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The White House


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  • Phone: (202) 456-1111
  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

The President of the United States lives in a National Park

Every president except George Washington has called the White House and its surrounding grounds his place of work, rest, and solitude. Recognizable the world around, the White House stands as a symbol of democracy. The White House and its park grounds serve not only as the seat of the executive branch of government of the United States of America, but also as an iconic place for civil discourse. - NPS


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White House East Room

Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1792/03/14 Gov Thomas Johnson Work Commissioners to lay out the new City, Daniel Carroll, David Stuart and Thomas Johnson advertise for plans for the Capitol and for the President's Palace, offering a premium of $500 or a medal of that value for the best designs submitted for examination.
1792/03/14 Daniel Carroll Work Commissioners to lay out the new City, Daniel Carroll, David Stuart and Thomas Johnson advertise for plans for the Capitol and for the President's Palace, offering a premium of $500 or a medal of that value for the best designs submitted for examination.
1792/03/14 David Stuart (Virginia politician) Work Commissioners to lay out the new City, Daniel Carroll, David Stuart and Thomas Johnson advertise for plans for the Capitol and for the President's Palace, offering a premium of $500 or a medal of that value for the best designs submitted for examination.
1792/07/00 James Hoban Architect James Hoban wins the competition to design the President's House, The White House.
1795/00/00 George Washington Planning and Construction Supervisor The Central portion of President's Palace, built 1792-1800, is planned and constructed under the personal supervision of President George Washington.
1800/11/01 John Adams Home John Adams and his wife move into the unfinished brick and stone shell of the White House. The basement, containing work and chamber spaces for cooks, housekeepers and servants, probably seems more inviting than the principal rooms.
1801/03/19 Thomas Jefferson US President Jefferson moves into a new home still smelling of fresh plaster. He will soon replace the outdoor privy with two indoor WCs, install a wine cellar, hang service bells and upgrade the kitchen for his French chef with stew stoves, boilers and ranges.
1801/04/00 Thomas Jefferson US President Thomas Jefferson opens the White House to the public in the spring of 1801.
1803/04/00 Benjamin H Latrobe Architect Latrobe's first project at the White House is to replace a leaking slate roof that lets in buckets of water into the house.
1804/06/00 Benjamin H Latrobe Architect Digging for the west wing begins in the summer. Jefferson proposed attached service wings, expanded east and west as needed, or as funded, until they join the Treasury Department building and the War Department building.
1804/06/00 John Lenthall Builder Digging for the west wing begins in the summer. Jefferson proposed attached service wings, expanded east and west as needed, or as funded, until they join the Treasury Department building and the War Department building.
1804/06/00 Thomas Jefferson Architect Digging for the west wing begins in the summer. Jefferson proposed attached service wings, expanded east and west as needed, or as funded, until they join the Treasury Department building and the War Department building.
1807/00/00 Thomas Jefferson US President Thomas Jefferson creates a museum in the Entrance Hall of the White House, hanging artifacts brought back by Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Zebulon Pike, that tell about the mysterious west that fascinates the public. Lewis and Clark Expedition
1809/03/04 Dolley Madison First Lady 4th President of the United States: 4 March 1809 - 4 March 1817
1809/03/04 James Madison 4th President of the United States: 4 March 1809 - 4 March 1817
1814/08/23 Dolley Madison Heroine As British troops near, Dolley saves the 8 ft tall Stuart portrait of Washington. Bolted to the wall, she has the frame broken and the canvas rolled up. Two men from New York take it for safe-keeping. Dolley flees with the important papers. George Washington (Lansdowne) Battle of Bladensburg
1814/08/24 British Army Belligerent British troops enjoy feasting on White House food using the presidential silverware and china before burning the President's House. Battle of Bladensburg
1815/00/00 James Hoban Architect The White House's weakened walls are dismantled to the basement level on the E and W sides and on the N except for the central section. Most of the carved trimming, with scorch marks, was re-used. Almost all this was lost during the Truman rebuilding.
