Under This Roof: The White House and the Presidency--21 Presidents, 21 Rooms, 21 Inside Stories

279 Pages·2015·9.98 MB·English

by  Brandus

UNDER THIS ROOF
The White House and the Presidency—
21 Presidents, 21 Rooms, 21 Inside Stories
PAUL BRANDUS
Guilford, Connecticut
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK
NETWORK
Copyright © 2015 by Paul Brandus All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the
publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of
Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brandus, Paul.
Under this roof / Paul Brandus. — 1st edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4930-0834-6 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-4930-1931-1 (e-book) 1.
White House (Washington, D.C.) 2. Presidents—United States—History. 3.
Washington (D.C.)—Buildings, structures, etc. I. Title.
F204.W5B736 2015
975.3—dc23
2015020568
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For Kathryn and Julia, the two great loves of my life
And to my wonderful parents, Gene and Rosemary, for a lifetime of love and
support
CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter One: John Adams: A Benediction for the Future
The State Dining Room
Chapter Two: Thomas Jefferson: The Lewis & Clark Expedition
The President’s Library
Chapter Three: James and Dolley Madison: The Burning of the White
House
The Queen’s Sitting Room, State Dining Room
Chapter Four: James Monroe: The Monroe Doctrine
The Oval Room
Chapter Five: Andrew Jackson: The Nullification Crisis
The East Room
Chapter Six: John Tyler: Ten Funerals and a Wedding
The East Room
Chapter Seven: James K. Polk: Five Presidents, One War
The President’s Office
Chapter Eight: Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address
The Shop
Chapter Nine: Ulysses S. Grant: The Secret Swearing In
The Red Room
Chapter Ten: Rutherford Hayes: The Wired White House
The Telegraph Room
Chapter Eleven: William McKinley: The Spanish-American War
The War Room
Chapter Twelve: Theodore Roosevelt: The Dawn of the American Century
The West Wing
Chapter Thirteen: Woodrow Wilson: The Secret Illness
The President’s Bedroom
Chapter Fourteen: Warren G. Harding: Scandals Galore
The Yellow Oval Room
Chapter Fifteen: Calvin Coolidge: The Roaring Twenties
The Sky Parlor
Chapter Sixteen: Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Fireside Chats
The Diplomatic Reception Room
Chapter Seventeen: Harry Truman: “The Moon, the Stars, and All the Planets”
The Rebuilding of the White House
Chapter Eighteen: John F. Kennedy: The Blood Red Carpet
The Oval Office
Chapter Nineteen: Richard Nixon: The Enemy Within
The Briefing Room
Chapter Twenty: Ronald Reagan: Lights, Camera, Action
The Family Theater
Chapter Twenty-One: Barack Obama: The bin Laden Raid
The Situation Room
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Author
PREFACE
We Americans like to think of our country as a young one, and set against the
long sweep of history, 240 years is indeed the proverbial blink of an eye. Yet
most are surprised to learn that the White House is one of the oldest continuous
residences for a head of state in the world. Buckingham Palace didn’t became
home to the British monarchy until 1837, and the emperor of Japan first moved
into Tokyo’s Imperial Palace in 1869. Even Moscow’s Kremlin, for centuries
home to the czars, only regained its head-of-state status when Vladimir Lenin’s
Bolsheviks moved the Russian capital back from Saint Petersburg in 1918. By
that time, the White House had been home to the president of the United States
for 118 years.
It’s this sense of history that envelopes you when you enter the White House
grounds. Walk through the Northwest Gate, stroll into this magnificent
architectural gem and it hits you: This is where Thomas Jefferson and Abraham
Lincoln walked. In the Diplomatic Reception Room: Franklin D. Roosevelt gave
his fireside chats, right here! In the East Room, I’ve stood on the spot where
Lincoln and John F. Kennedy’s coffins lay and felt a chill run down my spine.
On the South Lawn, I have seen Marine One land and leave countless times and
it never fails to impress. And no matter your political leanings, meeting the
president of the United States—any president—is always a great privilege.
The White House is today perhaps the most famous building in the world.
For more than two centuries—through triumph and tragedy, war and peace—
what has transpired here, in the northwest quadrant of America’s capital city,
reflects the story of the United States and its rapid rise from an exuberant but
weak and disorganized new nation to global colossus. It is the ultimate symbol
of the nation itself, a place of power and grandeur that has awed emperors and
kings, prime ministers and popes, tycoons and movie stars, not to mention the
millions of ordinary tourists who have walked its halls.
But to the forty-two men and their families who have lived here since
November 1, 1800, when John Adams moved in, the “Executive Mansion,”
November 1, 1800, when John Adams moved in, the “Executive Mansion,”
“President’s Palace,” or “President’s House” (all three names have been used to
describe the White House) is also something more mundane: a place to kick
back, walk the dog, or fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In other words,
home. That’s what this book is all about. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as
I have enjoyed writing it.