Collection Tudor Place
Two grand houses were under construction in the young Federal City in 1816: one the President’s House, reconstructed after it wa...
President Truman's Renovation
During the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a renovation and expansion so extensive, it changed the executive mansion more than the fire of 1814. The White House we know today is largely due to the renovation led by Truman. The construction took place between 1948 and 1952 and was a remarkable feat of engineering. National Park Service photographer Abbie Rowe captured the entire process on film and the below galleries document the transformation.
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Collection The President's Neighborhood
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
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Collection Slavery in the President's Neighborhood
Many people think of the White House as a symbol of democracy, but it also embodies America’s complicated past an...
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Collection A Tour of the White House
In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy resolved to make the White House a “living museum” by restoring the historic integrity of the...
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Collection James Hoban: Architect of the White House
James Hoban's life is a memorable Irish-American success story. In his boyhood he learned the craft of carpenter and wheelwright,...
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Collection Holiday Cheer at the White House
The White House observance of Christmas before the twentieth century was not an official event. First families decorated the house...
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Collection Italy in the White House
Long before the emergence of the United States and Italy as nations, close connections between our two peoples influenced political...
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Collection An Artist Visits the White House Past
From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White...
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Collection Dining in the Executive Mansion
A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the merely gastronomical. The elegance of the State Dining...
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Bio Theodore Roosevelt
With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest president in the nation's history. He brought...
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Bio Patricia Nixon
Born Thelma Catherine Ryan on March 16, 1912, in Ely, Nevada, "Pat" Nixon acquired her nickname within hours. Her father called her...
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The Christmas Eve West Wing Fire of 1929
On Christmas Eve 1929 the White House experienced its most powerful fire since the British torched the Executive Mansion 115 years earlier....
