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168-596: The White House was designed by architect James Hoban . Leinster House in Ireland was the main inspiration for the White House, and includes a large east room which may have inspired Hoban's East Room. But the newly added Large Dining Room at Mount Vernon may also have been a source for the design of the East Room. As his drawings of the second and third floor do not exist, it is unclear what use Hoban intended for

336-598: A Freemason since at least 1798, became the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee for 1822–1823. Around this time, he also completed negotiations for Tennessee to purchase Chickasaw lands. This became known as the Jackson Purchase . Jackson, Overton, and another colleague had speculated in some of the land and used their portion to form the town of Memphis . In 1822, Jackson agreed to run in

504-577: A U.S. senator in 1797, but he resigned after serving only six months. In the spring of 1798, Governor John Sevier appointed Jackson to be a judge of the Tennessee Superior Court . In 1802, he also became major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia , a position that was determined by a vote of the militia's officers. The vote was tied between Jackson and Sevier, a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, but

672-525: A majority of 131 electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment . The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Clay, who was also Speaker of the House and presided over the election's resolution, saw a Jackson presidency as

840-458: A prisoner exchange . Robert died two days after arriving home, but Elizabeth was able to nurse Andrew back to health. Once he recovered, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war housed in British prison ships in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina . She contracted cholera and died soon afterwards. The war made Jackson an orphan at age 14 and increased his hatred for

1008-578: A British attack. When his forces arrived at Natchez , they were ordered to halt by General Wilkinson, the commander at New Orleans and the man Jackson accused of treason after the Burr adventure. A little later, Jackson received a letter from the Secretary of War , John Armstrong , stating that his volunteers were not needed, and that they were to hand over any supplies to Wilkinson and disband. Jackson refused to disband his troops; instead, he led them on

1176-491: A Crawford relative. A British officer demanded to have his boots polished. Andrew refused, and the officer slashed him with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head. Robert also refused and was struck a blow on the head. The brothers were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Camden, South Carolina , where they became malnourished and contracted smallpox. In late spring, the brothers were released to their mother in

1344-465: A carpet were added by Jane Pierce , wife of President Franklin Pierce , in 1853. The Pierces also had the over-mantel mirrors and pier mirrors reframed by L. R. Menger of New York . Despite this redecoration, the East Room was nonetheless somewhat shabby by 1861. On April 18, 1861, about 60 militiamen from Kansas took up temporary residence in the East Room pending construction of barracks for them in

1512-479: A disaster for the country. Clay threw his support behind Adams, who won the contingent election on the first ballot. Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State, leading supporters of Jackson to accuse Clay and Adams of having struck a " corrupt bargain ". After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee. After the election, Jackson's supporters formed

1680-497: A fair policy toward Native Americans. Jackson invited the public to the White House , which was promptly overrun by well-wishers who caused minor damage to its furnishings. The spectacle earned him the nickname "King Mob". Jackson believed that Adams's administration had been corrupt and he initiated investigations into all executive departments. These investigations revealed that $ 280,000 (equivalent to $ 8,000,000 in 2023)

1848-452: A floral pattern completed the redecoration. Much of the furniture in the room was sold at public auction (a common and unremarkable practice until the 20th century). The architects called the style "Pure Greek", and architectural historian Patrick Phillips-Schrock called it "sumptuous", but it was widely derided as "Steamboat Gothic". Nellie Grant 's lavish wedding took place in the East Room on May 21, 1874. President Chester A. Arthur hired

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2016-663: A force of about 5,000 men when the British arrived. The British arrived in New Orleans in mid-December. Admiral Alexander Cochrane was the overall commander of the operation; General Edward Pakenham commanded the army of 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. As the British advanced up the east bank of the Mississippi River, Jackson constructed a fortified position to block them. The climactic battle took place on January 8 when

2184-549: A general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress . Often praised as an advocate for ordinary Americans and for his work in preserving the union of states , Jackson has also been criticized for his racial policies, particularly his treatment of Native Americans . Jackson was born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War . He became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards . He briefly served in

2352-473: A gift of the government of France to mark the laying of the Franco-American transatlantic telegraph cable that year. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt engaged the architectural firm of McKim, Meade & White to renovate and expand the White House. Their intention was three-fold: To modernize the White House, to establish a decorating motif that would never have to be altered, and to recreate

2520-502: A minister and paid to have him schooled by a local clergyman. He learned to read, write, and work with numbers, and was exposed to Greek and Latin, but he was too strong-willed and hot-tempered for the ministry. Jackson and his older brothers, Hugh and Robert, served on the Patriot side against British forces during the American Revolutionary War . Hugh served under Colonel William Richardson Davie , dying from heat exhaustion after

2688-685: A national hero, and on February 27, 1815, he was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal . Though the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in December 1814 before the Battle of New Orleans was fought, Jackson's victory assured that the United States control of the region between Mobile and New Orleans would not be effectively contested by European powers. This control allowed

2856-408: A new party to undermine Adams and ensure he served only one term. Adams's presidency went poorly, and Adams's behavior undermined it. He was perceived as an intellectual elite who ignored the needs of the populace. He was unable to accomplish anything because Congress blocked his proposals. In his First Annual Message to Congress, Adams stated that "we are palsied by the will of our constituents", which

3024-465: A partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton . Their partnership mainly dealt with claims made under a "land grab" act of 1783 that opened Cherokee and Chickasaw territory to North Carolina's white residents. Jackson also became a slave trader , transporting enslaved people for the interregional slave market between Nashville and the Natchez District of Spanish West Florida via

3192-521: A regular army unit, the 39th U.S. Infantry Regiment . The combined force of 3,000 men—including Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek allies—attacked a Red Stick fort at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River , which was manned by about 1,000 men. The Red Sticks were overwhelmed and massacred. Almost all their warriors were killed, and nearly 300 women and children were taken prisoner and distributed to Jackson's Native American allies. The victory broke

3360-589: A sergeant at age 19 in the Maryland Line during the Revolutionary War , was promoted six months later to ensign and then severely wounded at the Battle of Germantown . After Washington, D.C. was granted limited home rule in 1802, Hoban served on the 12-member city council for most of the remainder of his life, except during the years he was rebuilding the White House. Hoban was also involved in

3528-401: A single historic era. The 1902 console tables were removed from the piers between the windows, and the 1902 Louis XVI style floor lamps moved out of the corners and in front of the piers. The 1952 Adam-style camelback sofas were removed at the instigation of du Pont, and replaced with gilt benches. Research conducted by White House Curator Lorraine Waxman Pearce and Jacqueline Kennedy identified

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3696-673: A tendency toward light-filled spaces and away from patterns and "busy" or cluttered spaces. As the East Room had not been decorated until 1829, the architects took some liberties, devising a room based on the 1780 Louis XVI style salon de famille in the Château de Compiègne . For the walls, the designers chose pilasters carved by Herter Brothers of New York City , which appeared to support Neoclassical entablatures . There were 12 faux entablatures, each made of marble and depicting scenes from Aesop's Fables . They were designed by Leon Marcotte of L. Marcotte & Co. of New York, and carved by

