On Valentine's Day in 1962, 80 million viewers tuned in to watch the First Lady give them a televised tour of the White House. As a connoisseur of history and culture, Jacqueline Kennedy was concerned about the White House and how there were very few items representing the period before 1948. So, she took on as her personal project the restoration of the White House.
Mrs. Kennedy believed that her project should be "a restoration, not a decoration" and that her house should be a "museum that should reflect the artistic history of the United States". A record 1300000 visitors walked through the doors of the White House in the year previous to the telecast, two thirds of whom were children on school tours. The First Lady believed that the White House should spark the interest of these schoolchildren in the people who once lived there and helped build the nation.
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Mrs.Kennedy's first order of business was to establish the White House Fine Arts Committee which would oversee the purchase or reception (in the case of donations) of each piece of furniture which came into the White House. In the past, Presidents were permitted to give away or throw out or sell furniture that they no longer wanted; however, Jacqueline Kennedy pushed for a law which would make each item property of the White House.
The televised tour gave a brief history of the Presidential mansion which was first lived in by President Adams in 1799. Shortly thereafter, it was torched in the final year of the War of 1812. President Monroe oversaw the rebuilding of the White House and moved in by 1817. A North Portico was added in 1829. However, with the paint peeling off the walls and with no funding for repairs, what many would consider to be a palatial palace, soon fell into a state of disrepair: its nickname became the "public shabby house".
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From the time of President McKinley to Hoover, a New year's Day Open House was held where anyone could visit and shake the hand of the President. Franklin Roosevelt ordered temporary extensions during his administration. However, the additions were rushed and structural damage was the result. One day, President Truman felt his study vibrating; cracks appeared in the ceiling. The White House was no longer fit for occupancy and it was dismantled piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle.
By the time the Kennedy's arrived, the White House had been repaired but needed a fresh look. Jacqueline Kennedy was up to the task. She also had a guidebook published which sold 500,000 copies in the first 10 months. Upon embarking on her project, the first lady received hundreds of letters each day from people who offered to donate items for the White House or gave a lead on a particular piece.
Jacqueline Kennedy relished her new role. She loved unearthing antiques from various periods in America's history. One of her favourite pieces was the Oval Office desk at which her husband sat and under which little John-John played. It was built from the timbers of the HMS Resolute and was a gift from Queen Victoria.
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Mrs. Kennedy had wallpaper from the late 1700's mounted on the walls in the Diplomatic Reception Room. She felt that the room should create a good impression of the White House given it was the first room that people entered upon their arrival.
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On the tour, the First Lady pointed out some of the more important pieces in the White House, including ones that she had restored. In the East Room, sat the grand piano designed by Franklin Roosevelt and played by Pablo Casals only the previous year.
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In the state dining room, the journalist interviewing Mrs. Kennedy pointed out that Theodore Roosevelt, who was an avid hunter, had his stuffed animal heads mounted on the walls.
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In the Red Room, Jacqueline Kennedy showed the broadcaster Joseph Bonaparte's table, son of the famous Napoleon. Also in the Red Room were Dolly Madison's sofa and Andrew Jackson's mirror. Mrs. Kennedy was particularly pleased with two simple looking chairs because they were retrieved from a private donor. They had been sold at an auction by Mary Todd Lincoln, who was destitute after her husband's assassination.
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The Blue Room featured the Minerva Clock and a Washington bust. The staircase to the Lincoln Bedroom saw a lot of traffic in its day, filled with the unemployed, office seekers and Civil War generals. It was so busy that Lincoln had a door installed between his bedroom and his office to hide from these visitors. Of course, Lincoln's Bedroom featured his bed, slept in by several presidents.
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