What do you think?
Rate this book
Thirty-six Years in the White House
In his 1902 memoir, Thomas Pendel documents his experiences as White House doorkeeper from the Lincoln presidency to the adminstration of Theodore Roosevelt. First assigned to duty at the White House on November 3, 1864, Pendel had only been at the White House a short time when he was chosen to be Lincoln's guard. In his post, he observed not only the tragedy of two assassinations, those of Lincoln and Garfield, but also the joys of the personal lives of the Presidents and those who worked for him. As he notes, "there have been many happy days at the White House; many dark and dreary ones as well" (New York Times, October, 10 1886). Pendel's work is full of amusing anecodotes and insights into the personalities of those living and working in the White House.
188 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2008
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 14, 2022
3.5 stars. Interesting anecdotes, but basically just a collection of the authors stream of consciousness recollections, with not much organization or connection between events. The disorganization makes it hard to read, and the first half of the book was better than the second half.
October 8, 2020
A book about nothing
I read the entire book for only two reasons: it was short and because I erroneously believed that it had to have substance somewhere. The writing is almost child like. It was a collection of one or two paragraphs telling of various incidents about each president he served. A typical story would go something like "We all became very excited about the upcoming visit of a head of state, they came and all went well". We never knew why all of the excitement, what actually happened and most importantly who "head of state" was. Almost all such stories neglected to give names of participants and what actually happened to make it worth mentioning. No insights into the Presidents, their family, other politicals or more importantly about the author himself.
I read the entire book for only two reasons: it was short and because I erroneously believed that it had to have substance somewhere. The writing is almost child like. It was a collection of one or two paragraphs telling of various incidents about each president he served. A typical story would go something like "We all became very excited about the upcoming visit of a head of state, they came and all went well". We never knew why all of the excitement, what actually happened and most importantly who "head of state" was. Almost all such stories neglected to give names of participants and what actually happened to make it worth mentioning. No insights into the Presidents, their family, other politicals or more importantly about the author himself.
October 29, 2024
Insight To History
This is an interesting memoir. And, I do mean little. It is only 75 pages long including the annotations. The book is a summary of what this man experienced during his 36 years serving in the White House. He held several positions, but they were all similar to Door Keeper or Usher. He lived through some exciting history, starting during the Civil War under Lincoln. He saw the deaths of three Presidents and the service of eleven. He shares with the reader so much of the history he saw. He speaks of the Presidential families, the social season, the foreign dignitaries, and of wars. He does not go into much depth, but the reader gets some very interesting insights into the lives of historical people at a level that history books don't.
This is an interesting memoir. And, I do mean little. It is only 75 pages long including the annotations. The book is a summary of what this man experienced during his 36 years serving in the White House. He held several positions, but they were all similar to Door Keeper or Usher. He lived through some exciting history, starting during the Civil War under Lincoln. He saw the deaths of three Presidents and the service of eleven. He shares with the reader so much of the history he saw. He speaks of the Presidential families, the social season, the foreign dignitaries, and of wars. He does not go into much depth, but the reader gets some very interesting insights into the lives of historical people at a level that history books don't.
October 24, 2025
What a wonderful book!
This book is very short….only 76 pages. But, it was written by the man who actually worked in the White House between 1864 and 1909.
The author died in 1909 and this book has been out of print for a long time. I am really glad it is available again.
While most books about the white House include a lot of politics…this book is about the men and their wives themselves. It is charming, and gives a lot of information about the occupants of the White House that we don’t learn in history books.
I absolutely recommend it! Get this book, curl up in your comfy reading chair with a pot of tea and enjoy.
This book is very short….only 76 pages. But, it was written by the man who actually worked in the White House between 1864 and 1909.
The author died in 1909 and this book has been out of print for a long time. I am really glad it is available again.
While most books about the white House include a lot of politics…this book is about the men and their wives themselves. It is charming, and gives a lot of information about the occupants of the White House that we don’t learn in history books.
I absolutely recommend it! Get this book, curl up in your comfy reading chair with a pot of tea and enjoy.
August 17, 2021
An interesting piece of history
This book of history strikes me as a bit of a diary with random bits of history. The verbiage strikes me as informal. The cadence of the prose reminds me of as stream of consciousness discourse. The information is personal to the author. That being said, there were insights that were new to me and reading the book was worthwhile.
This book of history strikes me as a bit of a diary with random bits of history. The verbiage strikes me as informal. The cadence of the prose reminds me of as stream of consciousness discourse. The information is personal to the author. That being said, there were insights that were new to me and reading the book was worthwhile.
January 19, 2023
Very dry writing, but the interesting way he turns what folks today may see as a negative into a positive is refreshing. He just gives us a glimpse into life in the White House through several leaders. Fascinating.
September 25, 2023
A complete waste of a few hours. I was hoping if they were re-releasing this book after all of this time that it would add an inserting perspective into the great men of the past like Lincoln, however, it's just anecdotes that serve no greater purpose.
May 18, 2026
This was a pleasure to read.
The text employs vernacular language characteristic of its era, which may appear unusual but authentically reflects historical speech patterns. The narrative provides rich, engaging details.
The text employs vernacular language characteristic of its era, which may appear unusual but authentically reflects historical speech patterns. The narrative provides rich, engaging details.
February 17, 2020
Very dry & hard to read. Didn't get very far into it before I gave up & put it away.
February 9, 2022
Sort of interesting. I wish there was more detail.
November 18, 2023
The first of a succession of Chief Ushers at the White House who wrote giving a glimpse into the lives that they led in serving the first families. Very interesting!
May 22, 2024
Absolutely loved! Short read and interesting to read!
May 30, 2025
More vingenettes than a straight narrative. Some fun anecdotes to read.
July 3, 2025
Calm read, nothing really stuck just basic history. Definitely good insight to see what actually happened in the White House from a 1st person perspective.
January 25, 2026
Lots of anecdotes. Now must get books on these Presidents, I know too little about them.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews