Collection A Tour of the White House
In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy resolved to make the White House a “living museum” by restoring the historic integrity of the...
The West Wing: 1975-1999
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
1979: Islamic militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and took Americans hostage. The West Wing once again became a crisis center as President Jimmy Carter and his staff planned a response.
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
1981: President Ronald Reagan announced the appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court in a Rose Garden ceremony. O’Connor became the first female to be sworn in as Supreme Court Justice on September 25.
1986: President Reagan and his staff watched a tape of the space shuttle Challenger launch from the West Wing offices on January 28 and with the nation mourned the horrific explosion.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
GEORGE BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
1991: The U.S.-led multinational force launched Operation Desert Storm on January 16 to begin the Persian Gulf War against Iraq. President George Bush transformed the West Wing into a strategic center to plan a build up and invasion that ended Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and forced Iraq’s acceptance of U.N. ceasefire terms that formally ended the war.
1995: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed to traffic.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
1998: The U.S. House of Representatives approved two of four proposed Articles of Impeachment against President Bill Clinton. The president held a Rose Garden rally with supporters and later was acquitted of the two articles by the Senate.
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Collection The First Ladies
Biographies & Portraits
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Collection Presidential Inaugurations
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Collection The Working White House
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Collection Animal Ambassadors
Animals, whether pampered household pets, working livestock, birds, squirrels, or strays, have long been a major part of White House...
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Collection The 2016 White House Christmas Ornament
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
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Collection Presidents & Baseball
No sport is more closely tied to the American presidency than baseball. One of Washington’s first baseball fields was lo...
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Collection The Kennedy Rose Garden
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Collection The 2018 White House Christmas Ornament
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
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Collection Roosevelt White House 1933-1945
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to office at the height of the Great Depression. He ushered in an environment...
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Collection America Under Fire
The young national capital at Washington, D.C. became the epicenter of The War of 1812 with Great Britain during the...
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Collection The President's Neighborhood
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
