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Kennedy Center Honors 12/2/90 [OA 8320] [2]
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26
21
2
1
(Hinchliffe/Grossman)
November 23, 1990 1 p.m.
KENNEDY
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
East Room
December 2, 1990
Good evening, and welcome to the White House -- where for
wH
generations presidents have celebrated America's art -- here in
5th
America's home.
ins
have
It's a privilege to be hosting the distinguished recipients
of this year's Kennedy Center Honors. And a privilege to be
carrying out a dream of President Kennedy's. He yearned to see
an America which would reward achievement in the arts as well as
in business, or science, or politics. With true insight, he once
said: "Roosevelt and Lincoln understood that the life of the
arts. is very close to the center of a nation's purpose -- and
Pub
or
is a test of the quality of a nation's civilization." Tonight we
A
pay tribute to his vision, \ to these men and women, \ and to the
crucial role art must play in the enrichment of our society. 11
American art is absolutely unique. It's not a melting pot -
- it's a vibrant mosaic that gives birth to never-before-dared
explosions of imagination. American artists draw on the richness
of our roots from around this world -- then reinterpret them in a
] greast
vigorously new way. All of us -- as leaders and teachers and
parents and citizens -- must cherish and encourage this great
diversity of vision that is American art. 11
Tonight we do that by honoring five artists who have enriched
our nation's cultural heritage. Their passion, skill and sheer
exuberance have challenged and amazed us and -- most of all --
this might be misleading cus she
was a Julliend student plus,
2
even in though part of her traing was
have helped us to understand what it is to be an American.
Europe cl dent know is that
alone
instifies the
Dizzy Gillespie -- a dazzlingly inventive rebel who merged Old
world
varied musical traditions into a unique American sound.
Katharine Hepburn -- a classic actress whose carved jaw and
weind chat's plus 1st
not the of
fiesty independence stand for the great American belief in self
me330 sopraro
went to
Rise Stevens a soprano of old-world training and new-world
cite her
5
fervor who redefined American opera. Jule style -- a London
bio
born composer who gave birth to the optimistic exuberance of the
to
American musical. Billy Wilder -- a filmmaker whose Austrian
why
you
beginnings helped him capture the quirkily American character.
III
say
that
Who can think of the irresistibly expressive wail of jazz
q.s.
without picturing Dizzy Gillespie's ballooning cheeks. For he is
The
the King of Bop. The founder of jazz, whose astonishing creativ-
NOT, took it in new directi
ity and improvisational daring changed the course of musicmaking.
Many people say jazz is the only purely American art form -- our
to
has and to 80
country's major contribution to the music world. And that's due
to Dizzy. His will be the classical music of the future.
for
And it is the basic identity of American culture. With all
of its wondrous, contagious bursts of energy it sounds like the
vibrant streets of New York -- or languid steamy nights in New
Orleans. You can recognize the lush rhythms of the Caribbean or
of
Africa or Latin America. Yet Dizzy is the magician of the musical
bio
loom -- weaving these influences together into an incredible
]
tapestry that becomes totally new, totally itself. For by
breaking all the rules he lets something passionate and exciting
burst free, to envelope the whole country in its contagious spell
3
of expression and energy and emotion. Dizzy Gillespie. III
From the new breed of men called cowboys to the modern-day
explorers called astronauts, the essence of American character
has been a self-reliance, a courageous and curious daring. One
A
strange
woman captured this spirit on film. Katharine Hepburn embodied
yairs
all of us, from the optimistic naivete of "The Philadelphia
alling,
Story," to the tough and tested resilience of "On Golden Pond."
men
Her flashing eyes and inimitible voice became the symbol of
the
SKA
America's outspoken independence and vigorous determination.
Something this extraordinary woman once said moved me
deeply, because it spoke of the rare and wonderful vitality that
This
is America. She said: "I think there is a magic in man. His
shatidin 1975
spirit, his attitudes toward his fellow man, his capacity for
love and for inifinite service, is, for me, a thrilling thing." "
As has been her lifetime of work for us. Katharine Hepburn. III
At age 15, a young girl made her professional debut singing
15;
"I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls." For Rise Stevens, that song
Y
tmost
became more than just a dream. For decades her pure voice soared
through the most famous marble halls of the world, enchanting
stus is
opera audiences. She mixed classical European training with
Orymer
unrestrained American passion and created such wondrous treats as
a white-hot Carmen -- a truly American Carmen. you might be push
100 hand
article
And after she had finished performing -- finished with her
w/th
Am
unforgettable creations in "Orfeo," "Der Rosenkavalier,' " and
the
in
"Going My Way" -- she did something that echoes the generosity of her
the people of this country: she devoted herself to passing on her
she weiger was Sgr of MS thets Cupo Nativel
4
cartiols
skills to future generations. As the first artist to be Managing
6.5,
Director of the Met, she traveled the country searching for new
artists to continue in her tradition. Rise Stevens. III
Let Me Entertain You," he wrote, and for nearly 70 years,
bio
KC
that's just what Jule Styne has done. Entertained us with songs
that captured the pulse of America -- the dreamlike vision of
Peter Pan's "Never Never Land"; the yearning search for
brotherhood in "People"; the spunky vitality of "Diamonds are a
Girl's Best Friend"; the romantic optimism of "Three Coins in a
THE
Fountain"; and the unbridled exuberance of "Gypsy."
For 25 years almost every Broadway season opened with a new
not
exactly
Is it consect
Jule Styne show. In more than 1500 songs, this British-born
to call it a
composer captured what he loved about the American character. He
"Jull show? Styne
then
how about
gave us songs that were mirrors -- in them we saw ourselves. Wemagic We
loved it. And the American musical -- an art form he helped 02"
minus
en
the
develop loved it too. And so did American musical legends
(these
might
American
whose careers were made on Styne songs: Carol Channing, Barbra soul
Streisand, Ethel Merman, and so many others. Jule Styne. 111< transith
If you looked next to the name Billy Wilder in a dictionary,
misleading
kcbio
bio
names
you'd see lots of different definitions. Writer. Director.
KC
of performers
then
Producer. Award-winner. But Billy Wilder's real achievement is his.
hypten
Gets
something even more important. He plunged a drill deep down into
the depths
lost
the American heart, and then captured on film the laughter, the
the plumbe A.
love, and the tears that poured forth.
Billy crafted some of the most familiar, lasting images of
the past decades. Images of a singularly American humor and
govel
Lithat staincase"
how about
5
warmth. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in high heels in "Some Like
it Hot." Gloria Swanson descending the staircase in "Sunset
KC
Boulevard." Marilyn Monroe's billowing white skirt in "The Seven
as
Year Itch. Greta Garbo's unforgettable laugh in "Ninotchka." 11
Billy once said "the best directing is the one you don't see.
guite
book
Well the invisible strings he's so creatively controlled have for
years given us the best of the American spirit. Billy Wilder. III
Even as we celebrate tonight, we also remember two former
award recipients, who died this year. Mary Martin, whose enrap
kench
factshed
turing magic carried us along with her and made us soar in a glow
RR
of delight. Sammy Davis Jr., who from the age of three captivated
speech
us with his energy, his joy, and his sheer love of life. III
The Kennedy Center Honors is an event of real significance:
because the cultural life of a nation gives us more than just
beauty and pleasure. It defines us. It expresses our struggles
and dreams as individuals and as a nation. And it captures that
exhilarating feeling of being an American -- daring everything,
dreaming everything, reaching for everything. 11 Our own arts
inspire us as does an old saying I will never forget: "Whatever
you can do -- or dream you can do -- begin it. Boldness has
genius, power, and magic in it." III
3
Dizzy Gillespie, Katharine Hepburn, Rise Stevens, Jule Styne
and Billy Wilder -- a proud nation fondly salutes you. Let this
evening serve as a reminder of the vision of the President in
,An
whose honor these awards were created. John Kennedy said: "If
art is to nourish the roots of our culture, then society must set
Ref.
PN1993 1993
H34
1987
WH
LESLIE HALLIWELL
HALLIWELL'S
FILM
AND
VIDEO
GUIDE
SIXTH EDITION
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York
B
808
809
Э
A bored boy goes through a magic tollbooth
The title refers to the sound of an expiring
several different companies and with several
A club own
3-D
to land beyond his wildest imagination,
match; the story tells of a couple who get
different actors. As a series it was very
Chinese mis
rescues Rhyme and Reason, and defeats the
divorced and try to find out what they have
variable indeed.
Sub-Edgar
S turns out to
Demons of Ignorance.
been missing.
1929: THE CANARY MURDER CASE
watchable H
Ambitious and well-devised, though rather
Champagne comedy with no bubbles.
(Paramount: William Powell); THE GREENE
W Arnold B
tory, with
slow-starting, cartoon feature which falls in
W George Axelrod d Mark Robson
MURDER CASE (Paramount: William
ph Werner ]
r.
style somewhere between Alice in Wonderland
ph Charles Lang m Frederick Hollander
Powell)
and The Wizard of Oz but is more intellectual
1930: THE BISHOP MURDER CASE
Gilda Gray,
:bb,
Jack Lemmon, Judy Holliday, Kim Novak,
than either and would be beyond the reach of
(MGM: Basil Rathbone); THE BENSON
Thomas, Cy
: by Edgar
most children. Discerning adults may have a
Jack Carson, Luella Gear, Donald Randolph,
Donald Curtis, Merry Anders
MURDER CASE (Paramount: William
Charles Lau
everell
Band
ball.
Powell)
W Chuck Jones, Sam Rosen, novel Norton
1933: THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (qv)
teve Forrest,
The Philadelphia Experiment*
Juster d Chuck Jones, Abe Levitow
(Warner: William Powell)
Piccadilly
Dolores
US 1984 101m CFI colour
1934: THE DRAGON MURDER CASE
GB 1946 1
ph Maurice Noble
New World / Cinema Group (Joel B.
(Warner: Warren William)
ABP (Herbei
Butch Patrick
Michaels, Douglas Curtis)
1935: THE CASINO MURDER CASE
During Worl
Seamen on a 1943 destroyer fall through a
(MGM: Paul Lukas)
returns from
des
Phar Lap
time warp into 1984. and have one hell of a
1936: THE GARDEN MURDER CASE
remarried.
Australia 1983 118m colour
estem town
job getting back.
(MGM: Edmund Lowe)
The Enoch A
Panavision
urderer. A
Science fiction, Outer Limits / Final
1937: NIGHT OF MYSTERY (Paramount:
the Wilcox-N
ard than
The story of a crack racehorse which was the
Countdown style: quite watchable, and
Grant Richards)
untypically a
orothy
talk of the world in the early thirties but died
technically proficient. but the claim that it was
1937: THE SCARAB MURDER CASE
Efficient enot
Santschi,
of a mysterious disease.
based on an actual incident seems a bit tall.
(British: Wilfrid Hyde White)
W Nicholas Pl
derman; for
The film, though adequately textured, won't
W William Gray, Michael Janover,
1939: THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER
Greene
win any races.
book William 1. Moore, Charles Berlitz
CASE (Paramount: Warren William);
Anna Neagle,
W David Williamson d Simon Wincer
d Stewart Raffill
CALLING PHILO VANCE (Warner: James
Laurence, Fra
ph Russell Boyd m Bruce Rowland
Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, Eric Christmas,
Stephenson)
E. Matthews,
Tom Burlinson, Martin Vaughan, Judy
Bobby di Cicco, Louise Latham
1947: PHILO VANCE RETURNS (PRC:
William Wright); PHILO VANCE'S
t Michael Wil
Morris, Celia de Burgh, Ron Liebman,
Video: Thorn EMI
lacklustre
Vincent Ball
GAMBLE (PRC: Alan Curtis); PHILO
Harrison and
'Uncle Leo's bedtime story for you older
VANCE'S SECRET MISSION (PRC: Alan
unavailable.
Video: CBS / Fox
Curtis)
m debut for
tots! The things they do among the
Piccadilly Ji
ints of
The day the earth was turned into a
playful rich-oh, boy!'
Phobia
US 1936 10
cemeteryl'
The Philadelphia Story*
Canada 1980 90m colour
MGM (Harry
Phase IV
US 1940 112m bw
son
Borough Park (Zale Magder)
A cartoonist h
GB 1973 84m Technicolor
MGM (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
art
Paramount / Alced (Paul B. Radin)
A stuffy heiress, about to be married for the
Five volunteer phobics, released from jail for
making the bri
experiments, are killed one by one.
ridicule.
ert, Jimmy
In the Arizona desert, ants attack a scientific
second time, turns human and returns
Unprepossessing whodunit with horror
Amiable come
installation.
gratefully to number one.
Toler,
Hollywood's most wise and sparkling comedy,
touches but none of the style one might expect
setting.
1 Mowbray
Oddly effective if repulsive science fiction; the
from its director.
W Charles Brac
o the
ants are all the more unpleasant because they
with a script which is even an improvement on
the original play. Cukor's direction is so
W Lew Lehman, Jimmy Sangster, Peter
G. Wodehouse
stay the normal size.
discreet you can hardly sense it, and all the
Bellwood d John Huston ph Reginald H.
ph Joseph Rutt
-Variety
W Mayo Simon d Saul Bass ph Dick Bush
performances are just perfect.
Morris m Andre Gagnon
Robert Montgc
herican
m Brian Gascoyne
W Donald Ogden Stewart, play Philip Barry
Paul Michael Glaser, John Colicos, Susan
Morgan, Billie
ble record
Nigel Davenport, Lynne Frederick, Michael
d George Cukor ph Joseph Ruttenberg
Hogan, Alexandra Stewart, David Bolt
Benchley, Ralp
78
Murphy, Alan Gifford
m Franz Waxman ad Cedric Gibbons
Video: Thorn EMI
E. E. Clive
Video: CIC
Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James
Phone Call from a Stranger
Piccadilly Thi
Stewart, Ruth Hussey, Roland Young, John
The Phenix City Story*
US 1952 96m bw
GB 1960 90m
Halliday, Mary Nash, Virginia Weidler, John
nt on a
US 1955 100m bw
Howard, Henry Daniell
TCF (Nunnally Johnson)
Rank / Sydney
activity in
Allied Artists (Sam Bischoff, David
"There are just not enough superlatives
Of four airplane acquaintances, only one
Williams)
lwart hero.
Diamond)
sufficiently to appreciate this show.'-
survives a crash; he visits the families of the
A smooth crook
Gibson,
Hollywood Reporter
others.
A young lawyer fights the racketeers who
eastern ambassa
for
control his town.
'An exceptionally bright job of screenplay
Four stories with an unlikely link. (The
the embassy and
Goodish example of the semi-documentary
writing
though films like this do little to
compendium craze, which had started in 1948
Boring and rathe
melodramas of small-town corruption which
advance the art of motion pictures, they may
with Quartet, was now straining itself.)
redeemed by a fi
swarmed out of Hollywood following the
help to convince some of the more discerning
Nothing to remember except Miss Davis.
Underground.
Kefauver investigations.
among cultural slugabeds that when movies
W Nunnally Johnson d Jean Negulesco
W Leigh Vance
rider to
W Crane Wilbur, Dan Mainwaring d Phil
want to turn their hand to anything, they can
ph Milton Krasner m Franz Waxman
Steward m Phili
0 Rides
Karlson ph Harry Neumann m Harry
turn it.'-Otis Ferguson
Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Michael Rennie,
Terence Morgan
Peggy
Sukman
t Cary Grant donated his salary to war relief.
Shelley Winters, Keenan Wynn, Evelyn
William Hartnell
Lewis.
Richard Kiley, Edward Andrews, John
AA: Donald Ogden Stewart; James Stewart
Varden, Warren Stevens, Craig Stevens
Price, Ann Lynn
ed
McIntire, Kathryn Grant
AAN: best picture; George Cukor; Katharine
'A cinematic party line on which several
Hepburn; Ruth Hussey
conversations are going at once, none of them
Pick a Star
Phffft
coming across very distinctly.'-Time
US 1937 76m
US 1954 91m bw
Philo Vance
Piccadilly
MGM / Hal Roac
Columbia (Fred Kohlmar)
The smooth sleuth created by S. S. Van Dine
was a popular film hero of the thirties, for
GB 1929 105m (24 fps) bw silent
An innocent girl i
BIP (E. A. Dupont)
stardom with the
FILE
November 30, 1989
Proposed remarks for Mrs. Bush.
Kennedy Center Honors reception
December 3, 1989
(By as & ) as
MRS. BUSH
Good evening and welcome to the White
House.
It has been said that art is not an end
in itself, it is a means of addressing
humanity. Tonight we gather in this
historic East Room to celebrate five
Americans who have devoted their lives
to art, and in so doing have enriched
the lives of countless millions in this
country and around the world.
When we think of the joy and beauty and
inspiration that they have provided over
the years, we can be grateful that we
lived in their times.
When William Schuman was growing up in
New York City his parents had faith in
the American dream and the belief that
young William would pursue a practical
career. But, he started writing pop
tunes with lyricist Frank Loesser. His
first published song, "In Love WIth The
MRS. BUSH
2.
WHITE HOUSE SEGMENT
MRS. BUSH (cont'd)
Memory of You, If was, he says, the only
flop Loesser ever wrote. Well, half a
century later Mr. Schuman recognized as
one of America's finest classical
composers. His ten symphonies are a
sturdy beam in the American repertoire
and it has been said of him that he has
done more than anyone of his generation
to create a strong base on which
American music can grow in the years to
come. William Schuman
We thank you for a life in art, well
lived.
She has been called the empress of
ballet. Her journey from St. Petersburg
in Czarist Russia to this ceremony in
Washington, D.C. has been marked by
dedication, tenacity and artistic
virtuosity.
Alexandra Danilova is one of the great
ballerinas of this century and today - I
don't think she will mind me saying
at
MRS. BUSH
3.
WHITE HOUSE SEGMENT
MRS. BUSH (cont'd)
85 she is a brilliant teacher. I am
told she had a bad fall this past summer
in which she fractured her right knee.
Unable to summon help for many hours,
she finally reached a friend who took
her to the emergency room at a New York
hospital. Waiting again, in
considerable pain, she was finally
approached by a young doctor. "How old
are you?" he asked. "Guess," she
answered. "are you 70?" he ventured.
"Close enough," she replied.
Madame Danilova, we salute you for your
brilliant career.
She is the epitome of Hollywood glamour
- an actress who proved that the
combination of beauty and brains could
be a recipe for success on the silver
screen and the broadway stage.
Claudette Colbert created a timeless
personal style and a career of unusual
distinction. All those memorable roles
MRS. BUSH
4.
WHITE HOUSE SEGMENT
MRS. BUSH (cont'd)
over so many years - they are now part
of our cultural heritage, as are you,
Claudette.
We salute you.
Day-O!
Need I say more? Yes, I must. Harry
George Belafonte, Jr. was born in New
York city, but part of his growing up
was on the island of Jamaica and those
roots enabled him to bring to American
musical life new sounds and new themes.
"Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean" was
the first album to sell over a million
copies. So many of his songs are on our
all-time hit parade. My favorites are
"Matilda" and "God Bless the Child".
As artist and citizen Harry Belafonte
has shown the way in his concern for his
fellow man and he has been a constant
voice for human rights.
MRS. BUSH
5.
WHITE HOUSE SEGMENT
MRS. BUSH (cont'd)
I think it's safe for me to say this,
since my husband is far off in
Malta
"I'm just wild about Harry "
One critic said, "Mary Martin has always
bounced along as though the earth were
made of innerspring mattresses, and that
piping, rollicking voice of hers would
carry anyone aloft, wires or no wires,
any old time. "
Nellie Forbush, Annie Oakley, the
Baroness Von Trapp, Peter Pan -- why,
they are all Mary Martin.
She captivated audiences by the joy and
skill of her singing and the grace and
luster of her personality. She gave
distinction to the most glorious years
of the musical theater.
Tonight, a proud nation honors Mary
Martin.
MRS. BUSH
6.
WHITE HOUSE SEGMENT
MRS. BUSH (cont'd)
William Schuman, CLaudette Colbert,
Harry Belafonte, Alexandra Danilova,
Mary Martin -- how delighted we are to
have had the pleasure of your company.
You have taken us nearer to the stars
and closer to the foot of the rainbow,
and I speak for all Americans when I say
thank you for sharing your best with us
for all these years.
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(Robinson)
December 3, 1987
4:30 p.m.
REAGAN
Received30
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1987027 DEC -3 !!! 5:03
Good evening and welcome to the White House. Now, before I
begin -- well, there's something I've just got to say. Bette
Davis, if I'd gotten roles as good as yours, I never would have
left Hollywood.
But tonight we have gathered for the solemn but happy
purpose of honoring five Americans who have dedicated their lives
to the performing arts. Others give us material goods, enact and
enforce our laws, provide the countless other services that go to
make up American life. But these five -- what these five have
given us is joy.
"The human body," Alwin Nikolais [get phonetics] said, "is a
lot more magical than most people give it credit for." And for
more than five decades, now, Alwin Nikolais has been using dance
to make magic.
He grew up in Connecticut, studied with Hanya Holm, and
moved to New York in 1948 to pursue his concept of total
theater -- of theater through motion -- that would revolutionize
dance, lighting, costuming, and design alike.
Always in the work of Alwin Nikolais, there is a fundamental
sense of sheer enjoyment and fun. In his own words: "I like to
splash motion all over the stage."
And there is as well a sense of what it means to be
American. Again in his own words: "I am purely American
I
came out of the notion that we have a right to express ourselves
- 2 -
without inclining towards
preconceived notions of life. That
we are free. That is the American dream."
Alwin Nikolais: To one whose life's work has given the
American dream new and unique expression, congratulations.
At the age of ten, violinist Nathan Milstein made his
professional debut in St. Petersburg, Russia, playing the
Glazunov A Minor Concerto under the baton of the great Glazunov
himself. In Mr. Milstein's words: "[My mother] told me I should
do it
I don't know how I played, but everyone was very
pleased. A few days later, the First World War began."
So it is that Nathan Milstein's playing reaches back to the
classical tradition of the 19th century, bringing it forward,
deepening and embellishing it, for this, the tempestuous
20th century.
His repertoire is vast. Like his friend, pianist Vladimir
Horowitz, he is noted for a brilliant and effortless technique.
He has been called, "one of the greatest musicians of our time."
Yet of his own art, Nathan Milstein says simply: "Playing makes
me happy."
Nathan Milstein: For more than seven decades -- the world
over -- your playing has made millions happy. Congratulations.
Sammy Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem and went into vaudeville
at the age of 3. He's been on ever since, criss-crossing the
country, big towns and backwaters, pounding the boards, dancing,
singing, doing improvisations, taking a bow, getting ready for
the next gig. It hasn't been an easy life -- in the early years
especially, there was the bigotry, the hatred. "You fight with
- 3 -
the weapons God gives you," Sammy recently said, "and with me it
was my talent."
And what talent. What energy. Despite everything, what
joy.
Sammy, I found something in a newspaper interview with you
earlier this week that, if you don't mind, I'd like to share.
The article quotes you as follows:
"As soon as I was able to tell somebody [about the Kennedy
Center Honors], the first call I made... was to my tailor. I
told him I wanted the most legitimate tuxedo he's got. He said,
'You mean no diamonds, no sparkles, no nothing?' I said, 'No,
that's it, man. I want to look like I stepped out of Brooks
Brothers. Be very, very cool.'"
Sammy, do you mind if I tell you something? You succeeded.
And I don't just mean tonight -- I mean your life. Very, very
cool.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: Congratulations.
Bette Davis made her first motion picture, "Bad Sister," in
1930. Last year she completed "The Whales of August," her 100th.
And if you wonder about her acting after these more than
five-and-a-half decades -- well, The New York Times called "The
Whales of August," quote, "a cinema event."
And I have to tell you, Bette, I truly admire that. You
see, since getting this job, I've found out just how hard it is
to get a good notice from The New York Times.
But the name "Bette Davis" conjures up motion picture
classic after classic. "Of Human Bondage." "Dangerous."
- 4 -
"Jezebel." "Juarez." "Dark Victory." "All About Eve." And in
each of them, there has been the magnetism of the Bette Davis
persona and style. Wolcott Gibbs called her "probably the most
determined player ever to come out of Hollywood." And just this
year an interviewer wrote of her, "The famous diction still turns
every syllable into an elocution lesson."
After her 100th film and decades of professional acclaim,
what does Bette Davis want next from life? In her own words,
"Just one more good script."
Bette, if I might, I'd like to paraphrase one of your best
lines. 'Fasten your seatbelts, everybody. With Bette Davis
here, it's going to be a wonderful night.'
Bette Davis: Congratulations.
One of 13 children of an Italian immigrant mill hand in
Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, Perry Como started working in a
barbershop at the age of 10. By 14, he was making payments on a
shop of his own -- and he had worked out a sales technique to
attract customers, a free song with every cut. Urged by friends
to audition with an orchestra, Perry landed a job as a vocalist,
traveling in the Midwest. But as he said recently, "I never
dreamed of being in show business, really. It was kind of a
lark."
Well, just maybe that's been the secret of Perry Como's
success. His performing has always been so effortless, such a
wonderful lark. First there were the bands. Then the records --
to date, more than 100 million in album sales. Then radio. And
then that newfangled fad, television. Perry himself wasn't too
- 5 -
sure about the new medium; he once said -- and I quote --
"Television, it will never last. " But last it did -- and last he
did. For more than a decade, Saturday night belonged to "The
Perry Como Show."
Through it all, the voice of Perry Como became one of the
best-loved in America. Yet when asked to describe his singing
recently, Perry seemed at a loss. Then after thinking for a
moment, he answered simply, "Oh, friendly, I guess."
Perry Como, your friendliness has in turn won you friends --
millions of them. And tonight they join me in wishing you:
Congratulations.
Others have sometimes accused us Americans of having too
little appreciation of the finer things -- of being too caught up
in the practical and the everyday. Yet it was the first
President to live in this grand old house who wrote: "I must
excerpt
study Statecraft
that my sons may have the liberty to study
Mathematicks and Philosophy
in order to give their children a
"
right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick
And there in John
Adams' words we see expressed at the very beginning of our
history as a Nation the American understanding that what is
beautiful -- what is uplifting -- is what is most important.
You five, you honored five. In your lifetimes of
performing, how many millions have you entertained, inspired,
provoked to deeper thought, provided with memories to cherish?
How many times have you lifted us out of ourselves, to laughter,
- 6 -
or to tears? How many precious moments have you given us, of
simple refreshment, and enjoyment?
Everyone in this room -- everyone joining us by way of
television -- can think back upon some time for which he is
grateful to you. To speak for myself -- well, it's been more
than once in our lives that Nancy and I have danced to the
singing of Perry Como or thrilled at a performance by Miss Bette
Davis.
on
And in giving so much to so many individuals, you have
performed a service to your Nation. President Kennedy said that
Process
he cherished the ideal of an America "not afraid of grace and
beauty, an America respected throughout the world not only for
its strength but for its civilization as well." Throughout your
professional lives, each of you has contributed to the building
up of that ideal, crowning our Nation's greatness with grace.
On behalf of the American people, I thank you.
God bless you all.
J that
new paracraph
new Pargraph
Nov. 17 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
Health and Human Services, 1978-1983; as-
Ms. Marshall graduated from George
manti
sociate professorial lecturer in the depart-
Washington University (B.A., 1960) and the
later,
ment of economics at George Washington
University of California (J.D., 1975). She was
expre
University, 1976-1978; health service fellow
born August 27, 1935, in Cincinnati, OH.
see e
for the National Center for Health Services
Ms. Marshall has one child and currently
postm
Research at the Department of Health,
resides in San Francisco, CA.
filmm
Education and Welfare, 1975-1978; faculty
of the
writin
associate for the Survey Research Center
for Social Research at the University of
seen
earn a
Michigan, 1974-1975; associate research sci-
Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony
entire
entist for the Institute of Public Policy Stud-
for the National Medal of the Arts
Angel
ies and School of Public Health, 1973-1975;
senior research associate for the Urban In-
November 17, 1989
nation
tras, I
stitute in Washington, DC, 1971-1973; ex-
The President. Excuse the delay. We've
compa
ecutive director of the Governor's Council
been out there trying to calm the national
cesses.
of Economic Advisers in Baltimore, MD,
turkey, which has all worked out very well.
We
1969-1970; staff economist for the Presi-
[Laughter] No double entendres around
art m
dent's Commission on Income Maintenance
here about that, either. [Laughter]
cans.
Programs in Washington, DC, 1968-1969;
Thank you-all of you-for being here
our SC
and research associate in the department of
today for the fifth annual presentation of
have a
economics at the University of Michigan,
the National Medal of the Arts. It is a great
tivity (
1968.
pleasure and an honor for Barbara and me
cial eff
Dr. Wilensky graduated from the Univer-
to welcome you to the White House. I just
regular
sity of Michigan (A.B., 1964; M.A., 1965;
want to thank the National Council on the
tional ]
Ph.D., 1968). She was born June 14, 1943,
Arts; the Committee on the Arts and Hu-
these a
in Detroit, MI. Dr. Wilensky is married, has
manities; as well as John Frohnmayer, our
Toda
two children, and resides in Washington,
new and distinguished Chairman of the
womer
DC.
NEA; and of course, Hugh Southern for the
passion
support and encouragement of America's
tapestr
cultural life.
age. Th
Dante once wrote that "Art imitates
of the ]
nature as well as it can, as a pupil follows
challen
Nomination of Carol M. Marshall To
his master; and thus it is a sort of grand-
some }
Be Superintendent of the Mint of the
child of God." Well, as this, "grandchild of
sight ai
United States at San Francisco
God," art embraces our values in history,
us to th
November 17, 1989
gives meaning to our existence, and illumi-
ourselv
nates the basic human truths which give us
Toda
The President today announced his inten-
purpose. In a way, art defines our civiliza-
his pho
tion to nominate Carol Mayer Marshall to
tion. But in another more personal way, art
innovat
be Superintendent of the Mint of the
opens entire new worlds for each of us, let-
Katheri
United States at San Francisco, the Depart-
ting us see and hear and even feel life
reograp
ment of Treasury. This is a new position.
through the mind of someone else, from
ture, C:
Since 1986 Ms. Marshall has served as the
new perspectives. And instead of seeing a
Mother
president of Carol Mayer Marshall and As-
single world, we can see as many worlds as
Adler f
sociates in San Francisco, CA. Prior to this,
there are artists and writers, dancers and
honor
she served as the vice president of Public
musicians.
energy
and Private Consultants, Inc., 1981-1986;
The diversity of art in this nation is truly
his mus
an attorney with Washburn and Kemp,
a product of the diversity of our democracy.
Vladimi
1985-1986; assistant to the president of the
The American arts, like a many-faceted
And
Investment Development Fund, 1979-1981.
mirror, have been a colorful reflection of
those W
She purchased, renovated, and sold single
this nation's history. The music of the fron-
tistic cr
family homes in San Francisco, CA, 1977-
tier led to the blues of the bayou, and the
be who
1979. Ms. Marshall was a partner with Plan-
swing bands of the cities. The primitivism
energy
ning Research Consultants, Inc., 1973-1977.
of the early painters gave way to the ro-
that cre
1770
Administration of George Bush, 1989 / Nov. 17
eorge
manticism of the Hudson River school and,
Martin Friedman of the Walker Art Center
d the
later, American impressionism and abstract
in Minneapolis, Leigh Gerdine of Webster
e was
expressionism. In architecture, Americans
University in St. Louis, and the Dayton
OH.
see everything from the Federal style to
Hudson Corporation.
ently
postmodernism. Modern photography and
And now I will ask John Frohnmayer if
filmmaking have their roots in the tintypes
he will read the citations for the National
of the Civil War era. And from our earliest
Medal of the Arts to our recipients. John, all
writings to this week's best seller list, we've
yours.
seen American poetry, novels, short stories
Mr. Frohnmayer. Thank you, Mr. Presi-
earn a unique place in the literature of the
dent.
ony
entire world. Cities like New York and Los
Leopold Adler II is a nationally recog-
Angeles have become art capitals of inter-
nized expert in historic preservation, one
national importance; and regional orches-
who has changed the face of his hometown,
tras, museums, dance troupes, and opera
e've
Savannah, Georgia. He was the driving
companies have enjoyed spectacular suc-
force behind two remarkable revitalization
onal
cesses.
vell.
experiments. One refurbished the historic
We need to make this great diversity of
section of Savannah, and the other renovat-
und
art more a part of the lives of all Ameri-
ed low-income housing in the Victorian dis-
cans. And we need to begin this effort in
trict. Mr. Adler has also served as a trustee
ere
our schools so that our young people will
for almost a decade for the National Trust
of
have a sense of their heritage and the crea-
for Historic Preservation.
reat
tivity of the present. We need to make spe-
The citation reads:
me
cial efforts to reach out to those who do not
ust
regularly participate. The work of the Na-
"To Leopold Adler for his civic leadership
the
tional Endowment is especially important in
in preserving for all time the beauty of Sa-
Hu-
these areas.
vannah, Georgia, and for making that city a
our
Today, we honor a group of men and
model of the art of historic preservation."
the
women whose creative ideas, talent, and
Katherine Dunham is an outstanding
the
passion have added so much to the rich
dancer and choreographer. The Dunham
ca's
tapestry that is our nation's cultural herit-
Company, the first black professional dance
age. Their work is not just of the mind but
company in America, performed through-
tes
of the heart and of the soul. And some have
out the world from 1938 through 1963, pre-
challenged us; some have amazed us; and
senting the dance, music, and folklore of
WS
d-
some have brought remarkable beauty of
Third World countries and the United
of
sight and sound to us. But all have helped
States. For over 30 years, Ms. Dunham has
y,
us to think and to dream and to understand
maintained the only permanently self-subsi-
ni-
ourselves and our world a little better.
dized dance troupe in America. She also
Today, we honor Alfred Eisenstaedt for
founded the Dunham School of Arts and
us
his photography, Dizzy Gillespie for his jazz
Research in New York City.
a-
rt
innovations, John Updike for his prose,
The citation reads:
t-
Katherine Dunham for her dance and cho-
"To Katherine Dunham for her pioneer-
reography, Walker Hancock for his sculp-
ing explorations of Caribbean and African
n
ture, Czeslaw Milosz for his poetry, Robert
dance, which have enriched and trans-
Motherwell for his paintings, and Leopold
formed the art of dance in America."
a
LS
Adler for his historic preservation. And we
Alfred Eisenstaedt is the quintessential
d
honor someone whose great talent and
photojournalist who pioneered the introduc-
energy will live on, long after the sounds of
tion of the candid camera technique into
V
his music has faded, and that is the late
news reporting. After emigrating from West
Vladimir Horowitz.
Prussia in 1935, he joined the original pho-
I
And we honor the patrons of the arts,
tography staff of the new magazine, Life.
f
those who understand that without the ar-
Mr. Eisenstaedt's most famous photo is that
tistic creativity of its people no nation can
of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square
be whole, and those whose dedication,
at the end of World War II. As a photogra-
energy and commitment have sustained
pher, he has won almost every major na-
that creativity over the years. We honor
tional professional award.
1771
Nov. 17 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
novels
The award is received by his long-time
to play in the Soviet Union in 1986. Vladi-
Run," a
friend and photo editor, Bobbie Baker Bur-
mir Horowitz's music had a colorful blazing
taur" a
rows.
quality and technical excellence. Truly, he
Among
The citation reads:
was a man with no equals.
Updike
"To Alfred Eisenstaedt for the extraordi-
The award will be delivered to Madame
tion for
nary photographs that document the trage-
Horowitz upon her return from Italy.
The ci
dies and triumphs he has witnessed over a
And the citation reads:
"To Jo
lifetime."
"To Vladimir Horowitz for his extraordi-
that, ove
John Berks "Dizzy" Gillespie is a virtuoso
nary achievements and distinctive style as a
wryly af
musician, pioneer, composer, and band-
pianist whose concerts brought pleasure to
of the C
leader who has been a pivotal figure in 20th
audiences everywhere and whose contribu-
ica."
century American music. The founder of
tions to music made him a citizen of the
Martin
the jazz bebop movement, he developed a
world."
most inr
radical new approach to improvisation that
Czeslaw Milosz is a poet and educator,
rectors.
was to change the course of modern music-
whom Joseph Brodsky called "One of the
tor of th
making. For more than 40 years he has ex-
greatest poets of our time, perhaps the
lis since
plored the varied music of different cul-
greatest." Mr. Milosz was born in Lithuania
premiere
tures. Mr. Gillespie has performed before
in 1911 and became a naturalized citizen of
exhibitio:
countless world leaders and has won nu-
the United States in 1970. As one of the
In additi
merous awards. Dizzy Gillespie.
leaders in the avant-garde poetry move-
munity,
The citation:
ment in Poland during the 1930's, he edited
temporar
"To John Berks "Dizzy" Gillespie for his
an anti-Nazi anthology called "Invincible
the new
trailblazing work as a musician who helped
Song." Mr. Milosz won the Nobel Prize for
The cit
elevate jazz to an art form of the first rank
Literature in 1980 for his poetry on life in
"To M
and for sharing his gift with listeners
this century. Czeslaw Milosz.
doors of ]
around the world."
The citation:
arts in 01
Walker Kirtland Hancock is a renowned
sculptor whose work spans a period of 70
"To Czeslaw Milosz for glorious poetry
ture to f
years. He began by sculpting the bust of an
and prose that celebrates the freedom-
for openi
loving spirit not only of his native Poland
tions bet
orphan and was awarded a Prix de Rome
while still an apprentice. He has spent a
but that of his adopted country, the United
Leigh
States."
leader wl
lifetime sculpting over 268 pieces, many of
Robert Motherwell is an artist of global
ment of
them portraits, busts, monuments, and
medals in the heroic Renaissance style of
stature, renowned as one of the founders of
St. Louis.
Florence. Mr. Hancock has sculpted busts of
the American abstract expressionism school,
of that cit
the first American art movement to receive
dent of 1
American heroes and Presidents. He has
recognition internationally as being on the
deeply in'
said that just as the ancient Greeks did in
leading edge of world art. He is best known
the St. L
their sculpture, celebrating heroes is still
one of the worthy functions of sculpture
for a series of monumental paintings on the
founding
today. Walker Hancock.
"Spanish Eulogy" theme, for abstract paint-
Theater,
The citation:
ings in the open series, and as a master of
claimed Ct
"To Walker Hancock for his extraordinary
collage. He has received a multitude of
dine.
contribution to the art of sculpture and for
honors in five decades of a very distin-
The cita
guished career. Robert Motherwell.
"To Lei
demonstrating the enduring beauty of the
classical tradition."
The citation:
career as
"To Robert Motherwell for reflecting in
the enlig
Vladimir Horowitz was a consummate pi-
his art the very essence of American Free-
earned hi
anist and a genius who was known for the
controlled thunder and the electricity of his
dom with paintings that have found a dis-
the arts in
performances. Appropriately, Mr. Horo-
tinguished place in collections.everywhere."
Dayton
leader in
witz's first home was on Music Street in
John Updike is the author of over 30
Since 1980
Kiev. He left the Soviet Union as a musical
books of poetry, novels, short stories, and
essays. Mr. Updike is one of the best chron-
nearly $70
sensation in 1925 to play in Berlin, Paris,
United Sta
and ultimately in America at Carnegie Hall.
iclers of American small town life in litera-
He returned to Carnegie Hall 25 years later
ture. He began as a writer for the New
support to
at the height of his popularity and returned
Yorker magazine and then authored the
basis, make
1772
Administration of George Bush, 1989 / Nov. 17
novels "The Poorhouse Fair," "Rabbit,
in which to live. During 1988 alone, Dayton
Run," and among many others, "The Cen-
Hudson generously awarded $7.4 million to
taur" and "The Witches of Eastwick."
580 arts programs in 37 States and the Dis-
Among many other awards, in 1982 Mr.
trict of Columbia. Accepting is Mr. Kenneth
Updike received the Pulitzer Prize for Fic-
Macke, CEO of Dayton Hudson Corpora-
tion for "Rabbit is Rich." John Updike.
tion.
The citation reads:
The citation:
"To John Updike, for novels and stories
"To Dayton Hudson Corporation for help-
that, over a 40-year career, have given us a
ing to forge a vital partnership between the
wryly affectionate, yet penetrating analysis
corporate sector and the arts community
of the complexity of life in today's Amer-
and for demonstrating how both can benefit
ica."
in the process."
Martin Friedman is one of our nation's
The President. Well, let me just say in
most innovative and scholarly museum di-
conclusion first, thank you, John Frohn-
rectors. Mr. Friedman has served as direc-
mayer, and to all of you recipients, con-
tor of the Walker Arts Center in Minneapo-
gratulations for your achievements, for the
lis since 1961, making it into one of the
passion you bring to the arts. You have hon-
premiere small museums in this country, in
ored this country. Your nation is grateful to
exhibitions as well as in the performing arts.
you. And congratulations to all of you. Bar-
In addition to his activism in the arts com-
bara and I are just thrilled that you're here
munity, he has written extensively on con-
at the White House. And now I'd like all of
temporary art and recently helped create
our medal winners to join us up here for
the new Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
just a minute, if we could, for one quick-
The citation:
what they call in the trade a photo op.
"To Martin Friedman for opening the
[Laughter] Please.
doors of his museum to the best of all of the
arts in our time-from painting and sculp-
Note: The President spoke at 12:12 p.m. in
ture to film, video, and performance-and
the East Room at the White House.
for opening our eyes to the vital connec-
tions between these forms of expression."
Leigh Gerdine is an outstanding civic
leader who has paved the way for develop-
ment of every major cultural institution in
Nomination of John J. Maresca for the
St. Louis. Mr. Gerdine is a 40-year resident
Rank of Ambassador While Serving as
of that city, and for 18 years has been presi-
Chairman of the United States
dent of Webster University. He has been
Delegation to the Conference on
deeply involved in the St. Louis Symphony,
Confidence and Security Building
the St. Louis Repertory Company and was
Measures
founding chairman of the St. Louis Opera
November 17, 1989
Theater, now one of the most widely ac-
claimed companies in the country. Mr. Ger-
The President today announced his inten-
dine.
tion to nominate John J. Maresca, a career
The citation:
member of the Senior Foreign Service,
"To Leigh Gerdine for his distinguished
Class of Minister-Counselor, for the rank of
career as a musician and educator, and for
Ambassador during his tenure of service as
the enlightened patronage which has
head of the U.S. delegation to the Confer-
earned him the title of spiritual father of
ence on Confidence and Security Building
the arts in St. Louis."
Measures (CSBM).
Dayton Hudson Corporation has been a
Currently Mr. Maresca serves as Chair-
leader in corporate giving for 43 years.
man of the U.S. delegation to the Negotia-
Since 1980 the corporation has contributed
tions on Confidence and Security-Building
nearly $70 million to arts programs in the
Measures. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Maresca
United States. Dayton Hudson has targeted
served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
support to programs that, on a long-term
European and North Atlantic Treaty Orga-
basis, make a community a more vital place
nization (NATO) Policy at the Department
1773
The
PRESIDENT'S
HOUSE
A History
by
HISTORY, Castom
William Seale
White House Historical Association
with the cooperation of the
National Geographic Society
Washington, D.C.
1986
George Washington and John Adams
77
76
THE BUILDERS
white; against this flat and gloss white were orange brick pavers nine
As the plaster was being prepared, Hoban and Dr. Thornton made
inches square that covered the floors of rooms and halls. Some windows
the acquaintance of one George Andrews in Baltimore, who had a line of
were glazed; others had merely the iron bars meant to keep out intruders.
merchandise that fascinated them: ready-made architectural ornaments
The kitchen was a mighty room, spanned by stone arches, with cut-stone
in plaster of Paris, reinforced with wire. These decorations, in the neo-
fireplaces at each end, no less than 40 feet apart.
classical taste, were suited to almost any interior use. This was an oppor-
On the principal floor the best rooms were to be wallpapered. The
tunity to save time and labor in the ornamentation of the President's
commissioners had discussed "the fitness of the pattern," preferring
House. Among the elements Hoban and Thornton bought and appar-
French papers or, second best, those made in England. Two tons of white
ently selected together were "architraves, frieze & cornice for 17 doors
lead were acquired for making the paint for the woodwork, along with
on the principal story," at $20 each, with ten chimney pieces at $10
the tinting pigments yellow ocher, Prussian blue, and red lead. The
each, not all of which were used. Nevertheless, the craving of Hoban
bluish windowpanes through which light passed into the rooms were of
and Commissioner Thornton for elaborate decoration would increase,
English crown glass, purchased in "tables," or large disks, from the Balti-
and they subsequently placed further orders with Andrews.94
more mercantile house Harrison & Maynadier and cut into windowpanes
It was arranged with Hugh Densley, another plasterer, who was
as it was installed. The same merchants had secured fine mortice hard-
nailing lath in the early spring of 1799, that he would "hard plaster" the
ware-brass pull-rings and knobs and hinges, some gilded. These items
walls and ceilings and make such moldings as were necessary. Otherwise,
were used throughout the main floor and the chamber story. 96
for the main decoration, he would apply the "composition ornaments"
What seems to have been most impressive about the President's
bought in Baltimore. Densley was at his plastering by late April, sur-
House was its size, for it was the biggest house most observers had ever
rounded by large quantities of plaster of Paris, fine washed sand, lime,
seen. A wagon and team could have passed easily down the transverse
olive oil, beeswax, and 400 bushels of hog and horse hair, all of which
halls, and the parlors, although among the smaller rooms, were very large
Hoban had bargained for in Baltimore.
and a full 18 feet tall. Of these the oval room was the most novel and
The plasterwork began in the basement hallways, covering the
beautiful, its prospect to the south green and watery.
stone and brick groin arches. When the work seemed to be taking too
Because the house seemed to dominate its site so completely, an
long, the commissioners selected several rooms not to plaster for the
effect intensified by its snowy whitewash, the commissioners decided
time. On the main floor the principal parlors were plastered by late fall;
against having outbuildings. Thus, in August 1800, a brick stable was
over the winter, with no work going on, the commissioners decided to
completed on a city lot two blocks east of the house. This provoked a
leave the East Room unplastered and send Densley upstairs. In the spring
battle which had not calmed down by the time the carpenter William
of 1800 he began plastering the chamber story. An impatient commis-
Lovell had driven his last nail, on August 11. It had been erected in the
sion told him to do only half the rooms on that floor and, if necessary, to
middle of a neighborhood that had pretension to fashion. At the original
omit the attic entirely.9
hearing, Alexander White agreed with the citizens that the commission-
Seven months before the government was to arrive in the autumn,
ers were out of line. When they outvoted him, he ordered his objection
Joseph Middleton moved his cabinet shop into the White House, to-
recorded in the minutes. 97
gether with his three slave assistants and his brother Electius. He in-
By the summer of 1800, President Adams had begun to make inquir-
stalled all the windows, then began finishing the doors, applying polish.
ies about the house he was to occupy. He had been heretofore uninter-
The painters, varnishers, and whitewashers soon followed.
ested, even remarking that he would as soon live in a row house some-
where in the city as in the new mansion. But on second thought,
Haste
considering what the house had meant to General Washington, now in
his grave, he decided that he would follow the course set by his predeces-
By the late summer and early fall of 1800, the commissioners were
sor. 98 He even became interested, and to his letters the commissioners
watching their projects come as close to completion as they would be by
responded that all was going well, although they might privately have
November. Their records give fleeting impressions of what the White
doubted their own words. The act passed by the Congress in April
House was like. The basement was whitewashed, its wood trim painted
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
83
House, with causes both political and personal. Mrs. Adams had stopped
to see their son Charles in New York, knowing it would be for the last
time. The victim of depression and drink, he had broken his parents'
hearts. Charles Adams, age 29, was the first presidential child ever
4
mourned at the White House, and his mother wept bitterly. His father
forced his grief to smolder inside him.²
Although they occupied the White House only briefly, the Adamses
were as fully in residence as any subsequent presidential family. The
Anachronism
house was under the charge of their steward, John Briesler, who had been
with them for nearly 20 years and had managed their household in Mas-
sachusetts, as well as their diplomatic establishments in England and
France. No servants were provided for the President's House by the gov-
ernment, SO Briesler completed the organization of the house, arranging
the rooms to suit the Adamses' customs. His wife, Esther, was the house-
keeper. Mrs. Adams reckoned that the house and stable required about
30 servants, but she had only four, besides the Brieslers, to keep up what
she dubbed the "castle."3
W
hen he moved to the President's House, John Adams
It was still only partially complete. Nothing could have seemed
became the first link in a chain of lives that would
more unfinished or more forlorn. The grand stairway, which was to rise
go on there unbroken. Representing the Federalists,
in double-armed splendor in the west end of the transverse hall, connect-
Adams was to live there only a few months before being put out by the
ing the principal floor with the chamber story, was not even begun. The
system that had put him in. The transfer was peaceful. His successors,
well was an open hole lighted where the stair was to land by a tall
the Anti-Federalists, or "Republicans," named their victory a revolution;
Venetian window, itself crowned on the second floor level by a great
they held the President's House in contempt as a kingly anachronism.
half-round lunette window. The "back stair" off the entrance hall on the
Yet in time they would faithfully rebuild it.
north side was not built. Wood shavings and carpenter tools littered the
vast naked shell of clay bricks that was the East Room. Mrs. Adams's
Last Levees
letters tell us that clotheslines were strung up in its vast emptiness. The
house had no courtyard or other concealed place outside, and it was
Adams's tenure was under four months, and apparently had few
indelicate, not to mention an invitation to wags, to expose the presiden-
happy moments. The house stayed shivering cold, its great windows rat-
tial laundry to the public eye. Ironically, Washington's grand audience
tling against the fierce northwest winds. Mrs. Adams arrived exhausted
chamber served the Federalists solely as a drying room.⁴
two weeks after the President. Her party of nine had wandered on and off
Mrs. Adams wrote enthusiastically of the beautiful prospect from
the road south. Sometimes the way was so overgrown that a man had to
the south windows, and it was decided to reorient the entrance to that
sit on the roof of the coach and chop branches away; other times the
direction. In December 1800 James Hoban linked the wooden balcony of
procession was halted by walls of trees. It was new country to all of them,
the south bow to the ground by a plain wooden stair, and a driveway was
and it seemed so wild and disorderly to the New Englander's eyes that she
put in that ran from the stair to Pennsylvania Avenue on the southeast.
longed even for Philadelphia.¹
The "oval saloon" that was to be the Blue Room was converted into an
Now the new federal city witnessed the last days of the Federalist
entrance hall. An echoing vacant vestibule it must have made, with the
age. Adams knew the end was as close as the coming election. Mrs.
tall, uncurtained windows, an ordinary carpet, the four sections of a
Adams more readily admitted the unpleasant truth and wrote about it,
dining table, and nothing else to fill its 30-hy-40-foot expanse.
and thus freed herself of some of the anxiety that ate away at her hus-
Hoban's work continued inside. He completed the back stair in
band. Anger and hurt characterized their four months in the White
87
94
ANACHRONISM
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
95
demands on previous presidential secretaries had been heavy, but Lewis
performed few of the customary secretarial functions. Seldom does any of
according to Margaret Bayard Smith, who became an intimate of Jeffer-
the writing in the household accounts even resemble his, and he did
son's White House circle. "In the centre was a long table, with drawers
not write letters for the President. His more important role was that of
on each side
around the walls were maps, globes, charts, &c." Paper
the President's pupil, a bright mind being trained for the great western
cases and writing tables shared space with chairs painted black and gold
expedition which would carry his name. He was treated as a member of
and with library steps for reaching the tall shelves. Green baize covered
the family, and pursued his own interests as he pleased. Early in the
the tabletops, and the mahogany floor Hoban had put down was appar-
morning Meriwether Lewis liked to hunt along the weedy avenues,
ently left bare. 31
bringing game to the great kitchen. He often served as messenger and,
Jefferson wrote his own letters without the aid of a secretary, and
gradually, once he learned the ways of the capital, even as surrogate host
seems to have zoned the office (or "cabinet" or "library" as it was called)
for social functions.
into special areas for particular tasks. The press of public business makes
The carpenters were ordered to partition two box-like rooms for his
it certain that most of these desks were devoted to official purposes, but
use in the south end of the East Room, which was otherwise abandoned
the office was also his place for personal pursuits, as Jefferson all his life
to storage. This may have been accomplished with wood framing and
liked to mix the two. One of the table drawers contained small gardening
some heavy fabric, such as sail cloth; in any case, one room served as the
tools, and the deep window reveals were filled with potted plants, roses,
secretary's office, where he met appointments, taking the pressure off the
and geraniums, which he liked to tend. Bell jars, terra-cotta pots, and
President, while the smaller room was his bedchamber. 30
boxes of rich topsoil completed his gardening supplies. In a cage sus-
Through a great arched doorway from the East Room and at the
pended in one of the windows was a mockingbird, which Jefferson had
west end of the transverse hall was the President's office, across the house
tamed. He sometimes allowed it to fly about in the room.
from where Lewis stayed. Of all the rooms in the Jefferson White House,
Jefferson's enormous capacity for work demanded such a setting,
this office carried the strongest personal imprint of the President. It was
where he could be alone and effectively manage his time. At Monticello,
ready for his use when he returned from Monticello in May, and re-
he was developing a similar office adjacent to his bedroom, really a suite,
mained his private world during his entire stay in the White House.
consisting of three rooms and a greenhouse. For the duration of his Presi-
When he worked there he usually worked alone, allowing others into his
dency the room was the center of his life. In the light from its tall
sanctum only on special business. Interviews and official visits took place
windows he wrote his letters and studied his maps. On freezing winter
in the adjoining parlor.
days he labored between two brimming log fires, abjuring in this private
Jefferson's office was the best of the finished rooms in the house.
place the costly coal he had introduced elsewhere in the house. In the
Today's State Dining Room incorporates the space; but in those days the
summertime, with the windows open, he might have been in a tree-
room was smaller. Tall and generously proportioned, the office had fire-
house, SO lofty and green were his views, and so remote was this corner
places east and west and was flooded with daylight through tall south and
room from other human activity.
west windows. The President had an unobstructed view down the Po-
He left no diary, or even a daybook, to tell what went on in his
tomac to Alexandria, and a secondary view to the west of the War De-
office. Therefore no great events can be attached to the room with com-
partment building. Because the room was private, known really only to
plete certainty. Yet since most of his official life took place here, it is
his Cabinet and his secretary, it aroused curiosity in its time. For the
reasonable to speculate that many important decisions were made in the
same reason it is difficult to reconstruct its appearance now. A few of the
office. For example the Lewis and Clark expedition was largely planned
outsiders who were allowed to see it left descriptions, and there is an
here. During 1802, when the Louisiana question was dominating Ameri-
inventory of the federal property he left in the room on his departure in
can politics and diplomacy, Jefferson feared America would have to
1809. These allow us to paint a general picture of a rectangular room,
fight Spain to secure her rights to use the port of New Orleans. He
with long sides east to west, the whole measuring 20 by 38 feet,
had long believed that the West might see reason to withdraw from
with an 18-foot ceiling. Two doors, one into the transverse hall and
the United States and join with another country to obtain rights to
the second into the sitting room, gave access to this "spacious room,"
the Mississippi River. The United States could try to avoid this by
treaties or territorial acquisition. Jefferson's interest extended beyond
122
THE TRIAL
James Madison
123
Virginia, and a few white people were hired locally to supplement
curtains. The Madisons were probably shown the drawings Latrobe had
the domestic help.5
made for Jefferson, proposing a revision of the main floor plan, for the
The steward Lemaire had gone into the restaurant business after
uses of some of the rooms were changed to more or less reflect this.
Jefferson's retirement, and his replacement at the White House was an-
Jefferson's office became the State Dining Room, which it has re-
other Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Sioussat, former steward to Anthony
mained ever since. The space he had used as a state dining room, across
Merry. "French John," as he was nicknamed in the community, had
the hall, was partitioned into two rooms, though not as Latrobe sug-
classical good looks and was bright and lively, with useful ideas about
gested, as a state bedroom suite; it was used instead as an office for
what was proper. A good talker, he liked to relate his experiences, not
Madison and his secretary, Edward Coles. The makeshift rooms of Meri-
the least how his father had held him up over the crowd to see the
wether Lewis at the south end of the unfinished East Room were ex-
execution of Louis XVI in 1793. He had studied for the priesthood, tried
panded, plastered, and wallpapered for use as a Cabinet room and the
the sailor's life, and now relished his position with the President.⁶
secretary's bedroom. A reception parlor was put where the small dining
Chief of the household and actually called the "master of ceremo-
room had been, while Jefferson's sitting room became Mrs. Madison's
nies," he carried out the wishes of the Madisons, managing the food and
parlor. The oval saloon, between the two, where Stuart's portrait of
wine and facilitating presidential activities. It was a large responsibility
General Washington hung, was kept as the principal drawing room.9
for one man, but not until late 1813, during the war, was he to have
The haste with which these new arrangements were made reveals
relief in the form of a chef and "steward," one Douhar, who had served
that the Madisons came to the White House with settled purposes. Three
as valet with the Russian delegation. Douhar was "to undertake the
rooms were set aside for entertaining, and attention was lavished upon
business of confectionery & cooking with a woman & a young man,
redecorating them. The budget of $5,000 was not especially exciting, but
pretty good cooks, under you; to market to set out the table, & superin-
they trimmed costs everywhere else to make the suite one that would
tend the waiting upon of the guests
"7
eclipse all others in Washington, and recall, if not rival, the drawing
Little record survives of the other servants. Mrs. Madison's maid
rooms of Philadelphia and New York. The Madisons planned to open
was a slave from Montpelier, called Sukey, and Madison's body servant,
their doors frequently to the political and social world. Was this their
also a slave, was the young Paul Jennings, who was to become the author
solution to the dangerous isolation of the Presidency?
of the first White House memoir in his later years as a free man. Jeffer-
The three rooms in question ran along the south front: the State
son's former servant, John Freeman, who lived at the White House with
Dining Room, the present Red Room, and the present Blue Room. They
his wife and children, was probably the butler. The stable master, Joseph
opened into each other and into the transverse hall. Left to her own
Dougherty, had been moved to the house as doorman and guard, occupy-
preferences, Mrs. Madison would probably have demanded French furni-
ing the porter's lodge to the right of the north door.⁸
ture, for she and her class in America had taste for the furnishings of the
Sioussat directed the plantings in the gardens laid out by Jefferson.
Ancien Regime. Latrobe convinced the President's wife otherwise.