3864-513: A thousand former soldiers of the British Royal and Colonial Marines, escaped slaves , and various indigenous peoples. It had become a magnet for escapees and was seen as a threat to the property rights of American enslavers, even a potential source of insurrection by enslaved people. Jackson ordered Colonel Duncan Clinch to capture the fort in July 1816. He destroyed it and killed many of

4032-491: A writ of habeas corpus for Louaillier's release. Jackson had Hall arrested too. A military court ordered Louaillier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison and evicted Hall from the city. Although Jackson lifted martial law when he received official word that the Treaty of Ghent , which ended the war with the British, had been signed, his previous behavior tainted his reputation in New Orleans. Jackson's victory made him

4200-502: Is decorated with scenes depicting American music and dance, each gilded in gold leaf. The tableaux, designed by artist Dunbar Beck, depict people dancing the Virginia reel , chanting by Native Americans , cowboys singing during a cattle drive , a barn dance , and African American slaves singing in the fields. The legs of the piano feature gilded eagles, designed and carved by Albert Stewart . (Steinway & Sons completely refurbished

4368-680: The Battle of Stono Ferry in June 1779. After anti-British sentiment intensified in the Southern Colonies following the Battle of Waxhaws in May 1780, Elizabeth encouraged Andrew and Robert to participate in militia drills. They served as couriers, and were present at the Battle of Hanging Rock in August 1780. Andrew and Robert were captured in April 1781 when the British occupied the home of

4536-456: The Battle of Talladega . By January 1814, the expiration of enlistments and desertion had reduced Jackson's force by about 1,000 volunteers, but he continued the offensive. The Red Sticks counterattacked at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek . Jackson repelled them but was forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson's army was reinforced by further recruitment and the addition of

4704-509: The Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Jackson had two older brothers who came with his parents from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Elizabeth had a strong hatred of the British that she passed on to her sons. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear. Jackson's father died at the age of 29 in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767, three weeks before his son Andrew

4872-673: The Charleston County Courthouse , which was built between 1790 and 1792 on the ruins of the former South Carolina Statehouse, which was built in 1753 and burned down in 1788. Following the American Revolutionary War , Hoban emigrated to the United States, and established himself as an architect in Philadelphia in 1785. President George Washington admired Hoban's work on his Southern Tour. Washington met with Hoban in Charleston in May 1791, and summoned

5040-667: The Democratic Party and the various groups who did not support him eventually formed the Whig Party . The political campaign was dominated by the personal abuse that partisans flung at both candidates. Jackson was accused of being the son of an English prostitute and a mulatto , and he was accurately labeled a slave trader who trafficked in human flesh. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills accused him of having murdered 18 white men, including

5208-583: The First Seminole War , which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824 . He won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote, but no candidate won the electoral majority. With the help of Henry Clay , the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election . Jackson's supporters alleged that there

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5376-499: The Georgian style. The marble for each mantel came from a different state, and each was a different color. Marcotte & Co. also designed, manufactured, and installed gilded ceiling decorations. The central section of the ceiling was decorated with a large plaster panel featuring an intricate medallion flanked by swags, acanthus , escutcheons , and scrollwork. A border of acanthus, scrollwork, and egg-and-dart moldings bordered

5544-660: The Mississippi River and the Natchez Trace . While boarding at the home of Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson , Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards , and the two were separated by 1789. After the separation, Jackson and Rachel became romantically involved, living together as husband and wife. Robards petitioned for divorce, which

5712-605: The Piccirilli Brothers of New York City. The rest of the walls were painted cream white, and adorned with gilded sconces (supplied by the lighting firm of Edward F. Caldwell & Co. ) and gold wall hangings. McKim, Meade & White strongly disliked the East Room's four fireplaces, which divided the area into three spaces. The fireplaces and mantels, which projected about 2.5 feet (0.76 m), were considerably reduced in depth to just 0.5 feet (0.15 m). The mantels were replaced with 6-foot (1.8 m) new ones in

5880-810: The Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland. It was presented by the RDS in association with the White House Historical Association, the U.S. Embassy in Ireland, and the James Hoban Societies of the U.S. and Ireland. Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States , serving from 1829 to 1837. Before his presidency , he gained fame as

6048-531: The Steinway & Sons piano company donated an ornate gilded grand piano to the White House. This piano (serial number 100,000) was placed in the East Room. During Roosevelt's term, the government of France donated Limoges porcelain busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin to the White House. These were also placed in the East Room. Slight changes were made to

6216-581: The Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, which surrendered much of their land in Florida. The Panic of 1819 , the United States' first prolonged financial depression, caused Congress to reduce the military's size and abolish Jackson's generalship. In compensation, Monroe made him the first territorial governor of Florida in 1821. He served as the governor for two months, returning to the Hermitage in ill health. During his convalescence, Jackson, who had been

6384-461: The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate , representing Tennessee . After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Superior Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as the Hermitage , becoming a wealthy planter who owned hundreds of African American slaves during his lifetime. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and

6552-507: The annexation of Texas . Jackson's legacy remains controversial, and opinions on his legacy are frequently polarized. Supporters characterize him as a defender of democracy and the Constitution , while critics point to his reputation as a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him. Scholarly rankings of presidents historically rated Jackson's presidency as above average. Since the late 20th century, his reputation declined, and in

6720-565: The 1824 presidential election, and he was nominated by the Tennessee legislature in July. At the time, the Federalist Party had collapsed, and there were four major contenders for the Democratic-Republican Party nomination: William Crawford, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Jackson was intended to be a stalking horse candidate to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford, who

6888-399: The 1902 paint. A simpler crown molding and ceiling medallions were also installed. The Herter pilasters and Piccirilli marble panels were either lost or too damaged to be reused during removal, and their fate remains unclear. To cut costs, the replacement entablature was made of a composite glue and sawdust mixture pressed into forms rather than carved from wood. While the feeling was similar,

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7056-622: The 21st century his placement in rankings of presidents fell. Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas . His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster , Ireland, in 1765. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus , County Antrim , around 1738, and his ancestors had crossed into Northern Ireland from Scotland after

7224-602: The American government to ignore one of the articles in the treaty, which would have returned the Creek lands taken in the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops in the southern half of the United States and was permitted to make his headquarters at the Hermitage. Jackson continued to displace the Native Americans in areas under his command. Despite resistance from Secretary of

7392-475: The British launched a frontal assault. Their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets, and the attack ended in disaster. The British suffered over 2,000 casualties (including Pakenham) to the Americans' 60. The British decamped from New Orleans at the end of January, but they still remained a threat. Jackson refused to lift martial law and kept the militia under arms. He approved

7560-576: The Constitution, since the United States had not declared war on Spain. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams defended him as he thought Jackson's occupation of Pensacola would lead Spain to sell Florida, which Spain did in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. In February 1819, a congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, and his victory was instrumental in convincing the Seminoles to sign

7728-598: The Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus, and the power to choose nominees was shifting to state nominating committees and legislatures. Jackson was nominated by a Pennsylvania convention, making him not merely a regional candidate but the leading national contender. When Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race. Afterwards, Jackson won

