Teens Crash White House Dinner

The gossip blogs are afire this week with posts about the White House Crashers. More relevant to TMS rather than TMZ, Henry Morgenthau III (son of FDR's Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau) contributed an Op-Ed to today's International Herald Tribune found here. In it he recalls a time in 1938 when two teens crashed a White House party on a dare to get President Roosevelt's autograph.

Morgenthau concludes with the point, "In this time for change, some things have not changed very much." The Op-Ed has a nice link to an online collection of Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day column, which is hosted by George Washington University--some good reading to do in your free time.

Better Homes and Gardens

She may not be the first of the First Ladies to start a garden or open the White House up to the public, but I have learned that I owe gratitude to Pat Nixon. It was she who first opened the White House to the public twice a year for the Spring and Fall Garden Tours; it is because of her (and a friend who had tickets) that the Secret Service opened their wrought iron gates and let me in to see the garden a few weekends ago.

As Richard Nixon noted in his memoirs when Pat Nixon entered the White House she did so without “breaking stride.” Mrs. Nixon committed herself immediately to the building and its grounds, adding more antique American furnishings than any other First Lady—it was she who had the Gilbert Stuart copy of John Quincy Adams replaced by the real McCoy.

Mrs. Nixon first opened the White House up for the garden tours in 1972. Over 10,000 people attended, the event was a success. Despite the initial confusion over why there was a Rose Garden that in fact had no roses, over the years the popularity of the garden tour expanded. This autumn, attendance peaked at 25,000. However, attendance was particularly high this year due to Michelle Obama’s “Victory Garden” aka the White House Kitchen Garden. Though she never had the appeal of a Kennedy (Jacqueline Kennedy garden above left), Mrs. Nixon preferred to work quietly behind the scenes. She added the exterior lights to the White House, so it could be seen glowing at night on Pennsylvania Avenue. She changed the White House Tours, adding speakers while people stood in line so that visitors might learn the history of the house while waiting.

Having never attended a tour of the White House, this is the closest I’ve been to the Oval Office. I was surprised to see how high the land sits. From the backyard you can see the Jefferson Monument clearly, something you can’t do from Constitution Avenue, which sits below the South lawn and the Ellipse (see below center). Also, the Andrew Jackson Magnolia!!!!! Planted in 1830 and dedicated to his deceased wife Rachel!!!! It’s still there (see above right to the left of the portico)! Amazing! Yes, I did have thoughts of taking a leaf from it. No, I did not take a leaf because I feared crossing the Secret Service and National Park Service. I made the right choice.

Sources: Bonnie Angelo, Time Magazine, “Pat Nixon: The Woman in the Cloth Coat,” July 5 , 1993.

Jonathan Movroydis, Pat Nixon and America’s White House, 2009.

White House Historical Association. “The White House Gardens and Grounds” (Fall 2009).

The Other White House

I recently took a trip south of Washington to visit the other Capital with the other White House. Strange to think the Confederates chose their capital to be only 98 miles from Washington, but early in the Civil War the iron mills and factories of Richmond, Virginia were of tremendous strategic importance to the South. So it came to be that the Confederate capital was situated on a bluff overlooking the James River, and the executive mansion on 12th and Clay Streets became known as the White House of the Confederacy. Not to be picky, but the Confederate White House is actually pale grey (pictured at left as seen now and below right during the Civil War).

Originally constructed in 1818 for a prominent physician, the third story of the federal period house was added when it was purchased by the Crenshaw family in 1857. When the war commenced the Confederate government purchased the home and furnishings for $42,000, and CSA President Jefferson Davis and family moved in shortly thereafter.

Davis’s wife and first lady Varina became the official hostess of Richmond society, and the home was used for entertainment. At first the levees and balls were lavish, as the Southerners had many early victories to cheer on. Nonetheless, Varina Davis preferred to keep a “Quiet Set” and tended to keep gatherings small and intimate. She feared Richmond to be full of dreadful gossip.

As the war progressed, Richmond began to feel the strain of tough economic times. The price of a gallon of eggnog was over $100 at Christmas in 1863. “Starvation Parties” soon became the talk of the town, where the only expense was hiring the band and attendees refreshed themselves with a glass of water from the James River. Despite this privation, Mary Chesnut—the wife of General James Chesnut—noted that she attended one of Varina’s “Luncheons for Ladies Only” where they were served “gumbo, ducks and olives, lettuce salad, chocolate cream and jelly cake, claret cup, champagne, etc.” But on the whole, social gatherings at the Confederate White House became fewer and far between.

