Butler brings the White House to Wareham

From fancy chocolates to star-studded meet-and-greets, working in the White House definitely has its perks. 

Former White House butler Alan DeValerio gave a glimpse of the world around the first family in a talk at the Wareham Council on Aging on Tuesday, July 30.

A Rhode Island native, DeValerio didn’t set out to become a White House butler. He wound up in Washington D.C. after realizing it was a better place to reach his goal of becoming a political humor writer. 

After working at a D.C. restaurant, he eventually wound up working in the White House, where he worked as a butler for the Carter, Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations. 

Reminiscent of his political humor writing, DeValerio intertwined his stories of the president’s home with political jokes.

In one such story, he talked about a function from early on in his job as butler, when President Jimmy Carter’s administration hosted a Christmas party outside in the middle of December. 

DeValerio was tasked with working the grill throughout the day, which he said kept him warm, but when he left the grill, that’s when the chill set in.

“It was so cold I saw a Congressman with his hands in his own pockets,” DeValerio quipped.

Eventually, DeValerio was working the hot chocolate stand and he said throughout the event, he would pour hot chocolate on his hands to keep them warm. Little did he know, the Carters would eventually ask him for hot chocolate.

“I got out the mug and I put it under the spigot and I pulled the handle down and it was completely empty,” DeValerio said. 

While disappointed he couldn’t give the Carters any hot chocolate, DeValerio said that he went on to have many more opportunities to serve the president and first lady during his time at the White House.

DeValerio got a glimpse of the inner workings of the White House, including the personalities of multiple presidents.

His favorite president to work for? Former President Ronald Reagan.

“I wasn’t a big fan of his politics but I liked him as a person,” DeValerio said.

He said that Reagan was “affable and likable”

The White House gave DeValerio plenty of chances for star-studded run-ins.

DeValerio shared that he almost spilled champagne on the Reagans and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, ran into comedian Bob Hope in the bathroom and got to serve dinner to Frank Sinatra.

During White House state dinners, butlers would put tins of Godiva chocolates on the tables. 

“One of my favorite jobs was sitting in the back room surrounded by boxes and boxes of Godiva chocolates,” DeValerio said. “And I would put some in the tins and I would put some in my pockets.”

Pat Bergstrom is an Onset resident who attended the former butler’s talk and enjoyed hearing the personal stories that DeValerio shared. In particular, she said that she enjoyed hearing about what former President Ronald Reagan was like as a person.

“It made him seem real,” Bergstrom said.

While DeValerio eventually stopped working as a butler for the Commander-in-Chief, the experience of working in the White House is something he will always carry with him.

“You eventually leave the White House,” DeValerio said. “But the White House never leaves you.”