I think it was a worthy reconstruction, because it cleaned up a lot of the mish-mash of renovations over the years before 1948 to create a unified, clean architectural design designed to permanently last.

@TheCaptainSplatter

9 ай бұрын

Looked too dark and gloomy before

@jamesmcinnis208

9 ай бұрын

I agree. Sheraton hotels must have been pretty nice in those days.

@davetarr7257

9 ай бұрын

Allowed for modern at the time security upgrades as well.

@TowGunner

8 ай бұрын

After moving in, Truman stated it was a mess. Rats running all over. Walls crumbling down.

@Lee-wh3ht

8 ай бұрын

Imagine the technology installed

The reconstruction is well-covered in David McCulloch's biography "Truman". As an engineer and architectural historian, I have looked further, in the popular literature, for more details. I have been on the usual tourist visit and appreciate the challenges the 1940s engineers and contractors faced.

The rebuild was amazing. They tore down the old building inside, and rebuilt it as a modern steel beam commercial style building, very strong. Additionally they did a lot of "digging". If you look at the official white house renovation page, there are photos of digging in the white house lawn as far as 200 feet away. They built as much or more underground than they did the actual whitehouse. The entire thing was really amazing and was the perfect cover for adding all of the cold war underground rooms and tunnels.

@abyssstrider2547

8 ай бұрын

There is probably a fallout shelter down there.

@Riiyan

8 ай бұрын

@@abyssstrider2547 Much more then that, there is classified tunnel systems all over that place.

@Mandeepsays

6 ай бұрын

From the street it looks like they have a more or less permanent construction process going on there...

The building's timber-frame could no longer support its weight and size. As the decades advanced and technology progressed, holes were drilled through main support beans for plumbing, electrical, heating and everything else and that weakened the structure. Truman was the right president for this situation. Anyone else would have probably had it condemned, demolished and something new would have been put in its place.

@glorygracek.1841

8 ай бұрын

It's sad though that they didn't put some of the original woodwork and such back in, but ofncourse when war is on, they just needed it done

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@glorygracek.1841 they did recycle the old timbers into paneling from what I can recall.

@californian1459

8 ай бұрын

So essentially it was demolished, it’s not the same building at all.

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@californian1459 it's no longer the same floors that Lincoln walked across. Even the fireplace chimneys weren't rebuilt with the original brick. Some bricks from the interior were sent to Mount Vernon for restoration projects and others were basically available to the public at low cost as souvenirs. They tried to save as much as possible but probably 90% of the interior building is 1948 to 1952. It was said to be too time-consuming to salvage everything and put it all back in so they just replicated whatever they could. What you see now is how it basically looked in 1902 they replicated everything as much as possible from the Roosevelt renovation. In 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt's renovation, whatever was from the 1812-1815 rebuild got ripped out and thrown out on the front lawn in a pile. Even the fireplace that was behind Roosevelt during his fireside chats, the bricks that are there now are not the same. The main staircase is a new design. The original stairway began in the cross hall and where the stairs begin right now in the vestibule, in 1902 there was a giant mirror there. Click on the link below and to read more about the 1902 renovation. www.bostonherald.com/2016/01/18/granby-man-cashes-in-on-white-house-relic/

@jamesmcinnis208

8 ай бұрын

That's quite an absurd assumption.

I heard that the engineer who inspected the structure reported that it was still "standing through force of habit."

Some parts of the Whitehouse were saved and were to be reinstalled. However this didn't happen, in the rush to complete the renovation they were discarded and new replacements were fitted. Also one of the exterior stones on the Second Floor Balcony is not painted in remembrance of it having been burned by the British during the war of 1812.

@cyrilmauras4247

9 ай бұрын

The State Dining Room wood paneling was the only interior that was put back in place after the renovations were complete. "The President's House" by William Seale.

@SamBrickell

7 ай бұрын

Sounds like a Jewish person snuck that unpainted brick in for other reasons and then gave that explanation.

Truman saved the White House structurally, Jackie Kennedy restored it aesthetically.

Thanks so much for posting this. An interesting read is J.B West's "Upstairs at the White House." (West served in the White House from 1941-1969, finally reaching the post of Chief Usher.) In his chapter on the Trumans, he pointed out that engineers in previous decades had neglected to factor in the effect what-were-then modern updates would have on the walls, floors, and ceilings of the house; for example: iron pipes used for plumbing; the gas lines when gas lighting was installed; the haphazard wiring and rewiring for electricity over the years. All of which took its toll.