By 1864 the Confederate First Lady confessed to Mrs. Chesnut that the Davises could no longer live on the income provided by the Confederate government, and had begun selling off the horses and carriages kept in the carriage house at their White House.

Most of us know how the Civil War ended. The Union Army seized Richmond burning about 10% of it. Jeff Davis and Varina fled for their lives. The southern White House became the headquarters for the occupying army, with Lincoln personally visiting the mansion on April 4, 1865. He sat in Davis’s chair and helped himself to some of the wine left by the Rebel First Family.

It’s interesting to consider the lives of these two presidents living in their own “White Houses.” Aside from the struggles of the War, both as heads of state used their homes to entertain. Both had wives who presided over the local society and were frequently the subject of gossip. My image of Jefferson Davis has always been that of a slave holding villain. I had not considered him to be a family man, so visiting the house he briefly resided in humanized him. Like Lincoln, Davis suffered tragedy in his White House as well. In Washington, Lincoln’s son Willie died in 1862 of disease at age 12. Perhaps more horrifying was the death of five year old Joseph Davis, who fell from the East Portico of the Davis's White House.

2 Presidents. 2 First Ladies. 2 Capitals. 2 White Houses. The Confederate house is currently in the care of the Museum of the Confederacy; an interesting place where you can learn about the “Second American Revolution,” States Rights, the valor of the Confederate troops, and the vast superiority of their cavalry. I guess there are 2 ways of looking at things.

Sources: Mary Chesnut, Diary from Dixie.

Nelson Lankford, Richmond Burning.

Museum of the Confederacy.

Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate State of Richmond.

Frank Like Alice

“If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.” –Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from the sitting room of her Dupont Circle home

In a time when women were just finding their voices, Alice Roosevelt proved to be one outspoken, dashing, limelight-seeking, stubborn woman. (Alice at left in 1902, in one of her signature hats)

Learning of President McKinley’s assassination, Alice and the other Roosevelt children danced a wild jig. The White House was theirs! Alice was at home in Washington right away, taking up a bedroom in the Northwest corner of the White House looking out at the affluent Lafayette Square. She had moved in just as she was about to cast childhood aside and take on her role as a woman in late Victorian society. One of the first big events at for the Roosevelt family was her debutante ball in 1901. Alice was ready for a party, yet was crushed when she realized that being the First Daughter was not all fun and games. Perhaps to assuage a growing temperance movement, Alice’s stepmother Edith chose to serve punch instead champagne at the ball, much to Alice’s mortification. But despite this hurdle for poor Alice, there was plenty of other fun to be had around town.

I confess that when I started reading about Alice, I was hoping to learn about a strong woman ahead of her time, who broke through gender barriers at every turn. In some ways she was just that. She drove around town in a $2500 “red devil” sports car in an age where women were not to be driving. She bet money on horses and played poker, when most women played bridge.

I had hoped that Alice would be a diplomat, working behind the scenes, like her cousin Eleanor Roosevelt. But in fact, she was more concerned about the publicity. When Kaiser Wilhelm II visited DC, she practiced smashing champagne bottles in the backyard of the White House, for she had been invited to christen the Kaiser’s new ship.

Frankly, I find her shallow. She fretted terribly over the parties she would attend and resented the White House secretary for handling her correspondence, a major hindrance to her youthful flirtations. She often stared at herself in the mirror, comparing herself to the Gibson Girl pictures of her in the press. She married Congressman Nick Longworth (for which Longworth HOB is named), publicly criticized him when he supported the Taft presidency, and cheated on him with Senator William Borah’s son (with whom she had a child, Paulina).

In her defense, when Senator Joseph McCarthy greeted her in the 1950s with, “How are you, Alice?” she famously looked him dead in the eye and replied, “No, Senator McCarthy, you are not going to call me Alice. The truckman, the trashman, and the policeman on the block may call me Alice but you may not.” Okay, so maybe I admire her a little…

Sources: Stacy A. Cordery, Alice.

Carol Felsenthal, Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

Welcome to the White House, First Puppy

Recent pictures of Washington DC’s newest/fluffiest resident, Bo the dog, romping around the White House remind us that this iconic Washington residence is indeed just that. A residence. Home to the President and the first family, the White House also does triple duty as part top secret office building and part museum. It is understood by all of its inhabitants (except perhaps the dogs) that their residence is temporary, but each administration does try it’s best to leave their mark. Fortunately enough, because of these territorial instincts (something the dogs would understand?) the interior of the White House now holds one of the greatest collections of American decorative arts in the country.

