Archibald Butt was born on September 26, 1865, in Augusta, Georgia. After graduating from the University of the South Butt worked as a national affairs correspondent in Washington, D.C., where he became a well-known and popular figure. In 1900 Butt was commissioned as a captain in the United States Volunteers military branch. He served as a quartermaster and then as military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt and President William H. Taft. His loyalty to both presidents was tested in 1912 when Roosevelt and Taft ran against each other. His close friend, Francis Davis Millet, who lived with him in his D.C. apartment, convinced Taft to give Butt a vacation in Europe. On the return trip aboard the Titanic, Butt and Millet were two of the many people who lost their lives when the ship sank on April 15, 1912. 

Butt was a confirmed bachelor all his life, and in addition to living with Millet in D.C., he shared a home with many other single men. He was intensely fond of his manner of dress and his mother, and based in part on this hushed rumors spread that he was homosexual. For more on Butt, visit “Archibald Butt: Presidential Aide and Titanic Victim, 1865-1912,” by James Gifford, and “Queering the Titanic, 1912