Inside the White House: Get a Glimpse of the Living Quarters of the First Family

Table Of Content

• Presidential and First Lady Portraits
• Calvin Coolidge, who served from 1923 until 1929, enjoyed spending time in the White House with man's best friend.
• West Sitting Hall
• The architectural style of the White House
• Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
• A Proclamation on Earth Day, 2024

On January 6, 1853, newly elected president Franklin Pierce and his wife Jane experienced every parent’s worst nightmare. Their only surviving child, 11-year-old Bennie, died in a horrific train accident in Massachusetts. From Mary Todd Lincoln to Jane Pierce, they were swept up in the spiritualism movement of the 19th century—a belief that living souls can contact the dead. Presenting the fashion equivalent of a united front were Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris, making their red carpet debut as a couple in matching Harbison looks, as well as Scarlett Johansson and her husband Colin Jost, in coordinating Giorgio Armani. Once a popular target of jokes about bad fashion (and not just from the evening’s featured comedian host), the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner has morphed in recent years into a less campy, more staid prelude to the Met Gala, which takes place days later. It’s only fitting, really, given the subtext of journalists being jailed around the world.

Presidential and First Lady Portraits

Biden’s speech, which lasted around 10 minutes, made no mention of the ongoing war or the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But the president quickly segued to a grim speech about what he believes is at stake this election, saying that another Trump administration would be even more harmful to America than his first term. He deplored spiritualism, séances, and mediums, all of which underwent a revival in the wake of World War I and the influenza pandemic. He was on a quest to expose mediums and psychics as the charlatans he believed them to be. The White House was again in a state of mourning during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge in 1924. Coolidge’s 16-year-old son Calvin played a game of tennis––but he wasn’t wearing socks with his shoes.

Calvin Coolidge, who served from 1923 until 1929, enjoyed spending time in the White House with man's best friend.

Hunter Biden was living in the White House when the coke was found - Washington Examiner

Hunter Biden was living in the White House when the coke was found.

Posted: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It means that there may be no one available to help them out of bed. It means that they will receive less medical attention because the workers — the care workers in that facility are going from room to room, from resident to resident, and understaffed in terms of giving folks what they want to give in terms of level of care. It’s about asking the person that they’re caring for “what would you like to eat today,” and trying to give them something that they know they might enjoy and that they will eat and have a taste for, right? Both the makeup and the messaging were consistent for Kardashian, who has used her platform and influence to push for criminal justice reform since 2018.

West Sitting Hall

A blister formed on a toe and festered, and the infection turned septic. No one knows what exactly occurred between Pierce and the Fox sisters. But the White House session may have mirrored the Fox sisters’ other séances, which commenced with guests sitting in a circle, holding one another’s hands, and reciting a prayer. Then, the rappings would begin, and the sisters would allegedly lift the veil on the spirit world.

Madison insisted on rebuilding on the same spot — using the original architect, James Hoban, and incorporating the scorched mansion's sandstone walls that remained standing — and reconstruction soon began. Madison's successor, James Monroe, had to cool his heels at his home in Virginia while the finishing touches were being applied, but he moved in about six months after his inauguration in 1817. 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.

Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee

There is also a solarium, added by Grace Coolidge, with panoramic views of the Mall. Architect Lorenzo Winslow oversaw the three-year gut renovation, during which the inside of the White House was demolished and completely rebuilt. “The Truman renovation is the largest reconstruction at the White House because of the sheer amount of demolition and reconstruction that you see inside,” says Fling.

Supreme Court hears Jan. 6 obstruction challenge that could affect Trump's case

That galling torch-and-run — talk about a Brexit — forced Madison and his wife Dolley into a grand old mansion down the street, the Octagon House, and prompted some discussion on whether to rebuild the White House at all. Indeed, politicians mulled moving the seat of government out of D.C. But it's not as if the president of the United States has to live in the White House. Although with everything there, and a commute like that — the West Wing is a few steps from the main residence — the live-work-play setup has thus far proven impossible to turn down. Although the president is permitted a $100,000 stipend to redecorate parts of the White House, anything beyond that is something they have to pay for themselves. According to the podcast Stuff You Missed in History Class, the Obamas didn’t take the stipend and used their own money to redecorate instead.

