History in the Camera's Eye
Versailles, Potsdam, and other grand relics of power are all imposing architecture and vistas, one always leading to another— Ossa pi...
Adams's blessing was carved into the State Dining Room mantel in 1945
- Photographer
- Michael Geissinger
- Date of Work
- c. 1945
- Medium
- Marble
- Type
- Carving
- Credit
- White House Collection/White House Historical Association
Adams's blessing was carved into the State Dining Room mantel in 1945
This photograph by White House Photographer Michael Geissinger is of John Adams' blessing, which is engraved in the mantel in the State Dining Room. The benediction reads, “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.” The words are taken from a letter written to Abigail Adams from the President's House by Adams in 1800 and were engraved on the mantel in 1945 during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This photograph was taken in 1968, during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration.
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