Collection Fourth of July at the White House
It was President Thomas Jefferson who first established the traditions of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House....
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This portrait of Thomas Jefferson was painted by John Trumbull in 1788, in the wake of the American Revolution and just before George Washington became the first president of the United States. Trumbull originally visited Jefferson in Paris, where he served as minster to France, and painted his portrait directly into a painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trumbull copied this individual portrait from that painting. This portrait was later part of the National Gallery of Art's June 5-September 6, 1976 exhibition, The Eye of Thomas Jefferson, and was then given to the White House Collection as a bicentennial gift by the Italian government. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson served as president from March 4, 1801 until March 4, 1809.
It was President Thomas Jefferson who first established the traditions of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House....
On July 11, 1798, President John Adams approved legislation that officially brought "The President's Own" United States Marine Band into being, making...
Today's White House grounds are a site to behold. What started as 85 acres of land chosen by George Washington, was...
Biographies & Portraits
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath...
Romance glints from what little is known of Elizabeth Kortright's early life. She was born in New York City in 1768...
James Monroe was perhaps the most qualified citizen ever to serve as president of the United States. Born in 1758 in...
Learned and thoughtful, John Adams was probably more remarkable as a political philosopher than a politician. "People and nations are...
At age 22, Martha Wayles Skelton was already a widow, an heiress, and a mother whose firstborn son would die in...
In the thick of party conflict in 1800, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a private letter, "I have sworn upon the altar...
Although President Thomas Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves in his lifetime, he brought only a handful with him to the...
James Knox Polk was at home in Columbia, Tennessee, when he judged that it was about time to find out...