Old Executive Office Building

Infobox nrhp
name = Eisenhower Executive Office Building
nrhp_type =nhl


caption = President William Howard Taft's prized Holstein cow, Pauline Wayne, poses in front of the Navy Building, known today as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
location = Pennsylvania Ave. and 17th St., NW
Washington, D.C.
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 38
lat_minutes = 53
lat_seconds = 51.24
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 77
long_minutes = 2
long_seconds = 20.93
long_direction = W
locmapin = District of Columbia
area =
built =1871
architect = Alfred B. Mullett
architecture =
designated=November 11, 1971
added = June 4, 1969
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 69000293
mpsub =
governing_body = The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) was formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally was built as the State, War, and Navy Building. It is owned by General Services Administration and occupied by the Office of Administration/Executive Office of the President. It is located on 17th Street, N.W., between Pennsylvania Avenue and New York Avenue, and West Executive Drive in Washington, D.C.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Old Executive Office Building, a National Historic Landmark, was built between 1871 and 1888. Designed by Alfred B. Mullett, Supervising Architect, in the French Second Empire-style, the building housed the Departments of State, War, and Navy. Much of the interior was designed by Richard von Ezdorf using fireproof cast-iron structural and decorative elements. The original tenants of the building quickly outgrew the building and finally vacated the building completely in the late 1930's. The building gradually became seen as inefficient and was nearly demolished in 1957. In 1981, plans began to restore all the "secretary of" suites. The main office of the Secretary of Navy was restored in 1987 and is now used as the ceremonial office of Dick Cheney. Several studies have been conducted to explore modernization of the building but none have been implemented. Shortly after September 11, 2001 the 17th Street side of the building was vacated and plans for modernization began for this vacated space. The building continues to house various agencies that compose the President's Executive Office, such as the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council. However, its predominant purpose is that of the Vice President's Ceremonial Office, used mainly for special meetings and press conferences.cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/ovp.html |title=Vice President's Ceremonial Office |publisher=United States Government |accessdate=2007-12-19]

Many celebrated national figures have participated in the historical events that have taken place within the Old Executive Office Building's granite walls. Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush all had offices in this building before becoming President. It has housed 16 Secretaries of the Navy, 21 Secretaries of War, and 24 Secretaries of State. Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Herbert Hoover occupied the Secretary of the Navy's office for a few months following a fire in the Oval Office on Christmas Eve, 1929. Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first televised Presidential news conference in the building's Indian Treaty Room in January 1955. [cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/eeobtour/indian-treaty.html#3 |title=Indian Treaty Room |publisher=United States Government |accessdate=2008-03-01] In recent history, Richard Nixon had a private office there during his presidency. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first in a succession of Vice Presidents to the present day that have had offices in the building.

A small fire on December 19, 2007 damaged an office of the vice-president's staff and included the VP ceremonial office. [ [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/19/10116/133/875/424241 DailyKos Diary] . Accessed December 19, 2007.] [MSNBC News services, "Fire on White House grounds under control: Hundreds evacuated after blaze breaks out close to VP's ceremonial office", found at [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22325791/ MSNBC.com] . Accessed December 19, 2007.] [ [http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=d5630070-5a70-4812-885d-25f953b10217 FoxNews Clip (Redlasso)] Accessed December 19, 2007.] According to media reporting, the office of the Vice President's Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire. [cite web |url=http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1313087 |title=Cheney's Office Damaged in Fire |publisher=WTOPNews.com |accessdate=2008-03-01 ]

Mark Twain called it "the ugliest building in America." Harry Truman called it "the greatest monstrosity in America." [cite web |url=http://www.morningsun.net/stories/111099/usw_1110990030.shtml |title=Call it ugly or a monstrosity; call it Eisenhower Building|publisher=The Morning Sun, Pittsburg, KS |accessdate=2008-04-13]

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc32.htm Old Executive Office Building, from the National Park Service]
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/eeobtour/ Virtual tour on the White House Web site]