Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served presidents from Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 90. Allen died of renal failure Wednesday at a hospital in Takoma Park, Md., The Washington Post reported Friday. Allen, who was black, started at the White House in 1952, when racial segregation prohibited him from using public restrooms in his native state of Virginia. When he left the White House in 1986 after 34 years, he had witnessed not only defining moments in the country’s history, but also in America’s civil rights movement. And on Jan. 20, 2009, he watched Barack Obama being sworn in as the nation’s first black president. “I never would have believed it,” Allen told the Post from his seat at the inauguration. “In the 1940s and 1950s, there were so many things in America you just couldn’t do. You wouldn’t even dream that you could dream of a moment like this.” Allen began washing dishes and stocking cabinets at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. before rising to maitre d’ during Reagan’s presidency. He crossed paths with entertainers including Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington and Elvis Presley. He met Martin Luther King Jr., traveled to Romania with President Richard Nixon, and had a seat at the table as a guest at one of Reagan’s state dinners. Although first lady Jacqueline Kennedy invited him to President John F. Kennedy’s funeral, Allen volunteered to stay at the White House to help with the meal after the service. She gave him one of the president’s ties, which Allen framed. Born July 14, 1919, in Scottsville, Va., Allen shared the same birthday as President Gerald Ford and joined in Ford’s birthday parties at the White House. Allen lived in Washington. His wife of 65 years, Helene, died in 2008. He is survived by his son Charles, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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WASHINGTON – In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, President Barack Obama says in an Internet video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future. In the video, the second of his presidency directed at Iran, Obama said that the United States’ offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands but that the Iranian government has chosen isolation. He said the U.S. believes in the dignity of every human being. The White House released the video late Friday, timing it, as it did last year, to coincide with Nowruz, a 12-day holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. The video comes as the United States has hit a rough patch in its relationships in the region, particularly with Israel. “The United States believes in the dignity of every human being and an international order that bends the arc of history in the direction of justice — a future where Iranians can exercise their rights, to participate fully in the global economy and enrich the world through educational and cultural exchanges beyond Iran’s borders,” Obama said in the video, which had Farsi subtitles. Obama has signaled a willingness to speak directly with Iran about its nuclear program and hostility toward Israel, a key U.S. ally. At his inauguration last year, the president said his administration would reach out to rival states, declaring “we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” It’s been a rough road for Obama, and there have been few signs Tehran is loosening its grip after bloody elections marred with allegations of fraud. And efforts to impose new sanctions have been slow to find unified support from U.S. allies. “Our offer of comprehensive diplomatic contacts and dialogue stands,” Obama said in the video. “Indeed, over the course of the last year, it is the Iranian government that has chosen to isolate itself and to choose a self-defeating focus on the past over a commitment to build a better future.” The United States has not had formal diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has criticized Obama as merely a continuation of President George W. Bush’s policies toward Israel. Khamenei has called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that is on the verge of collapse and has called for its destruction. Last year, Obama’s message to the Iranians warned that better relations “will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said then that Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. — but only if there was mutual respect.

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The Obama-Pelosi-Reid regime marched into office pledging to provide the most transparent federal government in American history. I was looking forward to that. On Inauguration Day, President Obama told his senior staff : The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they’re being made, and whether their interests are being well served. Mr

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