Memorandum from Harold D. Smith to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment
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OCR Page 1 of 13EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
BUREAU OF THE BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C.
December 14, 1945
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
You will be interested in the attached memorandum, which I
have had compiled, covering the history of changes in space at
the White House. Since our conversation, I have seen the pro-
posed plans for the addition for which we recently sent you an
estimate.
I indicated to you that I have given some consideration to
the problem of Federal administration and architecture. As a
result of this consideration, I am concerned about any addition
to the present White House office lay-out which would tend to
establish more firmly what I believe to have been a very wrong
conception in the first place. Since we had so little time to
discuss this matter, I want to try briefly to make my point clear.
I believe that the White House should be the residence of
the President and nothing else. Secondly, I believe that the
importance of this nation's Chief Executive, not only in this
country but throughout the world, justifies arrangements archi-
tecturally which express that importance. It certainly cannot
be expressed by improvised additions to the White House and its
so-called executive offices. This is more or less of a symbolic
approach.
There is another approach to the problem which involves the
effectiveness of Federal administration as directed by the Presi-
dent. The conception of the Executive Office of the President,
as set forth by the President's Committee on Administrative
Management and in the reorganization plans of 1939, was a great
conception. However, it has never worked properly largely because
of the inadequacy of the architectural arrangements. In my
judgment, it is of supreme importance that the President be
immediately surrounded by the assistants who constitute his
general staff. Many of the failures of Federal administration
arise from inadequate arrangements in this regard.
My great concern about the problem is based solely on these
grounds. I hope that some time during your administration you
will break with the customs of the past and provide the kind of
architectural arrangements which will reinforce the position of
the Chief Executive as leader of the Government.
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