He saw to the completion of the stable and coach house. From James
Devoted to the United States, he believed cast-off court finery inap-
Traquair in Philadelphia he purchased two massive stone eagles, which
propriately symbolized the American republic. For Dolley Madison's ap-
he mounted on the entrance piers at the gate on the north side. Seen
proval he sketched chairs and sofas, which he proposed to have made in
from the common, the house looked all the more official, with its eagles
Baltimore. These and the accompanying interior decorations must have
guarding the broad sweep of raked gravel to the main entrance.
seemed very odd to Mrs. Madison, but they caught her fancy and she
gave her consent. The style was known as Grecian, an archaeological
Three Brilliant Rooms
sort of neoclassicism then de rigeur in London. Latrobe was one of many
Americans who considered the mode appropriate to the republic for its
From Latrobe's letters and reports it is clear that many changes in
reflections of ancient Greece. The more familiar French version, known
the interior were being anticipated by the Madisons while Jefferson was
today as Empire, was current in some of the eastern cities, but Latrobe's
still moving out. He had already begun purchasing large mirrors, and was
White House Grecian was wholly English; the British association evoked
looking in vain for silk in sufficient quantity to make the drawing room
no criticism, even in a time of Anglophobia. Few changes were made in
130
THE TRIAL
James Madison
131
The table in the dining room was filled with food, including cakes,
She responded by making a brief personal visit in return as soon as possi-
some meat, and rich syrups as well as Mrs. Madison's favorite sweet, ice
ble, leaving her card, or a poem or flower as a souvenir. She was a
cream contained in a hot pastry. Waiters passed coffee and wine. Among
familiar sight, threading the streets of Washington in her glossy brown
the drinks was strong whiskey punch, a part of the hospitality sometimes
coach with liveried driver on the box and a footman standing on the
criticized, for whiskey was not usually served at mixed functions in polite
platform behind. Considering the political climate in 1812, she was
society. The Madisons, however, had as their principal competition the
working hard to shed goodwill on her maligned husband. "I am on good
taverns. A male guest could find as strengthening a draught of whiskey or
terms at the White House," wrote one congressman that spring, "which
rum in Mrs. Madison's punch as he was likely to buy at his lodgings. 29
by the way is no advantage, for the cry of the mad dog is not more fatal to
The value to the administration of the drawing rooms can hardly be
its victim than the cry of executive connections here. "30
overestimated. They represented a joint effort of husband and wife. Op-
Few dispute that Madison had secured renomination to the Presi-
posing political factions were brought together, if not in friendship, cer-
dency in 1811 by secretly agreeing to declare war. He was elected in
tainly under circumstances of civility, which proved valuable to the Pres-
December, inaugurated in March; immediately the Cabinet began long
ident in the increasingly hostile atmosphere of an approaching war with
and stormy sessions over the issue of war, meeting in make-do quarters in
Britain. To help her husband, Mrs. Madison became herself a public
the south end of the East Room. For Madison, the message was the end
figure, freeing him to work behind the scenes, without the appearances
of an ordeal he had lived through for many months. Presumably he wrote
or dangers of isolation.
it in the present Green Room, which adjoined the Cabinet and which he
used as an office and parlor. He signed the declaration of war into law in
the same place, on June 18. 31
War Comes to America
Thirty years after the close of the American Revolution, America
Although distant from the death struggle between England and
was again at war with Britain. During the first two years Britain was too
Napoleonic France, the United States suffered repeated insults from both
occupied with Napoleon to address the relatively minor problem of
powers at sea and from the British on the northwestern frontier. The war
America; what action there was still took place on the northwestern
had, on the other hand, protected the young nation against any score
frontier and at sea. Bad news was now and then counterbalanced by good
England might wish to settle. By 1810, fear of Britain was being fast
news, which everyone clutched like a lifeline: The Madisons joyously
overwhelmed by public indignation over mistreatment.
purchased engravings of the United States frigate Constitution and its
To the Madisons' Wednesday drawing room came new faces in the
commander, Isaac Hull, celebrating the Battle of Lake Erie. But victories
autumn of 1811. The swell of public emotion had overturned the Con-
could not mask the fear of what might be coming, as the clash between
gress, replacing practically half of its membership with younger and more
England and France drew to a close. 32
aggressively anti-British politicians, paramount among whom was Henry
The French Empire collapsed at last in April 1814. A triumphant
Clay. Elected speaker of the House almost as soon as he arrived, the
Britain proclaimed at an end the chaos that had reigned since 1789 and
34-year-old Clay quickly established himself as the leader of the "war
prepared to put the world back on an even keel. News of this reached the
hawks," who advocated preparing for war with England.
White House in May. Anticipating the worst, President Madison had
Through 1812 the growing power of the war hawks reflected badly
already sent a peace commission to the city of Ghent, in Belgium, to try
on Madison's apparent inactivity. Still the crowds came to the oval sa-
to negotiate with the British. Soon the king's navy appeared off the
loon, and pushed up to the long dining table. As Madison began quietly
Atlantic coast, raiding and burning.
to support the war party, Mrs. Madison greeted larger numbers on Wed-
Madison, canceling his plans to go to Montpelier, remained in
nesdays, and started holding other parties.
Washington, meeting almost constantly with his Cabinet. His wife was
The friendly custom of calling at the homes of those who had called
with him. In early August 1814 he learned that 4,000 British regulars,
on her she adhered to religiously, though one viewpoint held that since a
fresh from military triumphs in France and Spain, were headed for the
President did not have to return calls, neither did his wife. New people,
Chesapeake. Reaching American shores August 19, they began to ad-
or returning friends, called on her at the White House in the morning.
vance by land toward the capital. The invading forces, backed up by the
James Monroe
153
152
THE PHOENIX
mountings of gilded brass. The furniture, all of which survives, is proba-
east wing remained the same. Soon after the funding was taken away, the
bly more late Louis XVI than Directoire, although the government of the
ruined arch was razed, terminating the east wing to match that on the
Directory had come into power while the Monroes were in France. 38
west. The Treasury fireproof vault, standing alone a distance away, was
When Monroe had returned to France as a member of the mission
roofed over for use as an outbuilding for the White House. Now the
for the Louisiana Purchase, he went without his family. At the court of
wings were as they would remain, not half the length Jefferson had
Napoleon, he had been exposed to the sumptuous and "historical"
wanted, nor would the White House ever be linked with the 19th-
Greco-Roman work of the decorators Percier & Fontaine, who created
century executive departments. 36
dramatic state interiors for the emperor. It was this sort of furniture,
The reconstruction of the White House ended at the close of Janu-
silver, and other appointments that Monroe bought for the rebuilt White
ary 1820, with the completion of the stable. North and south porticoes
House. Defending the decision later, Sam Lane assured the Congress
remained unfinished, with shingle and timber patching where their roofs
that "some" of these purchases would last for "20 years or more." A large
were meant to connect to the house. The north portico was seldom
quantity of it remains in the White House today. 39
mentioned again during Monroe's Presidency; but the south portico came
The acquisition of the furniture for the elliptical saloon is well docu-
up every year as a possible project. Hoban eagerly supplied annual esti-
mented, beginning in April 1817, when Monroe personally contacted
mates of what it would cost.
the American firm of Joseph Russell and John LaFarge at the port of Le
Already the cost of the White House reconstruction, like that of the
Havre, with what appears to have been a list of rather specific requests.
Capitol, had gone far over the approved estimates. On two occasions
He wanted a suite of mahogany furniture for the oval drawing room; he
since 1815 Congress had supplemented the original appropriation, in-
wanted fine bronze clocks decorated with figures, but not nude figures; he
creasing it from $500,000 to $800,000. This was still not enough. When
wanted silver and porcelain for the dining room, and dinner table orna-
the Panic spread nationwide through 1820 and 1821, and cuts had to be
ments; he wanted wallpaper, chandeliers, candelabra, fireplace equip-
made, the Capitol took precedence, in particular the completion of the
ment, and a carpet designed with the arms of the United States. The
domed "centre" section, which would unite the two wings. Until this
saloon, the handsomest room in the house, had been the most dra-
section was built, the Capitol offered no clear symbolic image. The
matic of Madison's state rooms, furnished by Latrobe in the Grecian taste
White House remained unfinished, but still nearer completion than it
of London. Monroe intended to fit it out in the archaeological taste of
ever had been before.
France, the style of new empires.⁴⁰
Although Joseph Russell agreed to select the furnishings himself, it
Imperial Saloons
was John LaFarge who went to Paris in June 1817, and found that "there
was no possibility of purchasing anything ready made." Restauration Paris
The decoration of the house seems to have been managed largely by
was keeping its cabinetmakers and upholsterers busy. To comply with
the President. Only a single voucher-one of George Bridport's—
Monroe's instructions he had to commission "the whole of the furniture
suggests that Mrs. Monroe had anything to do with it. Nor is there any
to be made," in order to secure articles which "united Strength with
mention in this regard of the strong-willed eldest daughter, Eliza, who
Elegance of Form, and combining at the same time, Simplicity of Orna-
lived very forcefully in the White House with her husband, George Hay,
ments with the Richness suitable to the Decoration of the House occu-
a well-known Richmond lawyer. 37
pied by the first Magistrate of a free Nation."⁴¹
The taste the Monroes applied to the interiors of the White House
The celebrated Pierre Antoine Bellangé made the wooden frames of
was naturally French, for they had developed an affection for French
the furniture in the "Ancient" Roman style for which he was noted. One
decorative arts while in France in the 1790s. The family even spoke
of the foremost cabinetmakers during the Napoleonic period, he was
French in its private life. They loved French wine, food, manners, and
making the transition to the taste of the new time, under the Bourbon
literature. Among the possessions they brought to the White House were
restoration. Monroe had specified furniture of mahogany, which had
the desk, chairs, sofa table, tea table, clock, and other objects they
been popular in the 1790s, but Bellangé and LaFarge substituted gilded
had bought in Paris for the Folie de la Boucxière-all in the reserved
beechwood, without ever really giving a reason, other than to remark
and diminutive mode of the 1780s and 1790s, made of mahogany with
156
THE PHOENIX
James Monroe
157
the government or to Monroe. Household inventories and bills list chan-
deliers, mirrors, artificial flowers under glass domes; all-over Brussels car-
painted oilcloth for protection, lay what was newly christened the East
peting in green, yellow, and "berry," marble-topped tables and consoles,
Room, the old words "levee" and "audience" having begun to seem vul-
"2 Ostrick Egg Mantel ornaments on Silver Stands." Upstairs were
gar. This spectacular, if vacant, space was finished insofar as its plaster
"crown" beds draped in satin and dimity. Monroe's interest in decorating
cornice of great anthemions-usually called at the time Grecian honey-
the house seems to have been boundless. When the Congress obliged by
suckle-made a heavy band around the room. It was, however, bare of
appropriating an additional $30,000 for furnishings in the winter of
floor, uncurtained, and hung with plain metal chandeliers. Except for a
1818, the President spent it quickly.⁴⁹
row of mahogany chairs made locally, the echoing East Room was unfur-
nished. It was seldom used, its mahogany and gilt-mounted window
Public Life
blinds kept shut, unless the room was enlisted to serve an overflow from
hall and parlors. 51
The Republicans reigned from a house they had denounced 20 years
Monroe's ambition to crown his Presidency with a brilliant social
before as a symbol of budding monarchy. Given the opportunity to
life came to little. His entertainments were unpopular, surprisingly, for it
change it-the only real opportunity anyone would have-they restored
had seemed beforehand that the case would be otherwise. In part this
what the Federalists had built, even elaborating on the original.
may have reflected Mrs. Monroe's temperament. She was very unlike the
Once again the house was open to the public, but admission was so
amiable, affectionate Mrs. Madison. Charming without being amusing,
hard to come by that the hospitality lacked the warmth of the days of
she was never giddy and was not adept at small talk. Further, illness
Jefferson and Madison. Unless the President was still asleep early in the
which came over her just before her removal to the White House dark-
morning, or out of town, the visitor could not go beyond the entrance
ened her years there. The luster of the lady who had captivated the
hall. Under the best circumstances one was required to tip the door-
diplomats long before in Paris was largely gone, though her great beauty
keeper, and tour only at his pleasure. Visitors of importance were some-
remained. She retreated into her family circle.
times led around by the steward, Joseph Jeater. No one moved about
Presidents' wives cannot enjoy the luxury of being aloof, and Mrs.
freely, and no longer were there bones, caged birds, other attractions for
Monroe soon had her critics. Because of her elegant appearance, the first
the curious.
barbs were aimed at her extravagance in costume. Whether she was
The state rooms seemed aloof. They were never set up to be shown,
really extravagant or not no one knew, nor really did the facts make any
as they are today. When the parlors were not in use or being prepared to
difference. Some of the controversial dresses she wore at the White
be used, their furnishings were kept in linen dust cases or slipcovers.
House survive, heavy winter gowns of silk in pastel colors; light summer
Blinds and curtains were drawn. This did not present a welcoming face to
dresses of gauzy lawn, sprigged with embroidered flowers. There were tiny
visiting citizens, even those bold enough to lift up the linen clock cover
high-heeled slippers with upturned, pointed toes, and one of her portraits
to see Minerva, or peek beneath a slipcover to get the flash of gold from
shows her hair nearly covered by a turban. Her jewelry-though most of
one of the famous French chairs. Ideas of what was "republican" at the
the stones were paste-included a large necklace of brilliants and a high,
chief magistrate's house had changed.
spiked Grecian crown that matched.
The oval saloon was flanked on the west by the Yellow Parlor and
She was accessible only through intimates, family, and friends. The
on the east by the Green Room, Monroe giving that chamber the name
lady returned no social calls, both because of her poor health and because
it would carry through history: The room on the south side of the grand
she believed that since the President did not have to go calling, neither
stair was still the dining room, with its two glass chandeliers, two fire-
did his wife. For precedent she recalled the preference of Mrs. Washing-
places, and its table ablaze with the French plateau, an icy sheet of mirror
ton, who disliked calling. But calling was one of those little things-
set in highly ornamented bronze-still today a regular feature in the
tedious or not-that contributed to the popularity of the President's wife
State Dining Room. Across the hall, where the private dining room is
and thus the President. The brief, usually ten-minute drop-in generated
now, were the secretary's office and bedroom.50
enormous goodwill; in company with a friend or relative, the President's
Down a sprawl of hallway, carpeted but always further covered with
wife might make ten calls two mornings a week. To abstain was taken as
a sign of snobbishness.
158
THE PHOENIX
James Monroe
159
Often Mrs. Monroe was unable to attend dinners and receptions, SO
she made the unhappy decision to make her daughter Eliza her surrogate
also true of the lewd and notorious. But not because they were prohib-
hostess. This spoiled but witty young woman had inherited her mother's
ited, as in Europe. The poor knew they would feel out of place, and the
beauty but was snobbish and rude. John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of
immoral were barred by public opinion.
State, could not bear her and vented his distaste in his diary. The women
"I have known a cartman," wrote Cooper, "leave his horse in the
of society finally turned on her-though she insisted that their feelings
street and go into a reception room to shake hands with the President.
did not matter-when she demanded in the absence of her mother the
He offended the good taste of all present, because it was not thought
same rank as the President's wife. She loved the stir she made, and put
decent that a labourer should come in dirty dress on such an occasion;
on all the airs she had learned at Madame Campan's school in France,
but while he made a trifling mistake in this particular he proved how well
but she shed an unfavorable light on the President's household. 53
he understood the difference between government and society. He knew
For the most part, the Monroes seem to have kept to themselves.
the levee was a sort of homage paid to political equality in the person of
His reelection in 1820, largely unopposed, made any change in their
the first magistrate, but he would not have presumed to enter the house
pattern seem unnecessary; he was confirmed in thinking that he was
of the same person as a private individual without being invited.
doing what was right. As President he traveled and became familiar with
his country; without question more citizens saw him in person than they
The South Portico
had any President before him. His demand for privacy in his private life
was a deliberate effort to remain remote, as he felt a leader should.
Jefferson's 1800 "revolution," which had brought the Republicans
He employed guards who, had he not feared adverse publicity,
to the White House, had been in part a reaction against the powerful
might well have been military men. He settled, however, for civilians,
executive authority endorsed by the Federalists, and symbolized by the
who wore civilian dress and were usually found for him by the marshal of
White House. Both Jefferson and Madison had used the White House in
the city, Washington's ceremonial officer. A man was kept on duty in
different ways to epitomize their more modest ideas about the Presidency.
the entrance hall night and day, with firearms available to him in the
Illustrating this philosophy was extremely important to them in the pre-
little lodge room off the hall. Iron fencing and gates with heavy locks
war years when young America struggled for its identity.
were built on the north side of the house. 54
By Monroe's time, victory over England had brought a sense of
On public days-such as the Fourth of July-the White House
security and nationhood to the people. The principle of republican sim-
opened up and most of the appearance of seclusion was removed; the
plicity no longer carried the same importance. Monroe did not need to
number of guards increased, but they stayed hidden in the areaway and
use the Presidency as a pulpit from which to preach political sermons or
among the trees. The President emerged front and center. He received in
dramatize partisan points of view. A better rule for the White House was
the middle of the oval drawing room, his feet on the centerpiece of the
to symbolize the triumph and unity of the nation.
rug that featured the arms of the United States, the chandelier over his
Had finances not become a problem, Monroe would have continued
head. Republican principles prevailed to such an extent as to offer sharp
in his embellishment of the White House. The East Room, for example,
contrasts to everyday practices at the White House. Attendance usually
was to have been adorned with painted wall decorations by John Vander-
numbered well over a thousand. They came for a firm handshake from
lyn, the gifted American painter famous for his picture of the sleeping
the President, a look at the ladies' dresses, and a cup of strong tea or
nude "Ariadne." Apparently on Monroe's request, the painter made a
whiskey punch. The receptions were open to all-but by today's demo-
proposal for decorating the walls of the great state room. He was well
cratic standards, they were highly restricted. 55
known to Monroe, who as secretary of state had commissioned him to
Foreigners were often confused when they tried to understand these
paint a portrait of President Madison. Vanderlyn actually set up his stu-
receptions in the context of age-old standards of state conduct. What
dio in the East Room, but the painted decorations, like many of Mon-
were the rules? After one reception, James Fenimore Cooper explained
roe's plans, fell victim to the cost cutting of 1819.57
his experience in a long letter to a French friend: "the poorer and labour-
Monroe resumed only one of his projects for the White House after
ing classes of the community," he quickly noted, "stay away." This was
the Panic: the south portico. Hoban built this addition in Seneca stone,
with its half-ring of Ionic columns, in 1824. It was tall and massive,
Andrew Jackson
185
184
DEMOCRACY
the room. At the most the plaster walls were sealed with whitewash. The
White House water closets. Across the hall from this, Jack Donelson
four fireplaces had temporary mantels of wood.
made his office in the northeast corner room, adjoining Earl's room.
It was a large and lofty room with floor dimensions of 80 feet by 40,
Secretive about his business, he kept his office locked at all times when
and a ceiling fully 22 feet high-so that it had been necessary to lift the
he was away. 24
upstairs floor level several feet to accommodate it (and this made the east
Visitors waited to see Jackson or Donelson in the central corridor in
end of the upstairs two or three steps higher than the central and western
fuli view of the family quarters. So offensive was this to the household
parts). Three tall windows admitted the south light, and three matching
that the President added glass doors to separate the office end of the hall
windows faced the north. On the east the great "Venetian" window was
from the family part on the west. Business callers used the stair off the
nearly as wide as three of the other windows combined, and one could
entrance hall that Hoban had called the "back stair." The family and its
pass through glass doors here and out onto the roof of the basement-level
guests had exclusive use of the grand stair, while the servants-and alleg-
east wing.
edly the famous "kitchen cabinet"-traveled the little service stair.
Lewis meant to make the East Room modern. He took advantage of
that relatively new convenience of the democratic age, the "furniture
The East Room
warehouse," as a store stocking everything necessary for interior decora-
tion was called. Matters in the past had been more complicated. During
Most of the details of the President's House fell to Major Lewis. A
the Monroe rebuilding and decoration Sam Lane had gone to individual
friend of Van Rensselaer's, he was quickly in touch with him about im-
upholsterers, cabinetmakers, and small manufacturers, and had even
provements inside and out. The north portico, commenced a few weeks
employed an upholsterer to set up shop in the White House until his part
after Jackson moved in, was completed in September 1829. On the vari-
of the work was done. An American businessman living in France had
ous other projects, Lewis did not wish to wait. Van Rensselaer raised the
shopped around Paris for Monroe's furnishings. Only a little more than
money, and Lewis set himself to spending it. Wanting everything done in
ten years later, thanks to more modern business practices, Lewis-with
a hurry, the major bypassed Joseph Elgar, the commissioner of public
certainly less experience than either Lane or Monroe in furnishing
buildings, and a Republican holdover. Elgar cannot have objected to SO
houses-made but one stop in fitting out the East Room.
minor an affront, since he must have been delighted at being overlooked
He contacted a Philadelphia entrepreneur named Louis Veron, a
in the Democrats' purge of the bureaucracy.
cabinetmaker who had opened a warehouse in which he stocked tables,
The principal change that heralded the age of Jackson was the north
chairs, beds, sofas, bookcases, wallpaper, curtains, and cornices, all sorts
portico. Even though it was planned much earlier, it blended with the
of patent lamps, kitchen goods, stoves, carpets and carpeting, rods for
newly fashionable Greek Revival in architecture, which bestowed on
stair runners, washbowls and pitchers. Much of his merchandise was
Jackson's age the temple theme of columns and chaste whiteness. It was
gathered from Philadelphia manufacturers. What he did not have on
by no means the first monumental portico on an American house, yet it
hand, he assured his customers he could find on short notice. 25
may well have been the most influential. Even Jackson himself, in re-
Louis Veron journeyed to Washington probably in August or Sep-
building the Hermitage after its gutting by fire October 13, 1834, gave it
tember 1829 to survey the scene with Lewis. They devised a scheme for
a colossal colonnade, replacing the generous two-deck porches that he
shifting furnishings about and adding touches here and there to give the
and Rachel enjoyed.
Jackson White House a fresh look, without spending too much money.
Major Lewis addressed himself to the interior of the White House,
Andrew Jackson had made too great a campaign issue of presidential
taking personal charge of the decoration of the East Room. The comple-
extravagance to risk similar accusations. The most money was to be spent
tion of the great chamber was a matter of practical necessity All the
on the East Room, with good reason, since its being unfinished had been
basic architectural work had been finished in 1818. The room was
criticized over several years.
crowned by the frieze of mighty anthemia, with framing bands of smaller
The Brussels carpeting on the principal or state floor was pulled up;
Grecian ornament, all combined into a heavy cornice with a deep cove.
perhaps the inaugural crowds had hastened its ruin, as Mrs. Smith had
Some of these decorations had been gilded and accented with lampblack
predicted would happen. The ground outside had been muddy, the last
prior to being installed, but little else had been done toward decorating
Andrew Jackson
187
waves of guests were not used to the polite custom of pulling off boots
of economy. Three "Imperial rugs" were purchased to protect the carpet
inside the house and putting on thin shppers. Since big crowds would
in times of heavy traffic.
continue to visit. Veron suggested abandoning the loop Brussels for the
The existing furniture, which had been made locally for Monroe
more durable Wilton weave. Though more expensive, it would meet the
and Adams-some 24 chairs and several sofas-was reupholstered and
test it rotated each year. Other modifications were agreed upon, Veron
given white slipcovers for day-to-day protection. New furniture from
making recommendations to Lewis and doubtless pushing his own mer-
Veron's supplemented these earlier pieces, including three mahogany
chandise where possible.
tables with black marble tops on which stood identical gilded lamps with
The only room decorated anew was the East Room. Shown the great
glass globes resting on classical figures of women. One of these rested
hollow space, Veron could only have found American analogies in hotel
beneath each chandelier. Marble-top pier tables were spaced along the
lobbies and ballrooms. When he finished his work, the East Room would
wall, dividing lines of chairs and sofas. Twenty spittoons completed an
be far different from all the other rooms, and not only for its opera house
impression of staccato rows and strict symmetry 26
splendor. Even before the age had got going full swing, its character had
The finished room must have seemed luxurious and appealing. In
1 bluster unmistakably Jacksonian.
the daytime muslin curtains softened the glare of the sun, so that the
That Lewis actually selected furnishings for the East Room is un-
martial boldness of the blues and yellows would not appear tawdry, and
ikely. If he did pick them out, Veron must have had pictures or drawings
the light would not glare but shimmer in the watery glass of the chande-
or some sort of a catalogue to show him. Nothing was to be custom made;
liers. At night, with the lamps lighted, what today would be only a glow
ill was from Veron's stock, such as could be bought by any banker,
looked bright indeed to the eyes of the time; under the hazy lamps, the
steamboat captain, planter, saloon keeper, or merchant with the money
brilliant colors were at their most effective. Surfaces of gilt metal, the
o pay. As the room's interior decoration took form in Veron's mind, he
sheen of the silk curtains, the bright swirls of the carpet, and the black
completed his notes, then returned to Philadelphia to assemble the
marble against the yellow of the wallpaper with its flat tempera-like fin-
goods. He created a room not filled with cast-off imperial finery from
ish must have combined most handsomely.
France, but one of the sort a businessman from Bangor might want, on a
Perhaps Lewis and Veron's success was nowhere more evident than
maller scale.
in the ornamentation of the great arch to the transverse hall. With
When it was finished, the East Room seemed oddly native, a heroic
ready-made plaster decorations, they gave it a glamour usually reserved
nterior composed of materials from the mainstream of American life and
for Masonic temples. From the arch now blazed gilded sunrays, spreading
enterprise. Its walls were covered in a lemon-colored paper, probably
spoke-like over the wallpaper. This heavenly spectacle was washed by a
French, trimmed with cloth borders, probably of blue velvet. Four new
gentle rain of golden stars, which, with the rays, caught the glowing
nantelpieces replaced the old wooden ones, all of fashionable "Egyptian"
lamplight and seemed to shimmer, the perfect frame for the entrances of
narble, black with brindle veining. Plaster centerpieces were fixed to the
Old Hickory.
:eiling in three places, designed like large sunflowers, and from them
Rearrangements in the other state rooms bear little discussion.
vere suspended three great chandeliers of gilded brass and cut glass, each
Lewis ordered new curtains; Simon Bolivar's portrait was hung in the
holding 18 oil peg lamps with glass shades.
Green Room, and Monroe's gilded furniture was moved there. Washing-
Rows of "Bracket Lights," or sconces, holding five oil lamps each
ton's portrait remained in the Yellow Parlor, the present-day Red Room,
vere attached to the walls, with astral and globe lamps provided for
which came to be known for some years as the Washington Parlor. But
nearly every surface in the room. Long and wide "French plate" mirrors
these splendors were not enough to satisfy the visiting citizens, who all
n gilded frames were hung on the four walls, directly across from each
wanted to see the hero. It was customary for Presidents to allow them-
other, carrying the eye infinite distances into reflected depths. Silks col-
selves to be seen by the public whenever they could. Jackson, in contrast
red imperial blue and sunflower yellow were combined at the windows
to his predecessors, appeared to be nearly a recluse. Again and again the
n luxuriant Grecian drapery, falling from cornices adorned with the
doorman told tourists no, that the general was not well, or that he was
gilded eagles. This color scheme was repeated in the all-over carpet and
sitting with his Cabinet and could not receive them.
border which, after all, was Brussels, not Wilton, probably as a measure
Other Presidents had endured endless interviews with casual callers.
202
DEMOCRACY
Andrew Jackson
203
intense heat and no rain, that the work was called to a halt. But it was
the vegetables. The division of responsibility suggests a broadening of the
unquestionably the lack of money, more than the lack of rain, that really
gardening program at the Jackson White House, a separation for the first
stopped the work. Most of the cost was borne by the public buildings
time of ornamental and edible plantings. It may well also pin down the
appropriation, and this had been drained after the destruction of the
date when the old garden-which Jefferson had located on the south-
Treasury building by fire in March 1833. So poorly did the new water
east-was redesigned and elaborated, and new ground was broken south-
system serve the fire fighters that the commissioner of public works,
west of the house for the kitchen garden.
William Noland, channeled most of his money to improving the water-
Most of the grading was completed in May. The driveway on the
works in the President's Park. Commissioner Elgar wrote: "the destruc-
north was placed in its present path, laid over with gravel and edged with
tion of one of the offices for want of water seemed to inculcate the
paved walks. It became a wide horseshoe, bordered by paved footways.
necessity of providing against a recurrence of the catastrophe with the
Within the north fence all the ironwork was painted black. The gate
least possible delay." By comparison, the work on the grounds seemed
piers and all parapets were painted white, like the house. There was some
minor. The commissioner asked Maher and Ousley to arrive at a figure
further grading, because drainage had been a problem during the winter;
that would cover completion of the work in the next year. 57
sections of the parapet were cut open as outlets for ditches into Pennsyl-
The main improvement to the White House that we know about for
vania Avenue. The ground was turned up and grass seed scattered. Pro-
the summer of 1833 was on the north front. Noland commissioned a plan
tective boxes were removed from Adams's trees on the north grounds, for
for a parapet wall with an iron railing. This was to run between the
now. The few that survived were of sufficient size to fend for themselves,
foremost four columns, along the perilous edge of the deep areaway-
even when sheep were turned in to crop the lawn.
heretofore unfenced-and all around the lawn that spread between the
The greatest advances were on the south side. By man, shovel, ox,
two branches of the driveway. Andrew Jackson unrolled this plan, took
and plow the surface was graded to seat the south portico on a carpet
his pencil, and made so many changes, Noland observed, that he had
lawn flanked by slopes that hid the littered east and west colonnades,
"more than doubled" the original cost. What Jackson wanted most was
where in the warm months many homely household tasks were per-
the straightening of the wavy, curving north fence built by Monroe. He
formed. The "circular road" was leveled and graveled, although no
also wanted the gates and piers moved wider apart-they must have
change seems to have been made in its path. The White House was not
seemed rather close company in SO large a space. The commissioner
visible from the arched gate, but screened by trees as Jefferson had in-
completed the work as the President wished, even after the money ran
tended. Some of the trees had grown quite large. Beside the gate were
out, explaining that he could not stop halfway or "all the cattle of Wash-
two weeping willow trees which were in Jackson's day called "ancient,"
ington" would assault the grounds. 58
dating from "colonial times.
The source of the new fencing near the house is not known. If it was
Because the flower garden on the east and the kitchen garden on the
not Paulus Hedl, who was still in business in New York, it was someone
west were fenced, the south driveway was segregated into its own open
who made railing that closely approximated what Hedl had put on the
grassy area apart from either of them. Jefferson's high wall, albeit crum-
east front of the Capitol in 1820. Low and heavy, made of wrought iron,
bling in places, was the barrier between this and what Fanny Kemble
the fence evoked the cornice in the East Room. It featured a row of bold
had called in 1833 "a desolate reach of uncultivated ground to the river."
anthemia seemingly outlined in iron, set within circles and running side
It was crossed in several spots by wooden stiles, which pedestrians could
by side, held together top and bottom by rails. This long Grecian border
climb for an elevated look at the mansion. The popular pride of China,
ran the full extent of the north facade, apparently underlining the White
or chinaberry, trees were planted there in the spring of 1834. 60
House in orderly black. The evenness of this line echoed the now per-
It may be that the celebrated Jackson magnolias, the mighty old
fectly straight iron fence along Pennsylvania Avenue.
trees that gnarl up today as high as the house and shade the President's
When there no longer seemed a possibility of frost, in March of
bedroom windows, were planted near the west stairway to the south
1834, hoes and shovels again cut the ground. Now there were two White
portico at about this time. No written record places these trees in Jack-
House gardeners. Ousley's time was given over entirely to ornamental
son's Presidency, but the legend began in the late 19th century. How-
planting, and William Whelan, a friend of Maher's, was engaged to tend
ever, a photograph taken of the south front in 1846 does not show them;
Martin Van Buren
217
216
ELEGANCE
the room itself (where the air also became very warm) and extended
when it was rebuilt by Monroe. When Van Buren became President, the
through the floors and walls to the chambers above.
White House was heated solely by fireplaces. Each room had a single
Fresh-air ducts ran from the base of the furnace through the thick
fireplace, except for the kitchen, entrance hall, and State Dining Room,
basement walls to the outside. All ducts were of plaster, made on wire
where there were two, and the East Room, which had four. Most were
frames, and white-coated; any woodwork which came within nine inches
fueled by wood, with coal reserved for the state rooms and kitchen.
of them was cut away as a precaution against fire.
Several modifications were made by Van Buren late in 1837 in ad-
Like Latrobe's earlier heating system, based upon the Pettibone pa-
vance of-and perhaps in preparation for-the hot-air heating system,
tent, this was a gravity system, which relied entirely upon the fact that
which was first used in 1840. The coldest part of the house was the
hot air rises. The difference now was the efficiency of the self-contained
entrance hall; the warmth from its pair of fireplaces had always been
furnace over the simpler early system of a stove in a heat room. Consider-
dissipated by the constant opening and closing of the great north door-
able heat was built up and retained by the furnace. 10
way, which sent drafts into the transverse hall and state parlors that lay
In operation by the autumn of 1840, the heating system served only
beyond the open screen of Ionic columns. Van Buren had the screen
the state rooms and the transverse halls upstairs and on the principal
enclosed with glass, fixing ordinary wood window sash between the col-
floor. Fireplaces burning logs and coal were still used everyplace else,
umns, and providing three sets of double glass doors.
with an attendant "fireman" who built the fires each day and kept the
A little lobby was created, protruding into the hall; it also was made
individual wood boxes supplied with logs and split wood. On cold nights
of window sash, to screen the north door. Now the house was no longer
when there were large crowds in the state rooms, all the fireplaces were
entered directly, like a barn, in the manner of most American houses.
lighted both to supplement the slow-moving hot air from the furnace
The "storm entrance" was a shield against winter wind, further cutting
room below and to accelerate its flow, there being, of course, no electric
drafts and allowing the big double doors to stay open for long periods of
or steam-powered fans for the purpose.
time on reception days and at parties.9
To Jackson's garden Van Buren made surprisingly few improve-
The two glass additions, often called "shades," also had the advan-
ments, even though his interest in gardening was great. More roses were
tage of helping with security. No policemen were stationed at the house
planted. Jemmy Maher still did all the buying, except for an occasional
on ordinary days, but the porter or doorkeeper still occupied, as he had
gardening tool, which Ousley purchased. The grass and flower borders
from the outset, the small lodge room to the right of the north door. He
matured, and the orangery in the old Treasury fireproof vault, still rela-
controlled entry to the house. Now the President's official callers were
tively new, expanded its collection of fruit trees in pots and tubs.
directed to the back, or office, stair through a door to the left of the
Within the stone wall the grounds must have presented a clean and
entrance, directly across the hall from the lodge, without ever passing
well-organized, if not elaborate, appearance. The lawns were kept
beyond the glass screen into the transverse hall. Tourists were sent
smooth by a roller and green by frequent spraying from the "watering
through the same door to inspect the East Room, and normally were not
machine"-the miniature fire engine-that Jackson had bought. There
permitted to enter other parts of the house.
were graveled driveways and walks, iron fencing on the north, painted
Installation of the heating system was begun during the early spring
black, and board fences on the south. Van Buren purchased cast-iron
of 1840. It was not entirely different from that for the state dining room
settees and chairs for the flower garden, and circle benches of iron were
during the Madison administration, only it heated more of the house.
fixed to some of the trees. 11
The oval room in the basement, heretofore the servants' waiting room,
became the furnace room because of its central situation. That it had no
President Van Buren
windows further recommended it; the outside door on the south would
serve for the introduction of coal.
The President's salary of $25,000 per year, or $100,000 for a four-
A single drawing survives to indicate what the system was like. The
year term of office, might seem commensurate with such an establish-
core of it was a furnace with an inner firebox of iron, which was vented
ment. While it is idle to calculate what that salary would buy today, it
up the chimney; the firebox was enclosed in an outer shell of plastered
was certainly quite large: about what the head of a great New York bank
brick, where the air was warmed. Ducts ran from both the outer shell and
William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
237
236
STAGE AND PLAYERS
portico waited John Williams's bizarre creation, the funeral car, a mighty
of the state rooms, where the chandeliers and mirrors, and probably the
confection in black and white, standing out sharply against the glare of
portraits, were either trimmed or covered entirely in black.
the house. It was built around a wagon, curtained entirely, even over its
Williams supervised the building of a great "funeral car" and the
wheels, in cambric and crape looped in funeral wreaths. On the black-
costuming of the attendants. Gloves, mourning bands, silk-covered ba-
covered platform four columns supported an elaborately upholstered roof,
tons, yards and yards of black cloth and thread and some in snow white
which sheltered the mahogany coffin, itself set high on a draped stand
were the trappings of the first presidential funeral in the United States,
and exposed to full view. 18
in the 65th year of American independence.
While the coffin was being mounted on the funeral car, the Marine
Early in the morning of April 7, the crowd before the White House
Band played dirges, and the crowd looked on in silence. Then the band,
was SO large that it filled Lafayette Park. The house was closed. At about
still playing, fell into formation and moved slowly down the graveled
ten o'clock special guests began to be admitted, the first being ladies with
driveway to Pennsylvania Avenue. At the gate it halted, and the military
flowers. They found the coffin in the center of the East Room on a table
companies on the lawn fired salutes. Slowly the funeral car began to
draped with a heavy black pall trimmed at the hem with silver fringe and
move from the portico, drawn by black-draped horses. The coffin passed
gold lace. Mounted atop the coffin was a rich floral centerpiece of wax
high over the heads of the spectators. Walking each horse was a black
flowers, ornamented with crossed swords-the Sword of Justice and the
groom dressed and turbaned in white. Pallbearers in black marched be-
Sword of State-together with a rolled-up copy of the Constitution. The
side the funeral car. Next in the procession marched the 40 marshals of
ladies banked their fragrant blossoms around the base of the bier. 16
the District of Columbia, led by Hunter. After them came the dignitaries
The funeral ceremony was simple, but the scene inescapably dra-
of the government in carriages. At the Congressional Cemetery the cof-
matic. A reporter for the National Intelligencer wrote: "The great East
fin was borne to the public vault, a temporary receiving chamber for the
Room of the President's House-that room in which I had seen a thou-
dead. A lingering winter in Ohio made it more appropriate to wait before
sand gay and joyful faces glowing in the light of ponderous chandeliers,
sending Harrison's remains home. 19
radiating the light of a hundred burners, was now the scene of death!
The Marine Band played again, and the soldiers fired more salutes.
Those brilliant fountains of light were hid in dark robes of mourning
When the crowd had dispersed, the door of the tomb was pulled shut.
In short, this magnificent room, in every part of it spoke in the appropri-
Williams and his attendants enclosed the mahogany coffin inside the
ate language of silent grief, announcing to all-Death is here!"
others by lamplight. Guards were stationed at the door of the vault for
"Around the coffin," he continued, "and at an appropriate dis-
two months, until late June, when the coffin was carried in great cere-
tance, was formed a circle composed of the New President of the United
mony to a funeral train, decorated in black, for its long journey to Ohio.
States, the heads of departments, the clergy of every denomination,
It can be assumed that few American preachers passed up the oppor-
judges of courts, and members of the bar. The next circle contained the
tunity to deliver a sermon based upon this arresting demonstration of the
foreign ministers in their rich and varied court dresses with a number of
evanescence of life. The preacher at Harrison's funeral said that the
members of both houses of Congress, and relatives of the deceased Presi-
President walked out alone one day and bought a Bible, because there
dent. Beyond this circle a vast assemblage of ladies and gentlemen filled
was none in the house-a story considered not nearly as remarkable at
up the room. Silence, deep and undisturbed, even by a whisper, per-
the time as that of his buying the cow, but better suited to a funeral.
vaded the entire assembly. The solemn event which they were now gaz-
Brushing aside the preacher's unflattering-and inaccurate-charac-
ing upon fixed every eye and hushed every tongue. When, at the ap-
terization of the spiritual habits of Harrison's predecessors, it is in fact
pointed hour, the officiating minister rose from his seat, and as he rose
likely that there was no Bible to be found when Harrison got to the
in solemn tones announced these words, 'I am the resurrection and
White House.
the life!' one simultaneous move placed this vast assembly upon their
The mark William Henry Harrison made on the White House was
feet
Never before did I feel the thrilling effect which the enuncia-
at once temporary and permanent. His funeral was temporary in that the
tion of this glorious Christian truth is capable of inspiring."¹⁷
crape all disappeared after the mourning period; it was permanent in that
While the funeral was in progress, military companies and the Ma-
it was the first. The ceremonials surrounding the death of this President
rine Band stood in formation in the north yards. Under the shelter of the
William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
243
242
STAGE AND PLAYERS
possible. Most of the parties were dinners, very formal, with from 30 to
in her youth," wrote an in-law. "Her skin is as smooth and soft as a
40 covers; the food was served French style, in courses; the dining room
baby's; she has sweet, loving black eyes, and her features are delicately
doors and curtains were closed and the chandeliers, candlesticks, and
moulded.
She is the most entirely unselfish person you can imag-
mirrored plateau glowed with sometimes a hundred candles. A public
ine. I do not believe she ever thinks of herself.
levee was held each month, which guests could attend without invita-
Because of Mrs. Tyler's poor health, the President's daughter-in-law
tions. Unlike the large affairs of New Year's and the Fourth of July, these
Priscilla, wife of his son Robert, acted as official hostess. Priscilla made
had an "at home" character and for the most part were attended only by
herself very much the center of attention in Washington. She was bright
society, not the general public.
as well as beautiful, and had been exposed to more of the world than the
On summer nights the President stationed the Marine Band on the
young women one usually met at a President's table in her time.
south portico, and the public could wander over the grounds and gardens
Daughter of the celebrated tragedian Thomas A. Cooper, she had
until the sky was a dome of stars. These were beautiful evenings, the air
performed on the stage herself, often opposite her father. As the female
laden with fragrance from Ousley's roses and the orange blossoms in the
lead in "Paul and Virginia," she had played in most of the major cities of
orangery. Lanterns and torches were sometimes lighted. The family,
the United States, loving the applause that roared from the lamplit
often including Mrs. Tyler, sat on the walk before the portico, presenting
houses. She became an actress largely because of family need, but had she
a charming domestic vignette.
not retired from the stage at the time of her marriage, she might have
Priscilla was encouraged to attend social occasions elsewhere in the
been among the greatest of her era. Priscilla had found happiness as
city, and she did SO with enthusiasm, arriving in the President's coach
Robert Tyler's wife.
with outriders. Now and then, in the midst of splendor, Priscilla became
"What wonderful changes take place," she wrote to her sister Mary,
reflective, remembering harder times. At an assembly at Carusi's she
"Here am I
actually living in, and-what is more-presiding at, the
overheard John Quincy Adams saying that the ballroom had once been a
White House! I look at my self like the old woman, and exclaim: 'Can
theater where he had seen the great Cooper perform: "I could not re-
this be I?' I have not had one moment to myself since my arrival, and the
strain the tears that sprang to my eyes," she wrote that night in her diary,
most extraordinary thing is that I feel as if I had been used to living here
"I looked round too and thought that
Papa had trod those boards
always; and receive the Cabinet, ministers, the Diplomatique Corps, the
but a few years ago. I looked down at the velvet dress of Mrs. Tyler and
heads of the army and navy, etc., etc., with a facility which astonishes
thought of the one I wore there as Lady M.
when we struggled
me. 'Some achieve greatness-some are born to it.' I am plainly born to
through a miserable engagement of six nights of bad weather, bad houses,
it.
I am considered 'charmant' by the Frenchmen, 'lovely' by the
and bad spirits, for the little money we did earn was never paid.
Americans, and 'really quite nice, you know' by the English.
"27
The President's wife, meanwhile, kept to her room more and more.
She was given "poor General Harrison's room," about which she
Through the summer of 1842 her health sank, until the family was
claimed to have no superstitions, and there, with her infant daughter,
warned that she would soon die. In September she witnessed the mar-
she spent "the pleasantest part of my life," among the "handsome furni-
riage of her daughter Lizzie to a young man from Williamsburg and was
ture and curtains," the "luxurious armchairs." She filled out and sealed
glad that Lizzie would live away from the gaudy world of public life.
White House invitations there, wrote menus, and drew seating charts.
Several days later she was unable to rise from her bed, and her death
There the modiste fitted her for magnificent ball gowns of silk, with long
followed on September 10. Letitia Tyler was only 52 years of age.
trains and elegant headdresses. "I have had some lovely dresses made,"
"Nothing can exceed the loneliness of this large and gloomy man-
she wrote to her sister, "which fit me to perfection-one a pearl-colored
sion," wrote Priscilla, who had loved her mother-in-law. 30 Once again
silk that would set you crazy. Its effect with pink roses in the hair and
the house was hung in black, as it had been when the Tylers arrived. A
bouquet de corsage of the same flowers I will leave you to imagine." On
funeral was held in the East Room, less a state occasion than Harrison's,
the President's arm she entered the East Room during receptions, proudly
but attended by the political and diplomatic community. Falling into a
fulfilling her grandest role. 28
state of grief, Tyler accompanied his wife's remains aboard a steamboat to
Her evenings were usually occupied with entertaining, as Tyler
her native New Kent County in Virginia for burial.
wished to make himself and his White House as visible and friendly as
William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
247
246
STAGE AND PLAYERS
President of public property as a summer retreat. Washington's lively
that it was the President whose life I almost consigned to the water.
autumn social season came with cool weather; suppers, balls, picnics,
Tyler ordered the eight bodies taken to the White House and laid in
and daylong carriage excursions into Maryland and Virginia featured
state in the East Room. The funeral was held there, with burials in the
Julia Tyler, and at last in December the official season opened with a
Congressional Cemetery. Julia Gardiner remained at the White House
state dinner at the White House. She lived in a dream, as one might
until her return home to New York. The couple was engaged in the
expect, SO much so, in fact, that her sister snapped in a letter, "You
spring and married in New York in June, returning to Washington at
spend SO much time in kissing, things of more importance are left un-
once by sea. The bride was 24, the groom 30 years her senior.
done." In particular, Julia's brother Alexander "would like to have you
The young Mrs. Tyler took over the social White House. A heart-
make hay for him while the sun shines. "37
broken Priscilla Tyler, brooding over what seemed to her a downfall only
Angelica Van Buren's platform was resurrected, and Julia Tyler held
barely less tragic than that of Marie Antoinette, moved out with her
court as she doubtless, as a teenager, had read about Angelica's doing.
husband and two children. Acting also on the advice of Mrs. Madison,
She dressed her "ladies" in white, and they surrounded her, once again in
Julia Tyler kept up the fast pace of White House entertaining, bringing
the manner of Queen Victoria. From the gaiety and music at the White
with her from New York the daring waltz, which overnight altered the
House, one might think that Tyler's political light was burning brighter.
funerary reputation of the East Room.
It never burned bright for a moment, and he was shrewd enough never to
For Julia Gardiner Tyler to have dressed herself in the imperial
think otherwise. Some successes came his way. The Canadian border
blues, pinks, and crimsons of the day would have shown less than proper
question had been settled by Webster, but Tyler could take credit. At the
respect for her late, beloved father. Her solution was to wear white in the
time of the death of Secretary Upshur on the Princeton, records of the
evening and black during the day. For one very large and grand event
negotiations for the annexation of the Texas Republic were contained in
she wore a white underdress with an elegant overlay of black lace. Her
piles of papers on his table in the State Department. John C. Calhoun,
trademark was a forehead jewel, with ropes of delicate pearls forming
appointed in Upshur's place, took over in this stormy matter and helped
a band around her head. The mourning version of this she devised as
it along to its ultimate success.
the same, only in black jet, a popular ornament made by cutting and
Tyler had been a sort of ghost at the Democratic Convention in
polishing coal. 35
Baltimore, held one month before his marriage to Julia Gardiner. He had
Life at the White House had suddenly never seemed merrier. The
hardly been in the running; at first, the contest for nomination seemed to
new Mrs. Tyler liked to sing and dance; she liked luncheons, morning
be between Van Buren, who was very strong, Lewis Cass, and John C.
cruises on the river, and fancy dress balls that lasted until late hours.
Calhoun. Quietly, but with the certainty of careful, old-time Jacksonian
Newspapers described the lively White House, for the presidential
planning, a dark horse emerged at the convention who would succeed
couple-May and September-was of great interest everywhere. From
Tyler in the Presidency. This was James K. Polk of Tennessee.
her exile in Philadelphia, Priscilla wrote to President Tyler, "My dear
March 1845 rode in on a cyclone of last-minute parties and balls at
Father
Reading in the various papers of the profusion of plum cake
the White House. Even as the trunks and bandboxes were being packed,
and champagne consumed at the Executive Mansion in the last day or
a rush of political activity occupied the President's last days. On March 1
two-as I can't participate in your happiness by being with you, I would
he signed the joint resolution for the annexation of Texas; on March 3
at least like some of the crumbs that fall from your table; so I wish you
Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state; also on that last day
would order, [John] Wilkins to have me a nice black cake made and
his last veto-of a maritime bill-was overridden, marking the first time
iced in first-rate style
I suppose you have read with delight all the
that the Congress overrode a presidential veto.
paragraphs in the various newspapers complimentary to your 'fair young
John Tyler's departure closed one of the strangest four-year periods
bride'
I am afraid I am already forgotten.'
in the history of the White House. It had opened in a blaze of triumph
Julia Gardiner Tyler's reign at the White House lasted only eight
from the most democratic election ever held in the United States. A
months, beginning with a large wedding reception there in June, when
hero rode to the White House on a white charger. He soon died there,
she and the President returned from New York. The couple then spent a
and from the mourning black stepped a man who could probably never
long vacation in a cottage at Fort Monroe in Virginia, the first use by a
260
IMPERIAL HOUSE
James K. Polk
261
In every area Bowman was the busy representative of a shrewd lady.
The bills and other papers record the variety of his activities. One reveals
she considered improper. Once a party of young ladies called on her and
him crossing the river into Virginia to trade the dry White House COW to
pleaded, "Oh, Mrs. Polk, why will you not let us dance?" Sarah Polk
a farmer for a fresh COW with a calf. The next moment he is negotiating
stood her ground. "Would you dance in so public a place as this? I would
prices for Ousley, who needs vegetable roots and rose bushes. Another
not. To dance in these rooms would be undignified, and it would be
invoice describes new slippers for Mrs. Polk.
respectful neither to the house nor to the office. How indecorous it would
One of his major responsibilities was to cooperate with the commis-
seem for dancing to be going on in one apartment, while in another we
sioner of public buildings. Unhappily for Henry Bowman, three different
were conversing with dignitaries of the republic or ministers of the gos-
men held this job during the Polk administration, beginning with the
pel. This unseemly juxtaposition would be likely to occur at any time,
aged William Noland, who died in the second year of Polk's Presidency.
were such amusements permitted.
His two successors served shorter terms. Relationships between the stew-
She is better known for her disdain for liquor, although it is not true
ard and the commissioners were often difficult. Both answered to the
that she prohibited drinking entirely at the White House. All Mrs. Polk
President, and they had to decide which White House expenses were to
banned was hard liquor, but in such a hard-drinking town that was sad
be paid by the public and which by the President himself. While Polk or
news. For its time Washington was unusual in its drinking customs; man-
Mrs. Polk looked over Bowman's shoulder, the commissioner stood vul-
ners in most American cities forbade the serving of the ardent spirits
nerable to congressional raids on his records for political ammunition
except among men when women were not present. Strong whiskey
against the President.
punch had been introduced to White House entertainments during
Polk recognized the problem and considered various solutions. He
the Madison administration and had remained. Both men and women
ultimately placed the public buildings commissioner in the new Depart-
partook of it liberally.
ment of the Interior, which he created on his last day in office. First
Mrs. Polk may well have objected to liquor on grounds of propriety
called the "Home Department," the Department of the Interior, as one
rather than morals. People sometimes drank too much at the White
of its functions, took control of the commissioner's office, which had
House and misbehaved, no matter how soon they were hastened to the
been since 1801 in the hands of the President. In breaking the direct
dinner table. In addition, nationwide trends supported her decision; the
connection between the chief executive and the commissioner, Polk
temperance movement was flourishing in the 1840s. Mrs. Polk set an
put the authority over the federal buildings where it had started out in
example by not serving strong drinks, such as the traditional variety of
the 1790s, under a Cabinet officer. This arrangement was to work well,
whiskey punches, and her example was followed until the end of the
lessening the agency's attractiveness as a hunting ground for congress-
century. The decision was not a measure for thrift. Whiskey was cheap.
men in search of gold spoons.
In its place she had to stock her cellar with more table wines, more
champagne for desserts, and more brandy to serve after dinner than had
Moonlight
ever been needed before. Table wine was bought by the barrel, and the
wine and liquor bills were among the Polks' biggest expenses.²¹
The President's entertaining accelerated after the outbreak of war,
Society at the White House during the Mexican War was quiet-
for he needed to maintain close political ties and keep abreast of opinion.
spoken, elegant, and always political. The frequent dinners and Tuesday
During most of the war he kept control of the House of Representatives,
and Friday drawing rooms were not for relaxation. Like state entertain-
and he held fast to the Senate to the end. Large numbers of influential
ments everywhere, parties under Polk were charged with politics, flat-
guests were invited to dinners every week. Like Madison before him,
tery, personal ambition, and stiff conversations often laced with cleverly
Polk wished to see his enemies as well as his friends on a social basis. He
turned phrases meant to incite revealing responses. Foreigners, as always,
understood the great boost the White House could give a President's
were uncomfortable because of the virtual absence of protocol, the legacy
power of persuasion.
of Jefferson. Both the President and Mrs. Polk were bored by the usual
But little Madison-style hilarity rang in the Polk White House. Mrs.
routine of entertaining. She tried to vary the program by always having
Polk would not allow dancing, nor would she allow other amusements
music, and occasionally a singer, in the East Room; once, the President's
diary records the appearance of a juggler.
266
IMPERIAL HOUSE
James K. Polk
267
was a familiar figure in the Polk circle. Like many men in high places, he
being upholstered at the Washington shop of Joseph Boyd, who had been
frequently traveled to New York on business aboard the "eastern cars,"
hired by Corcoran. A second upholsterer, David A. Baird, gained access
and evidence suggests that he usually performed a little errand or two for
to the project through Mrs. Polk's Presbyterian minister. Both effort
Mrs. Polk. According to the celebrated Manhattan dry-goods merchant
were completed by the end of January 1846. 35
A. T. Stewart, Corcoran was "often selecting" for Mrs. Polk. Gloves,
Enormous quantities of upholstery and drapery fabrics and rich trim-
reticules, scarves, combs-the many personal odds and ends the Presi-
mings-galloon, tapes, tassels-were incorporated into the Polk redeco-
dent's lady could not find on her Monday shopping excursions with her
ration. The Empire drawing room furniture Monroe had ordered from
women kin and Teresa in Washington-Corcoran happily located in
France was reupholstered in blue and white, even though its stately neo-
New York. That he obtained substantial discounts can only have pleased
classicism was out of style. It seems still to have been largely intact, but
the President's thritty lady. 31
may have been expanded as a suite by Polk with the purchase of new gilt
Late in 1.845 Corcoran included among his New York favors the
armchairs, footstools, and pole fire screens. The mahogany furniture of
purchase of furniture. Documentation of what he bought and what
the East Room was re-covered and new pieces acquired. Listed in the
changes were made subsequently in the White House is thin, but he
invoices are large numbers of chairs, necessities for SO public a place.
probably planned and decorated the state rooms. Records exist of his
Few details are known about most of the furnishings. The State
being reimbursed for large expenditures. Since Mrs. Polk never accompa-
Dining Room chairs appear in the Cabinet photograph. These were in
nied him to New York, she was unable to help make the selections
the mode popularly known as "French antique" or Louis Quatorze; one
firsthand. In Washington they saw each other SO frequently as to pre-
document refers to "Louis XV." A few of these small chairs remain in the
clude the need for correspondence. One can assume that she gave her
White House today. The other furniture acquired by the Polks was al-
approval to ideas he presented. 32
most certainly in the same "historical" French style, gilded and covered
The entire state floor was redecorated with fresh paint, wallpaper,
in rich materials. It was both fashionable and suitably grand. The Polks
and new carpeting-all in place by New Year's Day 1846. Through
also later selected the French antique when they furnished their own
American manufacture, such products were more readily available and
parlor at Polk Place, only they used mahogany instead of gilt.
cheaper than ever before. Evidently the manufacturers eagerly obliged,
For their democratic court the Polks devised an orderly, simple form
for the new carpeting of the East Room and the Green Room was spe-
of state ceremony, some of which is still in use today. Bigger parties and
cially designed to feature a "ruby" ground emblazoned with eagles and
grander dinners meant more people and a greater possibility of confusion.
stars, presidential emblems always popular in imperial interludes in the
The movement of numerous dinner guests from the reception room (usu-
White House. The daguerreotype made in 1846 of Polk's Cabinet shows
ally the Red Room) to the dining table had always been particularly
white-painted woodwork, which was customary throughout the house,
awkward. Mrs. Polk introduced a formal "figure," or march, proceeding
and a highly figured, though not strongly contrasting, wallpaper. 33
into the hall, turning at the foot of the grand stair, and continuing to the
The best account, found in the diary of Senator J. E. Dixon's wife
table. One guest sneeringly called it the "Polka," but it ended the clumsy
for December 1845 and January 1846, describes crimson velvet curtains
scramble to dinner that had begun under Jefferson. 36
in the Red Room and observes that the room was warm and comfortable.
Mrs. Polk is usually credited also with introducing "Hail to the
It had rocking chairs, ottomans, armchairs, and lounges in various
Chief"-the old Scottish martial anthem-as the music with which the
plushes of red and green. The State Dining Room's color was predomi-
Marine Band announced the entry of the President. Polk was not an
nantly purple. There were puffy, tufted chair seats of purple plush and
impressive figure, SO some announcement was necessary to avoid the
curtains in a figured material of purple and gold. Blue and white silk
embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed. At large affairs
damask was used en suite in the Blue Room, both on the long windows
the band, stationed in the transverse hall within the glass screen, rolled
and on the gilded chairs and sofas. The old blue and yellow hangings of
the drums as they played the march. The noise of the crowd died down,
the East Room were replaced by red damask. 34
and a way was cleared for the President. With such fanfare it was no
Mrs. Dixon found the Green Room and the East Room empty in
longer a problem whether the President was tall or short, splendid or,
December 1845. The furniture either had not arrived or was still out
like James K. Polk, modest and unassuming."
288
MID-CENTURY
Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore
289
President remarked that the sun that day was hotter than that of Mexico
or Florida. He partook again and again of the ice water set about in
He turned his head and looked fondly at his wife, and his position
pitchers for the dignitaries, while patiently listening to seemingly endless
had not changed when he died at half past ten.
orations. Back in the cool White House, the President gorged himself on
By the time daylight streaked the carpeted floors of the East Room,
ripe cherries, doubtless garnished with cream and sugar. That evening
the earthly remains of Zachary Taylor were already embalmed and en-
after dinner he was beset by stomach cramps and taken upstairs to bed.
cased in a fine patent coffin draped with a pall of black velvet and
Because the White House area was an infamous breeding ground for
trimmed in white satin and silver lace. Already the public stood in long
cholera, the family feared the worst. In the mellow light from oil lamps
lines waiting for the doors of the White House to open. The news of the
he seemed paler and sicker, and they shrank from the man they saw. 15
President's death had been carried on the tolling bells all night. Wash-
Dr. Wood came from Baltimore; then Dr. Thomas Miller was called
ington was otherwise cloaked in silence.
in. The violent accusations of a decade before, that this same Dr. Miller
The Vice President, Millard Fillmore, took the oath of office in the
bled General Harrison to death, had made little impression on Harrison's
House chamber at the Capitol, then went at once to the White House.
successors. He was still "family doctor" to the Presidents and would re-
He divided his time between the upstairs office-to which he was virtu-
main SO for another decade. In the morning the gates of the White House
ally a stranger-and the East Room, where the lines of mourners saw him
were locked and guards stationed there. Crowds gathered, on foot, on
standing respectfully by.
horseback, and in carriages; the omnibuses slowed nearly to a stop as they
passed. Every two hours Colonel Bliss posted a bulletin.
