William J. Hopkins

William J. Hopkins (1910 – July 29, 2004) was an American civil servant. He served as the Executive Clerk of the White House from 1948 to 1971. In total, he served 40 years at the White House working for seven presidents.

Early life and education Hopkins was born in Netawaka, Kansas, in 1910. His father was a carpenter and built the family home in Netawaka. He graduated from Netawaka High School in 1927 and attended the Chillicothe Business College, in Chillicothe, Missouri. He remained there only one year but took the civil service exam while there. He took a job for the Burlington Railroad in Centerville, Iowa, and worked there until he received an offer to work for the federal government.

Career In May 1929, he moved to Washington, D.C., and began work as a junior clerk and stenographer for the Naturalization Service of the United States Department of Labor. In October 1931, during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, he was detailed to the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence.

Hopkins retired on May 28, 1971. On June 2, 1971, President Richard Nixon held a formal retirement celebration for him in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. During his remarks, President Nixon surprised Hopkins by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation's highest civilian honor. Typically, the citation which accompanies a Presidential Medal of Freedom is read by an aide while the President presents the award, but in this instance, President Nixon took the unusual step of reading the citation himself. The citation reads: The Hopkins lived most of their life in Silver Spring, Maryland, but relocated to Florida in 1994. They had one son and two daughters, and, at the time of his death, 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.