Mrs. Nesbitt and Eleanor Roosvelt in 1941. Library
of Congress
The
cover of Mrs. Nesbitt's memoir, 1948
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When
Henrietta Nesbitt (1874-1963) first saw the White House
on March 4, 1933, she remarked that it resembled “a
big wedding cake.” The day was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
first inauguration as president. The following day Nesbitt
became the housekeeper at the White House. Although Mrs.
Nesbitt, who was fifty-nine, had never worked as a professional
housekeeper before, she was undaunted by the challenge.
Her philosophy was that she had been keeping house all her
life and it wouldn’t be any different at the White
House, just on a larger scale. Little did Nesbitt know that
she would spend more than a dozen years managing the nation’s
busiest household during the trying times of the Great Depression
and World War II.
Henrietta and her husband, Henry F. Nesbitt, had been neighbors
of the Roosevelts in Hyde Park, New York. Eleanor Roosevelt
and Nesbitt met through the formation of a local chapter
of the League of Women Voters. Mrs. Roosevelt, heavily involved
in her husband’s campaign for governor of New York,
asked Nesbitt to make baked goods for the Roosevelt’s
growing social functions at Hyde Park. When Franklin Roosevelt
was elected to the White House in 1932, Mrs. Roosevelt asked
both Nesbitts to work for them in the White House. Henry
Nesbitt tracked the household accounts as chief steward.
Two sets of books had to be kept as the government only
paid for state dinners and receptions; all other meals were
charged to the Roosevelts. After Henry Nesbitt’s death
in 1938, Mrs. Nesbitt took over these duties with the help
of an assistant.
Mrs. Nesbitt proved to be an indefatigable worker and her
position involved not only care of the house, but oversight
of the servants, meal planning, and the purchase of supplies
from her command post on the ground floor of the historic
residence. The Roosevelts were socially active and entertained
over 10,000 persons during the 1937 season at the White
House.
Nesbitt
became a minor celebrity through her position and gave newspaper
interviews about her menus. She also appeared on a radio
program with other White House staffers to discuss the running
of the presidential mansion. Her plain home-style meals
were never widely appreciated at the White House and both
President Roosevelt and visitors complained about the quality
and variety of foods that were served. A 1937 New York Times
article stated “any man might rebel against being
served salt fish for luncheon four days in a row.”
Roosevelt had a food rebellion the prior week and said that
the “kitchen had better not send him any more liver
for a while and he is also getting pretty tired of string
beans.” Mrs. Nesbitt was aware that her menus were
being discussed in the national news, but she excused it
by saying that the president was stressed over world events.
She also staunchly defended her uninspired menus by saying
that the White House had to following rationing rules the
same as everyone else. Eleanor Roosevelt ignored all criticism
and remained loyal to Nesbitt. They both felt that the White
House should be a model of food conservation efforts on
the Home Front.
Mrs.
Nesbitt remained on for a time at the White House after
Harry S. Truman became president. However, Margaret Truman
recounts in Bess W. Truman, that President Truman was served
Brussels sprouts one too many times and Mrs. Nesbitt was
summarily dismissed.
After leaving the White House, Mrs. Nesbitt wrote two books;
White House Diary published in 1948 followed by The Presidential
Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests in 1951.
The diary is a chatty commentary of the dignitaries and
heads of state that visited during her time there and provides
an important glimpse of life behind the scenes at the Roosevelt
White House. |
