National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Historical Overview
WORLD WAR II USE OF THE VANDERBILT MANSION
In June 1940, title to Hyde Park passed from Frederick's heir, Mrs. Van Alen Bruguiere,
to the National Park Service. Mrs. Gertrude S. Cooper was named the park's first
superintendent following an executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, who had
been instrumental in the transfer of the estate from Mrs. Van Alen Bruguiere to the federal
government. 430
From 1941 to 1943, President Roosevelt's Secret Service was housed in the basement and
third-floor service areas, and some of the President's personal White House staff and friends
occasionally stayed in the main bedrooms of the house, including those of Mr. and Mrs.
Vanderbilt. The core Secret Service detail numbered approximately sixteen to twenty-four men,
and when additional security was required for the President and visiting dignitaries, the number
of agents housed in the Vanderbilt Mansion was as high as thirty-five. 431
The agents used the beds that remained in the service bedrooms and additional army
cots and bunks were added to the rooms. Agents were given a per diem allowance for food and
laundry and ate most meals in the Village of Hyde Park or in Poughkeepsie. They made no use
of the mansion kitchen areas and used only the basement service entrance to enter the
building. 432 Superintendent Cooper became concerned about female visitors in the summer of
1942 and wrote the White House, "I should like to bring to your attention a policy which I
intend to enforce rigidly. . . . No women visitors will be allowed in the Mansion after official
visiting hours. . . ." Mrs. Cooper eventually took over the agents' housekeeping duties and
laundry as well. 433
The President's chief telephone operator from the White House, Mrs. Louise
Hachmeister, occupied Mrs. Vanderbilt's room at least during part of this period, and William
D. Hasset, a reporter and friend of the President, stayed in Mr. Vanderbilt's room. 434
Superintendent Cooper maintained records of the agents boarded in the mansion and
submitted bills to the Secret Service for $1.20 per man per night for use of the rooms. 435 In May
of 1943, Roosevelt ordered a forty-percent reduction in the Secret Service's gas and tire
consumption, due to wartime rationing, and the agents and secretarial staff moved to the Nelson
House in Poughkeepsie. 436
430
Correspondence and memoranda in the collection of the F.D.R. Memorial Library document the title
transfer. President's Secretary's File, Box 169, Folder "Vanderbilt Estate," President's Official File, Box
4050, Folder "Cooper, Mrs. Gertrude S."
431
"Secret Service" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division.
432
"Secret Service" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division.
433
"Operations 1942-1944, Mrs. Cooper" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division.
434
"The Secret Service at VAMA" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division. Cites
secondary sources.
435
"Secret Service, May 21, 1942-April 3, 1943," Memorandum, VAMA General File, "Operations 1942-
1944, Mrs. Cooper" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division.
436
"The Secret Service at VAMA" Memorandum, VAMA General File, ROVA Curatorial Division. Cites
secondary sources.
84