The country was blessed to have Truman as its President.

@usernamesrlamo

9 ай бұрын

Certainly one of the most modest, humble and ‘common man’ like presidents we’ve ever had.

@deltabravo1811

9 ай бұрын

Truman is an example of failure. He was one of the most unpopular presidents in US history.

@texaswunderkind

8 ай бұрын

Was it? He was weak against Stalin, and eastern Europe paid the price for the next 46 years.

@usernamesrlamo

8 ай бұрын

Idk, the whole Western world was enabling of Stalin. Europe paid the price because the alternative would have been paying the price to Hitler. I know American history likes to paint Americans as the saviors of the world in WW2, but make no mistake, the Reds were the lynchpin to saving Europe from the fascists.

@letsburn00

8 ай бұрын

​@@texaswunderkindHow was he weak? He did the Berlin Airlift. If you remember his objective was to not have everyone die in a nuclear war, if all makes sense.

What a well-done presentation, thank you! I love the trail-of-breadcrumbs approach with which you provide so much detailed information.

Mind boggling that so many buildings are hundreds of years old and still standing strong, yet THAT one had to be fully gutted… 😢 Guess that’s what happens when you build on top a swamp. Had no idea

@nehuge

9 ай бұрын

They drained the swamp

@rosaamarillo2110

9 ай бұрын

You gotta remember, it was also gutted by fire by the British in 1814.

@snydedon9636

9 ай бұрын

@@nehugeapparently they didn’t drain it enough.

@RaelNYC

9 ай бұрын

They said it was daft to build a castle in the swamp! But I built it just the same, just to show em! It sank into the swamp, so I built a second one. That sank into the swamp so I built a third one. That burned down fell over then sank into the swamp but the fourth one stayed up!

@davidcattin7006

9 ай бұрын

And award the contract to the lowest bidder ;o)

One of the most fascinating photos is the one at 3:17 where you can see where the ceiling was slightly lowered, and above it you can see through the removed part the old crown molding and some a wallpaper on the old ceiling with a diamond pattern design on it.

@Darkk6969

9 ай бұрын

Yep. Makes me wonder if they saved any of it for historical reasons.

@svause

9 ай бұрын

I was thinking that was probably the oriental rug pattern on the failed floor above???

@fool4singing

9 ай бұрын

@@svause I don't think that's where the piano leg came through. I think that is where the engineers removed a portion of the wall and ceiling to see what was going on structurally underneath. A lot of the charred timbers weren't replaced when they rebuilt it after the war of 1812, and you can see that some of those boards are black with soot.

@MichaelfromtheGraves

8 ай бұрын

I noticed this too. Would have been cool to see what the Victorian era White House interior was

@HunterShows

7 ай бұрын

@@MichaelfromtheGraves They took pictures.

I remember reading a book about the history of the White House. When they were taking the interiors apart for this renovation, they came across a sealed China cabinet from a previous administration. In the past one administration from the other would come in and remodel the interiors to their taste, and in some cases just boarded over things like this China cabinet. When they opened up the China cabinet, that was China in it. It was handpainted China. I forget which presidents wife it was that painted it, but I remember the subject of the paintings was the attack birds of North America. Each dish was filled with a scene of a gruesome picture of the bird attacking the prey! They said it was no wonder it was left behind and boarded over! Lol

@jamesmcinnis208

9 ай бұрын

Interesting story, thanks. "China" is capitalized when referring to the country, but lowercase when it's dishware.

@Lv-nq9qz

9 ай бұрын

This has Mary Todd Lincoln written all over it

@CenturyHomeProject

9 ай бұрын

@@jamesmcinnis208 I just caught that. I did it through Siri lol.

@KCCardCo

9 ай бұрын

It sounds like China from the Rutherford B. Hayes era.

Your synopsis and narration of this historical building was excellent. Well done.

Truman got stuff done.

My grandfather, Emil Praeger, was one of the engineers on this project!

The image at 6:16 is pre Truman renovation. It shows the grand staircase as designed by McKim, emptying into the Cross Hall. In the Truman Renovation, the architect Lorenzo Winslow reworked it to its present form, emptying into the Entrance Hall (where that huge mirror is in the photo).

