George W. Hannie Jr.

George Washington Hannie Jr. was born on March 2, 1947, in Northport, Alabama.¹ Hannie grew up in the Jim Crow South, experiencing segregation and racial discrimination in his youth. He later relocated to Washington, D.C. with his family, working at a Navy exchange in the city.² Through a chance encounter at the exchange, he was recommended for a job as a butler at the White House and began working there in 1966.³

For forty five years Hannie served first families with pride, recalling “All of [the presidents] were great to us because once they came upstairs on the second floor residence, the presidency was left downstairs. They became a regular human being once you got to know them…You had what they loved to drink, what they loved to eat, and you gave it to them when they got off the elevator, when they changed into their comfortable clothes. It became one happy family.”⁴ 

In 1998, he was promoted to maitre d’, overseeing the entire butler staff and working closely with first ladies and other staff members to coordinate major events such as State Dinners.⁵ 

Hannie became close with several White House occupants and remained in touch with them after his retirement in 2011. For example, First Lady Melania Trump personally invited Hannie and fellow butler Buddy Carter to attend former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral in 2018. Trump’s press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, noted: "Mrs. Trump knows how close they were and are to the Bush family…She wanted them to be able to attend.”⁶ 

George Hannie Jr. passed away on January 4, 2024.⁷