Delores L. Moaney

Delores L. Butler Moaney was born on November 14, 1916 in Maryland. She married John Moaney in 1946 when he returned to the U.S. after serving in World War II as General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal valet. When Eisenhower became president of Columbia University in 1948, Delores and John moved to New York with him and his wife, Mamie Eisenhower, so that John could continue his valet duties. In New York, Delores worked for the Eisenhowers as a maid and cook.¹

 In 1953, the Eisenhowers moved to the White House, and Delores and John moved with them. While John continued in his valet role, Delores’s job in the White House was less specific. She was described in newspapers as a maid and cook, and seemed to do whatever tasks the Eisenhowers needed. She also took care of the Eisenhowers’ grandchildren when they visited the White House. Due to the long and irregular hours, Delores and John lived part-time in a room on the Third Floor of the White House, though they also maintained an apartment in Washington, D.C.²

If First Lady Mamie Eisenhower accompanied President Eisenhower on a trip, Delores traveled with them and tended to Mamie’s needs. During one trip to the South, the president ensured that Delores and John - who were African American - could stay with them despite segregation laws. According to Delores, the president told his would-be-host: “If you can’t accept them [Delores and John], then you’re not going to accept me.”³ Throughout their time in the White House, the Eisenhowers regularly visited their farmhouse in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Delores and John would accompany them, often arriving before the Eisenhowers to prepare the property. Delores preferred her time at Gettysburg to the White House, stating in an interview later in her life: “I never liked the White House . . . I couldn't wait to get away from the White House. It just wasn’t a place to, you know, attract my attention.”⁴

When Eisenhower retired from the presidency in 1961 and moved full-time to Gettysburg, Delores and John moved there as well, inhabiting their own room on the first floor of the farmhouse. The Moaneys performed similar duties as they did in the White House. In 1962, Mamie’s long-time personal attendant, Rose Woods, retired, so Delores took on the extra responsibilities of caring for Mamie’s clothes and setting her hair every night. In 1969, Dwight passed away but Delores continued to work for Mamie. Delores and John retired in 1977 and moved back to Washington, D.C., though they stayed close with Mamie and visited her often.⁵ In 1986, Delores went back to work as a maid and housekeeper, this time for Dwight and Mamie’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, whom she had occasionally helped take care of as a child at the White House.⁶ Delores passed away on September 14, 2014, at the age of ninety-eight, and was buried in Deshields Church Cemetery in Maryland, next to her husband, John.⁷