Last Rites
The possibility of cholera was not discounted. Dr. Miller gave the
patient medicines and the usual herbal laxatives. Taylor seldom slept,
Taylor's funeral was similar to Harrison's nine years before. The
though he was often half-waking. He worried. His voice rambled over
religious service was conducted in the East Room; the coffin was placed
hypothetical situations in which he presented himself in an unflattering
in a great funeral car upholstered in black and white and surmounted by
light. What did people really think of him? Every insecurity a healthy
a gilded eagle. Eight white horses with black harnesses and plumes drew
man might conceal surfaced in the sick man's delirium.
the car, while eight Negro grooms in white walked beside them carrying
On Pennsylvania Avenue the crowd parted to admit the few al-
white batons, all moving slowly with precision to doleful music played by
lowed to go beyond the gates. Mrs. Jefferson Davis, veiled, was driven to
the Marine Band. Spectators were gripped with emotion at the sight of
the door in her carriage. Davis went back and forth between the White
Old Whitey, ambling behind the coffin, riderless, bearing Taylor's mili-
House and the Capitol, for the debates on the compromise raged on, and
tary saddle, the general's boots turned backward in the stirrups. Cleaned
Davis had established himself as successor to Calhoun, champion of the
and groomed for the event, Whitey was in good form, except that souve-
South. Sometimes Davis and Webster could be discerned in a coach
nir hunters had left not a hair in his tail. 18
together, slipping up the driveway and alighting. 16
Mrs. Taylor told the new President that she intended to return with
On July 9 messages were sent to the House and Senate. The orators
her husband's body to Louisiana by sea within a week. As it happened
were interrupted, and the speakers announced that the President was
she turned over the White House several days sooner and moved to the
dying. A second gloomy message followed when the politicians recon-
Davises. There she recuperated from emotional strain and physical ex-
vened after supper. The Cabinet and leading officials packed the oval
haustion, until, with the Blisses, she departed for home. Taylor was
room upstairs at the White House. In the President's bedroom the Taylor
ultimately buried in Kentucky, where he had grown up.
family and the Davises stood together. Colonel Bliss and Mrs. Taylor
clutched each other and shook with sobs, standing close to the bed where
Millard Fillmore
Taylor lay motionless. At ten o'clock the President said with perfect
clarity, "I am about to die. I expect my summons very soon. I have tried
For the remainder of the summer Millard Fillmore spent his days at
to discharge my duties faithfully; I regret nothing, but I am sorry I am
the White House and his nights in the Georgetown house he had occu-
about to leave my friends.'
pied as Vice President. His wife, Abigail, and his son and daughter were
vacationing at a seaside resort in New Jersey when Taylor died. Finding
314
WATERSHED
Franklin Pierce
315
garden fresh gravel was put on the walks, mounded, and rolled. The old
themselves at home in the East Room. The house was opened regularly at
arched arbor, being rotten, was for the most part taken down and rebuilt,
certain hours, with only Negroes restricted from free access, as they were
with the original wood spliced wherever possible; there was apparently an
from every other "place of entertainment" in Washington in the 1850s.
effort to spare the old roses that climbed over the structure. Like practi-
Although within recent memory Washington's poor and rough element
cally everything else, the arbor was painted white, with rows of benches
had been reticent about entering the White House except at large public
beneath it painted dark green. The plant tubs that were scattered about
celebrations, there had never been formal restrictions against the peo-
the garden during the warm months and kept in the greenhouse during
ple's going to the people's house. Restraints did not collapse, but they
the winter were painted the same dark green, as were the iron settees that
dwindled. The first physical effects of the change were the paths worn
had been accumulating at the White House since Van Buren's time. 16
through the carpeting seemingly overnight, and a rapid general deterio-
ration of the furnishings. Theft and vandalism waited in the wings.
Redecoration
Pierce found himself in 1853 the recipient of a generous appropria-
tion of $25,000 for "repairs" to the White House interiors. The usually
The work outside was pursued with only slightly more vigor than a
tightfisted Congress, always reluctant to pay for presidential state, re-
series of improvements within the White House itself. The National Intel-
sponded to public complaints that the White House needed to be redeco-
ligencer reported on June 25, 1853: "All the lower suite of rooms of the
rated. The money was to be spent by the commissioner of public build-
Presidential Mansion, with some in the second story, are in occupancy of
ings, acting for the President. As it materialized, Pierce wanted an
the bricklayer, the plasterer, the carpenter, and the like, who are making
official at the White House, not the Interior Department, in charge.
considerable changes and effecting improvements and repairs. "17 The
First he appointed Sidney Webster to this responsibility, since Web-
renovation followed by only five years the major work of the Polks.
ster usually attended to those household duties that Snow the steward
Wallpaper and window hangings had been refreshed in certain parts since
could not. The task proved much beyond Webster's capabilities or inter-
then. Fillmore had left the house in fairly good shape. The followers of
est. Jefferson Davis suggested that an officer be detailed from the Army
Pierce simply wore it out.
Corps of Engineers to supervise the work, and Pierce agreed, beginning a
During Pierce's first three months Washington overflowed with his
long-standing relationship between the corps and the White House
supporters, and the Friday open-house receptions, held from noon to
which would become more or less institutionalized after the Civil War.
two, became hard to control. The public rushed to see its hero, who was
Davis made a good choice in Captain Thomas Jefferson Lee, son of
for a while to have no rival as man of the hour. In the crush, voluminous
William Lee, one of Jefferson's protégés in Paris. At 43, Lee had served
skirts and trailing shawls pressed against silk hats and broadcloth coats;
half his life in the military. He was well connected in Washington. On
gentle shoving led now and then to spills of people or glassware. Nor
the recommendation of Pierce he turned to Capitol architect Thomas U.
did the flow of company slow down. On reception days, especially
Walter for advice on the renovations. The two walked through the
on New Year's, or when a celebrity or a hero was the honored guest, the
White House in about May 1853, and the architect's notes still survive,
commissioner of public buildings ordered temporary wooden steps and
listing what he saw as the programs, room by room. 18
a platform put up outside one of the south windows of the East Room,
While the state floor was completely redecorated, the most radical
so that the crowds would have an extra outlet. Tourists and business call-
changes in the house were the improvements in the heating, the bath-
ers thronged the public rooms every day. By Pierce's era the practice
rooms, and the toilet facilities. In these areas the White House of Frank-
of opening the house for daily public inspections-started by Jefferson
lin Pierce came to represent the best domestic technology of its time.
in 1801-was as much a tradition as it is today. Since the Mexican
Walter was preparing his recommendations in mid-June when work
War, loitering office-seekers had made the stair to the left of the
began in the furnace room (the basement's oval room) on the heating
entrance hall a regular roosting place. Even the fears over security at
system. This marked the third time the heating plant had been altered
the White House did not influence the President to dare to curb the
since Van Buren had installed the original gravity hot air system in 1840.
comings and goings of the public.
Polk had added two new furnaces, and Fillmore had extended extra ducts
Refined visitors were often disgusted to find motley groups making
and registers to such secondary places as dressing rooms and pantries.
318
WATERSHED
Franklin Pierce
319
in all matters of taste. Stewart owned what is usually considered Ameri-
ca's first great department store, which did business under his name in
patterns that followed the traditional color theme of the rooms. Not
Manhattan. A shrewd "merchant prince," Stewart was naturally at-
since Latrobe's tinted Blue Room ceiling of 1809 had ceilings figured
tracted to power. He dealt personally with Lee, concerned that the Presi-
prominently in the decorative scheme of the White House. Instead, each
dent be pleased with his purchases.
of the ceilings had contained a single adornment, a plaster of Paris center-
Some of the curtains bought from Stewart may have been ready-
piece in the neoclassical form of a sunburst of leaves; three centerpieces
made. All were similar, in the latest modern style, consisting of a flat,
ornamented the East Room, each resembling a giant sunflower.
shaped valance or lambrequin of damask or brocatelle backed by long
Since the house was first occupied, approximately every other year
curtains of florid white lace equipped with tassels in the appropriate
the ceilings of the state rooms had been whitewashed. This covered soot
colors. Lee also purchased a large quantity of carpeting at Stewart's, as
shadows from the chandeliers, candelabra, and lamps and was a good
well as linens in great number. Though it is unlikely, the East Room
reflector of light. By the mid-19th century the taste for the monolithic,
carpet was said at the time to have been made in one piece; adorned with
classical simplicity that allowed such starkness had gone out of style.
three great arabesques on a bright red ground, it weighed 7,000 pounds.
Gaslight, moreover, was bright enough to lessen the need for whitewash
In other rooms lay "tapestry Brussels" carpets and "velvet," a low pile
as a reflector, and sufficiently cleaner than oil and candles to preclude
carpeting considered suitable for parlors. Costly Axminster rugs were
the need to apply it yearly to cover up soot. Innovations in paint and dye
bought for the Blue Room and the oval room upstairs.
pigments made people interested in color and tired of "plain" white.
"Cotton damask tablecloths and napkins by the hundreds, linen bed
The name of the painter who applied the ceiling decoration van-
sheets, ruffled pillow cases and shams, hand and bath towels of the best
ished when the record of his bill and payment was lost. Photographs of
cream color and bleached linen" were acquired from Stewart, at a sizable
his work in the state rooms suggest that he used the common methods of
discount. Most were embroidered "President's House." Less-expensive
his trade. After the plasterers patched and sanded the ceilings to a
towels, dishcloths, quilts, servants' sheets, and other materials were of
smooth finish, the painter-called the "decorator"-prepared the plas-
coarse cotton, bought by the bale. The original invoice reads something
ter with a thin coat of paste diluted in warm water. Building on this base,
like an order for a new hotel, surely a reflection of the management
he laid his ground coat with broad "beater" brushes. When that coat
practices of William Snow.23
dried he plotted the skeleton of his design in chalk, working from a
Wrote Thomas U. Walter to a friend on June 29, 1853, "We have
scaled drawing which he may have taken from a pattern book or created
the President's house turned inside out, and will make it look more like a
himself, basing it on the pattern in the new carpeting. He made the
President's house than it has ever done before." The extent of Walter's
straight lines by popping a taut string coated with lampblack; curves and
services is not known. That he tore out the hall screen of wooden sash
intricate parts he drew freehand with colored chalk or pencil. The results
with its peeling paint and replaced it with one of iron is clear; both his
were large geometrical designs, strongly highlighted, and shadowed and
drawing and later photographs survive. He designed a new hall door for
embellished with trophées in the "French" manner.
the East Room, removing from the great arch Andrew Jackson's gilt stars.
When the redecoration was completed in the fall of 1853, it appar-
He approved personally some of the invoices. Otherwise he seems mainly
ently confirmed Walter's prediction that the house would look better
to have given his advice, basing it upon the tour he made with Lee. 24
than it ever had. It was first seen officially by the public on New Year's
The principal innovation in the redecoration was the enrichment of
Day 1854. The Duily Union of Washington estimated that about 5,000
the ceilings. This idea of Walter's followed the most fashionable trend of
passed through the house between eleven in the morning and two in the
the day. While he specified some colors, he left the designs themselves to
afternoon. There were "persons from every walk of life," but the real
the decorative artists hired to do the work. In his concept the ceilings
dazzle was as ever from the "corps diplomatique, and naval and military
were to be the main features of the decoration. Brightly painted in rose,
men in Washington
in full costume
their gaudy trappings even
blue, green, and gold in imitation of fresco, they were to be comple-
casting into the shade the finery of the ladies."
mented by relatively simple wallpapers with predominantly white
Pierce received formally in the Blue Room. The marshal of the
"grounds"-that dense milky white of the papers of the time-and
District of Columbia bent forward to hear each visitor's name, then whis-
pered it to Pierce as the person stepped forward. Everyone received a
330
AN EXPLOSION
James Buchanan
331
commissioner, tried to use the money instead to extend the White House
Perry received his well-earned applause, but, after three years away
greenhouse for the purpose. His scheme was unmasked at once. The
from the American political scene, he wondered why his achievement
Botanic Garden was taken from French and put under the jurisdiction of
did not make more of a difference. No undertaking could have better
the Library of Congress. A procession of wagons hurried the plants to the
exemplified expansionism.
Botanic Garden, where, by 1857, the great central building of glass was
erected to designs by either Thomas U. Walter or his subordinate Edward
A Genteel Meeting
Clark. Today's Botanic Garden occupies a site very near where this origi-
nal greenhouse stood.
Pierce's last drawing room was held on the evening of January 31,
Perry brought many gifts designated for the President and the White
1857. The dark, glossy coaches rolled to the north portico through the
House. Lacquered boxes and Japanese furniture, porcelain vases and
slushy, melting snow. One by one their passengers alighted and scurried
pots, silks, cushions, foodstuffs, objects made of paper and straw, and
up the steps into the yellowish gaslight of the hall; away from the fierce
many figurines and beads. "Forty fans, five pipes, and fifty lacquered soup
northwest wind, they peeled off their somber capes and hoods and slip-
bowls" were received early and placed by Pierce in the Blue Room. Of all
ped heavy boots from their feet. In an instant what had entered the door
the exotic trophies, Pierce was most delighted by one thing. After break-
looking like a gathering of Druids became a bouquet of color. The crowd
fast the day following the big shipment from New York, he walked to
thickened, pressing closer to the glass screen. Heavy crimson satins, blue
Jefferson Davis's house and announced to the Mississippian with a grin,
silks, white muslin-always the virginal white of young unmarried
"General, I have a dog for you!"
women-bobbed up and down and billowed over hidden frameworks of
The tiny animal was of a variety called "sleeve dogs" in the Orient,
concentric wire hoops. Half the number of dresses would have com-
and its name was Bonin. It was one of several "very singular animals,"
pletely filled that large vestibule. There was no other choice but to make
wrote Mrs. Davis. "He was a little creature with a head like a bird with a
do. For the hall was not going to grow any larger; nor were many invita-
blunt beak, eyes large and popped, and a body like a new-born puppy of
tions to the White House likely to be declined. Hoops were bent by
the smallest kind." He was so tiny that "a coffee saucer made an ample
pressing them in on each side, and eyes shot upward, for propriety's sake.
scampering ground for him."⁵ A second sleeve dog apparently remained
The flood poured on through the glass doors across the transverse hall
in the White House with the Pierces. What happened to that one is not
into the Blue Room.⁷
known, but Bonin became Davis's darling, and rode about Washington
Buchanan had been in town for four days, holed up at the National
in his pocket. Only a few years later, Bonin became one of the popular
Hotel, accepting no invitations. It was believed, however, that he would
curiosities of wartime Washington, not because of his Oriental origins,
appear at Pierce's last drawing room. He and Pierce had not met since
but because of his antebellum history as an intimate of the by-then Con-
the election, yet there had to be a meeting, to avoid giving an impression
federate President.
of coolness. Upstairs at the White House, the servants had begun to pack
No written account describes the rooms of the White House as they
the Pierce belongings. Abby Means, ill and shivering from the cold,
appeared when filled with memorabilia from the Perry expedition. The
supervised this work, while Pierce busied himself with official business.
newspaper reports and the lists made by Perry suggest that there were
Jane Pierce sat by with her books.
numbers of objects, most of them small and, to American eyes, odd. The
The new year of 1857 had seemed frighteningly unruly. Mob terror-
crowds that packed in to see them exceeded those at the public recep-
ism had broken out in various parts of the country, as well as in the city
tions. Objects were lined up on tables and the floor; rope barriers kept
of Washington, in the name of the Know-Nothings. The Know-Noth-
visitors from handling things. When the Blue Room could not accommo-
ings represented a combination of many disquieted elements in Ameri-
date the press of viewers, the materials were taken to the East Room,
can politics going back to the 1830s. Strongly anti-Catholic, they be-
where they were lined up around the walls. The throngs there soon
lieved that immigration posed a threat to American stability. For a brief
became unmanageable, even with the wooden stair set up to permit
time the Know-Nothing movement spread fast, and many a seasoned
egress through the window, SO the whole exhibit, including many potted
politician woold its support. This short-lived, emotional political party
plants, was moved to the Patent Office.
had run Fillmore for President in the recent election.8
Abraham Lincoln
367
366
CANNON ACROSS THE POTOMAC
Most of the Cabinet was ready to act. Lincoln could not make up his
During the sectional strife of the antebellum years the President had been
mind, but he had no idea of abandoning his authority to Seward or
merely the principal member of the party in power, but war made Lin-
anyone else. Daily he sat at the Cabinet table tossing questions to the
coln the symbolic champion of the nation. The world now watched the
secretaries in attendance. The portrait of Andrew Jackson looked down
White House; tourists called in droves, crowding the East Room and
from over the marble mantelpiece, and spring greens had begun toward
occasionally the state parlors. Newspapers all over the country reported
the end of March to color the landscape on the horizon. "Abandon
on White House receptions, which for all their political meaning had
Sumter" was a theme with all the members but one, and Lincoln's atten-
previously made mainly local news. The President's family was hounded
tion turned increasingly to this man, Montgomery Blair of Maryland, the
by the press and scrutinized by the public. Mrs. Lincoln's response to
Postmaster General. Blair insisted that the secession fever was more seri-
this was often erratic; her nerves were frequently on edge, her actions
ous than the Cabinet realized. To abandon Fort Sumter would be merely
sometimes odd and abrasive. She was a well-meaning woman but
to give the Confederacy a great victory. The President sent two agents to
one who, because of her inability to grow, was doomed to failure as
Charleston to learn the truth. Blair's fears were confirmed.
mistress of the White House. 10
Holding the fort seemed impossible. The total United States Army
In the "Executive Mansion" the Lincolns lived in flight of a sort,
at the time consisted of only 16,000 men. Anderson estimated 20,000
rambling from room to room in search of the solitude to which they had
would be necessary to hold Fort Sumter. What Blair had said was true,
been accustomed in Springfield. They knew privacy only in the few
and to abandon the fort, bending to a secessionist threat, would in a way
rooms at the west end of the second floor; the central corridor outside
amount to recognition of the Confederacy. Lincoln remained undecided
their doors was a frequented back route to the offices, trod by messengers,
until March 28, when he received a memorandum from General Scott
politicians, and sometimes strangers. Lincoln could have closed the
urging the abandonment of Sumter as well as some other forts. Lincoln
house, but as a congressman during Polk's time, he had seen the White
described his reactions at hearing such a view from the principal general
House closed up and unfriendly. Keenly aware of the symbolic power of
of the United States Army as "cold shock. "II
presidential style, Lincoln knew that he could not seem aloof. That the
It happened that on the evening of the same day, March 28, Lin-
people had the right to see him he never disputed.
coln held his first state banquet in the White House, in honor of the
When he entered office, he appreciatively received the long lines of
Cabinet. Fortuitously, General Scott was not at the table, although he
office-seekers with the naiveté that new Presidents sometimes bring to
had accepted the invitation. He had become ill soon after his arrival and
the job. After the war started, he endured the fatigue of endless calls
been put to bed upstairs. This dinner was conducted exactly as "Miss
because he believed that the President should be accessible to the people.
Lane's" dinners had been. Every detail was formal, the men in black, the
For this decision, his family suffered.
ladies in ball gowns, with jewelry and flowers in their hair. At seven
the party gathered in the Blue Room; they were joined by the President
Fort Sumter
and Mrs. Lincoln. Nicolay made the necessary introductions. The
Marine Band played as they marched to the State Dining Room, where
In session behind the closed doors of Lincoln's office, the members
they took their prescribed places, according to Nicolay's seating chart,
of the Cabinet could not agree on what to do about Major Anderson and
composed very carefully in conference with Secretary of State Seward.
Fort Sumter. All strongly pro-Union, the Cabinet members were from
Flowers and ferns were massed on the great gilded plateau. Gas and
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, and Connecticut.
candle light illuminated the textures of mirrors, gilt, silver, and crim-
The best known was William H. Seward of New York. This prominent
son and white damask. 12
Republican had been not only the prime organizer of his party in 1854,
The experience was new to the Lincolns. They sat opposite each
but also the leading contender for the nomination in 1860. He had been
other at the center of the table. Conversation rose among the guests-
dethroned by Lincoln. As Secretary of State, Seward believed he could
mostly men-but when Lincoln started to talk, the other conversations
control Lincoln, whom he considered inexperienced and thus inade-
stopped. He was famous even then for his stories. Toasts were proposed,
quate; he planned to guide him into a war with one or more European
an innovation perhaps of Seward's. But Mrs. Grimsley confessed years
nations, a course he believed would reunite the divided Union.
Abraham Lincoln
371
370
CANNON ACROSS THE POTOMAC
possibly serve. The streets, shaded by Jemmy Maher's seedlings grown
presence of the guards, believing they made him seem unmanly. But he
big, had always been peaceful and quiet at night. Now they were as
was also disquieted by the threats; even as late as 1864, when in discuss-
bright in places as the midways of county fairs.
ing the subject one day as he crossed the White House lawn, he said that
At the White House the gaslights burned late. People were every-
the first one or two threats had made him "a little uncomfortable
where. Men who had answered President Lincoln's call to serve the
but they have ceased to give me any apprehension." Then he sighed,
Union expected to see the gentleman in person. "The White House is
"Oh, there is nothing like getting used to things!"¹⁶
turned into a barrack," wrote Nicolay to his fiancée, but at the same time
Lincoln may have been willing to "take my chances," as he said, but
he could not conceal his own exuberance: "Jim Lane marshalled his
those around him were not. Mrs. Lincoln was terrified that he would be
Kansas warriors today at Willard's, and placed them at the disposal of
attacked. On the train trip to Washington, he quietly left his party at
Major Hunter, who turned them tonight into the East Room. It is a
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and hurried off to Washington by night. This
splendid company worthy of such an armory.
"18
was a flight carefully calculated to get him through hostile Baltimore,
Soldiers actually slept on the carpeted floor of the East Room and in
where conspirators were plotting to murder him as he transferred from
the halls of the White House every night until the city seemed suffi-
one train station to the other. He had only two companions: One was
ciently fortified. They made themselves at home. From the kitchen they
the short, heavyset Allan Pinkerton, owner of a Chicago detective
begged treats, and late at night the basement guards sometimes
agency specializing in railroad investigations, and the other a large, mus-
liked to drift from their lonely posts into the room beneath the Blue
cular man named Ward H. Lamon, a former law partner of Lincoln's
Room, pull up close to the furnace-many probably had never seen
from Illinois. Both were armed with knives and pistols.
such a machine-and exchange stories of how it would be when there
Another bodyguard, who remained with Mrs. Lincoln and the boys,
really was a war.¹⁹
was Elmer Ellsworth, who had been a clerk in Lincoln's law office. This
Lincoln's summons to the militias, and his pronouncement of the
flamboyant young man was bright, affectionate, and ambitious, and the
"insurrection" at Charleston, provoked the secession of the four states
Lincolns had a personal attachment to him, almost as if he were a son.
remaining with the strongest southern tendencies. By May 20, 1861, the
Although only 24, Ellsworth had achieved some national fame for his
Confederate states numbered 11; there were 23 states left in the Union,
expert command of a volunteer militia company styled the Zouaves-
counting remote California and Oregon. The status of the four "border
after Louis Napoleon's-which performed daring gymnastics. The
states"-Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri-was tenuous.
Zouaves had thrilled audiences on a tour of the East Coast. Now Ells-
On May 21 the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery, Ala-
worth burned anew with desire to be a military hero.
bama, to Richmond.
Ellsworth moved to the White House with the Lincolns, sharing a
There was as yet no real war. Elmer Ellsworth, impatient for action,
room on the north side with their eldest son, Robert Todd. Lincoln saw
resigned his post at the War Department in April to raise a regiment in
that he received a clerkship in the War Department, to keep him close at
New York, returning in May with 1, 100 volunteer firemen. He preferred
hand. "Ever since the beginning of our friendship," Lincoln wrote to
firemen because they were already hardened to discipline and could easily
him, "I have valued you highly as a friend
I have been, and still
learn his synchronized gymnastic exercises. No circus could have created
am, anxious for you to have the best position in the military which
more excitement than the new Zouaves. Ellsworth frequently used the
can be given you.
south lawn as a parade ground. Crowds of spectators collected along
Lincoln's call for militia received an immediate response. After the
Jefferson's stone wall, while the inhabitants of the house looked from the
shooting at Fort Sumter, militia companies from all over the North
south windows, or, on sunny afternoons, stepped through the long win-
began to head for Washington. To most Northerners the capital was
dows of the Blue Room and sat in painted rocking chairs on the south
suspect for its southern sympathies; no time must be lost in securing it for
portico. "Every member of the family was expected to approve, applaud,
the Union. Soldiers were everywhere. The hotels were full. Troops biv-
and admire," wrote Mrs. Grimsley, "and this we did."20
ouacked in the unfinished Capitol, baking bread in the basement and
Lincoln, meanwhile, was in touch every day with General Scott.
drying laundry on the terraces. Pennsylvania Avenue teemed with more
They talked long hours through April and early May. At last, in May,
customers than the barrooms, ice cream parlors, and barbershops could
Abraham Lincoln
373
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CANNON ACROSS THE POTOMAC
very poor-a combination of qualities upon which sadness and misfor-
with the Confederate government apparently confirmed in its course, the
tune seem to prey. "22
general and the President decided the time had come for further action.
Lincoln never forgot Ellsworth. In every visage of death he would
Jefferson Davis claimed to have 19,000 troops ready to go, and the Con-
see in the long course of the war, the youthful face of Ellsworth returned.
federate Congress had authorized raising 100,000 more. From the up-
To the colonel's parents he wrote a long and moving letter, concluding,
stairs windows of the White House, President Lincoln could see, with
"In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your
the aid of a spyglass, Confederate flags flying across the river. Confeder-
sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the memory of my
ate campfires starred the hills of Arlington.
young friend and your brave and early fallen child.
"23
Lincoln and Scott began with a series of moves to improve the
security of the capital. The Massachusetts Sixth was allowed to avenge
The First Battle
itself on Baltimore, to which it marched in a heavy rain. The principal
secessionists in public office were jailed; unionists were given control of
At last came the Fourth of July and the convening of the Congress.
the city. The next objective was to occupy the strategic and symbolic
Lincoln reviewed the most recently arrived militia companies from a
points across the river in Virginia. Militiamen scaled Arlington Heights
high wooden stand built against the iron fence on the north side of the
and broke into Robert E. Lee's house. The Custis family's memorabilia
White House. He mounted it from a rear stairway within the grounds and
of General Washington were transported to Washington and stored at
entered a brightly colored tent roofed by an immense American flag.
the Patent Office.
Cane-bottom chairs were lined up for the large party that joined the
Elmer Ellsworth and his Zouaves were ordered to take the town of
President on the reviewing stand. Lincoln stood at the rail in front, next
Alexandria, only a few miles down the Potomac. They arrived May 24,
to the gouty General Scott, who remained seated. 24
partially concealed by the fog of early morning. The town was his; a
Thousands of militiamen marched by. Small companies and large
glorious, if simple, conquest. Walking along the virtually deserted King
companies, even whole regiments, all in distinctive uniforms. Flags pro-
Street, he saw a Confederate flag flying above a hotel. With characteris-
claimed the names of the companies. Some represented counties, some
tic bravado he climbed upstairs and personally pulled the flag down.
towns, some ethnic groups within the eastern cities. The parade mirrored
While descending the stair the hotelkeeper shot him dead, and was him-
northern society. Nicolay, seated on the platform behind Lincoln, noted
self shot down by the Zouaves.
especially a regiment "called the 'Garibaldi Guards,' made up entirely of
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox went to the White
foreigners, many of whom have served in European wars. There are, let
House to tell Lincoln what had happened. The President was thunder-
me say by way of somewhat describing the regiment, men of six or eight
struck; he could not proceed with his duties. He and Mrs. Lincoln,
different nationalities in it, who speak as many different languages. It is
both badly shaken and tearful, were driven to the Navy Yard, where
said
that the Colonel gives his commands in French, that being the
Ellsworth's body had been brought from Alexandria on a steamer.
universal language, and understood by the captains of all the companies,
They uncovered his face, which looked to them as though he were
who repeat them respectively in German, Spanish, Italian, French,
sleeping, not dead. Someone gave Mrs. Lincoln the bloodstained Con-
Hungarian, &c &c to their men."25
federate flag, but she could not look at it.²¹
Later in the day, Nicolay carried the President's war message-the
Lincoln ordered the body embalmed and brought to the White
fourth in American history-to the Congress. In it Lincoln asserted that
House. The flag-draped coffin was placed in the great east window of the
the Union's stand against secession was for the future of democracy in the
East Room. The soldiers who were camping there at the time formed a
world. The Republican Congress determined to entertain no business
guard of honor. The black drapery was brought out, and Mrs. Lincoln
unrelated to the war. It authorized the calling up of half a million volun-
made a wreath of wax flowers around a photograph of Ellsworth and
teers. A framework was established for raising money to pay for the war.
placed it on the coffin. After the funeral Nicolay wrote, "I had thought
A bitter penalty was enacted for being associated with the Confederacy:
myself to have grown quite indifferent and callous and hard-hearted,
confiscation of private property, a policy not known since the days of the
until I heard of the sad fate of Colonel Ellsworth
I have been quite
Revolution, when some states had invoked it against Tories.
unable to keep the tears out of my eyes
he was very young
and
Abraham Lincoln
377
Saloon." Not once, however, is it recorded that anyone asked to see such
a famous relic as the Stuart portrait of Washington. The two dining
rooms, used by the family every day, were never on view. That most of
the state rooms were closed to casual visitors kindled curiosity, which was
16
to have unfortunate results.
Inside the White House the President remained as much concealed
as possible. He seldom used the grand stair or the business stair, but
moved about by way of the service stair. "He used it more than any other
Turmoil
in the house," remembered one of the doormen. "You would go up a few
steps and come to a landing; up a few more steps and another landing,
and SO on." Enclosed in its own small hall and guarded by the doorkeep-
er's room, which it adjoined, the stair provided Lincoln with private
access to any part of the house except for the office. Its greatest virtue
was that he could descend it unseen to the basement hall, and leave the
house in secrecy.3
In the office suite a minor alteration was made to facilitate Lincoln's
movement between living quarters and work. A partition, built across
B
efore the close of 1861, the guarding of the White House
the back, or south, end of the reception room, created a closed passage
had relaxed noticeably. Most accounts suggest that it
between the office and the oval room, which the family used as a library.
was as open as a public market. This appearance, how-
This screened the President from his callers when he visited the family
ever, was somewhat deceiving. Like most Presidents before him, Lincoln
quarters or moved a private conference to the oval library. The partition
wanted the people's house to seem friendly and democratic. This was
was Lincoln's only addition to the White House.4
difficult with locked gates and bayonets. Many of the guards were there-
When the war began, General Scott urged Lincoln to send Mrs.
fore dressed as doormen. Only a few were actually soldiers; the majority
Lincoln and their sons to safety in New England, but Mrs. Lincoln re-
belonged to the newly formed Metropolitan Police. Pistols and rifles were
fused to leave her husband. After the replacement of Scott by General
out of sight but readily accessible in the porter's lodge.¹
George B. McClellan on November 1, the subject rarely came up again.
Uniformed and armed sentries were still posted at the gates to the
McClellan had arrived in Washington during the summer of 1861 to
grounds and at all external doors to the house except that on the north
train the thousands of militia coming to the city. With many soldiers in
side. Within the house the "doormen" wore frock coats and baggy trou-
the city, and a protective ring of military installations around it, the
sers, like any man might wear on the street. One of them later wrote that
nerves of those who lived at the White House calmed. As the years of the
when he was detailed to the White House, "We were ordered to report in
war passed, certain precautions were maintained: No member of the
citizens' clothes, to conceal our revolvers, and to be sure to have them all
family left the house unescorted; the doors were kept guarded. Still,
clean and in good order."²
when the mails brought a vicious threat, fear seized all who knew about
Tourists, most of them soldiers, came in freely through the north
it, including President Lincoln himself.
door. The doormen directed them through the business stair hall into the
East Room, and they departed by the same route. The East Room was
kept rather bare, to accommodate the flow of visitors. The vast chamber
Adjusting
was dominated by three giant glass chandeliers, its floor covered with
The family circle was surprisingly constricted. The Lincolns re-
highly colored flowered carpeting. Except for new curtains and wall-
treated to the nine rooms of the family quarters, and if they expected any
paper, the room remained as it had been decorated in Jackson's time.
peace and quiet, usually avoided the rest of the house. During the day
Very rarely were the other rooms on the main floor open to public
people flooded much of the main floor; tourists, business callers, aides,
inspection. Now and then someone requested to see "Ogle's Elliptical
384
TURMOIL
Abraham Lincoln
385
Shots had been fired; blood had been shed. America was at war, and the
President's wife was on a shopping spree. During the lull before and right
badly on the south, where the sun beat down upon it unobstructed.
after Manassas, the newspapers made sensational copy of this. She was
Viewing the beehive of workmen from outside, one might have
branded as extravagant and insensitive to the national upheaval. That a
questioned the propriety of these visible expenditures in time of war.
President's wife would be the object of such harsh commentary in print
Lincoln, however, saw great symbolic value in fine public buildings; at
indicates how radically the times had changed. Forty-five years before,
the Capitol, for example, he ordered the soldiers out and summoned
there had been a trickle of editorial abuse of Dolley Madison for her flight
Thomas U. Walter back to Washington to complete the building. When
from Washington. Otherwise the women of the White House had been
asked why, Lincoln said, "If people see the Capitol go on, they will know
spared the vitriol Mrs. Lincoln was now enduring in dignified silence.
that the Union will go on." He also reopened work on the Treasury
Mary Lincoln resented the accusations. She could not have known
building. The President wanted the White House to look its best, and
that they were merely the seeds of more hostile treatment to come. Smil-
the idea for Mrs. Lincoln's redecorating and repairs may have originated
ing from beneath white veils, she walked through lines of reporters as
with him. Since she was omitted from practically every other decision,
though they were not there. She might have thought that women did not
she gave her full enthusiasm to this one project which was hers. Perhaps
give interviews; previous Presidents' wives had not. Whatever the case,
she considered it her chance to excel. 17
she turned the press against her, and this antagonism would follow her
Through August and into September 1861 few parts of the house
for the rest of her life.
remained undisturbed by workmen. Tack hammers banged around the
At the same time, she made quite a happy impression on the crowds
edges of new carpeting; chisels cut the walls for additional gas pipes. The
that followed her along Broadway. Her quaint western custom of carrying
spring-bell system of the office was expanded, so that from cords over his
her own shopping bag was adopted at once by fashionable New Yorkers.
desk Lincoln could signal the reception room, as well as his secretaries.
The smells of paint, varnish, and wallpaper permeated the place until at
Running Up Big Bills
least mid-September. The furniture that began to arrive on the train was
stacked in the halls, still crated. Much of what was already in the house
At the White House, John Alexander and his assistants went to
was taken away by John Alexander to be washed down, revarnished, and
work in her absence. The President was living at the Soldiers' Home, and
reupholstered in the bright, chemical colors of the early 1860s.
only the principal servants-the cook and butler-commuted with him
Completed in October in time for the opening of the autumn sea-
daily into Washington. Only Hay and a few servants who lived in the
son, the redecoration made Mrs. Lincoln very proud. Necessity had
basement remained resident. The coachman, Edward Burke, and one of
forced her to modify some of her original objectives. The old chandeliers
the assistant doorkeepers, Edward McManus, were with Mrs. Lincoln in
in the East Room, which had been put up by Jackson and converted to
the north. Nicolay, who had passed a sickly winter, was sent away from
gas by Polk, had to remain. She had also to keep many other furnishings
Washington's heat by his doctor. Hay wrote to him in August that the
she would have liked to replace. Alexander proved as resourceful as ever,
White House presented "nothing new. An immense crowd that boreth
refashioning old curtains with new cuts and trimmings. Fresh curtains
ever. Painters who make God's air foul to the nostrils. Rain, which
were hung at all the windows of the family quarters, fashionable white
makes a man moist and adhesive. Dust, which unwholesomely penetrates
cotton lace through which one could see out but not in. Lace of finer
one's lungs. Washington, which makes one swear. "16
quality was hung in the state rooms, behind elegant over-curtains of silk
The smell of paint pervaded everything, for both the inside and the
lampas and brocade.
outside were being painted. Ladders and scaffolds reached up to the Ionic
The carpeting downstairs was in the new mode à la français. All the
caps and the carved stone enrichments around the windows, which the
state rooms were recarpeted, and the other rooms, the porter's lodge, the
painters sanctified anew with gleaming white. From time to time in years
little stair hall, the pantry-were floored with fresh straw matting, while
past, the house had been given a light brushing of whitewash to kill
the entrance hall was covered wall to wall with a canvas floorcloth
mildew and to save the much greater cost of repainting. Layer after layer
painted in an intricate pattern of tiles. In the main rooms the carpeting,
of the various coatings had built up SO that the house peeled especially
most of it Wilton weave (though elevated in the press to Axminster),
was luxurious. The journalist Mary Clemmer Ames, who disliked Mrs.
386
TURMOIL
Abraham Lincoln
387
Lincoln, nevertheless rhapsodized years later about her selection of "vel-
vet," or cut-pile, carpeting for the East Room: "Its ground was of pale
confirm him. His appointment was temporary, but he seems to have been
green, and in effect looked as if [the] ocean, in gleaming and transparent
successful in steering clear of Mrs. Lincoln. Wood had been a good
waves, were tossing roses at your feet. "18
helper, making all the arrangements for moving the Lincolns to Wash-
Of all the rooms, the Prince of Wales Room, or the state bedroom,
ington. Lincoln rewarded him with Dr. Blake's job on May 31, 1861, on
interested Mrs. Lincoln and her "Cousin Lizzie" Grimsley the most. Only
Mrs. Lincoln's recommendation. He had accompanied her party on the
one state guest had slept at the White House-the prince who gave the
first trip to New York in May, and was with her for the major purchases of
room its name. Mrs. Lincoln must have thought more would come, for
carpeting and furniture.
she gave the room special attention. Although it was "the best in the
Why she turned on Wood is not recorded, although his failure to
family suite," wrote Mrs. Grimsley, it was "most shabby." Ornate furni-
receive confirmation from the Senate that summer showed that he
ture was purchased by Mrs. Lincoln, from William and George Carryl of
lacked the political support to be useful to her. Yet she was angry with
Philadelphia. The bed, the now famous Lincoln Bed, and its companion
him, for some reason. By the autumn she referred to him in one of her
center table, both of them monumental and grand, reflect Mrs. Lincoln's
rambling letters as being "either deranged or drinking." Wood may have
idea of what was appropriate for a state bedroom. 19
fallen from grace in part because he had presumed to tighten the purse
She assembled grand and showy pieces in rosewood at the furniture
strings on the first trip. He also suffered the misfortune in Mrs. Lincoln's
showrooms. Whether the bed might have been considered renaissance or
eyes of being a warm personal friend of Seward's, whom she despised.
Louis XV is difficult to tell. It is embellished with elaborate carving,
Finally, any authority which superseded her own at the White House was
featuring ovals and circles as the basic motif; intricately carved fretwork,
likely to arouse her resentment, and Wood was in such a position. 21
garlands, and cartouches combine with flat expanses of figured wood.
A familiar character reentered the picture to take Wood's place
Opulent imitations of nature-exotic birds, grapes, leaves, flowers
during the summer of 1861, with the timing characteristic of the best
carved in wood-complement the rich natural grain of the rosewood and
actors. It was B. B. French. The eager helper of the burdened Nicolay
the pale veining of the marble top of the table. Originally the effect of
during those first days of March, the best-seated and grandest of the
artificiality may have been strengthened by gilt highlighting.
elegant marshals of the District of Columbia on that most glorious March
As first installed in the Prince of Wales Room, the "Lincoln bed"
4, French had made certain that he was not forgotten at the White
was draped to suggest an antique French state bed or lit de parade, the
House, where he had once worked for Franklin Pierce. "I confess to a
head surmounted by a gilded half coronet emblazoned with the American
great admiration of [the President's] plain, unsophisticated, but gentle-
shield. The coronet was suspended from high on the walls, just inches
manly and kind manner," he wrote. "I have seen him several times, and I
below the ceiling. From it hung curtains of purple satin trimmed with
must say he seems to appreciate me more than my dear friend Franklin
yellow-gold fringe over long, full panels of glistening gold lace drawn
Pierce did! I think he can rather beat Franklin in any thing but lying! In
back with cord and tassels. Bolster and spread were of figured satin in
that Franklin was a match for anyone I ever knew. "22
purple and gold; deep purple and gold fringe formed a valance along the
The major, now a Republican, was eager to be the public buildings
sides of the bed.
commissioner. At 60, with a high standard of living to maintain, he
At the window the colors were reversed, with yellow-gold curtains
needed a salary. He had probably courted the Know-Nothings; at least
and purple fringes and tassels as trimming. Against a pale purple wallpa-
Pierce accused him of it in disgust. Although it was almost too late when
per, with a gilt rosetree pattern and the rich aniline-dye colors of Wilton
he jumped on the Republican bandwagon, he was president of the Re-
carpeting, the Prince of Wales Room was Mary Lincoln's triumph. The
publican Club of Washington by the time the victorious Lincoln got to
room would endure with minor changes for the balance of the century;
town. Nor could Lincoln have missed French when he arrived in Wash-
the major pieces of furniture are among the most cherished objects in the
ington, for French kept himself in full view. He boldly invited Lincoln to
White House today, enshrined in the Lincoln Bedroom. 20
his son's wedding, an event the President recognized by sending Nicolay.
William Wood had little to do directly with the redecoration,
Soon French was calling on the President in his office.
because Lincoln's administration had been unable to get Congress to
"I went to the President's & had a long talk with him about the
times," he wrote on April 23, 1861. "I found that he knew but little
590
TURMOIL
Abraham Lincoln
391
"I have sent for you to get me out of trouble," she said. "if you
will do it. I never will get into such difficulty again. Mr. Caryl [Carryl]
has a bill of $6,700.00 over the appropriation, and Mr. Lincoln will
The Gardener
not approve it. I want you to see him and tell him that it is common to
In the spring of 1861, James Gordon Bennett, the chattery editor of
overrun appropriations-tell him how much it costs to refurnish, he
the anti-Lincoln New York Herald, sent a little White House gossip to his
pocket does not know much about it, he says he will pay for it out of his own
old friend Mrs. Clement Clay, Jr., who was living in the Confederate
She began to cry, but continued, "you know Major he
capital: "I have been in Washington twice since I had the pleasure of
cannot afford that! Now go to Mr. Lincoln and try to persuade him
seeing you, and I can say truthfully that
the
ensemble
of
the
person-
to approve the bill."
nel of the White House has sadly changed, more befitting a restaurant
In Lincoln's office French found an angry President: "It would stink
than the House of the President."2
in the nostrils of the American people to have it said that the President
While Lincoln's first spring in office seems early for passing judg-
of the United States had approved a bill over-running an appropriation
ment on the staff, it did apply by the close of the year. A combination of
of $20,000 for flub dubs for this damned old house, when the soldiers
the President's preoccupation with his work and Mrs. Lincoln's inexperi-
cannot have blankets."
ence in dealing with subordinates had cast James Buchanan's smooth-
Who, Lincoln demanded, was William Carryl? French, who had
running "English" household into disarray. French might have been able
not been commissioner at the time of the purchases, had no idea. He was
to remedy the situation, but he came along after the storm was well
quick to disclaim any connection with the bills, but eager to defend Mrs.
advanced. On her own Mrs. Lincoln was much too proud to ask the
Lincoln. The President jerked on the call bell and ordered a servant to
advice of people who might willingly have helped her out of her diffi-
summon Nicolay, who likewise knew nothing of Carryl. Nicolay sug-
culty. This stubbornness may have been inspired by Lincoln's deference
gested that Mrs. Lincoln must have hired him. "Then," said Lincoln,
to other opinions over hers in social matters. The queenly reserve she
"the bill is her fault." He stormed on and on over the costs of the carpets,
affected was quickly recognized by the servants as an effort to disguise her
especially that for the East Room, which he said had cost $10,000. "It
insecurities. She could seldom hold her tongue, and entered readily into
was all wrong," he said, "to spend one cent at such a time, and I never
open conflicts. Thus vulnerable, Mary Lincoln was open to exploitation,
ought to have had a cent expended, the house was furnished well enough,
even from such an unlikely source as the gardener, John Watt.
better than any one we ever lived in, and if I had not been overwhelmed
Probably no more competent gardener existed in Washington than
with other business, I would not have had any of the appropriation
this Scot, who had come to the job under the garden-loving Fillmores.
expended, but what could I do? I could not attend to everything?"25
The balance of his responsibilities had shifted since then, however. With
The bills were paid after French contrived a means of burying many
the abandonment of the old garden, the grounds became less extensive.
of them in other expenses, without creating notice. Even before the
Some private parterres had been developed by Watt in the surviving
scene with the President and Mrs. Lincoln, he wrote to his sister about
grounds, near the house. But after they were finished in 1860 it was
the new job, "Didn't I know by experience just what it was, and didn't I
noted that the members of the family never spent much time there. The
take it for better or for worse? Yes, and I mean to hold it this time, as long
parklike grounds were ideal for an occasional walk. Dogwood and redbud
as the President & Congress and Fate will permit." It was a fine job to
trees blossomed in the spring, and the horse chestnuts Ousley had set out
have in Washington, one of the most dignified. Not only was the com-
in Andrew Jackson's time were magnificent. Random clumps of trees
missioner high in society, but he also was courted by every businessman
gave some visual protection to the house, but there was no careful
and tradesman in the city. After his success as peacemaker over the
screening of the White House or its gardens such as Downing had
furniture bills, French wrote again to his sister: "Mrs. Lincoln and I are
planned. Thus the Lincolns had too little privacy in the grounds. They
on the most cosey terms. We introduce each other to the callers every
were for the most part exposed to the public eye. The boys had their
Saturday afternoon and on reception evenings. There is no denying the
playgrounds, and the elder members of the household looked out at the
fact that she is a curiosity, but she is a lady and an accomplished one too,
idyllic beauty from the windows. They found secluded leisure with the
but she does love money-aye, better than I do.
flowers and greenery of the conservatory. Many happy hours were spent
there. The warm flood of light from overhead was clear and bright, shot
Abraham Lincoln
399
398
TURMOIL
On Lincoln's orders the White House was put under the command
Looking Toward Home
of his old friend Senator Orville Hickman Browning, who had been
Willie's death occurred four days after the triumphant victory of
appointed to fill the unfinished term of the late Stephen A. Douglas.
General U.S. Grant at Fort Donelson in Tennessee. "No terms except
The parents communicated with no one. Lincoln spent most of his time
an immediate and unconditional surrender," were Grant's famous words
alone, and Mrs. Lincoln was sometimes unconscious, lying in her bed.
to the enemy, and that tough line captured the imagination of the entire
Tad, still ailing, was left to Mrs. Browning and the servants.
Union. In the spring the federal forces established control over western
The house was draped in black. Willie's body was taken downstairs
Tennessee. By the time the horse chestnuts bloomed again at the White
to the Green Room for embalming, to be as far from his parents' rooms as
House, Union troops had started their ascent of the Mississippi River.
possible. When this work was finished, his body was laid in a metallic
Memphis was in Union hands in June.
coffin trimmed in rosewood and silver. He was tucked beneath a blanket
Tad's health improved quickly, and summer saw him and his father
of camellias, with camellias placed in his hand. The shades and curtains
nearly inseparable. Crowds of the curious had learned to stand around
of the Green Room were drawn shut, and candlelight illuminated Wil-
and wait to get a look at this pair as they walked daily, hand in hand, to
lie's face, which looked not worn from the fever, but asleep. Senator and
the telegraph office for the latest war news. The child resented the intru-
Mrs. Browning received for the family, summoning other friends to sit
sion and sometimes scowled as he moved over the shaggy green grass,
the night by the coffin. Neither the President nor Mrs. Lincoln had the
seemingly pulled along by his father.
strength to join the vigil. At noon on the day of the funeral the Lincolns
The Lincolns were no longer the happy family they had been in
and Robert, who had returned from Harvard for the sad occasion, went
Springfield. What they had lost seemed to them far more than a fair
alone into the Green Room, locked the doors, and sat with Willie until
tribute to be paid by one family for serving mankind. Mrs. Lincoln had
it was time for the service. 45
taken to brooding. The President's sleep was forever troubled. In the
The funeral was held on Monday afternoon, February 24, in the
cemetery the body of Willie Lincoln lay waiting in a borrowed tomb. The
East Room, with leading members of the government and the military in
Lincolns knew that one day they would go home again to Illinois; when
attendance. Willie's coffin, now closed, was left in the Green Room,
that time came Willie would go too, to his final resting place.
probably to ease the ordeal of his father, who attended the funeral only
with great difficulty. Mrs. Lincoln sent someone down at the last minute
to take the spray of flowers from Willie's hand and bring it to her. During
the funeral the sky turned black; wrote B.B. French, "there was a general
stirring up of the elements and the heavens were rolling in clouds, while
tin roofs were rolling in all sorts of shapes-steeples and chimneys were
toppling over, and there was a general consternation everywhere, except
in the Presidential Mansion, where I was, and did not know
until
we were passing on to the cemetery.
Mrs. Lincoln never really recovered from her loss. It was not that
she simply retreated into herself, for she tried to rally from the terrible
blow. Her life was soon shaped by her bereavement. Three months after
Willie's coffin was carried out of the White House, she wrote to Madame
Harris, the milliner in New York: "I am in need of a mourning bonnet-
which must be exceedingly plain & genteel. I want one made of crape
with folds, bonnet of blk crape-that is trimmed with it. I want the
crape to be of the finest jet black English crape-white & black face
trimmings-Could you obtain any black & white crape flowers? small
delicate ones—I want it got up, with great taste & gentility.'
Abraham Lincoln
401
The Public Eye
In wartime the White House always assumes a domineering pres-
ence, in part because presidential power becomes almost dictatorial, and
17
in part because the President himself seems then more than ever to repre-
sent the human identity of the faceless government. Everything about
him is interesting, not the least the house where he lives. Yet before 1863
Good News
Lincoln enjoyed little advantage from this circumstance. He had not yet
become a glorious figure; he could not even draw together the diverse
elements of the Republican Party under his leadership.
Washington, a city of visitors, remained full for the duration of the
war. The tutor at the White House, Alexander Williamson, recalled:
"The city was in a fearful condition-swarming not only with troops, but
with vagabonds, vampires, and harpies of every description." Sundays,
he found, became more and more like other days, with noise and crowds.
Most of the people, it can be supposed, eventually found their way into
the White House, to tour the East Room. The Metropolitan Police kept
M
r. Lincoln was essentially a growing man." So wrote
out anyone they could identify as low-life. Those of decent character
Horace Greeley in his Recollections. "Enjoying no
who left a card might be invited to one of Mrs. Lincoln's weekly recep-
advantages in youth, he had observed and reflected
tions, where she and Major French presided in the Blue Room, while
much since he attained to manhood, and he was steadily increasing his
hundreds passed through to shake hands.
stock of knowledge to the day of his death." He had "entered Washing-
The President's wife and the commissioner of public buildings got
ton the victim of a grave delusion. A genial
peaceful man, trained
along well. She liked to laugh, and the major could be quite silly when
in the ways of the bar and the stump, he fully believed that there would
with women. Sometimes he and Mrs. Lincoln burst into giggles while
be no civil war. "I
standing in the receiving line. In quieter moments she found in him a
Nor did Lincoln begin to achieve the aura of greatness that would
dependable friend. Bent under pressure, she broke down from time to
set him apart until his first administration was more than two-thirds
time. Willie always came to her mind when she was at her weakest. She
over. Many who were close to him had no faith in his competence actu-
"wept bitterly yesterday while talking of her loss," wrote French in
ally to serve as chief executive. He established authority over his Cabi-
March after the child's death.⁴
net, which had intended to rule him, but even well into the second year
It was important for the President and his family to be seen by the
the public was still not convinced of his ability.
public in the wartime city, SO as not to seem in hiding. Most of the
As the summer of 1862 wore on, and the Union suffered serious
Lincolns' joint appearances were at military reviews and receptions. Both
losses in the field, the American population became increasingly uneasy
took place at the White House; one had simply to walk downstairs to
with Lincoln's mild administration. From his perspective as secretary to
take part. Lincoln also liked to drive about in his carriage. Mrs. Lincoln
the President, George Nicolay wrote in disgust, "I am utterly amazed to
visited the military hospitals religiously, distributing happy words and
find so little real faith and courage under difficulties among public leaders
presents she had made herself. Finding her kind and motherly, the sol-
and men of intelligence. The average public mind is becoming alarm-
diers named one of the camps Camp Mary Lincoln.
ingly sensational. A single reverse or piece of accidental ill-luck is
Had their formal social obligations not been largely political, the
enough to throw them into the horror of dispair."
Lincolns might have enjoyed them. But society is part of work for a
This added up to great political danger, from which President Lin-
President, and the Lincolns were not accustomed to giving the sort of
coln saved himself by placing the war cause on a higher moral level than
private entertainments the capital had known under Buchanan. While
the mere salvation of the Union.
400
420
THE RESCUE
Andrew Johnson
421
ordered the body taken to the White House, and put French in charge of
every detail. This also put French in the closest contact with Mrs. Lin-
Lincoln wandered in and out. At the conclusion Lincoln was dressed by
coln, whom everyone else wished to avoid. Soon French too began to
Secretary Stanton. For all the participants, politics was intertwined with
believe she was going insane.³
their sorrow. Dr. Brown offered to obliterate a bruise on Lincoln's face
At about 9:30 in the morning of the 15th, Lincoln's body was re-
with chemicals and wax.' "No," said Stanton, "this is part of the history
moved from the Petersen house in a coffin. It was carried in a hearse
of the event." The public would view the corpse; they must see how the
attended by a small group of soldiers, one lieutenant and ten privates.
Republican martyr had suffered. Lincoln's remains would be paraded
The little procession, under General Daniel H. Rucker, marched to the
before millions of citizens on a national tour by special train.⁶
White House. French had covered the coffin in an American flag, which
Stanton ordered that the funeral service be held in the East Room.
could be seen through the windows of the hearse. He had ordered the
French devoted the weekend to planning suitable decorations, sensing
soldiers' firearms reversed. People along the street wept openly.
the magnitude of the work before him. His diaries show his awareness
The soldiers carried the coffin inside, climbing to the south portico,
that this was the first assassination of a President of the United States.
crossing the Blue Room to the transverse hall, and up the grand stairway
Europe's history was stained with assassination, but no American Presi-
to the Prince of Wales Room, where Willie had died. Lincoln's body was
dent had been slain before now. Lincoln's murder at the climax of na-
placed on a cooling board, a portable work table brought to the White
tional upheaval had gripped the Union with grief and dark reflection.
House by the embalmers. Nine men assembled to perform the autopsy,
The mourning could not be too profound nor too dignified.
two pathologists who worked at the Army Medical Museum, and seven
For the East Room he designed an ornate catafalque to hold the
doctors who gave instructions and served as witnesses. In the course of
coffin. It differed from those used for Harrison and Taylor only in having
the autopsy the fatal bullet appeared. According to one of the patholo-
columns and a high roof, which required that the central chandelier be
gists, it "suddenly
dropped out through my fingers and fell, breaking
unscrewed from the gas line and taken down. Resembling a huge four-
the solemn silence of the room with its clatter, into an empty basin that
poster bed with heavy black and white drapery, the catafalque was deco-
was standing beneath. There it lay upon the white china, a little black
rated by the Alexander firm with practically the entire repertoire of the
mass no bigger than the end of my finger."4
upholsterer's art: satin pleats, tucks, sunbursts, and rosettes; a roof of
French went to the room briefly. Someone suggested that he go to
black silk; a ceiling of tightly pleated white satin. John Alexander fin-
Mrs. Lincoln to keep her from making a surprise visit to the Prince of
ished this at about noon on Monday. The noise of his hammers through-
Wales Room during the autopsy. He found her in a bedroom down the
out the night disturbed Mrs. Lincoln, and she cried out over and over
hall, across from the oval room. Upon returning to the house she had
that she could hear gunshots in the house.⁷
refused to enter either her own bedroom or the President's. For most of
Externally the White House, like practically every building in the
the rest of her time in the White House she kept to this room, which
city, was draped with black. Crape wrapped the columns of the porticoes
looked out under the north portico.
and covered the carved ornaments. Everyone on the staff wore black
"I went in," wrote French in his diary. "She was in bed
in great
armbands. Black framed the north window where Lincoln had addressed
distress, and I remained only a moment." Apparently the commissioner
the serenaders. The mirrors inside were covered with white; the chande-
did consult her in calmer moments during the six days that Lincoln's
liers were bagged with black. Monday morning French inspected the
body remained in Washington. Some details of the funeral may have
work. "I went to the White House & saw that all was going on well in
been the result of her requests, but for the most part French was in
regard to preparations for the funeral. I saw the remains of the President,
charge, Stanton his only master. The ceremonial and decorative aspects
which are growing more and more natural-indeed but for the blood
of the lying in state and subsequent funeral were of French's creation.⁵
shot appearance of the cheek directly under the right eye, the face would
Brown & Alexander, the Washington company of undertakers, was
look perfectly natural."8
now represented in the Prince of Wales Room by Dr. Charles D. Brown,
That night the body was carried from the Prince of Wales Room to
one of the partners. The embalming took place there during the after-
the East Room and placed in the coffin. Those who carried it removed
noon. President Johnson appeared for a while, and others close to
their shoes SO that Mrs. Lincoln would not hear them. At 9:30 Tuesday
morning the Pennsylvania Avenue gate was opened to admit thousands
422
THE RESCUE
Andrew Johnson
423
of mourners to view the corpse. They were marshaled into the White
House by the military.
placed on the funeral car by the 12 sergeants of the honor guard, who
The line of callers entered through the north door and went to the
served as pallbearers. The black-draped funeral car, drawn by six white
Green Room, through which they passed into the East Room. Divided
horses, rolled down the driveway, through the iron gates, and away from
there into two orderly lines, they passed close to the coffin, then left by
the White House. 10
way of the temporary stair that led from one of the East Room windows.
The coffin seemed to float on a sea of spring flowers. White magnolias
had bloomed early in the White House grounds. Camellias and roses,
Confusion
both purchased and from the conservatory, were used in abundance,
The presence of the new President at the services for Abraham
sweetening the stuffy air of the East Room.
