Floor plan of the White House second floor showing location of the Treaty Room.
West wall of the Treaty Room during the
Clinton
administration showing the overmantel mirror.
The
Resolute
desk
in the Treaty Room in 1992 during the term of
George H. W. Bush
The Treaty Room as decorated by
Stephane Boudin
during the administration of
John F. Kennedy
The printed borders reproduce the wallpaper in the room where Lincoln died at the
Petersen House
.
The
Treaty Room
is located on the second floor of the
White House
, the
official residence
of the
president of the United States
. The room is a part of the first family's private apartments and is used as a study by the president.
History
[
edit
]
Before construction of the
West Wing
of the White House, working offices were located on the east side of the second floor. The Treaty Room has been used as a waiting room, a
cabinet
room, and the president's office. President
Andrew Johnson
used the room for his cabinet meetings.
Ulysses S. Grant
continued this use and acquired a large
Renaissance Revival
style table to be used by his cabinet. The table remained in the room for many years, and President
William McKinley
oversaw the signing of the peace treaty with Spain which concluded the
Spanish?American War
on it on August 12, 1898.
Old engravings, photographs and
stereographs
show a succession of ornate printed wall and ceiling papers, highly figured
axminster
carpets, and ornate gas lighting fixtures. During the administration of
Theodore Roosevelt
this room was greatly simplified as a part of an overall refurbishment of the house directed by
Charles Follen McKim
.
Victorian decoration
was removed, and the underlying wood floor was exposed. Low bookcases were constructed, and the room began use as the president's in-residence study.
During the administration of
Herbert Hoover
, the room underwent an extensive redecorating project by First Lady
Lou Henry Hoover
to restore it to its Monroe era appearance and was used as a parlor or sitting room and was termed the Monroe Room.
James Monroe's
French Empire center table was moved to the room, and a copy of the desk he signed the
Monroe Doctrine
upon was placed in the room. Additional efforts were made during the administration of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
to furnish the room somewhat as it might have been when the house was built. Following the Truman reconstruction of the White House, the room was furnished by the interior design department of the New York department store
B. Altman and Company
. Nearly all the furniture was contemporary, generally in a traditional style.
During the administration of
John F. Kennedy
,
Jacqueline Kennedy
worked with
Stephane Boudin
of the
House of Jansen
to create a room that would represent a part of the house's Victorian era history. A palette of deep greens, burgundy and gold was adopted. President Grant's table was returned to the room along with an electrified gas chandelier once located in the
East Room
. The walls recreated a mid-nineteenth century treatment of ornamental frames of decorative paper based on the wallpaper in the room
Abraham Lincoln
was taken to and died in, in a house opposite
Ford's Theater
. A large gilded
Rococo Revival
overmantel mirror, with an American shield, which had once been hung in the
Green Room
was installed.
Theobald Chartran's
painting
Signing of the Peace Protocol Between Spain and the United States, August 12, 1898
was hung in the room along with copies of several treaties signed at the White House. Drapery was based on a design of Lincoln's era. President Kennedy signed the
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
in the room in 1963. Boudin's design survived into the administration of
George H. W. Bush
who had the room painted a light green and simple printed chintz curtains installed.
During the
administration of Bill Clinton
interior designer Kaki Hockersmith furnished the room in a mix of late
American Empire
and Victorian. Walls were covered with a simulated leather of a deep
claret
red and a gilded chandelier with an American eagle, one of several purchased during Theodore Roosevelt's administration for the residence and West Wing, was hung.
During the
administration of George W. Bush
, interior designer Ken Blasingame had the walls painted off-white, replaced the Clinton drapery with simple panels of olive green velvet hung on wooden poles, and replaced the Empire style chandelier with an electrified Victorian crystal
gasolier
. The Treaty Room has also been home to
The Peacemakers
, a large
oil painting
depicting U.S. President Lincoln in the final months of the American Civil War.
President Bush addressed the nation from the Treaty Room on October 7, 2001, announcing that the
War in Afghanistan
had begun. In his memoirs
Decision Points
, Bush referred to the Treaty Room as "one of my favorite places in the White House."
[1]
On April 14, 2021, President
Joe Biden
spoke from the same room to announce that the United States would withdraw virtually all remaining United States troops in Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.
President
Barack Obama
used the Treaty Room as one of his primary working offices.
[2]
President
Joe Biden
used it as his primary working office during his two periods of isolation following his
COVID-19
positive test
and his
second positive test
due to
Paxlovid
rebound.
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice.
Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration.
Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998.
ISBN
0-442-02532-7
.
- Garrett, Wendell.
Our Changing White House.
Northeastern University Press: 1995.
ISBN
1-55553-222-5
.
- Monkman, Betty C.
The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families.
Abbeville Press: 2000.
ISBN
0-7892-0624-2
.
- Seale, William.
The President's House.
White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986.
ISBN
0-912308-28-1
.
- Seale, William,
The White House: The History of an American Idea.
White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001.
ISBN
0-912308-85-0
.
- Wolff, Perry.
A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy.
Doubleday & Company: 1962.
- The White House: An Historic Guide.
White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001.
ISBN
0-912308-79-6
.
External links
[
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]
38°53′51″N
77°02′11″W
/
38.8976°N 77.0364°W
/
38.8976; -77.0364