Under this roof : the White House and the presidency : 21 presidents, 21 rooms, 21 inside stories
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The history of our highest office, and the country, through the life of an oft-ignored major character: the White House itself. Even in this time of relentless coverage of the President's every move, we can forget that he and his advisers are human, with a life filled with smaller personal moments that lead up to the big public ones. Imagine Nixon in the East Room, worrying what would happen if the moon mission fails, or McKinley in the map room knowing he will soon start a war he doesn't want to fight. The events that shaped America have usually started or ended at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Some of those narratives peaked in the Oval Office, but more often the most interesting moment occurred in some quieter, domestic event, such as Edith Wilson running the country from the Master Bedroom, or Obama nervously playing spades in the Private Dining Room before heading down to the Situation Room on the night Osama bin Laden was killed. These stories tell not just the history of the event, but provide a detailed description of the particular room in which the event occurred. The battered office chair Lincoln used as he pondered the Emancipation Proclamation. The overheated, dimly lit Red Room during the secret swearing in of Rutherford B. Hayes. The stories also mirror the growth of America itself. The White House has expanded as the country has, gained workspace as the government grew, embraced technology as the nation did, and mirrors the dynamism of the United States itself.