Queens' Bedroom

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The Queens' Bedroom in 2000 Queens' Bedroom in 2000.jpg
The Queens' Bedroom in 2000
Floor plan of the White House second floor showing location of the Queens' Bedroom. WH2Queens'Bedroom.png
Floor plan of the White House second floor showing location of the Queens' Bedroom.

The Queens' Bedroom is on the second floor of the White House, part of a guest suite of rooms that includes the Queens' Sitting Room. [1]

White House Official residence and workplace of the President of the United States

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. and has been the residence of every U.S. President since John Adams in 1800. The term "White House" is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers.

Queens Sitting Room

The Queens' Sitting Room is a small sitting room located in the northeast corner of the second floor of the White House. It was used as part of the president's offices until 1902 when the West Wing was built. The room became a sitting room for guests in the Queens' Bedroom in 1902. As a part of the Kennedy White House restoration the room was redecorated by Stéphane Boudin of the firm Maison Jansen. The walls are covered with a heavy cotton Toile de Jouy fabric. Black lacquered furniture of the early and mid-19th century provides contrast with the white painted wainscot and trim of the room.

Contents

Furnishings

The room has been furnished in 1868 Federal style since the Truman reconstruction. The bed thought to have belonged to Andrew Jackson is used here. It was donated in 1902 and first used in what is today the Lincoln Bedroom.[ citation needed ]

White House Reconstruction

The White House Reconstruction, also known as the Truman Reconstruction, was a comprehensive dismantling and rebuilding of the interior of the White House between 1949-1952. A century-and-a-half of wartime destruction and rebuilding, hurried renovations, additions of new services, technologies, an added Third Floor, and inadequate foundations brought the Executive Residence portion of the White House Complex to near-imminent collapse. In 1948, architectural and engineering investigations deemed it unsafe for occupancy, and President Harry S. Truman, his family, and the entire residence staff were relocated across the street. For over three years, the White House was gutted, expanded, and rebuilt. The scope, costs, and historical authenticity of the work were controversial, with the reconstruction being called both structurally essential and a disaster.

Andrew Jackson 7th president of the United States

Andrew Jackson was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress. As president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.

Lincoln Bedroom bedroom in the White House

The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite located in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for President Abraham Lincoln, who used the room as an office.

History

Before the construction of the West Wing in 1902, it was the usual bedroom and office for presidential private secretaries. Many male relatives, including sons of presidents, used the room as their bedroom. The room became a regular bedroom suite when the president's staff moved into the West Wing. When the White House was gutted and rebuilt during the Truman administration, this room was rebuilt as a guest suite with its own bathroom.

West Wing west office section of the White House, Washington DC

The West Wing of the White House houses the offices of the President of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room.

Winston Churchill stayed in the room when he visited Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman before and after World War II. Mamie Eisenhower once had her son, John, and his wife, Barbara, move to another room because she felt that only queens and similar state guests should stay in this room. Jacqueline Kennedy considered taking the room for herself in 1961, but settled instead on the traditional master suite.

Winston Churchill 20th-century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British statesman, army officer, and writer. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill represented five constituencies during his career as a Member of Parliament (MP). Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, for most of his career he was a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955, but from 1904 to 1924 was instead a member of the Liberal Party.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd president of the United States

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A member of the Democratic party, he won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. As a dominant leader of his party, he built the New Deal Coalition, which realigned American politics into the Fifth Party System and defined American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II. Roosevelt is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in American history, as well as among the most influential figures of the 20th century. Though he has been subject to substantial criticism, he is generally rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Harry S. Truman 33rd president of the United States

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt after serving as vice president. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established the Truman Doctrine and NATO.

Between 1902 and 1963, the room was known as the Rose Room. Anna Roosevelt, daughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, moved into the room in 1944 and served as the President's assistant and White House hostess during her mother's frequent absences. President and Mrs. Kennedy used the Queens' Bedroom while the master suite was being decorated in their first weeks in the house.

Anna Roosevelt Halsted writer and socialite

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Dall Boettiger Halsted was an American writer who worked as a newspaper editor, and in public relations. She was the eldest child and only daughter of the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt and assisted him in social and administrative duties at the White House. She wrote two children's books published in the 1930s.

Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest serving First Lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.

References and notes

  1. The Queens' Bedroom (unofficial online resource), The White House Museum.
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Coordinates: 38°53′52″N77°02′11″W / 38.8978°N 77.0363°W / 38.8978; -77.0363

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