Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President
Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed
West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President
William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first
Oval Office, which was eventually moved as the section was expanded. In the main mansion, the third-floor
attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing
hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed
East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under
Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing
steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.
The modern-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, West Wing, East Wing, the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building—the former State Department, which now houses offices for the President's staff and the Vice President—and
Blair House, a guest residence. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, as well as a two-story
basement. The property is a
National Heritage Site owned by the
National Park Service and is part of the
President's Park. In 2007, it was ranked second
[4] on the
American Institute of Architects list of "
America's Favorite Architecture".
Early history
1789–1800
Following his April 1789 inauguration,
President George Washington occupied two executive mansions in New York City: the
Samuel Osgood House at 3 Cherry Street (April 1789 – February 1790), and the
Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway (February–August 1790). In May 1790, New York began construction of
Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790.
The July 1790
Residence Act named
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the
Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented
Robert Morris's
city house at 190 High Street (now 524–30 Market Street) for Washington's presidential residence. The first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of a futile effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away, but Washington declined to occupy it.
President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800. On Saturday,
[5] November 1, 1800,
[6] he became the first president to occupy the White House. The
President's House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, while the unused presidential mansion became home to the
University of Pennsylvania.
First Presidential Mansion: Samuel Osgood House, Manhattan, New York. Occupied by Washington: April 1789 – February 1790.
Second Presidential Mansion: Alexander Macomb House, Manhattan, New York. Occupied by Washington: February–August 1790.
Third Presidential Mansion: President's House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Occupied by Washington: November 1790 – March 1797. Occupied by Adams: March 1797 – May 1800.
Government House, Manhattan, New York (1790–1791). Built to be the permanent presidential mansion, Congress moved the national capital to Philadelphia before its completion.
House intended for the President, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1790s). Built to be the permanent presidential mansion, neither Washington nor Adams would occupy it.
Architectural competition
A 1793
elevation by
James Hoban. His 3-story, 9-bay original submission was altered into this 2-story, 11-bay design.
On July 16, 1792, the President met with the commissioners of the federal city to make his judgment in the architectural competition. His review is recorded as being brief, and he quickly selected Hoban's submission.
[11]
Washington was not entirely pleased with the original submission, however; he found it too small, lacking ornament, and not monumental enough to house the nation's president. On his recommendation, the house was changed from three stories to two, and was widened from a nine-bay facade to an 11-bay facade. Hoban's competition drawings do not survive.
[citation needed]
Design influences
The building has classical inspiration sources, that could be found directly or indirectly in the Roman architect
Vitruvius or in
Andrea Palladio styles; Palladio being an Italian architect of the
Renaissance which had a considerable influence on the Western architecture (
Palladian architecture). The building Hoban designed is verifiably influenced by the upper floors of
Leinster House, in
Dublin, which later became the seat of the
Oireachtas (the Irish parliament).
[12] Several other Georgian-era Irish country houses have been suggested as sources of inspiration for the overall floor plan, details like the bow-fronted south front, and interior details like the former niches in the present
Blue Room. These influences, though undocumented, are cited in the official White House guide, and in
White House Historical Association publications. The first official White House guide, published in 1962, suggested a link between Hoban's design for the South Portico and
Château de Rastignac, a neoclassical country house located in
La Bachellerie in the
Dordogne region of France and designed by
Mathurin Salat. Construction on the French house was initially started before 1789, interrupted by the
French Revolution for twenty years and then finally built 1812–1817 (based on Salat's pre-1789 design).
[13] The theoretical link between the two houses has been criticized because Hoban did not visit France. Supporters of a connection posit that
Thomas Jefferson, during his tour of
Bordeaux in 1789, viewed Salat's architectural drawings (which were on-file at the College) at the
École Spéciale d'Architecture (Bordeaux Architectural College).
[14] On his return to the U.S. he then shared the influence with Washington, Hoban, Monroe, and
Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
[13]
Construction
Construction of the White House began with the laying of the cornerstone on October 13, 1792, although there was no formal ceremony.
[15] The main residence, as well as foundations of the house, were built largely by
enslaved and free
African-American laborers, as well as employed Europeans.
[16] Much of the other work on the house was performed by immigrants, many not yet with citizenship. The sandstone walls were erected by
Scottish immigrants, employed by Hoban,
[17] as were the high-relief rose and garland decorations above the north entrance and the "fish scale" pattern beneath the pediments of the window hoods. The initial construction took place over a period of eight years, at a reported cost of $232,371.83 (equal to $3,279,177 today). Although not yet completed, the White House was ready for occupancy circa November 1, 1800.
