Nelson C. Pierce Jr.

Nelson Cole Pierce, Jr., (often called “Bumpa”) was born on January 10, 1925, in Shelton, Washington. During World War II, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in western Europe.¹ After the war, Pierce moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as safety director for an automobile company and as a salesman.²

In October 1961, Pierce began work at the White House as an usher. His job entailed - in Pierce’s own words - directing White House staff to ensure “that the First Family gets what they need when they need it.”³ His favorite memory of working at the White House was reading a bedtime story to the Kennedys’ young son, John Jr. He was at the White House the day President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. As the usher on duty, he received a call from a Secret Service agent informing White House staff that the president was dead. Pierce then called the White House engineers to get them to lower the flag on the roof.⁴ 

In 1964, while reviewing staff personnel files, Pierce discovered that some Black staff members were making less than White counterparts, which he felt clashed with then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and push for Civil Rights and could become a scandal if the media became aware. He raised the issue with Chief Usher J.B. West who subsequently raised the salaries of the workers in question.⁵

Pierce retired from the White House on January 23, 1987. Afterwards, he often spoke to the public about his experiences working in the White House, including appearances on C-SPAN and interviews for several books about the White House behind-the-scenes. From his retirement, Pierce looked back fondly on his time in the White House. Though the long hours were challenging for him and his family, he enjoyed working so closely with several presidents which allowed him to form bonds with many of them. He stated: “I’m asked time after time after time, ‘Who was your favorite [President]?’ I didn’t have a favorite. I worked for the President of the United States, regardless of party affiliation. It was thrilling to work for six presidents. That’s how I describe it: You have six friends. You like them all equally.”⁶ Pierce passed away on November 27, 2014, and was buried in National Memorial Park in Idylwood, Virginia.⁷