Barack Obama

White House Butler Eugene Allen Witnesses Swearing-In


Eugene Allen, who worked for more than three decades as a White House butler -- some of those years during an era of brutal segregation when he often had to use back doors despite his employer's rarefied address -- sat in the shadow of the Capitol dome yesterday and watched Barack Obama become the first African American president of the United States.

"I never would have believed it," Allen said, sitting in an invitation-only area. He wore a black cashmere coat purchased for the occasion, a checkered scarf and a Sinatra fedora. "In the 1940s and 1950s, there were so many things in America you just couldn't do. You wouldn't even dream that you could dream of a moment like this."

Allen received his invitation from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies after The Washington Post published an article about him after Obama's election victory. The report chronicled Allen's White House career, which began during the Truman administration and ended during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and also told of his 65-year-long marriage to Helene. The couple had discussed plans to go vote for Obama together, but a day before the election, Helene, 86, died in her sleep. On Election Day, Allen went to his voting precinct alone.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012004301.html

A beautiful man.