Tag Archives: Major Archibald Butt

Heroes of Titanic: Maj. Archibald Butt

Heroes of the Titanic - Major Archibald Butt, Chief of Staff to the President of the United States assisted women into lifeboats and then stood back to go down with the ship.

Heroes of the Titanic – Major Archibald Butt, Chief of Staff to the President of the United States assisted women into lifeboats and then stood back to go down with the ship.

This inscription is on a memorial plague in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.:
TO THE MEMORY OF ARCHIBALD·W·BUTT, MAJOR, U·S·A MILITARY·AIDE·TO·THE·PRESIDENT HE LOST HIS LIFE APRIL 15, 1912, WHEN THE BRITISH STEAMSHIP TITANIC SANK AND THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE SAVED. OF HIM PRESIDENT TAFT SAID “THE CHIEF TRAITS OF HIS CHARACTER WERE LOYALTY TO HIS IDEAL HIS CLOTH AND HIS FRIENDS. HIS CHARACTER WAS A SIMPLE ONE; HE WAS INCAPABLE OF INTRIGUE OR INSINCERITY; HE WAS GENTLE AND CONSIDERATE OF EVERYONE AND A SOLDIER, EVERY INCH OF HIM.” GEO T. BREWSTER ·SC·1913

Butt plaque at National Cathedral

Washington Times

Tuesday 16 April 1912

Major Archibald de Grafenreid Willingham Butt, who was on the Titanic, was returning to Washington on sick leave, and expected to resume his duties as military aide to President Taft at once.
Suffering from that mild poisoning which follows an unending series of dinners and late hours occasioned by his official duties, Major Butt was granted sick leave February 29.
The following day he went to New York, sailing for Naples. He was presented to the Pope, bearing to him an autograph letter from President Taft.
He afterward visited Paris, being credited there with making a search for the last word in state etiquette so that innovations might be made at the White House.
It was stated that Major Butt intended to make White House etiquette the model for the world. Before his departure abroad the engagement of Major Butt to Miss Dorothy Williams, daughter of Col. and Mrs. John R. Williams, U. S. A., was rumored.
Major Butt denied the rumor, though saying it was hardly necessary as “Miss Williams is already denying it.”
Major Butt was forty-five years old September 23, 1911. He did not appear to be so old. He was one of the most widely traveled men in the army.
Was a Reporter
As a young man he was a student at the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn., and decided upon journalism as profession. He came to Washington as correspondent for a syndicate of Southern newspapers.
When Gen. Matt. Ransom was sent to Mexico as ambassador, Archie Butt was selected to go with him. Returning from Mexico the young newspaper man and budding diplomat entered the Spanish-American war, saw three years’ service in the Philippines and at the close of the war returned to Washington as depot quartermaster here.
During his service here Captain Butt, as his title was then, attracted the attention of Colonel Roosevelt.
The colonel, then President, appointed Captain Butt his military aide.
Beginning at that time Major Butt entered upon a new career as a globe trotter. With President Roosevelt he traveled 20,000 miles or more.
Since President Taft has been in the White House Major Butt has traveled 50,000 miles or more, including his last trip abroad.
On Sick Leave Major Butt’s trip abroad was induced primarily by ill health. Like many bachelors in the Capital, his digestion gave way before the onslaught of dinners and his duties as aide to the President were arduous.
When he last appeared at the White House he said he was not feeling well and his sallow complexion fully indicated illness. He was given indefinite sick leave, but said that he expected to be gone not longer than forty days. He then planned to take a fifteen-day boat to Naples and to take a slow boat back in order to got the benefit of the sea air.
Major Butt’s acquaintance with President Taft went back to the Philippine experience. There the young officer had succeeded in making an efficient force out of 1,500 or more natives.
This was remarkable, but an even more startling feat was the transportation of a shipload of mules from San Francisco to the islands without losing a single animal.
While in the tropics Major Butt wrote a treatise on tropical diseases of animals. Famous for the hospitality dispersed at his bachelor apartments, 2000 G Street, Major Butt was equally well known among his friends for his hobbies. Chief among them was dogs. Pointers he owned in numbers and some of them were the best bred.

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Kids Ask the Best (and Most Humorous) Questions

Wade Sisson head shot

By Wade Sisson

I’ve spoken about the Titanic at a lot of schools since my book, Racing Through the Night, was published in 2011, and I soon learned that kids always ask the best – and most humorous – questions.

For that reason, it’s been my visits to schools that I’ve enjoyed the most. There’s something about the Titanic story that captures the imaginations of young people. You can see it in their eyes as you start talking about it. When you ask them if they know anything about the Titanic, they all raise their hands.

The questions are usually evenly split between Titanic, the ship and Titanic, the James Cameron movie. Were Jack and Rose real? Why didn’t the ship see the iceberg in time to miss it?

They’re always disappointed to learn that Jack and Rose were fictional characters – but they’re fascinated to learn about the real people who are part of the Titanic story. They always seem especially touched by the story of Millvina Dean, the last of the survivors, who died in 2009.

Most of the schools do an amazing job of preparing the kids in advance. By the time I arrive, they’ve already studied the ship, the passengers and have even dipped their hands in 28-degree water.

That doesn’t mean I don’t the occasional oddball question. Like the time one little fourth-grader asked me, “Did you bring up any gold?” I told him I’d actually never been to the wreck site – and I didn’t have any gold. He didn’t believe me and asked me again several times during the discussion. Then as I was leaving the classroom he stopped me. “Dude, seriously, where’s the gold?”

The children also try to tie the Titanic story in with other lessons they’ve had. During one school visit our discussion got hijacked by a few well-meaning third-graders. It started with one question: “Did the Titanic sink in the Bermuda Triangle?” I assured the class that the Titanic was nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle, but once the thing had been mentioned, it took on a life of its own. Another student said “Maybe the Titanic hit the iceberg because they couldn’t see inside the Bermuda Triangle.” I had to confess I was not a Bermuda Triangle expert and that seemed to satisfy them enough to stop their line of questioning.

There’s always at least one child who reminds me of myself at that age – completely drawn into the Titanic story and eager to learn as much as possible. But it’s all of the children – and their genuine interest in the history – that makes these school visits worthwhile.

titanic-author-sisson

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