About That New White House Addition . . .

The White House, gutted and expanded
during the Truman era.

OMG! Some people are getting apoplectic over the addition of a ballroom to the White House. 

These people obviously have no understanding of history and seem to be motivated solely by TDS -- Trump Derangement Sydrome.

Truth is, the White House has been a work in progress almost since it first opened and each president has left his mark on the executive mansion. Consider the following:

• The White House was opened in 1800 and just three years later, Thomas Jefferson added the East and West Colonnades. After all, Jefferson was the one who designed his own classic Monticello.
• The White House was nearly burned to the ground in the War of 1812 and subsequently needed to be almost completely rebuilt.
• The south portico was constructed in 1824 during the James Monroe administration. The north portico was then added in 1830.
• By the late 1850s a move was afoot to ditch the White House altogether and move the family residence to a new building as the offices were becoming overcrowded. But the Civil War and subsequent reconstruction squashed any further move in that direction.
• In 1881 President Chester Arthur ordered renovations and paid for much of it by auctioning off hundreds of original furniture going back the Madison era. Some of it has since been recovered, but apparently a majority of it remains in private collections.
• In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt decided to tinker with the building further, overseeing extensive renovations including removal of Victorian era stained glass. He also removed a staircase in the West Hall and moved executive office staff from the second floor of the residence into the newly built, single-story West Wing which enclosed the Jefferson West Colonnade.
• A few years later, President Taft added space to the West Wing, including the Oval Office. And you thought the iconic Oval Office was there all along, huh?
• In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt added the second floor to the West Wing and then relocated the Oval Office. Also under FDR, The East Wing was added in 1942 and has been used primarily as office space for the First Lady and as the visitor's tour entrance.
• The construction of a fourth-story attic during the Coolidge administration apparently took toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame. By 1948, the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse, forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at Blair House from 1949 to 1951. The White House was essentially gutted, the interior was strengthened and rebuilt and the Truman Balcony was added.
• Then in 1962, First Lady Jackie Kennedy did an extensive decorative renovation of the interior focusing mostly on the public rooms.
• A decade later, Pat Nixon renovated a few more rooms while Richard Nixon ditched FDR's indoor pool to make room for a modern press room.

So, calm down all you Trump-hating history-deniers. The White House isn't going anywhere and it will still look like the White House that we all know and love. It's simply getting the addition of a brand new ballroom -- something that the White House has needed for decades and something that other presidents have longed for. AND not one cent of the costs will be paid for by taxpayer dollars. All of the funds are being privately raised and the architectural integrity of the White House will be preserved.

The White House is like America itself -- always changing and adjusting but retaining its essential character. Decades from now this latest adjustment is destined to be viewed as another outstanding milestone in the development of a beloved work in progress!