Nancy Clarke
Cite this Page
"Nancy Clarke," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1254.
- Position
- Florist
- Years in President's House
- 1978 – 2009
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- Nancy Clarke was born in Mundelein, Illinois on May 14, 1945. (1) She enrolled in nearby Bradley College, but left school early to pursue a career as a flight attendant, where she met her husband, Air Force Col. Michael Clarke. While working at a flower shop in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1970s, Clarke developed an interest and skills in decorative design. She later enrolled in classes at the prestigious Hixon’s School of Floral Design, where she trained in classical methods of floral arranging. (2)
Clarke’s husband was transferred to Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s. She was prompted by staff at her design school to contact the White House, and in 1978, telephoned to offer her skills as a volunteer. (3) She volunteered in the White House floral shop for three years, and came on as a paid, full-time staff member in 1981. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan hired her as chief floral designer, replacing retiring floral chief Dottie Temple. Clarke served in this role until her retirement in 2009 (4).
Clarke served under six presidents, and worked especially closely with first ladies and social secretaries to coordinate floral arrangements for State Dinners, political events, and everyday life at the White House. She oversaw three staff members, and was responsible not just for floral decorations in the public areas of the White House, but also for the East Wing, West Wing, and the first family’s Private Quarters on the second and third floors. (5)
First Lady Laura Bush noted that Clarke was the first White House employee to welcome her daughters Jenna and Barbara to the White House in 1989 following the Inauguration of their grandfather, President George H.W. Bush. Clarke brought the girls to the White House Flower Shop and let them arrange little bouquets to keep in their rooms. (6) In an interview she gave following her retirement, Clarke mentioned that her most memorable moment in the White House was preparing flowers for a 2007 State Dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth II, after which she had the opportunity to meet Her Majesty. Other favorite experiences in the White House included the 1979 Camp David Peace Treaty signing agreement dinner hosted by President Jimmy Carter, President Ronald Reagan’s 1985 dinner honoring Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and a 1999 dinner with President Bill Clinton celebrating the 50th anniversary of NATO. (7) She described the biggest change over her 31 years in the White House as the shift from using only local, seasonal flowers to sourcing fresh flowers from across the globe at any time of year. “The whole world opened up,” she said. (8)
Clarke’s memoir, My First Ladies: Twenty-Five Years as the White House Chief Floral Designer was published in September 2011. On January 14, 2012, Clarke passed away. (9) Her memorial service was held at St. John’s Church in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House. (10) - (1) Emily Langer, “Nancy Clarke, White House chief florist, dies,” Washington Post, January 18, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/nancy-clarke-white-house-chief-florist-dies/2012/01/18/gIQAQmyL9P_story.html. See also Scott Hilyard, “Woodruff grad was official White House florist for 25 years,” Peoria Journal Star, January 23, 2012, https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/2012/01/24/woodruff-grad-was-official-white/42503188007/.
(2) Hilyard, “Woodruff grad was official White House florist for 25 years.”
(3) Langer, “Nancy Clarke, White House chief florist, dies.”
(4) Rachel L. Swarns, “White House Florist Retires,” New York Times, April 2, 2009, https://archive.nytimes.com/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/white-house-florist-retires/
(5) “Tour of the White House Flower Shop,” CSPAN video program, Washington, DC, December 1, 2008, 20 min. 43 sec., https://www.c-span.org/program/c-span-specials/tour-of-the-white-house-flower-shop/199137.
(6) Langer, “Nancy Clarke, White House chief florist, dies.”
(7) Susan Fogwell interviewing Nancy Clarke, “A Chat With Nancy Clarke: Former White House Chief Floral Designer,” HuffPost, May 26, 2011, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-house-flowers_b_866107.
(8) Amy Argetsinger and Roxane Roberts, “She’s Vacating a Seat of Flower,” Washington Post, April 2, 2009, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2009/04/03/shes-vacating-a-seat-of-flower/ecc990b7-614c-4b25-82ee-83901458aa06/.
(9) Langer, “Nancy Clarke, White House chief florist, dies.”
(10) “Nancy K. Clarke,” Washington Post, January 24, 2012, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/nancy-clarke-obituary?id=5983378. - Birthplace
- Mundelein, Illinois, USA
- Related Worker
- Dottie Temple