[18]
Shortages, including material and labor, forced alterations to the earlier plan developed by French engineer
Pierre Charles L'Enfant for a "palace" that was five times larger than the house that was eventually built.
[17] The finished structure contained only two main floors instead of the planned three, and a less costly brick served as a lining for the stone façades. When construction was finished, the porous sandstone walls were
whitewashed with a mixture of lime, rice glue, casein, and lead, giving the house its familiar color and name.
[17]
Architectural description
The north front is the principal façade of the White House and consists of three floors and eleven bays. The ground floor is hidden by a raised carriage ramp and
parapet, thus the façade appears to be of two floors. The central three bays are behind a
prostyle portico (this was a later addition to the house, built circa 1830) serving, thanks to the carriage ramp, as a
porte cochere. The windows of the four bays flanking the portico, at first-floor level, have alternating pointed and segmented
pediments, while at second-floor level the pediments are flat. The principal entrance at the center of the portico is surmounted by a
lunette fanlight. Above the entrance is a sculpted floral
festoon. The roofline is hidden by a balustraded
parapet.
The mansion's southern façade is a combination of the
Palladian and neoclassical styles of architecture. It is of three floors, all visible. The ground floor is
rusticated in the Palladian fashion. At the center of the façade is a neoclassical projecting bow of three bays. The bow is flanked by five bays, the windows of which, as on the north façade, have alternating segmented and pointed pediments at first-floor level. The bow has a ground floor
double staircase leading to an
Ionic colonnaded loggia (with the
Truman Balcony at second-floor level), known as the south portico. The more modern third floor is hidden by a balustraded parapet and plays no part in the composition of the façade.
Naming conventions
The building was originally variously referred to as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion", or "President's House".
[19] The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811.
[20] A myth emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure after the
Burning of Washington, white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered,
[21] giving the building its namesake hue.
[22] The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President
Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having "White House–Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901.
[23][24] The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
[24]
Although the structure was not completed until some years after the presidency of George Washington, there is speculation that the name of the traditional residence of the President of the United States may have derived from
Martha Washington's home,
White House Plantation in Virginia, where the nation's first President had courted the First Lady in the mid-18th century.
[25]
Evolution of the White House
Early use, the 1814 fire, and rebuilding
On Saturday, November 1, 1800,
John Adams became the first president to take residence in the building.
[17] During Adams' second day in the house, he wrote a letter to his wife Abigail, containing a prayer for the house. Adams wrote:
I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.
[26]
Franklin D. Roosevelt had Adams's blessing carved into the mantel in the State Dining Room.
[26]
Adams lived in the house only briefly before
Thomas Jefferson moved into the "pleasant country residence"
[27] in 1801. Despite his complaints that the house was too big ("big enough for two emperors, one pope, and the grand lama in the bargain"
[28]), Jefferson considered how the White House might be added to. With
Benjamin Henry Latrobe, he helped lay out the design for the East and West Colonnades, small wings that help conceal the domestic operations of laundry, a stable and storage.
[17] Today, Jefferson's colonnades link the residence with the East and West Wings.
[17]
In 1814, during the
War of 1812, the White House was set ablaze by British troops
[29] during the
Burning of Washington, in retaliation for burning
Upper Canada's
Parliament Buildings in the
Battle of York; much of Washington was affected by these fires as well. Only the exterior walls remained, and they had to be torn down and mostly reconstructed because of weakening from the fire and subsequent exposure to the elements, except for portions of the south wall. Of the numerous objects taken from the White House when it was ransacked by British troops, only two have been recovered. Employees and slaves rescued a painting of George Washington,
[29] and in 1939, a Canadian man returned a jewelry box to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, claiming that his grandfather had taken it from Washington. Some observers allege that most of these spoils were lost when a convoy of British ships led by
HMS Fantome sank en route to
Halifax off
Prospect during a storm on the night of November 24, 1814,
[30][31] even though
Fantome had no involvement in that action.
[32]
After the fire, President
James Madison resided in
The Octagon House from 1814 to 1815, and then the
Seven Buildings from 1815 to the end of his term.
[33] Meanwhile, both architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Hoban contributed to the design and oversight of the reconstruction, which lasted from 1815 until 1817. The south
portico was constructed in 1824 during the
James Monroe administration; the north portico was built six years later.
