The White House: A Visual History: Media
Both home and office to the president and the first family, it remains at its core the “People’s House.”
Images
The view of the presidential mansion facing south, showing the Truman Balcony.
© lucky-photo/stock.adobe.com
U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, in the Blue Room of...
Robert Knudsen—Official White House Photo/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Pres. Ronald Reagan working in the Oval Office at the historic desk, which was a...
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (75856205)
U.S. Pres. Barack Obama (seated second from left) and various other government officials—including...
Pete Souza—Official White House Photo
Karine Jean-Pierre answers reporters' questions during a 2023 press briefing.
Oliver Contreras—Official White House Photo
A monograph published in 1857 depicting the abandonment of ships, including the Resolute,...
The British Library (Public Domain Mark)
An engraving depicting Queen Victoria's visit to the HMS Resolute, a ship...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-03087)
When the HMS Resolute was decommissioned, the queen had the ship's wood...
© Photos.com/Getty Images
The U.S. president was the recipient of a surprise gift from the queen of England:...
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery (object no. NPG.2019.11)
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay, signing, on behalf of the United States, the memorandum...
Harper's Pictorial History of the War with Spain, vol. II, by Nelson A. Miles, 1899
John F. Kennedy, Jr., peering out of the trapdoor in the Resolute Desk in a photo...
Stanley Tretick—LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-L9-63-1558-I, no. 13)
Pres. Barack Obama signing an executive order—the White House Initiative on Educational...
White House Photo
A plaque on the desk explaining its amazing origin story from ice-bound ship to Oval...
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (176317522)
The couple had the first outdoor White House wedding in history.
© Bettmann/Getty Images
Before the Rose Garden had any roses, it was simply the West Garden.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (2016855766)
First lady Edith Wilson worked with Burnap to plant a rose garden.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (2016865465)
The Rose Garden in 1945.
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (338955230)
President John F. Kennedy presents the astronaut with a medal in the Rose Garden.
Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (ST-A14-1-61)
The Rose Garden during John F. Kennedy's presidential term.
Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (KN-C23410)
The Rose Garden during John F. Kennedy's term.
Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (ST-C112-1-63)
The president spoke at the ceremony to honor Mercury Seven Astronauts.
Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (ST-C327-5-63)
The Rose Garden features many flowering varieties.
© Bettmann/Getty Images
The president escorting his daughter Tricia at her wedding in the Rose Garden of...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital. id. ppmsca.03410)
The president signing legislation with Coretta Scott King.
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (276563737)
The President and his dog during filming for a CBS documentary.
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (404525267)
The garden features many colorful plants, including tulips, roses, and magnolia trees.
© Mannie Garcia—AFP/Getty Images
The president reads a statement about the health of White House Press Secretary Tony...
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (7431334)
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., (left), Sgt. James Crowley (center), and U.S. Pres. Barack...
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Many presidents used the Rose Garden for informal meetings and walks.
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (176547072)
Melania Trump's renovations included adding a limestone walkway to the garden's perimeter.
© Oliver Contreras—The Washington Post/Getty Images
The President discussed Operation Warp Speed in the Rose Garden.
© Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The president authorized the garden to be paved over.
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Pres. Donald Trump speaking to guests at a luncheon in the renovated Rose Garden,...
© Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images
The White House is composed of the main building, with ceremonial rooms and residence...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Image credit: Google Inc./Vexcel Imaging US, Inc.
Architect James Hoban's sketch from 1792 won him the commission to design the president's...
Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore
British troops set fire to the Capitol and the White House in 1814. The damage caused...
North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy
First started as a temporary structure by Theodore Roosevelt, the West Wing with...
© Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
The interior of the White House, seen in 1950, shows the massive structural renovations...
Abbie Rowe—National Park Service/National Archives, Washington, D.C (348447243)
Gerald Ford looks over the construction of a swimming pool on the White House South...
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (12082683)
First lady Michelle Obama working with students in the White House vegetable garden...
Lawrence Jackson—Official White House Photo
Construction equipment demolishes part of the East Wing of the White House in October...
© Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Construction on the proposed White House ballroom shown from the Washington Monument...
© Graeme Sloan/Getty Images
A view of the Octagon during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White...
© Rey Del Rio/Zuffa LLC—UFC/Getty Images
Interactives
This interactive graphic displays a floor plan of the White House, divided into three...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Perhaps the most famous workplace in history, the Oval Office is rich with history...
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.