7896-661: The District of Columbia from 1845 to 1846. Little has been published to catalogue Hoban's architectural work. Numerous events were held around 2008 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth. In 2008, a memorial arbor to honor James Hoban was completed near his birthplace, and a major exhibition on his life took place at the White House Visitor Center . Dublin Made Him..., a one-day colloquium in honour of Hoban, took place on October 3, 2008, at

8064-403: The East Room as well, and his funeral was held there on April 19. At the time of Lincoln's death in 1865, the East Room contained 24 chairs, four sofas, four tables, eight sets of drapes, eight sets of lace curtains, eight mirrors, and one carpet. All the furniture was in poor shape. During his administration, members of the public attending the weekly receptions in the room had heavily vandalized

8232-633: The East Room creche set during the Carter administration. James Hoban James Hoban (1755 – December 8, 1831 ) was an Irish-American architect , best known for designing the White House . Hoban was a Roman Catholic raised on the Desart Court estate belonging to the Earl of Desart in County Kilkenny , Ireland. He worked there as a wheelwright and carpenter until in 1779, when he

8400-545: The East Room during the Woodrow Wilson administration. Ellen Axson Wilson , the president's first wife, made almost no changes to the room. She died in 1914, just two years into Wilson's first term. Wilson remarried a year later, and the new First Lady, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson , had the 1902 drapes replaced. In the early 1930s, First Lady Lou Henry Hoover purchased a number of gilt upholstered dining room chairs in something approaching an Art Deco style for use in

8568-456: The East Room was adorned with three chandeliers, three "pier glasses" (mirrors), red damask window drapes, white muslin window curtains, four new sofas, 24 new chairs, three large tables (placed in the center of the room), four pier tables with marble tops, a large carpet, four new hearthrugs, four fire fenders, four large candelabra, eight small candelabra, eight mantle ornaments, and a bust of George Washington . New draperies, lace curtains, and

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8736-555: The East Room was replaced with oak parquet, and trimmed in red Numidian marble from North Africa. (A box made from the old parquet floor was donated to the White House during the Jimmy Carter administration.) In addition to the wall hangings, McKim, Meade & White commissioned a wide range of other furnishings more in line with their Louis XVI style salon de famille style. Marcotte and Co. supplied heavy velvet gold drapes, and topped each window with carved and gilded cornices of

8904-416: The East Room was reupholstered as well in a gold brocatelle (a brocade with the design in high relief). A new Axminster carpet, 515 square yards (431 m) in size, was also laid down. When Caroline Harrison died on October 25, 1892 (two weeks before the presidential election), her funeral was held in the East Room. Two Sèvres vases (on marble pedestals) were added to the East Room in 1897. They were

9072-489: The East Room. President Franklin D. Roosevelt did little to either renovate or maintain the White House during his unusually long tenure. Roosevelt believed that the White House should "do its part" during the Great Depression and World War II , and economize by minimizing expenditures. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had little interest in redecorating, and little in the way of social engagements occurred during

9240-410: The East Room. The biggest change to the room was in the window treatments. Jacqueline Kennedy specifically asked for new curtains for the East Room consisting of opaque silk undercurtains and yellow drapes. Boudin oversaw the design of new draperies, with silk provided by Maison Jansen. A draft design of the drapes and valances was not ready until mid-1963. Boudin, apparently wishing to draw attention to

9408-402: The East Room. Desiring an even grander approach to the public rooms, Arthur hired Tiffany & Co. in 1882 to redecorate the East Room yet again. Most of this work involved painting and regilding, however. No new furniture was ordered, and the over-mantel and pier mirrors reframed or regilded. President Grover Cleveland made no changes to the East Room, although a divan upholstered in gold

9576-518: The George and Martha Washington paintings. Jacqueline Kennedy made extensive renovations to the White House in 1961 and 1962. Her renovation was overseen by American antiques autodidact Henry Francis du Pont and French interior designer Stéphane Boudin and his company, Maison Jansen . Although many rooms were extensively altered by du Pont and Boudin, the Kennedy restoration made few changes to

9744-486: The Governor of Louisiana William Claiborne and Tennessee Senator Daniel Smith that some of the people involved in the adventure might be intending to break away from the United States. In December, Jefferson ordered Burr to be arrested for treason. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia to capture the conspirators. He testified before a grand jury in 1807, implying that it

9912-479: The Grants wanted to renovate the East Room into a far more modern space reflective of their Midwest tastes. The architects added new load-bearing beams across the ceiling, which made the room appear to be much lower in height. Corinthian columns were added to support these beams. To integrate the beams into the room, they extended the 1815 frieze decoratively across the beams. The ceiling, divided into three sections by

10080-402: The Johnsons' desire for a larger stage, and contacted noted ballet and theatrical designer Jo Mielziner to design something. Mielziner crafted a stage which took up a full third of the East Room, and featured cream white-painted pilasters matching the room's architecture. Mileziner originally wanted the stage's curtains to have the same fabric used for the East Room drapes. But when he learned of

10248-404: The Mississippi and resulted in thousands of deaths. Jackson faced a challenge to the integrity of the federal union when South Carolina threatened to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. He threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended . In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of

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10416-400: The Native American tribes, and pry Florida from the Spanish Empire . Jackson immediately offered to raise volunteers for the war, but he was not called to duty until after the United States military was repeatedly defeated in the American Northwest . After these defeats, in January 1813, Jackson enlisted over 2,000 volunteers, who were ordered to head to New Orleans to defend against

10584-406: The Red Sticks. He headed south from Fayetteville , Tennessee, in October with 2,500 militia, establishing Fort Strother as his supply base. He sent his cavalry under General Coffee ahead of the main force, destroying Red Stick villages and capturing supplies. Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee on November 3, and Jackson defeated another band later that month at

10752-433: The Southern states was eroded when he signed a tax on European imports, the Tariff of 1828 , which was called the "Tariff of Abominations" by opponents, into law. Jackson's victory in the presidential race was overwhelming. He won 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election ended the one-party system that had formed during the Era of Good Feelings as Jackson's supporters coalesced into

10920-399: The Spanish from Texas. Burr, who was touring what was then the Western United States after mortally wounding Alexander Hamilton in a duel , stayed with the Jacksons at the Hermitage in 1805. He eventually persuaded Jackson to join his adventure. In October 1806, Jackson wrote James Winchester that the United States "can conquer not only [Florida], but all Spanish North America". He informed

11088-406: The Tennessee militia that it should be ready to march at a moment's notice "when the government and constituted authority of our country require it", and agreed to provide boats and provisions for the expedition. Jackson sent a letter to President Thomas Jefferson telling him that Tennessee was ready to defend the nation's honor. Jackson also expressed uncertainty about the enterprise. He warned

11256-455: The Treasury William Crawford , he signed five treaties between 1816 and 1820 in which the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw ceded tens of millions of acres of land to the United States. These included the Treaty of Tuscaloosa and the Treaty of Doak's Stand . Jackson soon became embroiled in conflict in Florida. The former British post at Prospect Bluff , which became known to Americans as "the Negro fort", remained occupied by more than

