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Scholarship
Freemasonry and the White House
On July 16, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, formally the Act for Establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States. The act empowered President George Washington and his three appointed commissioners to develop the country’s new capital and manage construction of the White House, United States Capitol, and other federal buildings. To meet their 1800 deadline, th
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Scholarship
Khrushchev Goes to Washington
In September 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the United States for an official State Visit. Eisenhower’s invitation marked a historic moment: the first time a Soviet head of state received an invitation to the White House. This event marked an opportunity for each leader to learn about their counterpart while sharing their country’s imme
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Scholarship
The Life and Presidency of Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in the small rural town of Plains, Georgia, about 150 miles south of Atlanta. His father, James Sr., was a businessman and farmer. His mother, known to the nation as Miss Lillian during her son’s presidency, was a nurse who served as a Peace Corps volunteer after her children were grown and wr
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Scholarship
Advances in Entertaining
First Lady Helen Taft loved entertaining and White House hospitality during the William Howard Taft administration centered on the dining table, where the Tafts' tastes were regal. A "Forty-quart Peerless Ice Cream Freezer," with a direct current motor and a twelve-foot long Imperial French Coal Range were added to the large kitchen in 1912. On January 25, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson joined the
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Scholarship
Building a White House Kitchen
By the time Theodore Roosevelt took office, the use of electric light was common in American houses. The entire wiring system was replaced during a major restoration of the White House in 1902. Only the service areas of the house retained their gaslight fixtures, and these were used only in case of a power failure. A large main kitchen and an
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Article
Motor Cars Come to the White House
At the beginning of the twentieth century, some people believed that the automobile was a toy for the rich that would just create a greater class divide in America.1 Others, like President Theodore Roosevelt, remained loyal to the horse. But democracy soon won out. Henry Ford’s introduction of the Model T in 1908 revolutionized American society by creating an automobile af
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Article
Plumbing in the White House is Not for the Servants
References to the installation of plumbing fixtures began to appear in architectural plan books in the 1840s. Plumbing systems were already known in large hotels and grand mansions by 1833, when water was first piped into the White House. Sometime within the next year, a "bathing room" was established in the east wing. Interim upgrades appear to have been made during
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Article
Under This Roof
When you join the White House staff, you enter a unique community full of surprising paradoxes. The men and women on the staff are loyal to their president and supportive of his or her policies but are also characterized by such a diversity of experience and life outlook that they are nonetheless pushed to travel in different policy directions. Some
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Article
Presidential Press Conferences
The Kennedy White House and the PressSince Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference in March 1913, all sixteen of his successors have used the sessions as a basic part of their publicity strategies. The sessions have survived because reporters found them useful for developing information, citizens saw them as valuable for making judgments about their chief executives, and presidents
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Article
Fourth of July Celebrations at the White House in the 19th Century
The People's House: Although John Adams was the first to occupy the Executive Mansion in November 1800, it was Thomas Jefferson who first celebrated the Fourth of July at the White House in 1801. Jefferson opened the house and greeted diplomats, civil and military officers, citizens, and Cherokee chiefs in the oval saloon (today’s Blue Room). The Marine Band played in th
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Article
"Off for the Ditch"
Prior to President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Panama in 1906, no American president had set foot outside the country during his tenure in office, not even crossing a bridge to Canada or Mexico. In an August 1906 letter to Andrew Carnegie, President Roosevelt bemoaned the “ironclad custom which forbids a President ever [going] abroad” that kept him from engaging in dir
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Article
Caroline Harrison's 1891 Music Room
The Green Room, positioned between the East Room and the Blue Room, is one of the principal parlors of the White House. It has had many incarnations. For President Thomas Jefferson it was an everyday dining room. First Ladies Grace Coolidge, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Pat Nixon imagined it as a Federal-era parlor. Beginning with President Bill Clinton, it has served