Vice President's House

Question: Who was the VP to live in the Naval Observatory? [answer at bottom]

Most Vice Presidents have been responsible for their own houses, but in modern history, we see the furnishing of a house for the VP and their family, as it made security easier:
Historically, Vice Presidents and their families lived in their own homes, but the cost of securing these private residences grew substantially over the years. Finally, in 1974, Congress agreed to refurbish the house at the Naval Observatory as a home for the Vice President.

Vice Presidents have welcomed countless guests to the residence, including foreign leaders and dignitaries. Still, the Naval Observatory has continued to operate. Scientists observe the sun, moon, planets and selected stars, determine and precisely measure the time, and publish astronomical data needed for accurate navigation.

The Vice President also maintains a ceremonial office:
In addition to the Vice President's Office in the West Wing, the Vice President and his staff maintain a set of offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), located next to the West Wing on the White House premises. This office, called the Vice President's Ceremonial Office, served as the Navy Secretary's Office when the EEOB housed the State, Navy and War Departments. Today, the Vice President uses the office for meetings and press interviews.

Sixteen Secretaries of the Navy worked here between 1879 and 1921. From 1921 until 1947, General John Pershing occupied the room as Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Battle Monuments Commission. Pershing's occupancy of the office was interrupted only once during these 26 years, when President Hoover was forced to relocate his offices following a Christmas Eve fire in the West Wing in 1929. Since 1960, it has been occupied by every Vice President except for Hubert Humphrey, who used a room on the floor below. Since its restoration in the 1980s, it has been considered a ceremonial office.

William McPherson, a well-known Boston decorator and painter, designed the room. Its walls and ceiling were decorated with ornamental stenciling and allegorical symbols of the Navy Department, hand painted in typical Victorian colors. The floor is made of mahogany, white maple and cherry, and the two fireplaces are original Belgian black marble.

The room’s chandeliers are replicas of the turn-of-the-century gasoliers that formerly adorned the room. These historic fixtures were equipped for both gas and electric power -- with the gas globes on top and the electric lights below.

There are several items of note in the room, but the most interesting may be the Vice-President's Desk. This desk is part of the White House collection and was first used by Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. Several Presidents have chosen to use this desk, including Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Eisenhower. It was placed in storage from December of 1929 until 1945, when it was selected by President Truman. Vice President Johnson and each subsequent Vice President has used the desk. The inside of the top drawer has been signed by the various users since the 1940s.

A bust of Christopher Columbus -- one of the few original items on display -- was exhibited in the Secretary’s office between 1898 and 1924. It was removed from the Spanish Cruiser Christabal Colom by the crew of the USS Montgomery after the battle of Santiago in July 1898.

Answer: Walter Mondale

George Washington: The Reluctant President

This new article from Smithsonian Magazine talks about Washington's election as President. The article starts with the fact Washington was not thrilled with the idea of being President:
The Congressional delay in certifying George Washington’s election as president only allowed more time for doubts to fester as he considered the herculean task ahead. He savored his wait as a welcome “reprieve,” he told his former comrade in arms and future Secretary of War Henry Knox, adding that his “movements to the chair of government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.” His “peaceful abode” at Mount Vernon, his fears that he lacked the requisite skills for the presidency, the “ocean of difficulties” facing the country—all gave him pause on the eve of his momentous trip to New York. In a letter to his friend Edward Rutledge, he made it seem as if the presidency was little short of a death sentence and that, in accepting it, he had given up “all expectations of private happiness in this world.”

Charles Thomson, the secretary to Congress, arrived to inform Washington of his election:
Around noon on April 14, 1789, Washington flung open the door at Mount Vernon and greeted his visitor with a cordial embrace. Once in the privacy of the mansion, he and Thomson conducted a stiff verbal minuet, each man reading from a prepared statement. Thomson began by declaring, “I am honored with the commands of the Senate to wait upon your Excellency with the information of your being elected to the office of President of the United States of America” by a unanimous vote. He read aloud a letter from Senator John Langdon of New Hampshire, the president pro tempore. “Suffer me, sir, to indulge the hope that so auspicious a mark of public confidence will meet your approbation and be considered as a sure pledge of the affection and support you are to expect from a free and enlightened people.” There was something deferential, even slightly servile, in Langdon’s tone, as if he feared that Washington might renege on his promise and refuse to take the job. Thus was greatness once again thrust upon George Washington.

The article goes on to discuss Washington's journey to and arrival in New York as well as his inauguration. I actually discussed his swearing in this fall as well.

Missing Artifacts

If you go see the anniversary exhibit on JFK's inauguration and are hoping to see Jackie's famous pink suit, you will be disappointed.

The suit can not be displayed until 2103, so I don't know about you, but I won't be alive to see it (okay, I get Caroline Kennedy's penchant for privacy, but seriously? 2103? By the way that's 100 years from the time she gave it in 2003):
At the request of erstwhile first daughter Caroline Kennedy, her late mother's Dallas suit won't be on public display until the year 2103, reports the Los Angeles Times' Faye Fiore. Until then, the National Archives and Records Administration is storing the clothes in a dark, window-less, temperature-controlled bunker at the agency's complex in Maryland. According to people who have seen it, the jacket was never washed and still retains the look of a brand new article of clothing -- except, of course, for the stains from the blood of the fallen president.