11424-449: The United States , arguing that it was a corrupt institution. After a lengthy struggle , the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to pay off the national debt . He survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president. In one of his final presidential acts, he recognized the Republic of Texas . After leaving office, Jackson supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk , as well as

11592-447: The United States. Jackson then turned his attention to the British and Spanish. He moved his forces to Mobile , Alabama, in August, accused the Spanish governor of West Florida , Mateo González Manrique , of arming the Red Sticks, and threatened to attack. The governor responded by inviting the British to land at Pensacola to defend it, which violated Spanish neutrality. The British attempted to capture Mobile, but their invasion fleet

11760-461: The Washington, D.C., firm of W. B. Moses & Son to redecorate much of the White House in 1881, including the East Room. Moses & Son added new window curtains and drapes, and a suite of ebony furniture carved in a Japanese style. This suite included sofas, arm chairs, side chairs, and corner chairs. Arthur then auctioned off an immense quantity of older White House furnishings in April 1882, including some amount of undescribed older furniture from

11928-457: The White House a more elegant symbol of the nation. The East Room's original 18-lamp chandeliers were removed by Jackson in 1834 and placed in the State and Family Dining Rooms . Véron supplied the East Room with a more luxurious set. Furniture upholstered in light blue, light blue curtains, and imported French silver wallpaper with a gold border were added to the East Room by the Martin Van Buren administration in 1839. At some point prior to

12096-476: The White House's early American interiors. Although this last guideline was followed in most rooms, it was not in the East Room. McKim, Meade & White drew their inspiration for the East Room from British and French manor house interiors of the 1790s. Nonetheless, the Colonial Revival style was more of an idealized than historically accurate aesthetic, and McKim, Mead & White's interiors reflected

12264-415: The White House. In 1814 and 1815, the rebuilt East Room received new door frames and inlaid mahogany doors that remain in the room today. New plaster work in the form of a gilded cornice-line frieze of anthemion (a flowerlike, traditional Greek decorative pattern) was installed, and the walls plastered (and left unpainted) as well. Federal style furniture, made by Georgetown craftsman William King Jr.,

12432-464: The air. Jackson began his new career in the frontier town of Nashville in 1788 and quickly moved up in social status . He became a protégé of William Blount , one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson was appointed attorney general of the Mero District in 1791 and judge-advocate for the militia the following year. He also got involved in land speculation, eventually forming

12600-492: The architect to Philadelphia , then the nation's capital, in June 1792. In July 1792, Hoban was named winner of the design competition for the White House . His initial design resembled the Charlestown Courthouse with a three-story facade and nine bays across. Under Washington's influence, Hoban amended it to a two-story facade, 11 bays across, and, at Washington's insistence, the whole presidential mansion

12768-511: The architecture of The Octagon House . Hoban lived the rest of his life in Washington, D.C. , where he worked on public buildings and government projects, including roads and bridges. Hoban was a Freemason . Hoban also is believed to have designed Rossenarra House near Kilmoganny in Ireland in 1824. Hoban's wife, Susanna Sewall, was the sister of the prominent Georgetown City Tavern proprietor, Clement Sewall, who enlisted as

12936-458: The basis of promissory notes fell apart in the wake of an earlier financial panic . He had to sell Hunter's Hill, as well as 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of land he bought for speculation and bought a smaller 420-acre (170 ha) plantation near Nashville that he would call the Hermitage. He focused on recovering from his losses by becoming a successful planter and merchant . The Hermitage grew to 1,000 acres (400 ha), making it one of

13104-459: The beams, was refrescoed as well. Elaborately carved new fireplaces painted in white and gold replaced the simpler 1829 fireplaces. To help integrate the load-bearing columns into the room, white and gold painted pilasters were added to the room. White-painted carved paneling with Greek Revival designs; massive, low-hanging, cut-glass chandeliers (replacing those which had hung since 1834); pearl gray and gilt wallpaper, and wall-to-wall carpeting in

13272-475: The capital by Thomas Jefferson , who made him commissioner of public buildings. Latrobe surveyed the White House in 1803, and architectural drawings of the building (produced in 1807) are the earliest extant plans now known. On his sketches, Latrobe comments "Public Audience chamber entirely unfinished, the ceiling has given way." Latrobe also proposed sealing the windows on the east side of the room based on an architectural theory about natural light. But this change

13440-493: The ceiling centerpieces and cornices were regilded. Only once did Mrs. Johnson intervene, and that was to request that the paint applied to ceiling be of the highest quality. Patterson also had the three large marble-topped tables removed from the East Room and placed in the family private quarters, and two of the four pier tables added to the Family Dining Room. The East Room was finished in early 1867. The East Room

13608-417: The ceiling, and two of the east-facing windows were blocked off and fireplaces with black Italian marble mantelpieces installed in their place. The Jackson administration turned to French-born American importer Louis Véron of Philadelphia for assistance in furnishing the executive mansion. Véron was one of the first merchants to display items from a wide range of suppliers in a showroom, rather than manufacture

13776-404: The center window between the fireplaces, designed a valance for the center window while putting all other drapes behind window boxes. For the drapes, Boudin suggested a braid border and tie-backs made of ball fringe covered in satin. Kennedy disapproved of Boudin's proposal for the valance and window boxes, as it did not make use of the historic 1902 gilt window cornices. She did, however, approve of

13944-520: The chains holding the chandeliers shortened. The East Room also had a new parquet floor in a style taken from a design at the Palace of Fontainebleau , and silk curtains over the windows. The Truman administration did not seek, nor did it receive, many donations of furniture for the White House during the 1952 renovation. But two items were received which made it into the East Room. These were mid-17th century Adam cambelback sofas, which were placed beneath

14112-517: The city. They did serious damage to the carpet, and sometimes shot bullets into the walls. Mary Todd Lincoln refurbished the room with damask drapes, lace curtains, wallpaper, and a new $ 2,500 carpet later that year. The wallpaper was heavy patterned velvet cloth paper from Paris in crimson, garnet, and gold, and supplied by William H. Carryl & Brother of New York. The floor covering was an carpet woven in Glasgow , Scotland . The largest loom in

14280-453: The company's own design. The existing pier tables were removed, and four richly carved and gilded Louis XVI Revival style console tables, also designed by Marcotte & Co., were placed between the pilasters. The existing seating was also removed, and Marcotte & Co. replaced it with 13 Louis XVI Revival gilded banquettes (upholstered benches). Marcotte & Co. also supplied new ornate gilded frames for each over-mantel mirror. A few items in

14448-473: The cost too high (and without any economy of scale cost-savings), Kennedy then designed her own portable standing ashtrays. Twenty were eventually manufactured out of dark wood by White House carpenters, although the gray granite tops for the Kennedy-designed ashtrays were made by Jansen at a cost of $ 310. Much of the furniture in the East Room was removed by Boudin to make the room appear to be of

14616-589: The cost, he settled for American-made gold silk curtains instead. The larger stage took eight men three days to set up. In 1964, President Johnson issued an executive order creating a new Committee for the Preservation of the White House. This body was tasked with advising the President and First Lady on the decor, preservation, and conservation of the East Room and other public rooms at the White House. The committee has met continuously since then, except for

