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“Kitchen Genius”: Dolly Johnson at the White House
Cuisine is a central part of life at the White House. From State Dinners and diplomatic receptions to private meals and family events, the White House executive chef and their team feed some of the most influential people in the world. The menus, ingredients, and flavors selected by the culinary staff often convey the personality, taste, budget, and lifestyle of
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Article
Slavery and Strategy in Decatur House
On February 11, 1829, members of Congress convened to certify votes for President and Vice President of the United States as Andrew Jackson had recently defeated incumbent President John Quincy Adams after an acrimonious campaign.1 As the Adams administration came to an end, Secretary of State Henry Clay made plans to vacate his post in Washington and return to Ashland, his Kentucky
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Scholarship
Eliza McCardle Johnson: Conflicting Memories and Vanishing Evidence of the Enslaved Past
In 1980, Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, great-granddaughter of First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson and President Andrew Johnson, gave an oral interview at Harpers Ferry about the history of her family. Alluding that her ancestors wanted to keep certain family secrets hidden from the public, Mrs. Bartlett recalled when her father sold documents to the Library of Congress in 1904: “My daddy [Andrew Jo
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Mapping Lady Bird Johnson's Whistle-Stop Tour
Less than a month before the 1964 presidential election, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson traveled for four days through the American South by train. In a practice known as whistle-stop campaigning, the first lady set out with her team, invited guests, and members of the press aboard the personalized “Lady Bird Special.” They visited eight states and stopped in forty-seven towns. The
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Article
Where Hospitality Makes History: State Visits
Since World War II, an ever-lengthening procession of foreign leaders has come to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to confer on global problems. These dignitaries are often formally entertained at the White House, and an invitation to attend such a function is highly coveted. Certainly a State Dinner to honor a visiting head of government or a reigning monarch is one of the
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Jimmy Carter and Sports
The presidency is a stressful job, but many presidents find ways to ease their anxieties. Some bring hobbies with them to the White House. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt collected stamps, books, and model ships.1 Grover Cleveland enjoyed the peacefulness of fishing; Dwight Eisenhower took up painting; and Bill Clinton played the saxophone. In addition to pastimes, many presidents relieve
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Music at Jimmy Carter’s White House
“Country music is part of the soul and conscience of our democracy. It unfolds the inherent goodness of our people and our way of life. It captures our indomitable spirit and pulsates with the sorrows, joys, and unfailing perseverance of ordinary men and women who sustain our national vitality and strength.”1 – Jimmy Carter at the Country Music Association Concert at the Wh
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Scholarship
The Slave Quarters at Decatur House
Nestled in the heart of Washington, D.C., Lafayette Park attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. From school groups to tourists, protesters to foreign dignitaries, many are drawn to the most prominent building on the square—the White House. Yet few fully realize just how much the neighborhood has changed since 1800, when President John Adams first moved into th
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Native American Delegations, Diplomacy, and Protests at the White House
Thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the formation of the United States, and construction of the White House, Native peoples such as the Piscataway and Nacostines lived and prospered in the region of what is now Washington, D.C. As more colonists descended upon the area, they seized lands from Native Americans—including the land between the Potomac Ri
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Philip Reed
Often, the accomplishments and contributions of enslaved people are lost to history—undocumented, ignored, or forgotten by successive generations. One of these overlooked historic figures is Philip Reed, an enslaved man who worked as a sculptor’s apprentice.1 He contributed to a number of iconic sculptures, including the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol Dome and the equestrian stat
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Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale is synonymous with eighteenth-century portraiture. His depictions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other famous Americans are displayed in several of the country’s most prominent art galleries and museums, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the White House. In his lifetime, Peale fostered close relationships with U.S. pr
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Anti-lynching and the White House
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an American investigative journalist, educator, and activist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.1 An African-American woman of “striking courage and conviction,” she received national recognition as the leader of the anti-lynching crusade.2 Wells-Barnett sought a federal anti-lynching law that would convict forms of “violence in which a mob, under the pretext of administering justice withou