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A May 1952 photograph of President Truman and his Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion appointed in 1949 to oversee the proposed work on the White House. Left to right: Major General Glen E. Edgerton, Representative McGregor, Senator Kenneth McKellar, Richard E. Dougherty, the president, Mr. Douglas W. Orr, Representative Louis C. Rabaut, Senator Edward Martin.
National Park Service
The East Room during the final stages of the careful removal of decorative and other parts intended for reuse in 1950.
National Park Service
This photograph, taken March 7, 1950, shows the cracked wooden support beam that had been underneath Margaret Truman's sitting room on the second floor. Her piano broke through the floor in 1948, after which steel supports were added to reinforce the weakened beam.
White House Collection
Cracks discovered in the north brick wall of the West Sitting Hall revealed during the engineering inspection in 1948.
Abbie Rowe, National Park Service
Demolition work in 1950 exposed architect James Hoban’s original plaster cornice beneath the cornice from the 1902 Theodore Roosevelt renovation by McKim, Mead and White.
National Park ServiceAbout this Gallery
"The damned place is haunted, sure as shootin. . . . You and Margie had better come back and protect me before some of these ghosts carry me off." Harry Truman, in a letter to his wife Bess, September 9, 1946
Shortly after moving into the White House, President Truman noticed the telltale signs of a building under serious physical stress. He frequently complained of drafts and unusual popping and creaking noises and joked of ghosts that inhabited the old house. "The floors pop and the drapes move back and forth. I can just imagine old Andy [Jackson] and Teddy [Roosevelt] having an argument over Franklin [Roosevelt]," he wrote to Bess back home in Missouri in June 1945.
Early in 1948, in response to the President Truman's concerns, engineers confirmed that the White House was structurally weak and in danger of collapse. Burned to the exterior walls in 1814, further compromised by the successive additions of indoor plumbing, gas lighting, electric wiring, heating ducts, and major modifications in 1902 and 1927, some said the White House was standing only from the force of habit. The decision was made to move the Trumans across the street into the Blair House for more than three years while the White House underwent a complete reconstruction within its original exterior walls. In December 1949, crews began dismantling the interior.
From First Lady Dolley Madison's sister Lucy Payne Washington's wedding in 1812 to the nuptials of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden on the South Lawn in November 2022, the White House has long been the site of wedding ceremonies and receptions. In over two hundred years, there have been nineteen documented weddings and four receptions hosted
Featuring Jonathan Darman, author of “Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President"
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament. These unique collectibles — honoring individual presidents or specific White House anniversaries — have become part of the holiday tradition for millions of American families. In this collection, explore the history behind our 2023 design and learn more about President Gerald R. Ford. Buy
In the 1960s, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the task of restoring the White House interiors and thus founded the White House Historical Association to enhance the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Executive Mansion. As a part of our mission, the Association provides financial support for acquisitions, refurbishing projects, and preservation initiatives of the White House, which involves collaboration
Featuring John F.W. Rogers, Chairman of the White House Historical Association’s Board of Directors
Featuring Frederick J. Ryan, author of “Wine and the White House: A History" and member of the White House Historical Association’s National Council on White House History
Featuring Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., the nation’s only unelected president and vice president, served thirteen terms in Congress before rising to national attention in 1973, when President Richard Nixon nominated him as vice president. Less than a year later, Ford became president, following President Nixon's resignation from office. The Fords made and celebrated history during their time in the White House, fr
Featuring Alex Prud’homme, bestselling author and great-nephew of cooking legend Julia Child
Featuring Iain Dale, award-winning British author and radio and podcast host
Featuring Various Guests from Previous History Happy Hour Episodes
On November 22, 1963, about two hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the Oath of Office, becoming the thirty-sixth President of the United States. Prior to serving as vice president, Johnson had represented his home state of Texas for more than twenty years in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. As