14784-464: The design. Originally, they were to be of brocatelle , a jacquard weave fabric similar to brocade but thicker and heavier and with designs in high relief . But this design was countermanded by Boudin. Instead, gold lampas, trimmed with braid and hemmed with gilt, spun-metal twisted fringe at the bottom, was installed in flat panels from behind each cornice. The curtains and valances took nearly three years to design and manufacture, and were not hung in

14952-733: The development of Catholic institutions in the city, including Georgetown University , where his son was a member of the Jesuit community, St. Patrick's Parish, and the Georgetown Visitation Monastery founded by Teresa Lalor of Ballyragget . Hoban died in Washington, D.C. , on December 8, 1831. He was originally buried at Holmead's Burying Ground , but was disinterred and reburied at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His son James Hoban Jr. , said to closely resemble his father, served as U.S. attorney of

15120-460: The difficult march back to Nashville, earning the nickname " Hickory " (later "Old Hickory") for his toughness. After returning to Nashville, Jackson and one of his colonels, John Coffee , got into a street brawl over honor with the brothers Jesse and Thomas Hart Benton . Nobody was killed, but Jackson received a gunshot in the shoulder that nearly killed him. Jackson had not fully recovered from his wounds when Governor Willie Blount called out

15288-404: The east wall. Kennedy's friend, Jayne Wrightsman , donated two early 19th-century wall sconces, which were wired for electricity by White House staff and hung on either side of the center window. Jacqueline Kennedy also conceived the idea of constructing a portable stage for use in the East Room. Designed by ballet impresario Lincoln Kirstein and constructed by White House carpenters, the stage

15456-530: The elite families of Tennessee. In May 1806, Jackson fought a duel with Charles Dickinson . Their dispute started over payments for a forfeited horse race, escalating for six months until they agreed to the duel. Dickinson fired first. The bullet hit Jackson in the chest, but shattered against his breastbone. He returned fire and killed Dickinson. The killing tarnished Jackson's reputation. Later that year, Jackson became involved in former vice president Aaron Burr 's plan to conquer Spanish Florida and drive

15624-593: The execution of six militiamen for desertion. Some Creoles registered as French citizens with the French consul and demanded to be discharged from the militia due to their foreign nationality. Jackson then ordered all French citizens to leave the city within three days, and had a member of the Louisiana legislature, Louis Louaillier, arrested when he wrote a newspaper article criticizing Jackson's continuation of martial law. U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed

15792-479: The fabric and tie-backs. Made of a custom-manufactured gold and cream silk lampas , the fabric contained a non-repetitive design of birds, butterflies, cupids, flowers, medallions, roosters, and wheat and featured heavy fringe at the bottom. The drapes were hung in straight panels from the carved and gilded 1902 wooden cornices. The design of the valances was not finalized until April 1964. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson asked Jacqueline Kennedy to assist her in finalizing

15960-707: The first to permit smoking in rooms on the State floor. To accommodate smoking, Jacqueline Kennedy wanted portable ashtrays for the East Room. She initially considered modified versions of ashtrays seen at the home of her friend, Bunny Mellon , but rejected this idea in favor of a unique design. Maison Jansen designed stands which featured brass legs shaped like bamboo, brass handles, and Carrara glass tops. The ashtrays cost $ 280, were manufactured in Maison Jansen's New York City office, and delivered in January 1963. Finding

16128-456: The floor with a red-bordered blue, fawn , and yellow 500-square-foot (46 m) carpet woven in Brussels . The 1818 Monroe furniture was upholstered, three large mahogany tables topped with marble, and four white marble-topped pier tables placed in the room. For lighting, Véron provided several astral and mantel lamps. Gilded bronze wall brackets for hanging lamps and candles were attached to

16296-541: The four Monroe-era candelabra (which had been moved), and restored them to the mantels in the room's southern wall. Early 19th-century crystal candelabra (of an indeterminate manufacture) were placed on the mantels on the room's northern wall. To complement the paintings of George and Martha Washington, Jacqueline Kennedy was loaned portraits of a young Bushrod Washington (George Washington's nephew and an Associate Supreme Court Justice) and his wife, Julia Ann Blackburn Washington. These portraits by Chester Harding were hung on

16464-442: The garrison at Mobile, and led his troops to New Orleans. Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1814. There he instituted martial law because he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. He augmented his force by forming an alliance with Jean Lafitte 's smugglers and raising units of free African Americans and Creek, paying non-white volunteers the same salary as whites. This gave Jackson

16632-479: The garrison. Some survivors were enslaved while others fled into the wilderness of Florida. White American settlers were in constant conflict with Native American people collectively known as the Seminoles , who straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. In December 1817, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun initiated the First Seminole War by ordering Jackson to lead a campaign "with full power to conduct

16800-475: The governor, Archibald Roane , broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson later accused Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier responded by impugning Rachel's honor, resulting in a shootout on a public street. Soon afterwards, they met to duel, but parted without having fired at each other. Jackson resigned his judgeship in 1804. He had almost gone bankrupt when the land and mercantile speculations he had made on

16968-539: The inauguration of President William Henry Harrison in March 1841, the East Room acquired eight floor-to-ceiling mirrors with broad, heavily carved frames. President James K. Polk had the White House plumbed for gas heating and lighting in 1848. Cornelius & Company of Philadelphia retrofitted the 1834 chandeliers for gas, and Polk himself watched their first lighting. By the end of the Polk administration in January 1849,

17136-420: The items himself. Nearly all the 1829 furnishings for the East Room were supplied by Véron. Véron also added gilt rays and stars over the west door (the one the president usually used when entering the room). The bare walls were covered with yellow wallpaper with cloth edging, light-blue moreen drapes were added to the windows, and plaster cornices adorned with eagles were installed over the windows. Véron covered

17304-478: The largest cotton-growing plantations in the state. Like most planters in the Southern United States , Jackson used slave labor . In 1804, Jackson had nine African American slaves; by 1820, he had over 100; and by his death in 1845, he had over 150. Over his lifetime, he owned a total of 300 slaves. Jackson subscribed to the paternalistic idea of slavery, which claimed that slave ownership

17472-462: The masonry, severely weakening it. Paneling, windows, and furnishings were dismantled, numbered, and stored. Although great care was taken in removing the plasterwork, there was no way to avoid cracking it during removal. Molds were made from the originals, and new plasterwork installed. Even so, architect Lorenzo Winslow simplified many of the designs before they were cast, allegedly to make them look less Renaissance Revival and more "American". Less care

17640-535: The militia in September 1813 following the August Fort Mims Massacre . The Red Sticks , a Creek Confederacy faction that had allied with Tecumseh , a Shawnee chief who was fighting with the British against the United States, killed about 250 militia men and civilians at Fort Mims in retaliation for an ambush by American militia at Burnt Corn Creek . Jackson's objective was to destroy