Hunter Biden stays close to father at White House amid criminal probe - The Washington Post

Hunter Biden stays close to father at White House amid criminal probe.

Posted: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Lincolns’ many tears

When I worked at the White House, I walked through the lifers’ corridor in the mornings, past a Secret Service officer seated by a telephone, head drooping at the end of a sixteen-hour double shift. Dale Haney, the chief groundskeeper since 1972, who is still at the White House, was often walking through the corridor with the Obamas’ dogs, their leashes in one hand and his boxed lunch or breakfast in the other. Butlers and valets leaned against the doorways, talking with chefs. The letter “R” printed on their blue plastic badges granted them access to the upper floors of the house, and they wore expressions of smiling, unyielding discretion. When the British burned the White House in 1814, oxygen-starved flames rushed out, licking them. A few are still unpainted so that passersby can study the charred spots.

Despite being similar in age, Biden said, the two presidential hopefuls have little else in common. Former Trump Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse Trump’s reelection bid. An evening normally devoted to presidents, journalists and comedians taking outrageous pokes at political scandals and each other often seemed this year to illustrate the difficulty of putting aside the coming presidential election and the troubles in the Middle East and elsewhere. As a rare bipartisan choice, it was something to dine out on. While Mr. Fetterman may have been in the minority among his political peers, with most of whom following the president’s example and opting for a traditional tux, creative black tie proved a talking point. See Billy Porter in a black sequin caftan over a classic white shirt; Questlove, in an artistically paint-splattered jacket; and Fran Drescher, the SAG-AFTRA president, in a white brocade pantsuit.

L’Enfant initially proposed an opulent design for the residence, which would have resulted in a building four times the size of what stands today. He was ultimately dismissed by the three-person committee overseeing the development of the District of Columbia, and his palatial design was abandoned. Instead, Washington and his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, decided that the design would be chosen through a national competition. U.S. presidents may have yet to turn down living in the White House, but governors all over the country have backed off living in governor's mansions, for a variety of reasons (often because it's not really home).

I get a chance to see you all the time, and you’re always fighting for the people of Wisconsin. Thank you.So, today’s conversation really is about the — the safety, the dignity, the guarantee of self-determination that comes with the work that home healthcare workers and care workers do.Today is about recognizing the gift that home healthcare workers and care workers give to us as a society. You know, it’s now over a decade ago that I spent a day with an SEIU member, Wendy Ko. One of the few mentions came from Kelly O’Donnell, president of the correspondents’ association, who briefly noted some 100 journalists killed in Israel’s 6-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza.

The bow has a ground-floor double staircase leading to an Ionic colonnaded loggia and the Truman Balcony, built in 1946.[33] The more modern third floor is hidden by a balustraded parapet and plays no part in the composition of the façade. The Neoclassical design of the White House is based primarily on architectural concepts inherited from the Roman architect Vitruvius and the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. Every president since John Adams has occupied the White House, and the history of this building extends far beyond the construction of its walls. The White House remains a place where history continues to unfold. In previous transitions, the residence staff brought the White House to a state of as-ready-as-possible without making major changes until the new First Family arrived and redecorated. If a departing family took a personal sofa with them, the staff replaced it with one from the White House collection, so that the incoming family need not walk into a bare room.

The building was constructed between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia sandstone from the Government Island quarry (also a supplier of stone for the exterior of the US Capitol), bricks made in kilns near the site, and lumber from forests in Maryland and Virginia. Set on 18 acres of land, the White House is made up of the Executive Residence, the East Wing, and the West Wing, with its famous Oval Office. Today, the residence includes six levels with 132 rooms, including 16 family and guest rooms and 35 bathrooms, and is spread over 55,000 square feet. The White House has been home to every president from John Adams to Joe Biden, and it is an enduring symbol of democracy and one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, attracting 500,000 visitors annually.