W.L. Jackson
Cite this Page
"W.L. Jackson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/640.
- Position
- Chauffeur
- Years in President's House
- circa 1910 – 1911
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- William Howard Taft
- Biography
- W. L. Jackson worked at the White House as a chauffeur during William Howard Taft’s presidency. President Taft preferred cars to horses, and began to convert the White House stables to create the first White House garage. The date of Jackson’s start at the White House remains unclear, but by 1910 he was on staff, earning $90.00 per year.1 In February 1911, Jackson and fellow chauffeurs Francis H. Robinson and Walter Wagstaff appeared in a newspaper article stating that these chauffeurs had been issued “operator’s licences” for Maryland, so that they could drive the president in that state.2 Jackson does not appear in further records working at the White House after 1911. Information about his first name, birth, and life before and after his White House service remain unknown at this time.
- Michael L. Bromley, William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003), 381.
- “No Charge to Taft,” The Washington Evening Star, February 2, 1911, https://www.newspapers.com/image/331490116/?match=1&terms=Walter Wagstaff.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context
- Related Workers
- Walter WagstaffTransportation, circa 1909 – 1911
- Francis H. RobinsonTransportation, 1910 – 1940