Roosevelt’s death means ‘end of world’ for valet
Navy steward was close to President
WASHINGTON (UP) – The happy little world, in which Chief Petty Officer Arthur Prettyman lived in quiet dignity during the last six years he served as President Roosevelt’s valet, has collapsed.
Few men were as close to the President, or as devoted, as was this Negro Navy steward.
It was PO Prettyman who carried the prostrate form of his “Chief” from the room in which he fainted to a bed in the “Little White House” at Warm Springs, Georgia. White House attendants say the President’s death was tantamount to the end of the world for PO Prettyman.
Served aboard cruiser
His happy association with the President began some years ago while he was serving aboard the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa during one of the President’s many trips out of the country. Mr. Roosevelt took a fancy to PO Prettyman and when his old valet retired, he called in PO Prettyman to serve him.
PO Prettyman retired from the Navy and went to the White House. For the last six years, he had helped the President dress, took care of his dog Fala and went with him on every trip. Mr. Roosevelt would trust no one except him to bathe Fala.
PO Prettyman carried himself with a quiet dignity. In conversation he referred to Mr. Roosevelt as “Chief.” But in addressing Mr. Roosevelt, he always said “Mr. President.”
Never talked of President
He had very little contact with members of the White House staff and, as one messenger said, “We could never get a word out of him about the President.”
After the outbreak of war, PO Prettyman was placed on active duty as a chief steward in the Navy but remained assigned to the President. The only difference was that PO Prettyman wore a gray Navy uniform.
When the President was in Washington, PO Prettyman usually went home nights to his family in Marshall, Virginia, near the capital. But if the President needed him in the evening, or at any time, he was always on hand.