Cabinet Room
The Cabinet Room is the conference room of the United States Cabinet, which reports to the President of the United States . It is located in the White House , the official residence of the President in Washington, DC
history
The first President of the United States, George Washington , established the United States' first cabinet, which at the time consisted of three cabinet secretaries ( State Department , Treasury Department , War Department ) and the Attorney General . Originally, the cabinet met on the second floor of the Executive Residence . The expansion of the White House to include the West Wing in 1902 created an official room for cabinet meetings. The first cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room took place on November 6, 1902 under Theodore Roosevelt .
In 2006 the space was renovated, approximating the appearance during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency . At that time, the West Wing and the Cabinet Room were largely rebuilt after the West Wing was badly damaged by fire in 1929 during Herbert Hoover's presidency . The renovation included wall sconces in the style of Art Deco , with eagles with outspread wings carrying illuminated spheres inside. Three glass pendant lights in the Streamline Modern style were recreated using old photographs and a similar light in the corridor between the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room .
Dimensions and design
The Cabinet Room is located in the West Wing of the White House Complex and adjoins the Oval Office , with a view of the White House Rose Garden . It is seven meters (23 feet) wide and 11.9 meters (39 feet) long, with a ceiling height of 5.5 meters (18 feet). There are four east exits towards the White House Rose Garden, two west into the West Wing, and one south towards the President's personal secretariat.
Although the room was completed in 1934, it is in the Georgian style . The neoclassical ceiling is designed with triglyphs and was installed in 1934. On the east side of the room is a series of French doors with domed bezel windows. A fire place, which is surrounded by two niches, is on the north side of the room. In the niches are busts of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin by the artist Jean-Antoine Houdon . A painting by Charles Édouard Armand-Dumaresq hangs over the mantelpiece entitled The Signing of the Declaration of Independence . Additional portraits on the west wall are selected by the incumbent President, such as portraits of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt , Thomas Jefferson , Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George Washington hung during George W. Bush's presidency . Obama swapped Eisenhower's portrait for one of Harry S. Truman's . The large elliptical conference table Mahogany is a donation of Richard Nixon from 1970, the table about 4,000 US dollars cost. Between 1869 and 1902, a walnut table was used as a conference table in which the respective cabinet members could enclose important documents. It was replaced after the West Wing was completed, but in 1961 it was moved back to the second floor of the Executive Residence on the instructions of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis .
Chairs and arrangement
The President's chair is centrally positioned on the east side of the table. The back of the President's chair is about five centimeters (two inches) higher than that of the rest of the cabinet. President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) used a separate desk chair on casters with a particularly high back and thick leather upholstery. Engraved brass plates are attached to the back of the chairs, indicating the position in the cabinet and the dates of the term of office. The President's chair is labeled THE PRESIDENT . The Vice President of the United States sits across from the President. Cabinet members are arranged according to the age of their respective ministries. For example, the United States Secretary of State sits on the President's right, the United States Secretary of Treasury sits on the Vice President's right, the United States Secretary of Defense sits on the President's left, and the United States Attorney General sits on the Vice President's left.
The table is designed for 20 people, with up to 25 people now sitting at the table for cabinet meetings. Cabinet meetings take place at least every two months.
After their term in office, cabinet members are allowed to buy the chairs. It is tradition that the chair is bought and given as a gift by employees.
Areas of responsibility
The renovation of the White House rooms is the joint responsibility of the White House Curator , the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, and the White House Historical Association . The construction costs are often covered by the White House Endowment Trust . The purchase of works of art, period furniture or the reproduction of ornamental art is regularly paid for by the White House Acquisition Trust .
literature
- James A. Abbott, Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7 .
- Wendell Garrett: Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Press: 1995. ISBN 1-55553-222-5 .
- William Kloss, Doreen Bolger, David Park Curry, et al. Art in the White House, A Nation's Pride, White House Historical Association and Harry Abrams: 1992. ISBN 0-8109-3965-7 .
- Betty C. Monkman: The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families. Abbeville Press: 2000. ISBN 0-7892-0624-2 .
- William Seale: The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. ISBN 0-912308-28-1 .
- William Seale: The White House: The History of an American Idea. White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001. ISBN 0-912308-85-0 .
- The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2006. ISBN 0-912308-79-6 .
Web links
- White House curator Bill Allman describes the renovation ( RealVideo )
- C-SPAN : Recordings of the Cabinet Room
Individual evidence
- ^ The White House Archives: Life in the White House: Cabinet Room , accessed September 10, 2012
- ↑ a b c d White House Museum: The President's Conference Room , accessed September 10, 2012
- ↑ a b White House Interactive Tour: The Cabinet Room ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 10, 2012
- ↑ White House Historical Association: The Cabinet Room Conference Table ( Memento of the original from November 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 10, 2012
- ↑ The White House Archives: The President's Cabinet , accessed September 10, 2012
- ^ Ed O'Keefe: An inside look at the Cabinet , December 15, 2009, accessed September 10, 2012
Coordinates: 38 ° 53 ′ 51 ″ N , 77 ° 2 ′ 14.6 ″ W.