Raymond N. Jackson

Raymond Nathaniel Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 1943.¹ Little is currently known about his early life. It is unclear exactly when Jackson began working at the White House, though he was likely hired in 1962 as an assistant cook.² Once Lyndon B. Johnson became president in late 1963, Jackson helped White House Cook Zephyr Wright prepare private meals for Johnson and his family.³

In 1964, Jackson suffered serious injuries from an automobile accident; doctors saved his life but had to amputate his legs and replace them with artificial limbs. He spent several months recuperating in a hospital, during which time First Daughter Luci Baines Johnson visited him.⁴ A newspaper article published when Jackson was still in the hospital quoted White House Maitre d’ John Ficklin as stating he was working on getting Jackson a job again at the White House, “perhaps as a clerk or typist” because his injury would make working in a kitchen challenging. The newspaper article elaborated that Jackson “was toiling five hours every weekday in the hospital’s fourth-floor business school, learning to type on an electric portable [typewriter] given to him last Christmas by fellow White House staffers. He was also taking courses in accounting, spelling and English” to prepare for a clerical career.⁵

Once Jackson recovered, he returned to work at the White House and remained there at least through 1966, though it is unclear if he ever performed the clerical work that Ficklin proposed. A newspaper article published in 1966 after Jackson had returned to work stated he was once again cooking, though his responsibilities shifted from preparing private meals for the first family to assisting in the main kitchen for large meals and social functions.⁶ 

Little is currently known about Jackson’s life after his work at the White House ended. He passed away on June 24, 2007.⁷