@daniel_sc1024

9 ай бұрын

@@Chris-xo1oh On the right, at the end of the Crosshall, is a large arch, and one can just make out the bottom step at the baseboard. If you knew anything about the history of the White House, you would know the new Grand Staircase was configured to empty into the Crosshall thusly during the Roosevelt Renovation (1902); during the Truman Renovation the Grand Staircase was reconfigured to empty into the Entrance Hall where the large mirror is shown in the 6:16 image. So put that in your fantasy pipe and smoke it...LMFAO 🤣🤣

Big fan of the longer format videos. Keep it up. 👍

@historyfeels3123

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you my friend. Will definitely continue them

good video thanks you for keeping this part of History Alive

Love your videos man keep up the good work before long you're going to be up there with millions

The image that you show in not the medicine cabinet but a miniature Chippendale highboy in what appears to be a miniature room.

Awesome video. I never knew about this. Very informative...

I read the McCulloch Truman book, great book, interesting man. This was a good video. Thank you.

However did the renovations to the White House did an incredible job. That building is gorgeous inside and outside.

Had no idea this ever occurred. So cool…& I didn’t have to watch 30 minutes of video to learn about it.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

I remember seeing pictures of it in school and being shocked at the equipment driving around inside, really gave you an idea of the size of the White House from the perspective of a child

I remember seeing a film strip in school as a kid & some these still photos were in it.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Same for me. Seeing dump trucks driving around inside was mind boggling for a kid

They showed the Whitehouse being rebuilt on the History Channel and what they did with the contents some of it was made into a park if the History Channel shows it again it's worth watching.

sooooo interesting! thank you very much.

Great video, well presented.

@historyfeels3123

9 ай бұрын

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

🤷🏽‍♂️Beyond comprehension, as the owner of a home built a century younger than the WH (1884), and challenges I've faced with simple things. Non-standard windows and doors, each one a slightly different size. Built before indoor plumbing or electricity (still have gas pipes in the walls used for lighting). Fieldstone/limestone foundation used for the root cellar vs. basement. Studs sawn by hand, square nails, plaster and latt, the list goes on.

@Darkk6969

9 ай бұрын

Yep. Which is the main reasons to simply gut everything inside and start over. Some discoveries along the way too!

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

@@Darkk6969there’s no reason to gut it if it’s still structurally sound

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

My brother’s house is similar, all hand honed wood and rough cut lumber, the interior doors are solid oak, probably weigh almost 100 lbs, huge windows on the main level that have a chain hoist system as I guess they are quite heavy to raise. It also has gas fittings in the basement as well. It also has what I could only assume as being servant steps the very narrow steep pitched steps that lead from the 2nd floor to the kitchen area.

@ChickenNugget-dk9hp

8 ай бұрын

Yeah but your house wasn't set on fire and just had new wood nailed to the burnt beams instead of putting new beams in.

I never heard about that! What a magnificent history lesson!

@MrJeep75

7 ай бұрын

You must of been living in a shoe box then

@boredgrass

7 ай бұрын

@@MrJeep75How detailed is your knowledge about the histories of other countries...?

There was a really neat exibit at the truman presidential library on the white house rennovation when i was there in 2017. They had objects made from wood original to the white house pre war of 1812

Great job.

I never knew this, thanks! 👍🏻

@MrJeep75

7 ай бұрын

Wow, must of been living under a rock then

My great-great grandfather actually worked on this renovation! One of the mirrors planned to be put in there that was ultimate rejected actually currently sits at my grandparents house to this day in their dining room.

@MrShobar

8 ай бұрын

Grand dad absconded with government property?

@norwegianblue2017

7 ай бұрын

Great-GREAT grandfather? This was only 75 years ago.

_ALGORITHM_ got me! Hook line and sinker. subscribed. thank you.

National Geographic did a great job covering of the White House renovation !

Amaing story! The contruction workers wanted to tear down an original window so that they could get a bulldozer inside the building. Truman said, "no" so they had to take apart the bulldozer and rebuild it to get it inside! 😄

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Actually quite common in construction or demolish to take apart equipment to get it to fit inside a doorway. When completing the World Trade Center crews had to take apart the cranes used and ship down the pieces in a freight elevator.

The architect was the very talented Douglas Orr of New Haven CT. Our city has many fine homes, commercial and institutional buildings designed by him. Orr designed in a somewhat cool and restrained classical style sometimes referred to as Scandinavian Classical…with occasional touches of Art Deco in his commercial work.

