James Monroe, a Founding Father of the United States, served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president as well as the last president of the Virginia dynasty. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics. He issued the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of limiting European colonialism in the Americas. Monroe previously served as governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh secretary of state, and the eighth secretary of war.
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia. The "White House" is also used as a metonym to refer to the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
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 Lansdowne portrait is an iconic life-size portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. It depicts the 64-year-old president of the United States during his final year in office. The portrait was a gift to former British Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, and spent more than 170 years in England.
The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, literature, and art and also their mutual improvement by social intercourse."
The Thomas Jefferson Building, also known as the Main Library, is the oldest of the Library of Congress buildings in Washington, D.C. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was initially known as the Library of Congress Building. In 1980, the building was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), a Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third U.S. president. In 1815, the purchase of Jefferson's book collection formed a core foundation for the library's collection.
Edward Vason Jones, a neoclassical architect and member of the Georgia School of Classicism, began his career in 1936 with the design and construction of the Gillionville Plantation near his hometown of Albany, Georgia. The project impressed Hal Hentz of the well-known Atlanta firm of Hentz, Reid, and Adler so much that he hired Vason Jones as draftsman and superintendent of construction, despite his lack of formal training in architecture.
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 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 Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is a house located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was built in 1799 for John Tayloe III, the wealthiest planter in the country, at the behest of his new family member George Washington, as his sister Sarah Tayloe married William Augustine Washington, son of Gen. Washington’s half brother Augustine Washington Jr.. In September 1814, after British forces burnt the White House during the War of 1812, Tayloe, for six months, lent the Octagon House to United States president James Madison and first lady Dolley Madison to serve as the Executive Mansion. It is one of only five houses to serve as the presidential residence in the history of the United States of America, and one of only three, along with the White House and Blair House, that still stand.
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 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 sub-basement with a 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, near the Oval Office, and looks out upon the White House Rose Garden.
Clement Ellis Conger was an American museum curator and public servant. He served as director of the Office of Fine Arts at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked as curator of both the Diplomatic Reception Rooms and Blair House. He also served as Curator of the White House under U.S. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan. Prior to working as a curator, Conger served as a Foreign Service Officer, as the Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States, and as Assistant Secretary of the Combined Chiefs of Staff.
The C&O desk is one of six desks ever used in the Oval Office by a sitting President of the United States. The C&O Desk was used in the executive office by only George H. W. Bush, making it one of two Oval Office desks to be used by only one president there. Prior to its use in the Oval Office by Bush, the desk had been in use elsewhere in the White House. It is the shortest-serving Oval Office desk to date, having been used for one four-year term.
The Office of Fine Arts (M/FA) is a division of the U.S. Department of State reporting to the Under Secretary of State for Management. The mission of the office is to administer appropriate settings for dialogue between U.S. officials and their international guests, to illustrate the continuity of American diplomacy through relevant objects, and to celebrate American cultural heritage through the acquisition, preservation and display of works of art with people around the world.
