John A. Moaney

John Alton Moaney was born in Easton, Maryland, on June 7, 1914. He worked several jobs, including as a gardener and farm laborer, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in October 1941 at age twenty-seven. When the United States entered World War II, Moaney was sent to England as part of the 751st Quartermaster Company where he assisted with vehicle maintenance. In 1942, Moaney volunteered to join the personal staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and serve as his valet. He remained in that position for the duration of the war and continued in peacetime.¹

When Eisenhower became president in 1953, Moaney resigned from the Army to follow him to the White House and work as the president’s valet. The tasks he performed for Eisenhower varied widely, from helping him dress in the morning and doing his laundry to caring for his dogs, and anything else the president needed.² When President Eisenhower hit golf balls on the White House lawn - a regular occurrence - Moaney often collected the balls; once, at the request of the president, he helped chase away squirrels that placed nuts on the putting green.³ White House Doorman Preston Bruce claimed: “Wherever the President went, Moaney went too . . . They were inseparable.”⁴ Moaney lived at the White House along with his wife, Delores Moaney, who served as a White House cook and housekeeper.⁵

Working in close proximity for so many years allowed Moaney and Eisenhower to become friends.⁶ In a sign of how much Moaney meant to Eisenhower, the president invited about forty of members of Moaney’s African Methodist Episocal Church congregation to the White House in 1957 - Moaney’s sixty-seven-year-old mother among them.⁷ According to Preston Bruce, Moaney and Eisenhower occasionally fought, though the two remained close.⁸ 

When Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower left the White House in 1961 and moved to their farmhouse in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Moaney and Dolores moved with them. Moaney served as his valet until Eisenhower’s death in 1969, and then continued to work for Mamie until retiring in the early 1970s.⁹ Moaney passed away from cancer on February 20, 1978, and was buried in DeShields Cemetery in Easton, Maryland.₁₀