by Robert Klara
With the recent demolition of the White House ballroom, author Robert Klara shares with The History Reader about the little-known, extensive renovations that the White House underwent during the presidency of Harry S. Truman.
It would no doubt come as a surprise to the over 1.25 million people who visit the White House each year that the hallowed halls in which they walk are actually only 76 years old. Wait—didn’t George Washington order the mansion built back in 1792? Indeed he did: And Harry Truman ordered it rebuilt in 1949. Plagued by decades of neglect and dangerous overloading, the country’s most storied residence came very near to collapsing on the thirty-third president, a fact that required a gut renovation. For whatever reason, this incredible event never quite made it to the history textbooks. Below, you can view a sampling of images from the most ambitious home improvement project in U.S. history.
Summoned by Truman to investigate the White House’s haunting creaks and penchant for trembling, government engineers discovered this enormous crack in the brick wall on the second floor. There were many like it. Truman utilized the skills of John McShain, the legendary contractor known as “the man who built Washington,” to oversee the renovation.
Bracing the original walls with 110 tons of reinforcing steel, engineers would excavate the White House’s new basement down another 22 feet. At this stage, Truman called the mansion “nothing but a shell.” In the photo below, windows illuminate the interior of the White House while earth-moving equipment dig out the new basement. The walls are supported only by a web of temporary steel supports.
The deeper foundations permitted the architects to give the White House two new subterranean levels, shown here. The heavily fortified “Tunnel,” would allow the president quick access from the West Wing to the new bomb shelter. Below, you can see a worker inspecting the new elevator well in the sub-basement of the White House. He’s surrounded by massive steel beams and supporting structures.
One of the earliest signs that indicated the White House needed repair was the shaking of the massive, 1,2000-pound chandeliers. You can see one of those chandeliers in the East Room below after the renovation. Truman had the chandeliers raised higher post-renovation, but he still thought the chandeliers looked too big.
All photographs are in the public domain and are courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Library.
ROBERT KLARA is the author of the critically acclaimed FDR’s Funeral Train and The Hidden White House. His unveiling of the private world of the famous funeral train was hailed as “a major new contribution to U.S. history” by Douglas Brinkley. His second book, a dramatic account of Truman’s fight to save the White House, was called “popular history at its best” (The Christian Science Monitor). His writing has appeared in The New York Times, among other publications.