[17] Though Latrobe proposed similar porticos before the fire in 1814, both porticos were built as designed by Hoban.
[34] An elliptical portico at
Château de Rastignac in La Bachellerie, France with nearly identical curved stairs is speculated as the source of inspiration due to its similarity with the South Portico,
[35] although this matter is one of great debate.
[36] Italian artisans, brought to Washington to help in constructing the
U.S. Capitol, carved the decorative stonework on both porticos. Contrary to speculation, the North Portico was not modeled on a similar portico on another Dublin building, the
Viceregal Lodge (now
Áras an Uachtaráin, residence of the
President of Ireland), for its portico postdates the White House porticos' design.
[35] For the North Portico, a variation on the
Ionic Order was devised incorporating a swag of roses between the volutes. This was done to link the new portico with the earlier carved roses above the entrance.
The White House as it looked following the conflagration of August 24, 1814
-
-
-
Overcrowding and building the West Wing
Entrance Hall in 1882, showing the new Tiffany glass screen
By the time of the
American Civil War, the White House had become overcrowded. The location of the White House was questioned, just north of a canal and swampy lands, which provided conditions ripe for
malaria and other unhealthy conditions.
[37] Brigadier General Nathaniel Michler was tasked to propose solutions to address these concerns. He proposed abandoning the use of the White House as a residence and designed a new estate for the first family at
Meridian Hill in Washington, D.C., but Congress rejected the plan.
[37]
Proposed additions to the White House, drawn by architect Frederick D. Owen (1901).
When
Chester Arthur took office in 1881, he ordered renovations to the White House to take place as soon as the recently widowed
Lucretia Garfield moved out. Arthur inspected the work almost nightly and made several suggestions.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was asked to send selected designers to assist. Over twenty wagonloads of furniture and household items were removed from the building and sold at a
public auction.
[38] All that was saved were bust portraits of
John Adams and
Martin Van Buren.
[39] A proposal was made to build a new residence south of the White House, but it failed to gain support.
In the fall of 1882 work was done on the main corridor, including tinting the walls pale olive and adding squares of
gold leaf, and decorating the ceiling in gold and silver, and colorful
traceries woven to spell "USA". The Red Room was painted a dull Pomeranian red, and its ceiling was decorated with gold, silver, and copper stars and stripes of red, white, and blue. A fifty-foot jeweled
Tiffany glass screen, supported by imitation marble columns, replaced the glass doors that separated the main corridor from the north vestibule.
[40][41]
In 1891, First Lady
Caroline Harrison proposed major extensions to the White House, including a National Wing on the east for a historical art gallery, and a wing on the west for official functions.
[37] A plan was devised by Colonel Theodore A. Bingham, which reflected the Harrison proposal.
[37] These plans were ultimately rejected.
However, in 1902
Theodore Roosevelt hired
McKim, Mead & White to carry out expansions and renovations in a neoclassical style suited to the building's architecture, removing the Tiffany screen and all Victorian additions.
[42][43] Charles McKim himself designed and managed the project, which gave more living space to the President's large family by removing a staircase in the West Hall and moving executive office staff from the second floor of the residence into the new West Wing.
[17]
President
William Howard Taft enlisted the help of architect
Nathan C. Wyeth to add additional space to the West Wing, which included the addition of the
Oval Office.
[37] In 1925, Congress enacted legislation allowing the White House to accept gifts of furniture and art for the first time. The West Wing was damaged by fire in 1929, but rebuilt during the remaining years of the
Herbert Hoover presidency. In the 1930s, a second story was added, as well as a larger basement for White House staff, and President Franklin Roosevelt had the Oval Office moved to its present location: adjacent to the
Rose Garden.
[17]
Truman reconstruction
Truman reconstruction, 1949–1952, a steel structure is built within the exterior shell
Decades of poor maintenance, the construction of a fourth story attic during the Coolidge administration, and the addition of a second-floor balcony over the south portico for
Harry S. Truman[45] took a great toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame.
[17] By 1948, the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse, forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at
Blair House from 1949 to 1951.
[46] The work, done by the firm of
Philadelphia contractor
John McShain, required the complete dismantling of the interior spaces, construction of a new load-bearing internal steel frame and the reconstruction of the original rooms within the new structure.
[45] The total cost of the renovations was about $5.7 million (US$ 53 million in 2017).
