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Scholarship
The Election of 1876
The morning of Monday, March 5, 1877 was cold and overcast as Americans anticipated the Inauguration of Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes after a long, tense, and disputed election. Hayes’ narrow win had only been decided three days earlier, defeating Democratic candidate and New York Governor Samuel Tilden by just one electoral vote, 185-184. The only caveat: Hayes was already the President of
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Scholarship
The Origins of the March 4 Inauguration
Today, Inauguration Day falls on an exact day and time—January 20 at noon. Every four years, either the president or the president-elect takes the Oath of Office. Since 1981, presidents have typically taken the Oath on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building.1 This public ritual demonstrates America’s commitment to democracy and signifies a peaceful transfer of power to c
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Scholarship
The History of Lafayette Park
Today, Lafayette Park sits just north of the White House, enclosed by H Street NW (north), Madison Place (east), Pennsylvania Avenue (south), and Jackson Place (west). This seven-acre public park is named after the famous French Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette. It has served as a graveyard, construction site, market, public space, and neighborhood throughout its 200-year history.
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Scholarship
The Tale of Two White Houses: Espionage during the Civil War
In the nineteenth century, two mansions sitting approximately one hundred miles apart were both called the “White House.” The White House in Washington, D.C., was constructed to serve as the executive seat for the President of the United States. During the War of 1812, British troops burned the building but it was quickly rebuilt and re-occupied by 1817. The following year, a sm
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Scholarship
George DeBaptiste
President William Henry Harrison’s famously brief month-long tenure at the White House makes it difficult to research the inner workings of the Executive Mansion during his administration, and an 1858 fire at his family’s home in North Bend, Ohio, destroyed many documents related to this particular period of Harrison’s life.1 However, obituaries and recollections reveal a fascinating individual who wo
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Scholarship
John Mercer Langston
In 2021, the Arlington County Board voted to change the name of Lee Highway, named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, to Langston Boulevard in honor of John Mercer Langston, the first Black congressman from Virginia.1 Langston’s work as a civil rights activist led to several federal appointments by United States presidents and multiple White House visits. John M. Langston’s ad
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Scholarship
The Households of James Buchanan
James Buchanan is often regarded as one of the worst presidents in United States history.1 Many historians contend that Buchanan’s sympathy toward the South and reluctance to stop the first seven states from seceding led to the American Civil War, but less attention has been given to how his upbringing and earlier experiences shaped his views on slavery.2 Although Pe
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Scholarship
Abraham Lincoln Funeral
Six hundred invited guests attended the funeral of President Lincoln, felled by the assassin John Wilkes Booth. The East Room overflowed with mourners out into the Green Room. Inconsolable, Mary Todd Lincoln would not attend the funeral services. General Grant was seated alone at the head of the catafalque in full uniform, the hero on a pedestal, his face glistening
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Article
Franklin D. Roosevelt Funeral
The death of President Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, took the world wholly by surprise. Although those close to him had feared that since his reelection campaign that his time was near, the public was not aware of the seriousness of his condition even though photographs from Yalta showed his physical deterioration. The president secretly left for the Yalta Conference after his
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Article
James A. Garfield Funeral
On July 2, 1881, Charles J.Guiteau twice shot and greviously wounded President Garfield at Washington's Baltimore and Potomac station. The president was taken to the White House and was treated by a half dozen physicians who tried to remove a bullet in his back with bare hands and unsterilized instruments. Garfield asked to be taken to the New Jersey seaside on
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Article
John F. Kennedy Funeral
John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Shocked and saddened by that news bulletin, Americans that lived through the 1960s will never forget the day of Kennedy's death and the sorrow of that solemn funeral. Television brought those events immediately and continually into America's homes. The president had been pronounced dead
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Article
Warren G. Harding Funeral
The stunning news of President Harding's death came to the White House by telephone on August 2, 1923. The president had fallen ill and died suddenly of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a tour of the western states. Floral tributes—bouquets, crosses, wreaths, anchors of hope and many other traditional symbols of mourning—began to arrive as soon as the