1927 – Charles Lindbergh In 1927, Charles Lindbergh was awarded the Hubbard Medal by National Geographic Society. A breakfast for 1,000 was held at the hotel.
1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt Elected president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt, prepares to deliver an inaugural speech intended to reassure U.S. citizens amidst an economic depression. On March 3, 1933, in room 776 on the eve of his inaugural address, President Roosevelt pens one of the most famous lines in U.S. political history, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
1943 – Ballroom In 1943, Harry Colmery, World War I veteran and former commander of the American Legion, pens a draft of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act or GI Bill on hotel letterhead in room 570. Once passed, the bill assists millions of veterans by helping to pay for their education or home purchase once they’ve returned from war.
1945 – Winston Churchill The acoustics in The Mayflower’s Chinese Room played a trick on Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945. While attending a state dinner, Churchill leaned over to his neighbor to tell him an off-color joke. To Churchill’s surprise, his voice was carried up to the dome and magnified to the horror of two distinguished women and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who were all seated in the room.
1947 – Hotel Restoration In 1947, a group of workers came across a locked basement storeroom with valuable gold, silver and cloisonné serving and centerpieces, urns, cases and candelabras worth several thousand dollars each.
1957 – King of Morocco King of Morocco, Mohammed V. hosted a dinner in 1957 for President Eisenhower and Mrs. Eisenhower.
1972 – J. Edgar Hoover The Carvery Restaurant and Coffee Shop’s most famous guest, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover dined here nearly every working day for 20 years until his death in 1972. It is also here that President Harry Truman, another frequent restaurant patron, gives the hotel its tagline, “Washington’s Second Best Address.”
1981 – Reagan Arriving Heads of state meet in a private room at The Mayflower in 1929 to foster continuing relations between North and South America. Ronald Reagan’s former aides and presidential library volunteers gather here in 2004 following his death to prepare and distribute 1,000 funeral invitations.
1983 – National Register of Historic Places After a major renovation, The Mayflower Hotel is placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and later named to the National Trust’s Historic Hotels of America in 1989. The Trust credits The Mayflower Hotel for faithfully maintaining its “historic integrity, architecture and ambiance.”
