The original White House was neither white, nor referred to as a
house. The first President of the United States lived in three
houses while President, none of which were the White House, as
it was not completed while he was President. The White House was
first referred to as the Presidential Palace, later the
Presidential house, and finally the White House, after the war
of 1812 when British troops attacked and burned the house. When
it was rebuilt it was painted white, and the name White House
was born.
An Interesting Fact about the White House
When George Washington was deciding where to build it, there was
some controversy as to whether it should stand in the North or
on the property of the South. Washington finally picked land
between the two, and Maryland and Virginia, who were on the
border, were happy to donate the land on which the White House
now stands, neither north nor South, but in a district, the
District of Columbia.
The Oval Office, a Symbol of the Modern Day President
For President Taft, the Oval Office may have symbolized his view
of the modern-day president. Taft intended to be the center of
his administration, and by creating the Oval Office in the
center of the West Wing, he was more involved with the
day-to-day operation of his presidency than were his recent
predecessors.
What President Taft could not imagine in 1902 when he built the
Oval Office was that the office itself would become a symbol of
the Presidency. Over the years, Americans developed a
sentimental attachment to the Oval Office through memorable
images, such as John Kennedy, Jr. peering through the front
panel of his father's desk or President Nixon talking on the
phone with astronauts after a successful voyage. Television
broadcasts, such as President Reagan's speech following the
Challenger explosion, would leave lasting impressions in the
minds of Americans of both the office and its occupant.
The Oval Office became a symbol of strength and reassurance the
evening of September 11, 2001, when President George W. Bush
delivered comforting words through a televised address from the
Oval Office. Less than six months later, President George W.
Bush welcomed Afghan Interim Authority Hamid Karzai to the Oval
Office. The meeting was a sign of significant progress in the
war on terrorism.
For more information, visit
http://www.WashingtonDCInfoCenter.com
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