[47] Some modifications to the floor plan were made, the largest being the repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall, rather than the Cross Hall.
[45] Central air conditioning was added, as well as two additional sub-basements providing space for workrooms, storage, and a bomb shelter.
[17] The Trumans moved back into the White House on March 27, 1952.
[17] While the house's structure was kept intact by the Truman reconstruction, much of the new interior finishes were generic, and of little historic value. Much of the original plasterwork, some dating back to the 1814–1816 rebuilding, was too damaged to reinstall, as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room. President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling; the walls of the
Vermeil Room,
Library,
China Room, and
Map Room on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers.
[48]
Jacqueline Kennedy restoration
Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President
John F. Kennedy (1961–63), directed a very extensive and historic redecoration of the house. She enlisted the help of
Henry Francis du Pont of the
Winterthur Museum to assist in collecting artifacts for the mansion, many of which had once been housed there.
[49] Other antiques, fine paintings, and improvements of the Kennedy period were donated to the White House by wealthy philanthropists, including the
Crowninshield family,
Jane Engelhard,
Jayne Wrightsman, and the Oppenheimer family.
Stéphane Boudin of the
House of Jansen, a Paris interior-design firm that had been recognized worldwide, was employed by Mrs. Kennedy to assist with the decoration.
[49] Different periods of the early republic and world history were selected as a theme for each room: the Federal style for the
Green Room, French Empire for the
Blue Room, American Empire for the
Red Room, Louis XVI for the
Yellow Oval Room, and Victorian for the president's study, renamed the
Treaty Room. Antique furniture was acquired, and decorative fabric and trim based on period documents was produced and installed. The Kennedy restoration resulted in a more authentic White House of grander stature, which recalled the French taste of Madison and Monroe.
[49] In the
Diplomatic Reception Room, Mrs. Kennedy installed an antique "Vue de l'Amérique Nord" wall paper which
Zuber & Cie had designed in 1834. The wallpaper had hung previously on the walls of another mansion until 1961 when that house was demolished for a grocery store. Just before the demolition, the wallpaper was salvaged and sold to the White House.
The first White House guidebook was produced under the direction of curator Lorraine Waxman Pearce with direct supervision from Mrs. Kennedy.
[50] Sale of the guidebook helped finance the restoration.
The White House since the Kennedy restoration
President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson strolling along the Ellipse, outside the South Portico
Congress enacted legislation in September 1961 declaring the White House a museum. Furniture, fixtures, and decorative arts could now be declared either historic or of artistic interest by the President. This prevented them from being sold (as many objects in the executive mansion had been in the past 150 years). When not in use or display at the White House, these items were to be turned over to the
Smithsonian Institution for preservation, study, storage, or exhibition. The White House retains the right to have these items returned.
Out of respect for the historic character of the White House, no substantive architectural changes have been made to the house since the Truman renovation.
[53] Since the Kennedy restoration, every presidential family has made some changes to the private quarters of the White House, but the
Committee for the Preservation of the White House must approve any modifications to the State Rooms. Charged with maintaining the historical integrity of the White House, the congressionally authorized committee works with each First Family—usually represented by the First Lady, the
White House Curator, and the
Chief Usher—to implement the family's proposals for altering the house.
[54]
During the Nixon administration (1969–74), First Lady
Pat Nixon refurbished the Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room, working with Clement Conger, the curator appointed by President
Richard Nixon.
[55] Mrs. Nixon's efforts brought more than 600 artifacts to the house, the largest acquisition by any administration.
[56] Her husband created the modern press briefing room over
Franklin Roosevelt's old swimming pool.
[57] Nixon also added a single-lane bowling alley to the White House basement.
[58]
Computers and the first laser printer were added during the Carter administration, and the use of computer technology was expanded during the Reagan administration.
[59] A Carter-era innovation, a set of
solar water heating panels that were mounted on the roof of the White House, was removed during Reagan's presidency.
[60][61] Redecorations were made to the private family quarters and maintenance was made to public areas during the Reagan years.
[62] The house was accredited as a museum in 1988.
[62]
In the 1990s,
Bill and
Hillary Clinton refurbished some rooms with the assistance of
Arkansas decorator Kaki Hockersmith, including the Oval Office, the East Room, Blue Room,
State Dining Room, Lincoln Bedroom, and Lincoln Sitting Room.