Grand pianos are about 9 feet in length and weigh as much as 1400 lbs, that is a challenge for the best built architecture. Enjoyed the video.

Looked good burning 🔥 🇬🇧

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Just like London did during the 1940s. Thank a German’s grandpa for helping to modernize London

@MrJeep75

7 ай бұрын

What kind of comment is that

It was renovated but the remodeling of the interior was horrid. Before Jackie decorated there were bedroom with mix match furnishing. A mansion full of odds and ends consisting of furniture from the basement-clearance section of a New York furniture store. The government spending on refurnishing was small and they didn't hire a professional designer for the task of redesigning. Member of the reconstruction committee went to New York and choose the item to bring back into the WH. It was very different residence and nothing like we have today. There are photos before Kenndy administration that were on YB. You really do have a greater appreciation for Jackies's efforts and what we see today.

I have been in the white house in 90's-Early2000's when tours where allowed. I was only a kid at the time. I guess it was a school trip in the area and was invited.

Outstanding ingenuity on behalf of the constriction workers. A shame they had to take the dozer apart to get it in.

Don't forget they also added two extra floors in the basement for security and staff/logistics. There's a lot of staff working at that place.

Truman took care of the rebuilding, and Jackie Kennedy took care of the interior restoration (with private funds), using whatever woodwork/furnishings that she could save. It still changed my perception of the building when I toured the White House as a teen in the '70s, knowing that it wasn't the "same" White House in which all those Presidents resided. I had to think, "OK, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, and going forward..." I hear that it had to be fumigated after Trump left... :-P

@logicphile6207

7 ай бұрын

Cheeto bad

I’ve been in the kitchen where the smoke stains from 1812 are preserved under glass panels.

This was only feasible through American engineering. During the 1902 renovation, a skeleton was found in the basement level. No one knows who it was but they think that it was probably a burial from an old cemetery or from someone who lived on the land decades prior or a century prior to the White House being built. They also found a sword hidden up in a chimney and that is still a part of the White House collection.

@David49305

8 ай бұрын

So, other countries weren't capable?

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@David49305 show me a project comparable to this one done around the same time in another country. Was there a foreign company who put a bid in to handle this project? If you have an answer let us know.

@frequentlycynical642

8 ай бұрын

@@KCCardCo Just because you and most Americans can't name a similar project doesn't mean they haven't happened. The rebuilding of the Reichstag comes to mind as a probable contender. America isn't as unique as you think. Go travel, open your mind.

@RADIUMGLASS

8 ай бұрын

​@@frequentlycynical642Kid, this was in 1948, it was innovative for the time, it was a delicate process to the exterior walls and nobody else was doing this anywhere in the world. We're all aware Germany was rebuilt with US funding since you were probably unaware of that too. Many of the damaged stone walls of the Reichstag and the rest of Germany's bombed architecture are reproductions of the original. The rebuild of the interior of the White House was a delicate process as they could not alter any of the exterior stone walls and had to dig under the foundation to add extra support. The exterior walls were sinking into the swampy ground underneath. Truman did not allow any walls to be taken down to bring equipment in. The contractor asked him for permission to take a wall down and he refused. It's a fact that equipment was taken apart, brought in through the window openings and reassembled to begin the construction work. When the Reichstag was rebuilt they didn't have to take apart equipment to bring it in the interior nor did they have to deal with a sinking foundation. Even the most recent renovations to the Reichstag were not this complex. BTW, I crossed the ocean as a teen many many years ago and as an adult I worked as a flight attendant. You don't know 💩

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@frequentlycynical642kiddo you weren't born yet when I first set foot on foreign soil. Find me a similar project going on at that same time to where the exterior walls could not be altered for any reason. The Reichstag wasn't that complex of a rebuild. It was almost completely destroyed during the war and the exterior facade is a near complete rebuild. Even the new dome on it wasn't a complex build. And if you think America is second to the rest of the world, when anything economically fails in America it pulls the rest of the world down with it. The Australians understand this better than anyone else.

Interesting but too short. I have long known that Truman had the WH renovated but had misplaced the fact that the interior was gutted. I need to find a good book on the process.

