Eugene Allen, Butler to 8 Presidents, Dies at 90

Fame came to Eugene Allen late in life.

After reaching the age of 88, the Virgina native was sought out by national television news programs, newspapers and book agents seeking rights to his story of serving as the official White House Butler for 8 American presidents as then-candidate Barack Obama was making his historic run for the presidency.

He declined them all. Perhaps because his personal grief was too much to bear.

Allen's wife of 65 years, Helene, died on the eve of the election. So the man who served decades in the White House at the side of the world's most powerful men was forced to vote alone, after receiving a VIP invitation to Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

Allen died recently of kidney failure at a Washington D.C.–area hospital at 90.

If anyone's story would have made great reading, it was Allen's. Going from an upbringing in the segregated South to working directly under 8 presidents surely provided Allen with some insights on race and presidential power in America.

By now we have all heard the stories of Lyndon B. Johnson's racial rants, John F. Kennedy's philandering and Richard Nixon's late-night liquor-fueled tirades against his enemies.

But what was it like to witness these presidential outbursts firsthand?

Allen would probably never provide details on what he saw and heard in the White House. And I respect that. That kind of old-school loyalty is missing from the "sell-any-story-to-the-highest-bidder" mentality that is so common among folks today.

The importance of the history that unfolded at Allen's fingertips boggles the mind, ranging from school desegregation, the Kennedy assassination, the Civil Rights Era, Watergate and Vietnam.

Allen leaves behind a son, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Though Allen might not have told tales of his White House years to the general public, one has to wish that he at least shared them with his family members. Those stories are too great not to live on in someone's memory.

Check out Erica Kennedy, author of BLING and FEMINISTA's tribute to Allen here.