"For White House Service" A History of the Presidential Service Badge

Fred L. Borch

Introduction

Collectors of U.S. military decorations, medals, and insignia occasionally see a blue enameled circular badge with a yellow-metal American eagle in its center. This is the Presidential Service Badge--an official military badge awarded to those men and women in uniform who serve in White House-related assignments. Like its sister badge, the white-enameled Vice Presidential Service Badge, the blue Presidential Service Badge is quite rare-- particularly when compared to other military badges like the Army Staff Identification Badge, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Identification Badge, and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Identification Badge. This is because it is a controlled award; the badge is not for sale through the military or otherwise generally obtainable. On the contrary, each badge is serially numbered and issued individually. Given its rarity, and because the Presidential Service Badge will soon have its 50t~ anniversary, now is the time to tell its story. This history begins by looking at the circumstances surrounding the early badges’ creation, award criteria, design changes and proposals, and manufacturing specifications. It concludes by identifying selected recipients of the Presidential Service Badge.

Origins and Development

On May 15, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was asked to consider creating a "special emblem" to recognize officers and enlisted men serving in the Office of the President. Eisenhower approved a study on the matter and, on December 3 l, 1958, his military aide sent a draft Executive Order (EO) creating the award to the Secretary of the Army. Accompanying the draft EO was a proposed design for the special emblem. As the Army Quartermaster General’s Heraldic Section (the forerunner of today’s Institute of Heraldry) was responsible for designing and overseeing the manufacture of all Army, Navy and Air Force decorations, medals, and insignia, it made sense for the design for a new emblem to go to it for consideration.

Some advocated that the President adopt a ribbon as the distinctive mark of Presidential Service. However, as ribbons are associated with medals and decorations, and

the intent was to recognize the special services of those serving the President, the Heraldic Section instead recommended the creation of an identification badge.

The President’s staff and the Secretary of the Army agreed v~ith this recommendation and, in late 1959 and early 1960, the Heraldic Section designed a badge and an accompanying certificate. On June 1, 1960, President Eisenhower officially established the White House Service Badge in EO 10879. That order, titled "Establishing the White House Service Certificate and the White House Service Badge" provided that a certificate and badge could be awarded "as public evidence of deserved honor and distinction" to:

1- any soldier, sailor, airman, or marine, except

the Presidential aides; 2- detailed for duty to the White House; 3- for at least one year after January 20, 1953.

The EO further stated that the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force would award the certificate and badge "upon recommendation of the Presidential Military, Naval, or Air Force Aide." Interestingly, the EO infers that the service certificate is the more important award; it takes precedence over the badge in the title of the order and in the text. Note also that the new certificate and badge were for service after January 20, 1953. As Eisenhower was inaugurated on that date, and as his status as Commander in Chief was the key legal authority for creating the new certificate and badge, it made sense for awards to be for White House service occurring after that date.

On a ~disk of white enamel the device In silver from the Presidential seal without the encircling stars the whole surrounded by 2q gold rays radiating from center 2~’" in diameter overall.

Figure 1: The first White House Service Badge.

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A drawing of the original White House Service Badge is at Figure 1. It is described as "a disk of white enamel.. ¯ 2 1/4 inches in diameter." A "silver Presidential seal without the encircling stars" is centered on the badge, which is "surrounded by 27 gold rays radiating from the center."

No sooner was the new Service Badge in existence than President Kennedy directed that a new badge be created. It was to be called the White House Identification Badge. The reasoning behind this decision is not entirely clear but, as Presidential aides were not eligible for the Service Badge under E~senhower’s executive order, Kennedy’s new Identification Badge may have been an attempt to create a new badge for them. Additionally, Jaqueline Kennedy was not happy with the white background of the existing Service Badge. She correctly pointed out that as the presidential color was blue (as demonstrated by the blue Presidential seal emblazoned on White House stationery, china, linen, etc.) the badge should also be blue. By October 1963, a new blue Identification Badge had been designed and approved, but Kennedy’s assassination the next month halted work on the project. While it is possible that Kennedy contemplated having both a white Service Badge and a blue Identification Badge, it seems unlikely that there would have been two badges for service in the White House. In any event, President Johnson decided in March 1964 that the newly designed blue badge would be called the Presidential Service Badge, and that it would replace the old White House Service Badge. In sum, there would be one badge for uniformed personnel assigned to the White House.