Lincoln was not nearly so much noticed as the absence of the dead man's
After the admission of invited groups between 5:30 and 7:30 in the
widow. Mary Lincoln remained in seclusion, cringing at the sounds of
evening, the house was closed. Then French appeared with the carpenter
the thudding drums, the rolling funeral car, and the shuffling of feet over
crew from the Treasury building project, transporting lumber and sup-
wood floors and graveled drives. French had hoped she would rally suffi-
plies from the Treasury to the East Room to set to work building steps-
ciently to attend the ceremonies. At public expense he bought "1
like bleachers-around the north, south, and east walls. The President's
mourning dress & trimmings," as well as a mourning shawl, crape bonnet
body lay in the midst of this noisy work, which lasted well into the next
and veil, "gloves & Hdkfs," and five pairs of suitable hose. The departure
morning. Through the night the sound of hammering once again pene-
of the coffin took place beneath her curtained windows, and that is as
trated the silence of Mary Lincoln's room, and again she fruitlessly cried
close as she ever came to it. She participated in the sad events from the
out, begging that it be stopped.9
sanctuary of her room. For the burial she selected a cemetery she and
The funeral was held at noon Wednesday, April 19, 1865. Six hun-
Lincoln had admired on the outskirts of Springfield, rejecting a congres-
dred invited guests were admitted, presenting their handwritten cards at
sional offer of the crypt in the Capitol originally built to receive Wash-
the gate and surrendering them inside the north door. Each guest stood
ington's body. Willie's coffin was taken from the tomb and placed beside
at an assigned place on the black-draped bleachers. White silk ribbons
his father's on the funeral train to Illinois. 11
marked the seating sections; scattered islands of chairs served special
Mary Lincoln's grief completely absorbed her. The problem she
guests; overflow guests went to the Green Room. A section against the
posed was universally recognized, so the expenditures of public money to
big windows on the east wall of the East Room was reserved for the press.
comfort and appease her seems not to have been questioned. Mrs. Keck-
General Grant was seated alone at the head of the catafalque in full
ley remained at her side, paid a federal salary of $35 per week by the
uniform, the hero on a pedestal, his face glistening with tears. Andrew
commissioner. President Johnson did not ask her to vacate the White
Johnson stood with the Cabinet. The room was shadowy, its curtains
House. The few who ventured close to her were puzzled by her wild
drawn, the massed mourners further blocking the light. Several candles
hysterics; most classed them as undignified. So people who might have
near the catafalque cast a soft yellow glow on the white satin above the
given comfort began to stay away.
coffin; the satin, in turn, reflected a harsh glare on Lincoln's face.
Oddly enough, the letters which survive from her remaining six
The long and sentimental sermon by the Rev. Dr. Phineas D. Gur-
weeks at the White House seem somewhat calmer than those written
ley made its intended impression. Lincoln was compared with Moses.
during the war. She tried to gain good positions for loyal friends. The
Vengeance was sworn against those who had destroyed him. When the
tutor Alexander Williamson, paid as a Treasury clerk, received a strong
service was over the 600 filed out in orderly lines, emerged on the north
recommendation for a post in one of the new reconstruction bureaus.
portico, and stood along the sides of the driveway to await the procession
Tommy Pendel was likewise praised in a note to Andrew Johnson for
to the Capitol. Thousands more mourners spread beyond the fence; the
loyal service as principal doorkeeper.
windows of the tall buildings framed clusters of faces looking down over
During Mrs. Lincoln's withdrawal in her room, which lasted for
the crowds. The drums and the volleys of honor were the only sounds.
the rest of April and most of May, the White House was a place of
At two o'clock the coffin was carried from the White House and
often uncontrolled activity. At the far end of the second floor hall,
Nicolay and Hay packed the contents of the offices, sifting through and
424
THE RESCUE
Andrew Johnson
425
organizing Lincoln's papers and books. A caller visited the room in May,
one month after the President's death, and wrote: "They are taking away
Mr. Lincoln's private effects, to deposit wheresoever his family may
Andrew Johnson Establishes Himself
abide, and the emptiness of the place, on this sunny Sunday, revives that
Four days after Mary Lincoln left, French sent one of his clerks to
feeling of desolation from which the land has scarce recovered. "12
the unoccupied White House to join Stackpole in making a full inven-
With no supervision, tourists who were SO inclined looted the state
tory. When the long ledger sheets were filled with their rather tedious
rooms for souvenirs. Stackpole the steward either could not keep order,
account of chairs and tables, watercoolers and beds, all "worn" or "mis-
or did not have the good judgment to do so. The public pressed in when
used" or, at best, "in fair condition," French had the clerk affix his
the doors opened in the morning and left only when forced out by the
signature and required the same of Stackpole. Because there was a ques-
afternoon closing. Official business took place not in the White House
tion of missing public property, neither French nor the new President
but in Johnson's office at the Treasury. The temporary offices were deco-
wanted to have anything to do with the house until the inventory was a
rated with the oversize flags that had draped the presidential box at
matter of record. 16
Ford's; one bore a long rip made by Booth's spur as the assassin leaped to
The moving of Andrew Johnson's papers and belongings soon fol-
the stage. For one of the few times in its history, the White House was
lowed, and he took up residence at the White House on June 9. He lost
not central to the Presidency; it was a relic, apart from the mainstream.
no time in establishing what he considered an adequate office force. The
Through the rest of April the East Room remained set up as it had
President's staff was permanently increased. Lincoln had begun the trend
been for the funeral. Visitors walked up and down the bleachers and
by borrowing numerous part-time clerks, principally from the Treasury,
picked the mourning vestments to pieces; crape, silk rosettes, wilted
to assist Nicolay and Hay. That he planned to make Noah Brooks his
flowers, whatever could be slipped into a coat or reticule, were fair game.
secretary for the second term suggests that President Lincoln may have
Even after French had the room restored, the souvenir hunting contin-
had in mind an improved office organization, with Brooks an administra-
ued. When he took inventory in May, no lamps, vases, or other small
tor over an enlarged force of secretaries and clerks. Johnson had six
movables remained. Of the other furnishings he noted: "All curtains
secretaries and six clerks on his staff.
badly cut-rest of furniture pretty badly used.
The chief secretary, William A. Browning, who had served him
The theft of silver and china was apparently extensive. Word of the
well when he was Vice President, helped set up the revised office organi-
ransacking of the White House got to the New York World after Mrs.
zation. But as this work was taking place, Browning unexpectedly died.
Lincoln left, and it was reported that "an official" had provided her with
He was replaced by 33-year-old Robert, the fourth of Johnson's children
90 packing boxes in which, she had hauled off the ornaments of the
and his favorite. How well Robert Johnson performed the job is question-
White House. By that time she was out of sorts with French and blamed
able, for while he was charming, he was something of a black sheep,
him for starting the story. "There is no greater scamp, in this country,
liquor being not the least of his weaknesses. So few official papers bear
than that man," she wrote. 14
his name that, unless new office procedures made it unnecessary for the
Before she left, Mrs. Lincoln must have felt increasingly a stranger
secretary to initial or sign most documents, he probably did little.
in the White House, where spirits were rising again with the excitement
The need for expanded offices sprang from administrative burdens
of an opening chapter. With very little notice, she announced that she
produced by the war. Congress supplied Johnson with funds to make the
would depart on May 22. This would take her out of town one day in
offices more efficient. Space was needed not only for more staff and
advance of the Grand Review of the Armies of the Union, three days of
visiting officials, but also for the storage of papers, a new function in the
military parades in which several hundred thousand soldiers would
White House. Papers heretofore had never remained for long at the
march. Carpenters were already building the reviewing stands in front of
house; Presidents had kept their letters and letterpress copies, but other
the White House. Her face hidden by a black veil, Mrs. Lincoln at last
documents were directed almost immediately to the appropriate execu-
emerged and slipped away to the railroad station late in the afternoon of
tive department. Wishing to hold over as much wartime power as he
the appointed day. Her companion, Mrs. Keckley, was sad to see that
could by maintaining the emergency lines of communication established
"there was scarcely a friend to tell her good-bye."
by Lincoln, Johnson held on to copies of most of the papers that came his
way, and he kept meticulous copies of all the letters and other papers he
Andrew Johnson
435
434
THE RESCUE
receptions open to the public had been reserved since the late '50s for
iron skeleton had proved too expensive, SO the sash that held the glass
New Year's and the Fourth of July, with all others by invitation only.
was all of wood, as it had been in the original conservatory. Only a few
Andrew Johnson reintroduced the levee; meaning in White House par-
iron structural members were used. 34
lance an open house for all comers, the levee was more in keeping with
Some five weeks before the conservatory burned, Mrs. Patterson's
his democratic outlook than the other relatively exclusive functions,
redecorating of the interior of the White House was nearly finished. For
which required formal invitations.
the New Year's reception of 1867 she had opened the three parlors for the
Johnson's levees were jammed. Immense throngs arrived sometimes
first time, to general acclaim. The bright, intricately patterned wall-
an hour or more early and waited in the hot sun; many visitors found
papers were gone; tall "French panels," or frames, had been created on
themselves too far toward the end of the line to make it inside before the
the walls with gilt moldings. Silk-like wallpapers were used inside the
doors were closed. Dust, sweat, and aching feet, combined with irritation
long rectangles, with the other surfaces painted various dark Pompeiian
at not getting to shake the President's hand, made for disgruntled citi-
colors, in the French néo-grec mode then making its first appearance in
zens, and there were sometimes several of these after one of Johnson's
the United States.
levees. Some vented their anger in the papers. Yet great effort was freely
The new look Mrs. Patterson had achieved was more controlled and
spent to make the levees as personal and hospitable as possible under the
more orderly than the florid French Antique style that had dominated
circumstances. The serving of food had long since proved impossible;
these rooms from James K. Polk's time to Abraham Lincoln's. The redeco-
even ice water was not usually available. Flower arrangements were
rated state parlors were darker and less theatrically "historical." Rather
placed about, on mantels and on large tables; the state rooms, most of
than being reflected from every surface, the gaslight glowed on some and
their furniture taken to the basement, were primped to look their best.
was absorbed by others. 35
The Marine Band played in the hall outside the East Room. 37
Mrs. Patterson had an interest in history. In the attic she came
No one had analyzed White House entertaining seriously since Bu-
across a forgotten series of portraits commissioned by the Congress in
chanan's administration. Mrs. Patterson's initial concern was to curb
1857 from the painter George P. A. Healy as decoration for the White
costly wear and tear on the house. The crowded receptions under the
House. They depicted John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Tyler, Polk,
Lincolns could be blamed for a large part of the dilapidation of the state
Fillmore, and Pierce. They had been stored unframed by French some-
rooms. Change was recognizable first in the autumn of 1867. The prime
time prior to 1864. When Mrs. Patterson showed her father the pictures,
innovation was that the great crowds were given easy access to the out-
he was delighted, and through French secured an appropriation of $300
side from the East Room. Mrs. Patterson disposed of the long temporary
each for gilt frames. The pictures, some bust portraits, some full length,
stair that had served the south window and devised an exit on the north,
were hung in the transverse hall on the state floor, outside the state
where the windowsills were nearer grade. Her carpenter built a portable
parlors. President Johnson took great pleasure in escorting his guests
ramp-called the "bridge"-to fit across the light well and connect with
through the hall and discoursing on the characters and accomplishments
the driveway. Callers were not usually directed to leave by this bridge
of his predecessors. During the spring of 1867 the East Room was opened.
from the East Room, but its convenience encouraged many to seek fresh
Mrs. Patterson's renovations were finally complete. 36
air, thinning the crowds significantly. 38
On the day before a levee, the state rooms were emptied of every-
The Steward William Slade
thing except fixtures and the ornaments on the mantels. Chairs, tables,
lamps, the "Japanese cabinet" of Pierce were neatly stacked in the Red
Some important changes in the operation of the White House natu-
Room and State Dining Room, both of which were then locked. With
rally accompanied so ambitious a program of renovation. Mrs. Patterson
the furniture out of the way, John Alexander spread heavy linen "crash"
scrutinized the ways the parties and public receptions were organized and
in runners over the carpeting where the lines of callers would cross the
she asked some practical questions about the staffing of the house.
transverse hall, the Blue Room, and the Green Room. For the East
Johnson held relatively few dinners until the last year of his admin-
Room, the crash was cut and sewn in large pieces and lightly tacked
istration. But large receptions were frequent, and the custom of Thurs-
together section by section in a giant quilt that spread from wall to wall,
day drawing rooms for women was continued. Generally speaking,
436
Andrew Johnson
437
THE RESCUE
serving the dual purpose of protecting the carpeting and muffling the
dining room to Lizzie Mitchell, the head cook, and her two children,
considerable noise made by visitors. 39
who ate in the kitchen. Doormen and messengers were served in the
The effect of the new program appeared in declining repair bills and
doormen's room adjacent to the north door. Servants ate in the base-
in the survival of many objects through the subsequent Victorian dec-
ment waiting room where the house bells rang, or in the servants' dining
ades. Damage was decreased also by new precautions against souvenir
rooms-one for blacks and a second for whites. 41
seekers. Visitors were welcomed to inspect the East Room Monday
The long-standing practice of paying the steward with the federal
through Saturday between the hours of nine and three. In Lincoln's time
salary earmarked for the chief doorkeeper had become unnecessary in
callers had on occasion sprawled out and slept on the sofas. Now there
1864, when the Congress began tacking a liberal salary for the steward
were detectives to prevent such familiarities, and Mrs. Patterson seems
onto the office appropriation. Even though the steward was considered a
not to have been concerned that it looked inhospitable.
personal employee of the President-and functioned as such-it had
Some who took liberties with the furnishings lived to regret it. "The
been obvious for some years that a federal official was needed at the
lady who calls to see you," wrote a kindly landlord to Major French, "has
White House who would take charge of domestic management and be
occupied part of my house for a year and is an efficient clerk in the
responsible for the furnishings, silver, and other public property. The
Internal Revenue Office." Only a day before, she and a friend from out of
Polks had anticipated this when they hired a businessman instead of a
town had visited the White House. "Passing out through the door, near a
servant as their steward. In July 1866 the Congress created the federal
window in the East Room, there was a curtain
post of steward of the White House. 42
in rags, & this visitor
pulled a small piece from it, thoughtlessly, at the very moment the detec-
Appointed by the President and serving at his pleasure, the steward
tive who was on the spot arrested her and took the ladies to the Supt. of
was accountable for the well-being of all public property in the White
Police." The landlord insisted that this was really French's fault for hav-
House, including the building itself and its grounds. Although seen at
the outset as a political position, the stewardship never developed into
the poor girl beyond her power to resist. 40
ing a curtain so near the path the visitors followed. He had "tempted"
one because of the peculiar nature of the job. In addition to his White
The size of the domestic staff of the White House had varied over
House responsibilities, the steward was a fiscal agent, managing the Pres-
the years. From 1800 until the Civil War the average number of servants
ident's personal funds insofar as they were expended for the household, as
was 12. This does not count personal or body servants, and southern
well as the funds appropriated for the White House by the Congress. He
Presidents often brought sizable numbers of slaves with them. Lincoln's
was under the Department of the Interior and was to post bond in an
household organization had been large, though it varied from time to
amount determined by the secretary of that department.
time. Many of the salaries were buried in the payrolls of the executive
The President recognized the steward's position as a powerful and
departments. Johnson employed five house servants, whom he paid from
delicate one calling for good judgment and the ability to communicate
his own pocket: a head cook and a head laundress, each with an assis-
with politicians and officials as well as with the family and servants. For
tant, and a chambermaid. He also paid the salary of the oddly titled "Cow
the post he selected William Slade, a light-skinned black man; bond was
Man." All other White House employees were paid directly or indirectly
set at $30,000, the estimated value of the silver and china in the White
by the federal government. There were two doorkeepers, three watch-
House. Slade had been acting as steward since August 1, 1865, following
men, and a gardener listed in French's records, some ostensibly clerks in
the removal of Stackpole, who had at last played his fatal card by lending
the various departments, others members of the Metropolitan Police.
a silver bowl from the house to a Baltimore store for advertisement.
The Treasury Detective Force also performed guard duty at the White
Before coming to the White House, Slade had been a messenger at
House every day.
the Treasury, and thus had known President Johnson for some years.
President Johnson's total payroll for his five servants and the COW
When Johnson moved into the White House on June 9, 1865, he placed
man varied between $66 and $99 per month. This did not include cater-
Slade in charge of the household accounts. Stackpole's dismissal late the
ers or temporary servants brought in to assist at big dinners. The Presi-
next month opened the way for Slade. Conscientious attention to his
dent fed all who worked at the White House, sometimes twice a day, an
duties earned for William Slade the appointment in August 1866 as the
average of 32 people-from the 14 at the President's table in the private
first official steward of the White House.
Ulysses S. Grant
465
464
THE GLASSHOUSE
Cigars, coffee, whiskey, and brandy were passed around. Men and
architectural parts. Located between the greenhouse and the west end of
women sat in small chatty groups or played parlor games. Talk of politics
the house, it replaced the early connecting hallway of glass.
and public office was strictly prohibited. Often the President and his wife
Exactly what this room looked like is difficult to determine, al-
held the group captive with their repartee.
though its components were in the modern English "reform" style, which
The Grants seldom visited other people. A wedding or funeral or
featured exposed carpentry and rustic effects. This was the antithesis of
baptism might provide an exception, yet official precedent made it un-
the dressy "French" interior decoration that had dominated the White
necessary for them to accept invitations. Nevertheless, they were more
House since its reconstruction after the War of 1812. Michler's papers
sensitive than most of their predecessors to the dangers of isolation in the
indicate that the billiard room was rich in natural wood finishes. Walnut,
White House. The evening parties in the Red Room doubtless offered
spruce, oak, and mahogany were used in paneling, wainscoting, and
them a means of keeping in touch with people. Yet the Grants' sparkling
decorative "timber framing" that gave a massive great-hall effect. Some
circle of friends could hardly have been called a crdss section of Ameri-
of the timbers were carved. Iron and plaster surfaces were made to look
cans. It was made up of individuals whose brains, background, power, or
like wood by staining and paint-graining. The ceiling was not glass, like
wealth set them apart. Ultimately, this exclusive circle was to expose
that in the adjacent greenhouse; it may have had skylights, but for the
them to ruinous hazards.
most part it was sheathed in bead-edged boards. Above an oak wainscot-
The most dangerous among Grant's guests were the millionaires
ing the north and south walls were pierced by ranges of tall windows with
who more or less had been made by the Civil War. Millionaires were
bits of colored glass interspersed among the large clear panes. On the east
rather new in America in the late '60s and early '70s. Their splendid ways
the white-painted stone wall of the White House remained uncovered,
made them as attractive to the Grants as they were to everyone else at
with the pilasters intact. The two west windows of the State Dining
the time, and they easily gained social entrée to the White House. Not
Room were filled in and plastered over inside and out. Pairs of tall glass
yet "robber barons," they were popularly admired as beneficiaries, like
doors separated the billiard room from the conservatory; when they were
President Grant himself, of the American good life.
thrown open, the spaces ran together. 27
Most of these relationships were harmless and did not dim the glow
Grant often asked his guests to play billiards, and he did not like to
that radiated from the Grant White House. But some unprincipled men
lose. He would practice alone, wrote Crook, "puffing clouds of smoke
saw through the general like a pane of glass. He had inadequacies which
through half-closed lips, while he perfected himself in different shots and
they realized they could put to use. Friendship with the President spelled
combinations." Billiard games often went on for hours, with ladies seated
influence on the awarding of federal contracts. His hospitality thus nour-
on the green leather sofas. Male observers might sit in the long-legged
ished the seeds of corruption.
chairs that offered closer surveillance of the table, or they might stand.
The billiard room was the most popular gathering place in the house. 28
When they were not entertaining, the Grants dined early in the
Table Settings
evening, never later than five. After dinner the family retired to the oval
"Why Madame," said Valentino Melah to a news reporter shortly
room upstairs, amusing themselves with conversation and school lessons
after assuming the duties as steward, "there isn't enough silver in the
until the children's bedtime at about 8:30. After the children were in
White House to set a respectable free-lunch table." Complaints were
bed, the parents hurried to their rooms and freshened up, perhaps chang-
soon heard about the china, glassware, linens, furniture, rugs, curtains-
ing clothes, while the servants lit the gas lamps in the north portico and
in short, Martha Patterson's recent labors on the rooms of the White
turned up the gaslight in the halls downstairs. In the Red Room the
House were not after all to be for the ages, any more than anyone else's
curtains were pulled shut, and kerosene lamps, gas wall brackets, and gas
had ever been. The stage required some resetting to suit the Grants'
chandelier were lighted.
purposes. This was carried out in the summer of 1869; five years later, in
At nine the doormen on duty began admitting callers and directing
1874, a second period of remodeling transformed the East Room. 29
them to the Red Room, where the President and Mrs. Grant stood
Steward Melah notwithstanding, Grant was to buy very little silver.
waiting. This "at-home" was a regular weeknight event for people well
Earlier inventories show that the silver holdings of the White House
known to the Grants. The evenings were always informal and usually late.
Ulysses S. Grant
469
468
THE GLASSHOUSE
work, but perhaps not this; and it is difficult to tell who was responsible.
varnishing, mounted on the heavy walnut newel post a bronze statue of a
The entrance hall had always been simple, not SO different from the
Greek woman, a gas jet in her upheld hand. 32
lobbies of many American courthouses. Under Grant it was redecorated
The smaller size of the new staircase increased the usable space in
to epitomize the Republican Party as savior of the nation.
the west end of the second floor hall. Mrs. Grant converted the hallway-
Hubert Shutter, partner in the decorating company Shutter &
heretofore only a passage-into a sitting room furnished with sofas and
Rakeman, which was already at work varnishing, painting, and papering
tables. A little hallway to the President's bedroom, made necessary by
elsewhere in the house, was asked either to replace or revise the existing
the old stair, was removed; the President's door then opened directly into
encaustic painting on the walls and ceiling of the hall. The Pompeiian
the west hall sitting room.
decorations put up so recently by Andrew Johnson were painted out and
Away from the terrible storms of plaster dust and construction de-
replaced by flags, Union shields, eagles, and the initials "U.S." Muddy
bris, and enjoying the sea breezes, Mrs. Grant studied the question of
neo-grec colors yielded to a riot of Fourth of July red, white, and blue.
interior decoration in the White House. She turned for advice to Wil-
Two allegorical paintings on canvas were commissioned for the ceiling
liam Pierre Stymus of the fashionable Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing
from Constantino Brumidi, the Capitol's decorative artist. These circular
Company in New York. Stymus had already done work in Grant's office,
pictures, representing victory and America as females, may have been
supplying furniture and carpeting and also charging a "decorating" fee
intended to flank a larger central painting, which never materialized.
for his services. For the Blue Room he suggested a gilt picture molding
The walls were painted to give a rich architectural effect which
dropped 18 inches from the cornice, new upholstery in blue satin, and a
seemed appropriate to the Georgian house. Panels and trimmings styled
large "reflector" chandelier-a mass of glass prisms, etched glass panes,
to look like stonework were arranged with the guilloche rope design
and frosted glass globes-replacing the old gilded one. The result was a
borrowed from the exterior of the house, where the Scotsmen had carved
dazzling interior in white, blue, silver, and gold.
it nearly 75 years before. Above the marble mantels that faced each other
Little was done to the Red Room. The Green Room's suite of
across the hall, Shutter fashioned two striking painted panels climaxed
Louis XV style furniture was revarnished and re-covered. Structural re-
by painted cameos, Abraham Lincoln on the west and George Washing-
pairs had damaged the French panels on the walls. New flocked paper in
ton on the east. Over Washington's head on the ceiling was the Brumidi
dark green replaced the earlier pale green "frame" color, while the long
allegory "Liberty." Over Lincoln's was "Union." Entering the White
panels of patterned wallpaper placed there by Mrs. Patterson were kept.
House was like entering a shrine. All it lacked was a portrait of Ulysses
Mrs. Grant purchased for the mantel a clock of "marble & malachite
Grant, the master of the house. 36
day, week, month, change of moon, etc." and "side pieces" to
Rectifying a series of small problems-window shades in need of
match. Some 14 rooms in all were repapered. Little in the sources indi-
new tassels, a door in need of a new knob-cost more than the major
cate that Mrs. Grant departed far from the traditional White House
redecoration. An electric call-bell system was installed from the main
predilection for French styles. 34
and upper floor to the servants' hall, and additional stations were added
Mrs. Grant thoroughly enjoyed shopping, with her pocketbook jin-
to the old manual system, which was activated by levers and cords. The
gling. In the stores of Manhattan she was delighted by bronze statuettes
recurrent difficulty over keys was once again settled. Every change of
such as "Union," a pair of maidens in bronze called "Night" and "Morn-
administration produced a hasty attempt to identify keys to the several
ing," and two figures titled "Julian & Theriskaw." She also bought stat-
hundred keyholes on the doors and furniture. Invariably the locksmith
ues of cheaper base metal with an outer coating of bronze, and she began
had to be called to make new keys, silver ones for the state floor and
collecting black-and-white engravings to hang from her new picture
brass ones for use everywhere else.
molding. Inspirational themes seem to have caught her fancy: A sam-
After the restorations of 1869 the only other change of note made
pling includes "Faith, Hope, and Charity," "Evangelists," "Madonnas,"
during Grant's administration was the renovation of the East Room,
"Hercules," "Entombment," and another version of the theme of night
which took place in 1873 and early 1874 under the direction of General
and morning.35
Babcock. As a result of his work, the room became a classic example of
The work of 1869 found its most telling political expression in a
the decorative taste of the Gilded Age.
patriotic redecoration of the entrance hall. Mrs. Grant inspired the other
470
Ulysses S. Grant
471
THE GLASSHOUSE
Babcock renovated the East Room with the advice and assistance of
William J. McPherson early in 1874. Little is known of the design except
that it enhanced the Grecian theme. Surviving photographs show that
Alfred B. Mullett, supervising architect of the Treasury. Mullett was
at that time occupied with the erection of the State, War, & Navy
each of the sections was edged in a simple border, with anthemia placed
Building, just west of the White House, a splendid reflection in pale
diagonally in the corners. The remainder of the ceiling was treated as an
granite of the new Louvre. In Mullett's office was the gifted Viennese
artificial sky, shading from azure to pink and gold, with white clouds,
Richard Ezdorf, sometimes known as "Count Ezdorf," and said to be an
with the common intent suggesting an atrium.
The old marble mantels, mirrors, and chandeliers were removed and
Austrian nobleman. 37 It is possible that Ezdorf contributed to the decora-
tion of the East Room. Mullett also admired a decorator from Boston
sold. New wooden mantels, finely turned and painted in white and gold,
were installed in the winter of 1874. The tall mirrors over the mantels
named William J. McPherson, and his company was paid for the decora-
tion of the East Room, although McPherson may not have provided
were handsomely carved with presidential symbols and painted in match-
the design. Babcock recalled later that McPherson was working on the
ing colors. They were even grander than the great mirrors Pierce had
library of the new State, War, & Navy Building when he first met with
bought in the 1850s. Three immense gasoliers replaced the candle and
Babcock about the East Room. The final scheme probably represented a
oil fixtures originally hung by Jackson 45 years earlier and converted to
collaborative effort. In its day the East Room was referred to sometimes
gas by Polk in 1848. Each had some 38 gas burners. They were made
as "New Grecian." Taking that term for an Americanization of the neo-
largely of cut glass over nickel-plated frames; long and heavy faceted
grec, the name is a good one, for the East Room lacked the subtlety of its
prisms numbering in the thousands hung in row after orderly row, and
French inspiration. 38
beads of prisms cut like round-headed diamonds were swagged over the
For some years the East Room had seemed too plain for its important
fixtures like drapery. It was said at the time that the prisms were SO well
purposes. The existing design had not been changed since Hoban fin-
polished that they sometimes made rainbows in the gaslight. 39
The President and Mrs. Grant had thus turned the White House
ished building it in 1818, though it had been many times redecorated.
Fine hotels had better ballrooms. Pierce had enriched it with an elabo-
into their own by the autumn of 1869. They gloried in being in the
rate painted ceiling, but the taste of the Gilded Age required more. The
public eye, and the public rejoiced with the Grants in their good life.
embellishments that commenced while the Grants were gone for the
Fine carriages, fine clothes, and a fine house went well with a fine Presi-
summer of 1873 were grandiose in the lush manner popular in hotels and
dent and his family.
on steamboats and evocative of the room's earlier neoclassical decorative
schemes. The original moldings were carefully preserved. As the decora-
tive painters had built upon the architectural elements of the entrance
hall by surrounding them with fresco ornament, the new design of the
East Room incorporated the existing architecture. The chaste bareness
people had once admired was gone; classical order prevailed in a much
more ornamental room.
Always divided by the arrangement of its furnishings into three
sections, the great chamber was further defined architecturally by the
introduction of massive Corinthian columns set out from the walls before
pilasters. From these, heavy beams spanned the room, column to col-
umn, ornamented by a replica of Hoban's anthemia cornice. The effect
was of three rooms that folded one into the other. The base color was
white, varnished to a high gloss. Gilding covered any part which could
be classified as carved decoration-acanthus leaves, flowers, guilloche,
volutes of the columns.
The old ceiling fresco, ruined by the new beams, was replaced by
Ulysses S. Grant
473
creaked like a ship at sea; for great receptions, the East Room was shored
up by heavy timbers in the basement, lest the floors break through under
the added weight. Time had worn the stone walls, leaving them pocked
20
and weathered, and the fine stone carvings were clogged with layer upon
layer of paint. When a fire engine was brought in to wash down the
walls, they emerged looking older for their cleaning. Fresh paint alone
brought back their youth.²
Flourishes
Life Under Glass
Washington in the high Victorian decades had the most democratic
social order on earth. "Society" revolved around the White House and
was dominated by power. In the high circle entertained at the White
House mingled the elegant and the crude, the bright and the dull. The
politically powerful were important but transient; they joined the native
members of federal city society, who were always invited no matter what
T
he President's House was first seriously regarded as
their party loyalties. The final ingredient was provided by the dinners
"historical" in the time of General Grant. Visitors to
and balls of the diplomatic community. Society was dominated in most
the national capital placed it high on their lists of sights
respects by women, who made the plans and drew up most of the rules. A
to see, and guidebooks told of its past. Weekdays from ten until three the
strong-willed lady with only modest entrée could take herself far in the
East Room could be viewed by anyone who called at the north door.
realms of republican society.
Admission to the state parlors could be procured with a note provided by
Mrs. Grant demanded and received her place at the head of society,
the first White House hostess since Harriet Lane to reign as the social
a congressman or a senator.¹
Visitors in the 1870s liked to hear about how Abigail Adams had
leader in Washington. Mrs. Lincoln had been denied the honor, though
hung her wash in the East Room; how Jefferson had received the Indian
she longed for it. The Johnson daughters, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Sto-
chiefs; how Jackson had opened his doors to boisterous democratic
ver, had been happy to take seats on the sidelines. Julia Grant went to
throngs; how Dolley Madison had carried Washington's portrait away the
the White House knowing Washington's ways. She did not hesitate in
day the British burned the White House. It was not such a distant past.
establishing herself where she wished to be.
A man who reached 50 in the year 1870 had memories of the days when
Mrs. Grant held the reins firmly, with constant advice from Mrs.
General Jackson had been President. Only 77 years had passed since the
Fish. Washington social mores resembled a sort of jungle law. Politics
laying of the cornerstone.
permeated the domestic circles, where the game was played as roughly as
To strengthen the everyday visitor's sense of history, the Grants
in the Congress. Even the most aloof of the natives were often in the
opened Andrew Johnson's gallery of presidential portraits. Displayed in
market for official appointments; they sought their fortunes in the salons
the transverse hall, behind the glass screen, the series began with the
to which they were invited, or in their own, when they entertained. In'
Stuart portrait of George Washington; it ended with a portrait of Abra-
the interest of power and favor, vulgar persons-even easy women-
ham Lincoln commissioned by Grant in 1869 from William Cogswell
were admitted to drawing rooms from which, given other circumstances,
of Chicago, who had painted the Grant family group that hung in the
they would have been banned.
Red Room. In 1874, when the redecoration of the East Room was
In the 1870s, curiosity about the White House social scene had
finished, the pictures were moved there, to keep the public out of the
spread beyond Washington. All over the country people read about life
transverse hall.
at the White House in their local papers. The size of the crowds; the
The house itself testified to its age. The wooden inner structure
fragrance of the flowers; the color, material, and trimmings of the ball
477
478
FLOURISHES
Ulysses S. Grant
479
White House Wedding
her way, they soon yielded to an engagement. Mrs. Grant later reflected
The most publicized social event of the administration of Ulysses S.
sadly, "Nellie was ready, ah too ready, for the battle of life. "12
Grant was the marriage of the President's only daughter, Nellie. At the
The year 1874 dawned joyously with the announcement to the
outset the Grants intended to exclude the press, but at the last minute
press. Preparations commenced at the White House. The East Room,
they decided to drop this plan, and reporters attended in sufficient num-
torn up by remodeling when Nellie returned from Europe the previous
bers to take down every detail. The Grants apparently played no favor-
fall, by mid-March stood gleaming in white and gold and "Pure Greek"
ites, for the major papers of the United States and many in Europe were
glory, awaiting the wedding of the decade.
represented and ran firsthand accounts. Few social occasions at the
Valentino Melah was to arrange things. He knew that the Grants
White House have SO wholly captured the American people as Nellie
wanted Nellie to marry like a princess. The knowledge that both the
Grant's wedding.
United States and Great Britain would be watching made this the para-
Nellie was big-eyed, smooth-skinned, plump, and pretty-almost
mount challenge of the "professor's" White House career. As White
beautiful. She liked to have a good time, and her parents indulged her.
House events went, it was small, with only 250 cards sent out, yet every
Born on the Fourth of July 1855, when hard times pressed heavily on her
effort was expended to make it flawless. As late as 1907 it was recalled "as
parents, she had grown up to be thought of from the cradle as a good luck
one of the most brilliant weddings ever given in the United States." The
angel. She turned 16 in the White House.
papers were filled with wedding news throughout the winter and spring
Mrs. Grant pushed her to enjoy her place, and Washington matrons
of 1874. Not until the engraved cards were distributed was the date,
discussed her behavior with disapproval. While other girls her age were
May 21, announced. 13
still in pigtails, Nellie was boasting the latest Grecian twist. Her hats had
Melah regularly. turned for assistance at large events to two promi-
feathers, rosettes, and bows; her street costumes and riding habits were
nent Washington caterers who worked under the name of Jacob &
fashionably cut by the city's leading modiste. Nellie attended the cotil-
Demonet. Each also maintained a separate business-Ida Demonet a
lions and the late night Germans, delighting in being the youngest there.
candy shop and Eugene Jacob a small restaurant specializing in French
Freedom and flattery made her headstrong, and her parents could not
cuisine. Their shops, with their residences upstairs, were on Pennsylva-
bring themselves to correct one SO fresh and lovely.
nia Avenue several blocks from the White House, in an area where other
Gentle hints from close friends at last caused Grant to try to restrain
caterers and confectioners lived.
Nellie by sending her to Miss Porter's School in Connecticut. Her chief
Jacob and Demonet were indispensable to Melah at any large func-
achievement there was to write home vowing to die if forced to remain in
tion, and they contributed to the wedding feast. But on this occasion he
such a dreadful place. The general melted, and Nellie was back in Wash-
turned also to Frederick Freund, whom he put in supreme charge of all
ington in time for the fall season. (Jesse, when sent away to school a few
planning and preparation of food and drink. Freund was a Washington
years later, tried the same ploy, also with success!)
caterer who put on parties for the richest of the rich. A sometime restau-
A second try at curtailing Nellie was to send her on a long and
rateur, but primarily a caterer, Freund was a German, probably a native
instructive trip. Family friends were asked if she could accompany them
of Saxony. He appears to have gained his reputation in Philadelphia
and their children to Europe in the summer of 1873. Trunks came down
before moving to Washington. So respectful were the Grants of his pre-
from the attic. "How well I remember her coaxing me to let her take her
eminence that they permitted his name to be inscribed on the painted
one long evening dress," wrote Mrs. Grant. "Oh do, Mama," cried Nel-
silk menus that appeared at each place at the table. 14
lie. "Maybe Mr. Schenck [the American minister to England] will invite
Mrs. Grant and Nellie traveled by private railroad car to New York
me to tea." She was indeed entertained by Schenck, and by everyone
to purchase materials and meet with fashionable dressmakers. Whom
else, including the queen, who found in her some of the same charm
they patronized is not known. New York had a plentiful supply of elegant
she had admired in Harriet Lane. Nellie toured, ate, and danced, and
modistes, fresh from the fallen Pari of Napoleon III. The press was
came home in love with a young Englishman of means named Algernon
assured that Miss Nellie's trousseau would have been manufactured in
Sartoris. The Grants were dismayed at first, but since Nellie always got
Paris had there been the time for proper fittings, but all that actually
came from Europe was point lace for the wedding dress itself. Purchased
480
FLOURISHES
Ulysses S. Grant
481
in Brussels, the point lace was formed into a great "wavy" overskirt of
"horizontal lines" that covered the white satin wedding gown and fell out
Sartoris and Fred Grant took their places on the left of the Methodist
behind it over the six-foot train. 15
preacher, the Reverend Otis H. Tiffany. Nellie entered the room last, on
Quite a large sum was spent on Nellie's trousseau, which included
the arm of her father.
morning dresses, afternoon dresses, "gaslight" dresses, and opera cos-
She was met by Sartoris beneath the central chandelier, and with
tumes-each with shawls and fans. Reporters were shown "silks of every
him she ascended the dais, where she could be seen by all the guests.
hue and color
shawls from India
parasols with superb ivory
Flowers were everywhere. Nellie's veil was held in her high-piled
handles, muslin dresses with French worked flounces, others with puffs
hair by a wreath of white orchids and green leaves, interspersed with
and lace inserting. There are gauzes, grenadines, and hats for every cos-
sweet-smelling orange blossoms. The bridal bouquet presented by her
tume, slippers for every evening dress, and the lingerie is so fine and
parents was of white flowers arranged on a mother-of-pearl fan. Her gift
dainty that the sight of it brings delight to every feminine heart that
from the groom was not the customary bouquet, but a loose mass of white
rejoices in delicate embroidery, soft lace, and fine needlework. "16
flowers "of the rarest kind," ordered from the best florist in New York and
Because of the limited quarters in the house, most of the family's
rushed to Washington on the night train. Placed on the dais on a large
out-of-town guests stayed in hotels on Pennsylvania Avenue. On the
silver tray, they were interpreted by newspaper reporters and correspon-
morning of the 21st, those honored with invitations began to emerge at
dents as Love's Offering to Nellie Grant. 17
approximately quarter past ten and slowly proceed to the north side of
When the ceremony was over, a receiving line formed before the
the White House. It was for most of them only a short distance, but
dais. The Marine Band now began to play music from Rossini, Bellini,
walking for all but the native Washingtonians-who were great walkers-
Verdi, and Brahms. Those who had passed along the line could view the
would have been unthinkable. Pedestrians were admitted through the
gorgeous floral tributes in the parlors. Every surface held artistic pieces,
pedestrian gate, while those in carriages had the double iron gates of the
Victorian dreams of beauty. A mahogany table in the center of the
White House pulled aside.
Green Room held a tall bouquet of lilies, with a card at the base: "Com-
At the north door the guests were ushered across the stair hall to the
pliments of Mrs. Hicks, No. 10 West Fourteenth Street, New York." On
left and into the dimly lighted East Room, where all the curtains and
the white marble table in the Red Room was a gilded calling-card basket
shades were closed and where tubbed palms and fruit trees from the
covered over with artificial insects. 18
conservatory were lined up orchard-like to suggest a tropical garden.
Upstairs, the oval room was draped in white muslin, rather like a
Before the crimson curtains of the great Venetian window a dais had
tent, to make it look less like a library; the wedding gifts were exhibited
been erected and covered with Turkish carpets. From a tall floral arch on
there in rather curious categories according to the stores where they were
the dais hung a large bell made of white roses, over the spot where the
purchased. The cards of the givers drew as much curiosity as the gifts,
marriage ceremony would take place.
which included earrings, cameos, flounces of rare lace, fans of silk and
Shortly before 11, the three East Room chandeliers were lighted
satin, "antique" candlesticks, gold knives, forks, spoons, candles painted
with long-handled "lighters," then those in the transverse hall, sending
with flowers, tea and coffee services, punch bowls, salt cellars, fruit
off the usual whiff of gas to mingle with the heavy odor of flowers. The
knives, glove-boxes, and numerous other items. 19
Marine Band, in the hall outside, stood poised but silent as the wedding
At 11:30 the doors of the State Dining Room were folded back to
procession marched down the grand staircase. Young Sartoris and his best
reveal Melah's fairyland, curtains pulled closed, gas blazing overhead,
man, Nellie's oldest brother, Fred, led the way. Next came Mrs. Grant
and candles twinkling on the table and sideboards. The wedding cake
and the two younger boys. Then came the eight bridesmaids dressed
was a mighty white pyramid in the center of the table, exploding from
exactly alike in white satin, with overskirts of white illusion and wide
the top, so it seemed, with white blossoms that cascaded down one side.
sashes that extended into trains. As they reached the level floor of the
From the cake, ropes of flowers, roses, and white orchids extended al-
hall, an attendant scattered flowers over the trailing drapery.
most to the ends of the long white table. This arrangement imitated to
After passing through the Blue and Green Rooms to the center of
some extent the shape of the old plateau, which was no longer in favor
the East Room, the bridesmaids halted in a semicircle before the dais.
with Mrs. Grant. At the ends of the table, large silver trays were piled
high with flowers and diminutive red, white, and blue flags bearing the
482
FLOURISHES
Ulysses S. Grant
483
sentiments "Success to the President," "Hail Columbia," "Success to the
Army," and "Success to the Navy."
Oddly, only the bridal party, the immediate family, and intimate
man of personal honor was seldom disputed; his enduring fame, however,
is as the hero of the Union, not as President of the United States. Like
guests were seated. Everyone else waited outside in the parlors where
food and wine were passed. Breakfast was served on the "Flower Set,"
the potted palms, fast horses, billiard games, and wedding cakes of his
and the menu on each plate, hand-lettered in the office of Octavius
White House, Grant the President soon faded into oblivion, to be re-
Pruden, was rolled up like a diploma. The feast began with soft-shell crab
membered as merely another coat of gilding over the sins of his time.
on toast, followed by lamb, beef, wild duck, and chicken. Nellie's wed-
His admiration of successful men was SO strong as to be a weakness.
ding cake was served with chocolate pudding and baskets of chilled fruits,
Some of the most conspicuous were the millionaires made by the war.
as well as water ices and ice cream. The principal drink was not wine but
Many of them were neither gentlefolk nor men who had climbed to
Roman punch, the strong, icy whiskey beverage drunk between courses
wealth doing the sort of work attractive to gentlemen. But the work of a
to clear the palate for the next serving. 20
general in the field, while honorable, was also not genteel. Grant's warm
Nellie retired to the second floor at about noon to prepare for her
feeling toward the rich was symbolized at the start of his administration
departure. The crowd in the dining room broke up, with guests there
by his attempt, thwarted by a wary Congress, to appoint the merchant
rejoining the others in the parlors and halls, while waiters moved about
A. T. Stewart as secretary of the Treasury. Some of Grant's other mil-
distributing little ribboned boxes containing pieces of wedding cake as
lionaire friends were far more dangerous company than Stewart. 21
Grant's administration suffered its first scandal when the railroad
favors for the ladies. At last Mr. and Mrs. Sartoris descended the grand
magnates Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to use their personal access
staircase and passed through the glass screen to the carriage that stood
waiting for them in the north portico.
to the President to corner the gold market in the United States. Ulti-
mately Grant discovered the scheme and moved to thwart it, but not
The streets were thick with spectators applauding and cheering.
Guards had been stationed at all the gates to prohibit the uninvited from
soon enough. Panic, the so-called "Black Friday," struck on September
24, 1869. Grant's name was soon linked with those of Gould and Fisk.
entering, but people had pressed to the fence and climbed the trees along
the streets. At the windows of the Treasury, clerks and other office work-
The Gold Panic investigations of the 41st Congress in 1870 were damag-
ers looked down at the prince and princess in their carriage, rolling
ing to both the President and his wife.
toward the station. The press reported that little of the people's work was
The most vulnerable to suspicion of all the men surrounding Grant
done that day. Babcock, in command of the carriage leading the bridal
in the White House was his favorite, General Babcock. First the private
secretary then, beginning in 1871, the Army official in charge of the
procession, hurried the line of vehicles to the luxurious palace car that
would take the newlyweds to New York, where they would set sail for
public buildings, Babcock was perhaps as close to Grant personally as any
their home in England.
man. Commissioner Babcock expanded his staff in public buildings, tak-
ing advantage of Michler's improved office procedures, and left himself
plenty of time to be available to the President. He supervised the redeco-
The Dark Side
ration of the East Room, the expansion of the greenhouse, extensive
General Grant the great soldier was a poor judge of civilians. From
landscaping, and in 1872 the construction of an elegant new stable on
the site of the old. 22
the nonmilitary men around him he expected, as President, the same
Grant had sent him on a secret mission to Santo Domingo in late
respect that as a general he had grown to expect from his men. He was so
fiercely loyal to his aides and associates that he was always the last to
1869 and early 1870. Grant dreamed of annexing Santo Domingo to
believe that any of them would do wrong. He was an innocent in that
create a group of Negro states, with the dual purpose of providing freed-
men with an alternative to living alongside their former masters, and
respect, constantly vulnerable to deception.
The scandals of his administration are elements of its glitter. As
easing racial problems in the South by luring away the aggressive ele-
they came to the surface, they confirmed, more than anything else, the
ments among the blacks. The intention of this journey was to negotiate a
treaty, which Grant had convinced himself was good for the country.
reputation of corruption that marked the age. That Grant was himself a
Because the State Department was opposed, Babcock performed his mis-
sion without the knowledge of the secretary of state. The plan failed and
498
Rutherford B. Hayes
499
PEACE AND PLENTY
Winnie Monroe's title was changed from laborer to cook. Though the
unadorned in this sense, but adequately furnished and up to date. The
domestic servants received federal salaries, they sometimes got money
bedroom used by the President and Mrs. Hayes, for example, contained a
from Hayes as well. The President's private account books list occasional
suite made of imitation bamboo purchased by Mrs. Grant in 1875. The
cash disbursements to various servants, probably for personal services. 18
walls were painted in distemper paint, a field of robin's-egg blue, with
The Hayeses formed a large and habitually active household. Al-
panels superimposed in gray and pink.
The State Bedroom was the next room going east from the Presi-
ways resident at the White House were the parents and three of the five
children. Probably eight servants lived in, with five others in the house
dent's bedroom. Miss Grundy was shown this by Hayes himself, and she
only when they were on duty. There were usually 12 secretaries and
marveled at the gilt coronet of the bed now draped in crimson satin and
clerks in the President's office; ten men worked in the garden and green-
lace. "I never slept in it," Hayes assured her. Normally the door between
house. In addition, the Hayeses had numerous guests. At least 45 people
this room and the oval library was kept open. The presence of beds in
could be found at the White House every day, not including tourists or
sitting rooms was not yet considered strange, and in fashionable houses
business callers.
this gave a "colonial" effect.
No amount of vigilance on the part of Tommy Pendel or the plain-
Small children once again called the White House home. Fanny's
clothes police could curb the destruction wrought by visitors who called
"baby-houses," or doll houses, were in the big hallway upstairs. She and
between ten and two on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Tassels,
her brother Scott were tutored in a schoolroom improvised from the
fringe, inkwells, beads and pendants from the chandeliers, and bits and
north corridor. It included the window from which Lincoln and other
Presidents had addressed crowds on the lawn below. On the schoolroom
pieces of nearly everything were cut out and carried off. "Souvenir hunt-
ers," wrote Birch Hayes, "were the bane of our lives." An average of
wall hung a mammoth butterfly, a gift to Fanny from the painter Albert
2,000 per day passed through the East Room during the Centennial year
Bierstadt. He had created it before her eyes at the White House by
of 1876 and while the flow subsided somewhat afterward, the crowds
pressing a mixture of paints in a piece of folded paper, then opening the
were still apparently very large. The scavenging did not take place only
paper flat. Fanny's room had a large Queen Anne bedroom suite, lac-
in the East Room, which anybody could visit during the appropriate
quered jet black, which had been designed for her by one of the Presi-
hours. The parlors and the State Dining Room suffered equally from the
dent's cousins, William Rutherford Mead, partner in the youthful Man-
hattan architectural firm of McKim, Mead, & Bigelow. As McKim,
ravages of perhaps a hundred preferred callers presenting themselves daily
with written passes. Accordingly, the White House had a slightly run-
Mead, & White the firm would transform the White House 20 years later
down look that even the best daily maintenance could not erase. Worn
for Theodore Roosevelt.²⁰
spots appeared in the carpeting, holes in the curtains, and smudges on
The engineers still talked of building a new mansion, but President
the wallpaper.¹⁹
and Mrs. Hayes were delighted with what they had. "I would not wish to
Workmen were at the White House nearly all the time patching and
exchange this for any other," Mrs. Hayes told Miss Grundy. "I think it
beautiful
I love this house for the associations that no other could
painting. In the course of this, Hayes sent them upstairs to carry out
have."21 As soon as she became First Lady, Mrs. Hayes consulted Librar-
some improvements which he paid for himself. In the spring of 1878 Miss
Grundy described the family quarters rather fully. Mrs. Hayes had reused
ian of Congress A. R. Spofford about how to make the White House
the old carpeting from the East Room in the west hall upstairs; tattered
interiors better evoke their history, thus beginning a trend that has con-
curtains had been reversed; slipcovers, antimacassars, and shawls covered
tinued. She and Spofford decided to accelerate the collection of presi-
worn upholstery. Such details seem to have fascinated the public. Living
dential portraits for the East Room, so that visitors might eventually
conditions were crowded, yet the rooms were light and airy and home-
enjoy a full parade of the nation's chief executives. The collection had
like, reflecting the warm and friendly family circle.
been started in 1857 when George P. A. Healy had been commissioned
Neither the President nor Mrs. Hayes shared Mrs. Grant's affection
to produce presidential portraits for the White House. Only six were
for the fashionable "art" decorations of the '70s, the arrangements of
finished when the Civil War interrupted the project, and French had
seashells, the tydie-bows on the backs of chairs, the bouquets of pampas
dispatched them all to the attic unframed, to lie in dust until Mrs. Patter-
grass and cattails in Japanese vases. Their White House interiors were
son brought them downstairs in the spring of 1867. Other portraits had
501
500
Rutherford B. Hayes
PEACE AND PLENTY
come to the White House piecemeal, as when President Grant had com-
new pictures for the gallery, large and handsome ones on a scale suited to
missioned a portrait of Lincoln. 22
the East Room. He had painted a portrait of Hayes as a candidate so
No one before Mrs. Hayes seems to have had a desire to collect
pleasing to the family that it was brought to the White House and hung
pictures of the past First Ladies. Presidents' wives had hung their portraits
in the second floor hall. He was also married to Billy Rogers' sister. 25
usually in the Red Room, but had taken them away when the administra-
Andrews was not hired outright to paint portraits of the missing
tion was over. Mrs. Grant figured in the big family portrait, which she
Presidents, but he easily obtained employment as instructor at the Cor-
had left in the Red Room. Mrs. Hayes's interest probably was inspired by
coran Gallery of Art, and proceeded to execute some pictures for the
the portrait of the second Mrs. John Tyler. When it was brought to the
White House at the Corcoran Studio, hoping to sell them to the Presi-
White House by Mrs. Tyler in 1870, General Michler had not known
dent. Perhaps to please Mrs. Hayes, he first produced a large portrait of
what to do with it, and Mrs. Grant had it hung in the upstairs corridor,
Martha Washington, which hangs today in the East Room as the com-
to save Mrs. Tyler's feelings. 23
panion to the Stuart portrait of George Washington. This was not a
Mrs. Hayes decided to devote herself to collecting portraits of
copy, for no full-length portrait of Mrs. Washington had previously been
former First Ladies for the White House. The President was delighted
painted. Andrews produced a "modern" version of a Stuart, basing the
with the idea. They wanted original portraits, but in the absence of
robust-indeed rosy-face more or less upon historical portraits of Mrs.
antiques they were willing to settle for copies. Spofford agreed to secure
Washington in middle life; Emily Platt, the President's niece, posed for
government funding through the Library of Congress. He and the Joint
the body. Mrs. Washington's dress was colonial in style, with a train,
Committee on the Library obtained an appropriation in 1878 for "The
but not historically accurate. Her left hand rests on a gilt chair in the
Gallery of Ex-Presidents,' to hang in the East Room. Much work had
Louis XVI revival mode of the 1870s.
be done. In addition to the six Healy portraits, John Quincy Adams, Van to
The joint committee was unimpressed by this modern meditation on
Buren, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, and Pierce, there were only the Stuart
Stuart, and its price of $3,000 compared unfavorably to the $160 they
portrait of Washington, the oldest and most revered relic in the White
paid for each of the copies by Parker. Forced into some politicking to
House, and Lincoln's portrait by William Cogswell. Counting that of
have her way, Mrs. Hayes held a dinner during the winter of 1880,
Hayes, 11 presidential portraits were yet to be acquired.
inviting the committee and other influential congressmen. Crook re-
Spofford and the Hayeses hoped to begin by securing a likeness of
called how after dinner she led them to the East Room, where the picture
John Adams, the second President and the first to live in the White
had been exhibited for several months on an easel, and "proffered her
House. While in Boston in August 1878, Spofford visited the village
request with a smile from bright and pretty eyes. "26
of Quincy to call on Charles Francis Adams. At the old Adams home
A second meditation on canvas, equally large and expensive, was a
the portrait of John Adams by Stuart surveyed a parlor filled with the
voluptuous representation of Dolley Madison in bright yellow, the face
memorabilia of two Presidents. Adams insisted that the picture was
faintly suggesting Stuart's portrait of her. The committee put its foot
where it belonged.
down at this point, and the picture eventually found its way into the
While still in Boston, Spofford turned to Jefferson's descendants: "I
Cosmos Club in Washington, where it still hangs. Andrews continued to
endeavored to secure an original Stuart in possession of T. Jefferson Coo-
paint pictures for the White House collection, but was careful to please
lidge, Esq., he wrote to the President, "but he would not part with it."
the committee. In the summer of 1879 he copied portraits of William
So he called on the Boston painter Edgar Parker, a skillful copier of early
Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson, and Zachary Taylor. While he wished
American paintings, particularly Stuarts. Parker produced a copy of the
to paint General Grant, the President and Spofford, like the committee,
Adams portrait at Quincy, which Spofford assured Hayes "is pronounced
preferred portraits or copies of portraits which had been executed in the
by the family to be an excellent copy of the original." He also copied two
White House while the subject was President. Such a portrait of Grant
of Coolidge's Stuart portraits, one of Jefferson and one of Madison. 24
had been painted by the Washington artist Henry Ulke in 1875. This was
But the Hayeses were in a hurry to have their gallery of ex-Presi-
purchased in 1879 for $800 and hung in the East Room. 27
dents. Spofford's efforts took too long. The painter E. F. Andrews of
Leaving the Andrews portrait of himself upstairs, Hayes commis-
Ohio, a friend of the Hayeses', told them that he would like to produce
sioned a large and dignified portrait from Carl Brown and hung it over
514
INTERLUDE
515
James A. Garfield
of the characteristics essential to social success in Washington. Garfield
saw no shortcomings in his wife. His diary was filled with accounts of her
address of no short duration, liberally laced with allusions to the great-
natural grace and tact. But most people still associated the position of
First Lady with the handsome and imposing Lucy Hayes. The time was
ness of a dry White House.
The new President uttered not a word either way. Privately he asked
the world with her courage.
come only too soon, however, when she would enlist the admiration of to
the opinion of Secretary of State James G. Blaine, who said that in his
view Hayes had been mistaken, that in adopting the "usages of village
In the fall before the inauguration, President Hayes had pressured
the President-elect to continue the program of abstinence at the White
society" he had created a manner of social conduct unbecoming to the
house of the head of state. Garfield agreed. But since he was never to
House. Garfield, a deeply religious man, was a lay minister of the Disci-
have a state dinner, the dusty bottles remained in place.⁵
ples of Christ, yet he saw no crime in his taste for lager beer, champagne,
Garfield did, however, preside over the traditional White House
and an occasional glass of Rhine wine. When he showed too little
receptions. While he relished these occasions, Mrs. Garfield found little
Hayes, who considered temperance at the White House one of his great
sponse to Hayes's prodding, in an otherwise warm correspondence, re-
to enjoy in them. The shaking of thousands of hands, the constant nod-
contributions, sent him a special memo on January 17, 1881.
ding and smiling, the remaining on public view for sometimes as many as
four hours with only an occasional drink of water left her exhausted. The
"The present reform," wrote the President, "is sustained by the
air could be stifling, in spite of the ventilators. As was typical of new
whole Protestant press, clergy and church membership, and by the
administrations, Garfield's receptions attracted larger crowds than had
friends of Education and temperance who are not professors of religion
those of the last year under Hayes. Without the portable bridge that
You as a professing Christian and lay preacher will be regarded
allowed the sea of callers to flow from the East Room window to the
lacking the Courage of your convictions if you abandon it." Hayes as
threatened him by asking if he had "the grit to face fashionable ridicule." even
driveway, the house could no longer have been used for receptions.
The public receptions had become little more than a slow crush
Moreover, "Whatever may be true in Europe and of the Europeans the
American who drinks wine is in danger of becoming the victim of drunk-
through the north door, into the Blue Room for a handshake with the
President, a look at the First Lady and whoever else was receiving that
himself had become considerably more unbending in his own attitudes
enness, licentiousness, and gambling." The memo showed that Hayes
day, then a turn through the Green Room on into the East Room, where
one was more or less carried along to the makeshift bridge to the outside
over the four years in the White House. Garfield politely heard him out.4
and fresh air. The promenade, or "horse show," as it was occasionally
In the basement of the White House in a locked room on the north
called, had by 1880 become wholly restricted to the smaller special re-
bought in large quantity to take advantage of bargains. For Grant he had
side, a cache of wine awaited the new President. Melah had always
ceptions, as those for the Congress and the diplomatic corps.⁶
Traditionally, individual invitations had been issued for the special
overbought, and since, perhaps embarrassingly, public money had been
used, the wine could not be carried away. Presumably Hayes had known
receptions, often personally addressed by the President's wife, who usu-
about it, although he had not disturbed the peace of the wine cellar when
ally collected a group of friends to assist her. Mrs. Lincoln had been the
first to delegate the work to one of the secretaries in the office. Under
he held the one and only banquet at which he served wine. Garfield was
Grant one of Octavius Pruden's duties was to manage the social details.
told of its existence as soon as he moved to the White House.
He was by hobby a calligrapher, and he started the custom, which pre-
Everybody was interested to know what course he would take, but
vails today, of addressing the envelopes and filling in such blanks as
the man himself was silent on the subject, perhaps enjoying the flutter.
Not a drop was poured at the inaugural ball at the Smithsonian's Arts
might appear on the invitation in elaborate lettering, rather than simple
longhand. Pruden remained to serve Garfield in the office, and by habit
and Industries building. On March 8 fifty representatives of the National
assumed that he would continue writing the cards.
