White House Historical Association

William F. Strauss

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"William F. Strauss," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/637.
Positions
Gardener
Laborer
Engineer
Fireman
Houseman
Years in President's House
1888 – 1931
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidency
William Howard Taft
Biography
William Strauss, born in Germany in 1862, immigrated to the United States in 1886 and became a naturalized citizen.1 In 1888, he began working as a laborer in the War Department but was assigned to the Grover Cleveland White House as a gardener.2 Strauss is best described as a general handyman or jack-of-all-trades, as his responsibilities and titles varied greatly throughout his forty-three years of service. One of these titles was fireman. He kept fires in the fireplaces located throughout the rooms of the White House and serviced the furnaces in the winter. In the summer months, “he had another job, freezing the ice cream for the weekly receptions and dinners.”3 He also sometimes cared for animals onsite, and reportedly fed and bathed the Coolidges’ iconic pet raccoon, Rebecca.4 During Herbert Hoover’s presidency, Strauss served as a houseman and his duties included waxing the floors throughout the public spaces of the home.5 When Strauss retired in 1931, newspapers called him the oldest employee on the White House staff, and reported: “His record of service has been efficient, He took few days of rest. In 1922 he worked 361 days.” After his retirement, The Washington Herald published a multi-day series about his career titled “Recollections of a White House Employee After 43 Years’ Service.”6 He died in 1933 and was buried at Prospect Hill, a German-American cemetery in Washington, D.C.7
  1. William Straus in the 1900 US Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 159; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0027, Ancestry.com.
  2. “There Once Was a Pig in the Parlor of the White House,” Washington Herald, July 19, 1931, pg. 3; “Gardener Quits at White House,” The Washington Herald, June 2, 1931, pg. 3; see Strauss in Official Register of the United States Vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1889), 388; “Quits After 43 Years at Capitol,” The Evening News, June 2, 1931, pg. 15; “Death Overtakes Prowler on Grounds of White House,” The Star-Ledger, October 6, 1913, pg. 6.
  3. Official Register of the United States Vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1901), 35; William Strauss in the 1920 US Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Kent, Prince Georges, Maryland; Roll: T625_674; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 87, Ancestry.com; “Gardener Quits at White House,” The Washington Herald, June 2, 1931, pg. 3; “Retire Oldest Employe,” The Commercial Appeal, June 3, 1931, pg. 16.
  4. Gerald Breckenridge, “Coolidge Was Not Always Silent, Recalls White House Handy-Man,” Washington Herald, July 21, 1931, pg. 4.
  5. “Roses & Wax,” The Washington Daily News, June 3, 1931, pg. 17; Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; White House Employees, 1932, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1932, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Xmas List 1931, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1931, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  6. Gerald Breckenridge “There Once Was a Pig in the Parlor of the White House,” Washington Herald, July 19, 1931, pg. 3; Gerald Breckenridge, “Guards Balked at T. R.’s Wading,” Washington Herald, July 20, 1931, pg. 12;
  7. “Quits After 43 Years at Capitol,” The Evening News, June 2, 1931, pg. 15; William A. Strauss in the District of Columbia, U.S., Select Deaths and Burials Index, 1769-1960, Ancestry.com. District of Columbia, U.S., Select Deaths and Burials Index, 1769-1960 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014; “A Short History of Prospect Hill Cemetery,” Prospect Hill Cemetery, https://www.prospecthillcemetery.org/History.html.
Birthplace
Germany
Prospect Hill Cemetery