1817/10/00 James Monroe Home President James Monroe moves into the new White House in the autumn of 1817.
1820/03/09 Samuel Laurence Gouverneur Groom Maria Hester Monroe, daughter of James and Elizabeth Monroe, marries Samuel Laurence Gouverneur in the Oval Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
1820/03/09 Maria Monroe Gouverneur Bride Maria Hester Monroe, daughter of James and Elizabeth Monroe, marries Samuel Laurence Gouverneur in the Oval Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
1820/03/09 James Monroe Father of the Bride With 42 guests and no cabinet members invited, James Monroe and Elizabeth Monroe, give away their 17 year-old daughter, Maria Hester, to Samuel L Gouverneur in the Elliptical Saloon (probably), today's Blue Room. Gen Thomas Jesup served as groomsman. Marriage of Maria Hester Monroe and Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur
1820/03/09 Rev William Dickinson Hawley Officiant With 42 guests and no cabinet members invited, James Monroe and Elizabeth Monroe, give away their 17 year-old daughter, Maria Hester, to Samuel L Gouverneur in the Elliptical Saloon (probably), today's Blue Room. Gen Thomas Jesup served as groomsman. Marriage of Maria Hester Monroe and Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur
1824/00/00 James Hoban Architect The White House South Portico is built. Not altered during the Truman Administration's reconstruction of the building from 1948 to 1952, the original vaulted supports remain unaltered.
1824/11/23 James Monroe US President Lafayette arrives in Washington, DC where he is received at the White House by President James Monroe. Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America
1824/11/23 Marquis de Lafayette Guest of Honor Lafayette arrives in Washington, DC where he is received at the White House by President James Monroe. Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America
1825/09/06 John Quincy Adams US President Lafayette celebrates his 68th birthday at a White House banquet with President John Q Adams. Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America
1825/09/06 Marquis de Lafayette Guest of Honor Lafayette celebrates his 68th birthday at a White House banquet with President John Q Adams. Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America
1825/09/07 Marquis de Lafayette National Guest A tearful Marquis de Lafayette embraces President John Quincy Adams after delivering a farewell speech at the entrance to the White House. Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of America
1826/11/13 John Quincy Adams Health Dr Parmely presents himself as a dentist and President Adams takes the opportunity to have a decayed tooth drawn. Parmely also scaled off tartar from Adam's lower front teeth, and urged the drawing of another tooth, which Adams postponed till tomorrow.
1826/11/13 Eleazer Parmly Work Dr Parmely presents himself as a dentist and President Adams takes the opportunity to have a decayed tooth drawn. Parmely also scaled off tartar from Adam's lower front teeth, and urged the drawing of another tooth, which Adams postponed till tomorrow.
1830/00/00 Edmund Berkeley Life Mary Donelson, a relative of President Andrew Jackson, and Edmund Berkeley are playmates in the White House.
1830/00/00 James Hoban Architect The White House North Portico is built between 1829 and 1831. Not altered during the Truman reconstruction of the structure, the original vaulted supports remain unchanged.
1830/00/00 Mary Donelson Coffee Life Mary Donelson, a relative of President Andrew Jackson, and Edmund Berkeley are playmates in the White House.
