White House Historical Association

Clifton A. Koester

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"Clifton A. Koester," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/809.
Position
Chauffeur
Years in President's House
circa 1929 – 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidency
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Clifton Arthur Koester was born in Washington, D.C. on July 6, 1898. (1) During World War I, Koester served in the U.S. Navy as boatswain’s mate petty officer second class. (2) Later, Koester worked as a driver for the Post Office Department, and as early as 1929, he was detailed to the White House Garage. (3) According to First Lady Lou Hoover’s annual staff Christmas lists, Koester served as chauffeur to President Herbert Hoover’s secretary Walter Newton through at least 1932. (4) He does not appear on garage staff lists from late 1933, suggesting that he left or was transferred from White House detail during the Hoover-Roosevelt transition earlier that year. (5) The 1940 Census listed Clifton Koester as a driver-mechanic for the Post Office Department, and by 1950, he was a fire truck driver for the Anne Arundel County fire commissioner. (6) He was also a member of the Freemasons. Koester died on May 31, 1970, and was buried at Baltimore National Cemetery in Maryland. (7)
(1) Clifton A Koester in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 162; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0092, Ancestry.com; Clifton Arthur Koester in the U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940, Ancestry.com. U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT. USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019.
(2) “Clifton Arthur Koester,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/885117/clifton-arthur-koester.
(3) It is possible that he began there earlier, but documentation is scarce. “Employees of the White House Garage,” January 8, 1931, Presidential Papers, Subject File, The White House–Garage Correspondence, 1930-1933 and Undated, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
(4) 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.
(5) "Employees of the Executive Office," December 15, 1933, White House Office Personnel, 1933-1935; Records of the White House Office of Budget and Accounting, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
(6) Clifton Koester in the 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Hyattsville, Prince George's, Maryland; Roll: m-t0627-01557; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 17-48, Ancestry.com; Clifton A Koester in the 1950 United States Federal Census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Anne Arundel, Maryland; Roll: 3915; Page: 25; Enumeration District: 2-120B, Ancestry.com.
(7) "Obituaries: Clifton Koester,” The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland), June 2, 1970, pg. 6; “Clifton Arthur Koester,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/885117/clifton-arthur-koester.
Birthplace
Washington, D.C., USA