Women's Christian Temperance Union called at the White House
But the President apparently disapproved of the use of valuable of-
dedicate the portrait of Mrs. Hayes. The portrait was moved from the to
fice time to make SO many invitations; he ordered one card sent to the
Green Room to the East Room to hang beside that of Martha Washing-
House and one to the Senate, where individual invitations had always
ton. Before the unveiling took place, Frances E. Willard delivered an
been the rule. The two cards were accordingly sent. The Vice President,
a stickler and a dandy, hesitated announcing the invitation before the
542
THE AESTHETIC HOUSE
Chester A. Arthur
543
interrupted. The colors and patterns of the room itself overpowered the
screen. The two niches, which had contained iron stoves in Jefferson's
objects within it. The furniture, once dominant, sank visually into the
day, were gilded, and then filled with clipped palmetto trees in Oriental
sparkling walls; by gaslight the room shimmered like a jewel box. Tiffany
porcelain jardinieres, themselves shiny and colorful. 18
raised the glow by adding four large gas brackets, romantic contrivances
Since President Polk's time, when the custom of promenading to
with huge, moonlike reflectors, mosaics composed of bits of mirror and
dinner had begun, the transverse hall had filled a ceremonial function,
colored glass. They were fixed to the wall as backgrounds for clusters of
but this was the first time its decoration had reflected this use. The
unshaded gas jets. The Blue Room was where the President stood to
stained-glass mosaic made the long hall continually iridescent; the colors
receive his guests and the credentials of foreign diplomats; Tiffany had
did not replicate the red, white, and blue of the flag, yet carried the
transformed it into a stage for ceremonial functions.
theme with splashes of crimson, cobalt, and white, blue-white, rosy-
The State Dining Room, always in spite of its location on the south-
white, and amber-white. On the east, a draped archway led into the East
west corner a chilly place, was painted "glowing yellows," and given an
Room; on the west, the lush tropical jungle of the conservatory climaxed
elaborate painted and stenciled frieze around the ceiling, with a similar
the view beyond the grand stairway. The transverse hall's effect was "rich
dado below. Gas brackets, clustered burners fixed against reflectors of
and gorgeous," wrote a reporter for Century Magazine, the "most success-
hammered silver, brought light to corners heretofore dark. Because the
ful of all" Tiffany's interiors at the White House. 19
room was meant as a setting for dinners, Tiffany took into account that
Louis C. Tiffany and Associated Artists also left their mark on as-
when in use it would be filled with flowers, silver, and china, and people
sorted odds and ends at the White House, primarily in the East Room.
in evening clothes. Meant thus only for a "shell" or background, his
Turkish chairs and circular divans were brought there in 1882. The floral
scheme for the room was relatively simple, even to the stiff but sturdy oak
Brussels was replaced by new carpeting in an intense Oriental pattern. In
chairs he bought for seating at the table. The room created less attention
the summer of 1883 the ceiling of the East Room was painted in what was
than any of the others he designed for President Arthur.
probably meant to resemble old and faded wallpaper put on in squares,
The most famous of Tiffany's additions to the White House was the
the colors muddy tones of rust, gold, and brown to complement the
one that the public saw most frequently and that endured the longest: the
amber plush window hangings and upholstery supplied by Moses & Sons
stained glass screen between the entrance hall and the transverse hall.
in 1881. These antique colors and patterns were praised as being in
There had been a screen of glass there since the 1830s, set between the
keeping with the room's "old colonial" character.
Ionic marble columns installed by Hoban in 1818. The first screen, or
Arthur's interest in the house continued as long as he occupied it.
"draft eliminator," was built of ordinary wooden window sash; this had
The records of Rockwell are filled with invoices for Japanese screens,
been replaced in the 1850s with a handsomer screen of cast iron and
vases, oil lamps, chandelier globes, satin tydie bows for the backs of the
frosted glass, designed by Thomas U. Walter.
chairs, and various kinds of furniture in gilt, ebonized finish, and some-
Tiffany is remembered as an exponent of colored glass. His hall
times in varnished walnut. Tiffany may have cringed at some of the
screen of "glass mosaic" was red, white, and blue, and stretched from one
President's personal touches. The two magnificent antique satsuma jars
side of the entrance hall to the other, incorporating the iron screen
placed by Tiffany on each side of the Red Room fireplace were soon
designed by Walter. It was about ten feet tall, with clear glass in the
replaced by a pair of large, heavy vases of Arthur's choosing, probably
arches above it. Glazing of the screen commenced probably no earlier
French, with painted images of sloe-eyed females who looked somewhat
than December 1882, after Arthur had already begun to use the state
like participants in music hall tableaux vivant.
rooms, and was only completed at the close of winter 1883. No other
Still another of Arthur's touches was from his heart. On a table in
change was made in the entrance hall. Arthur retained the wall and
the transverse hall he set up a little easel and placed there a photograph
ceiling decorations of Grant and the encaustic floor tiles of Hayes. 17
of a beautiful woman, ordering Henry Pfister, the head gardener, to make
In the inside transverse hall, on the other hand, little was retained.
certain that fresh roses were always laid before it. The gossips spied the
The ceiling was stenciled with a "silvery network" like a spiderweb, and
romantic image, and Washington buzzed with speculation, until some-
the walls were painted the palest cream, making them plain, smooth
one recognized it as that of the President's wife, Nell, who had not lived
surfaces to receive the pageant of color suffused through the great glass
to be First Lady.
THE BLUE ROOM
567
Grover Cleveland
full-dress red and blue; at seven sharp the clocks in the house began to
chime, joined by church bells and cannons throughout the city, and
more out of style, or less apparently suited to presidential living. But
Sousa lifted his baton. The Wedding March began. Cleveland and his
Cleveland was delighted with his ugly house, and proud of its 23 acres.
bride, with no attendants, descended the grand staircase, crossed the
Near the present Washington Cathedral, the site was lofty and green,
hall, and stopped beneath the flower-laden chandelier of the Blue Room.
offering pastoral vistas and several choice views of the city as well. The
A specially written rite of marriage was performed by the Presbyterian
property was selected while the future Mrs. Cleveland was still in Europe.
minister, the Reverend Byron Sunderlund.
It was different from other presidential "second houses" in that it was not
From the candlelit Blue Room the couple led their guests through
to be a summer home, but a year-round retreat the Clevelands would use
the Green Room into the East Room, where they promenaded in the
as frequently as possible.
shimmering light of the gas chandeliers. The new Mrs. Cleveland wore
It was no secret among those who knew the President well that he
an elegant gown of heavy corded satin, which the upstairs maids had
disliked living in the White House. Privacy was available only in the
demonstrated could "stand upright on the floor without support." It was
eight rooms on the west end of the second floor, and even the oval room
draped in frail India silk, pearl white, edged in real orange blossoms, and
was usually annexed to the office suite during the day. The grounds no
fell into a 15-foot train. From the shoulders to the waist a pair of scarves
longer offered seclusion, and while solitude could still be found in the
made of silk illusion crisscrossed, "colonial" style, over the bosom, cover-
glasshouse, that was not adequate for Cleveland. He worried that his
ing somewhat the low Parisian neckline. A very long veil of the same
young wife might suffer from public exposure; he was determined that she
illusion was held in place by orange blossoms and seed pearls. 29
not be spoiled by the flattery and attention associated with her new role.
After about half an hour had passed in promenade, the doors to the
"I have my heart set upon making Frank a sensible domestic Ameri-
transverse hall were opened, and the bride and groom led the guests
can wife," wrote Cleveland to Mrs. Hoyt. "I would be pleased not to hear
to the State Dining Room for a seated, candlelit dinner. The table was domi-
her spoken of as 'The First Lady of the Land' or 'The Mistress of the
nated by a giant three-masted ship made of flowers and christened the
White House.' I want her to be happy and to possess all she can reasona-
Hymen. After dinner Cleveland and his bride disappeared; they soon
bly desire, but I should feel very much afflicted if she lets many notions in
reappeared in street clothes. They left the White House by way of the
her head." But he added, "I think she is pretty level-headed."
Blue Room, with the cheering crowd filling the south portico and steps.
The new house was purchased in the interest of helping her remain
On the President's orders, policemen in large numbers had protected the
that way. Sister Rose had moved back to Buffalo; Cleveland wanted his
gates and fences from intruders through the day. Thousands of people
wife to be in charge. He engaged the Washington architect William M.
pressed to the fence to see what they might. Anticipating this, Cleveland
Poindexter, and he and Mrs. Cleveland began meeting with him to de-
had one of the two stairs up to the south portico enclosed in tent canvas
velop a plan for remodeling the house. They wished to convert the old
all the way to where the coach would stand.
stone box into something modern; Poindexter designed a picturesque
With Hawkins on the box and mounted policemen all around, the
Queen Anne villa, girdled by porches on two levels, painted dark green,
President's coach passed through the cheering crowd down the avenue to
and hooded by a vast roof of wood shingles, painted red. Mrs. Cleveland
the train station. Aboard a private railroad car, the Clevelands traveled
fondly named the finished house Oak View, but the newsmen, who were
200 miles to the mountains of western Maryland, where they spent their
only allowed to see the place from the road, eyed the roof and nicknamed
honeymoon at the Deer Park resort.
the house "Red Top.'
The President was inordinately proud of his little farm. There he
Red Top
developed a handyman's affection for building and remodeling and gen-
eral improvements; his wife indulged her adoration for animals. Chick-
On the same day the engagement had been announced, May 28,
ducks, a cow, kittens, foxes, quail, and white rats were among her
1886, Cleveland had signed the closing papers on a Washington house
ens, She and the President loved dogs as well, and had at Red Top-and
costing 500. It was a plain, sober-looking building nearly 20 years
pets. occasionally at the White House-a dachshund, a St. Bernard, a beagle,
old, built of stone, square, with a flat roof. No house could have been
and a French poodle. The day the summer slipcovers were put on the
furniture at the White House, the Clevelands moved to Red Top. When
590
HOMECOMING
Benjamin Harrison
591
stories of being overcrowded. It had always been so! Even the Prince of
Wales had been confined to one room and a dressing room, and Bu-
the strange aura of sadness that characterized the Harrison era. It was a
chanan had been displaced from his own bed by a member of the royal
time of public tragedies. Senseless deaths occurred in the labor strikes at
suite. The press was charmed, the coverage was widespread, and Mrs.
the factories of the East and the mines of the West. Obituaries filled the
Harrison had struck another blow in favor of enlarging the White House.
papers: Justices of the Supreme Court, congressmen and senators and
With warm support, sound historical justification, and good press,
other famous figures died suddenly, and as the toll grew people wondered
why did Mrs. Harrison's project fail? Senator Stanford gave himself heart
if evil omens were at work. Within the White House circle it seemed
and soul to managing the political schemes. He introduced the bill in the
that nearly every month brought a sudden loss. During the four-year
Senate on January 12, 1891, then received it in his Senate Committee
Harrison administration 15 deaths brought grief to the President's House.
on Public Buildings, where it naturally fared well; the bill went to the
The wife and daughter of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy died
House, figuratively on a silk pillow. Stanford politicked among the con-
when trapped in his burning house; Harrison went to the scene himself
gressmen, gaining assurances. The session was to close on March 4. Stan-
and brought a shattered Tracy home to the White House.
ford's friends in the House, including Milliken, planned to carry the bill
The White House office staff was cut in half by death, and some of
to victory on the third.
the servants died. Edson S. Dinsmore, captain of the doorkeepers, was
When the night of the third came, and no bill, Stanford was told
found dead in his bed, following a short illness. Whenever the bells thus
that the work would be done the following morning. Time being short,
tolled, Mrs. Harrison made funeral wreaths from flowers in the conserva-
the senator slept in the Senate cloak room to be available when the bill
tory and often took them personally to the grieving families. The funerals
was brought over from the House. On the morning of March 4, Mrs.
of the postmaster general's daughter and wife she personally directed in
Harrison went to the office telephone connecting the White House and
the East Room; she also arranged the funeral of their French maid, who
the Capitol. For her purposes it never rang.
had died with them in the fire and had no family or friends.
The act never materialized, and the 51st Congress passed into his-
Although offset by the cheery family circle in which she lived up-
tory. Later in the day Stanford chanced to meet the Speaker of the
stairs, the continual mourning weighed heavily upon the First Lady.
House, Thomas B. Reed of Maine. He asked why a bill SO important to
When ill, Mrs. Harrison became fearful for herself and her family. The
the President's wife was not allowed to come on the floor. Reed ex-
President shared her tendency to gloom. "I sometimes wonder that I am
plained that he was personally offended because his candidate for collec-
alive," he wrote after the tragic winter of 1891. Of necessity the house-
tor at Portland, Maine, was overlooked by the President in favor of
hold adjusted to Mrs. Harrison's frailty; responsibilities were rearranged
someone else. A personal affront deserved personal revenge.
when she was low so the pace would go on as usual. Still the First Lady
Mrs. Harrison's famous plan for the White House set her apart as a
pushed herself beyond her capacity. No detail was too small for her to
woman to be contended with, and not a domestic recluse. For the next
worry about. The vigils in the attic were only one example. With each
decade the seeds she sowed in preparing her grand scheme would grow
passing season she seemed weaker. 20
under different Presidents and different buildings commissioners. 19
Stewards, Chefs, and the D.A.R.
Funeral Wreaths
The steward appointed at the beginning of the administration was a
Harrison was a healthy man, but his wife was often ill. Her flesh was
natty Swiss named Hugo Zieman. He replaced William Sinclair, who
pale and puffy. Exposed to the northwest winds and wet cold of Washing-
had moved to New York with the Clevelands. Zieman and Mrs. Harrison
ton, together with the soot-laden hot air that poured out from the fur-
did not see eye-to-eye on style or finances, notwithstanding his later
nace, she usually caught terrible winter colds. Mrs. McKee frequently
statement that, "I never met finer people than the President and his
served as hostess at dinner parties and receptions, while her mother lay
wife. They treated me with the greatest courtesy and gave me all the
upstairs in misery.
liberty any man could desire."
Mrs. Harrison's health was further weakened by her sensitivity to
One of Zieman's first acts as steward was to pirate the cook of the
British Legation, one Madame Petronard. He promised her the post of
592
HOMECOMING
)
Benjamin Harrison
593
chef and invited her husband, then working in England, to move to
America as the President's butler. Madame Petronard and Zieman soon
piled up on a table in the ushers' office and cigar and pipe smoke curl up
had conflicts with Mrs. Harrison. The chef believed that the head of
to the shadowy ceiling.
state should eat grandly every day. Accordingly she disregarded Mrs.
The house was well guarded, but by tradition the guarding was as
Harrison's hints for plain food and served "rich pastries and sauces,"
unobtrusive as possible. A single sentry station was manned around the
which gave the President indigestion. Madame Petronard was discharged
clock-a wood and glass gatehouse at the southeast entrance, below the
by Zieman, on orders from Mrs. Harrison. Meanwhile, the cook's hus-
Treasury. One policeman was always there. The north gates were kept
band arrived in the United States, prepared to take up his duties as
open from nine until sundown, then closed and locked. A second police-
butler, but Mrs. Harrison refused to employ him. The Petronards went to
man patrolled near the north portico. Small fences restricted pedestrians
the press with their grievance, threatening to sue the Harrisons for $450.
in the grounds to the driveways, where they could be watched. Plantings,
The Petronard affair did not improve Steward Zieman's standing
fences, and earth mounds, together with the bulk of the house, made it
with the First Family. When they returned from Deer Park in the fall of
impossible for anyone to pass between the north and south grounds with-
1889, he had been removed. Wasting no time, he went to the press with
out going out to the street and reentering at a guard station or walking
comical stories about Harrison's indigestion. The New York Sun accused
through the house.
the New York World of "paying his expenses and egging him on" to tell
Tourists presented themselves at the north door during visiting
"all sorts of stories about the president's table," not to mention the infes-
hours, ten until two, if they wished to see the East Room. Local women
tation of the White House with rats and cockroaches. Once, said Zie-
or those in town for an extended stay could present their calling cards
man, the President dozed off holding a banana in his hand, and while he
and expect an invitation to a weekly reception. The more privileged
slept the rats "pulled the banana from his hand and scampered away. "21
were sent notes by Mrs. McKee inviting them to a smaller function,
Zieman's place was taken by the gentlemanly Philip McKim, who
perhaps tea, in the Red Room. If neither the First Lady nor her daughter
had served in the early '80s as the manager of the Metropolitan Club in
appeared, the niece, Mrs. Dimmick, performed the honors. Though
Washington. Having spent five years managing the fashionable Manhat-
doubtless disappointing to the guests, this was socially acceptable.
tan household of John Jay, the former American minister to Austria,
Social life of this kind nearly always had its political side. Men of
McKim wanted to return to Washington, where his family had remained.
power were courted through their womenfolk, and beneath the serene
By the time Colonel Crook administered the oath of office to McKim,
surface of Washington society women-wives, mothers, grandmothers,
Mrs. Harrison's new cook was installed in the kitchen, producing the
sisters, aunts, and daughters-wielded a lot of influence. Women made
"plain meat, potatoes, and white bread" the First Family liked. The cook
far more use of the state rooms at the White House than did men. Here
was Kentucky-born Dolly Johnson, a black woman who had cooked for
they received and entertained long lists of callers practically every day,
the Harrisons in Indianapolis.²²
for some social responsibilities were not satisfied by invitations to recep-
Under the new arrangement, Mrs. Harrison had less to worry about,
tions. Ushers announced the visitors one by one for stays of about 15
but since she was a worrier anyway, the pressures were only slightly re-
minutes each. Tea was poured. Sometimes, to speed the process, the
lieved. Nevertheless, whatever problems beset it, the White House itself
hostess alternated her receiving among the three parlors. The callers
presented a uniform face of contentment to the world. Photographs
wore hats, veils, and gloves; the First Lady usually wore a light-colored
taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston during the Harrison days suggest a
afternoon dress trimmed in lace.²³
big, friendly country house where life is unhurried. On the south lawn
Mrs. Harrison was very much involved in the political activities of
the grandchildren pose with their pony and cart; Mrs. McKee stands on
Washington women. A particular event which had enduring importance
the north driveway, smiling placidly, while behind her the movable
was her patronage of the Daughters of the American Revolution. While
"bridge" unites the driveway with the East Room, through one of the
her interest in this group was probabably not personal, she and her hus-
windows, indicating that a great reception has either just taken place or
band saw in it great political potential. The D.A.R. was not a social
soon will. Against a tall, open window Jerry Smith plays with a feather
organization. Although known socially, its founders were not socialites;
duster, smiling and almost dancing for the photographer. Newspapers are
two were clerks working for the federal government, and the rest were
housewives. Mrs. Harrison, herself not uninterested in the feminist
594
HOMECOMING
Benjamin Harrison
595
movement, was shrewd and saw that the founders needed the advice of
someone who knew politics. To qualify for membership in the D.A.R. a
House as early as October 1890 making minor changes for Mrs. Harrison,
woman had to be able to document the military service of an ancestor in
hanging new curtains in the East Room and draping the transverse hall's
the American Revolution; the objective of the D.A.R. was to become a
eastern doorway with portieres made of flax velour. Yergason's speed and
powerful political force for women, who could not as yet vote. Mrs.
congeniality had pleased those charged with carrying out Mrs. Harrison's
Harrison admired the requirement for membership as a clever means of
wishes, and he was invited back. This news his company must have
establishing that credibility, but she also knew that self-proclaimed aris-
received with great satisfaction, believing that the palatial expansion lay
tocracy would have no particular effect in building a strong lobby. There
just around the corner, and that they would have space to decorate that
had to be more, and Mrs. Harrison undertook to bestow the prestige of
would be three times that of the old White House.
the White House on the women.
Now Yergason was charged with more extensive redecoration of the
The First Lady offered the founders the Blue Room as a meeting
existing mansion. During the winter of 1891, while Mrs. Harrison's im-
place. There she watched their deliberations with interest, and after the
provements bill was making its doomed journey through the Capitol,
D.A.R. was officially chartered, she asked the founders to receive with
Yergason had been called to Washington for several particular tasks. In
her at a state reception. The impact of this recognition was felt at once
January he had measured the Blue Room for new carpeting. A short time
by the Daughters, who asked Mrs. Harrison to serve as the first president-
later, on Mrs. Harrison's orders, he had designed a small brass gate for
general. She served largely as a figurehead, but not entirely. She moni-
the hall door of the Blue Room, to govern the flow of people in the
tored every move that had political implications, including the nomina-
receiving lines. Mrs. Harrison had the idea when she saw a similar gate at
tions of her fellow officers. She was convinced that women who lacked
a railroad station.
powerful political connections could not be effective officers in a na-
Yergason actually saw Mrs. Harrison very rarely, but dealt with the
tional organization in Washington. The political lessons taught by Mrs.
head usher, E. S. Dinsmore, and presented his proposals with estimates
Harrison were in part responsible for the D.A.R.'s early success as a
of costs on June 10. With only a few modifications and omissions, the
patriotic lobbying organization. 24
work went as he planned it. The decorator was not temperamental nor
did he claim special deference as an artist until later in his career. At this
Electric Light
point he was a salesman with an ambition to secure the best jobs. His
understanding of fashionable decoration made it possible for him to com-
Three months after the failure of her grand scheme for expanding
bine the merchandise he sold in ways that pleased his customers. About
the White House, Caroline Harrison began redecorating the state rooms,
the aesthetics of interior decoration, he seems to have known little.
remodeling most of the basement and changing curtains and wallpaper
Attached to a furnishings business, one of his objectives was to sell furni-
upstairs. The opportunity was provided by the installation of electricity
ture, but for the White House he was willing to concentrate upon the
for lighting, which involved tearing into the walls. Rutherford B. Hayes's
hangings, upholsteries, and wallpapers, applying the latest styles. He was
faithful correspondent Thomas Donaldson called at the White House on
patient, knowing that the prestige of the job would very likely help
Thursday, July 16, 1891, and he found it "filled with an army of mechan-
establish him in business for himself. This happened very soon, for by the
ics. They were scraping and repainting the vestibule, and the red &
summer of 1891 he had a shop of his own in Boston. 26
green [parlors] and dining rooms. Downstairs in the cellar they were
The state rooms had become tattered and worn. Tiffany's stained
laying a new floor about 15 inches of crushed brick then cement poured
glass was still praised for its beauty; kind things were yet said about the
over it.
This was to kill the roaches, rats, and mice. "25
ceiling of the East Room, and a repainting of the walls would restore the
As had President Arthur before her, Mrs. Harrison engaged an inte-
Red Room. Everything else from the redecoration by Garfield and Ar-
rior decorator. But unlike Arthur she did not go to a leading decorator.
thur was quickly scraped and washed away, as the workmen scrubbed the
Through Colonel Ernst, she contacted William H. Post & Company,
walls and ceilings back to their white plaster.
decorating jobbers of Hartford, Connecticut. The company's representa-
When the skinning of the rooms was complete, electricians ap-
tive, E. S. Yergason, a trim, well-groomed man, had been at the White
peared and gouged deep cuts into the walls for wiring. Had the President
not wished to keep the gas for everyday use, the walls might have been
596
HOMECOMING
Benjamin Harrison
597
saved by pushing the wires through the gas pipes. Few people in 1891 had
faith enough in electric lighting to have it exclusively-its use was barely
During the early summer of 1891, as Ike Hoover mused over the
more than a decade old. An alternative type of easy installation was to
historical associations of the musty rooms of the west wing, most senti-
surface mount the wires across the walls, but this was too unsightly for
ments about history elsewhere in the White House had been smothered
the White House, and the Harrisons were apprehensive about exposed
by disappointment over the death of Caroline Harrison's ambitious ex-
wires. So the wires were buried in the plaster, with round switches in-
pansion plan. E.S. Yergason had been hired to put the house in good
stalled in each room for turning the current on and off. As long as they
shape as quickly and with as little fuss as possible. After the electricians
remained in the White House, the Harrisons refused to operate the elec-
came the plasterers, who were followed at once by the paperhangers. In
tric lights because they feared being shocked. This function was per-
early September the draperies and newly upholstered furnishings arrived
formed by hands less valuable to the nation.
from Boston on the train. The house was finished in mid-September
The President had been under some pressure to install electricity in
when the Harrison clan returned from Cape May, New Jersey, where
the White House since 1889. At various times the Ellipse had been
they had purchased a beach house.
lighted with electric lamps as an experiment. Streetlights fueled by elec-
The state rooms reflected the shift toward classical simplicity in
tricity had been permanently installed on Pennsylvania Avenue in the
decoration that had been gaining force through the '80s. Such complex
late 1880s. Bids for lighting the White House were at last invited in the
interiors as those produced by Tiffany seemed out of date, and the colors
autumn of 1890, and that of the Edison General Company of New York
and arrangements lost their effect in the glare of electric light. Aesthetic
was accepted on October 28. At first only the rooms of the state floor
conceits gave way to more straightforward, usually neoclassical themes.
were to be wired, not including the East Room. The fixtures were to be
In the Blue Room the walls, covered in a blue damask-like wallpaper,
for general illumination, mounted high on the walls, leaving the
were set off by a heavy frieze, wainscoting, and ceiling-all trimmed in
gasoliers as the principal sources of illumination. This was rapidly
gilt. Most of the wood surfaces were painted white and highly glossed
amended to include ceiling globes for the East Room, as well as addi-
with shellac. To this room was given only one ethereal touch: The ceil-
tional electric outlets and wall brackets throughout the state rooms,
ing was lightly tinted in shades of blue, white, gray, and rose, to suggest
offices, and service areas. Still electric light was to be only a supplement
"the clouds of morning and evening."
to gaslight at the White House.
Yergason's work in the other rooms was in the same vein. Little was
The electrical work at the White House was planned as part of a
designed and custom-made for the White House. The decorator selected
well-funded project for wiring the State, War, & Navy Building next
wallpapers and neoclassical appliqué wall decorations in papier mâché
door. A generator for both buildings was to be put in War & Navy's
from catalogues of ready-made but expensive household goods. The drap-
basement, with the wires strung across the lawn and introduced into the
eries of the state rooms, except for the East Room, were mounted below
White House beneath the conservatory. Work began in the spring of
gilt fretwork "grilles," pseudo-transoms made of wood cut out jigsaw style
1891, and on May 6 the wiring of War & Navy was sufficiently advanced
in the shape of classical anthemia and backed by glass tinted in colors
to warrant beginning that at the White House.²⁷
that were appropriate to the different rooms. Surviving cuttings of mate-
From among the workmen Irwin H. Hoover, a youthful employee of
rial suggest that the fabrics used in the rooms were almost entirely dark-
the Edison Company, was selected at random to wire the White House.
colored satin, damask, and velour. The presidential portraits were made
He began beneath the conservatory in the long row of old storage rooms
more visible because the electric glare lighted the upper reaches of the
in the west wing. His imagination was kindled by "the wine odors and
walls as never before.
the aroma from the hams and bacon" of olden times. When, during the
The urbanity that President Arthur's redecoration had given the
project, the extent of the wiring was increased, Hoover was asked to stay
state rooms disappeared, except in the Red Room. The murky interiors,
on and carry it out. During the summer he accepted the post of electri-
with their dark but opalescent quality, were replaced by images of solid
cian of the White House. "Ike," as Hoover was nicknamed that first day,
middle-class respectability more usual to the White House. The Blue
was to remain for 42 years, serving ten Presidents, six of them as chief
Room's playful robin's-egg theme was succeeded by a serious setting that
executive officer of the house. 28
reflected official recognition that the "colonial" style best suited the
historic house of the Presidents. To "restore" the White House state
600
HOMECOMING
Benjamin Harrison
601
hot, humid Washington summer during which he had been nearly
crushed by political pressures. The responsibility for organizing the
seclusion at his summer home in Massachusetts, and made only one
campaign for his reelection in the autumn had fallen on him as head
public appearance in behalf of his campaign. President Harrison re-
of the Republican Party. A cantankerous Congress lingered in session,
mained at his wife's bedside.
and a bitter strike of miners in Idaho threatened chaos. As the President
At three in the morning Harrison's son brought him a bulletin con-
rested at Loon Lake, Mrs. Harrison grew worse until, suffering from
firming that Cleveland had been recalled by a great majority. The Presi-
painful anxiety, she asked to be taken home, not to Indianapolis, but to
dent rose from the table and calmly went to his room. He would say to a
the White House.
friend several days later that "the result is more surprising to the victor
The First Lady's illness had been kept secret, but secrecy was now
than to me. For me there is no sting in it. Indeed after the heavy blow
impossible. Her tuberculosis was announced to the press on September
the death of my wife dealt me, I do not think I could have stood the
14; the condition had become SO serious that it was necessary to issue
strain a re-election would have brought."3
daily bulletins. For the 500-mile journey to Washington, Mrs. Harrison
The Republican dynasty had not ended with the election of '92, any
was moved to a hospital bed set up in a railroad car. When she arrived on
more than it had ended in 1884. But it would no longer be the same
the morning of September 21, 1892, a great crowd was waiting at the
Republican Party, or the same Presidency. Harrison can be seen as the
station, and Harrison was described as red-eyed from weeping.
last in a line of Republican Presidents that began with Grant. He took
Put to bed in the presidential chamber, Mrs. Harrison lingered for
highly visible steps toward restoring old-style political patronage-
more than a month in great pain, before her death early in the morning
notably in the postal department. He favored business over labor, and
of October 25, 1892. Her family, exhausted and saddened, hoped to
held fast to the old Republican belief that American industry must be
make the funeral as private as possible. The body was embalmed at the
protected with high tariffs. Outwardly, at least, he accepted the tradi-
White House, and placed in its coffin on a bier covered with pink flowers
tional Republican belief in a congressional Presidency.
beneath the central chandelier of the East Room. There the funeral was
The days of the acquiescent Presidency, however, were already
held on October 27, the family, official family, and invited friends seated
coming to an end. Cleveland had been the first effectively to oppose
in rows of gilt chairs, leaving an open circle around the bier.
congressional domination by means of the veto. And Harrison did not
The funeral party followed the hearse in a procession to the station
abandon the ground staked out by his predecessors; for example, the
on Pennsylvania Avenue, where a special train waited to carry them to
Civil Service Commission came of age during his administration. His
Indianapolis for a second funeral service and burial in Crown Hill Ceme-
wife's grand scheme for a presidential palace had projected a symbol as
tery. Everyone was surprised to lose the quiet, gentle First Lady. She was
appropriate for a newly powerful chief executive as the glasshouse had
the second wife of a President to die in the White House. The first, Mrs.
been for the old Presidency.
Tyler, had been a dying woman when she moved there, unlike Mrs.
Harrison, whose frailties had been hidden behind a mask of determina-
tion. She was not fully appreciated until she was gone. 32
The Last of a Line
END OF VOLUME ONE
Mrs. Harrison's final illness had taken place during the heat of the
presidential campaign. The votes were cast two weeks after her death,
and on the evening of the election the family gathered quietly around the
table in the Cabinet Room, awaiting news from the telegraph room down
the hall. While it had been by no means a calm season of electioneering,
it had been quieter than many. Grover Cleveland had been nominated
by the Democrats. When he heard of Mrs. Harrison's illness he went into
OUO
A RECOLLECTION OF ROSES
Grover Cleveland
607
aboard, including Cleveland's doctor, Joseph D. Bryant. The President
stood on the deck puffing a cigar in silence, as the Oneida set sail.
first definitive step had been taken toward ending the Panic of 1893.
The operation was performed at sea, just after noon the following
Repeal did not end the panic, however; it ran on for four years.
day. Cleveland was given nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and when the
Nevertheless, Cleveland pushed ahead with characteristic directness,
cutting was over, was given opium. The extent of the tumor was greater
championing his policies. Even the soothing Lamont could not calm
than any of the doctors had imagined. It was malignant, and thus a large
him, as he pounded the desk, making demands of powerful politicians. If
area had to be removed, "the entire left upper jaw
from the first
the congressmen and senators would not play his game, he withheld
bicuspid tooth to just beyond the last molar, and nearly up to the middle
patronage; as a result, by mid-autumn of 1893, Cleveland had lost his
line," as well as a part of the soft palate. An artificial device made of
political base, and his party was crumbling from dissension. By the begin-
rubber replaced the palate and filled the cavity left by the surgery.
ning of 1894 Cleveland was alone at the top, his main claim to power
For five days longer the Oneida sailed along the New England coast,
lying in the fact that he happened to hold the office of President.
dropping anchor at last at Buzzard's Bay, in view of the rambling, shin-
gled cottage Mrs. Cleveland called Gray Gables. The President was hur-
Endless Lines of Callers
ried ashore and into the house, where he was put to bed, becoming the
most difficult of patients. Lamont complained that Cleveland suffered
Cleveland's White House was no less bright and lively for the de-
"from an excess of medicine
He always believes that if a little will
cline of his political power. Crowds continued to stream in daily to in-
do some good, a bottle full must be of great advantage indeed." Mrs.
spect the state rooms. Public receptions were never long enough to admit
Cleveland caught him in the act of eating a peach: "Wouldn't you think
everyone, and some people went away disgruntled as the Metropolitan
a child would have had more sense
?"²
Police closed the iron gates against them.
Only once did the secret come close to being exposed. An article
The public was admitted to the general evening receptions at about
appeared in the Philadelphia Press saying that the President had under-
nine o'clock, which was considered "after-dinner," entering the grounds
gone surgery and implying that it was far more serious than anyone would
at the northwest gate. They walked up the driveway to the north door, in
allow. A battery of reporters descended upon Gray Gables. One of
sight of the large awning-sheltered "bridge" slanting from the driveway to
Cleveland's executive clerks, Robert Lincoln O'Brien, feared "that if
a window of the East Room, by which they would eventually exit. Light
ever one reporter got inside 'Gray Gables' and detected the hospital odors
glowed from the windows and the colored glass transom of the north
and caught sight of Cleveland, who was just then beginning to sit up in
door; the strains of the Marine Band sounded within. One visitor remem-
a bathrobe, the jig would be up-for the President looked like a very sick
bered that the doors opened with the first notes of the band: "I took a
man." Lamont intervened calmly, telling the press that the President
step, those back of me took a step, and then the great procession, several
had merely suffered the removal of a few teeth, but being a coward about
thousand strong
began to move. We were all going, rich and poor,
dental work of any sort, had put off the pulling until the need was acute.
old and young, noted and obscure, black and white, to be the guests of
Naturally he was a little weak as a result. In the immediate circle of the
the man who guided the destinies of the country, which in our own
Clevelands' friends at Buzzard's Bay the operation was common knowl-
minds we were pleased to term the 'greatest country on earth.
edge. The President enjoyed a rapid and complete recovery, but the
The guests entered the President's House in three columns. At the
secret of the surgery was otherwise well kept for 24 years, until 1917,
north door these were reduced to two, then at the center doors in the
when the principal doctor wrote a full and detailed account, in the inter-
stained-glass screen they shrank to one for admission across the hall into
est of history, for the Saturday Evening Post.
the Blue Room. Each caller was stopped by doormen at the Blue Room
Cleveland was back at the White House the day the Congress con-
door, then allowed to enter. As a visitor entered, the public buildings
vened, and on the following day, August 8, he sent a formal message in
officer, once more Cleveland's friend Colonel John M. Wilson, bent
which he asked bluntly for the repeal of the Sherman Silver Act. The
forward to hear the name, then repeated it clearly to the President, to his
battle ran on for nearly three months; on November 1, in his White
right. The President, in shaking hands with the caller, said firmly:
House office, Cleveland signed the repeal into law, and believed that the
"Happy to meet you," and addressed the guest by name.
The President, with a slight southward movement of the hand he
608
A RECOLLECTION OF ROSES
Grover Cleveland
609
was shaking, passed the caller to the First Lady, who was more accom-
plished than he at the reception business. She took the caller quickly by
Since the rule of punctuality was supposedly unbendable, the guests
the fingertips and warbled, "So glad to see you," repeating the name.
to invitational receptions were usually a little early. The women might
Thus each person, though never stopping, had a sense of conversing
thus take their time admiring what they saw while walking from the Red
pleasantly with the First Lady.
Room through the Blue Room and Green Room, to join the men in the
The callers flowed on, thousands in number, through the double
East Room. Wine or punch was sometimes passed to the guests, as they
mahogany doors into the Green Room, where an array of official guests-
awaited the President's arrival. At the precise hour stated on the invita-
Cabinet members and wives and sometimes others-stood to be stared
tion, the Marine Band, stationed in the transverse hall, struck up a
at, arranged like long-stemmed flowers, and at last into the East Room,
rousing "Hail to the Chief," and the President, his wife, and their guests
stripped of its furniture, its curtains closed, its gilt and white aglow from
descended the grand staircase at a rapid pace, trotted down the transverse
the light of the three great chandeliers. To all but the earliest visitors,
hall, and formed a receiving line in the East Room. After about an hour
entering the East Room must have seemed like walking into a crowded
the line broke up, and the President and First Lady mixed with the
railroad station during wartime. A reporter noted, however, "The crowd
company for perhaps an hour and a half. Then the presidential couple
was the most orderly crowd I have ever seen; good nature and good
departed in the elevator, ending the evening.
temper everywhere prevailed." When a guest desired to leave, he moved
Society in Washington did not end with social functions at the
toward the north end of the East Room and found the window to the far
White House, but did to some extent center on them. There were far
left; through the window and over the bridge to the driveway and his
grander private houses within walking distance, having larger numbers of
evening at the White House was over.⁵
servants, more splendid drawing rooms, and doubtless better chefs. Be-
Only a few full-scale public receptions, open to all without invita-
ginning in 1893 Washington had full ambassadors, replacing the minis-
tion, were held in a given year. Other evening receptions required invi-
ters who had previously represented foreign countries in the United
tations; while cards were not difficult to come by, the events were
States. This rise in the rank of diplomatic representation foreshadowed
smaller, with guests numbering in the hundreds instead of the thousands.
the nation's emergence from long years of relative isolation. The ambas-
That the costumes tended to be more elaborate, the jewelry more pro-
sadors' style of entertaining was generous and sophisticated, and they
fuse, and the general manner more formal seems to have discouraged
were housed in handsome embassies. But for all its comparative seedi-
most ordinary citizens from requesting invitations.
ness, the White House eclipsed all rivals. When invitations were mailed
The logistics for the smaller receptions enhanced their elegance. If
to a function there, society tensed, waiting to see who was in and who
they had drivers, callers could ride in their carriages all the way to the
was out. In the world of Washington politics, being left out was a bitter
north portico, where the vehicles either departed after they alighted, or
pill, even though omission, while sometimes a reprimand, more often
were parked by number along the driveway and the small paved court
simply reflected the limited space the White House had to offer.⁷
before the house. Although carriages were numerous, many White
One of the most glamorous social events of Cleveland's second ad-
House guests took the streetcar or walked, resplendent in full dress.
ministration was the entertainment for the Princess Eulalia of Spain.
Upon entering the house, guests checked their coats in the entrance
Visits of state were rare in the 19th century, and a quarter of a century
hall. Men then went to the East Room, while women were directed to
was yet to pass before an American President-Wilson-would leave
the ushers' room, to the right of the north door, and through the service
the United States on an official trip. The visit of the king's daughter was
and transverse halls to the Red Room. As well as being a shortcut to the
a goodwill gesture on the part of Spain, an attempt to soothe the rising
parlors, this was apparently a device to acquaint them with the small
American resentment of Spain's activities in Cuba. Princess Eulalia, ac-
toilet room, which opened off the service hall. To beautify the route,
companied by 19 Spanish nobles, called formally at the White House on
Mrs. Cleveland had the ushers' room, a simple office, redecorated as a
May 22, 1893, and was received by the President and Mrs. Cleveland in
smoking room, with imitation morocco on the walls and heavy, dark
the Red Room. Several hours later, Mrs. Cleveland returned the call at
"Jacobean" furniture. This was only for looks; the desk that normally
the infanta's rooms in the Arlington Hotel.
occupied the office was returned after the receptions.⁶
A state banquet was held in honor of the infanta and her consort,
Prince Antoine, on the following evening; 60 cards were sent out for
646
GRAND SCHEMES
William McKinley
647
adding electric wiring and killing rats had been accomplished, which
might have been more difficult with the President in residence. On Sep:
lined the transverse hall, floral tributes from the states, from clubs, from
tember 6, at about 4:30 p.m., Major Montgomery was sitting idly at his
citizens; Pfister interspersed palms and fruit trees among the baskets,
desk when one of the telegraph keys "snapped out a few words." Crying
crosses, and wreaths. Mrs. McKinley went to the East Room alone to
out in horror, he jumped to his feet and read again the words he had SO
pray at the coffin, holding up with remarkable strength. Those close to her
automatically transcribed.
knew she had at first said that she wished God would take her as well.
The message was from the chief operator at Western Union in Buf
On Tuesday, the coffin was removed to the Capitol for the state
falo: The President had been shot "by an American Anarchist." Mont
funeral. That day Mrs. McKinley descended in the elevator, frail and
gomery now put his key into operation, wiring direct to the exposition
stone-faced, veiled in black. George Cortelyou and his wife and several
others were with her. At the conclusion of the funeral she followed the
grounds for more information. Meanwhile, Crook remembered, the news
"flew like wildfire through the White House." Tommy Pendel, who was
flag-draped coffin down the long east steps of the Capitol and joined
in the entrance hall at his post, heard Jerry Smith shout down the office
the funeral procession to the train depot. Looking neither to the right
stair, "The President is shot!" In the War Room, now filling with people,
nor the left, she boarded the funeral train for Canton, leaving Wash-
Montgomery tried to keep his voice calm, while he wept openly. Colonel
ington forever.
Crook scanned the telegram once again; "Good God!" he cried to him
When Cortelyou returned from Ohio he went to the White House
self, his thoughts racing over 35 years, "First Lincoln-then Garfield-
family quarters, where he spent two days emptying the drawers and ward-
and now McKinley!"¹⁶
robes, stripping from the tops of the dressers and mantels the collections
The President had been shot by Leon F. Czolgosz while standing in
of perfume bottles, souvenirs, pincushions, knitted fancy-pieces, and fam-
a receiving line at the exposition. The assassin had concealed his pistol
ily pictures. These effects, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, were packed
from the guards by wrapping it with his hand in a handkerchief, SO that
in trunks and crates and marked for shipment to Mrs. McKinley. 18
the hand appeared to be bandaged. Mrs. McKinley was not present. The
President was taken by electric ambulance to the infirmary at the exposi-
Signs
tion. After emergency surgery failed to locate the bullet, he was trans-
ferred to the private residence where he and Mrs. McKinley were guests.
The train that bore Cortelyou back to Washington the day after
Cortelyou, by now promoted to private secretary, had been at
McKinley's burial also carried as a passenger McKinley's successor. Theo-
McKinley's side when he was shot, and he held the President in his arms.
dore Roosevelt had remained quiet and contemplative since taking the
oath of office in Buffalo. His wife and family had remained in seclusion at
The secretary took control, issuing regular bulletins on McKinley's con-
dition. While there were days with optimistic reports, the President's
their summer home on Long Island, near Oyster Bay. The train from
death early in the morning of September 14 came as no surprise. The end
Canton arrived in Washington on September 20, 1901, having traveled
had been coming slowly throughout the day before. "Nearer my God to
all night. Soon Colonel Crook was looking at his watch and recording
thee," McKinley had said, before drifting into incoherence.
9:30 a.m., the moment Roosevelt entered the White House as President
The next morning the office staff arrived early at the White House.
of the United States.
The flag on the roof flew at half-mast. A sign had been hung behind the
Without formally meeting the office employees, Roosevelt stayed
glass front door: "Closed." Bingham was already there, giving orders and
close to Cortelyou. The Cabinet met for several hours. Roosevelt then
went to the home of his sister Bamie, wife of Commodore William Shef-
making plans; he worked effectively under pressure. The East Room was
closed and darkened, the White House model removed. Crape was being
field Cowles, and for several days commuted from there to the office
threaded through the globes and prisms of the three great chandeliers.
every morning. At the White House he worked in peace and quiet, for
McKinley's funeral train arrived in Washington in the evening of
the flowers on McKinley's grave had not yet wilted, nor had the eulogies
Monday, September 16, 1901. The coffin was lifted out the window of
ceased in towns and cities across America.
the palace car and taken to the East Room, where an honor guard sur-
Two days later, at dusk, Roosevelt concluded his office work, but
this time remained at the White House. It was his first night there,
rounded it through the night. It was banked in flowers. Masses of flowers
September 22, 1901, and he had as dinner guests his two sisters who
Theodore Roosevelt
657
656
AN IMAGE REFINED
in the press, he went to the President for a confirmation or denial: "You
federal city. He liked to say that his proposals for the White House and
tell the newspaper men," said Roosevelt, "that Mrs. Roosevelt and I are
Centennial Avenue had grown directly from the ideas of L'Enfant and
firmly of the opinion that the President should live nowhere else than in
President Washington. But a far grander resurrection of L'Enfant's plan
the historic White House."
was now drawn on paper. The architects had won the war.
"Do you mean, Mr. President," asked Moore, "that you desire to be
quoted directly?"
The President Will Stay
"Yes," replied the President, "you are to quote me."9
President Roosevelt did not take up the matter of the White House
until the spring of 1902. Since January, large crowds had visited the
Money
Corcoran Gallery of Art to see an exhibition planned by McKim on the
The McMillan plan-known in its time as the "plan of 1901"-was
McMillan Commission's ideas for Washington. Models, photographs,
to ride rough political seas for nine years before it received authorization.
and drawings had been prepared at the New York offices of McKim,
Time can never be spent SO freely at the White House. Even after they
Mead, & White. When the President arrived to view the exhibition he
had settled down, the Roosevelts lived in great discomfort in the family
was "interested, curious, and at first critical and then, as the great con-
quarters. The shortage of bathrooms, the absence of closets, inadequate
sistent scheme dawned on him, highly appreciative." So wrote Charles
lighting, a grease-laden, antiquated kitchen, floors that trembled when
Moore, who was present.
one walked on them-all these shortcomings added up to one final ver-
Roosevelt's reaction to the commission's neoclassical proposal for a
dict: The White House needed drastic remodeling. Conditions in the
grander Washington seems to have been typical of that of most people
office were even worse.
who saw the exhibition. It was beautiful as the World's Fair had been
No President in recent history had made such extensive use of the
beautiful, and it recalled the dreams of the Founding Fathers. While
house. Roosevelt held receptions, dinners, dances, garden parties, and
most of the earlier monuments of the city were neoclassical, like the
ladies' teas. When more than 40 came to a seated dinner, the East Room
White House and the Treasury, Washington public architecture since
had to be used, instead of the State Dining Room. Experiments with
the mid-19th century had taken a strong turn to the picturesque in red
putting overflow crowds of from 40 to 60 in the transverse hall, behind
brick and quarry-faced stone. Towers and bay windows adorned many
the glass screen, merely created problems about who would be in the
private houses adjacent to the public places; vines climbed up their
dining room with the President and who would not. In addition, the
walls. Great open areas in the public domain were often still marshes or
structural weakness of the old wooden floors was disquieting. Before large
ragged meadows, and anyone could easily gain a permit to graze livestock
events Bingham brought laborers to the basement to shore up the floors
in some of them. The McMillan plan projected a remarkable transforma-
of the East Room and State Dining Room with rough 10-by-10-inch
tion that would give dramatic emphasis to a greatly elaborated series of
timbers. This practice had been followed since the 1880s for New Year's
axes, based upon those planned by L'Enfant. Each vista was to terminate
receptions, but by 1902 an affair with a large attendance would have
in a fine example of neoclassical architecture. As in L'Enfant's plan, the
been unthinkable without the safety measure. 10
principal feature was to be the Mall, the Capitol at one end, a memorial
The Roosevelts were perplexed about the White House. It was at
to Lincoln at the other, and along the sides large neoclassical buildings
once too big for a house and not big enough. They loved it, but it was
for the federal offices. The cross-axis, having the White House at its
inadequate to the demands imposed upon it; besides, it looked seedy,
northern end, was lengthened south of the Mall, with space reserved for
even tawdry. Certainly it was no stage for the performances they had in
a monument of an undesignated character.
mind, and they began to consider changes. An appropriation of $16,000
The commission had rejected Burnham's suggestion to turn the
was requested to cover repairs and redecorating. The amount was drawn
White House into an executive office and build a new mansion, recom-
out of thin air, with no specific categories for its use. Well before the bill
mending instead that the White House remain a residence. Roosevelt,
became law, Mrs. Roosevelt invited Charles McKim to the White House
who took an interest in the history and the associations of the old house,
to advise her informally.
was pleased. And when Charles Moore read a statement to the contrary
670
AN IMAGE REFINED
Theodore Roosevelt
671
not tell him otherwise, but confided to a friend that whether or not the
three-month schedule could be kept "remains to be seen. "28
A large part of the interior was gutted to its wooden framing. The
During the silent and sultry capital summer, the White House was
White House had been reconstructed in 1816-18 as a stone shell thickly
to a great extent dismantled. Initially only those elements were to be
lined with clay brick, many of its floors and partitions framed with large
removed which appeared to have been added to the neoclassical block of
timbers; structurally, it was a house of wood. By mid July 1902 the inte-
the house, except, of course, for the west wing and the porticoes. The
rior skeleton was in places fully exposed, and at that point interior demo-
conservatory was cut back as far from the White House as possible, leav-
lition stopped and reconstruction began. McKim could stand in the oval
ing it in full operation as a greenhouse. Short work was made of the east
furnace room and look up through the floor joists of the Blue Room to
porch, added by Andrew Johnson. Inside the house the demolition proc-
the ceiling of the oval room in the family quarters two floors above him.
ess dug deeper. Decisions were not based upon historical research and
The basement rooms beneath the East Room, their walls still thick with
analysis, but upon the dictates of the eye of McKim. He knew very little
whitewash over layers of grease, gave a distant view up two stories into
White House history, and seems not to have cared; Bingham, the histo-
the now floorless chambers where the offices of the chief executive had
rian of the group, was not consulted.
recently. been. On the south the room where Lincoln had signed the
One of the first Victorian offenders to go was the murky colored
Emancipation Proclamation was a gawking, hollow shell, with fluttering
glass screen in the entrance hall. It was removed to a storage place, to be
wallpaper shreds dancing in the summer breezes. Mule-drawn wagons
sold later with the other unwanted effects. A photograph preserves the
hauled the wooden parts to the marshes at the western fringe of the Mall,
appearance of the reopened entrance hall, with its arcade of marble Ionic
where they were burned.
columns, placed there by Hoban in 1818. Even with mounds of debris
Had there been time, much less of the old fabric of the house might
lying about, the hall was lofty and grand.
have survived, for the builders complained of having to do too hasty a
Charles McKim did not hold the interior in esteem, even as an
job. The project did not receive the usual thorough treatment accorded
interesting specimen of late 18th-century Georgian architecture. He
most works by McKim, Mead, & White and Norcross Brothers. Every
planned to leave few of the ornaments, moldings, and the like inside the
shortcut possible was made in the push to complete the work. As a result,
house. McKim's artistic eye became a sort of inquisition, before which
the 1902 renovation was largely cosmetic, not structural, and this short-
every facet of the physical White House had to pass in judgment. Glenn
coming would come to light dramatically in the near collapse of portions
Brown recalled an incident that took place at midnight, on the north
of the house only 46 years later.
lawn. He had accompanied McKim from the Cosmos Club across Lafay-
What was torn out of the White House in the summer of 1902 was
ette Park to sit on a pile of stones and study the house in the wash of
what would have obstructed the new construction. Everything else was
moonlight. The architect was disturbed that night by the presence of the
covered over and left among the bones of the transformed house. In the
iron railing that ran out from the sides of the north portico, fencing the
East Room, for example, though the protruding chimney breasts were cut
deep north areaway from the driveway. A fine specimen of ironwork from
out and the new fireplaces built on a plane with the walls, the Grecian
Andrew Jackson's time, it had been wrought in 1833 in New York; its
decorative cornices and pilasters were chipped away only enough to allow
motif of great anthemia echoed Hoban's original "Grecian honeysuckle"
for the introduction of wood paneling. Most of the plaster architectural
cornice in the East Room.
decorations of James Hoban's East Room remained more or less intact,
History, however, did not enter into this discussion. McKim
behind the new walls. Where walls did not have to be removed, the
thought the black iron railing clumsy: "Would not an iron railing affect
moldings and wallpapers on them were simply covered by new surfaces
the lines of the house behind it and attract undue attention to the rail-
and left hidden. Modern steel lath or mesh was nailed onto old plaster
ing? Would not a stone balustrade obtrude itself in the same way, only in
walls, which themselves had originally been laid on split-wood lath; the
a less degree? Would not a solid wall of the same color be merged into the
plasterers troweled their mud and topcoat on the steel mesh, leaving the
house without attracting undue attention?" Old Hickory's anthemia
original walls beneath, peeling wallpaper and all. The fresh plastering
fence that night received its ticket to the scrap heap, to be replaced by a
was well under way at the close of July. 30
parapet wall. 29
McKim's solution for strengthening the structure was to introduce a
large number of steel I-beams among the floor joists and socket them into
676
AN IMAGE REFINED
Theodore Roosevelt
677
It was to be drawn again, made to look like the Lincoln furniture.
Most of the interior decoration was carried out by three decorating
Family Dining Room, and Adamesque sofas and chairs for the Green
companies from Boston and New York, which sent their own workmen
Room. This last was delicate to the eye, if heavy to lift. It was painted
and materials, as well as in some cases crates of furniture they had made
cream, with woven cane backs and seats; there were 15 pieces, the seats
in their shops. Through October and November, the house was virtually
covered in flowery chintz, reflecting high British Edwardian taste. Al-
taken over by employees from two famous Fifth Avenue establishments,
though Davenport's designs were usually less stylish than those of the
Herter Brothers and Leon Marcotte & Co., which had been furnishing
New York firms, the Green Room suite seemed a generation ahead of the
American mansions for at least 30 years. Although they had worked
crimson-covered overstuffed and tufted furniture made by Marcotte for
under pressure for many a rich man before, their past experiences must
the Red Room. More in keeping with Marcotte's usual production was
have seemed easy in comparison to the rush demanded in a "political"
the furniture the firm made for the Blue Room, a matched suite supposed
house. Bingham watched these luxury tradesmen with a suspicious eye,
to imitate on a larger scale the French furniture purchased for the room
but he was helpful in every way.34
in Paris in 1818. None of the chairs or sofas from the original suite had
Herter and Marcotte had been the two most creative designers
been at the White House since before the Civil War, although Glenn
among the manufacturing companies of the 1870s and 1880s, and while
Brown had discovered the marble-topped pier table in 1902 when the
they continued to serve the richest clients, the handsome abstractions of
attic was cleaned out. In place of the original gilt, the furniture was
their earlier furniture designs had yielded by 1902 to fine reproductions
enameled white and trimmed in gilt.
and adaptations of English, French, and, to a lesser extent, Italian an-
Edward F. Caldwell & Company of New York, the outstanding
tiques of the 17th and 18th centuries. Marcotte provided this and stuffed
manufacturer of "electroliers" in the United States, made all the light
furniture as well to the White House in 1902.
fixtures. With the decline of gas illumination and the rise of electricity,
A. H. Davenport & Company of Boston was the third of the promi-
Caldwell had achieved broad recognition with a line of handsome
nent firms. This venerable manufacturing company was the best known
"period" devices that were convincingly historical, yet accommodated
business of its kind in the United States; it was less a decorating house
electric wires and bulbs. For the White House, McKim collaborated with
than a large-scale producer of catalogue furnishings for both residences
Caldwell to create, according to Glenn Brown, "probably the most artis-
and public buildings. Part of the furniture Davenport built for the State
tic [electric fixtures] that have been designed in this country." None of
Dining Room remains today, two neo-Georgian tables, one large and one
the old wall brackets or electrified gasoliers were retained. Even the few
small, with pedestals and broad cross-banded borders. Along the walls
remaining gas fixtures, kept for use in service areas when the electricity
McKim placed a heavy sideboard and a pair of serving tables, all three
went out, were replaced with new ones. The luxurious sconces and chan-
with marble slabs supported by carved wood eagles, a style of furniture
deliers suggested 18th-century candle fixtures; they ranged from nickel-
McKim, Mead, & White had used elsewhere. On one of Davenport's
plated wall lamps in the bathrooms to gilded brass or silver-plated
original drawings is noted simply, "copy of an English table."
chandeliers in the state rooms. The parlor chandeliers were showers of
Though McKim divided the work of interior decoration and furnish-
prism-cut glass beads and pendants. The neo-Georgian dining room
ing among the three firms, Marcotte received the lion's share. Davenport
chandelier was sterling silver; a vertical version was installed first, then
provided only furniture, and Herter's work lay almost exclusively in the
soon replaced by the horizontal fixture still in use, although since gilded.
architectural embellishment and decoration of the state rooms. From
When McKim saw the huge brass and glass chandeliers Caldwell had
McKim's designs Herter built the rich paneling of the East Room and the
produced for the East Room, he ordered them taken down and reduced in
State Dining Room; Herter stretched fabric on the walls of the Red and
size, and while they would be cropped a second time a half-century later,
Green Rooms. With the exception of minor projects in other parts of the
they too remain in place today.³⁶
house, that was the extent of Herter's involvement in the renovation.
At the insistence of the President and Colonel Bingham, McKim
Over the years the work of the other firms was to disappear, but Herter's
grudgingly included some local Washington firms in the work, but only
paneling in the State Dining Room remains today.
under pressure. Faced with a difficult deadline, he was naturally inclined
Davenport manufactured mahogany neocolonial furniture for the
to do business with New York firms he trusted through experience. It was
nevertheless the source of great annoyance to Washington businesses
682
AN IMAGE REFINED
Theodore Roosevelt
683
the state floor the plan remained the same, except for the enlarged State
McKim unified the state floor by painting it white, warmed slightly
Dining Room and the new grand stairway. Beyond the layout, however,
with yellow and brown. The ceremonial areas where people would stand
there was little similarity between the new and the old. Gone was the
or form processions were entirely in this color; it was carried from the
heavy, upholstered look; the thick curtains, the patterned wallpapers and
entrance hall the entire length of the transverse hall and into the East
carpeting. The carved furniture was at Sloan's auction rooms awaiting
Room, and appeared on the door framing and wainscoting of the three
public sale. McKim's new image of the White House was sophisticated
parlors and the family dining room.
and upper class in tone, where the traditional aspect had been bourgeois;
The East Room was the same only in the number of its windows,
it was cosmopolitan, where the decoration of the White House had usu-
fireplaces, and chandeliers. Nothing original survived. The lofty walls,
ally been as insular as the American nation itself.
22 feet high, were organized into long rectangles, worked into the design
McKim had changed the traffic patterns dramatically. The north
of the enameled wood paneling; rectangles repeated themselves all
door had become the private, or family, entrance. Office callers went to
around the room, from windows to wall panels to tall mirrors over the
the Executive Office Building, and social guests were admitted from East
fireplaces to the slender Corinthian pilasters interspersed along the walls.
