Oval Office
Visitor Dennis pointed out that the picture of Ike in the Oval Office had to be wrong, because the fireplace wasn't historically correct. I realized that I didn't have a good picture of the Oval Office fireplace anywhere, but I found a nice one on the Truman Library site.Update: The paneling is like the paneling in the family residence, not the OO, but the mantel is still a mystery. Perhaps this is actually a location in Ike's library or home that happens to resemble the WH.
Labels: West Wing
posted by Derek @ 8:52 PM
---
11 Comments:
That picture of Ike sitting in a room with a presidential flag is a puzzlement. I can't find a room upstairs that looks like that at all. Wrong mantle. Certainly not the Trophy Room (later Yellow Oval Room).
It almost has a "stage set" feel to it. And the chair is facing at a very unusual angle to be normal placement for a sitting room. It looks like a TV interview set up.
Could it possibly be in one of the two bedrooms over the North Portico? Most vexing!
I don't know which room it could possibly be. What about the Old Executive Office Building (Now Eisenhower)? The fireplace fits none that I've seen anywhere in the White House, including Diplomatic Reception Room, Library, Map Room, China and Gold Rooms.
What gives it the impression of being in the White House is the Presidential flag. Could it be another flag that resembles the President's?
When I visited Gettysburg, I got to see Eisenhower's retirement location. The pic may be from his home there.
The wall paneling looks like the paneling in the family residence, but I've ruled out most of the rooms now because of the mantel. I'm leaning now toward the east small bedroom.
Altho, now I've just noticed that the page the photo came from is a page on his post-presidency period. Maybe Ike had an office in his presidential library or even his home that was made similar to the WH.
Having toured Ike's Gettysburg home, I can tell you it was not taken there. One suspect was the upstairs dining room because it was a sitting room during the Eisenhower administration. But I checked the photo and it doesn't seem to work.
Another suspect is the Diplomatic Reception Room. Looking closely, the picture frame resembles the frame for Angelica Singleton VanBuren which hung over the DR mantle after the Truman renovation. If only the picture were lighter and larger!
I have a hard time putting it in the east bedroom.
I can see now where the East Bedroom most resembles the photo of Ike. However, the design in the wainscoting is more square, where in the WHMW photo it is rectangular.
Since we are discussing the West Wing on this page, sorry but i have a rather silly question to ask regarding the Cabinet Room.
When the President holds other meetings in the Cabinet Room other than the monthly Cabinet Meeting, do attendees to the meetings get to sit on the Cabinet chairs round the table? Or are replica reproductions used when the Cabinet does not meet?
After all, those chairs bear the names of the Secretaries (and technically belong to them as they are given to them when they leave the Cabinet) and it will be most awkward for a layman to sit on say, the Secretary of Defense's Chair!
I think the chairs remain even when non-Cabinet meetings are held. It's my understanding that Cabinet members are allowed to "purchase" their chairs when they leave, altho the purchasing is usually done by political supporters.
The mantle piece in the photo closely resembles one in what you have labeled as "The President's Dining Room" (West Wing) in the 1950's view. The room has been re-configured several times since that date, but it used to be called "The President's Study". It may well be that the mantle was 're-used" from another space. It has the look of other mantles designed by Winslow or Gugler in the "Classic-Moderne" style of the twentieth century. And yes, the wainscoating looks like that used by Winslow in the Truman era renovation for the Second Floor rooms. Just a hunch.
Hi, I am new to this blog and to the WHM. It is so great!
I have a photo I think that points out to it being in the West Bedroom. It is the only room that has waincoting in that shape that wraps around a corner. Could the mantel have been changed by Mrs. Kennedy? It cannot be the East Bedroom, as the wainscoting on the right side is rectangular. I have done a photo comparison if anyone can tell me where to send it.
Thanks,
Kevin
Great! You can e-mail me at webmaster@whitehousemuseum.org.
Post a Comment
<< Home