[63] During the administration of
George W. Bush, First Lady
Laura Bush refurbished the Lincoln Bedroom in a style contemporary with the Lincoln era; the Green Room,
Cabinet Room, and theater were also refurbished.
[63]
The White House became one of the first wheelchair-accessible government buildings in Washington when modifications were made during the presidency of
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used a wheelchair because of
his paralytic illness. In the 1990s,
Hillary Clinton, at the suggestion of Visitors Office Director Melinda N. Bates, approved the addition of a ramp in the East Wing corridor. It allowed easy
wheelchair access for the public tours and special events that enter through the secure entrance building on the east side.
In 2003, the Bush administration reinstalled solar thermal heaters.
[61] These units are used to heat water for landscape maintenance personnel and for the presidential pool and spa. 167 solar photovoltaic grid tied panels were installed at the same time on the roof of the maintenance facility. The changes were not publicized as a White House spokeswoman said the changes were an internal matter. The story was picked up by industry trade journals.
[64]
In 2013, President Barack Obama installed a set of
solar panels on the roof of the White House.
[65][66]
The president usually travels to and from the White House grounds via official
motorcade or helicopter. The journey by helicopter was inaugurated in the 1950s, when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower began traveling on
Marine One to and from his official residence.
[67]
Layout and amenities
Today the group of buildings housing the presidency is known as the White House Complex. It includes the central
Executive Residence flanked by the
East Wing and
West Wing. The
Chief Usher coordinates day to day household operations. The White House includes: six stories and 55,000 ft
2 (5,100 m
2) of floor space, 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, twenty-eight fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators, five full-time chefs, a tennis court, a (single-lane) bowling alley (officially called the Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley), a movie theater (officially called the
White House Family Theater[68]), a jogging track, a swimming pool, and a putting green.
[24] It receives up to 30,000 visitors each week.
[69]
Executive Residence
The original residence is in the center. Two
colonnades—one on the east and one on the west—designed by Jefferson, now serve to connect the East and West Wings, added later. The
Executive Residence houses the president's dwelling, as well as rooms for ceremonies and official entertaining. The State Floor of the residence building includes the
East Room,
Green Room,
Blue Room,
Red Room,
State Dining Room,
Family Dining Room,
Cross Hall,
Entrance Hall, and
Grand Staircase.
[70] The Ground Floor is made up of the
Diplomatic Reception Room,
Map Room,
China Room,
Vermeil Room,
Library, the main kitchen, and other offices.
[71] The second floor family residence includes the
Yellow Oval Room,
East and
West Sitting Halls, the White House Master Bedroom,
President's Dining Room, the
Treaty Room,
Lincoln Bedroom and
Queens' Bedroom, as well as two additional bedrooms, a smaller kitchen, and a private dressing room.
[72] The third floor consists of the White House Solarium, Game Room, Linen Room, a Diet Kitchen, and another sitting room (previously used as President George W. Bush's workout room).
[73]
West Wing
The West Wing houses the President's office (the
Oval Office) and offices of his senior staff, with room for about 50 employees. It also includes the
Cabinet Room, where the president conducts business meetings and where the
Cabinet meets,
[74] as well as the
White House Situation Room,
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, and
Roosevelt Room.
[75] In 2007, work was completed on renovations of the press briefing room, adding
fiber optic cables and
LCD screens for the display of charts and graphs.
[76] The makeover took 11 months and cost $8 million, of which news outlets paid $2 million.
[76] In September 2010,
a two-year project began on the West Wing, creating a multistory underground structure;
[77] this will be followed with additional renovation of the wing.
[78]
The Oval Office, Roosevelt Room, and other portions of the West Wing were partially replicated on a
sound stage and used as the
setting for the popular television show
The West Wing.
[79]
East Wing
The East Wing, which contains additional office space, was added to the White House in 1942. Among its uses, the East Wing has intermittently housed the offices and staff of the
First Lady, and the White House Social Office.
