Josefina Sanchez

Details about Josefina “Fina” Sanchez’s early life are limited, but she grew up in La Caruna, Spain and moved to moved to Cuba in 1946 with her husband, Manuel “Manolo” Sanchez.¹ Businessman Bebe Rebozo recommended the couple to his friend, Richard Nixon; Manolo and Fina were hired as the Nixons’ driver and cook, respectively.² They began working for the Nixon family in California in 1962. In 1968, they both became U.S. citizens; Nixon delayed his departure for the Republican National Convention to serve as their sponsor at the naturalization ceremony, and his daughters Tricia and Julie Nixon helped them study for their citizenship tests.³ 

When the Nixons moved into the White House in 1969, they brought the Sanchezes along; Manolo served as President Nixon’s valet, while Fina served as Pat Nixon’s maid. They were on the payroll of the Department of the Interior and lived on the Third Floor of the White House.⁴ Fina’s duties included serving meals, traveling with the family, and caring for the Nixons’ dogs- so much so that their Irish Setter King Timahoe “understood commands in Spanish.”⁵ Fina and Manolo Sanchez accompanied the Nixons on board Marine One when they departed the White House after his resignation on August 9, 1974.⁶ They returned with the Nixons to San Clemente, California, where they lived and worked for several years before moving back to Spain around 1978.⁷

At this time, further information about her life is scarce, but according to Galician newspaper Faro de Vigo, “Josefina passed away in the mid-1990s, and her husband a few years later, well into the 21st century.”⁸