On September 1, 1964, Johnson signed EO 11174. Titled "Establishing the Presidential Service Certificate and the Presidential Service Badge," the new EO amended President Eisenhower’s earlier order by:

1- renaming the certificate and badge 2- making all soldiers, sailors, airmen and

marines eligible for them, provided 3- they were assigned to the White House for a

period of at least one year after January 20, 1961.

As President Johnson traced his authority as Commander in Chief to President Kennedy’s oath of office on January 20, 1961, it made sense for Johnson to link the new Presidential Service badge to this date. A photograph of the new blue Presidential Service Badge is at Figure 2.

Since 1964, there have been two modifications to the basic award criteria of the Presidential Service Badge.

Figure 2: The new blue Presidential Service Badge.

In April 1967, President Johnson’s extended eligibility for the badge to the Coast Guard when he signed EO 11407; Coast Guard personnel on duty in the White House were now eligible for the certificate and badge. Finally, in March 1992, President Bush signed Executive Order 12793. Bush’s order, titled "Continuing the Presidential Service Certificate and the Presidential Service Badge" expanded the pool of eligible recipients and set the parameters for today’s award criteria.

Current Award Criteria

Prior to 1992, EO 11174 restricted awards of the Service Badge to military members "assigned to the White House." Bush’s 1992 EO, however, expanded eligibility significantly. As a result, any individual assigned to:

1- the White House Office, 2- military units and support facilities "under

the administration" of the White House Military Office,

3- "other direct support positions" within the

Executive Office of the President, 4- after January 21, 1989, 5- for at least one year

is eligible for the Presidential Service Badge. As with the earlier EOs, the certificate’s award is key to receiving the badge; the badge is only awarded to those military members "who have been granted the certificate." Moreover, no individual may receive the Presidential Service Badge if he has already received the Vice Presidential Service Badge--or similar Executive Office of the President certificate--for the same period of service.

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While the White Presidential Service Badge were orig- inally intended to be a distinctive mark of office for a select number of military personnel in the White House, the badge today is awarded to hund- reds of uniformed men and women. The Presidential military aides receive the badge,

but sg~ do military_ doctors, nurses, and corpsmen in the White House Med- ical Unit. Cooks and others preparing food in the Navy White House Mess do, too. Officers and enlisted

House Service Badge and the

Figure 3: Obverse of the original White House Service Badge.

personnel in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center also receive the service badge. Finally, Marine helicopter pilots and crew chiefs assigned to fly the President receive the award, as do chaplains assigned to the White House and the Presidential Retreat at Camp David, Maryland.

Designs, Certificates, Boxes and Specifications

As the background history of the Presidential Service Badge reveals, there have been two different badges for military personnel in White House related assignments. Little is known about the design of the White House Service Badge and, as the badge was only in existence from 1960 to 1964, it is quite rare. A photograph of the obverse of the original White House

Service Badge is at Figure 3. The container for this badge

changed from white to blue,

is shown at Figure 4 (open) and 5 (closed). It measures 4 1/2 inches (length) x 3 1/4 inches (width) x 1 inch (depth). The logo on the lid of the light blue box is white; inside lid covering is light blue rayon or nylon with a dark blue BALFOUR in script; the badge is affixed to a dark blue, felt-covered piece of

cardboard. After John F. Kennedy directed that the badge’s color be

a number of designs were suggested. The blue back- ground of the prototype shown at Figure 6 also has the 50 encircling stars and 27 "rays" present on today’s badge, but its eagle is silver instead of gold. Figures 7and 8 show two other proposed designs. They differ from each other--and the final approved design--only in their borders. Figure 7 has a smooth border; Figure 8 has a rope border. The approved design utilizes a serrated border of 27 "rays." While these 27 rays have no special heraldic meaning, the encircling 50 stars represent the 50 states.

Figure 4: The box (open) for the original White House Service Badge.

The final approved design rejected the silver eagle for a gold colored device, mostly

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