Alonzo Fields diary, Truman's butler
When the President of the United States says he wants cocktails and dinner at 8, he gets cocktails and dinner at 8 ... even if the kitchen staff has to be tracked down by the Washington D.C. police.
President Harry S. Truman had been enjoying a relaxing family weekend in Independence, Missouri when he first learned that North Korea had invaded South Korea. This knowledge prompted him to fly back to Washington on June 25, 1950 and order a dinner meeting with his top advisors.
Problem was, the kitchen staff had taken the afternoon off on account of the First Family being out of town. Alonzo Fields, chief butler for the White House, was called at 4 p.m. and told to prepare cocktails and dinner for the President and his fourteen senior advisors by 8 p.m. Fields planned the menu on the drive over to the Blair House (the President's residence while the White House was being renovated) after mentally surveying the on-hand ingredients. He also enlisted the help of the Washington D.C. police to find two of the White House chefs. In spite of everything, the dinner (fried chicken and shoestring potatoes) seemed to go off without a hitch.
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