White House: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Official residence and workplace of the US president}}

The residence was designed by [[Ireland|Irish]]-born architect [[James Hoban]] in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] style.{{r|TSGjH}} Hoban modeled the building on [[Leinster House]] in [[Dublin]], a building which today houses the [[Oireachtas]], the Irish legislature. Constructed between 1792 and 1800, its exterior walls are [[Aquia Creek sandstone]] painted white. When [[Thomas Jefferson]] moved into the house in 1801, he and architect [[Benjamin Henry Latrobe]] added low [[colonnade]]s on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage.{{r|bwDpG}} In 1814, during the [[War of 1812]], the mansion was set ablaze by [[British Empire|British]] forces in the [[burning of Washington]], destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President [[James Monroe]] moved into the partially reconstructed [[Executive Residence]] in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semicircular South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829.

The present-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, the West Wing, the East Wing, the [[Eisenhower Executive Office Building]], which previously served the [[United States State Department|State Department]] and other departments (it now houses additional offices for the [[Executive Office of the President of the United States|president's staff]] and the [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]), and [[Blair House]], a guest residence. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories: the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, and a two-story [[White House basement|basement]]. The property is a [[National Heritage Site (United States)|National Heritage Site]] owned by the [[National Park Service]] and is part of the [[President's Park]]. In 2007, it was ranked second on the [[American Institute of Architects]] list of [[America's Favorite Architecture]].{{r|1AvjX}}

=== 1789–1800 ===

{{further|Presidency of George Washington#Residences}}

President [[John Adams]], who succeeded Washington and served as the nation's second president, occupied the High Street mansion in Philadelphia from March 1797 to May 1800. Philadelphia began construction of a much grander [[President's House (Ninth Street)|presidential mansion]] several blocks away in 1792. It was nearly completed by the time of Adams' 1797 inauguration. However, Adams chose not to occupy it, saying he did not have [[United States Congress|Congressional]] authorization to lease the building. It remained vacant until 1800 when it was sold to the [[University of Pennsylvania]].{{r|Westcott1894}}

The President's House was a major feature of [[Pierre Charles L'Enfant|Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's]]{{efn|L'Enfant identified himself as "Peter Charles L'Enfant" during most of his life while residing in the United States. He wrote this name on his [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3850.ct000512 "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States{{nbs}}..."] (Washington, D.C.) and on other legal documents. However, during the early 1900s, a French ambassador [[Jean Jules Jusserand]] popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant". (Reference: Bowling, Kenneth R (2002). ''Peter Charles L'Enfant: vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic.'' George Washington University, Washington, D.C. {{ISBN|978-0-9727611-0-9}}). The [[United States Code]] states in {{USC|40|3309}}: "(a) In General.{{snd}}The purposes of this chapter shall be carried out in the District of Columbia as nearly as may be practicable in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L'Enfant." The [[National Park Service]] identifies L'Enfant as "[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Wash/text.htm#washington Major Peter Charles L'Enfant]" and as "[https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/washington_monument.html Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant]" on its website.}} 1791 [[L'Enfant Plan|plan]] for the newly established federal city of Washington, D.C.{{r|IYuWd}} After L'Enfant's dismissal in early 1792, Washington and his Secretary of State, [[Thomas Jefferson]], who both had personal interests in architecture, agreed that the design of the President's House and the Capitol would be chosen in a [[Architectural design competition|design competition]].{{r|Frary}}

[[File:HobanWHProgressDrawing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A 1793 [[Multiview orthographic projection#Elevation|elevation]] by James Hoban. His three-story, nine-bay original submission was altered into this two-story, 11-bay design.]]

=== Naming conventions ===

Although the structure was not completed until some years after the presidency of George Washington, there is speculation that the name of the traditional residence of the president of the United States may have been derived from [[Martha Washington]]'s home, [[White House (plantation)|White House Plantation]], in [[Virginia]], where the nation's first president courted the first lady in the mid-18th century.{{r|D7o2v}}

[[File:1860s White House.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The White House and [[North Lawn (White House)|North Lawn]] during the [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] administration in the 1860s]]

[[File:White House north entrance hall featuring Tiffany glass screen installed by Louis Comfort Tiffany - DPLA - 0cc563164343e34cffcb62570cf9fa7a (page 1) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|1890 White House Entrance Hall featuring Tiffany glass screen]]

When [[Chester A. Arthur]] took office in 1881, he ordered renovations to the White House to take place as soon as the recently widowed [[Lucretia Garfield]] moved out. Arthur inspected the work almost nightly and made several suggestions. [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] was asked to send selected designers to assist. Over twenty wagonloads of furniture and household items were removed from the building and sold at a [[public auction]].{{r|reeves268}} All that was saved were bust portraits of [[John Adams]] and [[Martin Van Buren]].{{r|reevesn473}} A proposal was made to build a new residence south of the White House, but it failed to gain support.

In 1891, First Lady [[Caroline Harrison]] proposed major extensions to the White House, including a National Wing on the east for a historical art gallery, and a wing on the west for official functions.{{r|epstein}} A plan was devised by Colonel Theodore A. Bingham that reflected the Harrison proposal.{{r|epstein}} These plans were ultimately rejected.

President [[William Howard Taft]] enlisted the help of architect [[Nathan C. Wyeth]] to add additional space to the West Wing, which included the addition of the [[Oval Office]].{{r|epstein}} In 1925, Congress enacted legislation allowing the White House to accept gifts of furniture and art for the first time.{{r|AbbottRice|p=17}} The West Wing was damaged by fire on Christmas Eve 1929; [[Herbert Hoover]] and his aides moved back into it on April 14, 1930.{{r|oeGVZ}} In the 1930s, a second story was added, as well as a larger basement for White House staff, and President Franklin Roosevelt had the Oval Office moved to its present location: adjacent to the [[White House Rose Garden|Rose Garden]].{{r|whha overview}}

{{Main|White House Reconstruction}}

[[File:The Shell of the White House during the Renovation-05-17-1950.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] reconstruction between 1949 and 1952 included a steel structure built within the White House's exterior shell.]]

While the Truman reconstruction preserved the house's structure, much of the new interior finishes were generic and of little historic significance. Much of the original plasterwork, some dating back to the 1814–1816 rebuilding, was too damaged to reinstall, as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room. President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling; the walls of the [[Vermeil Room]], [[Library (White House)|Library]], [[China Room]], and [[Map Room (White House)|Map Room]] on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers.{{r|UtzOl}}

File:White House North Side Comparison2.jpg|The North Portico of the White House compared to [[Leinster House]]

File:White House South Side Comparison.jpg|The [[Château de Rastignac]] compared to the South Portico of the White House, {{circa|1846}}

File:The Government House, New York 1650665.jpg|[[Government House (New York City)|Government House]] in Manhattan, built in 1790–1791, was designed to be the permanent presidential mansion, but [[United States Congress|Congress]] moved the national capital to Philadelphia before its completion.

File:House intended for the President Birch's Views Plate 13 (cropped).jpg|[[President's House (Ninth Street)|President's House]] in Philadelphia (built in the 1790s), was not used by any president after the presidential mansion, known as the White House, was moved from Philadelphia to the new national capital of Washington, D.C.