17808-556: The nomination in six other states and had a strong second-place finish in three others. In the presidential election, Jackson won a 42-percent plurality of the popular vote. More importantly, he won a plurality of electoral votes , receiving 99 votes from states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base: Adams dominated New England , Crawford won Virginia and Georgia, and Clay took three western states. Because no candidate had

17976-794: The ongoing disagreement led to its dissolution. In the spring of 1831, Jackson demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry, who would resign in 1835 when a Congressional investigation revealed his mismanagement of the Post Office. Jackson tried to compensate Van Buren by appointing him the Minister to Great Britain , but Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it. Van Buren—along with newspaper editors Amos Kendall and Francis Preston Blair —would become regular participants in Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet , an unofficial, varying group of advisors that Jackson turned to for decision making even after he had formed

18144-476: The paneling for the East Room was condemned as unfit for reuse, whether it was actually unusable or not, and replaced with new wood. (Although some of the East Room woodwork would be chopped up for souvenirs, most of it was used as landfill at Fort Myer in Arlington County, Virginia .) The new panelling was also simpler and had considerably less presence, and was covered in a somewhat lighter color than

18312-465: The people, blaming banks for the country's depression. During his presidential candidacy, Jackson reluctantly ran for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. Jackson's political managers William Berkeley Lewis and John Eaton convinced him that he needed to defeat incumbent John Williams , who opposed him. The legislature elected Jackson in October 1823. He was attentive to his senatorial duties. He

18480-556: The period 1981 to 1988. In 1967, the government of Italy donated a late 18th-century carved wood and terra cotta nativity scene to the White House. This 30-piece creche, manufactured in Naples and with the figures clad in original hand-sewn fabrics, was placed on view in the East Room during the Christmas season, and it has been erected there every holiday season since. Ten additional antique Italian nativity figures were donated to

18648-525: The piano in 1992.) Eleanor Roosevelt also changed the draperies in the East Room from gold to crimson. By the late 1940s, the East Room—along with the rest of the White House—was in such poor shape that its structural integrity was at risk. President Harry S. Truman was attending a concert in the East Room on February 11, 1947, when he was informed that the ceiling of the room was being pulled down by

18816-403: The popular will, but it functioned as political patronage and became known as the spoils system . Jackson spent much of his time during his first two and a half years in office dealing with what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair". The affair focused on Secretary of War Eaton's wife, Margaret . She had a reputation for being promiscuous, and like Rachel Jackson, she

18984-584: The power of the Red Sticks. Jackson continued his scorched-earth campaign of burning villages, destroying supplies, and starving Red Stick women and children. The campaign ended when William Weatherford , the Red Stick leader, surrendered, although some Red Sticks fled to East Florida . On June 8, Jackson was appointed a brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later

19152-529: The president to leave the existing appointees in office, replacing them through attrition. Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act , an 1820 law that limited office tenure, authorized the president to remove current office holders, and appoint new ones. During his first year in office, he removed about 10% of all federal employees and replaced them with loyal Democrats. Jackson argued that rotation in office reduced corruption by making officeholders responsible to

19320-456: The press assumed they were new. Mrs. Lincoln left the three large mahogany tables with black and gold marble inlays, which had long occupied the room, below each chandelier. Two funerals for Lincoln Family members were held in the East Room in the 1860s. The first was that of 11-year-old Willie Lincoln , President Abraham Lincoln 's son, who died of typhoid fever on February 21, 1862. Just over three years later, Lincoln's body lay in state in

19488-519: The rest of the White House, was burned in 1814 during the Burning of Washington in the War of 1812 . The interior was gutted, although most of the exterior sandstone walls remained standing. The north facade of the White House was the most damaged. But because the East Room had so little furniture in it, the section of the north facade fronting the East Room was the least damaged. Latrobe helped to reconstruct

19656-492: The robust architectural effect was diminished. Red marble mantels were installed, and the remaining Venetian window in the room was narrowed to help create the "American" feel. (The 1902 mantels were given away.) The East Room's chandeliers were rewired and cleaned. The size of the large chandeliers was reduced by several inches, assuming their correct size (68 inches [170 cm] wide and 129 inches [330 cm] high). They were also outfitted with softer internal illumination, and

19824-492: The room contained 24 unfinished mahogany armchairs, four large unfinished mahogany sofas, eight tables made of pine, a door screen, a paper partition, a three-shelf bookshelf, a mahogany map stand, a washstand (with basin and ewer), and a clothes press. But for the most part, from 1818 to 1829 the East Room was unused. Occasionally it was cleared and used for dances, but usually its doors were locked and it served as storage space. A widely reported story claims that for two months in

19992-494: The room in seeking souvenirs, ripping down portions of the wallpaper and stealing cords and tassels from the drapes. Someone even cut a square yard from one of the damask drapes. Others took scissors and knives to the carpet, gouging the oak floor beneath, and gilded ornaments were stolen from the mantels. President Andrew Johnson had the public rooms on the State Floor refurbished in 1866. His wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson ,

20160-456: The room until the Johnson administration in 1965. The drapes and valances cost $ 26,149. The cost was covered by sales of Jacqueline Kennedy's guidebook to the White House, which by 1965 was in its fourth edition. Another major change involved the fireplace mantels, which were painted at Boudin's request to appear like white marble, unifying the look of the room. The Kennedy administration was

20328-512: The room were reused, however. These included the mantel candelabra, manufactured by Russell & LaFarge and purchased in the Monroe administration in 1817. A personal inspection by Charles Follen McKim also found the East Room clearly sinking. The problem, not rectified until 1952, was that the interior walls rested on brick columns in the basement, which themselves were sitting on loose rubble footings atop soft soil. The columns were sinking into

20496-418: The room. The East Room was finally completed and decorated in 1829 by Andrew Jackson. New plaster work in the form of a cornice-line frieze of anthemion (a flowerlike, traditional Greek decorative pattern) was installed, three Neoclassical plasterwork medallions affixed to the ceiling, and the demi-lune over the east wall's Venetian window removed and turned into a wall. Decorative wooden beams were added to

20664-500: The room. It is possible that Hoban intended it for use as a private gallery for the family. It was the largest room in the White House, however, about 80 by 37 feet (24 by 11 m) in size with a 22-foot-high (6.7 m) ceiling. The middle window in the north wall was designed to provide access to a terrace (never built). The East Room was first assigned a purpose in 1807. Architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe had been brought to

20832-491: The section. On the narrow ends of the room were smaller sections, similarly decorated. Hanging from the ceiling were three large Bohemian crystal chandeliers. These replaced the larger, out-of-style chandeliers placed there in 1873 during the Grant administration. The tent-and-bowl chandeliers were also provided by Caldwell & Co. but manufactured by Christoph Palme & Co. of Parchen, Bohemia , Austria-Hungary . Their design

21000-417: The soil under the mansion's weight. But forced by Roosevelt to finish the restoration as quickly as possible, McKim was unable to make any structural changes to solve the problem. The East Room chandeliers were altered in 1903 to reduce their diameter slightly to 6 feet (1.8 m), leaving them with just 6,000 glass pieces. The renovated chandelier weight dropped to 1,200 pounds (540 kg). That same year,

