You Might Also Like
-
Article
The White House Remembered
In 2005, The White House Historical Association released The White House Remembered,Volume 1: Recollections by Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, edited by Hugh Sidey. The audio edition of this volume, read by the editor himself, is at the bottom of this article. The publication of volume 2, recollections by Presidents George H. W. Bush and
-
Scholarship
Notable African Americans in the Early Nineteenth Century White House
While not as famous as the presidents they served, several African American slaves who lived inside the White House went on to gain recognition of their own. While many people can name all of the presidents of the United States, few people can tell you about the slaves several of those presidents kept while inside the White House. Many presidents,
-
Article
A "Dark Horse" in Sunlight and Shadow
When Whig opponents chanted “Who is James K. Polk?” throughout the presidential election of 1844, it was more an attempt to influence perception than a reflection of reality. The image of Polk as an obscure protege of Andrew Jackson stood in contrast to the successful career of the nationally known governor of Tennessee and speaker of the United States House of Repr
-
Scholarship
At Work in the Lincoln White House
William Johnson accompanied Abraham Lincoln on the journey from Illinois to Washington, where Lincoln would take the helm of a nation engulfed in crisis. Lincoln hoped Johnson, who was African American, would work as his personal attendant in the White House, but the existing staff had other ideas. They refused to work with Johnson, an outsider with a particularly dark
-
Scholarship
Slavery at The Octagon
On June 14, 1801, John Tayloe III wrote to his architect: “my object is to be done with the Building as quickly as I can—with the least Trouble & Vexation—for the Expence of it already alarms me to Death whenever I think about it”.1 Tayloe, a wealthy planter from Virginia, was anxiously awaiting the completion of his winter residence in the youn
-
Scholarship
The Enslaved Household of Tench Ringgold
From 1818 to 1831, Tench Ringgold served as U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia. His home (today known as the DACOR Bacon House) sits on the corner of F and 18th Streets, about three blocks from the White House. Built in 1825, the house is a notable example of Federal-style architecture.1 Tench Ringgold came from an old Maryland merchant and slave-owning
-
Scholarship
"liberated & set free at Mr. Monroe's dying request": Peter Marks' White House Story
On July 4, 1831, President James Monroe died after months of illness. Many Americans mourned the loss of the last “Founding Father” president. But for one man, Peter Marks, the impact of Monroe’s death was very different.Peter Marks (sometimes spelled Marx) was enslaved in Monroe’s household for most of his life. Sometime in the final few months of his life, Mo
-
Article
The Other White House
For a four-year period in American history, two official houses carried the name White House. Standing 90 miles apart, across the Virginia landscape, one overlooked the Potomac River and the other the James. They were the same age and architecturally were cousins. Designed by James Hoban, the White House had been rebuilt by him and completed late in 1817, after its destruction
-
Article
Introduction to the Transcription of the Washington Diary of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
In November 1845, Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon arrived for the “season” in Washington, D.C., with her family. Her husband, James Dixon, of Hartford, Connecticut, had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, ultimately serving two terms, in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845–March 3, 1849). In addition to their two little girls—4-year-old Elizabeth (“Bessie”) and 1-year-old Cl
-
Article
Lincoln in His Shop
In the summer of 1864, Kentuckian John Bullock called upon President Abraham Lincoln at the White House to make a personal appeal. The young Bullock took his seat in the reception area adjacent to Lincoln’s office alongside numerous other individuals, hoping for an opportunity to have but a few minutes with the nation’s leader. Uncertain if the president would even
-
Article
Good Neighbors: FDR, Major Gist, and Blair House
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States drew its leadership from private citizens, not government officials.1 An archival collection kept at Blair House, The President’s Guest House, records the pioneering alliance of Major Gist Blair, the last family descendant to live there, and President Franklin D. Ro
-
Article
Rules of Engagement
Shortly before Secretary of Congress Thomson arrived at Mount Vernon in April 1789 to announce that George Washington had been elected first president, a carriage departed the Potomac plantation headed for New York. Tobias Lear, Washington’s private secretary, was directed to precede his eminent employer to make ready the presidential household. When Lear arrived in the temporary national capi