I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and the British General that lead the charge [of Canadian soldiers] to burn down the White House [@0:50] is buried in a cemetery in downtown Halifax . If I am in the area and see American tourists, I always point it out to them, and the response is typically "Wow, really?". And to ease their mind that I am not messing with them, there is a sign just outside the gate to the cemetery explaining who's buried there.

I had no idea it was completely gutted like that.

@MrJeep75

7 ай бұрын

You must of been living under a rock then

@morefiction3264

7 ай бұрын

@@MrJeep75 Worse. I wasn't even around in the late 40s.

Canada we need to do this to 24 Sussex Dr. we need our proper official residence of the PM to be livable again and sit decrepit, empty, and dilapidating from a lack of maintenance and general upkeep!

So each room of the white house rooms are a replication and not the original; only the exterior is original and the interior is relatively new.

@co.1157

7 ай бұрын

Sad to learn

They had to install the deep bomb shelters and flying saucer bays that exits at the Tidal Basin.😁

John Adams would have hardly of recognized the White House of 1900, let alone the Reconstructed White House of 1952.

Did the renovation include major changes to the floorplan?

@fool4singing

9 ай бұрын

Not sure, but they did add a third floor...

@11sfr

9 ай бұрын

nothing major on the main floors - they re-oriented the main staircase to open directly into the Entrance Hall instead of the Cross Hall and also inserted additional bathrooms in various places. The third floor was completely redone and enlarged, it was originally servants quarters and storage, following the renovation, the White House no longer had live-in staff and the third floor was mostly converted to additional private living space for the President, in addition to still containing some storage and staff offices, plus they added two more basement levels below the original one.

@DoudD

9 ай бұрын

@@11sfr Thank you !

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

@@11sfrnot mentioning the secret bunkers I’m sure lol

@11sfr

8 ай бұрын

@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 The bunker is underneath the East Wing, it already existed, was completed for FDR in 1942 (the wing itself was built in part to provide a cover for the bunker construction, under the guise of just needing additional office space - but it also served to visually balance the West Wing architecturally and they also did actually need the office space)

Most historic buildings are the same...10 Downing St was gutted in the 60's I believe and Buckingham Palaces 4 x sides are a mix of different periods.

Truman had the option to demolish and rebuild, but he was persuaded that it would cost not much more than a million to gut and retain the historic shell. $5-million later . . . :-)

Truman’s little White House is a sight to see in Key West. Used to be water-front before the city or gov filled it in.

In modern times, Harry Truman is the only ex-president who went back to his simple house to live a simple life and did not become a millionaire.

@texaswunderkind

8 ай бұрын

In fact, the presidential retirement pay was created for him, because he was essentially living like a pauper.

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@texaswunderkind Yes it was👍. General Dwight Eisenhower getting elected also played a part and Hoover didn't need the pension but he still accepted it to avoid embarrassing Truman. Eisenhower's election really played a big influence in the presidential pension. I don't feel Congress would have even bothered proposing it had someone else been elected. Eisenhower was still seen as an important war hero and the public was still in awe anytime they saw the General. Eisenhower himself, after he left office preferred the title of General instead of President. I Believe by the time Eisenhower got his pension the presidential pension was around $25,000 a year.

@letsburn00

8 ай бұрын

Truman was the last president who did not have a college degree. Which given how much America (and most countries) have big class separations was something. Though since WW2, university entry has become less extremely class focussed.

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

@@letsburn00 he didn't always get along with the so called "Elite". They didn't like that a guy who didn't have a degree was above them. That attitude still holds true today. I have an acquaintance who wouldn't invite a fairly close friend to his BBQs because he didn't have a degree. But anytime he needed something physically done he'd call that guy.

@letsburn00

8 ай бұрын

@@KCCardCo that guy you know sounds like an asshole(unless he actually didn't invite the non degree guy for some other reason and had to make up a dumb excuse). Also, Truman absolutely was an elite guy. He spent the 20s and 30s being part of the party political machine and as a senator. He was a Whiley guy, as well as an officer in WW1, where he ran artillery.

An informative and well produced documentary, but a couple of quibbles: FDR died on April 12, not April 14. Also, the Executive Mansion was severely damaged in 1814 but not completely "burned to the ground".

Roosevelt died April 12th 1945 not April 14th

👍

god that id good. In every way.

Next time I will stay a guest 🤟

"The Hidden White House" is the quintessential volume on the renovation.