1841/04/04 William Henry Harrison Died On Sunday, President William Harrison dies in The White House. His doctor, Thomas Miller, diagnosed Harrison's cause of death as "pneumonia of the lower lobe of the right lung". Death of US President William Harrison
1841/04/06 John Tyler US President John Tyler takes the US Presidential Oath of Office, moves into the White House, and assumes full presidential powers, a precedent that would govern future extraordinary successions and eventually become codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Death of US President William Harrison
1850/07/07 Zachary Taylor Died President Zachary Taylor's physician, assisted by a Baltimore quack, applies heroic medicine by drugging the president with ipecac, calomel, opium and quinine (at 40 grains a dose) and bleeding and blistering him. Death of President Zachary Taylor
1861/03/04 Abraham Lincoln President 16th President of the United States: 4 March 1861 - 15 April 1865
1862/02/20 William Wallace Lincoln Died On Thursday evening Willie Lincoln passes away. "My poor boy. He was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so much. It is hard, hard to have him die!" Abraham Lincoln Death of William Lincoln
1862/02/24 Willie Lincoln's body lays in the Green Room, next door to where Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy would also lie. Death of William Lincoln
1864/11/21 Abraham Lincoln Author A Lincoln writes a condolence letter to Lydia Parker Bixby, a widow who was thought to have lost five sons in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Bixby Letter (Lincoln)
1865/04/11 Clara Harris Rathbone Witness Clara Harris hears President Lincoln speaks to a crowd on Reconstruction and of reuniting the nation. President Lincoln's Last Public Address
1865/04/11 Dr Charles A Leale Witness Dr Charles A Leale listens as Abe Lincoln speaks to a crowd from the upper floor of the Whitehouse. President Lincoln's Last Public Address
1865/04/11 John Wilkes Booth Conspiracy leader, assassin Lincoln speaks to a crowd from the window over the main door of the Whitehouse, John Wilkes Booth swears that this will be Lincoln's last speech. President Lincoln's Last Public Address Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1865/04/11 Abraham Lincoln Author President Lincoln gives a short speech on Reconstruction, re-admitting Louisiana, the education to children of all races, and extending voting rights to Negros. President Lincoln's Last Public Address Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1865/04/12 Abraham Lincoln US President Mr Lincoln speaks with William Bibb for two hours. "I love the Southern people more than they love me. My desire is to restore the Union. I do not intend to hurt the hair of the head of a single man in the South if it can possibly be avoided." AL
1865/04/12 William Crawford Bibb Agent William Bibb meets with Abe Lincoln. "In five minutes after meeting him I had felt my prejudices fast melting away and being supplanted by a high appreciation of the man, ... of all previous men I had ever met, this was the noblest Roman of them all." WCB
1865/04/14 Edwin M Stanton Secretary of War Secretary of the Interior John Palmer Usher and Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton are late to Lincoln's last cabinet meeting.
1865/04/14 Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy Lincoln begins a cabinet meeting with Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch, Attorney General Joshua Speed, Postmaster General William Dennison, and Assistant Secretary of State Frederick Seward.
1865/04/14 Ulysses S Grant Union General Lincoln remarks that he has been urged to visit the theatre this evening, and ask Gen Grant if he would join the party. The General excuses himself, as he has a previous engagement and takes his leave, and some of the others follow him. Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1865/04/14 Robert Todd Lincoln Grieving son While visiting with his friend John Hay, the president's private secretary, Robert Lincoln is told that his father has been shot and he dashes off to the Peterson house. Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1865/04/14 Abraham Lincoln Union Commander in Chief Lincoln remarks that he has been urged to visit the theatre this evening, and ask Gen Grant if he would join the party. The General excuses himself, as he has a previous engagement and takes his leave, and some of the others follow him. Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1869/02/08 Dr Samuel Mudd Conspirator President Johnson hands Mrs Mudd a pardon for her husband, Dr Mudd Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1869/02/08 Andrew Johnson President President Johnson hands Mrs Mudd a pardon for her husband, Dr Mudd Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1876/06/07 Julia Dent Grant Cantacuzene Born Ida Marie Honore Grant, wife of Frederick Dent Grant, gives birth to a daughter, Julia Dent Grant, at the home of her in laws, The White House in Washington DC.
