Charles Lee

On December 2, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter of recommendation for Charles Lee. In the letter, Roosevelt stated that Lee “has been steward” on the presidential yacht, the USS Sylph, “thruout [sp.] my term as President.” Roosevelt continued: “He has also been frequently employed about the White House,” though the president did not elaborate on what tasks Lee performed there.¹ However, stewards onboard presidential yachts like the Sylph typically worked in the kitchen, supervising kitchen staff, procuring food, and developing menus; Lee could have performed similar jobs at the White House.² In the recommendation letter, Roosevelt explained that Lee “Is an admirable steward, but he is much more than that. He is an extremely trustworthy and capable man, and I should unhesitatingly employ him in a position of responsibility if the opportunity arose to do so.”³

This is the only known source describing Charles Lee’s work on the Sylph or in the White House. There was a man named Charles Henry Lee employed at the White House during Roosevelt’s tenure as president, but he worked as a coachman in the White House stables and there is no record he ever worked on the Sylph. As such, it is likely that coachman Charles Henry Lee is a different person than steward Charles Lee.