I wonder which is true: the "Margaret's piano leg" version or the one I read in a former White House head butler's book years ago that maintains that Harry and Bess got frisky one night and the leg of their bed went through the floor? I definately hope it's the latter. 😁

And the corner-stone wasn’t found while redoing the basement and foundation.

Looks like a building to me

Interesting I was basically just born right after they finished it

Why not a Tent?

Not the first time it was gutted. August 24th 1814 was first renovation provided by the British

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Just like how the Germans gutted London to help with renovations in the 1940s

4:58 Support columns are 'sturdy', 'integral', and they can be stronger, in a superlative context. But not "powerful". Columns do not provide motive force(thrust).

I would be interested in changes made after 1952 to accommodate the changes to technology and the nuclear age.

The could have been subtitled "The White House of Theseus"

Harry was a good man. Thank you Mr. President. Right man for the right time.

@MrShobar

8 ай бұрын

Lowest popularity rating of any modern president. If not amongst the greatest presidents, certainly a near-great.

Further proof the swamp will reclaim itself..eventually..the Delano here in MB is protected..its Art Deco..I hope her (ER) quarters though are made unrecognizable when it gets reopened someday..

In the 80's I helped refurbish much of the Paul Ravir silver pieces ..not sure spelled last name right..I was staying a cross also much of the dishes and painting to vice home I helped restore..Mamala showed when she first moved in ...lived it...😮

FDR died on April 12, 1945, not April 14th.

0:58 pretty sure this is the house of representatives before it had its wings and dome added on.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

You mean the US Capitol?

@29trent

7 ай бұрын

Yes, this is the US Capitol as it stood in 1814 - Senate wing to the right, House to the left, and space for not-yet-built rotunda and dome in the center. In the 1850s, huge new wings to n. and s. for the two growing legislative chambers were built. They made the 1818 dome look insufficient, so it was replaced with the current much bigger one. The 1807-1857 House chamber is now the Statuary Hall; the old Senate chamber now the Old Senate Chamber.

damn, sucks they got rid of the original interior.

@Blaidd7542

8 ай бұрын

There wasn't anything original left other than the 4 walls after the British burned it down in 1814.

so where's the "Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue"?

get it

I can never understand that old buildings in America from the 1600's-1800's still stand strong, but one of the most important one's was collapsing (??). A piano leg crashing through the floor? Who did the original work to place? It's my impression that the stories were made-up to get the publics approval to make a better place with new underground annexes. I believe there's more to the place underground than above.

@11sfr

9 ай бұрын

They re-used damaged timbers from the fire to save money, so the house was rebuilt with structural members that were missing part of their intended strength 2. When plumbing, gas lines, electricity, telegraph, and telephone service were added during the 19th century, contractors just randomly hacked holes in whatever was in their way, further compromising a lot of beams 3. A third floor was added in the 1920s without any structural reinforcing of the foundation or rest of the building's structure, which was only designed for two floors + an unfinished attic 4. Presidents had always been reluctant to move out of the White House for any length of time, given that their terms of office are only 4 years, so renovations and repairs tended to be done hastily to keep the building open with minimal disruption, so it was a century+ of temporary, haphazard patches on top of temporary haphazard patches 5. FDR vastly slashed the budget for repairs and upkeep during the 1930s and 1940s, as an austerity measure during the Depression and WWII, the building already had lots of deferred maintenance that wasn't being addressed, and that just compounded it 6. There was an underground spring on the east end of the building that wasn't found in the 18th century, but lead to uneven settling that wasn't properly dealt with to avoid having various Presidents have to move out for any length of time (but it was the reason Jefferson's original East Wing was demolished in the 1870s) But, yes, during the reconstruction, they took the opportunity to excavate two additional basement levels below the main part of the building (the new East Wing built earlier in the 1940s already had a bunker under it). The upper one has a big dish washing room, food service/catering storage, the electrical substation & control panels, the HVAC equipment, staff bathrooms, and general storage rooms, the lower level has laundry and dry cleaning rooms, staff offices, more staff bathrooms, the elevator machinery rooms, and the lower half of the HVAC and electrical plants, as well as additional general storage. In addition to those two new basement levels, the 3rd floor added in the 1920s was also expanded by raising the corners of the roof for more useable floor space.