Executive Avenue to the East Wing, which was the main entrance for
Highly polished oak flooring in the "Versailles" pattern parquet was left
callers and for guests at social events. The East Wing, rebuilt, seemed
uncovered for the full 40-by-80-foot expanse.
perfectly natural to the White House; its south colonnade was enclosed
In designing the paneling, McKim had called on his friend Attilio
with glass, and gave a view of a garden, while a coatroom called the
Piccirilli, a decorative carver of New York. A theme for low-relief wood
"hat box" extended along the north side. Callers proceeded directly
carving had been found in the fables of Aesop, and this was put over the
through the East Wing into the vaulted basement, or "ground floor,"
doors in 12 panels executed by Lee Lawrie, who assisted Piccirilli. The
corridor of the house, where an ample stair, directly beneath the grand
only color in the room was in the flooring, the red-marble mantels, and
stairway, led to the state floor.
the yellow silk damask at the windows. McKim had wanted red hangings,
The public complained about having to enter the White House
but Mrs. Roosevelt insisted upon yellow. This most magnificent of the
through the cellar, but it soon became clear that the new way was more
state rooms made a brilliant setting for large crowds and grand occasions.
convenient and simplified security. Politicians who objected at first to
At the far end of the transverse hall, the State Dining Room, also
making business calls at an outbuilding eventually became reconciled to
rich in neo-Georgian paneling, produced an opposite effect. Herter
the new arrangement, for the temporary office required less of a walk
Brothers' elegant paneling here was natural oak, stained dark and heavily
from the street and offered a comfortable waiting room. The President
waxed, designed to glow in candlelight. According to contemporary pe-
himself grumbled now and then about the new ways of doing things.
riod notions, this room suggested a dining hall in a great English country
Secretary of War Elihu Root related how Roosevelt had insisted that in
house. The two original fireplaces were replaced by a single large fire-
connecting the offices of the White House by way of the west colonnade,
place of stone carved with lions' heads. 43 A series of silver wall sconces
"Mr. McKim was forcing him to walk past the servants' quarters. To this
holding clusters of electric bulbs matched the chandelier. The "India"
the wry Root replied, "McKim was not counting on always having so
carpet was all one color, and green velvet hangings complemented two
decrepit a President.
Flemish-type tapestries, believed to be 17th century. Completing the
People who had known the White House for years found the revised
great-hall theme, stuffed animal heads mounted high on the walls encir-
interiors strange. Though more "architectural" than previously, they
cled the room. Most of them, if not all, were purchased from the Hart
were chilly and barren. All the woodwork and plaster ornament were
Decorating Company in New York. No sooner had the Cabinet dinner
new, and, except for the frames of the doors, were wholly different from
taken place than President and Mrs. Roosevelt began using the State
what had been there before. The simple Federal interior of the original
Dining Room daily. They complained about Davenport's rectangular
house was replaced by a more elaborate Georgian style. It appeared in the
dining table. Before the New Year, the old round table, acquired proba-
entrance hall in a heavy Doric cornice, tall pilasters, and enriched ceil-
bly in the '90s, was returned to its former place.
ings, and climaxed in the richly carved paneling that encased the East
The state parlors were simpler than the ceremonial areas. Each pro-
Room and State Dining Room.
claimed its name in luxurious wall coverings of silk; the red, blue, and
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Theodore Roosevelt
713
attended the reception, lingered, and eventually followed the President
Toney's Boys, who kept their audience entranced for an hour, inviting
and Mrs. Roosevelt upstairs when the receiving line closed. They
the children to join in song from time to time.
climbed the stairs, since the elevator was needed by the staff. Their
At the instant Toney's Boys made their exit, President and Mrs.
ascent, with throngs of departing people watching, was not without its
Roosevelt appeared at the hall door to the East Room and invited the
own satisfaction. On the second floor, military aides directed the guests,
crowd to march with them to the dining room for punch and cookies.
usually about 30, to the west hall, where they were served whiskey, wine,
The band played, and the scramble began. Chairs were overturned as the
or Apollinaris water. The center hall was filled with tables for four and
mob surged toward the hall, following the President's prancing steps in
six, each with its floral arrangement.
glee to the State Dining Room, where they found the table piled high
Food was sometimes served as a dinner, sometimes as a buffet. There
with sweets. When the children had eaten their fill, the Roosevelts
was only one wine with the alternative of Apollinaris water or plain
began to wonder what to do with them, for the party had yet an hour to
water for those who did not drink alcohol; the men were likely to request
go. Urged back to the East Room, now emptied of the chairs and plat-
scotch-and-water at table, instead of wine. There were several reasons for
form, the little company ran wild across the great polished floor until the
the Roosevelts to serve one wine at these private dinners, as opposed to
nurses and nannies had to be called up from the basement corridor to put
the six or seven usually featured at state dinners. One was the relatively
a stop to the carnival and calm down their charges. Promptly at 6:30 the
new custom of serving alcohol before dinner, which made it unnecessary
aides scattered among the adults, suggesting that they and the children
to pour so much wine at table. The restriction to one wine may have
begin moving toward the coatrooms.⁴¹
been an economic measure as well; one wine could be poured in abun-
The only other exceptions the Roosevelts made to the usual social
dance, without the waste that always accompanied the serving of many
schedule were the spring garden parties. Several were held each year,
wines. Decanting during the meal made it certain that every drop was
beginning in 1903, and Mrs. Roosevelt made this an opportunity to show
used before new bottles were opened. 40
off her colonial gardens, which were south of the east and west wings,
The food was brought up in the elevator from the basement. Porta-
nestled close to the colonnades. They were intimate gardens, with inter-
ble electric warmers were placed in the elevator hall upstairs and in the
secting graveled paths and flower beds outlined with boxwood and privet
central corridor near the serving tables. A minimum number of waiters
and often filled with roses and lilies. 42
were enlisted, seldom including more than the resident staff. Everything
Guests entered the gardens through the east wing, much as they did
took place in the west hall and the center hall. There was no withdraw-
for any affair at the White House, then proceeded along the basement
ing room or smoking room. The men lighted their cigars at table, as
corridor to the oval room, and outside through the archway under the
coffee was served.
south portico. A small receiving line greeted them in the paved area
Other special parties usually took place in the more convenient
immediately outside, between the two stairs to the porch above, where
rooms of the state floor. One of the most memorable was the children's
the Marine Band was stationed playing popular music. Mrs. Roosevelt
party the day after Christmas of 1903, an afternoon occasion meant to
received alone, unless the President joined her. She carried her gloves
honor children who lived in Washington year-round. The idea probably
and wore a wide-brimmed hat. After passing though the receiving line,
came from Belle Hagner, a devoted Washingtonian. Mrs. Roosevelt, her
the guests were allowed considerable freedom to wander about on the
social secretary, and the Cabinet wives, with suggestions from the Roose-
south grounds. Secret Service men were stationed in various places
velt offspring, composed a long guest list, and 550 of those invited ac-
throughout, and walked along the fences outside. The gardens, a hobby
cepted. The Marine Band played carols, stationed in its usual place in
of Mrs. Roosevelt's, were of much interest to the guests, and the paths
the hall. Children, mothers, maids, and nannies were admitted at the
were always crowded.
east entrance. Maids and nannies were seated with refreshments in the
Most of the people, however, collected on the broad lawn south of
lower hall; the mothers were sent to the three parlors; the children, all
the house; most wore white, the women in big hats, their bodices often
under 12, were led to the East Room. There, a platform with Christmas
delicately embroidered in flowers or ribbons or butterflies. Refreshments
trees had been set up against the north wall. The children were enter-
were served in two open-sided canvas tents with single tables down their
tained by a lively singing and dancing company from Chicago known as
centers. "A White House garden-party in the spring is a pretty sight,"
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Theodore Roosevelt
715
said the leading published guide to manners and society in the city in
as possible, equal. That there would be a large extra force of Metropoli-
1906. "The bright dresses of the ladies, with their gay parasols, and the
tan Police and Secret Service men was taken for granted, but the number
tents for refreshments, make a pretty and picturesque scene against the
was never revealed. Three different entrances were used for the guests,
background of the well-kept lawns.
"43
the north door for family friends, the south for the highest ranking diplo-
mats, and the usual east entrance for everyone else.
Princess Alice
Enthusiastic crowds began collecting on the sidewalks and in Lafay-
ette Park early in the morning. It was a radiant day, with full sun and
Entertaining at the Roosevelt White House was climaxed on Febru-
clear air. By 11 the streets around the White House were mere aisles
ary 17, 1906, when Miss Alice was wed to Nicholas Longworth, a junior
dividing throngs of spectators, and at that hour the first carriages began
congressman from Ohio. She was 22 and the most celebrated young
to make their way onto East Executive Avenue and toward the east
woman in the United States, for her position, her beauty, and her daring
entrance, which opened promptly at 11:15. Wedding guests who came
in breaking some of the rules by which polite society lived. She smoked
on foot had to walk in the street, for the sidewalks were blocked by
cigarettes and drove an automobile, even though her father disapproved
people. They paraded past in their furs, feathers, and black broadcloth,
of both, the first understandably and the second because he believed the
eliciting applause and the clicking of Kodaks.
Roosevelts should remain a horse family apart from the new machines.
Once inside, the guests were directed to the East Room, a few to
Miss Alice was mentioned in the social columns far more often than her
reserved seats but most to places where they would stand. Ribbons
parents and most other equally stern judges deemed appropriate.
stretched between standards over the vast, polished floor marked off
Despite the publicity, most of the plans for the wedding celebration
sections for family, officials of various sorts, and the wedding party.
were kept secret. But the bride remained very much in the public eye.
Against the wide east window was the rounded platform usually used for
Alice and her stepmother were usually entertained once or twice daily
performances in the north end, its surface now covered by an Oriental
when they were in Washington. Luncheons, teas, and tea dances con-
rug. The window and its yellow draperies formed the background for a
sumed most days, and most evenings were taken up by dinner parties.
wall of palms; swagged garlands of Easter lilies and asparagus ferns deco-
Shopping trips to New York were often in the press. Purchases there,
rated the mantels. Window curtains were left open, with clusters of
however, were held in the strictest confidence.
palms screening the view from outside. On the pier tables between the
Invitations to the wedding were in demand. The list was carefully
windows were porcelain tubs brimming with white rhododendrons.
prepared by the President and Mrs. Roosevelt, in council with Alvey
All one thousand guests crammed uncomfortably into the East
Adee, the State Department's expert on official procedures. Belle Hag-
Room to witness Alice Roosevelt's wedding. The press had a good van-
ner attended to the details, with assistance from Warren Young and two
tage point in the transverse hall. The guest list was fairly democratic,
other members of the President's office staff. After the announcement on
including people from many different walks of life. Diplomats, who had
December 14, 1905, an avalanche of gifts descended on the White
been told not to wear official regalia for this "private" occasion, were
House, some doubtless sent in hope of drawing an invitation in return;
hardly distinguishable from the others. There were reminders of times
hundreds of letters requested invitations outright. But neither ploy
gone by. Present, for example, was that White House bride of three
guaranteed an invitation. One thousand guests were invited, and for an
decades before, Nellie Grant Sartoris, now 50 and divorced.
event of such universal fascination, the number was small.
Shortly after Mrs. Roosevelt was escorted to the front line by her
Charles Rauscher was engaged to provide two breakfasts, one in
son Ted, the gongs and bells of the clocks clanged noon, and two trum-
private for the wedding party and a second for the 700 guests whose
peters in the Marine Band stood and delivered a rousing fanfare. Then
invitations contained a special card allowing them to remain after the
the band struck up the march. Alice and her father had already de-
wedding. Floral arrangements were planned by Mrs. Roosevelt and
scended in the elevator and were waiting behind the closed hall doors of
George Brown. Crowd management was left to Colonel Bromwell and
the State Dining Room. Two ushers rolled the mahogany doors aside.
Chief Usher Stone. It was a complicated task, in that there were several
The entire wedding party marched together, behind the President and
classes of guests, all of whom must be made to feel welcome and, as much
his daughter, down the transverse hall, passing before the Marine Band
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PROTOCOL
and the reporters and at last into the bright sunlight of the East Room.
Alice wore a luxurious dress of white satin trimmed in lace handed
down by her mother, Alice Lee, and her grandmother. The dress was low
waisted, with large bows on the short sleeves. A wreath of orange blos-
31
soms held the veil, which covered the long train. The diamond necklace
she wore was her wedding present from the groom. Her large bouquet had
depleted the supply of orchids in Washington, accounting for the ab-
sence of the usual orchid corsages among the ladies. When the service
Chronicles
ended Alice went to her stepmother and embraced her. She and
Longworth and the President stood on the platform for an official photo-
graph. Her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt arranged her train.
The wedding party then went into the transverse hall and walked to
the rose-laden private dining room to dance and eat a light breakfast.
Meanwhile, President and Mrs. Roosevelt and the bride formed a receiv-
ing line in the south end of the Blue Room; the 700 guests asked to
remain came from the East Room through the Green Room, shook hands
and, without stopping-for the military aides kept them moving-went
from the Blue Room to the Red Room to the State Dining Room. In the
R
oosevelt fit the Presidency of his time, and he was always
quick to affirm that the job suited him. Though McKin-
dining room, the guests found white and red roses massed against the
ley was highly popular and had made major changes, he
dark paneling.4
had been unable to impress upon the public mind that the new position
When the receiving line ended, the bride and groom went to the
of the United States in world affairs called for a new definition of presi-
State Dining Room to cut the wedding cake. The newspapers made a
dential leadership. Roosevelt dramatized the changes by dramatizing
great issue of her commandeering Major McCawley's dress sword for this
himself. The presidential image designed by Roosevelt was dubbed "im-
performance, but she corrected the story many years later: "Any news
perial," both in praise and scorn. If George Washington had once col-
accounts of the day which say I seized a sword and brandished it aloft
lared an aide for announcing him in too kingly a manner, and if Cleve-
before slicing the cake are certainly not correct. That makes me sound
land had blushed crimson when once he had to descend the grand
like a rude hoyden. I certainly did not leap on Charlie McCawley and
stairway between two lines of military officers standing at attention,
take his sword. He was standing beside me and politely offered it, and so
Roosevelt was perfectly comfortable when he entered a room to trumpet
I used it to cut the cake. "45
fanfare. He delighted in his entourage of uniformed military aides, most
The Longworths departed in an automobile, slipping away almost
of them representing distinguished American families.
unnoticed by the wedding guests and the crowds that remained along the
The first "imperial" White House was Monroe's, symbolizing the
streets. They spent two weeks in Cuba, then in June sailed to Europe,
Era of Good Feelings. Monroe had worn knee breeches and powdered
where crowned heads and chiefs of state received them as royalty from
hair long after both were passé; his wife had dressed in rich style and
the new star among great powers.
received while staying seated; they had filled the state rooms with
princely furnishings from Napoleonic France. Polk's "imperial" White
House was next, symbolizing Manifest Destiny. Somber James K. Polk
had marched to his dinner table to rousing band music, through state
rooms made rich once again with gilded furniture. But Roosevelt's White
House shouted imperial magnificence, where Monroe's and Polk's had
merely suggested it. In his wake the stage could no longer be changed by
a mere replacement of furniture. When he came into office, the White
717
William H. Taft
753
752
SUMMER DAYS
been one of her favorite ways of entertaining since her cherished years in
with Warren Young's approval. The guests were placed according to
the Philippines. Her garden parties were more elaborate than those of
rank, with the highest ranking member nearest to the door the President
Mrs. Roosevelt, with increased floral decorations. At her first, she had
would enter. Butt stood at the door and, when the President appeared,
announced him in a loud voice. Taft then entered the room, with
an allée of flowers made from the archway beneath the south portico,
where the guests entered the party, to the spot where she stood to re-
Mrs. Taft a few steps behind. The presidential couple went to the guests,
ceive, in the shelter of blooming pear trees.
one by one. When the last guest had been greeted, the butler appeared to
Heavy rain drove the first garden party into the house, where it
announce dinner. The President was at that point with his dinner part-
continued in the East Room and State Dining Room. At dusk the rain
ner, the last woman he greeted. Butt escorted the male guest of honor to
ceased, and the doors to the terraces were opened, allowing the company
Mrs. Taft, and the procession to the dining room began, with only serene
to walk out and enjoy the rose-pink end of day. "All my life the elements
dinner music, no marches.
have been unfriendly to me," wrote Nellie Taft, remembering the day.
Guests at her second garden party enjoyed sunny skies and dogwood in
Gardens, Food, and Drink
full bloom; the fountain on the south lawn "made rainbows and diamond
The Tafts also made many small changes in the White House style
showers in the sun." This party became the standard of perfection by
which every subsequent garden party was judged. 34
of entertaining. These Archie Butt duly noted in his scrapbooks labeled
The military aides attended the garden parties, dressed in summer
"Social Functions." Food and drink were served at the large receptions;
whites. They served a security function, although there were also Secret
only ice water had been available for more than 20 years. Now the table
Service men stationed throughout the house and grounds. Archie Butt
in the State Dining Room was filled with cookies and cakes, fruits and
nuts, and a punch bowl. Punch was also available in the transverse hall
always stood with the President, unless he was announcing for Mrs. Taft.
and in the East Room. It was usually nonalcoholic, in the interest of
When he walked with the President or First Lady, he was usually directly
behind them, but as close as possible. The eight junior aides scattered far
keeping the crowds from lingering.
Entertaining under Taft was notable for its variety. In the beautiful
apart, circulating constantly among the guests. At the slightest signal
from one of them, plainclothesmen would converge quickly upon an
spring of 1909, Mrs. Taft gave wing to her love for the tropics by banking
offending guest. While this swarming occurred at least once at each of
the interior of the house with palms. For dinner parties and dances, she
opened the terraces to the east and west. The globes of the electric lamp
the great receptions, it took place at only one garden party, when a guest
was taken from the premises for noisily demanding that his card be car-
standards spaced along the balustrades were covered with red silk, and
ried to the President. "The secret service men, like the poor," sighed
glowed in the dark like strange bright cherries. The tubbed bay trees,
Mrs. Taft, "we had with us always.
clipped in large balls and cones, were intermingled with potted palms
State dinners were not very different from similar events under Roo-
along the parapets of the terraces. After dinner, the guests wandered
sevelt. Butt's meticulous records show that the horseshoe table was used
along the red tile floors under the stars. For dances, the Marine Band
played on a platform at the north end of the East Room. The music could
almost exclusively, with the innovation of an additional rectangular
be heard through the open windows on the east terrace, where those who
table within the horseshoe, which increased the dining room's capacity
by 30 percent. As she wrote of this in her memoirs, it dawned on Mrs.
wished could dance outside.
Taft that a star-shaped table inside the horseshoe might have held even
Musicales, begun by the Roosevelts, were continued by the Tafts.
more, "but I'm glad it never occurred to Mr. Taft," she wrote. "With his
Their musicales were often smaller, making use of the Blue Room. A
expansive disposition he certainly would have had it tried. "36
handsome, cream-colored concert grand piano, which matched the
On pleasant late spring or summer evenings, the west terrace was
neo-Empire furnishings, was installed there, and from January until May
musicales were usually held twice a week. Mrs. Taft, who played the
sometimes arranged for dinners. Secluded in the embrace of large trees, it
was an elegant setting, with the wash of electric light on tall "walls" of
piano herself, tended to prefer that instrument, with either strings or
shimmering green leaves. The east terrace was kept permanently outfit-
a flute and frequently a female singer.
Mrs. Taft held her first garden party in early May 1909. This had
ted as a promenade from April to late October and was frequently in use.
Woodrow Wilson
787
THRESHOLDS
786
White House. For Jessie's the house was filled with cousins. One of the
other daughters. Most of the planning for the wedding was left to Belle
Woodrows felt privileged that her attic room was adjacent to the great
Hagner, for the mother and sisters found the impending event painful to
cedar closet Mrs. Wilson had ordered built above the north portico. "I
think about, let alone to plan for.
was dressing when the maids came in to get Jessie's dress," she later
There having been no wedding at the White House since Alice
remembered. "So I saw it first, and oh a more magnificent wedding dress
Roosevelt's, the social secretary decided to re-create that celebrated
there never was!"29
event. Searching through the thick social scrapbooks of the officer in
Blonde and angelic-looking, the bride wore white satin with a long
charge of public buildings, she learned every detail, from where to put
train and veil. The bridesmaids wore silk in as many different shades of
platforms to the order of guests. That source exhausted, she contacted
rose as there were bridesmaids. The dresses had short trains, with a bit of
Charlie McCawley, now a colonel in the Marine Corps, and he provided
silk-stockinged shin showing in front. Silver lace wired into high Rus-
notes still in his possession on the Roosevelt-Longworth wedding.
sian-style crowns framed their faces. The wedding party descended in the
Preparations for Jessie Wilson's elaborate wedding were well along
elevator, to assemble in formation in the State Dining Room just before
when Nell Wilson's friendship with William Gibbs McAdoo, Secretary
six o'clock. On the hour of six the mahogany doors rolled back. The
of the Treasury and one of Wilson's most important advisers in the Cabi-
Marine Band, stationed in the entrance hall, struck up the march. Two
net, turned into a romance. A widower with children, McAdoo was 26
by two the wedding party proceeded down the transverse hall along an
years Nell's senior; no two worlds could have seemed farther apart than
aisle that ran through the thick crowd to the altar before the great east
those of the President's fun-loving daughter and the rugged self-made
windows in the East Room.
corporate lawyer turned politician. He was a strong political figure, and
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the wedding party returned by
Wilson trusted him. Though he had made his way in New York, his
way of the transverse hall to the Blue Room. President and Mrs. Wilson
southern background showed in his gradual introduction of strict racial
stood at one of the doors between the Green and Blue Rooms, while the
segregation into the government service; he made the Treasury Depart-
bride, groom, and the bride's attendants stood in the Blue Room's south-
ment the pilot of an entire movement. The Wilsons seemed less than
ern bow. Within about ten minutes, the several thousand guests began to
overjoyed with the match between Nell and McAdoo. Mrs. Wilson ar-
file from the East Room, through the Green Room, to be received in the
gued that Nell knew nothing of housekeeping. The President felt that
Blue Room, then pass on through the Red Room to the State Dining
things had moved too fast.
Room for refreshments. 30
Nevertheless, within a short time after Jessie's wedding, an an-
Nell Wilson's wedding was managed as it might have been in a
nouncement of Nell's engagement was made from the White House.
private home. The bride and her father descended the grand staircase
Coinciding as the wedding news did with the triumph of Wilson's New
and walked down the hall to the Blue Room, where the ceremony took
Federalism, the couples became much in demand, reflecting the Presi-
place. Belle Hagner, standing near the Blue Room fireplace, saw
dent's popularity. Jessie and the scholarly Sayre went quietly to the
McAdoo's eldest daughter, Nona, burst into tears, then erupt into hys-
Georgetown boat club for daylong canoe trips; picnic baskets were pre-
terical cries as the Marine Band played the Wedding March. Quickly
pared for them in the White House kitchen. News reporters tried to fol-
Belle and another guest took the girl to the basement cloak room, where
low them but seldom with luck. Nell, more tolerant of the press and very
they comforted her until they could summon her father's carriage to take
much in love with the publicity her position attracted, went openly to
her home. The bride apparently knew nothing of this, the girl having
lunch and to the theater with McAdoo, himself already a public figure.
been removed by the time she entered the flower-banked Blue Room.
The two weddings, Jessie's on November 25, 1913, and Nell's on
Nell took her place beside her two sisters, her only attendants, who
May 7, 1914, were quite different. The first was large and glittering, the
carried tall shepherd's crooks adorned with festoons of roses and lilies of
other small and intimate, in part because the groom had been married
the valley. The marriage ceremony took place just at dusk; by eight,
before. Both were styled family weddings and not state occasions, but the
when the couple was to depart, reporters pressed en masse on the south-
Wilsons took care to design them in high style. In the flood of press
east gate, through which the McAdoos were to pass. Four different auto-
coverage, each unmistakably made its statement about the Wilsons as
mobiles pulled up to the south portico, and four couples appeared at
"private" people of refinement. The two weddings wholly possessed the
Woodrow Wilson
789
THRESHOLDS
788
Mrs. Wilson died on August 6 in the presidential bedroom. She
intervals and climbed inside; the cars sped away at once, through gates
lived out her last weeks in terrible pain. Toward the end she asked about
thrown open by the police. Forced back by the gates, the reporters soon
her alley project, and she was assured that a bill was going to be passed to
recovered and followed in pursuit.
rid Washington of alley slums. Wilson was disconsolate over her death.
Then the bride and groom walked quietly out onto the south portico
At first he would not allow her body to be put in a coffin. He ordered
and entered a smaller car, in which they left unnoticed, enjoying the
that the remains be placed on the sofa in the bedroom, as though she
trick. Nell looked back to see her parents, hand in hand, standing on the
were still alive. Mrs. Jaffray remembered when the undertakers laid her
porch. All through the excitement of the two weddings, she had increas-
out. Wilson was there. "With his own hands he placed around her shoul-
ingly sensed that something was wrong with her mother. Now this con-
ders a lovely white silk shawl. Her golden brown hair was braided and
cern overtook her, and that, together with the thought of leaving home,
twisted around her head. She was a beautiful Madonna.'
caused her mood to change abruptly. "I horrified my husband," she said,
For several days Wilson hardly moved from beside his dead wife.
"by dissolving into tears in the darkness of the car."31
The curtains were drawn, the lights kept low. At last he permitted the
body to be placed in a coffin in the center of the East Room, where palms
Mrs. Wilson's Death
and flowers from the greenhouse lined the walls. The brief funeral service
had no music; Wilson wept when the minister took his hand. Later in
In late May when she and McAdoo returned to Washington, arriv-
the day the family boarded a special train to Ellen Wilson's hometown,
ing late at night, Nell called the White House to speak to her mother.
Rome, Georgia. Wilson rode in the compartment with the coffin. A
Ike Hoover was "slightly evasive." Nell was puzzled. Hoover asked if she
funeral was held in Rome in the Presbyterian church where 30 years
would mind calling again in the morning, as her mother had gone to bed,
before Wilson had first beheld the woman who was to be his wife. She
her father was in conference, and Margaret was out of the house. At the
was buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery among her ancestors.
White House early the next morning, Nell stood before her mother, who
was in bed. "My heart sank when I looked at her. She had changed-she
looked very small and white, and all her lovely color was gone."
The Transient
Was Nell happy? Mrs. Wilson asked, then said, "I needed only to
Back at the White House, no official mourning period was ob-
see your face, as I did Jessie's, to know that you are happy."32
served, nor were there the usual black draperies on the mirrors. The flag
The household knew that the First Lady's illness was serious. It had
on the roof was not flown at half-mast. It must have been the President
begun with a fall in the upstairs corridor, a slip on a throw rug; put to
who stopped the tradition, perhaps because it did not reflect his or his
bed, she began to weaken. At first it was believed that she was merely
late wife's attitude toward death. Mourning was restricted to a cancella-
exhausted from the weddings, which had begun and closed a rigorous
tion of all social functions until October. Margaret Wilson became the
social season. Dr. Grayson asked her to remain in bed for hours at a time.
President's hostess at that time, a responsibility she somewhat resented.
This she did through June and early July. In July, Grayson made the grim
Her mother had always encouraged her inclination to follow a career in
diagnosis that Mrs. Wilson had tuberculosis of the kidneys, a form of
concert music. Being the President's daughter had opened many doors for
Bright's disease, "so far advanced that it was incurable."
her, and to turn from these opportunities was difficult. Nell would have
Wilson was struck hard by the news. While with his daughters at
been the natural hostess had she been free from the duties of her own
lunch in the small dining room on July 28, 1914, the conversation
home and McAdoo's children. Jessie was pregnant.
hinged on the day's report that Austria had declared war on Serbia, in
The Wilson daughters came to the President's aid as best they
retribution for the murder of their heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.
could, as their mother would have wanted. When they fell short, little
"It's incredible-incredible," he said. "Don't tell your mother anything
Helen Bones compensated, staying at the side of a man she had idolized
about it." Nell asked if her father thought implications were far greater
all her life. But Wilson's unhappiness as a widower in the White House
than a war between Austria and Serbia. He did not respond at first, but
transcended all that those around him could do to compensate. Cary
put his hands over his eyes, showing great strain, and said, "I can think
Grayson felt that "anyone who was with him constantly" could see that
of nothing-nothing, when my dear one is suffering."34
Woodrow Wilson
792
1917
793
the President's events. She returned to the White House for the birth of
White House," she continued. "The palms were from the greenhouse,
her first child, Francis B. Sayre, Jr., on January 17, 1915.
the little gilt chairs, I guess the white damask tablecloths and napkins,
Wilson's dinners were long and dull, with little laughter. After the
and even the coatracks from the coatrooms." This function was held at
meal, Margaret usually played and sang for the guests in the Blue Room
the Oddfellows Hall, 16th and M Streets, where the ballroom was on the
or, when there were big crowds, in the East Room. The buoyancy
first floor and dinner was served on the second. Music was provided by
of much of contemporary American life must have made the morose house
the Marine Band. Favorite White House dignitaries were always invited,
seem even sadder by contrast. The years before the war were character-
and always attended, including most of the top officials and family inti-
ized by optimism: "We all felt that America had already stepped across
mates up to, but not including, the President and his wife.³
the threshold of a great future," remembered Nell Wilson. "Idealism,
The prestige of the Chandelier Ball generated a kind of rivalry
altruism, all the fine hopes and dreams that fill men's hearts seemed
among the white employers of the blacks who attended. When the dance
" Though movements for various reforms were part of this
was new, Mrs. Taft had given her maid, Annie Anderson, a beautiful silk
realities.
optimism, Americans seemed on the whole lighthearted, a busy people.
gown with a fan-shaped train and artificial roses made of silk chiffon.
Cocktails and cigarettes were common at fashionable parties, although
Belle Hagner's cook, Alice Green, received an invitation at last in 1914,
less so at the White House. The fox-trot and the tango were current,
having been passed over before as not being of sufficient rank. Not to be
except at the White House, even though the President did permit danc-
outdone by other employers, Belle Hagner produced for the cook a black-
ing parties before Mrs. Wilson's death.²
and-white evening dress with pearl beads, and when the ensemble still
Holding to his traditional privilege, the President accepted few invi-
did not suit her, Belle finished the costume off with a net veil. A pleased
tations. This was an advantage to others as well as to him, for even the
Alice Green reported the next morning that the Chandelier Ball was a
good-hearted Taft had inhibited people by his presence "out in com-
"very high toned affair." In writing down this summation, Belle Hagner
pany," no matter what honor he might have shed on his host. Normally,
observed: "The distinctions in the colored world of Washington are most
the President went only to the homes of the Vice President and the
clearly drawn."4
Cabinet officers. When he did accept another invitation, the host was
At the head of the White House organization, the chief usher pre-
required to submit a guest list in advance, before the President made his
sided in a way that can be likened to the winder of a clock, not a one-day
final decision to attend.
clock, but one which, well wound, would run many days without further
Though isolated within the White House, those who ran it partici-
winding before anyone noticed that the mechanism needed fresh energy.
pated in the life of the town. Ike Hoover, Warren Young, and the others
Ike Hoover delighted in order, and gradually the widower President let
belonged to Washington's middle class, enjoying comfortable circum-
him again take up old customs. Just before the social season began in the
stances and a quiet sort of celebrity. Black employees of the White House
fall of 1914, the house was transformed. Slipcovers came off the furniture
were likewise prosperous members of their community, within which
they had covered since before Mrs. Wilson died. The white linen dust
they formed part of a social elite. For most of them above the lowest
covers of the walls were removed, the tacks extracted around their edges,
rank, politeness was a professional prerequisite. In private life they called
and the silk gimp edging restored to frame the velvet and damask wall
on one another on Sunday afternoons.
coverings. Heavy curtains and cornices were brought down from the
The black male employees celebrated themselves once a year with a
"cedar room" over the north portico; the rugs arrived from storage, in-
dance called the Chandelier Ball. Invitations were engraved, and to
cluding the shaggy white vicuña upon which both Jessie and Nell had
receive one was an honor. The Chandelier Ball, named for the chande-
stood when they were married.
liers of the East Room, was probably begun about 1910, although the
The servants swapped their summer whites, which had been de-
date is uncertain. Like many other romantic customs, it continued only
signed by Mrs. Taft, for the cool-weather livery designed by Mrs. Wilson.
until the war. "I went first when I was a girl of 18," remembered one
The uniforms consisted of bottle-green jackets and black-and-white-
guest 60 years later. "The Chandelier Ball was the finest dance in town,
striped vests spangled with large gilt buttons. Likewise on the streets of
and the food was fabulous, though my mother would not let me go up to
Washington, white breeches and sport jackets, popularized by President
the dining room because of the wine. Everything was done just like at the
Wilson, were replaced by dark suits.⁵
802
1917
Woodrow Wilson
803
replacement was Edith Benham, daughter of Admiral Benham, and a
the site where the new Washington Cathedral was under construction.
young woman alert to the social ways of the capital.
Another amusement, always eagerly anticipated, was the weekend
Mrs. Wilson planned the day with Edith Benham, then the two sat
river trip aboard the Mayflower. This handsome vessel, gleaming white
in the west hall and attended to correspondence. The First Lady usually
and shining with polished mahogany, had served the Presidents begin-
took the window seat, her back to the great lunette window; her social
ning with Roosevelt. It was comfortable without being as luxurious as
secretary sat at the desk with the papers. All letters to Mrs. Wilson
some private yachts. There were decks lined with wicker lounge chairs,
received a response, even requests for autographs. Bold requests for invi-
an ample suite for the President and First Lady, a salon, and guest rooms,
tations to the White House were sometimes courteously dismissed with a
in addition to a dining room, presided over by a Chinese chef. Mrs.
response from the secretary, sometimes honored with an invitation to an
Wilson remembered the dreamlike weekends when they sailed down the
afternoon reception, of which several were held each week during the
Potomac, leaving from the Navy Yard on Friday afternoons at about dusk
social season. Letters which were unkind or threatening were usually
and returning Sunday night. 17
turned over to the Secret Service. Belle Hagner had proved to be expert
"We both liked studying the charts," she wrote, "to see if we could
at evaluating the mail, and Edith Benham became a worthy successor,
find some little tributary of the river to explore." Fond of old houses and
holding the job of social secretary intermittently for more than 23 years
villages, they often went ashore to view the relics of Virginia and Mary-
under three First Ladies. 16
land. Sometimes they took guests, but often it was only the two of them,
Mrs. Wilson kept a watch for the President down the long central
with servants, some office staff, and Secret Service men. 18
corridor. When he emerged from his study, heading for the elevator, she
Just as Cary Grayson watched the health of the President, urging
joined him and they walked together to the Executive Office, passing
him into a routine of eating-when he had little interest in food-and
through the basement to the colonnade, and into the little "President's
practically forcing him to play golf every day, Mrs. Wilson saw to it that
hall" that led through the west wing into the office building. At the end
he relaxed. The drives, the boat trips, movies in the East Room, and a
of the hall they kissed and parted, she returning to her letters and to her
night or two at the theater during most weeks were all part of her pro-
social secretary in the west hall.
gram, devised in council with Dr. Grayson. It was an incredible sched-
The Wilsons met for lunch at half past noon in the private dining
ule, but Grayson believed that Edith Wilson had saved the President.
room. Unlike her predecessor, Mrs. Wilson found this room "more
"With dynamic vitality and sheer joy of living," wrote Grayson, "she
homelike" than the State Dining Room with its dark oak paneling.
showed him how to take hold again of life and happiness."19
While there were nearly always guests, the President and Mrs. Wilson
did sometimes dine alone in their sitting room upstairs or, in nice
weather, on the west terrace, screened by the tubbed bay trees. As usual,
End of an Age
the house was open to visitors from ten to four, with no break at midday.
The President labored under inconceivable pressure, which more
Luncheon was therefore served behind closed doors. The faint rumble of
than counterbalanced the bliss of his private life. Apart from troubles in
the tourists could be heard now and then over lunchtime chatter. At 2
the Caribbean and Mexico, Wilson watched the European war intensify.
or 2:30 Mrs. Wilson walked back to the Oval Office with her husband,
German submarines plagued the seas; Americans died or were wounded.
sometimes remaining at his side for an hour or more, making no com-
The cry for revenge grew loud. A large and vocal opposing element
ments, only listening to the men talk.
wanted neutrality sustained. Wilson warned the Germans in stronger
In the early evening the Wilsons usually took a long drive. Particu-
terms, threatening, in April 1916, a severance of diplomatic relations.
lar about the routes he took, like Taft, Wilson planned the excursions
The distant war seemed ever closer.
with care. The automobile trips occupied about an hour, and the Presi-
In the light of this, Wilson, in long and arduous hours alone with
dent could relate the advantages of each of his routes. One was a ramble
his thoughts, began to refine his ideas on the future place of America in
in northern Virginia; another followed the dirt river road that hugged the
the world. Should his country go to war, he believed, the war must be
Potomac opposite Washington; still another took the presidential couple
fought on principles higher and more universal than those which had
and the accompanying Secret Service car through Rock Creek Park to
started the fighting in Europe. Wilson knew that his convictions, though
834
DISTANT DRUMS
Woodrow Wilson
835
the name of duty. In her memoirs she is candid in justifying herself:
"Woodrow Wilson was first my beloved husband whose life I was trying
wheeled from his study at noon into the elevators, then to the East
to save, fighting with my back to the wall-after that he was the Presi-
Room, where the curtains were drawn for the screening of a movie.
dent of the United States."
Douglas Fairbanks had presented a large theater-type projector to the
President. After the show-sometimes after several of them-Wilson
So conspicuous was Wilson's absence from the public eye that an
official inquiry became inevitable. This emerged when the hostile Senate
was wheeled back to the elevator, then ate his lunch upstairs. When
Foreign Relations Committee debated the troubles with Mexico. The
spring brought warm days, he ate downstairs in the State Dining Room,
secretary of state testified that he had not discussed Mexican affairs with
and spent time after lunch on the south portico, where the canvas
Wilson since his return from Paris. In the resulting furor, Senator Lodge
awnings were drawn up to admit abundant sunlight. When Prohibition
became law in 1920, he obediently banished alcohol from the White
questioned whether the President was competent to deal with the situa-
tion. The committee requested that it be allowed to send representatives
House, depriving himself of the occasional scotch he enjoyed.
for an interview and to its surprise received an appointment for the next
Political allies in the treaty fight were calling daily by late January.
day. Wilson knew that if he denied this visit he would fan an already
He enjoyed advising them and hearing them report on the battle in the
dangerous fire of curiosity.
Senate. But when the treaty failed on March 19, 1920, a pall of gloom
fell over the White House that even the efforts of the First Lady could
The afternoon of the appointment, December 5, 1919, the White
House seemed to be under siege by newsmen. No pretense masked the
not lift. One year less a few days remained of his Presidency; seldom a
week went by that he did not make some move in behalf of the League.
purpose of the committee's visit. The Mexican question was virtually
When the Democratic Convention assembled, he was not there, nor did
irrelevant. The two representatives arrived promptly, one Wilson's es-
teemed ally, Senator Gilbert M. Hitchcock, Democrat and Senate man-
he speak for the candidates James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt,
ager of the fight to ratify the treaty; the other was Senator Albert Fall,
beyond giving them an old man's blessing, and issuing to all the voters an
Republican, a colorful and extravagant Westerner who was no friend of
appeal to cast their ballots only for men who would support the treaty.
Wilson's or of his policies. Mrs. Wilson led the delegation to the foot of
"He was a figure pitiful beyond words," remembered Mrs. Jaffray of
the Lincoln bed, where the President lay carefully banked in pillows,
Wilson in his last year in the White House. "I can shut my eyes now and
see him being helped down the corridor by Mrs. Wilson and one of the
with the covers arranged to conceal the useless limbs while displaying the
able right side. Edith Wilson took notes with pad and pencil. The inter-
doctors, each step a silent and painful one, as wooden and lifeless as if a
mechanical man were walking through the hall." Hoover remembered
view was brief. As the senators left, Senator Fall squeezed Wilson's hand
that Wilson "never had any more actual initiative" after his stroke. "We
and said, "Well, Mr. President, we have all been praying for you."
conspired in every way," wrote the kindhearted Ed Starling, "to give him
"Which way, Senator?" was Woodrow Wilson's famous reply, at
comfort and solace. When he was to go for a ride some of us organized a
which Fall laughed heartily, wrote Mrs. Wilson, "as if the witticism had
been his own.
group to stand at the gate as he returned, and we told them to cheer as
he passed through." Looking out the car window, Wilson studied the
figures on the sidewalk, and his eyes glistened with tears.³³
The Wilson Era Ends
In 1920 the League of Nations became a reality, meeting first in
Paris on January 16, while the Senate of the United States still furiously
debated whether or not to approve American participation. Wilson fol-
lowed the proceedings from the sidelines. Those whom he received were
warned not to excite him; allowed relative peace, he gradually improved.
He walked only for exercise. Most of the time he was moved about in a
high-backed "rolling chair," not the kind used by hospitals but an ample
wicker vehicle from the boardwalk at Atlantic City. Most days he was
838
LIMELIGHT
Warren G. Harding
839
citizens with a promise that he would return the United States to what it
had been before the war. He patterned his campaign, like his public
Standards
image, on McKinley, the last old-style President, and greeted the world
at home on his front porch. Newsmen flocked to listen at his feet.
As personalities, the Hardings were more like the presidential cou-
Few Presidents have gone to the White House with such adulation
ples of the 19th century than like their 20th-century predecessors. They
as was heaped upon Warren G. Harding. Born poor, he had struggled to
were ordinary people, not distinguished by aristocratic pretensions or
achieve success in business; he was typical of what Americans liked to
sanctified by ideals any more exalted than the patriotism one might ex-
think was "American" in a man. He was neither blue-blooded nor intel-
pect from any President. History often has been unkind in appraising
lectual but a log-cabin sort of President, and his speech writers developed
them, and the usual primary sources are sometimes undependable. Mem-
his public stature along that line, giving him words to deliver in his
oirs written by their contemporaries are seldom harsh, and they are nega-
rolling, resonant voice: "America's present need is not heroics but heal-
tive only if recast in the light of the scandals that surfaced after the
ing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not
President's death. In this sense, as sources, they are misinterpreted. The
agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic,
Teapot Dome oil schemes and the other activities of his associates
but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in
tainted Harding's reputation. His dignity suffered further from stories of
internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality."3
his extramarital love affairs.
In the edge of the limelight stood the "Duchess," as Harding called
The Hardings survive most vividly in the pages of the newspapers
his wife. The sharp-eyed Florence Kling Harding was unable to conceal
and magazines. In a postwar America hungry to know itself, journalists
her aggressiveness by genteel manners, any more than she could mask
found that Harding in the White House provided an excellent subject for
with powder, rouge, and a wavy frame of marcelled hair the fact that she
analysis. Often the view is close up, enriched by examples of presidential
was five years her husband's senior. Mrs. Harding was unmistakably 60.
home life, which in other administrations had been carefully screened
That she idolized her husband was clear, and it was widely believed that
from newsmen. The famous newspaper columnist Mark Sullivan remem-
she was perpetually suspicious of his moral strength, at least where other
bered him in later years as "conscientious according to his own stand-
women were concerned. She was a good talker-a valuable talent in the
ards-which is the only way anybody can be conscientious; and he was
political world-and could make herself known in any company. But her
irked, a little shamed, by the compromises he had frequently to make
boldness was balanced by uncertainty, particularly in society. Easily of-
between what he liked to do and what his office obliged him to do, or
fended, she confided to Alice Roosevelt Longworth that for years she had
what he felt was due to his office." Sullivan liked to cite an example of
kept a little red book of names of people who had crossed her or her
the dichotomy of man and President in an anecdote that would have
husband in Washington and that this would be consulted in all social
been shocking had it been reported at the time: The two were sitting in
planning for the White House.⁴
rockers on the south portico, Sullivan recalled, when the President
Florence Harding had been preoccupied with Warren Harding for
"wished to offer me a drink. He, with Mrs. Harding, took me into their
half her years. She had met and married him at 30, when she, the daugh-
bedroom, saying they felt that since the national prohibition was in
ter of banker Amos Kling, the richest man in Marion, Ohio, was a
effect, they ought not to drink in the ordinary rooms of the White
divorcée living with her young son in rented rooms in her hometown,
House, nor offer drinks to their friends, but that in their bedroom they
teaching piano. Nor had she strayed from Harding's side for the three
might properly follow their personal standards."
decades prior to his election to the Presidency. She helped him run the
One of Harding's earliest acts was to open the White House to the
Marion Star; she managed their big, cheery house on the best street in
public-it had been closed since the beginning of the war. People came
Marion, and was a highly accomplished hostess. Perhaps merely to tease
in droves, entering daily at nine through the East Wing and ascending
him, she claimed considerable credit for his success. Soon after Harding
from the basement corridor to the main floor, where they viewed the
arrived at the White House, a member of the office staff overheard her
great ivory and gilt East Room. There, after the renovation of 1902, the
quip, "Well, Warren Harding. I have got you the Presidency; what are
tours had usually stopped. But under Harding the doors to the state
you going to do with it?"⁵
parlors and the dining room were opened. Visitors were allowed to peer
into them across velvet ropes, as they had sometimes been able to do in
840
LIMELIGHT
Warren G. Harding
841
the 19th century. Harding revived another custom practiced intermit-
tently throughout the 19th century-that of going to the state floor just
Government economy." The usual congressional appropriation of
before lunch on weekdays, except when the Cabinet was meeting, and
$20,000 for an incoming administration would not be spent (although in
making an unannounced visit to the East Room to greet the tourists
fact the amount was transferred to the fund for official entertaining).
there. Crowds usually collected, hoping the President would appear. A
Most of what came to the White House was from the Hardings' house on
record was kept of the number of people he met each time.
Wyoming Avenue. Most of the china and silver and many other small
The state rooms had not changed essentially since McKim's renova-
items were never to be unpacked; they were found still sealed in the same
tion of 1902, when the ideals of the beaux arts movement were still fresh.
crates some years later when the Harding Memorial Association took
Twenty years later the rooms seemed relics of the imperial White House
inventory of the couple's belongings. The furniture seems to have been
of the prewar era, and visitors found them cold and forbidding. Small
the usual variety of neo-Jacobean, neo-Queen Anne, and overstuffed
table lamps, sofa and chair pillows, footstools, and a few comfortable
"club" chairs such as one might have found in any upper-middle-class
residence of the time.⁸
chairs added through the years contrasted to everything else. The earlier
sparse furnishings were still placed in the same stiff configurations, con-
The Lincoln bed was moved from the presidential bedroom where
stantly renewed by obedient hands.
Woodrow Wilson had used it to the guest room across the hall, and was
Broadloom carpeting and heavy draperies of dark damask lined with
replaced by the twin beds brought by President and Mrs. Taft. The gilded
sateen and interlined with flannel muffled voices and footsteps, contrib-
crown and blue damask side curtains that had graced the Lincoln bed
uting to that silence which outsiders always find remarkable in the White
were left hanging over the pair of smaller beds. For the first time, the
House. Although visitors sometimes strained to hear voices from other
press emphasized that the presidential bedroom was "their room," not
rooms, they also perceived nearly complete absence of animation. There
just the President's. Note was taken of the "coziest davenport" pulled up
were no guides unless one of Ike Hoover's assistants could spare a few
to the fireplace, and of miniature portraits of Florence Harding and the
minutes. Visitors wandered along a more or less prescribed path, with a
President's parents on the mantel.9
policeman stationed in the entrance hall, but only one or two circulating
Mrs. Harding's expensive clothing filled the closets of the dressing
elsewhere, usually out of sight.
room adjoining the presidential bedroom. Additional shelves and cabi-
The Hardings left the state rooms as they found them. Most of the
nets were built for bags and hats. The bookcase in the bedroom was made
glossy white woodwork was freshly painted, and only a few months be-
into a shoe closet, with silk shirred over its glass doors to hide its con-
fore, Mrs. Wilson had replaced soiled window hangings and upholsteries
tents. The rest of the First Lady's clothing was stored in tall Victorian
with the same dark patterns and hues. She had been sensitive to criticism
wardrobes, which had long been hidden in the rooms and corridors of the
that implied that the White House had become run down and been
attic floor. Mrs. Harding moved two of these to the blue sitting room to
hold dresses and furs.
turned into a hospital. President and Mrs. Harding, who found it
spick-and-span, let it be known that "no reasonable expense should be
Through the most private part of the family quarters-the four
spared in furnishing and maintaining the public rooms on a scale befit-
rooms along the south side, beginning with the President's bedroom and
ting the dignity of the Executive Mansion." But they had no plans
ending with the study east of the oval room-the Hardings scattered
to change things.⁷
their memorabilia, along with their furnishings. Pictures on tables, walls,
Upstairs, the Hardings' views coincided: Economy was the first con-
and mantels depicted Harding giving speeches, receiving individuals and
sideration. The family quarters were furnished by the government in only
groups, playing golf, and walking along streets before adoring crowds.
a basic way. Presidents had always brought furniture of their own to the
Here and there were mementos, such as a souvenir pipe in a stand, or an
White House to supplement what was there. The oval room and the blue
engraved loving cup. Mrs. Harding's memorabilia took the form of a few
sitting room (or "West Parlor") immediately west of it were almost
collections, particularly statuettes of elephants. Friends sent her ele-
empty. Ten days after the inauguration, the New York Times reported
phants carved in ivory, or cast in brass; some were cheap souvenirs of
that Harding would use "home furnishings" both from his house in Mar-
distant places, others fine examples of craftsmanship. They paraded
ion and the one then being closed in Washington, as an "example of
single-file in great numbers across mantel shelves, among the Hardings'
pictures, and over tabletops. 10
Warren G. Harding
847
846
LIMELIGHT
Approximately two-thirds of the full-time staff could now relax, away
vanished. A moment of quiet, then the first guests were heard on the
from the eyes of the guests. Tail coats were relegated to the pantry closet
stair that led from the basement corridor.
and, in white aprons, with sleeves rolled to the elbows, the butler's club
From the arrival of the guests in the East Room to their departure,
was in session. The cleanup had traditionally been festive, and while
the staff carried the state dinner through a course that seemed smooth
horseplay and repartee survived, Prohibition precluded the strong punch
and effortless. At about eight, the buildings commissioner, first Colonel
of other times, which the butlers had made from leftover spirits mixed on
Clarence S. Ridley, a Wilson appointment, but soon Harding's Colonel
ice with squeezed citrus fruits. 19
Clarence O. Sherrill, arranged the guests in a long oval to be received by
The dishes, glassware, and silver were washed in the pantry and
the President. He followed a list prepared by the social secretary and
dried by hand. Taken below in the dumbwaiter, or down the little twist-
approved by the President and the State Department. When all was
ing stair that connected pantry and small kitchen, the silver was received
ready, the colonel signaled an aide in the hall, who in turn signaled the
by Colonel Brooks in the vault. He thoroughly inspected each item,
leader of the Marine Band. The bandleader looked up to the stair landing
knife or fork or soup tureen, and checked it off his list. Most of the dishes
for Ike Hoover's nod to begin the drumroll.
remained upstairs in the pantry, with the glasses. President Monroe's
The Hardings descended as instructed by the chief usher, much in
great plateau was taken from the table so that the cloth could be re-
the manner of Roosevelt, only with less fanfare. They walked around the
moved, then returned to its place stripped of the evening's flowers.
oval of guests just as Taft and Wilson and their wives had done; along the
When the last guests departed, around midnight, other parts of the
same path trod first by the Polks more than 70 years before, they led the
house were restored for the coming day. The gilt chairs from the East
way to dinner; they sat at table as presidential couples had for genera-
Room and the State Dining Room were stacked along the walls of the
tions. The only novelty was the absence of the traditional arc of wine
lower corridor. Other props were similarly made ready for their return to
glasses at each plate. No wine had been served at an official dinner since
storage early the next morning. At the southwest gate, near War &
1920, when Wilson banned it at the beginning of Prohibition.
Navy, the extra servants turned in their passes and departed. Ike Hoover,
Beyond the dark-oak enclosure of the State Dining Room, the
after a final inspection, went home by limousine. The lights were turned
house was an anthill of activity. Food on platters, in bowls, on trays, and
out by one of the two watchmen who patrolled the house throughout the
on plates was packed according to careful plan on the pantry counters.
night. They would push mother-of-pearl buttons along the way to signal
When its time came, it was borne through the upholstered swinging door
the central guard station that all was well.
into the dining room. Happily for the staff, it was customary for guests to
remain seated until the President ended the meal by standing up. This
freed the elevator for food service, and food-laden tea carts were hauled
Friends
up to the state floor, then rolled to the pantry or private dining room.
Harding's administration was marked by early and dramatic suc-
Dishes and tableware were stacked on carts in the smaller dining room
cesses. In April 1921, the month after his inauguration, the President
when removed from the table.
addressed the Congress, requesting legislation for a series of steps that
At the conclusion of the meal, men adjourned to the Red Room to
would lead to the "normalcy" he had promised. Besides reduced taxa-
smoke, women to the Green Room, many of them also to smoke. With
tion, a revival of protective tariffs, and a national budget, he asked for an
ample "dressing rooms" below, and with women now accustomed to
end to the state of war that still technically existed with Germany. The
smoking, at least one of the principal reasons for the after dinner separa-
wheels began to turn without delay. May saw the passage of the Emer-
tion was gone, but the custom prevailed. After about half an hour, the
gency Tariff Bill, June the establishment of the Bureau of the Budget and
party adjourned to the East Room, where they found as many as a hun-
the Office of Comptroller General; on July 2, while he was vacationing
dred more guests waiting to join them for a musicale. The late company
at a friend's home in New Jersey, the President signed a joint resolu-
was admitted just as the dinner guests rose from the table. 18
tion of the Congress making peace with Germany official. Also in July,
In the empty dining room, the evening was already over before the
Harding signed an appropriations bill providing for a disarmament con-
strains of music began down the hall. The mahogany doors to the Red
ference. Hailed as a major move toward world peace, the Washington
Room and hall were drawn shut, and the work of cleaning began.
Calvin Coolidge
853
train with great ceremony, Mrs. Harding and her small party hastened
from the presidential car unnoticed, crossed the President's Room of the
station, and were hurried by automobile to the White House. Friends
and relatives awaited her upstairs. At 11:35, the flag-covered coffin ar-
37
rived on a horse-drawn caisson at the northeast gate. The faces of Har-
ding's close friends and relatives peered from the upstairs windows of the
White House. Throngs of spectators stood silent outside the fence.
As the coffin was carried through the north door, the sobbing of the
Hearth and Home
gardener, Charlie Patton, broke the quiet. "I never thought I'd live to
see this day," he said. The undertaker, a volunteer, tied a black crape
decoration on the front door, in ignorance-or defiance-of the official
policy of decorative restraint. Harding's body was placed in the East
Room with the head to the south. The procession soon withdrew, leav-
ing an honor guard stationed at each corner of the bier. Mrs. Harding
then descended to the East Room and selected the flowers she thought
her husband would like, dispatching the others to the Capitol for the
funeral. Better composed than might have been expected, she asked to
N
ews of President Harding's death had come to the White
be left alone in the East Room for a while that night and the next
House by telephone. Ike Hoover had been trying to
morning. For the top of the coffin the widow designed a spread eagle
keep a diary, but at important times he never seemed
made of red, white, and blue flowers.³
to make a record. "President dies," he wrote, and wrote no more. His
At ten o'clock the next morning the coffin was mounted again on
little book is otherwise merely a series of blank pages for the early days of
the caisson and taken in a long and somber procession to the Capitol,
August 1923. Hoover's job was to run the White House, not keep chroni-
where a funeral service was held before the Congress, the Cabinet, and a
cles. From Alvey Adee and Rudolph Forster he got his bearings, then
large group of invited dignitaries. At the conclusion of the service the
quickly set to work. Crape was hung over the chandeliers and mirrors of
public was admitted to the rotunda to view the silvery metal coffin, with
the East Room; little funerary drapery was put elsewhere. The shades
its flag and floral eagle. Mrs. Harding slipped away to her car, once again
were drawn, and the house was closed to the public.¹
unnoticed by the crowd. Stopped for more than half an hour in a traffic
jam on Constitution Avenue, she finally arrived at the White House at
The Stage Is Cleared
noon, where she received the Cabinet wives in the oval room upstairs,
the scene of many happy occasions.
For all the restraint shown at the White House, the public mourned
The funeral train departed for Marion late in the afternoon. During
its dead leader extravagantly. Flowers began to arrive as soon as the
the night Mrs. Harding, traveling alone in the private car that had borne
florists opened August 3. Ike Hoover ordered them banked along the
her and the President to the West, kept her vigil, immaculately dressed,
sides of the transverse hall and around the walls of the East Room. A
her marcel flawless. The final funeral service and burial were held two
stenographer kept a running account of the donors' names, also noting
days later. When Mrs. Harding returned to Washington, Mrs. Coolidge
the form of the arrangement-bouquets, crosses, wreaths, anchors of
met her at the station and they were driven to the White House, where
hope, and many other traditional symbols of mourning. The Lincoln
Mrs. Coolidge assured her she could remain as long as was necessary.
bier, housed in the basement of the Capitol, was brought again to the
That evening the Coolidges dined alone with Mrs. Harding in the pri-
East Room, repaired, and made ready to receive Harding's coffin.²
vate dining room.
The funeral train pulled into Union Station at 10:30 p.m. on a hot,
The widow remained for five busy days, during which she saw only a
still August 7. It had held the world transfixed during its five-day trip
few intimate callers; her main task was to cull the President's papers. Hot
across the nation. While an honor guard transported the coffin from the
852
862
HEARTH AND HOME
Calvin Coolidge
863
staircase and on to the south entrance of the basement, from which he
was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed Hospital. His mother followed
Diversion
in a White House car. President Coolidge remained in the Executive
Office until he could bear the anxiety no longer, then joined his wife at
After spending the balance of the summer in near seclusion in New
Walter Reed. The doctors failed in their effort to save the boy's life.
England, Mrs. Coolidge returned to the White House in the fall of 1924
Unconscious in his last hours, Calvin died in the presence of his parents
less interested in the upcoming election than in restoring her spirits
at 10:30 at night, July 7, 1924, at the age of 16.
through a worthy project. John was away at Amherst; seeing him go had
At the White House, social secretary Polly Randolph hurried down
hurt more this time, and the Coolidges had consoled themselves by send-
the hall to find John Coolidge as soon as she received word of Calvin's
ing as bodyguard Colonel Ed Starling, who had become a family favorite.
death. He was alone in the blue sitting room adjoining his parents' room
At Amherst he shared John's quarters, pledging to guard both the boy's
upstairs. "He bore the blow like a soldier," Miss Randolph wrote in her
safety and his morals.
memoirs, "but I felt like a murderer as I told him, for I knew that some of
In looking around for a project, Mrs. Coolidge decided to improve
the light of youth was taken from him forever.
