 Madeleine Westerhout Donald Trump
2019–2021 Molly Michael[12][13]
2021–2022 Ashley Williams[a][14] Joe Biden
2022–present Julia Reed[b][15]
  1. ^ As Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
  2. ^ As Confidential Aide to the President

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4128-0556-8
    . Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  2. ^ "The Presidency: Ted for Ted". Time. 1932-05-09. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  3. ^ a b "White House – Secretaries To The Presidents". Old and Sold Antiques Digest. 1908. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. ^ Burke, John P. "Administration of the White House". Miller Center of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 2010-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  5. ISBN 978-0-7914-6098-6
    . Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  6. ^ "Big Job". Time. 1929-02-11. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  7. ^ "$7,500 Pay for Tumulty". The New York Times. 1913-02-03. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  8. ^ "Description". Time. 1929-03-04. Retrieved 2009-05-09. [dead link]
  9. ^ "Big Job". Time. 1929-02-11. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  10. OCLC 760067571
    .
  11. ^ "Stephen B. Bull (White House Special Files: Staff Member and Office Files) | Richard Nixon Museum and Library". www.nixonlibrary.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  12. ^ https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/July-1-2019-Report-FINAL.pdf
  13. ^ https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/July-1-2020-Report-FINAL.pdf
  14. ^ Kumar, Anita (3 February 2021). "In Biden's White House, surprise visits with staff replace late-night tweets". POLITICO. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  15. ^ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/July-1-2023-Report-Final-Version.pdf

Sources

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