@josephconsoli4128

9 ай бұрын

@@11sfr Interesting! Wow, you know your stuff with this building. It's just a bit odd that landmark homes and building all over America never seem to get fully gutted, but this landmark, symbol of America, got cared for so poorly. You would think that as time passed, extraordinary care would've been taken towards any upgrades or issues.

@11sfr

9 ай бұрын

@josephconsoli4128 well, it wasn't really a historical building for most of that time, in the 19th century it was still practically brand new, and even by the 1940s, the actual structure was really only about 120 years old - which would be like a building from the early 1900s now. And you know a millennial couple with a house from 1905 wouldn't think twice about ripping out all the walls for an open concept and cover the hardwood floors with grey faux wood vinyl. And private homes generally see less wear and tear and less hard use, along with less turnover of owners/residents. The White House is like an office building, a convention center, a museum, and a rental house all mixed into one building, so it takes some abuse

@KCCardCo

9 ай бұрын

It started to collapse when technology advanced through the decades after it was built. construction crews had to drill through main support beams to install pipes for plumbing, electrical wires and that weakened the structure along with the weight of the interior.

@JPKnapp-ro6xm

8 ай бұрын

There were two serious problems with the White House that were not faced by other houses of the same age: (1) It was built in a swamp and the original footings were therefore not very strong to begin with, and (2) In 1928 the roof of the attic was raised to make it into a full-fledged third floor. This work was done in concrete and steel, which added more weight to the original piers and walls. The building was pretty much doomed after that.

Truly fascinating. I never knew that. Thanks for making this. Funny though to think that other countries have castles that have stood for a thousand years and the Americans had to gut their most prominent building less than 150 years after it was built. Bonkers and quite telling. Build a home (or country) from wood and poor materials and it won't last. Rather like the house upon the sand, and sadly telling of the state of the US today and it's fading future on the world stage :(

@fvckingtest

8 ай бұрын

Castles are built of stone. This was built by a fledgling nation as the residence of its elected leader. The founding fathers did not want a gigantic, ostentatious building or a fortress carved out of stone. Simplicity and pragmatism. Also, you seem to have forgotten that it was burned to the ground by the British and gutted, then the inside was re-built. I'd say that was pretty well constructed considering what the average building looks like after a fire.

@WhatALoadOfTosca

8 ай бұрын

@@fvckingtest I didn't forget the original fire, did I?

@fvckingtest

8 ай бұрын

@@WhatALoadOfTosca nice edit, haha, You do realize how stupid comparing a brick and mortar building to a castle sounds? Tell me more about this “world” of yours as if the Whitehouse want built and re-built by Europeans and immigrants? You sound like you hate the U.S. -why is that?

@ryanthompson3737

8 ай бұрын

​@@WhatALoadOfTosca...you did because you never mentioned it in the first place.

The White House was once entirely done by Tiffany, but it was removed by a succeeding president who did not appreciate its style. Roosevelt felt it was gaudy and inappropriate.

@KCCardCo

8 ай бұрын

Prior to the renovation it was referred to as Steamboat Gothic.

Why @ 5.36 is there a photo of Australian troops?

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Because that’s a picture of Australians fighting in Korea

A working building from the north-facing portico and façade to Trumans first floor south-facing balcony: and it's crucial: socially/communally available lawns, it is disappointing that one of the colossi of American history namely Eleanor Roosevelt the wife of the politician should decry the interior design?; yet so important is the spiritual survival of the building., we must remember that she was in truth the wife of a statesman and in consequence allowed to speak honestly ;) such is life for the most empty-headed critic ;) "God bless America the home of democracy" (honourably and correctly spoken of as the least worst system) ..............

Frame 57 That's US Capitol, not the White House.

Imagin they went throu with the Whitehouse camoeflage, "Oh no the HUGHE AF building we were supossed to bomb vanished! Well we brake off the attack then, off to home comrads!"

Fun fact: Lyndon Johnson had a set of water jets/sprays strategically placed in his shower stall, including one that would hit him on the butt.

@MrJeep75

7 ай бұрын

Who cares

@calvinhobbes6118

7 ай бұрын

So he had a Japanese toilet in the shower?

I feel like there is some metaphor to be made about America in this video

0:57 is the U.S. Capitol

@allglorytogod12

9 ай бұрын

Yes it is. Good eye.

Was this when AC was added? It would have been logical.