" The two went to
the White House by redecorating and furnishing the family quarters. The
the north side to stand at a window and await the return of the parents.
rooms were drab and sparsely furnished, having been filled and emptied
The intense heat finally lessened in the deep of night. "For what
four times since McKim finished them in 1902. McKim had run out of
seemed an eternity, John and I stood together at the window over the
money, leaving the Roosevelts and those wha followed to furnish their
front door, waiting. At last the headlights of the President's car turned
living quarters as best they could. Both Mrs. Taft and the first Mrs.
in at the northwest gate, and drew up beneath the portico. Wearily up
Wilson had done some redecorating, largely with their own possessions.
the steps and into the house they came-Calvin and Grace Coolidge;
A little furniture was bought from public funds during each administra-
worn, exhausted by days and nights of watching and of grief-but still
tion, to finish this or that room. The guest rooms at the east end of the
courageous! John's only thought was for his father and mother. He ran
second floor were comfortably furnished, in the manner of bland hotel
to meet them. "10
rooms; some of their mahogany beds and dressers had been made in 1902
Shortly after daybreak the remains of Calvin Coolidge, Jr., arrived
by Davenport in Boston. But the family's rooms lacked the cheerful and
at the White House in a gray metal coffin, which was placed in the
homelike abundance one might expect in the private rooms of a Presi-
center of the East Room. Newsboys were already on the street with the
dent of the United States. Especially bare and uninviting were the four
headlines proclaiming his death. An honor guard marched solemnly in
rooms in the heart of the family quarters, beginning with the oval room
and stationed itself beside the coffin. The funeral was held in the East
on the south side and moving west.
Room the following day, summer sun streaming through the tall windows
The Coolidges had little furniture of their own, for they had always
onto political, military, and diplomatic leaders, many weeping openly.
rented either partially furnished houses or furnished apartments in ho-
Through the service the three Coolidges sat motionless, their arms
tels. Since they had not surrendered their rented house in Northampton,
linked tightly together.
most of what they had was still there. After the Hardings' possessions
When the ceremony was over, the family departed by special train
were moved out of the White House, the Coolidges borrowed so much
to Vermont for Calvin's burial among his ancestors. Weeks later the
furniture from other parts of the house to supply the family quarters that
correspondent John T. Lambert, an acquaintance of Coolidge's since his
the central corridor and several bedrooms were left bare. Mrs. Coolidge
years in Massachusetts politics, called at the Oval Office to express his
found this making do an unwelcome burden. In her project for the family
sympathy. "I am sorry," he said at last; "Calvin was a good boy." Presi-
quarters, she intended to improve her own surroundings, while at the
dent Coolidge turned his chair around in silence and looked outside
same time creating something truly worthwhile that she could pass on to
through the windows behind his desk. "You know," he finally said to
her successors.
Lambert, "I sit here thinking of it, and I just can't believe it has hap-
By the fall of 1924 the First Lady had decided to furnish the family
pened." He repeated himself, his eyes brimming with tears, "I just can't
quarters in "colonial" style. Many influences swayed her decision. Since
believe it has happened. "11
the war the so-called "American colonial" style in interior decoration
had become the most popular mode in domestic furnishing. Examples
926
FULL HOUSE
Franklin D. Roosevelt
927
Family and Guests
Second in rank among the permanent guests was Marguerite
Family life at the Roosevelt White House was unorthodox; parents
LeHand, called "Missy" in the family circle. She was the President's
and children seemed more intimate than in fact they were. The five
personal secretary and great friend; it was generally agreed by intimates
grown children felt closer to their father than their mother, whom they
that her power in the Executive Office equaled Mrs. Roosevelt's over the
found cold and distant. Eleanor Roosevelt had been preempted long
house. Attractive and immaculately groomed, with prematurely white
since from her rightful role in the household by her mother-in-law, the
hair, she was an able secretary, a shrewd judge of people, and a good-
accomplished Sara Delano Roosevelt, who had directed life closely at
natured companion to the President. She had already lived in the Roose-
Hyde Park. The domination of an old woman over the younger genera-
velt household for 13 years, moving to Hyde Park after Roosevelt's un-
tion was not so unusual at the time, especially when her son's family
successful vice presidential campaign of 1920. At the White House the
lived in her home, but a more politic mother-in-law might have seen the
secretary was given what had been the housekeeper's apartment on the
problems she was creating and diplomatically yielded some territory. As
third floor, a tiny but pleasantly remote suite with slanted ceilings, and
First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt thwarted any effort to re-create the Hyde
with high windows looking out toward the Potomac, through the heavy
Park situation and insisted upon personally managing the White House,
stone balustrade that crowned the house.
as long as her enthusiasm for it lasted.
The least-known guest, and a full-time resident only at intervals,
The upstairs rooms, however, came to reflect Hyde Park at least in
was Lorena Hickok, an Associated Press reporter who first met Mrs.
being filled with guests. In the entire 12 years of Roosevelt's Presidency
Roosevelt while covering Al Smith's campaign in 1928. Not until 1932
the husband and wife were never in residence alone. In addition to short-
did they become close friends. Lorena Hickok's usual bedroom was the
term company, there were guests who remained indefinitely. These were
former dressing room of the Lincoln Bedroom, on the northwest cor-
either relatives or persons the Roosevelts deemed necessary for one rea-
ner, across the hall from Mrs. Roosevelt's suite. A quiet, unhealthy,
son or another. Such guests lived more or less as part of the family,
and rather mannish woman in her late 30s, Lorena Hickok was of-
although with little privacy, for they were on constant call by one or
ten sent by the First Lady-presumably in accord with President Roose-
both of the Roosevelts.
velt's wishes-to observe situations in various parts of the country.
Foremost among the full-time guests was Louis McHenry Howe,
"Hick," as she was called, was really less a member of the family than
who had been the President-elect's liaison with the White House. If the
Louis Howe or Missy LeHand.
intimacy of a personal relationship had been the measure, Howe would
This somewhat odd circle coexisted in apparent harmony. As a
have been the most powerful man in the United States. Roosevelt felt
group, they liked their comforts. When they got their first taste of the
both indebted to him and dependent upon him. Mrs. Roosevelt held
Washington heat, Louis Howe ordered air-conditioning for six rooms on
Howe in equally high regard, he having discovered her capabilities as a
the second floor-those of Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, Lorena Hickok,
campaigner and promoted her from the background to the forefront of
and himself-and for the bedroom of Missy LeHand's suite on the third
her husband's election effort. Perhaps in jest, Howe asked that he and his
floor. Westinghouse made the installation in May 1933, placing the units
wife, Grace, sleep in the Lincoln bed. Since his wishes were usually fairly
in the fireplaces and connecting them through the chimneys to the com-
sacred in the eyes of his patrons, the bed was moved from the Lincoln
pressors on the roof. The permanent inhabitants used their bedrooms as
Bedroom to the small chamber the Howes occupied, shaded by the
offices and sometimes had private guests there for cocktails or meals.
north portico. The presidential secretary suffered from emphysema,
Most evenings the entire household was together for dinner, although
which, with other ailments, eventually turned his room into a sick
breakfast and lunch could be eaten in one's room.¹⁷
bay. At that point he was given the Lincoln Bedroom on the north-
There would be other residents at the Roosevelt White House later
west, where there was space not only for oxygen tanks and other medi-
on, notably Harry L. Hopkins, one of the architects of the New Deal.
cal paraphernalia but also for the mounds of papers that always sur-
The Roosevelt children lived there from time to time. Anna, the eldest,
rounded him. Howe's funeral would be held in the East Room as a tribute
was there for the longest periods, moving in soon after the inauguration
to his public service.
with her two children, Sistie and Buzz, in anticipation of a divorce from
her husband, Curtis Dall. They would remain until Anna's remarriage in
968
SKETCHBOOKS
Franklin D. Roosevelt
969
considered it condescending: "I always wanted to ask Mr. Bullitt,
whether, when he stayed in the White House, he had not found in the
they set up on the grass of the Parks or Circles by which the procession
bathrooms some of the things he listed as essential, like soap, a glass,
was to pass.
" With the royal party was a British newspaper corre-
towels, and the like. "48 She intended to receive the king and queen in
spondent, who wrote, "The state drive from the station to the White
the way she and the President saw proper. It was not a personal or private
House rivalled in enthusiasm anything Their Majesties had ever
seen.
" The same newsman claimed that 150 tons of confetti were
visit; it was symbolic and had to be carefully staged. Consulting with her
old friend, Lady Lindsay, the American wife of British Ambassador Sir
swept up from the streets of Washington the next day. 50
Ronald Lindsay, she made her plans, taking into account the formality
The two cars left the procession at the White House and entered the
appropriate to such an event. But the First Lady would also have folk
cool green of the south grounds through the southeast gate. Disembark-
songs sung for the king and queen in the East Room, and at Hyde Park
ing at the south portico, they passed beneath the arch and into the
they would be served hot dogs cooked outside, picnic style.
Diplomatic Reception Room, where the two couples paused for a short
The newspapers that early summer covered in detail the progress of
time and conversed pleasantly. In the East Room at high noon the diplo-
the royal couple through Canada; the American people eagerly awaited
matic corps presented itself in full dress, arranged by rank in the long
their arrival in the United States. A stroke of bad luck had come in a
oval known as the Diplomatic Circle. The British ambassador, the dean
disagreement between the Americans and the British over British foreign
of the corps, rounded the circle with the king, while his wife, Lady
policy in the Middle East, but even that did not dampen the public's high
Lindsay, followed with the queen. Each of the diplomats and their wives
spirits, and soon the royal visit dominated the front pages. Just after nine
were presented in turn to the king and queen, in a relatively rapid cere-
in the evening of June 7, 1939, the king and queen crossed the border by
mony that ended with the departure of the guests of honor by elevator to
train from Canada and were received by an American delegation in
their rooms upstairs. At 1 p.m. they returned for a small, informal lunch
Niagara Falls, New York. Through the night the royal train sped toward
with the Roosevelts, then began an automobile tour of the city. Since
Washington, arriving at 11 in the morning of June 8. Vast crowds were
the route of the tour had been announced in advance, the roads were all
drawn to the city, hoping for a glimpse of King George and Queen Eliza-
crowded, with thousands again struggling for a glimpse of royalty.
beth. The President and Mrs. Roosevelt received their guests in the
Little about the two-day royal visit to Washington could be called
flower-banked President's Room at Union Station. Two open limou-
"social," although there was a succession of dinners, luncheons, teas,
sines, King George and President Roosevelt in one and Queen Elizabeth
and receptions. Every event was official. The Roosevelts held a state
and the First Lady in the second, joined a waiting military parade, which
dinner on the first evening, and after it King George and President
included bombers flying overhead.
Roosevelt talked in the oval room until the early morning. Before their
The June heat was intense and the glare dazzling. King George wore
night departure for New York on June 9, King George honored the Presi-
the full-dress uniform of an admiral of the fleet, while Queen Elizabeth
dent with a small dinner at the British Embassy. From Washington the
was "radiant," wrote one spectator, in an ankle-length summery dress of
king and queen went to New York, where they viewed the World's Fair
"powder-mauve," with a wide-brimmed straw hat garnished with feath-
and spent Saturday night and Sunday with the Roosevelts at Hyde Park.
ers. The President wore a morning coat, and Mrs. Roosevelt a yoke-
On Sunday evening they embarked by train for Canada.
collared, calf-length blue dress and a wide-brimmed hat. The queen soon
During the royal visit to the White House, the queen used the Rose
produced a parasol for shade, but, noted Mrs. Roosevelt, continued to
Bedroom on the northeast, and King George stayed across the hall in
have "the most gracious manner and bowed right and left with interest,
what is known today as the Lincoln Bedroom and was then the Lincoln
actually looking at people in the crowd SO that I am sure many of them
Study. A movement outside the White House to decorate these quarters
felt that the bow was really for them personally. "49
for the occasion with American antiques from museums and private col-
A cheering crowd, variously estimated at 500,000 to 700,000,
lections had been stopped by President Roosevelt. The most embellish-
packed the streets along the parade route, seemingly oblivious of the
ment he would permit was the hanging in the queen's room of gilt-framed
heat. A White House guest observed, "Washington was a great sight that
lithographs of Victoria and Albert and their children, which the Roose-
day-people had brought chairs and in some cases bridge tables which
velts had borrowed from a family friend.
Most of the operations regarding the accommodation of royalty were
996
THE CASTLE
Franklin D. Roosevelt
997
them adjacent to the President's bedroom. On one side was a screened
porch with a flagstone floor and a view of the mountains and the valley
invitations, and social scheduling. She received telephone calls to the
that led to Frederick, Maryland. The interior was simple. Framed politi-
First Lady. A woman of experience, tact, and common sense, she never
cal cartoons on rough, unpainted walls were scattered haphazardly.
gave her demanding employer cause to complain.
White-painted office furniture, salvaged from various government loca-
Although not a close friend of Mrs. Roosevelt's in the sense that
tions, mingled with colonial style pieces from the President's motor yacht
Tommy Thompson was, Edith Helm had known the First Lady since
Potomac, now assigned to combat duty. Elliott Roosevelt remembered
World War I and had been asked in 1933 to help out at the White House
that his father found Shangri-La to be a more practical retreat than Hyde
for a few weeks. It was while she was there that Mrs. Roosevelt emerged
Park. "From Shangri-la," he wrote, "he could be back at his desk within
as a public personality. With the First Lady suddenly occupied by so
two hours, and he had a direct line to the White House. So he tried to
many other interests, her responsibilities as a hostess became less inter-
get there on weekends, to sit working
with Hopkins and others,
esting to her; she was pleased to put the whole "package" into competent
glancing out at a beautiful view of the Catoctin Valley, keeping a log-
hands. Mrs. Helm stayed on, supported by two agencies, one the so-
book record of each visit.
"50
called "social office" in the East Wing, with its calligrapher, who wrote
Mrs. Roosevelt never visited Shangri-La. To a large extent she went
the invitations, and its pool of stenographers; and the other the protocol
her own way in the war years, emerging as a figure apart from the Presi-
office, which was always available for discussions concerning matters of
dent. With some families, the confines of the White House help create a
form and procedure. Interested in the work, Edith Helm could enjoy it at
closeness that was not there before; not so with the Roosevelts. Living
her own pace, without the usual pressures, because Mrs. Roosevelt was
among his advisers, the President lacked the time, and perhaps he also
otherwise occupied.
lacked the inclination, to give his family much attention. Upon the
Mrs. Helm's routine was simpler and her days not so harried as those
death of his mother, he had asked his wife to give up her home at Val-
of Tommy Thompson, who remained nearly always at Mrs. Roosevelt's
Kill, but she refused to return to Hyde Park. Memories were too bitter.
elbow. Both Roosevelts had their devoted personal aides. Many years
"Of course," she wrote her daughter, "I know I've got to live there more,
after her father's Presidency, Anna Roosevelt said this in an interview:
but only when he is there.
Will you and the boys understand it or
"The people who worked with [Mother and Father] had to be just as if
does it make you resentful?"
they had no lives of their own. I think both of them unwittingly and
The war increased Eleanor Roosevelt's hunger to be useful to man-
unknowingly never realized-it never occurred to them-that these
kind. She traveled widely. Soon after Pearl Harbor she went to the West
people lived their lives through them, and had nothing of their own."⁵²
Coast; that fall she was in Great Britain, touring in horror and dismay
the bombed-out ruins of London, a city she had loved nearly all her life.
Fourth Term
Against warnings from military officials, she journeyed to the Southwest
Pacific in 1943, stopping at Guadalcanal, where she visited every hospi-
The turning point in the war in the Pacific came late in 1942 with
tal bed and viewed the scene of the victorious Battle of Guadalcanal,
the victory at Guadalcanal. Early the next year President Roosevelt de-
which had taken place a year earlier. "I have never seen her SO weary,"
parted for Casablanca in Morocco, where the first of the wartime confer-
wrote her young friend Joseph T. Lash, who was stationed there. Often
ences was held; on the way he stopped in Brazil and Gambia. In the
her longtime secretary, Malvina Thompson, traveled with her, but
spring he and Mrs. Roosevelt toured parts of the United States by rail,
"Tommy" was not always well and at last had to be left at home. 51
with a visit to northern Mexico to review Mexican troops and meet
At the White House businesslike continuity was maintained on the
briefly with the president of Mexico. Churchill was at the White House
social side by the formidable Edith Benham Helm, the former social
in May, attending a conference of the United Nations held in the East
secretary to the second Mrs. Wilson and the widow of Admiral James M.
Room in June. At a state dinner on July 9, 1943, the President an-
Helm. Her desk was in the west hall, and she had files in Mrs. Roose-
nounced the Allied invasion of Sicily.
velt's sitting room, a small office overlooking the north portico, and
That autumn, on November 9, Roosevelt staged a spectacle in the
rooms upstairs in the East Wing. Her duties included correspondence,
East Room. Representatives of the 44 United Nations gathered around a
great table and signed the agreement for the United Nations Relief and
998
THE CASTLE
Franklin D. Roosevelt
999
Rehabilitation Administration. Mrs. Nesbitt recalled how difficult it was
to find enough green baize to cover the vast surface, which was created
Flags Half-Mast
by pushing together the plain pine dining tables built for Theodore Roo-
sevelt's state dinners. Mrs. Roosevelt wrote of her husband, "He believed
The death of President Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, took the world
in dramatizing special occasions, and he carefully planned that [this] be
wholly by surprise. Although those close to him had feared since his
done with pomp and ceremony.
I was particularly glad of the chance
reelection campaign that his time was near, the public was not alerted to
to witness the beginning of this giant organization, which was to bring
his condition even by the photographs from Yalta clearly showing his
relief to many people. "53
physical deterioration. When on March 1 he had addressed the Con-
Toward the close of 1943 the household changed. Anna moved into
gress, reporting on the Yalta conference, the legislators had been shocked
the President's House with her three children, and the Hopkinses de-
by his worn and aged appearance. He had apologized for speaking from
parted for his house in Georgetown to make a home for Diana. Roose-
his chair instead of the podium, explaining that it was an ordeal for him
velt's daughter became increasingly attached to her father, and tried to
to stand with ten pounds of steel braces. This was his first and only public
protect him and ensure his peace and comfort. She felt a strong domestic
acknowledgement of the severity of his handicap.
tension, for which she blamed her mother, who she believed nagged her
The news came by telephone to the Executive Office at about mid-
father unmercifully to support her private crusades. On this subject, Rex-
afternoon that the President, visiting Warm Springs, had collapsed while
ford Tugwell agreed; even family dinners became opportunities to exert
sitting for a portrait. Debating whether to hurry to Georgia, Mrs. Roose-
pressure: "Really serious talk at table was avoided if Roosevelt could
velt decided first to keep an appointment of long standing at the Sulgrave
manage it. Eleanor, SO humorless and so weighed down with responsi-
Club; she was reluctant to draw public attention to a possible crisis. She
bility, made this difficult.
was called back from the meeting to the White House, where in her
Roosevelt faced the question of whether to run for a fourth term.
study Steve Early and Marvin McIntyre told her that the President was
Although some of his family opposed the idea at first, the President
dead. The press secretary told newsmen that she had replied: "I am more
decided to run again. His health had declined SO sharply that closeup
sorry for the people of this country and of the world than I am for our-
photography of him was discouraged; the press complied. Thin and pale,
selves." Later Mrs. Roosevelt thought she probably had not said it, but
the President announced that his work was not yet done, and urged
the statement-one of those that seemed so true it was hard to disclaim-
Americans to elect him again. Among the public there was some opposi-
became a kind of theme for the sad occasion.
tion and outrage, but a consensus that this was appropriate. Roosevelt
Vice President Harry S. Truman was concluding his day of presiding
had become a symbol of freedom to people all over the world. The war
in the Senate when called to the White House, with the request that he
had turned in favor of the Allies; the bloody but brilliantly successful
go at once to Mrs. Roosevelt's study. He had no idea why he had been
summoned. When Mrs. Roosevelt told him what had happened, Truman
invasion of France had begun on June 6, 1944. The popular wish to have
the wartime leader preside over the final victory and the postwar recon-
later wrote, "That was the first inkling I had of the seriousness of the
struction guaranteed Roosevelt's reelection.
situation." Was there anything he could do for her? Eleanor Roosevelt
The fourth inauguration took place January 20, 1945, on the south
replied, "Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in
portico. Roosevelt's previous inaugurations had been held at the Capitol,
trouble now."⁵⁵
but his frail health dictated the new location, though the reason offered
The news soon circulated. Flags began sinking to half-mast. Radios
droned the few available facts, awaiting further details from Warm
to the public was "wartime austerity." The awnings of the south portico
were drawn up, and shivering spectators stood on the rain-soaked south
Springs and Washington. In the Cabinet Room, Truman was sworn in as
lawn. An usher called it "by far the greatest assemblage of people ever to
President, the ceremony taking, according to his recollections, precisely
gather at the White House." The next day, in the deepest secrecy,
one minute, 7:08-7:09 p.m. The room was filled with Cabinet members
Roosevelt left Washington by rail to board a destroyer that would take
and officials. Truman's wife and daughter stood near him; Woodrow Wil-
him to Yalta in the Crimea. Anna was with him. At Yalta the Big Three
son's portrait over the mantelpiece gazed over the assemblage. Members
would discuss the conditions of the surrender of Germany.
of the White House and office staffs crowded outside on the porch, look-
ing in through the glass doors.
1000
THE CASTLE
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1001
Mrs. Roosevelt, meanwhile, had gone to Georgia by air and the
select mementoes from among the swarms of little things with which
next day began the long trip back to Washington by train with Roose-
FDR had liked to surround himself.
velt's body. As the Ferdinand Magellan moved along day and night, slow-
Thirteen Army trucks departed for Hyde Park on April 20, 1945,
ing at towns and stations so the thousands of people waiting could draw
carrying the Roosevelts' personal belongings. 64 That afternoon in the
close and see the flag-covered coffin through the lighted windows, Mrs.
East Room Mrs. Roosevelt said good-bye first to the office staff, then to
Roosevelt was reminded of what she had read of Abraham Lincoln's
the household employees. Train ticket and satchel in hand, she left
funeral train. The procession from Union Station to the White House
Washington for New York City.
was a long and somber display of military prowess and civilian grief.
President Roosevelt's coffin was mounted on a caisson, as Harding's had
been. Servicemen marched in formation before and behind it. Military
airplanes flew overhead, also in formation. At least 500,000 people
watched silently in the hot April sun.
The coffin was brought into the White House and placed before the
great east window of the East Room, with the crimson curtains behind it
closed against the sun. It was Saturday, April 14, 1945; Roosevelt's body
would remain here for about five hours. Flowers, which had been arriving
in great numbers, had been hung on the walls of the East Room to
envelop it in fragrant blossoms. At the brief service at four in the after-
noon, the new President's daughter, Margaret, felt sickened by the heat
and the heavy scent of the flowers. 56
Two hundred mourners were seated in the East Room. Large num-
bers found places in the state parlors, in the two dining rooms, and in the
basement's central hallway, library, and china room, as well as in the
glazed corridor and the movie theater in the East Wing. All the areas
were wired for sound and tightly crowded with chairs. At the west end of
the basement corridor a White House policeman stood at the door to the
Map Room, a lone reminder that the war was still in progress.
Uncounted thousands crowded the iron fences outside, watching
the windows of the East Room. At about 5 p.m. the coffin was brought
out of the White House and returned by procession to Union Station for
the trip to Hyde Park. In funeral instructions discovered among Roose-
velt's papers after it was too late to follow most of them, he had asked
that his coffin be placed before the fireplace in the library of his cher-
ished home, so that he could spend one last night under that roof. His
remains were not taken inside the house. But his request not to lie in
state had been scrupulously observed.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was buried in the rose garden at Hyde Park as
he specified. At the White House, workers took down the funeral flowers
that remained. Nor did Mrs. Roosevelt delay. Returning to the White
House after the graveside service, she began packing, and in five days her
work was done. In the oval room she invited members of the staff to
1020
HISTORY
Harry S. Truman
1021
receptions was an open whiskey bar, set up for the first time in the East
Room when the President received General Eisenhower and his staff on
forward. A crash of the drums introduced "Hail to the Chief," which the
June 18, 1945. Cocktails had been served heretofore only for small din-
band played vigorously as the presidential party marched to the Blue
ners, and they had always been made out of sight in the pantry, with no
Room. The Trumans stopped just inside the double mahogany doors,
liquor bottles in view. 33
which were pulled shut behind them. They then went to the south end of
A typical reception of the first social season after World War II was
the room. Standing between the two flags placed by the horsemen, they
held for the press. The press receptions had begun under Franklin D.
received first the special guests from the Green Room, then the line that
Roosevelt early in his administration, reflecting somewhat the idea of the
started flowing from the East Room. When the line was finished, the
diplomatic receptions. Never a part of the official season, they were
Trumans elected not to return immediately upstairs. Instead, they min-
discontinued, like the other social functions, during the war. Truman
gled for a while with the newspaper and radio people. When they left
resumed the custom on Friday evening, December 6, 1946, and more
they were accompanied to the elevator door by the military aides. Soon
than a thousand attended. The hour was eight o'clock, as usual. Cabinet
after, the colors were returned ceremonially to the oval room, leaving
members and their wives were admitted at the north door, beginning at
the guests free to remain for several hours, enjoying the food and drink in
about 7:30, and walked up the grand staircase to the family quarters. In
the State Dining Room or dancing in the East Room, to the music of a
this Truman reverted to a pre-FDR practice, for under Roosevelt the
"dance orchestra" from the Marine Band.
Cabinet had assembled downstairs in the private dining room. Truman's
Under Truman, much of the flutter and pressure of the Roosevelt
Cabinet went to the second-floor Monroe Room. Meanwhile, a larger
era came to an end. Alonzo Fields, the maître d'hôtel, recalled that the
number of special guests, considered part of the "household," had arrived
White House "quieted down so much you couldn't believe it was the
by the north door and been shown into the Green Room. The doors were
same place." Mrs. Truman was well organized and absolutely clear in her
then closed behind them.
objectives, wanting to give as little time to the work as possible. Fields
The invited press corps had begun to arrive at the east entrance. As
remembered, "The First Lady would not stand for fakers, shirkers or
at state dinners, they were shown along the long glass corridor to the
flatterers, and the only way you could gain her approval would be by
stairs to the state floor. The Marine Band was in its place between the
doing your job to the best of your ability. This done, you would not want
columns of the hall, playing softly. On the second floor, as eight o'clock
a more understanding person to work for." Crim assigned the assistant
approached, four military men lined up before their commander in chief
usher, J. B. West, to deal directly with the Trumans, and he met with
at the door to the oval room to request the colors-the American flag
Mrs. Truman every morning as her "main contact with the operations of
and the President's flag-which stood at each side of the President's
the White House." He admired her wit, as well as her businesslike habits:
desk. With the flags in hand, these "four horsemen," as the color guard
"Mrs. Truman was very conscious of economy in housekeeping. She kept
was nicknamed at the White House, took their positions at the head of
her own books, went over the bills with a finetoothed comb, and wrote
the grand staircase; behind them the President's military aides fell in
every check herself.
line; then came the President and Mrs. Truman; last came the Cabinet
She knew well that the financial burdens of White House entertain-
officers and their wives, two abreast. On a signal the presidential party
ing could easily become ruinous, even with an appropriation provided for
descended with no fanfare; Truman disliked the long stretch of "danger-
some of it. The Trumans were not rich, and she watched their money
ous" staircase, which kept people looking awkwardly at their feet lest
carefully, although both insisted that appropriate standards of presiden-
they stumble. He would one day remedy the situation. 34
tial living be met. Gone were the unappetizing meals of Roosevelt's time.
Three paces from the foot of the stair the procession stopped. The
Mrs. Nesbitt was apparently encouraged into retirement, having shown
horsemen stepped forward as the iron gates were rolled back. In the
resistance to change in the kitchen. Food of what West called the
hallway at the foot of the stair, with trumpet flourishes, honors were
"American" type was served to the family informally, usually in the solar-
rendered in a little military ceremony visible to only a portion of those
ium on the third floor, three times a day. For dinner parties, of course,
assembled in the East Room. At the instant this was completed, the
Mrs. Truman consulted the chef and ordered more varied menus.
horsemen stood in formation to lead the President and the First Lady
Mrs. Helm had not intended to remain at the White House after the
Roosevelts left, yet she proved so useful and got along with Mrs. Truman
1026
THE SYMBOL
Harry S. Truman
1027
problem was McKim's 1902 expansion of the State Dining Room into the
adjacent stair hall. When the partition-a bearing wall-was removed,
met there on January 14, 1949, to consider what to do next. They
the support for the original wooden ceiling joists of the dining room was
learned that Lorenzo Winslow had mapped out an entire program, under
taken away and replaced by a heavy steel beam. This beam, carrying the
the President's watchful eye. The external stone walls were to be pre-
tremendous weight of the floors above it, gained a measure of stability by
served, together with the Coolidge-era third floor, but all else would go.
being socketed into the existing walls at each end, but its major support
Who came up with the idea is uncertain. The President wrote to a mem-
came from steel tie-rods that suspended it from the wooden structural
ber of Congress: "My suggestion is that we do not tear down the present
systems of the roof. When the attic and roof had been rebuilt in 1927,
building. The outside walls are in good condition
I believe with
the tie-rods were introduced into the new steel skeleton; but President
the right sort of a contractor and with proper supervision, the interior
Coolidge's upper structure of steel and concrete proved too heavy for the
can be removed and
We could put a steel and concrete structure
house below it, and a shifting of walls had begun. The most serious
inside the walls and restore the inside of the house to its original condi-
manifestation of damage was in the bulky structure hanging over the
tion. We are saving all the doors, mantels, mirrors and things of that sort
State Dining Room.
so that they will go back just as they were."5
A remarkable transferral of stresses took place as the third floor bore
The diary of the White House architect reveals that drawings were
down on the house beneath it. Old mortise-and-tenon timbers made for
being made early in January 1949. Before the meeting on the 14th,
lesser purposes assumed new structural roles for which they were inade-
Winslow noted a conference on the 11th with President Truman, which
quate. One result of this process by 1948 was the weakness of the floor of
also included Reynolds, Major General Philip B. Fleming, the federal
Margaret Truman's bedroom. A leg of her grand piano sank into the
works administrator, and Edward F. Neild, a prominent architect from
floor, causing the plaster ceiling in the private dining room below it to
Shreveport, Louisiana. He had designed Truman's great skyscraper court-
fall. Likewise, in the Blue Room and the East Room, the chandeliers
house in Kansas City, and he was to serve as the President's personal
swayed slightly from time to time, moved by tremors from some unknown
architectural adviser during the renovation of the White House. At that
source, perhaps halfway across the house. Showers of plaster dust had
session, the idea of saving the old stone walls and underpinning them was
fallen on the shoulders of Howell Crim's black suit. To the fear of fire in
discussed, and Winslow showed a project for a new grand staircase,
the White House was added the fear that at any time it might collapse.³
which Truman said he liked.
Of the meeting on the 14th, Winslow noted, "After some discus-
sion we all agreed on the final work to be done in the White House.
Remedies
Complete program approved." With the earlier objectives confirmed by
"The White House is being closed immediately to all sightseers,"
the consultants, Commissioner Reynolds, helped by Winslow and Flem-
announced the Washington Post, "because of its precarious physical con-
ing, as well as the President's staff, prepared a proposal to send to the
dition." The paper speculated that the Trumans would move to Blair
Congress. Lorenzo Winslow wrote a long letter to Reynolds later that
House, but the Trumans had made no statement to that effect. As soon
month describing Truman's goals: "It is the President's desire that this
as it was clear that the house was unsafe, Howell Crim got the President's
restoration be made SO thoroughly complete that the structural condition
permission to move. Initially, Crim reserved suites for the Trumans at
and all principal and fixed architectural finishes will be permanent for
the Carlton Hotel, lest Blair House not be ready by the time they
many generations to come."6
returned from Missouri. But with the help of Charles T. Haight, head of
The document sent to Congress called for a complete moderniza-
the design department of B. Altman and Company, New York, Crim got
tion, with special emphasis on fireproofing. It proposed 15 categories of
it ready. Warehouses were scavenged; White House furnishings were
improvement, giving high priority to four: 1) underpinning the founda-
moved across the street; window hangings from the White House were
tions of the outer stone walls, putting the building on a secure stratum of
hemmed to fit Blair House; painters worked night and day. Blair House
sand and gravel at a level much below the existing footings; 2) removing
received the Trumans in time for Thanksgiving in 1948.4
all the interior walls; 3) building a freestanding structural steel frame
The consultants on the structural condition of the White House
within the old shell of stone and supporting it with concrete piers set in
the same lower stratum of sand and gravel that would support the exterior
1034
Harry S. ruman
1035
THE SYMBOL
possible, the new, he believed, should reflect the old, yet he also felt
the East Room was pulled away from the wall, numbered, crated, and
that he must "restore," in the sense that the house should conform to the
hauled to storage in a federal warehouse at Seventh and D Streets; win-
taste of the Federal era when James Hoban rebuilt it. For this purpose he
dow and door trimming, mantelpieces, hearths, chair rails, baseboards,
spent much time copying or adapting interior detailing from historic
wainscoting, even window sash and reveals, were carefully taken down.
houses in the region. 18
It was not easy work; panels split and door frames broke as they were
In May 1949 Winslow took his drawings to Williamsburg, where he
pried from their places, the wood dry and often brittle, the paint peeling
met with the resident architect of the restoration, A. Edwin Kendrew.
away in long strips.
Kendrew and his colleague Bela Norton took Winslow through the Brush
Winslow felt that the oak paneling in the State Dining Room was
house, a restored colonial cottage, and the Governor's Palace, a recon-
the most important and saved it until last, only to have the commission
structed mansion, the original of which had been well known to Wash-
turn the work over to the contractor and urge the architect back to his
ington and Jefferson. The palace, built entirely new, must have foreshad-
drafting tables. Wood flooring was pulled up, numbered, and crated.
owed to Winslow the reconstructed White House. Winslow's visit to the
Winslow reported to the commission on February 16, 1950, that about
half the sash on the first floor and two-thirds of that on the second had
Governor's Palace at Williamsburg seems to have convinced him of the
importance of preserving the original White House woodwork and deco-
been removed, the sockets of the windows covered over for protection.
On the 17th the commission declared the dismantling completed, except
rations, for they alone would provide the patina of age. A month after his
return from Williamsburg he addressed the commission: "There is a mat-
for some window sash. Little was said about what happened to the mate-
ter which I consider to be of vital importance
rials, for Winslow took the responsibility for storage and moving, assisted
This is the careful
dismantling, removal and storage of all interior and exterior finish mate-
toward the end by Howell Crim.
rials
The commissioners were far more interested in creating relics for
which are intended to be restored when necessary and then to
be reinstalled in the reconstructed building.
sale and distribution from the timbers and discarded plaster decorations
than in rescuing anything for reuse. On January 30, 1950, a plan by
He further occupied himself and his staff making measured drawings
of the ornamental plaster of the state rooms. He urged the commission to
General Edgerton for the disposal of old materials, using ideas from many
sources, had been presented to the President. Truman approved it on
contract with "a local ornamental plaster sculptor to make casts in place
of all existing ornamental plaster work that is not easily removable in one
February 17, and a quantity of relic "kits" became available. Kit number
complete piece.
one, for example, cost $2 and contained enough pine to make a gavel; kit
Much of the ornamental plaster, I have had very
number two, the same price, offered pine in sufficient quantity to make a
accurate measured drawings made, together with rubbings in place.
walking stick; kit number four provided a small piece of sandstone and a
To some extent, the architect was granted his wish. With pressures
from all sides to hurry along, the commissioners attended to matters they
square nail; kit number ten contained "one brick, as nearly whole as
thought more urgent than a delicate dismantling. Winslow was the only
practicable." For $100 enough brick or stone could be bought to face a
fireplace. "The entire operation," the commissioners wrote in their final
one involved who had a sincere interest in preserving the old materials;
the others were saving not a house but a symbol. On November 3, 1949,
report, "was designed to be self-supporting and it turned out to be so, by
a considerable margin."²
at their 13th meeting, the commissioners selected John McShain, Inc.,
of Philadelphia as the low bidder on the job of reconstruction. Builder
of the Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt's library at Hyde Park, and the
The Vessel Is Emptied
Pentagon-the biggest job it had ever handled-the McShain company
The demolition and rebuilding of the White House within stone
was held in high regard in Washington. On December 12 a subcontrac-
walls was a remarkable achievement. Hoban had built his walls on a
tor, Spencer, White & Prentis, Inc., of New York, began the process of
underpinning the stone walls.
shallow stratum of clay and gravel, and over 157 years some shifting had
taken place. He had made the foundations for the interior bearing walls
The next day, December 13, the dismantling of the interior began,
with Winslow supervising much of it. This took a little more than two
only half the width of the walls themselves, and they had become more
heavily burdened than the external shell. The outside sandstone walls,
months, with the interruption of the Christmas holiday. The paneling of
Harry S. Truman
1049
1048
THE SYMBOL
Winslow seems to have suffered the most. Had he simply taken
and of estimates of the costs yet to be incurred shows that it will not be
orders, his ride would have been smoother, but the drawings were pro-
possible to complete the project satisfactorily within the present appro-
duced in his office, and most of the decisions at the paper stage were his.
priation. It is estimated that additional funds to the amount of $225,000
He had to defend many of his solutions. His frequent stand against the
will be required. The over-run is principally attributable to the effects of
disposal of old materials-which may have been made with the Presi-
the Korean war. Costs have risen rapidly during the past year
when
dent's encouragement-met with annoyance on the part of the contrac-
the effects of the war became evident the Commission had the entire
tor's representatives, who preferred to work with new materials. The
project reviewed and the specifications modified to reduce costs by every
commissioners usually took the side of the contractor, although their
practical substitution of materials and simplification of work that would
relationship with him was anything but comfortable.
permit savings without very serious detriment to the quality needed in
Through the fall of 1951 the window sash was put into place. Doors
this special project." The funding was achieved with little difficulty, but
were hung inside. By the end of the year the two main obstacles to
on July 17 Crim was given the unhappy task of telling Truman that he
completion were the lighting fixtures, which were still being restored,
would not be in the White House by Christmas. He "reluctantly" told
and the wood flooring. Most of the latter had not been installed, and
him that March 1952 was his guess, and it proved correct.
that which had needed time-consuming hand finishing. To save time the
Entering the autumn of 1951, the White House project employed
commission authorized leveling the floors with machine sanders, then
some 300 workmen, not counting government officials involved in vari-
finishing the job by hand. On January 25, 1952 the commission was
ous ways. Most of the plastering was finished, some of it already covered
informed that the fine parquet flooring had been installed in most of the
with canvas in preparation for painting or upholstering. The new Doric
rooms of the second and third floors, the Red and the Blue Rooms, and
that it was under way in the East Room.
columns of Westland cream, a lightly clouded Vermont marble, were
being put up in the entrance hall; installation of flooring started in Sep-
Eighteen painters worked through the winter. David Finley opposed
tember and would continue with constant difficulty for six months. Most
the bright yellow of the old kitchen, now the Broadcast Room, feeling
of the lighting fixtures sent for repair to Edward Caldwell in New York
that "a more dignified, severe type of decoration should be used-such as
were delayed. Those for the East Room, originally reduced in scale by
may be found in a gentleman's office or library." He heartily approved
McKim, were being reduced again. Ordinary lighting fixtures were being
the black leather sofa and chairs. But the commission stuck to its deci-
rewired in Washington, and when the chandelier for the private dining
sions on all the rooms, making changes only when they were suggested by
room arrived wired and with light bulbs Winslow rose in protest: The
Crim, for the President. The work stopped only on Sundays, continuing
steadily six days a week. 47
chandelier in that room had always burned candles and the tradition
should be kept; at the direction of the commission, it was.
The President was an increasing presence in the decision-making.
The difficulty of getting appropriate marble had troubled the com-
Crim had taken Winslow's place as his main liaison, perhaps because of
missioners for many months. It had been decided to replace the East
Crim's enormous capacity for organization, perhaps because of Truman's
Room mantels with red marble ones of Knoxville marble, in honor of the
increasing annoyance over Winslow's private life. When the electricians
chairman, Senator McKellar of Tennessee. On November 2, 1951, it was
prepared to hang McKim's old lantern in the entrance hall, Truman
reported that 15 men were working full time at the quarry on the four
stopped them, saying he preferred a chandelier. He located one he liked
East Room mantels. Winslow, who had designed the mantels himself,
on the second floor, and it was put in the entrance hall. Truman com-
was sent there several times to inspect the progress. He made every effort
plained frequently about the old gas fixtures from the White House being
to save and reuse the Joliet stone flooring from the entrance hall, but the
in the Capitol. He had tried to get them back, with no success; had he
contractor opposed it and most of it joined the caravan to Fort Myer.
been able to, he would have hung General Grant's mighty gasoliers in
the East Room.
The marble for the grand staircase was changed after half of it had been
cut, and the resulting delay ran into months. Winslow was criticized for
Furniture in crates arrived daily. By late February it was being un-
this by the commissioners on September 21, although they must have
loaded in the house and where possible taken to the rooms where it
known that he was acting on his chief's orders. Pressure was beginning to
belonged, according to Haight's inventory. Crim was the final authority
bear upon everyone.
(Hinchliffe/Grossman)
mas, herts soul
November 21, 1990 1
p.m.
KENNEDY
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
December 2, 1990
Told my grandkids I was thrilled to be meeting tonight with five
of the greatest figures ever to thrill an audience. And one of
them said, "I didn't even realize the Rolling Stones were in
town."
Like Am -- not melting pot, but vibrant, enriching mosaic
--a classic N.E.'s artist fierce indepencence and belief in self
--a XXX creative rebel merging strands of foreign music into
unique Am. sound
--a Eur.-trained soprano who defined Am. opera;
-London-born created Am. musicals
-Austrian -- created own style of
...
I
2
Carly
--classical training and roots with purely Am. spirit -- the
daring, exuberance, creativity, etc.
counge
damtlen
dainy creating
--Am. arts have reflected the diversity of this nation's history
shen exabam
-- from the blues of the bayou to the Hudson River school of
painting; from
we need to cherish and encourage this great diversity of
experience, vision and art. Today we do this by honoring truly
American artists -- whose unique experiences and roots have found
expression -- have enriched the tapestry of our nation's cultural
heritage. This work -- their ideas, talent, and passion --
demands their mind, their heart, and their soul. And ours. They
have challenged, amzed, us, made us think and react, helped us to
dream and to understand and, most of all perhaps, have helped us
to understand who we are as Americans.
--DG: transofmred sound of jazz; king of Bop; gaught self;
ballooning cheeks
--his will be the classical music of the future, and the identity
by which American culture defines itself.
--there are many who saw that the major contrbituion of American
culture is jazz -- the only purely American art form. And it's
thanks to the King of Bebop -- thanks to that amazing face with
the ballooning rubber cheecks, thanks to that accidentally
upturned trumpet bell that's become his trademark
--tributes to Mary Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
--range from 53 to 93
--Harlem vaudevillian since age 3 =- always ready, always
smiling, bigotry -- "You fight with the weapons gGod gives you,
and with me it was my talent." And his energy. And his joy.
Good evening, and welcome to the White House -- where for
generations Presidents have been privileged to celebrate
America's art, here in America's home.
WILDER:
If you were to look next to the name Billy WIlder in a
dictionary, you'd see lots of defitinitions. Writer. Director.
Producer. And you'd see awards -- like Oscars. But Billy
Wilder's real achievement is something much more important. Much
deeper, more moving. He's plunged a drill deep down into the
American heart, and has captured on film the warmth, the
laughter, the love, and the tears that billowed forth in
tremendous profusion.
He crafted some of the most familiar, lasting images of the
past decades. Images of a peculiarly American humor and XXXXX:
Gloria Swanson descending the staircase in Sunset Boulevard; Tony
Curtis and Jack Lemmon in high heel in Some Like It Hot; Marilyn
Monroe's billowing white skirt in The Seven Year Itch.
Wilder: "the best directing is the one you don't see"
"Let Me Entertain You," he wrote, and for nearly 70 years, he
has. Entertained us with songsthat captured the pulse of America
at that moment -- the dreamlike optimism of Peter Pan's "Never
Never Land"; the yearning affirmation of our brotherhood to all
in "People"; the unbridled exuberance of "Gypsy," or "Hallelujah,
Baby!"
In more than 1500 songs, this British=born composer captured
what he observed and loved of the American character, and gave us
songs that were mirrors -- reflecting us back to ourselves. And
we've loved it. So has the American musical -- an art=form he
helped developed -- and so have American musical legends whose
careers were made on Styne song: Carol Channging, Barbara
Streisand, Ethel Merman, so many others.
KATHERINE HEPBURN:
--from the new breed of men called cowboys to the modern-day
explorers called astronauts, the essence of American chara cter
has been a searching self-reliance, courageous and curious daring
and cheer. One woman captured this spirit on film -- for more
than 60 years she has been the essence of all of us --
optimistically naive as a young woman in Philadelphia Story;
resilienct like the finest teseted iron in "On Golden Pond". The
flashing eyes, carved jaw, and inimitiable voice became the
--he revolutionzized the world of music -- from bebeop to his
later tapestry using the lush rhythms of Afro-Cuban, Caribbean
and Brazilian music -- astonished the world with his creativity,
daring, independence, and vision, breaking all the rules to let
something new and escciting and , above all, absolutley American
burst out of the mixture and wrap up this whole country in its
contagious spell of rhtyhm and expression and emotion and energy.
--vounder of jazz bebop; his improvisation changed course of
musicmakking;
KENNEDY:
"I look forward to an America which will reward achievemengt in
the arts as we reward achieement in business or statecarft."
"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set
the artist free tof llow his vision wherever it takes him.
For in serving his vision, the artist best serves his nation."
"Roosevelt and Lincoln understood that the life of the arts
...
is very close to the center of a nation's purpose--and is a test
of the quality of a nation's civilization."
pleasure, honor; joy; enrich
illuinate the basic human truths which give us purpose
define our society -- and open up new personal worlds
we seek peace in song; expression in music; understanding in
films
East room -- over the years Am. arts in Am. 's home
-cultural life of nation -- more than the beauty and pleasure -
- the definition of self, of our nation, putting into words our
general and personal struggles and dreams, and that fabulous,
unique American spirit -- daring everything, dreaming everything,
reaching for everything
STEPHENS:
--RS: the Carmen of America; said boobey as Carmen
first song, age 15, "I Dream I Dwelt in Marble Halls"
-first artist to be Mgr. Dir. of Met
-devote self to careers of others Ams.
-travel country searching for new artists
--mixed European training with unrestrained American passion to
create a white-hot Carmen -- a truly American Carmen. And truly
American movies -- The Chocolate Soldier; Going My Way.
--great American tradition of unselfishly passing on -- director
of Met's National Comapny;
symbol of the American spirit of outspoken independence and
fierce deterimination. She was rewarded with Oscars and with our
adoration, but you always sensed that she -- like America itsle f
-- cared less what others thought about her than with how it felt
to be jst who she was.
--"I think there is a magic in man. His spirit, his attitudes
toward his fellow man, his capacity for love and for infiinite
service, is, for me, a thrilling thing."
MARY MARTIN:
--she carried us along with her and made us soar in a glow of
delight -- a magic that didn't need wires; a joyous star, a
gracious woman, the best of what we could be.
'90-11-12 00:22 DOUG GAMBLE
P.4
DOUG GAMBLE
424-36th Place
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Nov. 12/90
(213) 546-6409
TO: STEPHANIE LAUDNER
2 Pages
Stevens
Styne Wilder
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS (Beth Hinchliffe)
I TOLD ONE OF MY GRANDKIDS I'D BE COMING TO THE KENNEDY CENTER TONIGHT TO
SEE FIVE OF THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE FIGURES EVER TO THRILL AN AUDIENCE.
HE SAID "I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THE ROLLING STONES WERE IN TOWN."
WHEN I FIRST WALKED IN TO MEET THE FIVE HONOREES, I OVERHEARD SOMEONE TELLING
THEM THAT TIME WAS TIGHT AND THERE WOULDN'T BE TIME FOR AN AUTOGRAPH. BUT
I ASKED THEM FOR ONE ANYWAY.
I'VE BEEN DOING so MUCH TRAVELLING LATELY, I FEEL LIKE I'VE SEEN MORE AIRPORTS
THAN O.J. SIMPSON.
I JUST RETURNED FROM THE PERSIAN GULF, EUROPE AND MEXICO, AND WHEN I LEAVE THE
THEATER TONIGHT I'LL BE GOING DIRECTLY TO AIR FORCE ONE AND OFF TO SOUTH AMERICA.
MY FIRST PRIORITY IS TO FIND PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING IN THE WORLD, AND MY SECOND
PRIORITY IS TO FIND MY LUGGAGE.
I'M ALWAYS READY TO TRAVEL. SOMEONE ASKED TO BORROW MY PEN TODAY, BUT WHEN I
REACHED INTO MY POCKET I PULLED OUT MY TOOTHBRUSH.
MORE
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS RECIPIENTS
1990
Dates
Place of Birth
Dizzy Gillespie
13
Oct/ 21, 1917
Cheraw, SC
Katharine Hepburn
83
Nov. 8, 1907
Hartford, CT
Rise Stevens
77
June 11, 1913
New York, NY
Jule Styne
84
Deg. 31, 1905
London, England
Billy Wilder
84
June 22, 1906
Vienna, Austria
1989
Harry Belafonte
620
Mar. 1, 1927
New York, NY
Claudette Colbert
Sept. 13, 1903
Paris, France
Alexandra Danilova
Nov. 20, 1904
St. Petersburg,
Russia
Mary Martin
Dec. 1, 1913
Weatherford, TX
William Schuman
Aug. 4, 1910
New York, NY
1988
Alvin Ailey
57 Jan. 5, 1931 - Dec. 2, 1989
Rogers, TX
George Burns
Jan. 20, 1896
New York, NY
Myrna Loy
Aug. 2, 1905
Raidersburg, MT
Alexander Schneider
Oct. 21 1908
Vilna, Russia
Roger L. Stevens
Mar. 12, 1910
Detroit, MI
1987
Perry Como
May 18, 1912
Canonsburg, PA
Bette Davis
Apr. 5, 1908 - Oct. 6, 1989
Lowell, MA
Sammy Davis, Jr
Dec. 8, 1925 - May 16, 1990
New York, NY
Nathan Milstein
Dec. 31, 1904
Odessa, Russia
Alwin Nikolais
Nov. 25, 1912
Southington, CT
1986
Lucille Ball
56
Aug. 6, 1911 - Apr. 26, 1989
Celoron, NY
Ray Charles
Sept. 23, 1930
Albany, GA
Hume Cronyn
July 18, 1911
London, Canada
Jessica Tandy
June 7, 1909
Yehudi Menuhin
London, England
Apr. 22, 1916
New York, NY
Antony Tudor
Apr. 4, 1909 - Apr. 19, 1987
London, England
1985
Merce Cunningham
Apr. 16, 1919
Centralia, WA
Irene Dunne
Dec. 20, 1904
Louisville, KY
Bob Hope
May 29, 1903
Eltham, England
Alan Jay Lerner
Aug. 31, 1918 - June 14, 1986
New York, NY
Frederick Loewe
June 10, 1904 - Feb. 14, 1988
56 May 26, 1929
Vienna, Austria
Beverly Sills
Brooklyn, NY
- more -
Honors recipients/2
1984
Lena Horne
June 30, 1917
Brooklyn, NY
Danny Kaye
Jan. 18, 1913 - Mar. 3, 1987
Brooklyn, NY
Gian Carlo Menotti
July 7, 1911
Cadegliano, Italy
Arthur Miller
Oct. 17, 1915
New York, NY
Isaac Stern
July 21, 1920
Kreminiecz, Russia
1983
Katherine Dunham
June 22 1912
Glen Ellyn, IL
Elia Kazan
Sept. 7, 1909
Constantinople,
Turkey
Frank Sinatra
Dec. 12, 1915
Hoboken, NJ
James Stewart
May 20, 1908
Indiana, PA
Virgil Thomson
Nov. 25, 1896 - Sept. 30, 1989
Kansas City, MO
1982
George Abbott
95 June 25, 1887
Forestville, NY
Lillian Gish
Oct. 14, 1896
Springfield, OH
Benny Goodman
May 30, 1909 - June 13, 1986
Chicago, IL
Gene Kelly
Aug. 23, 1912
Pittsburgh, PA
Eugene Ormandy
Nov. 18, 1899 - Mar. 12, 1985
Budapest, Hungary
1981
Count Basie
Aug. 21, 1906 - Apr. 26, 1984
Red Bank, NJ
Cary Grant
Jan. 28, 1904 - Nov. 29, 1986
Bristol, England
Helen Hayes
Oct. 10, 1900
Washington, DC
Jerome Robbins
Oct. 11, 1918
New York, NY
Rudolf Serkin
Mar. 28, 1903
Eger, Bohemia
1980
Leonard Bernstein
Aug. 25, 1918
Lawrence, MA
James Cagney
July 17, 1899 - Mar. 30, 1986
Manhattan, NY
Agnes deMille
1905
New York, NY
Lynn Fontanne
93
Dec. 6, 1887 - July 30, 1983
Essex, England
Leontyne Price
53
Feb. 10, 1927
Laurel, MS
1979
Aaron Copland
Nov. 14, 1900
Brooklyn, NY
Ella Fitzgerald
Apr. 25, 1918
Newport News, VA
Henry Fonda
May 16, 1905 - Aug. 12, 1982
Grand Island, NE
Martha Graham
May 11, 1894
Pittsburgh, PA
Tennessee Williams
Mar. 26, 1911 - Feb. 25, 1983
Columbus, OH
1978
Marian Anderson
Feb. 17, 1902
Fred Astaire
Philadelphia, PA
May 10, 1899 - June 22, 1987
Omaha, NE
George Balanchine
Jan. 9, 1904 - Apr. 30, 1983
St. Petersburg,
Russia
Richard Rodgers
June 28, 1902 - Dec. 30, 1979
Arthur Rubinstein
New York, NY
91
Jan. 28, 1887 - Dec. 20, 1982
Lodz, Poland
Ref.
mL100
G76a
1989
The New
V. 7
WH
GROVE
Dictionary
of Music and
Musicians
EDITED BY
Stanley Sadie
7
Fuchs-Gyuzelev
M
Gillespie, Dizzy
379
espite an increase in his
10 petits motets (taken from grands motets) in Recueil de mottets à une
solos in which Gillespie demonstrated a stylistic
privileges his action in
et deux voix, Pc, Rés. 1899, 7 ed. G. Morche, Le pupitre, 1v (1975):
independence from Eldridge, contains tonal-harmonic
otice to become maître
Afferte Domino; Beatus quem elegisti; Cantate Jordanis; Cantus
dent uberes; Diligam te, Domine; Domine salvum fac regem;
resources new to jazz (e.g. whole-tone scales, altered
indicates that he was
Dominus illuminatio; Salve virgo florens; Usquequo Domine;
chords, substitute harmonies and 9th, 11th and 13th
Cantemus Domino by Lalande according to Morche
chords) which Gillespie, more than any other musician
tion of the Bishop of
8 petits motets (taken from grands motets) in Recits et duo de Msr De
La Lande et de quelques autres maitres, 1v, bc, MS dated 1765 in Pn,
of the movement, introduced into the new style.
ed Campra as maître de
Vm¹3123: Beatus quem elegisti; Diligam te, Domine; Dominus Deus
Etienne at Toulouse,
meus; Laudans invocabo; O res mirabilis; Pinguescent specio; Qui
ly been given to Michel
tollis peccata mundi; Te decet
e that there may have
Lost works (listed by Bougerel) include the grands motets: Beatus vir
qui timet Dominum; Cantus dent uberes; Deus, judicium tuum regi (2
arinel, and he conveni-
settings); Deus, venerunt gentes; Jubilate Deo; Magnificat 3settings);
ember 1697 Gilles was
Quemadmodum desiderat cervus; and the motets 'sans symphonie':
ool.
Beatus vir qui non abiit; Benedicam Dominum; Benedic, anima mea;
Confitebor tibi; Cum invocarem; Custodi me, Domine: Dominus
grow, and in July 1701
illuminatio mea; Judica, Domine; Lauda, anima mea, Dominum;
of the choir school at
Saepe expugnaverunt me
n. Evidently he agreed
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HawkinsH
ointed to deputize until
J. Bougerel: Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de plusieurs hommes
nay have spent a short
illustres de Provence (Paris, 1752), 299ff
S post at Toulouse. He
P.-L. D'Aquin: Lettres sur les hommes célèbres sous le règne de Louis XV
or four years on 3
(Amsterdam, 1752)
A.-J. de Morambert or M.-A. Laugier: Sentiments d'un harmoniphile
records show that he
(Amsterdam, 1756)
here is no evidence to
T. Nisard [pseud. of the Abbé Normand]: Monographie de Jean Gilles
le died in Avignon).
(Paris, 1866)
M. Brenet: Les concerts en France sous l'ancien régime (Paris,
esse des morts became
1900/R1970)
1 all France. According
E. Marbot: Gilles-Cabassol-Campra (Aix-en-Provence, 1903)
n harmoniphile 'Today
L. de La Laurencie: 'Notes sur la jeunesse d'André Campra', SIMG, X
with music that lacks
(1908-9), 159-258
'Le motet et la cantate', EMDC, I/iii (Paris, 1914)
es' mass'. It was per-
J. Gaudefroy-Demombymes: Les jugements allemands sur la musique
in 1764 and for Louis
française au XVIII siècle (Paris, 1941)
aised by many critics,
F. Raugel: 'La bibliothèque de la maîtrise de la cathédrale d'Aix-en-
Provence', IAML ii Lüneburg 1950, 33
di it 'one of the most
'La maîtrise de la cathédrale Aix-en-Provence', Dix-septième
ugh it does not clearly
siècle, xxi-xxii (1954), 422
m is in F major through
N. Dufourcq: Leschapelles de musique de Saint-Sernin et Saint-Etienne
f the mass is worked in
de Toulouse dans le dernier quart du XVIIe siècle', RdM, xxxix
(1957), 36
Dizzy Gillespie
g the traditional modal
R. Dumesnil: 'Jean Gilles Simon le Duc', Antares, V (1957), p.40
H.-A. Durand: 'Sur une prétendue Messe des Morts de Gilles et
In January 1944, with the bass player Oscar
illes' Requiem and the
Campra', RdM, xlv (1960), 86
Pettiford as co-leader, Gillespie assembled a five-piece
P. Verwijmeren: 'Jean Gilles, een herontdekt componist', Mens en
quem elegisti remained
combo that introduced bop to the night clubs of 52nd
melodie, xix (1964), 82
during the first three-
J. Robert: Maitres de chapelle à Avignon, 1610-1715', RdM, li (1965),
Street, New York. Classic examples of the mature bop
S Frémiot has pointed
152
style were recorded in 1945 when Gillespie joined
Gilles' originality in the
M. Frémiot: L'école provençale', Encyclopédie des musiques sacrées, ii
Parker and a rhythm section in a series of pieces most of
(Paris, 1969), 541
S he revealed a genuine
W. D. Hall: The Requiem Mass: a Study of four Requiem Settings
which he had composed; they show a command ranging
of the texts at times
by Gilles, Mozart, Verdi, Britten (diss., U. of Southern California,
from simple swing style riff tunes like Salt Peanuts to
hestral 'sighs' in the
1970)
virtuoso fast tempo pieces like Shaw 'Nuff, and
J. H. Hajdu: The Life and Works of Jean Gilles (1668-1705) (diss., U.
ked fugue on the final
of Colorado, 1973) [inc. edn. of Diligam te, Domine]
ingenious melodic contrafacta like Groovin' High. In
Messe des morts are
JOHN H. HAJDU
June 1944 Gillespie was appointed musical director of
Billy Eckstine's new band which he made the first bop-
structed on the same
Gillespie, Dizzy [John Birks] (b Cheraw, S. Carolina,
influenced big band. His own first band was unsuccess-
form of the Versailles
21 Oct 1917). Black American jazz trumpeter, com-
ful, but the potential of his performing style was realized
orchestra is relatively
poser and band-leader. He received his earliest training
in his collaboration with Gil Fuller in a series of brilliant
employed concertante
from his father, an amateur band-leader, first studying
compositions recorded by Gillespie's second band (1946-
or Du Mont. His har-
the trombone but changing to the trumpet. A
50). In 1947 Gillespie and Fuller wrote Manteca for the
ed with Lalande's; he
scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North
Cuban conga drummer Chano Pozo, giving rise to the
oral writing there is an
Carolina enabled him to study harmony. In 1935 he
style known as 'Afro-Cuban' jazz.