21168-544: The soldiers he had executed for desertion and alleging that he stabbed a man in the back with his cane. They stated that he had intentionally massacred Native American women and children at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, ate the bodies of Native Americans he killed in battle, and threatened to cut off the ears of congressmen who questioned his behavior during the First Seminole War. Jackson and Rachel were accused of adultery for living together before her divorce

21336-451: The southern end used for a bedroom and office for Meriwether Lewis and Lewis Harvie (both Private Secretary to the President ). Jefferson's successor, James Madison , sought to make the partitions permanent and asked Latrobe to design bedrooms and office space across the southern part of the room. But these changes were not made, either. Madison did use a portion of the East Room, however, for Cabinet meetings. The East Room, along with

21504-415: The summer of 1825, the East Room housed at least one live alligator that belonged to the visiting Marquis de Lafayette , but a lack of contemporary evidence suggests that the story might be apocryphal. Congress appropriated $ 6,000 to finally finish the room in 1826, although the funds were not made available until 1825. President John Quincy Adams used the money to repair the White House rather than finish

21672-463: The trappings of monarchy, and Congress declined to appropriate funds to finish the room for fear it would look too much like a throne room . During the Jefferson administration, 38 gold-and-black painted chairs were purchased and placed in the room, but little else is known of the room's furnishings prior to 1814. Jefferson also had the East Room partitioned (using canvas and sailcloth for walls) and

21840-544: The values he associated with Britain, in particular aristocracy and political privilege. After the American Revolutionary War, Jackson worked as a saddler, briefly returned to school, and taught reading and writing to children. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina , where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. He completed his training under John Stokes , and

22008-412: The walls, and mirrors in gilt frames placed over the fireplace mantels. Jackson also purchased three cut-glass chandeliers to light the room. Each chandelier, which featured 18 whale oil lamps, hung from the ceiling medallions and were complemented with whale oil wall sconces and table lamps. There were also 20 spittoons . His expenditures totaled $ 9,358.27, provided by a friendly Congress eager to make

22176-596: The war as he may think best". Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to President James Monroe , "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished." Jackson invaded Florida, captured the Spanish fort of St. Marks , and occupied Pensacola . Seminole and Spanish resistance

22344-537: The war. One of the few revisions came in the East Room, where the Vollmer suite of furniture was moved from the Blue Room. Steinway & Sons donated a second grand piano to the White House in 1938. Steinway historians Miles Chapin and Rodica Prato call it the "best-known art-case Steinway" in the world. Architect Eric Gugler designed the 10.5-foot-long (3.2 m), mahogany case piano (serial number 300,000). The case

22512-426: The weight of the chandeliers. The following day, the chandeliers were taken down. On October 26, 1948, plaster fell from the ceiling of the East Room, exposing a 12-foot-long (3.7 m) crack in the ceiling. Engineers discovered that the ceiling had also dropped by 0.5 feet (0.15 m). The East Room was cleared of all furniture, and floor-to-ceiling X-shaped wooden braces erected in the room to stabilize it. The room

22680-499: The world was needed to weave the carpet, which covered the entire floor. The drapes were crimson with heavy gold fringe and numerous gold tassels, while the lace curtains behind them were imported from Switzerland . The East Room under the Lincolns remained sparsely furnished, however, as befit a reception hall. The three chandeliers, which dated from the Jackson administration, were cleaned and reinstalled. They were so brilliant that

22848-501: Was Burr's associate James Wilkinson who was guilty of treason, not Burr. Burr was acquitted of the charges. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom , launching the War of 1812 . Though the war was primarily caused by maritime issues, it provided white American settlers on the southern frontier the opportunity to overcome Native American resistance to settlement, undermine British support of

23016-476: Was a " corrupt bargain " between Adams and Clay and began creating their own political organization that would eventually become the Democratic Party . Jackson ran again in 1828 , defeating Adams in a landslide. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act . This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing , displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of

23184-457: Was a copy of the Lansdowne portrait depicting George Washington , painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1797. It was purchased by the White House in 1800, and hung in the East Room. (Rescued from the 1814 fire, it still hangs there, with a companion portrait of Martha Washington painted by Eliphalet Frazer Andrews in 1878.) There was extensive feeling in Congress that Adams had adopted too many of

23352-520: Was accused of adultery. She and Eaton had been close before her first husband John Timberlake died, and they married nine months after his death. With the exception of Barry's wife Catherine, the cabinet members' wives followed the lead of Vice-president Calhoun's wife Floride and refused to socialize with the Eatons. Though Jackson defended Margaret, her presence split the cabinet, which had been so ineffective that he rarely called it into session, and

23520-476: Was added below the main chandelier. It was supplied by W. H. Houghton & Co. of Washington, D.C. Cleveland's successor, Benjamin Harrison , refurbished most of the State Floor rooms again in 1891 after the White House was wired for electricity. W. H. Post & Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, did the work. The ceiling was repainted, the wallpaper replaced, and new silk damask curtains installed. The furniture in

23688-510: Was added to the East Room by President James Monroe in 1818. (First Lady Elizabeth Monroe 's involvement was limited to choosing drapery fabric for the room). King produced 24 armchairs and four sofas, all made of mahogany. The total cost was $ 1,408. The furniture was not upholstered, and sat along the walls largely unused. In 1829, the first year of the Jackson administration , the King furniture

23856-743: Was admitted to the North Carolina bar in September 1787. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed as a prosecuting attorney in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee . While traveling to assume his new position, Jackson stopped in Jonesborough . While there, he bought his first slave, a woman who was around his age. He also fought his first duel , accusing another lawyer, Waightstill Avery , of impugning his character. The duel ended with both men firing in

24024-593: Was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs but avoided debate or initiating legislation. He used his time in the Senate to form alliances and make peace with old adversaries. Eaton continued to campaign for Jackson's presidency, updating his biography and writing a series of widely circulated pseudonymous letters that portrayed Jackson as a champion of republican liberty. Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal congressional nominating caucuses . In 1824, most of

24192-590: Was born. Afterwards, Elizabeth and her three sons moved in with her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and James Crawford. Jackson later stated that he was born on the Crawford plantation, which is in Lancaster County, South Carolina , but second-hand evidence suggests that he might have been born at another uncle's home in North Carolina. When Jackson was young, Elizabeth thought he might become

24360-470: Was clad in red velvet, small, and easily portable. It was stored off-site in a government warehouse, and took three men eight hours to retrieve, set up, clean, and prepare for performances. The Kennedys often provided entertainment in the East Room after formal dinners, which necessitated finding seating for these events. The Hoover Art Deco dining room chairs (which by 1961 had been moved to the White House theater) were used for this purpose. Additional seating

24528-612: Was closed to the public on November 7, and after a two-week vacation in Key West, Florida , the Trumans moved into Blair House on November 21, 1948. During the Truman White House reconstruction that began in 1949, the East Room was found to be in very poor condition. Previous renovations had seriously damaged the interior walls. In one 24-foot-long (7.3 m) section of wall, no fewer than five doors had been cut through