@JPKnapp-ro6xm

8 ай бұрын

The family living quarters of the White House were air conditioned in 1930, but FDR ordered that it never be turned on as AC gave him a very bad sinus condition. The building was completely AC'd in the Truman reconstruction.

The white house didn't burn to the ground. The shell of saved and the interior was rebuilt.

@ryanthompson3737

8 ай бұрын

"Saved". Nailing new wood onto burnt wood was EXACTLY why it was falling apart. Beyond that, they actually rebuilt the shell out of brick instead of the wood it was initially built from.

Id have told him to disassemble the🤬 dozer himself if you can't spare a few bricks 🧱

@MrShobar

8 ай бұрын

No one would give a good g-damn what you were prepared to tell anyone.

Hardened for nuclear war you mean

@11sfr

9 ай бұрын

No, not really, 200 year old masonry walls and 1940s office building-style steel girders wouldn't do much for that. There was already an emergency bunker under the East Wing built in the early 1940s, but that also wouldn't be survivable for a direct nuclear attack, the plans for that have always been to get the President out of Washington to a properly protected facility elsewhere if possible, or just be in the air aboard Air Force One and out of the blast area if not.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

@@11sfrRaven Rock in Pennsylvania is where the president is supposed to go. at one time the Greenbrier Resort bunker in West Virginia but that went public and couldn’t be used.

@11sfr

8 ай бұрын

@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 The Greenbrier was specifically for Congress, the President was always supposed to go to Raven Rock - there was discussion of building a replacement Congressional bunker after Greenbrier was "outed", but the funds were never appropriated as it was felt it was no longer necessary post-Cold War. Raven Rock actually predates the Greenbrier bunker by several years

it would be interesting to know what was done after Jan 6🧐🤔

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

What does that even mean?

@brianwilliams-se5jy

8 ай бұрын

​@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606the extensive construction done on the Whitehouse grounds and around the capital following the jan6 set up

Sorry Eleanor but i have to disagree. The remodeling style was fantastic.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Except they used hotel furniture to outfit the white house so her analogy was correct 😂

Could anyone reading these comments then offer an opinion as to why Mrs. JFK, Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy, said during her televised TV tour that the White House when she entered it needed to be completely refurbished less than 10 years after this astonishing renovation from basement to roof? Was she just concerned with the furniture and wallpaper, et cetera? As a 7-year-old in 1962, I remember that my parents ( who both voted for JFK and admired "General" Eisenhower) thought it was disgraceful that Eisenhower had allowed THE PEOPLE'S White House to become so "decrepit" and "shabby." What was Jackie K talking about?

@adamc.lenhardt2320

9 ай бұрын

She was talking about the furnishings inside the White House. When everything was removed so that the interior could be gutted, it was supposed to be cataloged and kept to be returned once the reconstruction had been completed. But that didn't happen, and by the time the reconstruction was finished the project was out of money. One of the large furniture companies that supplied hotels agreed to donate furniture for the prestige of having their stuff in the White House. But that meant everything was 20th century designs targeted for middle tier lodging. Functional, but no historical character whatsoever. So when Eleanor Roosevelt compared it to a Sheraton, she wasn't far off. When JFK took office, Jackie went on a massive hunt to track down the furniture that had been dispersed during the Truman reconstruction, and solicited donations of genuine antiques from collectors to replace those items that couldn't be tracked down.

@TommyChardonneret

9 ай бұрын

@@adamc.lenhardt2320 Thanks greatly for the well informed details you provided! That sounds so Jackie Bouvier at her historic best. Gosh oh gee, I guess this means that the "news" media, even back in the 60's, was being sensationalist and omitting many pertinent facts? Could that be? I'm guessing you could bet your bottom dollar! Thanks again, sincerely.

@11sfr

9 ай бұрын

Most of the furniture in the White House was modern reproductions, and no effort was made to reproduce actual Federal style wall coverings, paint colors, carpeting, or draperies. The structure of the building was fine, but the decoration wasn't done to a high standard. Mrs. Kennedy had the house re-furnished with period correct antiques that were in government warehouses, and consulted with experts to repaint and recover walls and floors with authentic materials and colors so that it would look like a late 18th/early 19th century state residence instead of a 1950s Colonial Revival government building.

@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606

8 ай бұрын

Jackie basically worked hard to have period correct historical pieces brought back to the White House, very classy tasteful First Lady, she designed the paint scheme that is still used on Airforce One.