The cornerstone of the President’s Mansion was laid in 1792 under the supervision of architect James Hoban. While George Washington advised Hoban on the design, John Adams was the first president to move into the house in 1800 while it was still under construction. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson introduced the first indoor water closet, and running water was piped in through hollowed out logs beginning in 1833. While living there in 1809, James Madison commissioned noted American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe to design what is now the Blue Room in the fashionable Greek Revival style at which Latrobe excelled. Unfortunately, in 1814 Madison and his wife Dolley were famously forced to flee the home with George Washington’s portrait as it burned under British attack. Incoming President James Monroe again hired James Hoban to rebuild the house, and updated the interior fashions with new French Empire furnishings. Several of these, including a Parisian-made settee and seven gilded chairs, remain today as the oldest original pieces of furniture in the home.

During the Victorian Era, President Buchanan brought modern Victorian decor into the house, and later Mary Todd Lincoln spent a great deal of effort to upgrade the mansion with Rococo Revival laminated rosewood furnishings. Many of these remain today in the famed Lincoln bedroom. During his administration in the late 1870s, Rutherford B. Hayes improved and expanded the White House greenhouses to reflect current interests in scientific advances and exotic curiosities.

By the time Chester Arthur entered office in 1881, the Victorian was on its way out. Arthur sold much of the extravagant interior decorations added during the period and commissioned fellow New Yorker and color expert Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate the oft used Blue Room in it’s namesake blue hue. In 1902 Theodore Roosevelt continued the trend by bringing on the Neo-classical powerhouse architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White to fully remove the Victorian dressings and replace them with the streamlined interiors found in the White House today. Roosevelt also commissioned McKim, Mead and White to construct the West Wing of the building to help separate his office space from the family quarters occupied by his six rambunctious children. The West Wing was later expanded in the 1930s by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who also added (given the times) a small movie theater and an air raid shelter. 

In 1948, Harry Truman took office and shortly thereafter discovered that the structure of his new home was in a disastrous state. Over 130 years of constant use as office and living spaces had passed since the last reconstruction, and Truman began planning for a new restoration as soon as his daughter’s piano started to sink into the floor. From 1948 to 1952, the house was completely gutted and rebuilt with modern steel beams and concrete slabs that were pinned to the original 1814 exterior. The interiors were then replicated using Hoban’s floor plans, with decorations mimicking McKim, Mead and White’s classically inspired designs.

The gutted interior of the White House in 1950

Truman’s restoration of the house was well received, but his one major misstep was to redecorate much of the interior with standard issue furniture. Luckily, the White House found its savior in 1960 with the arrival of Jackie Kennedy. An icon of fashion herself, Jackie Kennedy worked tirelessly to make the White House a showcase for the decorative arts. Aware of the importance and depth of history that the house possessed, she worked to establish a collection of original pieces and to restore the public rooms as period spaces. Under her guidance, in 1961 the White House gained a curator and officially became a museum. She then created the White House Historical Association, which still exists today to raise money for the care of the home’s collections and to acquire further pieces of furniture and art. After Jackie, the care and preservation of the White House became an official task of the First Lady. In 1964 Lady Bird Johnson helped establish the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, of which the First Lady is the honorary chair, and in 1979 Rosalynn Carter oversaw the creation of the White House Preservation Fund (now the White House Acquisition Trust) with an original endowment of 25 million.

Today the historic preservation of the White House is managed by the National Park Service and the General Services Administration. It received its museum accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1988, and visitors willing to call their Congress members in advance can view prominent pieces from the collection on daily tours. And of course, the collection is always growing. Reflecting her personal style, new First Lady Michelle Obama hired interior decorator Michael Smith to create casual, homey interiors that are distinctly American; mixing priceless Early American antiques with affordable modern pieces. Ubiquitous furniture sources like Anthropologie and Pottery Barn were tapped for the more affordable items, while the President and First Lady sleep in an 1820’s tall-post maple bed and Malia Obama does her homework on a desk used by President Lincoln.

Here’s hoping that Bo doesn’t get to chewing on the legs of those.

Source: Delahanty, Randolph. "The Nation's House" Museum, January/February 2009 

Image Sources: Obama and dog, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/images/090414-obama-dog-picture_big.jpg; White House Shell, http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/special/renovation-1948.htm