So that's where her suit is, but guess what - no one knows where her hat is!
Meanwhile, no one seems to know the whereabouts of the pillbox hat. A Secret Service agent on duty that told Fiore that he gave the hat to Mary Gallagher, the first lady's personal secretary. But according to Fiore, Gallagher "won't discuss" what she did with the hat -- though she notes that Gallagher has auctioned off a number of Kennedy artifacts on the internet in the past.

The suit's chain of custody leading to the National Archive also isn't entirely clear. According to Fiore's report, Kennedy's White House maid boxed up her bloody clothes after the first lady removed them. Months later, officials at the Archives received a box containing the pink suit, blouse, handbag, shoes, and stockings. The items were accompanied by an unsigned note composed on the stationery of Jacqueline Kennedy's mother. It read simply, "Jackie's suit and bag worn Nov. 22, 1963." No one to this day appears to know for certain if Jacqueline Kennedy's mother, Janet Auchincloss, sent in the artifacts -- or if the curator in question was the former first lady herself, or one of Jacqueline Kennedy's assistants.

Zachary Taylor "State of the Union"

I thought I'd do one more early "State of the Union," and I choose one to go with my house game. So here is part of Taylor's 1849 message:
With the Republic of Mexico it is our true policy to cultivate the most friendly relations. Since the ratification of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo nothing has occurred of a serious character to disturb them. A faithful observance of the treaty and a sincere respect for her rights can not fail to secure the lasting confidence and friendship of that Republic. The message of my predecessor to the House of Representatives of the 8th of February last, communicating, in compliance with a resolution of that body, a copy of a paper called a protocol, signed at Queretaro on the 30th of May, 1848, by the commissioners of the United States and the minister of foreign affairs of the Mexican Government, having been a subject of correspondence between the Department of State and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that Republic accredited to this Government, a transcript of that correspondence is herewith submitted.

The commissioner on the part of the United States for marking the boundary between the two Republics, though delayed in reaching San Diego by unforeseen obstacles, arrived at that place within a short period after the time required by the treaty, and was there joined by the commissioner on the part of Mexico. They entered upon their duties, and at the date of the latest intelligence from that quarter some progress had been made in the survey. The expenses incident to the organization of the commission and to its conveyance to the point where its operations were to begin have so much reduced the fund appropriated by Congress that a further sum, to cover the charges which must be incurred during the present fiscal year, will be necessary. The great length of frontier along which the boundary extends, the nature of the adjacent territory, and the difficulty of obtaining supplies except at or near the extremes of the line render it also indispensable that a liberal provision should be made to meet the necessary charges during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1851. I accordingly recommend this subject to your attention.

In the adjustment of the claims of American citizens on Mexico, provided for by the late treaty, the employment of counsel on the part of the Government may become important for the purpose of assisting the commissioners in protecting the interests of the United States. I recommend this subject to the early and favorable consideration of Congress.

Complaints have been made in regard to the inefficiency of the means provided by the Government of New Granada for transporting the United States mail across the Isthmus of Panama, pursuant to our postal convention with that Republic of the 6th of March, 1844. Our charge d'affaires at Bogota has been directed to make such representations to the Government of New Granada as will, it is hoped, lead to a prompt removal of this cause of complaint.

The sanguinary civil war with which the Republic of Venezuela has for some time past been ravaged has been brought to a close. In its progress the rights of some of our citizens resident or trading there have been violated. The restoration of order will afford the Venezuelan Government an opportunity to examine and redress these grievances and others of longer standing which our representatives at Caracas have hitherto ineffectually urged upon the attention of that Government.

The extension of the coast of the United States on the Pacific and the unexampled rapidity with which the inhabitants of California especially are increasing in numbers have imparted new consequence to our relations with the other countries whose territories border upon that ocean. It is probable that the intercourse between those countries and our possessions in that quarter, particularly with the Republic of Chili, will become extensive and mutually advantageous in proportion as California and Oregon shall increase in population and wealth. It is desirable, therefore, that this Government should do everything in its power to foster and strengthen its relations with those States, and that the spirit of amity between us should be mutual and cordial.

I recommend the observance of the same course toward all other American States. The United States stand as the great American power, to which, as their natural ally and friend, they will always be disposed first to look for mediation and assistance in the event of any collision between them and any European nation. As such we may often kindly mediate in their behalf without entangling ourselves in foreign wars or unnecessary controversies. Whenever the faith of our treaties with any of them shall require our interference, we must necessarily interpose.

A convention has been negotiated with Brazil providing for the satisfaction of American claims on that Government, and it will be submitted to the Senate. Since the last session of Congress we have received an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from that Empire, and our relations with it are rounded upon the most amicable understanding.