William Duncan

William Duncan was the head butler at the White House during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. All of the known information about Duncan comes from two sources. The first is the unpublished memoir of Social Secretary Isabella Hagner who wrote: “Often Mrs. Roosevelt would tell Duncan, the butler, when The President was a little overweight, not to serve him any wine at table."¹ 

The second source is somewhat unusual. In 1913, former President Roosevelt sued a newspaper editor for libel for printing that Roosevelt drank heavily while in the White House. During the trial, former White House butler and valet James E. Amos testified on Roosevelt’s behalf; when asked by a lawyer during the trial if Amos had the keys to the White House liquor storage, Amos replied no and stated: “William Duncan, the head butler, had the keys in the White House.” Amos elaborated that Duncan worked at the White House for the duration of Amos’s tenure there, which began in 1901 and continued through the end of Roosevelt’s presidency in 1909.² At this time, little else is known about Duncan or his life beyond the White House.³