White House Social Secretary

The White House Social Secretary is responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of official social events at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States.

Function

The Social Secretary is head of the White House Social Office, located in the East Wing of the White House Complex. The Social Secretary plans events ranging from those as simple as a tea for the First Lady and a single official guest, to dinners for more than 200 guests. The Social Secretary works with the White House Chief Usher to coordinate domestic staff and with the Chief of Protocol of the United States, an official within the United States Department of State, to plan state visits and accompanying state dinners. The Social Secretary works with the White House Graphics and Calligraphy Office in the production of invitations to social events.

The Social Secretary works on both the political and non-political functions of the presidency, coordinating events for the President, the First Lady, and senior political staff. The White House Social Secretary serves at the president's pleasure and is appointed by each administration.

First male to fill role

On February 25, 2011, the White House appointed Jeremy Bernard, the first male social secretary in its history. “I have long admired the arts and education programs that have become hallmarks of the Obama White House and I am eager to continue these efforts in the years ahead,” Bernard said during the announcing press conference.

Current staff

• Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Deesha Dyer
  • Deputy White House Social Secretary: Lauren Kelly

List of White House Social Secretaries

	Social Secretary	Term of office	President
1	Belle Hagner	1901 – 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
2	Alice Blech	1909 – 1910	William Howard Taft
3	Mary Spiers	1910 – 1913
4	Belle Hagner	1913 – 1915	Woodrow Wilson
5	Edith Benham Helm	1915 – 1921
6	Laura Harlan	1921 – 1923	Warren G. Harding
		1923 – 1929	Calvin Coolidge
7	Mary Randolph	1929 – 1931	Herbert Hoover
8	Doris Goss	1931 – 1933
9	Edith Benham Helm	1933 – 1949	Franklin D. Roosevelt
		1949 – 1953	Harry S. Truman
10	Mary Jane McCaffrey	1955 – 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
11	Letitia Baldrige	1961 – 1963	John F. Kennedy
12	Nancy Tuckerman	1963 – 1963	John F. Kennedy
13	Bess Abel	1963 – 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
14	Lucy Winchester	1969 – 1974	Richard Nixon
15	Nancy Lammerding Ruwe	1964 – 1975	Gerald Ford
16	Maria Downs	1975 – 1977
17	Gretchen Poston	1977 – 1981	Jimmy Carter
18	Mabel (Muffie) Brandon	1981 – 1983	Ronald Reagan
19	Gahl Hodges	1983 – 1985
20	Linda Faulkner	1985 – 1989
21	Laurie Firestone	1989 – 1993	George H.W. Bush
22	Ann Stock	1993 – 1997	Bill Clinton
23	Capricia Marshall	1997 – 2001
24	Catherine Fenton	2001 – 2004	George W. Bush
25	Lea Berman	2005 – 2007
26	Amy Zantzinger	2007 – 2009
27	Desirée Rogers	2009 – 2010	Barack Obama
28	Julianna Smoot	2010 – 2011
29	Jeremy Bernard	2011 – 2015
30	Deesha Dyer	2015 – present

Further reading

• Baldrige, Letitia. In the Kennedy Style: Magical Evenings in the Kennedy White House. Doubleday: 1998. ISBN 0-385-48964-1.
• Clinton, Hillary Rodham. An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History. Simon & Schuster: 2000. ISBN 0-684-85799-5.
• The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.

External links

• White House Historical Association website
• Records of the White House Social Office (1952 - 1961), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library