C16133-24, President Reagan and Nancy Reagan posing with John Ficklin and Nancy Ficklin in the Cross Hall during a State Dinner for the Amir of the State of Bahrain Isa Bin Sulman Al-Khalifa. 07/19/1983. Reagan White House Photographs; White House Photographic Collection; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.
John Woodson Ficklin
White House staffer and Maître d' (1946-1983)
John Woodson Ficklin (1919-1984) served forty three years on the domestic service staff at the White House. His final position was as the White House Maitre d’ (the equivalent of “head butler”) at the executive mansion.
John Ficklin, one of ten children, was born on a farm in rural Rappahannock, Virginia. His father was a former slave. Both he and his older brother Charles moved to Washington, DC and worked as butlers and housemen for wealthy families in the Georgetown neighborhood. At some point, they both met Sam Jackson, Jr. whose father was a butler at the White House. Through him, Charles and John Ficklin both began part-time work assisting out as housemen/butlers when White House special events required extra help. This was just before and during the early years of World War II.
John Ficklin was drafted in 1941 and in the Army medical corps in the South Pacific. In the meantime, his older brother Charles was hired as a full-time butler at the White House. Charles managed to get John the chance at a White House job which he chose over other options in 1946. Charles was soon promoted to head butler and then maitre d’. He retired in the mid-1960s and John Ficklin was promoted to maitre d’. The Ficklins’ younger brother, Samuel, was an engineer at the Bureau of Engraving, but he also worked as an as-needed, part-time butler at the White House.
Ficklin worked for nine presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. He refused to name a favorite of any of them. He was present when Mrs. Kennedy returned to the White House from the assassination of her husband in Dallas in 1963. Ficklin assisted Mrs. Kennedy with all the funeral and family arrangements. He did not return to his home for over a week. Mrs. Kennedy asked him to be an usher at the funeral services for President Kennedy.
During his tenure, Ficklin assisted with the planning and execution of three White House weddings: Patricia Nixon Cox, Luci Baines Johnson Nugent and Lynda Byrd Johnson Robb. He worked with all the First Ladies in planning meals and state dinners and worked with numerous White House Social Secretaries.
Mr. Ficklin appeared as a mystery challenger on the CBS game show, What’s My Line?. He earned $325.00 for his appearance, although the panel guessed his occupation. There is some discrepancy as to when he appeared. The Goodson-Todman letter accompanying the check says April 30, 1962 as does another piece of correspondence. The online listing of episodes states November 6, 1960 and discusses the upcoming historic election. Further discussion states that Ficklin’s response about the “upcoming” election is what clued the panel into his association with the White House.
After his retirement, Ficklin and his wife Nancy were special guests at the state dinner for Shaykh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa, the Amir of Bahrain on July 19, 1983. Ficklin sat at the table with First Lady Nancy Reagan. This was the first occasion of a White House service staff member attending a State Dinner. Some of Ficklin’s experiences were used in the movie, The Butler, although the movie is based on another maitre d’, Eugene Allen.
Ficklin retired on May 28, 1983 and passed away on December 16, 1984 from cancer. Ficklin and his wife had two sons, J. Woodson Ficklin and John Wrory Ficklin. Woodson Ficklin died suddenly in 2009. John Wrory Ficklin is a long-time employee of the National Security Council.
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/archives/textual/personal%20papers/ficklin.pdf
John Ficklin, one of ten children, was born on a farm in rural Rappahannock, Virginia. His father was a former slave. Both he and his older brother Charles moved to Washington, DC and worked as butlers and housemen for wealthy families in the Georgetown neighborhood. At some point, they both met Sam Jackson, Jr. whose father was a butler at the White House. Through him, Charles and John Ficklin both began part-time work assisting out as housemen/butlers when White House special events required extra help. This was just before and during the early years of World War II.
John Ficklin was drafted in 1941 and in the Army medical corps in the South Pacific. In the meantime, his older brother Charles was hired as a full-time butler at the White House. Charles managed to get John the chance at a White House job which he chose over other options in 1946. Charles was soon promoted to head butler and then maitre d’. He retired in the mid-1960s and John Ficklin was promoted to maitre d’. The Ficklins’ younger brother, Samuel, was an engineer at the Bureau of Engraving, but he also worked as an as-needed, part-time butler at the White House.
Ficklin worked for nine presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. He refused to name a favorite of any of them. He was present when Mrs. Kennedy returned to the White House from the assassination of her husband in Dallas in 1963. Ficklin assisted Mrs. Kennedy with all the funeral and family arrangements. He did not return to his home for over a week. Mrs. Kennedy asked him to be an usher at the funeral services for President Kennedy.
During his tenure, Ficklin assisted with the planning and execution of three White House weddings: Patricia Nixon Cox, Luci Baines Johnson Nugent and Lynda Byrd Johnson Robb. He worked with all the First Ladies in planning meals and state dinners and worked with numerous White House Social Secretaries.
Mr. Ficklin appeared as a mystery challenger on the CBS game show, What’s My Line?. He earned $325.00 for his appearance, although the panel guessed his occupation. There is some discrepancy as to when he appeared. The Goodson-Todman letter accompanying the check says April 30, 1962 as does another piece of correspondence. The online listing of episodes states November 6, 1960 and discusses the upcoming historic election. Further discussion states that Ficklin’s response about the “upcoming” election is what clued the panel into his association with the White House.
After his retirement, Ficklin and his wife Nancy were special guests at the state dinner for Shaykh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa, the Amir of Bahrain on July 19, 1983. Ficklin sat at the table with First Lady Nancy Reagan. This was the first occasion of a White House service staff member attending a State Dinner. Some of Ficklin’s experiences were used in the movie, The Butler, although the movie is based on another maitre d’, Eugene Allen.
Ficklin retired on May 28, 1983 and passed away on December 16, 1984 from cancer. Ficklin and his wife had two sons, J. Woodson Ficklin and John Wrory Ficklin. Woodson Ficklin died suddenly in 2009. John Wrory Ficklin is a long-time employee of the National Security Council.
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/archives/textual/personal%20papers/ficklin.pdf