What follows is Part II of my timeline of the African-American experience in the White House. I do not pretend that this is a complete list. Rather, it’s a sample that I hope will spur readers to delve into the subject more fully on their own. If you missed the first installment, which was posted the day before Thanksgiving, click here to see it. And Loose Cannon would make this editorial observation: We have much to be thankful for in this nation, even at times of war and economic uncertainty. Among those blessings is
October 16, 1901: DINING WITH THE PRESIDENT. William McKinley, who called for anti-lynching laws when inaugurated in 1897, is assassinated early in his second term. In the chaos of succession, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt cancels a trip to Tuskegee Institute, but invites the college president, Booker T. Washington, to call on him next time he is in the capital. Mr.
November 12, 1914: DRESSING DOWN THE PRESIDENT. In the campaign of 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was supported by much of the black press. But
June 12, 1929: TEA TIME. The election of 1928 brings Herbert Hoover to power as well as another Republican, Chicago's Oscar DePriest, the first African-American member of Congress since Reconstruction. Traditionally, the first lady hosts the wives of members of Congress for tea, but Southern Democrats begin viciously agitating against it. First lady Lou Hoover responds by inviting the congressional wives in four groups, Southerners first, so they can't make trouble, and instructingWhite House guards to welcome Jessie DePriest warmly. Southern newspapers claim that Mrs. Hoover has “defiled” the White House. Far from it. Chief White House usher Irvin “Ike” Hoover notes in his memoirs that Mrs. DePriest is the most dignified and composed person in the room on this day.
June 8, 1939: SINGING FOR ROOSEVELTS—AND ROYALS. Earlier in the spring of 1939, famed soprano Marian Anderson is denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall because the hall’s owners, the Daughters of the American Revolution, didn’t want an African-American performing there. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigns from the DAR, writes a newspaper column about the reasons why, and helps secure the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as a venue for
March 22, 1948: PULLING NO PUNCHES. At President Truman’s request, several African-American leaders come to the White House to discuss integrating the nation’s armed forces. The most outspoken of the visitors is famed labor leader A. Philip Randolph. “Mr. President, the Negroes are in the mood not to bear arms for the country unless Jim Crow in the armed forces is abolished,”
July 9, 1955. ADVISING FROM THE INSIDE. Dwight Eisenhower appoints E. Frederic Morrow as an assistant to the president, the first time a black man has been named to an executive position inside the White House. Morrow is a minister’s son and former NAACP official who also served as an Army officer in the Second World War. Upon his retirement, Morrow’s 1963 autobiography, Black Man in the White House, will show that being the only black official in the White House was a lonely mission. But African-Americans benefited from his service: In 1957, Morrow is among the aides who advise Eisenhower to send federal troops to integrate
June 22, 1963: THEY HAD A DREAM. President Kennedy meets in the Oval Office with the nation’s preeminent civil rights leaders, including A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr. In that meeting, Kennedy tries to dissuade them from their upcoming and already announced March on
President John F. Kennedy meets with civil rights leaders at the White House on August 28, 1963.
(Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers) Getty Images
December 13, 1967: FLYING HIGH. President Johnson, meeting with news correspondents in the Cabinet Room, introduces the media—and the nation—to U.S. Air Force Colonel Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., a decorated combat pilot in Korea and Vietnam. In Richard Nixon’s administration, Chappie James will become a top Pentagon spokesman. Under Gerald Ford, he will head the North American Aerospace Defense Command—overseeing the nuclear umbrella—on his way to becoming the first African-American officer to attain the rank of four-star general in American history. On this day, LBJ shrugs his assent when asked whether James is allowed to take questions from the White House press corps. “I guess if he can take care of the North Vietnamese he can take care of you,” the president answers.
November 5, 1987: THE PRESIDENT’S MAN FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE. Colin L. Powell is appointed by Ronald Reagan as White House National Security Adviser, the first African-American to hold the rank as the president’s top aide for issues pertaining to the defense of the nation. In announcing the promotion, Reagan is matter-of-fact to the point that a visitor to the Rose Garden ceremony might have missed the historic significance. “General Powell has had a distinguished career in the field and at the highest levels of our government,” Reagan says. “The NSC won’t even break stride, and the team will remain intact. Colin, congratulations.”
January 9, 1990: KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE. President George H.W. Bush, in a ceremony held in the adjacent
July 24, 1995: RIGHTING OLD WRONGS. In a poignant East Room ceremony, President Bill Clinton tells the story of Johnson C. Whittaker, who was born into slavery and yet earned an appointment to West Point in 1876. Instead of graduating with his class, however, Whittaker was tied up and beaten in the barracks in 1880, then court-martialed and dismissed from the Army. President Chester A. Arthur reversed the conviction, but Whittaker was drummed out of the academy. “We cannot undo history,”
November 16, 2004: OUR FACE TO THE WORLD. Speaking from the Roosevelt Room, George W. Bush announces his nomination of Condoleezza Rice, his National Security Adviser, to the post of Secretary of State. Rice is the first African-American woman in either job. “During the last four years, I’ve relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience, and appreciated her sound and steady judgment,” President Bush says. “And now I’m honored that she has agreed to serve in my Cabinet. The Secretary of State is
Nov. 10, 2008:
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