Selwa Carmen Showker "Lucky" Roosevelt (born January 13, 1929) is an American journalist, patron of the arts, Chairman Emeritus of the Blair House Foundation, and former

Chief of Protocol of the United States In the United States, the chief of protocol is an officer of the United States Department of State responsible for advising the president of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, vice president of the United States, and th ...

under

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, serving longer (1982-1989) than any other person in that position.

Early life

Born Selwa Showker in 1929 - the daughter of Lebanese immigrants - she attended public schools in her home town of Kingsport, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian of her high school class. She went on to

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, where she was awarded an A.B. upon graduating in 1950 with honors. Selwa's professional journalism and writing career began with work for the local Kingsport Times newspaper at age 16, a job she returned to every summer thereafter between high school and college terms.

Career

After graduating from Vassar, Selwa (now known by the affectionate nickname, “Lucky”) worked for

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

magazine until she married Archibald Roosevelt, Jr. (a grandson of president Theodore Roosevelt) in September 1950. Soon after marrying, her husband, who was a senior official of the CIA, was posted to Istanbul, Turkey, where they lived from 1951 to 1953. Roosevelt has worked as a journalist for '' The Washington Evening Star'' and a freelance writer for numerous magazines, among them ''

Family Circle ''Family Circle'' was an American women's magazine that covered topics such as homemaking, recipes and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a grou ...

'', '' McCalls'' and '' Town & Country'', where she was a contributing editor for seven years. She was the longest serving Chief of Protocol serving between 1982 and 1989. In 2012, she received a commendation from President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for her government service and for helping to "save"

Blair House Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used ...

. Her correspondence from Fleur Cowles is at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Works

*''Keeper of the gate'', Simon and Schuster, 1990,

Notes

Living people People from Kingsport, Tennessee Selwa Roosevelt American people of Lebanese descent Converts to Christianity from Druzism Writers from Tennessee Writers from Washington, D.C. 1929 births American Druze people Vassar College alumni Converts to Methodism Methodists from Tennessee Chiefs of protocol of the United States {{Tennessee-stub