Rosalynn Carter, in 1977, was the first to place her personal office in the East Wing and to formally call it the "Office of the First Lady". The East Wing was built during
World War II in order to hide the construction of an underground bunker to be used in emergencies. The bunker has come to be known as the
Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
Grounds
The White House and grounds cover just over 18 acres (about 7.3 hectares). Before the construction of the North Portico, most public events were entered from the
South Lawn, which was graded and planted by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson also drafted a planting plan for the
North Lawn that included large trees that would have mostly obscured the house from Pennsylvania Avenue. During the mid-to-late 19th century a series of ever larger
greenhouses were built on the west side of the house, where the current West Wing is located. During this period, the North Lawn was planted with ornate carpet-style flowerbeds. The general layout of the White House grounds today is based on the 1935 design by
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. of the
Olmsted Brothers firm, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the Kennedy administration, the
White House Rose Garden was redesigned by
Rachel Lambert Mellon. The Rose Garden borders the West Colonnade. Bordering the East Colonnade is the
Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which was begun by
Jacqueline Kennedy but completed after her husband's assassination. On the weekend of June 23, 2006, a century-old
American Elm (Ulmus americana L.) tree on the north side of the building, came down during one of the many storms amid
intense flooding. Among the oldest trees on the grounds are several magnolias (
Magnolia grandiflora) planted by Andrew Jackson. Michelle Obama planted the White House's first organic garden and installed beehives on the South Lawn of the White House, which will supply organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings.
[80]
-
-
-
The White House and surrounding grounds
The White House with fountain and grounds
White House from the north
Public access and security
Historical accessibility
Like the English and Irish country houses it was modeled on, the White House was, from the start, open to the public until the early part of the 20th century. President
Thomas Jefferson held an open house for his second inaugural in 1805, and many of the people at his swearing-in ceremony at the
Capitol followed him home, where he greeted them in the
Blue Room. Those open houses sometimes became rowdy: in 1829, President
Andrew Jackson had to leave for a hotel when roughly 20,000 citizens celebrated his inauguration inside the White House. His aides ultimately had to lure the mob outside with washtubs filled with a potent cocktail of orange juice and whiskey. Even so, the practice continued until 1885, when newly elected
Grover Cleveland arranged for a presidential review of the troops from a grandstand in front of the White House instead of the traditional open house. Jefferson also permitted public tours of his house, which have continued ever since, except during wartime, and began the tradition of annual receptions on New Year's Day and on the Fourth of July. Those receptions ended in the early 1930s, although President
Bill Clinton would briefly revive the New Year's Day open house in his first term.
The White House remained accessible in other ways; President
Abraham Lincoln complained that he was constantly beleaguered by job seekers waiting to ask him for political appointments or other favors, or eccentric dispensers of advice like "General"
Daniel Pratt, as he began the business day. Lincoln put up with the annoyance rather than risk alienating some associate or friend of a powerful politician or opinion maker.
[citation needed]
Aviation incidents
| This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2015) |
In February 1974, a stolen army helicopter landed without authorization on the White House's grounds.
[81] Twenty years later, in 1994, a light plane crashed on the White House grounds, and the pilot died instantly.
[82]
As a result of increased security regarding air traffic in the capital, the White House was evacuated in May 2005 before an unauthorized aircraft could approach the grounds.
[83]
Closure of Pennsylvania Avenue
On May 20, 1995, primarily as a response to the
Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, the
United States Secret Service closed off Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic in front of the White House from the eastern edge of Lafayette Park to 17th Street. Later, the closure was extended an additional block to the east to 15th Street, and East Executive Avenue, a small street between the White House and the
Treasury Building.
The Pennsylvania Avenue closing has been opposed by organized civic groups in Washington, D.C. They argue that the closing impedes traffic flow unnecessarily and is inconsistent with the well-conceived historic plan for the city. As for security considerations, they note that the White House is set much farther back from the street than numerous other sensitive federal buildings are.
[85]
Prior to its inclusion within the fenced compound that now includes the
Old Executive Office Building to the west and the Treasury Building to the east, this sidewalk served as a queuing area for the daily public tours of the White House. These tours were suspended in the wake of the
September 11 attacks. In September 2003, they resumed on a limited basis for groups making prior arrangements through their Congressional representatives or embassies in Washington for foreign nationals and submitting to background checks, but the White House remained closed to the public.
[86] White House tours were suspended for most of 2013 due to budget constraints after
sequestration.
[87] The White House reopened to the public in November 2013.
[88]
Protection
NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) were used to guard air space over Washington, D.C. during the 2005 presidential inauguration. The same NASAMS units have since been used to protect the president and all air space around the White House, which is strictly prohibited to aircraft.
[89][90]
For security reasons, the section of Pennsylvania Avenue on the north side of the White House is closed to all vehicular traffic, except government officials.
-
North front of the White House on the reverse (back) of the
U.S. $20 bill.
See also