30+ Years in the White House

Time Machine

Posted: May 01, 2025

Nell Yates, left, works at her desk as President Jimmy Carter, far right, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat exit the Oval Office in 1977. (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
Nell Yates with President Dwight Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower at the President’s 68th birthday celebration in 1958. (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
Mrs. Yates served with President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
President Ronald Reagan greets Mrs. Yates. (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
A copy of a cartoon depicting Nell Yates guarding entry into the Oval Office. The cartoon ran in The New Yorker magazine. The illustrator, John Gordon, presented Yates with this copy. (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
Assorted memorabilia from Yates’ collection (courtesy of the Gaston County Museum of Art & History)
Nell Yates at home overlooking her garden in Belmont, North Carolina, after her retirement in a painting by sister-in-law Maida Wright. (Maida Wright courtesy of Cathy O’Brien)

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Nell Lewis Yates left her hometown of Dallas, North Carolina, in the 1940s. She was a teenager. Now a museum there pays tribute to her.

What did Mrs. Yates do to earn honors from a museum? She worked for U.S. presidents . . . seven of them! The Gaston County Museum’s Woman in the Wing exhibit tells her story.

Mrs. Yates moved to Washington, D.C., at 19. She was looking for a job, and she found one—as a secretary at the Federal Housing Authority. Her hard work paid off. She was trustworthy and professional. She was chosen to work in the White House. Her new boss? President Dwight Eisenhower.

Normally, each new president hires new assistants. But U.S. presidents kept wanting Mrs. Yates to stay on staff. She served seven presidents in a row: Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan. She spent the most of her career at the entrance to the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House complex.

People got used to seeing Mrs. Yates there. A cartoonist even published a drawing of her in The New Yorker magazine. The cartoon shows her denying access to the President—with authority.

Not that Mrs. Yates wanted to be famous. According to her nephew’s wife, Cathy O’Brien, Mrs. Yates didn’t talk about politics. She shared few details of the national events she had witnessed. And if you’re looking for someone to keep national secrets, it makes sense to choose a person who doesn’t enjoy blabbing! Though Mrs. Yates’ quietness did make it harder for her family to understand how important her job really was.

Mrs. Yates retired quietly. Very quietly. Not even her husband knew she had retired until she didn’t go to work one morning! After retiring, Mrs. Yates returned home to North Carolina. She died in 2018.

Before her death, Nell Yates donated her collection of treasures to the Gaston County Museum. This included more than 1,000 mementos, documents, pictures, and other White House artifacts. The exhibit runs through the end of June.

Why? Character traits like loyalty, faithfulness, and trustworthiness matter in relationships and in work.