1881/07/26 James A Garfield Victim Alex Bell uses a metal detector of his own invention to try find the bullet in Garfield. He was unsuccessful due, in part, to interference from Garfield's metal bed and Dr D Willard Bliss insistence of only examining the President's right side. Assassination of James Garfield
1881/07/26 Alexander Graham Bell Inventor Alex Bell uses a metal detector of his own invention to try find the bullet in Garfield. He was unsuccessful due, in part, to interference from Garfield's metal bed and Dr D Willard Bliss insistence of only examining the President's right side. Assassination of James Garfield
1886/06/02 John Philip Sousa Bandleader Frances Folsom marries Grover Cleveland in the Blue Room of the White House. Marriage of Frances Folsom and Grover Cleveland
1886/06/02 Frances Folsom Cleveland Bride Frances Folsom marries Grover Cleveland in the Blue Room of the White House. Marriage of Frances Folsom and Grover Cleveland
1886/06/02 Grover Cleveland Groom Frances Folsom marries Grover Cleveland in the Blue Room of the White House. Marriage of Frances Folsom and Grover Cleveland
1890/00/00 Lucretia Cromwell Stotesbury Owner Lucretia Roberts Cromwell buys Dolly Madison's fireplace from the White House. In 1911, it will be installed in the Stotesbury Mansion in Philadelphia.
1903/02/00 Theodore Roosevelt Sitter At the invitation of Theodore Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent lives in the White House during the month of February to work on Roosevelt's official presidential portrait. Theodore Roosevelt (Sargent painting)
1903/02/00 John Singer Sargent Painter At the invitation of Theodore Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent lives in the White House during the month of February to work on Roosevelt's official presidential portrait. Theodore Roosevelt (Sargent painting)
1905/03/16 Cornelia Bryce Pinchot Guest TR host Edith Wharton, George Cabot Lodge, his wife Mathilda, and Cornelia Bryce Pinchot for a literary salon.
1905/03/16 Theodore Roosevelt Host TR host Edith Wharton, George Cabot Lodge, his wife Mathilda, and Cornelia Bryce Pinchot for a literary salon.
1905/03/16 Edith Wharton Guest TR host Edith Wharton, George Cabot Lodge, his wife Mathilda, and Cornelia Bryce Pinchot for a literary salon.
1913/03/04 Woodrow Wilson US President Woodrow Wilson serves as the 28th President of the United States, 1913 to 1921
1915/03/18 Cary Travers Grayson Life Muddy from a walk, Edith Bolling Galt meets President Woodrow Wilson during tea at the White House. Wilson, also muddy, was playing golf but returned early. Marriage of Edith Bolling Galt and Woodrow Wilson
1915/03/18 Edith Wilson Guest Muddy from a walk, Edith Bolling Galt meets President Woodrow Wilson during tea at the White House. Wilson, also muddy, was playing golf but returned early. Marriage of Edith Bolling Galt and Woodrow Wilson
1915/03/21 Woodrow Wilson US President "The Birth of a Nation" is screened at the White House for President Woodrow Wilson. "It's like writing history with lightning." - Woodrow Wilson The Birth of a Nation (film)
1915/03/23 Edith Wilson Guest Edith Galt has dinner with President Wilson at the White House. During an early visit, "Wilson showed me that photograph (First Annual Message to the Congress). I told him the story ... and pointed out myself tucked away in a comer above his head." EBW
1915/05/04 Edith Wilson Life Woodrow Wilson's Pierce Arrow brings Mrs Galt to dine at the White House. After diner, they sit on the South Portico unchaperoned. Woodrow tells Edith he loves her and ask her to marry him. She turns him down. Marriage of Edith Bolling Galt and Woodrow Wilson
1919/10/02 Edith Wilson First Lady Edith Wilson finds the president unconscious on the bathroom floor of their private White House quarters with a cut on his head. Woodrow Wilson had suffered a near-fatal stroke leaving him unable to speak or move. Treaty of Versailles
1919/10/02 Woodrow Wilson Health Edith Wilson finds the president unconscious on the bathroom floor of their private White House quarters with a cut on his head. Woodrow Wilson had suffered a near-fatal stroke leaving him unable to speak or move. Treaty of Versailles
1921/03/00 Woodrow Wilson US President Until early 1921, Edith Wilson keeps the extent of the President's condition from the press and his opponents by restricting visitors, screening all his work and occasionally forging his signature.
