Romantic Expansions
In our own time thoughts about “the West” have been rather vividly colored by popular culture imagery depicting the rugged indi...
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Fine & Decorative Arts
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Mrs. Nixon and the White House Collection
When President and Mrs. Richard M. Nixon took residence at the White House in 1969, the wear and tear of thousands...
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A Neighbor Returns More Than a Cup of Sugar
Recently, White House neighbors on Lafayette Square shared a fascinating surprise. In October 2008, Decatur House, an historic property of the...
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A Portrait of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés
Late in James K. Polk’s presidency, his wife Sarah Childress Polk received an unusual gift that implicitly equated expansionism wi...
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A Small Slice of Kennedy Decor: The Queens’ Sitting Room
Although the legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy’s interior decoration at the White House is fixed in Americans’ minds, there seems to b...
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An Essay on "A Bird that Whistles" by Peter Waddell
President Thomas Jefferson took office on the then-inauguration day of March 4, 1801, following a party win in the contentious campaign of...
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An Essay on "A Favorable Day" by Peter Waddell
Dawn breaks over the White House stables on March 4, 1873. The grooms and coachmen are up early to prepare for President...
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An Essay on "A Vision Takes Form" by Peter Waddell
At this stage in the construction of the White House, 1796, the walls are rising above the second floor level. They...
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An Essay on "Composition in Red and Gold" by Peter Waddell
The Red Room was the only complete interior Tiffany created for the White House. Redesigned in high aesthetic taste (meaning...
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An Essay on "Lafayette Square" by Peter Waddell
Peter Waddell's painting re-creates the historic square north of the White House in 1902, the year Theodore Roosevelt remodeled the house....
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An Essay on "Something Blue" by Peter Waddell
The most distinctive of the state interiors in the White House is the Blue Room. Located central in the plan,...
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Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day," 12/12/1938
WASHINGTON, Sunday—I must go back to tell you something of what has been going on the last few days, fo...