Cesar Carrera

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"Cesar Carrera," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/916.

Positions: Valet; Floorman
Years in President's House: circa 1939 – 1944
Legal Status: Free Person
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino
Presidency: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Biography: Cesar Carrera was born in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico on December 5, 1893. He moved to the mainland of the United States in 1925 and graduated from Tuskegee University. (1)
According to the 1940 Federal Census, he lived in Washington, D.C. with Maggie Rogers, head maid at the White House, and her daughter, Lillian Rogers Parks, also a maid there. (2) Through their recommendation, Cesar began working part-time in the White House Cloak Room during events, until he eventually joined the staff full-time as a houseman (a role similar to a housekeeper or custodian). (3) It is unclear exactly when Carrera officially joined the staff, but according to Parks, he took over as head houseman when her mother retired in 1939. (4)
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected him to serve as one of his valets. Carerra’s wife, Louise, recalled that Cesar “loved the president like life itself” but hated traveling with him aboard the presidential yacht Sequoia because of seasickness. (5) Indeed, the role of valet was extremely demanding– it included getting the president ready each day, traveling with him at all times, and moving him about when he could not move himself due to his polio diagnosis. Carerra left the role due to its impact on his mental and physical health. (6) He returned to Puerto Rico for a time and later worked as a post office clerk back in D.C. Carerra died there on March 24, 1960. (7)

Thank you to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Roosevelt - Vanderbilt National Historic Sites for providing research assistance with this biography.
: (1) Cesar Baez Carrera in Florida, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1898-1963, The National Archives At Washington, D.c.; Washington, D.c.; Series Title: U.s. Citizen Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Key West, Florida; NAI Number: 2790482; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004, Ancestry.com. “Cesar Carrera,” Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/people/cesar-carrera.htm. Lillian Rogers Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 22.
(2) Cesar Carrera in 1940 Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00571; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 1-538, Ancestry.com.
(3) Lillian Rogers Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 22-23.
(4) Lillian Rogers Parks, My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (New York: Fleet Publishing Co., 1961), 70.
(5) There are several discrepancies in the documentation related to Roosevelt’s valets– it is unclear when exactly they held the position, or if multiple individuals overlapped in the role. He is listed as the president's valet on a 1944 White House staff roster, placing him there through at least that year. Mrs. Cesar B. Carrera to Raleigh DeCeer Amyx, Letter, January 30, 1981, Heritage Auctions, https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/3d-and-other-display-1896-present-/lovely-cane-owned-and-used-by-franklin-delano-roosevelt-among-personally-owned-fdr-artifacts-few-can-compete-with-the-appea/a/625-25481.s; "Roster of White House Employees, Revised, April 1, 1944," Folder: Investigative Case Files, 1934-1945, Records of the United States Secret Service, 1933-1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
(6) Grace Tully, F.D.R, My Boss (Chicago: People’s Book Club, 1949), 111.
(7) “Carrera, Cesar B” Evening Star, March 27, 1960, pg. A-20, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1960-03-27/ed-1/seq-20/; Carerra, Cesar B. in U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com. Lillian Rogers Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 23.
Birthplace: Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, USA

Related Workers: Lillian Rogers Parks
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1960; Maggie Rogers
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1909 – 1939; William L. Sarver Sr.
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1939 – 1956