1921/03/00 Cary Travers Grayson Physician Until early 1921, Edith Wilson keeps the extent of the President's condition from the press and his opponents by restricting visitors, screening all his work and occasionally forging his signature.
1924/02/03 Calvin Coolidge US President In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held by the ... the people of the United States, I do hereby direct that the flags of the White House and of the several departmental buildings be displayed at half-staff for a period of 30 days. - CC President Woodrow Wilson's Funeral
1929/03/04 Lou Hoover First Lady 31st President of the United States: 4 March 1929 - 4 March 1933
1929/03/04 Herbert Hoover US President 31st President of the United States: 4 March 1929 - 4 March 1933
1932/02/13 Winston Churchill Visitor Churchill is received at the White House by President Hoover. Winston Churchill's 1932 American Tour
1933/00/00 Jo Davidson Sculptor Towards the end of 1933, Jo Davidson begins sculpting a bust of United States President Franklin Roosevelt at the White House in Washington, DC. Franklin D Roosevelt (Bust NYC)
1933/03/04 Eleanor Roosevelt First Lady 32nd President of the United States: 4 March 1933 - 12 April 1945
1933/03/04 Franklin D Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States: 4 March 1933 - 12 April 1945
1933/03/06 Franklin D Roosevelt US President At 1:00 am, FDR orders the suspension of all banking transactions, effective immediately, no institution shall pay out or permit the withdrawal or transfer in any manner or by any device whatsoever, of any gold or silver coin or bullion or currency. American Bank Holiday of 1933
1934/00/00 Franklin D Roosevelt Subject At the end of 1933 and the beginning of 1934, Franklin Roosevelt sits several times for sculptor Jo Davidson at the White House. Franklin D Roosevelt (Bust NYC)
1942/02/19 Franklin D Roosevelt President Franklin D Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing military commanders to relocate "any or all persons" at their discretion. Internment of Americans with Foreign Enemy Ancestry
1942/02/19 Franklin D Roosevelt President Franklin D Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing military commanders to relocate "any or all persons" at their discretion. Aleut Evacuation and Internment
1946/02/00 Winston Churchill UK Prime Minister January-March. Churchill travels to the United States and Cuba and visits President Truman at the White House. Winston Churchill's 1946 American Tour
1954/00/00 Winston Churchill Visitor On N Portico of White House, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Speaker of the House Joseph Martin and Chief Justice Warren, US Rep Charles Halleck, Senate Leader William F Knowland and Senator Homer Ferguson pose after a luncheon.
1959/05/06 Winston Churchill Speaker Churchill speaks on "Union of the English-Speaking Peoples" at the White House.
1961/01/20 John F Kennedy US President 35th President of the United States 20 January 1961 to 22 November 1963 JFK Presidential Election
1961/01/20 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis First Lady 35th President of the United States 20 January 1961 to 22 November 1963 JFK Presidential Election
1961/06/15 A refitted Lincoln Continental four door convertible is delivered to the White House. Kennedy Lincoln Continental (automobile)
1962/02/14 Henry Francis du Pont Head the Fine Arts Committee Jackie Kennedy's televised tour of the Executive Mansion airs on CBS Television, unveiling a major restoration led by the First Lady. Jacqueline Kennedy's Restoration of the White House
1962/02/14 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Preservationist Jackie Kennedy's televised tour of the Executive Mansion airs on CBS Television, unveiling a major restoration led by the First Lady. Jacqueline Kennedy's Restoration of the White House
1963/04/09 John F Kennedy US President After a vote of both houses of Congress, President John F Kennedy confers honorary American citizenship on Winston Churchill. Too ill to attend, Churchill's son Randolph accepts on his behalf at a White House ceremony.