24696-521: Was copied from 18th century English and French chandeliers. Each chandelier weighed more than 1,200 pounds (540 kg), was 11 feet (3.4 m) high, and had 7,000 glass pieces. Caldwell & Co. also designed four gilded bronze floor lamps in the Louis XVI style , and four 6-foot (1.8 m) floor candelabra in the Empire style with Egyptian Revival elements (such as winged lions). The floor of

24864-404: Was effectively ended by May 1818. He also captured two British subjects , Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot , who had been working with the Seminoles. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing an international incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet. The occupied territories were returned to Spain. Calhoun wanted him censured for violating

25032-488: Was elected its commander. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Jackson that required the indigenous Creek population to surrender vast tracts of present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British , Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded U.S. forces in

25200-501: Was elected to be its U.S. representative . In Congress, Jackson argued against the Jay Treaty , criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office, and joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington. He advocated for the right of Tennesseans to militarily oppose Native American interests. The state legislature elected him to be

25368-445: Was faced with stone. It is unclear whether any of Hoban's surviving drawings are actually from the competition. Hoban owned at least three slaves who were employed as carpenters in the construction of the White House. Their names are recorded as "Ben, Daniel, and Peter" and appear on a Hoban payroll. Hoban was also one of the supervising architects who worked on the U.S. Capitol , which was designed by William Thornton , and oversaw

25536-831: Was finalized, and Rachel heard about the accusation. She had been under stress throughout the election, and just as Jackson was preparing to head to Washington for his inauguration, she fell ill. She did not live to see her husband become president, dying of a stroke or heart attack a few days later. Jackson believed that the abuse from Adams' supporters had hastened her death, stating at her funeral: "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them. I never can." Jackson arrived in Washington, D.C. , on February 11, and began forming his cabinet. He chose Van Buren as Secretary of State, John Eaton as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien as Attorney General, and William T. Barry as Postmaster General. Jackson

25704-619: Was finally upholstered in blue damask silk. Monroe also purchased (for $ 80) a marble bust of George Washington by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi , which remained in the East Room probably until the Kennedy redecoration in 1962 (when it was moved to the Blue Room ). Monroe also purchased in 1817 for the fireplace mantels four gilt bronze candelabra, designed and manufactured by the French bronzemaker Pierre-Philippe Thomire . By 1825,

25872-809: Was given an advanced student place in the Dublin Society 's Drawing School on Lower Grafton Street in Dublin and studied under Thomas Ivory . He excelled in his studies and received the prestigious Duke of Leinster 's medal from the Dublin Society in November 1780 for his drawing, Brackets, Stairs, and Roofs . Hoban was an apprentice to Ivory from 1779 until he left to go to America, likely in 1785. Hoban arrived in South Carolina by April 1787, where he designed numerous buildings including

26040-529: Was granted in 1793 on the basis of Rachel's infidelity. The couple legally married in January 1794. In 1796, they acquired their first plantation, Hunter's Hill , on 640 acres (260 ha) of land near Nashville. Jackson became a member of the Democratic-Republican Party , the dominant party in Tennessee. He was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he

26208-426: Was in frail health and did little in the way of entertaining or overseeing the White House. Johnson instead relied on his daughter, Martha Patterson (wife of Senator David T. Patterson ). In May, the East Room was cleared of furnishings. Mrs. Patterson oversaw the selection of new yellow wallpaper with a black and gold border, lace curtains, and reupholstered furniture. The ceiling was repainted and frescoes added, and

26376-465: Was inaugurated on March 4, 1829; Adams, who was embittered by his defeat, refused to attend. Jackson was the first president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol . In his inaugural address, he promised to protect the sovereignty of the states, respect the limits of the presidency, reform the government by removing disloyal or incompetent appointees, and observe

26544-592: Was interpreted as his being against representative democracy. Jackson responded by championing the needs of ordinary citizens and declaring that "the voice of the people   ... must be heard". Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. He gained powerful supporters in both the South and North, including Calhoun, who became Jackson's vice-presidential running mate, and New York Senator Martin Van Buren. Meanwhile, Adams's support from

26712-637: Was made a brevet major general with command of the Seventh Military District, which included Tennessee, Louisiana, the Mississippi Territory, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy. With President James Madison 's approval, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson . The treaty required all Creek, including those who had remained allies, to surrender 23,000,000 acres (9,300,000 ha) of land to

26880-577: Was morally acceptable as long as slaves were treated with humanity and their basic needs were cared for. In practice, slaves were treated as a form of wealth whose productivity needed to be protected. Jackson directed harsh punishment for slaves who disobeyed or ran away. For example, in an 1804 advertisement to recover a runaway slave, he offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him" up to three hundred lashes—a number that would likely have been deadly. Over time, his accumulation of wealth in both slaves and land placed him among

27048-460: Was not made. The East Room was among the last rooms on the State Floor to be completed and used. The White House was unfinished when President John Adams occupied it between 1800 and 1801. His wife, Abigail Adams , hung laundry in the bare East Room to dry. Although much of the White House was finished and decorated during Adams administration, the East Room was not. The room's lone artwork

27216-465: Was provided by cushioned bentwood chairs with canework backs (which had long been owned by the White House but whose provenance was unclear). While the Kennedy stage was fine for the small, intimate performances in the East Room which the Kennedys favored, President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson favored larger, more elaborate performances. Ballet patron Rebekah Harkness learned of

27384-404: Was radically redecorated in 1873 during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant . Architects Orville Babcock (Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds), Richard Ezdorf, William J. McPherson, and Alfred Mullett were faced with both a decorative and structural task. The heavy walls above the East Room as well as inadequate structural support had caused the ceiling to sag appreciably. Furthermore,

27552-561: Was repulsed at Fort Bowyer . Jackson then invaded Florida, defeating the Spanish and British forces at the Battle of Pensacola on November 7. Afterwards, the Spanish surrendered, and the British withdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which was the gateway to the Lower Mississippi River and control of the American West. He evacuated Pensacola, strengthened

27720-475: Was seen as a Washington insider. Jackson unexpectedly garnered popular support outside of Tennessee and became a serious candidate. He benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812. He was a popular war hero whose reputation suggested he had the decisiveness and independence to bring reform to Washington. He also was promoted as an outsider who stood for all

27888-568: Was stolen from the Treasury. They also resulted in a reduction in costs to the Department of the Navy, saving $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 28,600,000 in 2023). Jackson asked Congress to tighten laws on embezzlement and tax evasion, and he pushed for an improved government accounting system. Jackson implemented a principle he called " rotation in office ". The previous custom had been for

28056-422: Was taken in removing the woodwork, some of which was damaged when pried loose. Other pieces were too brittle to be reused, and what could be reused had to be restored (often by removing many layers of paint). But by late 1951, with the White House renovation months behind, costs soaring, and President Truman demanding that the work be sped up, workers found it easier to machine new pieces than restore old wood. All of

28224-485: Was then sealed off. Engineers with the Public Building Administration and White House staff feared the entire building could collapse. President and Mrs. Truman left the White House on September 27, 1948, for a 45-day nationwide political barnstorming tour. When they returned to the White House on November 5, they were immediately informed that the White House had to be evacuated. The White House

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