Irwin "Ike" Hoover was born in
Washington, D.C., He became an employee of the
Edison Electric Company, and was sent to the
White House on May 6, 1891, to install the first
electric lights and an electric bell system in the executive mansion. At the time, no private building in the city had electricity, and the only government-owned building which did was the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing. President
Benjamin Harrison and his family considered electricity dangerous, and no one in the Harrison family would even turn a light switch for fear of electrocution. On May 15, when Hoover finished the installation, he was asked by President Harrison to leave Edison Electric and join the White House staff as an electrician. (Hoover and Roosevelt were already well-acquainted with each other, as Roosevelt had served on the
United States Civil Service Commission during the Harrison administration and had been
Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President
William McKinley.) Hoover served as Chief Usher until his death in 1933. From 1891 until 1909, his daily uniform was a
tailcoat (which hung to below the knees),
waistcoat, formal trousers, and dress shirt with tie. This changed when President
William Howard Taft allowed staff to wear
business suits. During these 42 years of service, Hoover had intimate daily contact with ten Presidents (including the unrelated Herbert Hoover) and their families. As Chief Usher, he was the executive head of the household, in charge of all social affairs and entrusted with confidential matters of every description regarding the household and First Family. It was also his duty to welcome guests of the President, to arrange the details of their visits, and to make them feel at home in the White House. During his tenure at the White House, Hoover oversaw the preparations for the funerals of President McKinley and President
Warren G. Harding. He also oversaw the planning for the weddings of
Alice Roosevelt,
Eleanor Wilson, and
Jessie Wilson, presidential daughters who were all married at the White House. When President
Woodrow Wilson traveled to France for peace negotiations at the end of World War I, Hoover traveled with him and controlled the staff and household operations in the palaces where Wilson stayed. ==Death==