White House Executive Chef

The White House Executive Chef is the individual responsible for managing the White House kitchens, and for planning and preparing of all menus and meals for the President of the United States and the First Family, which includes their private meals, their private entertaining, and official state functions at the White House in Washington, D.C., in the United States.

Beginning with George Washington, slaves prepared food for American presidents, First Families, and for social gatherings. Although slavery ended in the United States after the American Civil War, African Americans continued to provide nearly all the cooking in the White House kitchen. Occasionally, a professional chef was used beginning in the latter half of the 1800s. President Ulysses S. Grant utilized a Union Army cook until his embarrassed wife forced him to hire an Italian-trained chef. President Rutherford B. Hayes utilized the services of cook and nurse Winnie Monroe, a freed African American slave.Chester Arthur used a cook who formerly worked at his private residence as his White House chef for casual dining, and hired French-trained professional chef Alexander Fortin to oversee preparation of important political meals and state dinners. President Grover Cleveland also used a French chef to prepare his meals during his first term. President Benjamin Harrison had a French chef as well, but fired him after only a short time in favor of the services of Dolly Johnson, a freed African American slave who had cooked for the Harrisons in Indianapolis. President William McKinley hired a local cook for everyday dining, but a French-trained chef traveled from New York City to prepare formal dinners.

Swedish native Sigrid Nilsson served as President Woodrow Wilson's chief cook at the White House from 1915 to 1919. American-trained professional chef Alice Howard served presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, while "head cook" Katherine Bruckner worked for Herbert Hoover and Henrietta Nesbitt served as housekeeper and head cook for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vietta Garr, President Harry S. Truman's long-time personal cook and domestic assistant, came to the White House as head cook in 1945 after Truman fired Nesbitt for insubordination.Dwight D. Eisenhower utilized the services of French-trained chef François Rysavy from 1954 to 1957 and former United States Navy chef Pedro Udo (a Filipino) from 1957 to 1960.Zephyr Wright, one of the last personal chefs to work in the White House, prepared meals for President Lyndon B. Johnson.

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