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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.
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 Stéphane 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.
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The Blue Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the residence of the president of the United States. It is distinctive for its oval shape. The room is used for receptions and receiving lines and is occasionally set for small dinners. President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the room on June 2, 1886, the only wedding of a President and First Lady in the White House. The room is traditionally decorated in shades of blue. With the Yellow Oval Room above it and the Diplomatic Reception Room below it, the Blue Room is one of three oval rooms in James Hoban's original design for the White House.
The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence, which is a building of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for dances, receptions, press conferences, ceremonies, concerts, and banquets. The East Room was one of the last rooms to be finished and decorated, and it has undergone substantial redecoration over the past two centuries. Since 1964, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House has, by executive order, advised the president of the United States and first lady on the decor, preservation, and conservation of the East Room and other public rooms at the White House.
The Red Room is one of three state parlors on the State Floor in the White House, the Washington D.C. home of the president of the United States. The room has served as a parlor and music room, and recent presidents have held small dinner parties in it. It has been traditionally decorated in shades of red. The room is approximately 28 by 22.5 feet. It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, Blue Room, South Portico, and State Dining Room.
The Green Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for small receptions and teas. During a state dinner, guests are served cocktails in the three state parlors before the president, first lady, and a visiting head of state descend the Grand Staircase for dinner. The room is traditionally decorated in shades of green. The room is approximately 28 by 22.5 feet. It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, East Room, South Portico, and Blue Room.
The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the Executive Residence of the White House, the home of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C. It is used for receptions, luncheons, larger formal dinners, and state dinners for visiting heads of state on state visits. The room seats 140 and measures approximately 48 by 36 feet.
The Vermeil Room is located on the ground floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room houses a collection of silver-gilt or vermeil tableware, a 1956 bequest to the White House by Margaret Thompson Biddle. Portraits of American First Ladies hang in the room.
The China Room is one of the rooms on the Ground Floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. The White House's collection of state china is displayed there. The collection ranges from George Washington's Chinese export china to Barack Obama's blue and white themed collection. Almost all administrations are represented with a collection; however, a few are not - most recently, the Trump administration did not have a collection created and instead mainly used the china designed by Hillary Clinton during her time as First Lady. The room is primarily used by the first lady for teas, meetings, and smaller receptions.
The Diplomatic Reception Room is one of three oval rooms in the Executive Residence of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. It is located on the ground floor and is used as an entrance from the South Lawn and a reception room for foreign ambassadors to present their credentials, a ceremony formerly conducted in the Blue Room. The room is the point of entry to the White House for a visiting head of state following the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn. The room has four doors, which lead to the Map Room, the Center Hall, the China Room, and a vestibule that leads to the South Lawn.
The Cross Hall is a broad hallway on the first floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. It runs east to west connecting the State Dining Room with the East Room. The room is used for receiving lines following a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn, or a procession of the President and a visiting head of state and their spouses.
The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used as a library, office, and family parlor. It was designated the Yellow Oval Room during the restoration overseen by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Today the Yellow Oval Room is used for small receptions and for greeting heads of state immediately before a State Dinner.
The President's Dining Room is a dining room located in the northwest corner of the second floor of the White House. It is located directly above the Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn. The Dining Room is adjacent to the Family Kitchen, a small kitchen designed for use by the First Family, and served by a dumbwaiter connected to the main kitchen on the ground floor.
The Family Dining Room is a dining room located on the State Floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is used for smaller, more private meals than those served in the State Dining Room. Used in the 1800s as a space for the First Family to have their meals, the Family Dining Room was used less for family meals and more for working lunches and small dinners in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. It is the most recognizable part of the complex, being the actual "house" part of the White House. This central building, first constructed from 1792 to 1800, is home to the president of the United States and the first family. The Executive Residence primarily occupies four floors: the ground floor, the state floor, the second floor, and the third floor. A two-story sub-basement with mezzanine, created during the 1948–1952 Truman reconstruction, is used for HVAC and mechanical systems, storage, and service areas.
The Cabinet Room is the meeting room for the officials and advisors to the president of the United States who constitute the Cabinet of the United States. The room is located in the West Wing of the White House, adjoining the Oval Office, and looks out upon the White House Rose Garden.
The Roosevelt Room is a meeting room in the West Wing of the White House, the home and main workplace of the president of the United States. Located in the center of the wing, near the Oval Office, it is named after two related U.S. presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who contributed to the wing's design.
The Entrance Hall is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet. Located on the State Floor, the room is entered from outdoors through the North Portico, which faces the North Lawn and Pennsylvania Avenue. The south side of the room opens to the Cross Hall through a screen of paired Roman Doric columns. The east wall opens to the Grand Staircase.
The Grand Staircase is the chief stairway connecting the State Floor and the Second Floor of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. The stairway is primarily used for a ceremony called the Presidential Entrance March. The present Grand Staircase, the fourth staircase occupying the same general space, was completed in 1952 as a part of the Truman White House reconstruction. The Grand Staircase is entered on the State Floor from the Entrance Hall.
The West Sitting Hall is located on the second floor of the White House, home of the president of the United States. The room is entered from the second floor Center Hall on the east side of the room. The room features a large lunette window on the west wall looks out upon the West Colonnade, the West Wing, and the Old Executive Office Building. The room is used by first families as a less formal living room than the Yellow Oval Room.
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