Tour of the White House

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1. West Wing (Executive Offices)

2. The Oval Office

The Oval Office is where the President does the business of the country — signing bills and Executive Orders, and meeting with staff, visitors, and guests. The decor of the Oval Office changes with each Administration, as each President brings personal mementos and favorite furniture or artwork, and each makes selections from the White House collection. President Clinton requested that a Childe Hassam painting, "The Avenue in the Rain," hang next to his desk.

President Clinton also requested the use of the Resolute desk, which was made from the oak timbers of the British ship H.M.S. Resolute. Abandoned north of the Arctic Circle in 1854, the Resolute was found by an American Whaling ship, refitted, and sent to Queen Victoria as a token of goodwill. When the ship was later dismantled, she commissioned a desk and presented it to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. Every President from Hayes through Dwight D. Eisenhower used the desk, but it was at the request of President John F. Kennedy that it was first placed in the Oval Office, in 1961.

After being on exhibit for ten years at the Smithsonian Institution, the Resolute was put back into use by President Jimmy Carter. The Resolute was also used in the Oval Office by President Ronald Reagan and for a few months by President George Bush. On January 20, 1993, this historic desk was returned to the Oval Office to be used by President Clinton.

3. Rose Garden

4. State Dining Room

The State Dining Room, which can seat as many as 140 guests, was originally much smaller and served at various times as a drawing room, an office, and a Cabinet room. Not until the Administration of President Jackson was it called the "State Dining Room," although it had been used for formal dinners by some of his predecessors.

5. The Red Room

In the Red Room, red twill satin wallcovering matches the color of the chair seen in the portrait of Dolley Madison by Gilbert Stuart. This painting hangs in the Red Room because this is where she held her fashionable Wednesday night receptions. During the nineteenth century, the Red Room was often used as a music room were the First Family gathered on Sunday evenings. The furnishings occasionally included a piano or other musical instruments, such as the pianoforte and guitar.

Today, this beautiful room serves as one of four State Reception rooms.

6. The Blue Room

The oval Blue Room, called the "elliptical salon" by James Hoban, was meant to be the most elegant room in his original plan of the White House.

The President receives the credentials of foreign ambassadors and welcomes heads of state here. During the holiday season, the chandelier is removed and the White House Christmas tree is festively displayed.

7. The Green Room

The Green Room was originally intended to be a "common dining room." The painted green canvas floor cloth was placed in this room by President Thomas Jefferson, and the green silks were added by President James Monroe. President Monroe's successor, President John Quincy Adams, dubbed it the "green drawing room."

Over the years, the Green Room has been used as a card room, a sitting room, and, more recently, as a parlor for small teas, receptions, and meetings.

8. The East Room

The East Room is one of the state rooms (rooms used for official entertaining) in the White House.

James Hoban, the architect of the White House, intended the East Room to be the "Public Audience Room." It normally contains only a few pieces of furniture and is traditionally used for large gatherings such as press conferences, bill-signing ceremonies, award presentation, weddings, funerals, and other events. President Theodore Roosevelt held wrestling and boxing matches there; the Harlem Globetrotters played basketball there (the chandeliers were not removed); and President Gerald Ford's daughter Susan hosted her senior prom there.

The room remained unfinished for twenty-nine years after the rest of the White House was completed. However, Abigail Adams put it to good use when she hung her laundry there. Later, President Jefferson's secretary, Meriwether Lewis, used part of the East Room as his office and living quarters.

The 1797 portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart in the East Room is the only original White House possession that still survives today. The painting was saved when Dolley Madison had it removed from the frame and taken to safety as she was preparing to flee advancing British troops, who set fire to the White House in 1814.

9. North Portico

10. Entrance Hall

11. South Portico

12. Jacqueline Kennedy Garden

13. East Wing

Adapted from "The White House: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," by the White House Historical Association.

Behind the Scenes at the White House
Glance behind the public scenes into the jobs performed every day at this national monument.

The Washington Monument
In this lesson, students read about George Washington and discuss the monument built in his honor. Then they create their own monument to honor a community member.

President Bush Talks to Young Reporter in the Oval Office
Tom Kelly, a second-grader at the Stanley Elementary School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, interviews Prisident George W. Bush at the White House.

BOOK INFORMATION	Ghosts of the White House A young girl's class trip to the White House takes a fanciful turn as her imagination takes her on a guided tour by former Presidents. Full of history both about the White House and the events of each President's era in office, this unusual presentation of facts is loaded with drawings and text that will satisfy and enthuse.