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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
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The United States Marine Band: Hail to the Chief
"Hail to the Chief," with its preceding fanfare Ruffles and Flourishes, is traditionally played to announce the arrival of the president at official functions. The melody was based on an old Gaelic air, and adapted from Sir Walter Scott’s poem, The Lady of the Lake. "Hail to the Chief" is attributed to English composer James Sanderson. The song was al
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The Working White House: First Family
In the day-to-day life of the White House, interactions between the first family and the residence staff have varied widely. Theodore Roosevelt’s children counted on valet James Amos to umpire their baseball games. Lynda and Luci Johnson baked cookies in the White House kitchen. Mamie Eisenhower invited workers and their children to the Eisenhower farm in Pennsylvania; and many pr
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The American Presidents and Shakespeare
On April 23, 1932, Shakespeare-lovers from around the country flocked to Washington, D.C., to attend the dedication of the handsome new Folger Shakespeare Library, with President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover sitting on a platform to watch the ceremony. The main speaker was Joseph Quincy Adams Jr., a descendant of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams who taught
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The Willard Hotel
During the Civil War, the fighting at times came so close to the capital that the Lincolns could hear the sounds of battle from their country retreat at the Soldiers’ Home, 3 miles north of the White House.1 One of the officers in the Union Army charged with defending the capital noted in his tiny leather-bound diary: "July 17, 1862: This night I sl
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Scholarship
America Under Fire: Aftermath
Timeline of Events:August 29, 1814: Faced with a British demand to surrender 21 merchant ships, naval and ordinance stores and cotton, flour, tobacco and wines from the city warehouses or face attack from a squadron of seven ships, Alexandria's mayor and council bowed to the inevitable and agreed to the British demand—for they had no reliable defenses or defenders.August 30, 1814: A wa
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Scholarship
America Under Fire: Timeline
Timeline of Events (Year 1814):May 9: News of Napoleon's abdication reached Washington.May 10-19: U.S. forces under Lt. Col. John B. Campbell captured and burned Port Dover and Port Talbot, Upper Canada (Ontario)—an outrage that contributed to the British decision to burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C.May 20: President James Madison tried to prod Secretary of War Jo
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First Lady Helen Taft's Luneta
“That Manila could lend anything to Washington may be an idea that would surprise some persons, but the Luneta is an institution whose usefulness to society in the Philippine capital is not to be overestimated.”–Helen Herron TaftIn her memoirs, Recollections of Full Years, Helen Herron Taft wrote about a promenade by the Manila Bay that inspired the first public projec
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Foreword; White House History Number 32
We introduce costume to White House History in this issue, with plans for other issues on the subject. Looking good speaks for itself. For the president and first lady, it is a requirement. They need not be fashion plates, although some have been that, as, for example, Dolley Madison and Jacqueline Kennedy—and as you will see in this issue, Sa
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Livery at the White House
On Saturday, October 24, 1903, the sensationalist New York World reported that President Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb Jr., outfitted the messengers at the White House in “uniforms of dark blue material with shining nickel buttons.” The World also noted that “it is Mr. Loeb’s intention to put all the employees around the White House and executive offices in uniforms.”1 For Roosevel
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Presidential Valets
Throughout the history of the presidency, a president’s clothing choices have been influenced by a number of factors. Personal background, economics, regional influences, direction from the first lady, and advice from other family members and staff have all contributed to the sartorial style of the nation’s leader. Perhaps no one knew the presidential wardrobe, and the man himself, as i
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"Articles of the Best Kind"
When on March 4, 1817, James Monroe was inaugurated as the fifth president of the United States, the District of Columbia still bore scars from its sacking by the British three years earlier. The country had achieved few of the political and military aims that led it into the War of 1812, and having the capital torched by the enemy caused profound national