Word: nesbitt
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...Nesbitt is truly kind to all of us," commented Columnist Eleanor Roosevelt as she reviewed her ex-housekeeper's White House Diary (TIME, Aug. 2). "It is true she didn't always like all of our friends and some of the visitors seem to have been a real trial, but so far as my husband and myself and the children are concerned she was certainly a very charitable and generous friend . . . I always got on well with Mrs. Nesbitt. My husband became difficult about his food in the last few years . . . The greatest sacrifice which Mrs. Nesbitt made...
...Pshaw, it's only four years. I can stand anything for four years," said Henrietta Nesbitt when she became housekeeper of the White House in 1933. But Mrs. Nesbitt, who was "pushing 60" when she became "First Housekeeper of the Land," stayed in office, like her boss, for 13 years. Unlike the memoirs of other members of President Roosevelt's entourage, her diary of those years has no political importance whatever-for the simple reason that Mrs. Nesbitt was much too busy feeding the politicians to bite off more than she could chew herself. Nonetheless, her prattling, naive...
...just Hyde Park friends of the Roosevelts, come down to look after them," Husband ("Dad") Nesbitt blandly told the world. (Mrs. Nesbitt had often baked and cooked on big occasions when F.D.R. was governor of New York.) Mrs. Roosevelt was waiting in the Red Room when the Nesbitts arrived, and she said: "I'll show you over"; and so "we started out together at a trot, the way she always goes about things . . . We kept on bumping into Roosevelts ... I can't recall how many [but] they all seemed glad to be there . . . Then we reached the kitchen...
Gasping Housekeeper Nesbitt spent her first term struggling against chaos. Already, "world leaders were swooping down on us from all directions"-and terrifying memos were swooping down from Mrs. Roosevelt ("Mrs. Nesbitt: There will be 5,000 to tea"). Salesmen stormed the doors with "gift" samples of everything from cravats to cheese; Peach, Cherry and Potato "Queens" left laden bushel baskets all over the floor; deputations stamped in & out; photographers' flashbulbs exploded like small arms. Eighty-three thousand casual visitors streamed through every month, leaving a trail of mud and cigarette butts...
Swoons & Spoons. The Roosevelts occupied the whole second floor, which swarmed with children, grandchildren and pets. Affectionate, easygoing, they were the least of Mrs. Nesbitt's worries...