1963/04/09 Winston Churchill Life After a vote of both houses of Congress, President John F Kennedy confers honorary American citizenship on Winston Churchill. Too ill to attend, Churchill's son Randolph accepts on his behalf at a White House ceremony.
1963/06/00 John F Kennedy President Film makers follow JFK during the Integration of the University of Alabama Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
1963/10/21 John F Kennedy President While having dinner with Ben Bradlee and his wife Tony, JFK ask Jackie to accompany him on a fund raising trip to Dallas, Texas. Assassination of John F Kennedy
1963/10/21 Ben Bradlee Visitor While having dinner with Ben Bradlee and his wife Tony, JFK ask Jackie to accompany him on a fund raising trip to Dallas, Texas. Assassination of John F Kennedy
1988/08/10 Ronald Reagan President President Reagan signs a bill apologizing to Japanese-Americans for their internment and offering each surviving detainee a $20,000 tax-free payment. The bill includes $12,000 to each Aleutian Islander and $21.4 million for their loss of property. Internment of Americans with Foreign Enemy Ancestry
1988/08/10 Ronald Reagan President President Reagan signs a bill apologizing to Japanese-Americans for their internment and offering each surviving detainee a $20,000 tax-free payment. The bill includes $12,000 to each Aleutian Islander and $21.4 million for their loss of property. Aleut Evacuation and Internment
1989/01/20 George H W Bush President 41st President of the United States: 20 January 1989 - 20 January 1993
1993/01/20 William Jefferson Clinton President 42nd President of the United States: 20 January 1993 - 20 January 2001
1995/11/00 William Jefferson Clinton Sugar Daddy Twenty two-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, enjoys sexual acts with 49-year-old President Bill Clinton. The amorous pair will have eight sexual encounter by March 1997.
1997/02/28 William Jefferson Clinton Sugar Daddy In the study next to the Oval Office, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky engage in sex. Clinton also gives her a hat pin and Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." Lewinsky will later discover that the blue dress she is wearing is stained with Clinton's semen. Leaves of Grass (book)
2001/01/20 George W Bush President 43rd President of the United States: 20 January 2001 - 20 January 2009
2003/02/27 Frank Conroy Work During a White House ceremony, Frank Conroy accepts the National Humanities Medal on behalf of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, the first university-based organization to be presented the Medal.
2009/01/20 Barack Obama 44th President of the United States: 20 January 2009
2011/07/15 Ruby Bridges Guest Ruby Bridges meets Barack Obama at the White House. While viewing the Norman Rockwell painting of her on display he tells her, "I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together."
2014/02/07 "Burly Cobb's House, South Truro" and "Cobb's Barns, South Truro" are installed at the Oval Office, on loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art. Cobb's Barns, South Truro
2014/06/06 Yuri Kochiyama Terrorist Supporter We honor the legacy of Yuri Kochiyama ... who dedicated her life to the pursuit of social justice. - Kiran Ahuja, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders September 11th Attacks
2015/12/12 Barack Obama US President Today the American people can be proud because this historic agreement is a tribute to American leadership. Over the past seven years, we've transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change. - Barack Obama, Reuters
2017/06/01 From the Rose Garden, President Trump announces that the US will cease all participation in the Paris Agreement, and begin negotiations to re-enter the agreement "on terms that are fair to the US, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." Climate Change
2021/01/20 In the Oval Office, US President Joe Biden signs 15 executive orders on his first day in office, including one rejoining the Paris Agreement. The first 5 US Presidents signed a combined total of 15 executive orders. Climate Change
2022/12/08 Democratic Party Privilege Joined by Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, President Biden signs a $36 billion bailout to prevent cuts to the pensions of about 357,000 union workers, or about $100,840 for each retiree.

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Particulars for The White House:
Area of Significance American Politics
Sight Category Building
Occupation Attribute US President




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