George E. Thomas

George E. Thomas was born around 1903 in Berryville, Virginia. He worked as a domestic servant and valet, or personal attendant, to Virginia Senator James Byrd and then journalist Arthur Krock. In 1947, he began working as valet for Massachusetts Representative John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president in 1961, Thomas followed him to the White House.¹

Everyday, Thomas helped President Kennedy pick out his suits and assisted him into his back brace, necessary due to Kennedy’s chronic back pain.² President Kennedy often changed up to four times a day after swims or naps, which required Thomas to assist him repeatedly. He also helped Kennedy up and down stairs and drew baths for him.³ Thomas worked closely with Doorman Preston Bruce, who escorted the president around the White House and who said he and Thomas “became friends.”⁴ When he was not attending the president, Thomas occasionally helped entertain the Kennedy’s young children. To be close, Thomas lived on the third floor of the White House; on weekends when he was not working he lived in his hometown of Berryville, Virginia. Thomas often accompanied the president on trips, including to the Kennedy family compound on Cape Cod and to Dallas in 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated.⁵ When Kennedy’s body was being prepared for the funeral, Thomas adjusted the late-president’s handkerchief to make it appear the way Kennedy liked.⁶

After Kennedy’s death, Thomas ceased working at the White House. In 1965, he became valet to the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C., until 1978 when Thomas retired. Thomas passed away on December 13, 1980.⁷