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Article
Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey
The official "pardoning" of White House turkeys is an interesting White House tradition that has captured the imagination of the public in recent years. It is often stated that President Lincoln's 1863 clemency to a turkey recorded in an 1865 dispatch by White House reporter Noah Brooks was the origin for the pardoning ceremony, although this is likely apocryphal. Reports of turkeys
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Article
The Executive Stables
The stables, built on the White House grounds over a period of a century, were never intended to be great architecture. Public interest was keen simply because they were the president's stables. The first executive stable was a simple Georgian brick building, erected just off the grounds in 1800. Thomas Jefferson located a stable and carriage house in flanking wing dependencies
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Article
A Special Space Lost and Found Images of Abraham Lincoln's White House Stables
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has often been referred to as “The Nation’s Attic” for its vast holdings of historic memorabilia. if that assessment is accurate, then the Photographic Division of the Library of Congress must be considered “The Nation’s Family Album.” With holdings of more than 10 million photographs and negatives, the Library of Congress clearly stands as th
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Article
The President and Washington During the War with Mexico
James Knox Polk was at home in Columbia, Tennessee, when he judged that it was about time to find out the results of the election. A dispatch from Washington was waiting for him at the post office. And the news of his presidential victory marked not only a change in his life, but marked, in retrospect, the start of the
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Article
The Company Dining Room
During the nineteenth century, a series of “state dinners” were held every winter social season to honor Congress, the Supreme Court, and members of the diplomatic community. In recent times, the term “state dinner” has come to mean more specifically a dinner hosted by the president honoring a foreign head of state as the guest of honor. The State Dining Room, wh
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Article
The Ceremonial Role of Horses
Horses are unrivaled in their ability to add a natural regal beauty to official ceremonies and state occasions. The horses, carriage and livery of the president have added beauty and spectacle to state events, presidential Inaugural Parades and official ceremonies. Cowboys and Indians, the Rough Riders, and the Army cavalry and their horses have all participated in the parades. Horse
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Theodore Roosevelt Family's Horses
Theodore Roosevelt's love of fine horses was legendary and played a part in shaping his vigorous personal image and his advocacy of the "strenuous life." Roosevelt had been a rancher in the Dakota Territory, and his volunteer-mounted "Rough Riders" emerged as national heroes after the famous charge at San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War. After the assassination of
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Article
Working Horses at the White House
The presidential horses earned their oats and were on call 24 hours a day. Years of pounding the asphalt streets of Washington would take a toll on the feet and legs of these horses and they required and were given the best of care. Messengers, secretaries, clerks and the housekeeper used the government horses for daily business and for hauling produce
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Reports from the White House Easter Egg Roll
The annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House has been a regular public event since 1878 and a subject of interest to Americans across the country.Reports from White House Easter Egg Rolls Past:"The White House Lawn" | The Washington Post, April 23, 1889 "On the broad portico of the southern entrance stood the president of the United States holding in his
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White House Decorative Arts in the 1870s
War-hero Ulysses S. Grant, elected after a bitter war and the emotional impeachment of Andrew Johnson, spent two terms in the Executive Mansion. First Lady Julia Grant, with an initial $25,000 appropriation, concentrated on refurnishing the family quarters and executive offices at the east end of the second floor. The Grants purchased Renaissance Revival style furniture with heavy crests, rounded pediments
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Article
An Eloquent Visitor from the Great Plains
One of the most moving moments in the early history of the White House took place in the Entrance Hall, when President James Monroe received Chief Petalesharro, a Pawnee from the Loup River region in central Nebraska. At the time he was at the White House, he was a celebrity for rescuing a woman his tribe was attempting to burn
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Video
First Pets of the White House
70% of the U.S. population has a pet - and it has been no different at the White House over the years. Explore how presidents and first families have kept pets at the White House - from cats and dogs to snakes and livestock, and how some of these animals even helped different presidents lead the nation. To learn more