Presidents come and go from the White House every four year or eight years. But descendants of John Strother Ficklin, a Virginia man who was born enslaved, were a constant presence among presidents for nearly eight decades. A son, a grandson and other relatives served 13 presidents, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama. Son John Woodson Ficklin worked 44 years as a butler and maitre d' on the residence staff. Grandson John Wrory Ficklin spent 40 years on the National Security Council staff. Wrory Ficklin shares his family's story in his book, “An Unusual Path: Three Generations from Slavery to the White House.”