10 amazing things you never knew about the America’s White House
With all eyes on the United States following the midterm elections, we take a look at its most famous house and the tales tall and true that you probably never knew – like its resident ‘ghost’
READING LEVEL: GREEN
From the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, to fleeing the 9/11* attacks and Trump’s red Diet Coke button, the White House is one intriguing place.
PAINT JOB A TALL ORDER
When the White House is in need of a spruce, it’s no small weekend job for Don and Mel (otherwise known as US President Donald Trump and wife Melania).
With 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms and six levels, the “People’s House” sure is large enough to hold plenty of them.
Around 2160 litres of paint is needed to cover the building’s exterior, but at least the colour scheme is straightforward. White on white. And maybe a bit of gold skirting now Trump is in the house.
“THE WHITE HOUSE” WAS JUST A NICKNAME
The building first became white in 1798, when a lime-based whitewash* was used to protect the porous* stone from freezing during Washington’s bitter winters.
While it was informally referred to as the White House for a good few years, it wasn’t until 1901 that President Theodore Roosevelt made the name official.
THE BUILDING WAS NEARLY CONDEMNED*
In 1948, engineers discovered the White House was structurally unsound and close to collapse.
President Harry S. Truman, who had been forced to live elsewhere due to the ageing building’s problems, spearheaded an extensive renovation and restoration, which was completed in 1952.
Well before Trump’s current mania for demolition and decorating came to town, virtually all past presidents have made their mark on the opulent neoclassical* structure while in residence.
The White House Historical Association recalls President Richard Nixon’s controversial 1970 conversion of his predecessor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) indoor swimming pool into the press briefing room but the media is still briefed in that same space today.
The largest room in the White House is the East Room and its various transitions have each come under fire in their day.
And did you know the State Dining Room was once hung with animal heads? According to the Historical Association, FDR’s passion for hunting saw him display taxidermied* game heads during his presidency (1933-45), which must have been unsettling for his dinner guests.
GHOSTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
Rumours that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is haunted have swirled for over a century, most notably the whisper that Abraham Lincoln still walks the halls. The Founding Father was assassinated by well-known stage actor and Confederate* John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 while President Lincoln was attending a play at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre.
For years, presidents, first ladies, guests and some White House staff members have claimed to have either seen the ghost of Lincoln wandering the corridors or rooms, or felt his presence.
NOT EVERYONE MAKES IT OUT ALIVE
While paranormal* activity remains a rumour, it’s part of the historical record that two presidents and three first ladies have died at the White House.
In 1841, President William Henry Harrison died just one month after his inauguration*, making his time served as president the shortest in US presidential history. Nine years later, President Zachary Taylor also pulled up stumps after suffering a stomach illness.
Three first ladies have died at the White House during their husband’s term: Letitia Taylor in 1842, Caroline Harrison in 1892 and Ellen Wilson in 1914.
PEOPLE PEN LETTERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
When Elvis Presley was drafted* into the US Army in 1957, it sparked an outcry from his young female fans, including Linda Kelly and her two friends, who took their concerns all the way to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The spelling in their letter was questionable, but their sweet impassioned plea on behalf of “The King” and his famous sideburns was undeniable.
“You don’t no [sic] how we fell [sic] about him,” the emotion-filled letter said. “I really don’t see why you have to send him in the Army at all, but we beg you please please don’t give him a G.I. hair cut, oh please please don’t! If you do we will just about die!”
TWO ROGUE PILOTS LANDED ON THE LAWN
In 1974, disillusioned* mechanic and US Army Private Robert Preston stole a helicopter and landed without authorisation on the White House grounds, where he was chased by police and shot at by the Secret Service.
Two decades later, truck driver Frank Eugene Corder crashed a stolen Cessna into the South Lawn.
At a military court martial*, Preston was fined and served a brief prison sentence but Corder sadly died in the crash.
THE BUNKER BELOW
In 2001, during the September 11 attacks, agents frantically evacuated the White House after the Twin Towers were struck by two hijacked planes in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington was hit by a third.
According to reports at the time, staffers exited via the ornate iron gates outside the West Wing and female staff were advised to kick off their heels to help them move faster.
Vice President Dick Cheney and others were quickly evacuated to the president’s emergency operations centre, known as “The Bunker”. President George W. Bush was famously reading a story to a classroom of second-grade children in Florida when the second tower was hit.
THE RED BUTTON ON THE RESOLUTE DESK IN THE OVAL OFFICE
It was widely reported during his first term in office that President Trump used a little red button on the historic Oval Office desk to order Diet Cokes, which would arrive swiftly on a platter.
Apparently, pushing it was also a fun prank to play on visitors, who would nervously joke about what might happen next.
Is the red button back? According to Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets, the answer is yes: Trump reportedly reinstated his Diet Coke emergency call button on the Resolute Desk upon his return to the White House.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- 9/11: the terrorist attacks of September 11, when armed terrorists hijacked four passenger flights and flew two into the Twin Towers in New York, one into the Pentagon and crashed the fourth after passengers fought with the attackers
- whitewash: a white liquid mixture made of lime and chalk used to paint buildings or other surfaces
- porous: full of tiny holes that let liquid or air pass through
- condemned: judged unfit to live in
- neoclassical: an architectural style from the mid 18th century featuring grand scale, simple geometric forms and columns
- taxidermied: when an animal’s body has been preserved, stuffed and sometimes mounted like a trophy
- Confederate: a member of the confederacy, a group of 11 southern US states that seceded from the US between 1860 and 1861 to fight the Civil War, mainly to preserve the system of slavery
- paranormal: any experience falling outside normal human experience, often relating to the ideas of ghosts
- inauguration: swearing in of a president
- disillusioned: disappointed or unhappy after discovering a person or situation is not as good as once thought
- court martial: a military court or trial of an armed forces member to determine whether they have broken military law
EXTRA READING
US Congress just flipped to blue
Trump demos White House wing
Inside Trump’s new Air Force One
QUICK QUIZ
1. How did the White House get its name?
2. The ghost of which former president is rumoured to haunt the White House?
3. What does Trump’s Red Button do?
4. What was the media briefing room previously before its conversion in 1970?
5. How many bathrooms are there in the White House?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. A house fit for a leader
Imagine you are an architect who has been employed to design a combined home and workplace for a world leader, similar to the White House, where the President of the United States both lives and works.
Your first task is to make a list of the rooms and features you think the building will need. Consider what spaces are essential for the leader to carry out their important responsibilities, as well as those needed for the leader and their family to live comfortably.
Your second task is to sketch a floor plan for your building. Arrange all of the rooms and spaces in a logical layout, thinking carefully about how they will connect to one another. Consider the size of each room and make sure it is suitable for its intended purpose.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Mathematics
2. Extension
If you were the leader living in the building you designed above, what are three unique features (such as Trump’s red Diet Coke button) that you would add for yourself?
Time: allow five minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
Vocabulary recycle
There is some vivid vocabulary being used in the article, and I am not just talking about the glossary words. Go through the article and highlight the high-level language that you are impressed by in yellow.
See if you can borrow two of these wow words to reuse in your own way.
Remember vocabulary is a great way to connect with the audience, but you need to think about who your audience is so you make great word choices.
Who will the audience be in your recycled sentences?