/ and homophonic de-
joined the Frank Fairfax Band in Philadelphia, and in
After his band broke up in 1950 Gillespie formed a
uggest dance rhythms,
1937 he replaced his idol Roy Eldridge in the Teddy
quintet that toured Europe, organized another big band
hose in triple time.
Hill Band. He made his first recordings with Hill in
for a tour of the Middle East and South America (1956),
May 1937. In 1939 Gillespie joined Cab Calloway as a
and in the 1960s and 1970s visited Europe, South
soloist and occasional composer-arranger, and made
America and Africa. Gillespie's remarkable technique,
), with carillon added at the
more than 60 recordings with the band, among them
versatility and sensitive musicianship allowed him to
Boulay and J. Prim (Paris,
several of Gillespie's compositions (e.g. Pickin' the
develop a style of harmonic logic and melodic contin-
Cabbage). From 1941 to 1943 he played with Benny
uity, and led him to be widely regarded as the most
vv), bc, most with str, some
legisti: Benedictus Dominus
Carter, Charlie Barnet, Les Hite, Earl Hines, Coleman
significant jazz trumpeter after Louis Armstrong.
Diligam te, Domine: Dixit
Hawkins and Duke Ellington. He took part in the jam
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Domine Deus meus; Laetatus
sessions at Minton's Playhouse, New York, where the
L. Feather: Inside Be-bop (New York, 1949), 19ff
cor meum; Te Deum (ed. H.
R. Boyer: 'Bop: a Profile of Dizzy', Treasury of Jazz, ed. E. Condon and
itions; Velum templi scissum
jazz style known as 'bop' originated. Kerouac, a piece
R. Gehman (New York, 1956), 206
recorded at Minton's in May 1941, one of the earliest
M. James: Dizzy Gillespie (London, 1959)
GILL-OVER-THE-GROUND-GILLYFLOWER
749
940),
Arthur
Feb. English the
They They are are usually composed of a series of
Internal gills are found in all
plete naturalness and won him recognition as a
leader in the movement toward realism. He re-
thin-walled extensions of the epithelial
tired from the stage in 1919 but returned in 1929
known as lamella, but they are occasion-
and acted occasionally until 1936. He died in
As a
phy h. he studied
a Gamentous: The sides of i gills may be pres-
Hartford on April 29, 1937.
ame his
one or septa,
OSCAR G. BROCKETT
erted to Roman
by visceral arches.
Indiana University
for Westminster Card
animals with internal gills, water is taken
the mouth and passes through internal gill
GILLRAY, James (1757-1815), English carica-
to contact the gill lamella, where oxygen is
turist, who, along with Thomas Rowlandson, is
book illustrations and
1934 he went to
by the blood and carbon dioxide is re-
known as a father of modern political cartooning.
or the Rockefeller
from the blood into the water. The water
Gillray was born in the Chelsea area of London
d on his relief The C
passes through external gill slits to the out-
in 1757. First apprenticed to a letter engraver,
) for the League of
In lower fishes, such as lampreys, the ex-
he later enrolled as a student at the Royal Acad-
gill slits open directly to the outside. In
emy. There he received the formal training
va.
fishes a large flap, or gill cover, known as
that launched his career as one of the most popu-
ring set new standards
His best figure sculi
erculum, covers the external gill slits and
lar printmakers of his day. His early works were
water to pass to the outside through only
chiefly nonpolitical, but after about 1780, Gillray
it his freestanding
number opening. of gills present in fishes varies
devoted himself mainly to political caricature.
badcasting House,
During most of his career his work was displayed
merit. The Necessity
ly his most important
The 13 or 14 pairs in certain cyclostomes to 4
only at the London print shop of Miss H. Hum-
1941) was published
pairs in higher fishes. In some fishes the
phrey, were he also lived. He died there on June
do not provide adequate respiratory surface,
1, 1815, following a period of insanity.
e, on Nov. 17, 1940.
THOMAS S.R.
the fish's swim bladder and vascular skin
of "English Art, 1800
Section as supplementary respiratory organs. In
fishes, the gills supplement the excretory
for respiration under
inction of the kidneys.
CHARLES K. WEICHERT
uatic vertebrates-fisher
Author of "Anatomy of the Chordates"
well as in many
ing crustaceans,
michordates. Each gill
L-OVER-THE-GROUND. See GROUND Ivy.
vork that brings the
), American jazz
of the animal, fac
LLESPIE, player and arranger, who became fa-
Dizzy
(1917-
oxygen and carbon
the "King of Bop. John Birks Gillespie
nd the surrounding
of vertebrate gills:
born in Cheraw, S. C., on Oct. 21, 1917. He
some instruction in music theory but taught
ernal gills, found chief
to play the trumpet. Beginning in the
branched, filamento
he played trumpet with a number of fa-
covering the visceral
jazz bands, including Cab Calloway's and
ar the pharynx). The
Ellington's.
contact with the water
1944, with Charlie Parker and others,
en and give up
developed the "bop" style in jazz. As
amphibians usually
as this style was in vogue, Gillespie was in
hosis, when the amph
heyday. His followers wore berets, heavy
n and its newly deve
tacles, and goatees, as he did. After the
respiratory function
of bop, Gillespie continued in jazz in
1950's as a trumpet player and leader of big
Gillray cartoon of 1801 satirizes contemporary politics.
as perennibranchiates
or small "combos," playing more-tradi-
and commercial jazz music. In the 1960's
and his quintet appeared regularly at jazz
Gillray ridiculed all classes of British society-
particularly the one held annually at
including the royal family, the court, and the
:learly visible on the
Monterey, Calif.
great statesmen of the day-and occasionally
inum).
DAVID EWEN, Author of
turned his bitter satire against Napoleon and the
"Panorama of American Popular Music'
French. Gillray's Farmer George series, on King
George III, was especially popular. Two com-
LETTE, je-let', William Hooker (1853-1937),
panion pieces in the series-Farmer George and
Inverican actor and playwright, who helped
His Wife (1791), ridiculing the royal couple's
opularize realism in dramatic writing and stag-
frugal habits-show the king toasting muffins and
He was born in Hartford, Conn., on July 24,
Queen Charlotte frying sprats. Gillray etched his
a son of a U.S. senator. He began his act-
conceptions directly on copper, frequently with-
career in 1875 and his playwriting career in
out preparatory drawings except for the portraits
with The Professor. Gillette wrote 20 full-
he had sketched on cards. See also CARICATURE
with plays, chiefly melodramas, and acted in
-Early 19th Century; CARTOON-Political Car-
of them. His best plays are two dramas of
toons.
vroism and espionage in the Civil War-Held by
COLTA FELLER IVES
Enemy (1886) and Secret Service (1896)-
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Sherlock Holmes (1899), based on the Conan
stories. The plays he wrote after 1905 had
GILLYFLOWER, jil'ē-flou-ar, is a common name
success.
applied to several different plants, including the
Gillette was an excellent actor within a lim-
carnation Dianthus caryophyllus), the wall-
range-the hawk-faced man of action dealing
flower (Cheiranthus cheiri), the dame's rocket
anly with tense situations. His productions
(Hesperis matronalis), and especially the stock
mized minute detail to create a sense of com-
(Mathiola incana).
need
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
HINCHLIFFE/GROSSMAN
Dec. 2, 1990
East Room, White House
(Note: the only information in the files not summarized
completely here is the short Bios sent over from the Kennedy
Center. They are in the pink "Bio" file and I thought they were
pretty straightforward stuff. I did, however, pull out quotes
and anecdotes where I thought it was important to do so).
His
EVENT INFORMATION
1)
This year's honorees are Dizzy Gillespie, Katharine Hepburn,
Rise Stevens, Jule Styne and Billy Wilder. This is the
thirteenth year of the Kennedy Center Honors which were
first presented in 1978 to Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire,
George Balanchine, Richard Rogers and Arthur Rubinstein.
2)
The honorees are selected based on recommendations by an
Artists Committee consisting of leading figures in all
disciplines of the performing arts.
3)
The customary format for the President's remarks is: 1) a
general opening about the importance of the arts to our
country; 2) a tribute to each honoree, individually; 3) a
summing-up paragraph in which a final tribute is offered and
in which each honoree is again mentioned.
4)
This event will take place before the actual award ceremony
at the Kennedy Center. The honorees will be escorted in
ceremoniously before being seated at a special dais to hear
the President's remarks. After the remarks POTUS will shake
hands with each of the honorees.
5)
The remarks will be televised but not as a live
transmission. In fact, the taped remarks will be edited so
as to give the introduction and conclusion televised
priority (in other words---no one's going to see the middle
stuff).
QUOTES
KENNEDY
1)
Kennedy once described an educated man (individual) as one
who "reaches out for the experience which the arts alone
provide. He wants to explore the side of life which
expresses the emotions and embodies values and ideals of
beauty.'
--an excerpt from an article of his printed in the
December 18, 1962 issue of Look magazine.
2)
"There will always be of necessity, in any society, a mere
handful of genuinely creative individuals, the men and women
who shape in words or images the enduring work of art.
Among us, even this group tends to be enlarged. 'I hear
America singing,' said Walt Whitman. He would certainly
hear it singing with many voices if he were alive today."
--ibid.
3)
"Both Roosevelt and Lincoln understood that the life of the
arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the
life of a nation, is very close to the center of a nation's
purpose--and is a test of the quality of a nation's
civilization.
-ibid.
DIZZY GILLESPIE
1)
Dizzy once described himself as a teacher, saying "If
somebody learns from you, you are a teacher.'
2)
"There is some [racial] prejudice in jazz, and some of it's
reverse prejudice But music is music--you're dealing with
the same notes.'
BILLY WILDER
1)
Wilder on what he hopes to accomplish through film: if I
smuggled in a little something that adds to their makeup, to
their knowledge, I'm the happiest man in the world. I'm not
the man who wrote the Ten Commandments. Just the Ten
Suggestions."
--Interview, March 1986
2)
Here's another Wilder quote that could roll out of (or into)
the previous quote quite nicely: "I have ten commandments.
The first nine are 'Thou shalt not bore.' The tenth is
'Thou shalt have the right of the final cut.'
3) JOKE
POTUS: "Billy once said that 'the great agony in filmmaking
is that you don't have any try-outs in Boston
I guess
he never tried running for national office.'
4)
"In certain pictures I do hope they will leave the cinema a
little enriched, but I don't make them pay a buck and a half
and then ram a lecture down their throats."
4)
"Really, I'm rather square. But it's the squares who carry
the burden of the world, and the bores who become heroes."
(POTUS might rejoin if quote is used at the end: "Well, if
that's true, Katharine, if I keep rambling on they might
give me an award too.")
5)
"That's one of the troubles today--people are afraid to face
up to responsibilities. Work is the only thing that every
made anybody happy. The notion that work is a burden is a
terrible mistake. (Katharine, your work has made us happy)
6)
"Show me an actress who isn't a personality and I'll show
you a woman who isn't a star."
7)
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS ON KATHARINE HEPBURN: "She makes dialogue
sound better than it is by a matchless clarity and beauty of
diction and by a fineness of intelligence and sensibility
that illuminates every shade of meaning in every line she
speaks.'
8)
HENRY FONDA ON KATHARINE HEPBURN: "Kate is unique--in her
looks, in the way she plays, most of all in herself.
RISE STEVENS
1)
Speaking about young performers, Rise said: "They must feel
love; the stage must be a friend. It becomes a queston of
security and confidence and, of course, can be gained only
by regular opportunity to perform, suffer, enjoy and grow.
--Interview, LA Times, 7/3/77
ANECDOTES
RISE STEVENS
1)
Many today may think that Pavarotti's and Domingo's ads for
credit cards and watches were firsts for opera singers.
Stevens did a cigarette ad--though she didn't smoke. There
was no talk of superstars, but Rise Stevens was one.
-Opera News
2)
Stevens: "I will never remember any moment of my career more
vividly than the audience roar on opening night [of Carmen]
when I pulled down that huge red curtain as I fell after the
knife thrust. (is there one way of using this to lead into
a line about how the curtain will never come down on the
enduring contributions Rise has made to the world of opera?)
3)
From listening to her 10 year old daughter sing, Rise's
mother decided her daughter had talent as a singer
On
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8
"The things I bought for a few hundred dollars are closest to my heart," says Wilder, but the Balthus, center, may fetch $2 million.
DIRECTOR BILLY WILDER PUTS HIS
ARTS
LEGENDARY $22 MILLION-OR-SO ART
COLLECTION ON THE AUCTION BLOCK
t's magnificent," David Hockney whis-
ing-there have been select samplings in
such movie masterpieces as Double In-
pered, standing before La Toilette, a se-
Tokyo, Zurich, Geneva and Paris-of Bil-
demnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It
ductive nude by the 20th-century French
ly Wilder's legendary collection of 20th-
Hot and The Apartment has spent 50 years
painter Balthus. Nearby, Tony Bennett
century art. Still crowding his apartment
amassing his artworks. "A collection
gazed admiringly at Têtefemme, Picasso's
and warehouses is an assemblage that
needs to grow with the times, or it be-
evocative portrait of his pregnant first
includes pre-Columbian and African stat-
comes like an old suit-you love it, but
wife, Olga Koklova. Elsewhere in the
uary, Charles Eames chairs, bentwood
the moths have eaten it," Wilder says. "It
Beverly Hills Hotel's Crystal Room, Wal-
furniture, postage stamps, patent models,
needed new stuff. Unfortunately I found
ter Matthau, Victoria Principal, Peter
busts of Roman emperors and, Wilder
things I desperately wanted, but today
Falk, Betty White and Henry Mancini
readily admits, tchotchkes. On Nov. 13,
there is an additional zero at the end of
ogled Giacomettis and Calders, Renoirs
Wilder will put 94 of his masterpieces, in-
the price. Besides, you know the cliché
and Dufys. Amid the swirl of celebrities,
cluding works by Moore, Miró, Braque,
about being possessed by possessions. We
the host of the evening, director and six-
Cornell, Rivers, Thiebaud and Schiele,
worried that the people in the apartment
time Oscar winner Billy Wilder, pro-
on the block at Christie's in New York
above ours would let the bathtub over-
nounced himself content. "Amazing,"
City. "I wanted to test my willpower," the
flow. And insurance-I don't have to tell
Wilder said. "People didn't just run for
director says of the auction, which is ex-
you. I felt I needed a liberation from re-
the cocktails and for friends to talk about
pected to gross $22 million. "I kept read-
sponsibility." Wilder also didn't want to
their private lives. They actually talked
ing about those fantastic sales, those in-
saddle his wife of 40 years, Audrey, 66
about the paintings."
credible prices. So one day I said to my
(whom he has called the widow-to-be),
Hollywood knows a Big Occasion
wife, 'Let me call their bluff.'
with the huge collection after his death.
when it sees one. The two-day September
The decision was actually a bit more
The Austrian-born Wilder began buy-
exhibition was the last complete show-
complex than that, since the maker of
ing art as a newspaperman and screen-
Photographs by Tony Costa/Outline Press
ARTS
the right lotto numbers." He will also play
artistic father of the bride. "I'd like to give
a little advice to the purchasers, if they' re
writer in Berlin in the early '30s. "I had
not anonymous. 'This Matisse drawing
friends who were art critics, painters,
needs to be in the shade' or 'That Braque
sculptors," he says. "I found out about
needs to be watered three times a week.' I
new names-Braque, Miró, Dali. My fi-
had those things for 20, 30, 40 years. Now
nancial status was very, very shaky. At
they'll just have to leave their parents'
first I bought posters, lithographs, a few
house and see whether they can stand on
woodprints." His collecting was abruptly
their own two feet."
-Susan Reed,
sidetracked in 1933, when Hitler seized
Doris Bacon in Los Angeles
power. "I left Berlin the same day as the
Reichstag fire," Wilder recalls. "I sold the
Buste de Femme au Chapeau, a print val-
Bauhaus furniture I had just bought, for
ued at around $250,000, is one of 12
nothing. I gave some of my collection to
Picassos that Wilder is selling.
an Aryan friend in case I should ever
come back." When he did return, after
World War II, the "friend" claimed to
know nothing about the works.
Wilder fled first to Paris, then, in 1934,
CHRISTIE'S NEW YORK (3)
to Hollywood. "I knew 20 or 30 words of
English from American talking pictures,"
Giacometti's Femme Debout II, among
he says. "It was too late for me to learn
the most valuable pieces in the collec-
English without an accent. Now, after 50
tion, may bring $1.5 million next week.
years, I have a curious accent, which is a
mixture of Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Archbishop Tutu." In 1938 he co-wrote
Ninotchka, which starred Greta Garbo,
and suddenly became a Hollywood name.
With money for art again, Wilder started
buying Toulouse-Lautrec posters and in
1940 acquired his first Picasso, a drawing,
for $900. "There were very few dealers in
Los Angeles then," he recalls. "When I
was on location in New York or Paris or
London, I would always pick up some-
Wilder swapped another painting for
thing. Days we weren't working, I would
Paul Delvaux's Les Desmoiselles du Tele-
go on a buying spree 14 hours a day. I
phone, right. It may go for $900,000.
bought a George Grosz painting for a car-
ton of cigarettes in 1945."
Wilder's eye for art reflects the spare
intelligence and wit of his films. "It's a
'felt' collection," says L.A. County Muse-
um curator Maurice Tuchman. "It's in-
dicative of his literary and poetic in-
stincts. Everything has some humor in
it." One movie was even inspired by his
art. "I bought a painting by Pierre Roy in
New York," he remembers. "There was a
black derby and a soft hat, and the sun
was shining on the parquet floor. I
thought of Love in the Afternoon there."
Wilder concedes he will feel sweet sor-
row in parting with his masterpieces,
some of which originally cost less than
$5,000, but he will be there for the auc-
tion. "I want to be present at the fight,"
he says. "Money is of less importance
than the inner satisfaction that I was on
"I never bought a piece of art because I
thought I was going to make money,"
says Wilder, at home in Los Angeles.
157
MUSIC
AT THE
WHITE HOUSE
*
A HISTORY OF
THE AMERICAN SPIRIT
Elise K. Kirk
STATE
A Barra Foundation Book
1986
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
Urbana and Chicago
Music at the White House
FINTHPONDES
FORTES
The first President's Palace at Number 3 Cherry Street, New York, as it
appeared in the 1850s, shortly before it was demolished. Ironically, Nelly
Custis practiced the piano several hours a day in the building that later housed
one of the nation's most flourishing piano manufacturers and music publishers,
Firth, Pond and Company (formerly Firth, Hall and Pond). Leslie's Weekly,
1856.
Philadelphia became the temporary capital, and there the Washingtons
occupied the home of Robert Morris, financier of the Revolutionary
War, until the president retired from office in 1797. Washington lived
on his beloved plantation at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, for slightly more
than two years before his death in 1799 at the age of sixty-seven.
Music at the president's home in those carly days was an intimate
amusement. If a "concert artist" performed for the Washington family,
it would have been one of Nelly's teachers, such as Alexander Reinagle,
a long-time acquaintance of Washington. Perhaps this gifted immigrant
composer ran through some of the tunes from his latest comic opera
for the president or tried out one of the fine new piano sonatas he
composed in the 1790s. Reinagle was often at the president's home
instructing Nelly. Another carly "White House artist" was Nelly herself,
who was expected to perform for the ambassadors, foreign dignitaries,
and members of Congress who came to visit. Once she played for over
an hour in an attempt to "attune the souls" of "two homely Spaniards,"
one of whom she described as "a crazy count."3
8
Extended Page 5.
was familiar with the bands attached to the army regiments that often
provided music for social functions during the Revolution. When he
brought Charles Lee to Valley Forge, for example, both generals were
entertained "with an Elegant Dinner and the Music Playing the whole
time." "An elegant band of music" also played Andre Grétry's quartet
Ou peut on être mieux qu'au sein de sa familles, most likely a tran-
scription from one of the popular French composer's operas. The piece
was played during dinner when Washington met with the Marquis de
Lafayette and Comte de Claude Saint-Simon in 1781.5 The year after
Washington left the presidency, the U.S. Marine Band was officially
formed on July 11, 1798, but it probably did not function as a social
ensemble until it was engaged by John Adams for the White House
on New Year's Day, 1801.6 The musical life of the pre-White House
era, however, was linked with the informal joy and ambience of the
art in many ways, and its graceful shadow permeated every aspect of
the president's spirit and that of his family.
Washington enjoyed music and the theater and was especially
fond of dancing. George Washington Parke Custis's Recollections noted
that the general was conspicuous for his graceful execution of the
minuet, a dance associated with European aristocracy and considered
old-fashioned by the turn of the century. At a time when some churches
called dancing "a pollution of the body," Washington's diaries are
filled with accounts of the various balls he attended. During his brilliant
inaugural ball on May 7, 1789, he danced with nearly every lady-----
except Mrs. Washington who could not make the long journey from
Mt. Vernon to New York in time to attend. Dancing was also an
important recreation at Mt. Vernon where Washington and his family
spent two to three months of the year during his presidency. Both
Nelly and Tub had dancing lessons, their teacher being the illustrious
James Robardet, "lately from Europe" who had "met with the general
patronage and applause of the first characters in America."
Whenever he could, Washington attended plays (usually interspersed
with music), English ballad operas, or concerts sometimes five or six
times a season while he was president and a special box was reserved
for him at several of the theaters. In Williamsburg during 1771-72
he often attended the satirical productions of the Virginia Company,
whose repertory included John Gay's famous Beggar's Opera. With
its dialogue and familiar songs, The Beggar's Opera (1728) was one
of the earliest important examples of the ballad opera, a style of British
stage entertainment that flourished in the colonies. On July 10, 1787,
9
Washington
in Philadelphia Washington enjoyed James Townley's "sensational"
High Life below the Stairs, which was billed as a "concert" to circumvent
Pennsylvania laws forbidding theatrical performances. Washington was
known to have opposed what he felt were narrow-minded restrictions
against drama. In 1789 the bans were lifted in Philadelphia and four
years later in Boston.
One of the first musical events the president attended after taking
office was a bawdy little ballad opera called The Clandestine Marriage,
presented in New York City by the Old American Company on June
13, 1789. The president also lightened his cumbrous duties periodically
with renditions of Beau Strategem. The Lock and Key (called "a comic
opera in 2 acts"), The Way to Get Married, and Animal Magnetism,
all of which he saw in Philadelphia. The last two works were staged
on February 27, 1797, by the Reinagle-Wignell Company at the spacious,
elegant New Theater on Chestnut Street. But the general's favorite
was William Shield's little comic opera Poor Soldier, first performed
in London in 1783. Seated in an "elegantly fitted up" presidential box,
he watched this production at the John Street Theater off Broadway
in May 1789, shortly after taking office. Accounts of the event em-
phasized that a good time was had by all-with the exception of
Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay, "an exceedingly straight-laced
Republican, who recorded in his diary that he thought the play was
'an indecent representation before ladies of character and virtue,' and
wished it had been one 'that inculcated more prudential manners.' 118
Sometimes President and Mrs. Washington would enjoy a fash-
ionable early dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon and then attend a long
show beginning at 5:00. On December 4. 1796, they saw such a pro-
duction at the South Street Theater. The Old American Company
presented a comedy called The Young Quaker or The Fair Philadelphian
by O'Keefe, "after which there was a 'pantomimie ballet' of the Two
Philosophers, a Musical Piece called The Children in the Wood, a
recitation of Dr. Goldsmith's celebrated Epilogue in the character of
Harlequin-the whole performance concluding with a Leap through
a Barrel of Fire. However unsophisticated these presidential artistic
tastes may seem, they reflected what was available to Americans
during the colonial and early national period, Long after their decline
in popularity in England, ballad operas continued to thrive in the
United States as truncated "afterpieces," and their catchy tunes were
performed separately in concerts or played on the pianoforte at home.
As more and more skilled European musicians migrated to the
United States after the Revolutionary War, concert life began to flourish
in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities as never before.
One of the most important immigrant musicians of this period was
English-born Alexander Reinagle, a composer, performer, and impresario
who dominated the musical life of Philadelphia for over twenty years.
Washington, who enjoyed concerts aimost as much as theatrical events,
attended several of Reinagle's "City Concerts" while in Philadelphia
for the 1787 Constitutional Convention. On May 29, for example, he
heard works by Haydn and Sarti as well as by the local composers
11
NVV
are
To: Laurie Firestone
From: John Musilli
In performances at the White House "A Presidents Day Party"
This concert is the last in the series "The House I Live In" (the
others in the series were presented at the time of Independence Day
1989 and Columbus Day 1989).
"A President's Day party", which will take place on February 4 and
be broadcast nationally on the facilities of the Public
Broadcasting service on February 14, celebrates Presidents George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
The "house I live in" is of course, the White House, and by
extension, the United States, the home to us all. Mention will be
freedom
made of the fact that George Washington was the only president who
builds
did not live in the White House--but all in all the concert is much
above
more of a party than a history lesson.
Hot rows
figgr
"well, Did you Evah"--by Cole Porter gets us off to a rousing
start, with its theme "What A Swell Party This Is." (Most members
of the audience of the white House and the television audience will
remember it from the musical film "High Society" starring Grace
Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.
It will be sung here by all the participants--Marilyn Horne,
Jeffrey Osborne, Patti LuPone, Gary Morris and the members or the
Band. Dick Hyman trio--backed up by the President's own Marine Corps
The performances bring to this concert songs close to their heart,
songs that mean something special to them, and each is introduced
to make that connection.
The internationally renowned opera diva Marilyn Horne has long
admired the toasting song from "Lucresia Borgia", and the art song
possibilities in Simon and Garfunkel's popular hit "Bridge over
Troubled Waters". "Make a kainbow" was written especially for her
by Portia Nelson; it is about the may types and races of children
in the world--and our responsibility to them.
Patti LuPore sang "Anything Goes" to standing ovations for months
as the lead in the great Cole Porter musical when it was revived
in 1988-89 in New York city. This star of theater, film and
television has chosen a set of three American theater standards
that promises to bring any party to its feet.
Jeffrey Osmond has been praised as having the "emotionalism of a
soul singer with the control of a jasz man." His songs are love
songa and songs of happiness.
Gary Morris, with the big open-headed voice of a country music
singer, performs on stage and television as well as in concert.
Mis song "Wind Beneath My Wings" has become a national hit. "Bring
Mim Home" is from "Les Niserables", in which Mr. Morris replaced
the show's lead in 1987. Dick Hyman's trio includes Bob Haggart
(double bass) and Gus Johnson (drums). They perform two up-beat
jass favorites from the mid-30's: "south Hampart Street Parade" and
"Big Noise From Winnettka."
This "Presidents' Day Party" ends with the entire cast singing
"America the Beautiful"
TUE
15:24
Conclusion
a degree of proficiency. With the possible exception of Adams's and
lefferson's administrations, the White House was never without at
least two pianos, often three or four. And while George Washington
was one of the first Americans to purchase an American-made piano
from Thomas Dodds in 1789), after 1830 all the pianos acquired by
the White House were American-made. For as the century progressed,
ingenious Yankee mass-marketing techniques brought top-quality, do-
mestically made instruments into thousands of American homes.
Music At The
The collections of music owned by presidential families-notably
those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Zachary
White House :
Taylor, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford
Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison-are fine examples of the urban secular
A History $
styles enjoyed by the amateur American pianist of the time. Every
variety of music is among these pages: opera airs, patriotic music,
American Shift
marches, dances, variations, ballads, and rousing battle pieces. To
Oliver Wendell Holmes the piano was a "wondrous box," and another
quotation from his poem "The Opening of the Piano" expresses the
Elise K. Kirk
feelings of many Americans: "For the dear soul knew that music was
a very sovereign balm / She had sprinkled it over Sorrow, and seen
its brow grow calm."
Few presidents in history have been as sensitive and receptive to
music as Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln lived in an era during which
Univ. of Illonois Press
music was a powerful art that sang presidents into office, marched
men to war, serenaded the lonely, and protested society's ills with
1986
greater intensity than ever before. From the 1840s through the period
of the Civil War, America's propensity for self-expression through
song seemed to forecast the nation's moods of more than a century
later. Sensitive, ingenuous, and urgent, these musical messages took
many forms. Lincoln, often moved to tears by the ballads of Stephen
Foster and the Hutchinson Family, was equally affected by patriotic
songs, such as Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Grand opera was also a special pleasure for this president, who attended
nineteen productions while he was in office, claiming that "I must
have a change or I will die."
Opera in nineteenth-century America was more significant and
widespread than some historians have asserted. English light operas
with spoken dialogue, known as ballad operas, had been popular es-
pecially during the colonial period, just as the operettas of Gilbert
and Sullivan captured the American stage in the 1880s and 18gos.
But as early as 1810, New Orleans had a permanent grand opera
company, and New Yorkers heard their first foreign-language opera
111 1825. While grand opera was expensive to produce, many of the
latest French, Italian, and German operas were staged in American
theaters only months after they received their premieres in Europe.
And although opera was enjoyed as a fine social affair, it entertained
Americans outside the theater in countless piano arrangements and
transcriptions for concert bands that, from about 1840 into the early
twentieth century, drew thousands to the community bandstands. The
U.S. Marine Band, the White House "court ensemble" since 1801,
36₃
PN6081 081
w5
1982
Styne
WH
t: What They Said
In 1982
The Yearbook Of World Opinion
Compiled and Edited by
ALAN F. PATER
and
JASON R. PATER
MONITOR BOOK COMPANY, INC.
WHAT THEY SAID IN 1982
(CARLY SIMON)
The big bands, and jazz, never went away. The
to say, h
audience, to some extent, went away; now
said it fo
and-roll and disco, there's a tenseness to the
they're coming back, and there's SO much good
music. With the old songs, the changes are more
music to be heard, it's incredible.
predictable. You feel like you're coming home
Interview, Los Angeles/San Francisco
Robert И
when you sing them. The music makes you feel
Examiner & Chronicle, 4-4:(Datebook)25.
Opera CO
more secure.
Interview/Chicago Tribune, 3-7:(6)5.
Joan Tower
The m
Composer; Winner,
opera is c
Rod Stewart
Koussevitsky Prize
notes hav
Singer
1
4
lights go
[Rock music] didn't change the world
The composer isn't visible. There's no one to
give you
because of its lyrical or social comment. It
identify with
Unlike writing, to make music
what's to
changed the world because teen-agers wanted
two people are always involved-the composer
find a m
something to grasp hold of, and it came along
and the performer. What's happened is the
time and
at the right time. It wasn't a revolution in that
performer has taken over. People go to concerts
greatest ti
we all go out in the streets and overthrow the
to hear Horowitz, not Rachmaninoff.
cism. Sor
government, and I don't think any of the
Interview/"W": a
find it is
writers have managed to do that. Bob Dylan's
Fairchild publication, 12-3:20.
sharply an
probably the only one. Bruce Springsteen,
maybe a little bit, and a few others. But they
Pete Townshend
haven't changed anything. They've just made us
Musician, the Who
Joe Williar
aware of what's going on around us. What
5
Singer
rock-and-roll can do is comment on what's
Out on a stage you get affirmation of what
going on and hope it will change.
you've done. You can see it, you can sense it,
"Blues
Interview/San Francisco Examiner &
whether one song worked, whether people
all. Some
Chronicle, 4-18:(Datebook)21.
understand it, whether it's touched the spot
a blues si
that you originally intended to touch. Most
singer. It j
writers live in a vacuum and they're just names
all.
Jule Styne
on book jackets. But rock 'n' roll isn't like that;
Songwriter
2
it's reality, not fiction. If you meet somebody
If I had to write eight songs for someone by
like [Bob] Dylan, you know the man better
tonight, I'd say, "Give me my pencil and my
than he knows himself, because rock-and-roll is
John Willia
manuscript paper, and I promise you in about
open-heart surgery.
Composer;
four hours I'll have written eight professional
Interview/San Francisco Examiner &
Boston Pop
songs." Look, you either know how to com-
Chronicle, 10-17:(Datebook)17.
pose or you don't. I studied classical music and
America
I coached people and I played in bands so I
George Ge
Conway Twitty
know what sounds good, and all that registers
Johnny Me
Singer
in your brain like a computer. You feed it the
6
-is a great
information, and when you sit down, the brain
First I make sure I've got a song a woman
our greates
executes it for you and something wonderful
will like, because they realize the sincerity in a
There was
comes out.
song, and they're the ones that mostly buy the
energy in
Interview, Chicago, December/
records. Then I want to make the same song say
the 1920s
Chicago Tribune, 12-15:(1)14.
things that most men find hard to say. Like
"Hello, Darling"-most men are too macho for
Mel Torme
that; they'd say "Hi, baby." But all they got
Singer
3
to do is drop a quarter in the jukebox and play
when people ask me whether jazz is
this Conway Twitty song, and at the right point
coming back, I always have the same answer:
in the song, where it says whatever he's wanting
350
t:An Encyclopedia of
Quotations About Music
compiled and edited by
NAT SHAPIRO
DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK 1978
186
The Universal Art
Take a music-bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and
you will find that it is to the soul what the water-bath is to the
body.
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94)
Over the Teacups, 1891
If you can sing a song that would make people forget their trou-
bles
I'll give you a medal.
President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964)
Said to popular singer Rudy Vallee,
Quoted by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.,
The Crisis of the Old Order, 1957
Black care shall be lessened by sweet song.
Horace (65-8 B.C.)
Odes, 24 B.C.
Who among us has not sought peace in a song?
Victor Hugo (1802-85)
Les Rayons et les ombres, 1840
Music furnishes a delightful recreation for the hours of respite
from the cares of the day, and lasts us through life.
President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82)
The Day Is Done
Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the
agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and de-
lightful presents God has given us.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
January 26, 1928, someone named Rise Steenberg (Rise
Stevens) sang "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls."
**HOW about a line of tribute by the President to "a great
artist who once 'dreamt she dwelled in marble halls. Not
many would get the connection, but it's sure to touch a
chord with Rise.
4)
She sang successfully at the Met in French, German, Italian
and English, music of three centuries and half a dozen
styles.
5)
Though her own favorite role was Gluck's Orfeo, and the
critics most liked her Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, the
great popular success was unquestionably Carmen in the
production Rudolf Bing built around her in 1952.
KATHARINE HEPBURN
1)
As a child, Hepburn was aniexpert wrestler, tumbler, and
trapeze performer.
2)
When she was eight, she made her first public appearance at
a votes-for-women rally.
BILLY WILDER
1)
Some of the enduring images created by Wilder include:
Gloria Swanson as the legendary Norma. Desmond descending the
staircase at the end of Sunset Boulevard; Tony Curtis and
Jack Lemmon in high heels precariously running away from
killer gangsters in Some Like it Hot; a tarted up Shirley
MacLaine walking the streets of Paris with her poodle in
Irma La Douce, and, perhaps most memorably of all, Marilyn
Monroe surrounded by her billowing white skirt as she cools
off by standing on top of a New York subway grate in The
Seven Year Itch.
DIZZY GILLESPIE
1)
The origins of Gillespie's trademark trumpet: The bent-bell
trumpet got its start in 1953 when someone fell on his
trumpet stand backstage; Gillespie liked the sound of the
alteed instrument so much that his trumpets have been
specially made ever since.
PAST/SIMILAR SPEECHES (EXCERPTS)
1)
Bush's remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the National
Medal of the Arts (11/17/89)
"Dante once wrote that 'Art imitates nature as well as it
can, as a pupil follows his master; and thus it is a sort of
grandchild of God.' Well, as this, 'grandchild of God, art
embraces our values in history, gives meaning to our
existence, and illuminates the basic human truths which give
us purpose
"The diversity of art in this nation is truly a product of
the diversity of our democracy. The American arts, like a
many-faceted mirror, have been a colorful reflection of his
nation's history
"John Berks 'Dizzy' Gillespie is a virtuoso musician,
pioneer, composer, and bandleader who has been a pivotal
figure in 20th century American music. The founder of the
jazz bebop movement, he developed a radical new approach to
improvisation that was to change the course of modern music-
making. For more than 40 years he has explored the varied
music of different cultures. Mr. Gillespie has performed
before countless world leaders and has won numerous
awards
"
2)
President Reagan's remarks at the Kennedy Center Honors,
Dec. 6, 1987:
tonight we have gathered for the solemn but happy purpose
of honoring five Americans who have dedicated their lives to
the performing arts. Others give us material goods, enact
and enforce laws, provide the countless other services that
go to make up American life. But these five-what these
five have given us is joy
"Others have sometimes accused us Americans of having too
little appreciation of the finer things-of being too caught
up in the practical and the everyday. Yet it was the first
President to live in this grand old house who wrote: 'I must
study Statecraft
that my sons may have the liberty to study
Mathmaticks and Philosophy in order to give their children
a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick And
there
in
John Adams' words we see expressed at the very beginning of
our history as a Nation the American understanding that what
is beautiful--what is uplifting- is what is most
important
"President Kennedy said that he cherished the ideal of an
America 'not afraid of grace and beauty, an America
respected throughout the world not only for its strength but
for its civilization as well.
3)
Mrs. Bush's remarks for last year's Kennedy Center Honors:
"It has been said that art is not an end in itself, it is a
means of addressing humanity. Tonight we gather in this
historic East Room to celebrate five Americans who have
devoted their lives to art, and in so doing have enriched
the lives of countless millions in this country and around
the world."
DAY IN HISTORY
1)
On Dec. 2, 1886, Theodore Roosevelt married Edith K. Carow.
2)
The French artist George Seurat was born on Dec. 2, 1859.
Ref
E176
.H3
WHRC
t.
TREASURY
OF
PRESIDENTIAL
QUOTATIONS
Compiled and edited by
CAROLINE THOMAS HARNSBERGER
FOLLETT PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO
1964
ARMY
ASSASSINATION
15
do all the work required while we are at peace, and can rely upon
Arts, The
1. The science of government, it is my duty to study, more than
the great body of the people in an emergency to help us fight our
all the other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and
battles.
negotiation, ought to take place of, indeed to exclude, in a manner,
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
all other arts. I must study politics and war that my sons may have
At Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 16, 1898; Speeches and
liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to
Addresses, p. 172
study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and
10. The army and navy are the sword and the shield which this
naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order
nation must carry if she is to do her duty among the nations of
to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music,
architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.
the earth
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
JOHN ADAMS
Address in Chicago, III., Apr. 10, 1899; Works, XIII, 328
1780; Family, p. 67
11. There is a popular feeling that an army in time of peace is not
2. Every time an artist dies part of the vision of mankind passes
maintained and administered to be used for war, and that the army
with him.
exists merely for show,
This impression has led a usually prac-
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
tical and hard-headed people like the Americans to the most absurd
1941; As FDR Said, p. 161
military policy. An Army is for war. If there were no possibility of
war
and we could be guaranteed a continuous peace, we should
See also Culture, Education, Public Opinion 1, War 16
disband the army; but we have not yet arrived at this happy
Assassination
condition.
1. If it is [God's will that I must die by the hand of an assassin,
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
I must be resigned. I must do my duty as I see it, and leave the
Address at Columbus, Ohio, Apr. 2, 1908; Problems, p. 82
rest with God.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
12. I am not one of those who believe that a great standing army
Statement in Washington, D.C., 1864; War Years, III, 559
is the means of maintaining peace, because if you build up a great
profession those who form parts of it want to exercise their
2. If I am killed, I can die but once; but to live in constant dread
profession.
of it, is to die over and over again.
WOODROW WILSON
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Speech at Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 29, 1916; Public Papers,
Washington, D.C., 1864; Abraham. Lincoln (Morse), II, 345
IV, 33
3. Men may talk about beheading and about usurpation, but
13. I tell you, fellow citizens, that the war was won by the
when I am beheaded I want the American people to be witnesses.
American spirit.
You know what one of our American wits
I do not want it, by innuendoes and indirect remarks in high places,
said, that it took only half as long to train an American army as
to be suggested to men who have assassination brooding in their
any other, because you had only to train them to go one way.
bosoms
WOODROW WILSON
ANDREW JOHNSON
Speech at Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 6, 1919; Ibid., VI, 12
Speech in Washington, D.C., Feb. 22, 1866; Document, p. 6
14. I believe in a small army, but the best in the world, with a
4. I'd rather have a bullet inside of me than to be living in con-
mindfulness for preparedness which will avoid the unutterable
stant dread of one.
cost of our previous neglect.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
WARREN G. HARDING
Upon dismissing the White House detectives, 1889; As I
At Marion, Ohio, July 22, 1920; Speeches of Warren G.
Knew Them, p. 149
Harding, p. 33
15. No nation ever. had an army large enough to guarantee it
5. No man will ever be restrained from becoming President by
any fear as to his personal safety. If the risk to the President's life
against attack in time of peace, or insure it victory in time of war.
became great, it would mean that the office would more and more
CALVIN COOLIDGE
come to be filled by men of a spirit which would make them
An address, 1925
resolute and merciless in dealing with every friend of disorder.
See also Defense, Discipline, Duty 3, Military Matters, Navy,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Neutrality 2, People (The) 7, Preparedness, Republics 16,
First Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 3, 1901; Works
Soldiers, Union 8, 22, War 44
(Mem. Ed.), XVII, 99
CONOMY
EDUCATION 69
2. Under our scheme of government the waste of public money
8. Any government, like any family, can for a year spend a little
is a crime against the citizen, and the contempt of our people for
more than it earns. But you and I know that a continuance of that
economy and frugality in the personal affairs deplorably saps the
habit means the poorhouse.
strength and sturdiness of our national character.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
GROVER CLEVELAND
Radio speech, July 30, 1932; Ibid., p. 663
Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1893
9. My interest is in an economy which will be strong enough to
3. The duty of economy is not debatable. It is manifest and im-
absorb the potential of a rapidly expanding population, steady
perative. In the appropriations we pass we are spending the money
enough to avert the wide swings which bring grief to so many of
of the great people whose servants we are-not our own. We are
our people, and non-inflationary enough to persuade investors that
trustees and responsible stewards in the spending. The only thing
this country holds a steady promise of growth and stability.
debatable and upon which we should be careful to make our
JOHN F. KENNEDY
thought and purpose clear is the kind of economy demanded of us.
I assert with the greatest confidence that the people of the United
In Washington, D.C., Apr. 30, 1962; Vital Speeches, June 1,
States are not jealous of the amount their Government costs if
1962, p. 482
they are sure that they get what they need and desire for the
outlay, that the money is being spent for objects of which they
See also Business 10, Government 27, Loans, Money 9, Peace 22,
approve, and that it is being applied with good business sense
Property 10, Security 5, Wealth 8
and management.
Education
1. Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions
WOODROW WILSON
Second Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 8, 1914; Messages
for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the struc-
and Papers (Shaw), I, 74
ture of government gives force to public opinion, it is essential
that public opinion should be enlightened.
4. After order and liberty, economy is one of the highest essen-
GEORGE WASHINGTON
tials of a free government.
Economy is always a guarantee
Farewell Address, Sept. 19, 1796; Writings (Fitzpatrick),
of peace.
XXXV, 230
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Speech at Northhampton, Mass., May 30, 1923; Freedom,
2. The preservation of the means of knowledge among the low-
p. 350
est ranks is of more importance to the public than all the property
5. With us economy is imperative. It is a full test of our national
of all the rich men in the country.
character.
I am for economy After that I am for more
JOHN ADAMS
economy.
Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law, August, 1765;
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Works, III, 457
Speech in Washington, D.C., June 30, 1924; Foundations,
pp. 41, 47
3. Education makes a greater difference between man and man,
6. I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save
than nature has made between man and brute.
money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women
JOHN ADAMS
of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the
To Abigail Adams, Oct. 29, 1775; Familiar Letters, p. 119
Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that
their life will be so much the more meager.
Economy is ideal-
4. The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is
ism in its most practical form.
not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings,
The wisest and soundest method of solving our tax problem is
priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people
through economy.
in ignorance.
The result of economic dissipation to a nation is always moral
THOMAS JEFFERSON
decay.
To George Wythe, Aug. 13, 1786; Works, II, 6
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1925
5.
Academies commit their pupils to the theatre of the world,
7. Economy is the method by which we prepare today to afford
with just taste enough of learning to be alienated from industrial
the improvements of tomorrow.
pursuits, and not enough to do service in the ranks of science.
CALVIN COOLIDGE
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Message to Congress, 1925; Message, p. 3
To John Adams, July 5, 1841; Writings, XIV, 151
DUCATION
EDUCATION 71
6. A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free
14. How priceless is a liberal education! In itself what a rich
people.
endowment! It is not impaired by age, but its value increases with
JAMES MADISON
use. No one can employ it but its rightful owner. He alone can
Second Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 5, 1810; Messages
illustrate its worth and enjoy its rewards. It cannot be inherited or
and Papers, p. 470
purchased. It must be acquired by individual effort. It can be
secured only by perseverance and self-denial. But it is as free as
7. Learned institutions ought to be favorite objects with every
the air we breathe.
A liberal education is the prize of indi-
free people. They throw that light over the public mind which is
vidual industry. It is the greatest blessing that a man or woman
the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments on
can enjoy, when supported by virtue, morality, and noble aims.
the public liberty.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
JAMES MADISON
To W.T. Barry, Aug. 4, 1822; Complete Madison, p. 337
In Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 22, 1898; Speeches and Addresses,
p. 74
8. Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any
15. Education should not confine itself to books. It must train
plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the
most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in
executive power, and try to create that right public opinion which
I desire to see the time when education-and by its means, moral-
is the most potent factor in the proper solution of all political and
ity, sobriety, enterprise and industry-shall become much more
social questions. Book-learning is very important, but it is by
general than at present.
no means everything.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Political announcement, Sangamon County, III., Mar. 9,
Address at Lansing, Mich., May 31, 1907; Works, VI, 1288
1832; Complete Works, I, 7
16. The higher education is well for those who can use it to
9. The true prosperity and greatness of a nation is to be found
advantage, but it too often fits a man to do things for which there
in the elevation and education of its laborers.
is no demand, and unfits him for work which there are too few
to do.
ULYSSES S. GRANT
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
Third Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 4, 1871; Messages
and Papers, p. 4100
Inauguration of the Philippine Assembly, Oct. 16, 1907;
Problems, p. 22
10. Aid to education in the States by the Nation
seems to be
our best chance to bring up the neglected elements in our popu-
17. The object of a liberal training is not learning, but discipline
lation.
and the enlightenment of the mind.
WOODROW WILSON
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
To Hon. Guy M. Bryan, Nov. 13, 1884; Diary and Letters,
Speech at Cambridge, Mass., July 1, 1909; Ideals, p. 22
IV, 176
18. The strength and security of the nation will always rest in
11. Learn to know yourself to the end that you may improve
the intelligent body of its people. Our education should implant
your powers, your conduct, your character. This is the true aim
conceptions of public duty and private obligation broad enough
of education and the best of all educations is self-education.
to envisage the problems of a greatly distraught world.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
WARREN G. HARDING
Diary, Oct. 4, 1892; Ibid., V, 112
Message for American Education Week, 1922; Messages
and Papers, p. 9157
12. Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular edu-
cation, without which neither freedom nor justice can be perma-
19. Education is for the purpose of bringing to bear the experi-
nently maintained.
ences of the past in finding the solutions of the problems of the
JAMES A. GARFIELD
present.
Letter Accepting Nomination for Presidency, July 12, 1880;
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Works, II, 783
Speech at College of the Holy Cross, June, 1920; Citizenship,
p. 330
13. A more constant and active participation in political affairs
on the part of our men of education would be of the greatest
20. Education is the result of contact. A great people is produced
possible value to our country.
by contact with great minds.
GROVER CLEVELAND
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Address at Princeton University, 1896; Eloquence, VII, 253
Speech at Evanston, III., Jan. 21, 1923; Freedom, p. 243
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
73
21. Upon our educational system must largely depend the per-
27. It is unwise to make education too cheap. If everything is
petuity of those institutions upon which our freedom and our
provided freely, there is a tendency to put no value on anything.
security rest.
Education must always have a certain price on it; even as the
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
very process of learning itself must always require individual
Message for American Education Week, Sept. 27, 1938;
effort and initiative. Education is a matter of
self-discipline.
Public Papers, VII, 538
Prejudice and unreasoning opposition will more and more give
22. One of the difficulties with all our institutions is the fact
way before the clean flood of knowledge.
that we've emphasized the reward instead of the service
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
I've been trying to work out a federal system of help to edu-
Address in Washington, D.C., Apr. 4, 1957; Ibid., p. 266
cation, particularly along material lines-that is, improved
buildings and increased salaries for teachers, but I think the
28. It is within your power to see that schools no longer pro-
fundamental purpose of our educational system is to instill a
duce mathematical illiterates-or students who can identify all
moral code in the rising generation and create a citizenship which
the wives of Henry the Eighth, but not the countries bordering
will be responsible for the welfare of the Nation.
Afghanistan-or scholars whose education has been so special-
HARRY S. TRUMAN
ized as to exclude them from participation in current events—
men like Lord John Russell, of whom Queen Victoria once re-
To Mr. Moore, Sept. 27, 1949; Mr. President, p. 45
marked that he would be a better man if he knew a third subject,
23. The educator must teach that tolerance is better' than a
but he was interested in nothing but the Constitution of 1688 and
bullet; that understanding is something worthwhile and of far
himself. Civilization, according to the old saying, "is a race be-
greater value to us than is prejudice; that international differences
tween education and catastrophe." It is up to you to determine
in the realm of trade and finance and national pride are not so
the winner.
great as to avoid the establishment of
the regimented clusters
JOHN F. KENNEDY
of white crosses that now stand along the roads of Europe.
Address at University of Denver, Feb. 24, 1958; Strategy,
I see no hope for the world except through education, but I am
p. 208
most optimistic for the world because I believe in education
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
29. I ask only that you offer to the political arena, and to the
Address at Boston University, Jan. 31, 1946; Eisenhower
critical problems of our society which are decided therein, the
Speaks, p. 72
benefit of the talents which society has helped to develop in you.
24. The Federal role should be merely to facilitate-never to
I ask you to decide, as Goethe put it, whether you will be an
control-education.
anvil-or a hammer. The formal phases of the "anvil" stage are
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
completed for many of you, though hopefully you will continue to
Special Message to Congress, Jan. 28, 1957; Public Papers
absorb still more in the years ahead. The question now is whether
Eisenhower, 1957, p. 90
you are to be a hammer-whether you are to give to the world
in which you are reared and educated the broadest benefits of
25. In a Nation which holds sacred the dignity and worth of the
that education.
individual, education is first and foremost an instrument for serv-
JOHN F. KENNEDY
ing the aspirations of each person. It is not only the means for
Address at University of Wisconsin, June 16, 1958; Ibid.,
earning a living, but for enlarging life-for maintaining and im-
p. 230
proving liberty of the mind, for exercising both the rights and
obligations of freedom, for understanding the world in which
30. Education
is the mainspring of our economic and social
we live.
progress.
It is the highest expression of achievement in our
Collectively, the educational equipment of the whole population
society, ennobling and enriching human life.
contributes to our national character-our freedom as a Nation,
JOHN F. KENNEDY
our national security, our expanding economy, our cultural attain-
ments, our unremitting efforts for a durable peace.
Message to Congress, Feb. 6, 1962; Public Papers
Ken-
nedy, 1962, P. 110
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Special Message to Congress, Jan. 28, 1957; Ibid., p. 95
31. The classroom-not the trench-is the frontier of freedom
26. I believe with Franklin that freedom and free government
now and forevermore.
depend upon an educated citizenry.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Address at New York Institute of Technology, Dec. 16,
News conference, Apr. 3, 1957; Ibid., p. 243
1958
EFFORT
ELOQUENCE 75
32. If we, of this generation, are to assure greatness for our
2. The only life that is worth living is the life of effort, the life
nation, survival for our freedoms and honor for ourselves, we must
of effort to attain what is worth striving for.
make provision in our land-and in all lands where men are free—
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
for education of the first class on all levels.
At Groton, Mass., May 24, 1904; Presidential Addresses,
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
III, 15
Address to University of Texas Ex-Students Association,
Apr. 1, 1959
See also Achievement 2, 3, Action 1, Greatness 3, 4, 12, Life 6,
Revolutions 8
33. Education is mankind's only hope. Education is the impera-
tive of a universal and lasting peace.
Education is the key that
Elections
1. Believing that the restoration of the civil service to the system
unlocks progress in the struggle against hunger and want and in-
established by Washington and followed by the early Presidents
justice wherever they may exist on the earth. It is the path which
can be best accomplished by an Executive who is under no tempta-
now beckons us toward the planets and the stars. Above all else, it
tion to use the patronage of his office to promote his own re-
is the well-spring of freedom and peace.
election, I desire to perform what I regard as a duty in now stat-
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
ing my inflexible purpose, if elected, not to be a candidate for
Address at University of the Philippines, May 13, 1961;
election to a second term.
Story, p. 182-83
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
34. Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.
Letter Accepting Nomination for Presidency, July 8, 1876;
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Letters and Messages, p. 5
Address at William Jewell College, Nov. 9, 1961; Ibid.,
2. You were never more mistaken
than to suppose that
p. 182
business men carry elections. A large vote is brought out when all
35. We have entered an age in which education is not just a lux-
the men in politics are pleased and satisfied and set to work with
ury permitting some men an advantage over others. It has become
enthusiasm for the ticket.
a necessity without which a person is defenseless in this complex,
CHESTER A. ARTHUR
industrialized society.
1878; Arthur, p. 211
Levels of education which were once regarded with awe, have
3. What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand
now become commonplace. And jobs which once could be filled
for something?
by strength and native intelligence now call for a college degree.
GROVER CLEVELAND
We have truly entered the Century of the Educated Man.
To a political adviser, 1887; Man and Statesman, I, 271
If we deny a man access to the education to which he is entitled
by capacity, we also deny him access to his rightful place in our
4. If any intelligent and loyal company of American citizens
economy. And, I might add, we also deny ourselves his productive
were required to catalogue the essential human conditions of na-
skills.
tional life, I do not doubt that with absolute unanimity they would
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
begin with "free and honest elections."
At Tufts University commencement, June 9, 1963; Vital
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Speeches, August 15, 1963, p. 644
Second Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1890; Messages
See also Arts (The) 1, Books, Colleges, Culture, Desegregation 2,
and Papers, p. 5562
Discipline 3, Discrimination 4, 6, Enlightenment, Government
5. If you think too much about being re-elected, it is very diffi-
71, 100, Ideals 8, Ignorance, Knowledge, Language 1, Libraries
cult to be worth re-electing.
3, 4, Military Matters 5, Morality 1, Negroes 1, 12, People
WOODROW WILSON
(The) 8, 11, 13, Preparedness 8, Prosperity 7, Security 5,
Address at Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 25, 1913; Public Papers,
Suffrage 2, 3, Universities, Women 3
III, 62
Effort
1. In this life we get nothing save by effort; far better it is to dare
See also Ballots, Democracy 22, Peace 20, Suffrage, Voters
mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered
by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither
Eloquence 1. Borrowed eloquence, if it contains as good stuff, is as good as
enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the great twi-
own eloquence.
light that knows neither victory nor defeat.
JOHN ADAMS
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
To Benjamin Rush, Aug. 28, 1811; Writings, p. 163
Address in Chicago, Ill., Apr. 10, 1899; Works, XIII, 320
See also Public Speaking 1, Speeches
CULTURE
DEBTS 49
We will build a wall around Cuba-not a wall of mortar or
Death
1. There is a ripeness of time for death
when it is reason-
brick or barbed wire, but a wall of dedicated men determined to
able we should drop off, and make room for another growth.
protect their own freedom and sovereignty.
When we have lived our generation out, we should not wish to
JOHN F. KENNEDY
encroach on another.
At San José, Costa Rica, Mar. 18, 1963; Vital Speeches,
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Apr. 15, 1963, p. 387
To John Adams, Aug. 1, 1816; Writings, XV, 57
See also Territorial Acquisition
See also Life 4, Power 31
Culture 1. Culture is not a thing produced in classrooms, but by the
Debts
1. Avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shun-
subtler influences of life and association among men of the finer
ning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of
sort of taste and the higher kind of learning.
peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occa-
WOODROW WILSON
sioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen
Letter in the New York Evening Post, Apr. 23, 1910; The
which we ourselves ought to bear.
Princeton Alumni, Apr. 27, 1910
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Farewell Address, Sept. 19, 1796; Writings (Fitzpatrick),
2. The Federal government cannot order that culture exist, but
XXXV, 230
the government can and should provide the climate of freedom,
deeper and wider education, and intellectual curiosity in which
2. I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple, applying
culture flourishes.
all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of
JOHN F. KENNEDY
the national debt
and not for increasing by every device, the
Saturday Review; Oct. 29, 1960
public debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing
3. To further the appreciation of culture among all the people,
[or] a multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make
to increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participa-
partisans.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
tion by all the processes and fulfillments of art-this is one of the
Letter to Elbridge Gerry, Jan. 26, 1799; Works, IV, 268
fascinating challenges of these days.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
3. I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse, and
"Arts in America," Dec. 18, 1962; Public Papers
Ken-
in a Republican Government a greater curse than in any other.
nedy, 1962, p. 907
JAMES MADISON
4. When power leads men toward arrogance, poetry reminds
To Henry Lee, Apr. 13, 1790; Complete Madison, p. 336
him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's
4. I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a
concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his
existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
I look for-
national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it
ward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty
is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aris-
which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of
tocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country.
our citizens
which commands respect not only for its strength
ANDREW JACKSON
but for its civilization as well.
To Dr. L. H. Colman, Apr. 26, 1824; Life (Bassett), p. 346
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Speech at Amherst College, October, 1963; Life (magazine),
5. Our country, which exhibits to the world the benefits of self-
Nov. 29, 1963
government, in developing all the sources of national prosperity
owes to mankind the permanent example of a nation free from the
See also Arts (The), Education, War 16
blighting influence of a public debt.
JAMES K. POLK
Dangers
1. It may be well that circumstances have occurred to arouse us
First Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1845; Messages
from our lethargy> to the nearness and magnitude of impending
and Papers, p. 2253
calamities. It is comparatively safe to look dangers in the face,
and meet them on the advance, but fatal to be appalled by them.
6. It is against sound policy and the genius of our institutions that
FRANKLIN PIERCE
a public debt should be permitted to exist a day longer than the
Letter, Dec. 7, 1859; Record, p. 6
means of the Treasury will enable the Government to pay it off.
JAMES K. POLK
See also Preparedness 17
Message to Congress, July 6, 1848; Ibid., p. 2441