Foreword; White House History Number 29
How Long? 2 minutes
Special spaces at the White House are usually those created by the presidents for their own use while resident there. For example, President Richard Nixon's favorite place to work alone was the Lincoln Sitting Room; First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt prepared her cozy dressing room on the opposite or west end of the home, while FDR filled the big upstairs oval room with his hobbies and books and cherished many quiet hours in its confines.
There are special spaces for retreats, for improvement of living, and for looks. This issue touches upon some that exist and some that do not. In the latter case are Clifford and Michele Krainiks never-before-published photographs of the long-vanished White House stables, and Keith MacKays return to an earlier Green Room. Mary Jo Binker takes us to that most special space, the Solarium, builds it, and traces its use by the many who loved it.
The architectural historian Travis McDonald grants that his special spaces the east and west wings are largely rebuilt but has climbed through cellar rooms ahead of the bulldozer to re-create the spaces as they descended from Jeffersons original construction. In the same vein, the architectural historian James A. Jacobs finds cause for celebration of the original White House architects skill in a tiny corner that President Harry S. Truman's reconstruction missed.
For my part, I have sketched a response to our most frequently asked question about special places in the White House: Are there secret tunnels?
You Might Also Like
-
-
Podcast Home Again with Susan Ford Bales
It was a homecoming decades in the making. Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, had the unique...
-
Podcast At the Helm with John H. Dalton
Former Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton has written a new memoir called “At the Helm: My Journey with Fa...
-
Podcast America’s Irish Roots
Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States, sits down with White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin...
-
Podcast Dinner with the President
From hot dogs to haute cuisine, U.S. Presidents have communicated important messages through food. Stewart McLaurin, President of the...
-
Podcast Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President
In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in for the first of his four terms as president of the United States....
-
Podcast 250 Years of American Political Leadership
The American experiment has long held the curiosity of people around the world, especially for Iain Dale, an award-winning British...
-
Podcast President Jimmy Carter: Faith, Family, and a Presidency
Jonathan Alter, journalist and author of “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life,” talks with Stewart McLaurin, president of the Whit...
-
Podcast A Coronation Preview with the British Ambassador to the U.S.
Britain and the U.S. have long had what Prime Minister Winston Churchill called a “special relationship.” From adversaries to alli...
-
Podcast The History of Wine and the White House
From the hearty Madeira to the fine Château Margaux, wine has a long and important history for presidents’ palates and...
-
Podcast Jacqueline Kennedy: Art in Cultural Diplomacy
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was the driving force behind a brilliant act of cultural diplomacy: bringing Leonardo Da Vinci’s ma...
-
Podcast The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
Richard Haass has been the President of the Council on Foreign Relations for almost twenty years. In that role as...