The White House: A cherished American landmark

In its 225-year history, the White House has seen a lot. If these walls could talk, they’d have plenty to say, as an entire arm, the East Wing, has been torn off to make room for President Trump’s ballroom. 

Change has always been a part of the White House’s story. First lady Jacqueline Kennedy said as much during her famed televised tour of the mansion in 1962: “The house will always grow, and should,” she said. 

In 1792, George Washington chose Irish-born James Hoban’s simple yet elegant design, in a competition that also included an entry by Thomas Jefferson.

Our second president, John Adams, became the first chief executive to live there. In the mantel of the State Dining Room, Adams’ words are inscribed: “I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”

But only 14 years later, the British set fire to the White House during the War of 1812. 

In 2014, then-curator William Allman showed “Sunday Morning” the remaining burn marks – “scorching that would have happened when flames were drawn out through open windows and doors, and licked up around the tops of the stone,” he said.

It was reconstructed in just three years.

In 1889, first lady Caroline Harrison complained that ‘the rats have nearly taken the building.” She also proposed a major expansion. But her grandiose vision never got past the drawing board.

East and West Wings were added in 1902. Seven years later, the rotund William Howard Taft added the Oval Office. 

By 1948, the White House was in danger of collapsing. It would’ve been cheaper to level the place and rebuild it. But President Harry Truman decided that preserving the exterior walls was crucial to the country’s sense of continuity. Instead, the interior was entirely gutted. Truman also added a balcony, an alteration which provoked an outcry. 

The latest alteration by President Trump is much more significant. The East Wing has been demolished, with critics saying that in doing so Mr. Trump has broken a promise that the new construction would not interfere with the current building, and the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom is nearly double the size of the main house. The president himself has estimated it will cost $300 million, to be paid for, he says, by private donations. 

The White House isn’t a private home. Nor is it just some government building. It’s the “people’s house.” No surprise any major change will have people asking a lot of questions.

     
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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Steven Tyler.

     
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