The History of 6 Legendary White House Rooms
Constructed between 1792 and 1800, the White House has been home to every U.S. president except the first: Though George Washington oversaw construction of the building, he never actually lived in it. But the White House’s 132 rooms and 18 acres are more than just a residence — the Pennsylvania Avenue mansion is a symbol of power that occupies a singular place in American history and popular culture. Here’s a closer look at six White House rooms where America’s presidents have lived, worked, and even played.
Oval Office
Despite being the most famous room in the White House, the Oval Office was not part of the original building. In fact, the White House lacked a dedicated presidential office until Theodore Roosevelt constructed a “temporary” executive office building in 1902, known today as the West Wing. It contained the first presidential office — a rectangular room now known as the Roosevelt Room.
It was Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft, who made the West Wing a permanent feature of the White House, holding a competition to select an architect to oversee its renovation and enlargement. The winning architect, Nathan C. Wyeth, doubled the West Wing’s size and constructed the Oval Office in its center. Wyeth’s vision for an office fit for the president took inspiration from another famous room in the White House: the Blue Room, which was also an oval shape due to George Washington’s aesthetic preferences. The Oval Office’s last major renovation took place in 1934 under Franklin D. Roosevelt, who moved the room to its current location in the southeast corner of the White House, overlooking the Rose Garden.
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Situation Room
The Situation Room — sometimes referred to as the “nerve center” of intelligence operations at the White House — is technically a complex of connected rooms rather than a single space. The concept of a “War Room” containing telegraph systems and maps dates back to William McKinley’s presidency during the 1898 Spanish-American War. However, the Situation Room as we know it today was built in 1961 by John F. Kennedy in the aftermath of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
Frustrated by an inability to receive real-time military information, Kennedy decided that the White House needed a dedicated intelligence and communications center. Since then, the Situation Room has been critical to presidents’ handling of pivotal moments in American history, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in 2011.
Lincoln Bedroom
Despite its name, the Lincoln Bedroom was never actually used by Abraham Lincoln as a bedroom. Rather, it was an office and meeting area. The room has been called the Lincoln Bedroom since 1945, when Harry S. Truman had it decorated with Lincoln-era furniture, including the original desk upon which the 16th president drafted the Emancipation Proclamation.
Today, the room remains a bedroom and contains a copy of the Gettysburg Address, handwritten and signed by Lincoln, as well as a painting depicting enslaved people awaiting news of the Emancipation Proclamation. Rumored to be one of the most supernatural rooms in the White House, the Lincoln Bedroom has been the site of reported encounters with Lincoln’s ghost, notably by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, First Lady Grace Coolidge, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Map Room
A precursor to the Situation Room, the Map Room was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II to monitor battle operations around the world. After the outbreak of the war, National Geographic donated special wall-mounted “map cabinets” to Roosevelt, which contained maps organized by hemisphere, region, and theater of operation. These documents were regularly updated by cartographers, enabling the president to have the most up-to-date information. The room was staffed 24/7, and was used to communicate with world leaders including Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Chiang Kai-shek. Today, the Map Room functions as a sitting room that has been used to host guests, including the Dalai Lama.
Family Theater
Even presidents need a place to unwind. The White House Family Theater was created in 1942 when Franklin D. Roosevelt had a cloakroom known as the “Hat Box” converted into a 42-seat screening room. Since then, presidents have used the theater to enjoy films with family and friends, and as a space to practice speeches. Ronald Reagan, himself an actor, watched an impressive 363 films while in office, surpassed only by Jimmy Carter, who watched 480. Richard Nixon was such a fan of the war movie Patton that he had to refute rumors that the film inspired his decision to invade Cambodia in 1970. And Bill Clinton once said, “The best perk in the White House is not Air Force One or Camp David or anything else. It’s the wonderful movie theater I get here.”
Bowling Alleys
The first White House bowling alley was constructed in the basement of the building in 1947 as a birthday gift to Harry S. Truman when he turned 63. Truman’s first bowl knocked down seven out of 10 pins, one of which is now on display at the Smithsonian. Truman later had the lanes moved from the White House to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door, where White House employees formed a bowling league in 1950 — Secret Service agents, household staff, groundskeepers, and more competed in tournaments across the country. Bowling returned to the White House under Nixon, who had a one-lane alley constructed below the North Portico of the White House in 1973. An avid bowler, Nixon reportedly played every week and had a high score of 232.
