White House basement

An autumn view of the North Portico and North Lawn of the White House. The basement is under the North Portico.

The basement of the White House, the Washington, D.C. residence and workplace of the President of the United States, is located under the North Portico and includes the White House carpenters' shop, engineers' shop, flower shop,^[1] and dentist office,^[2] among other areas.

The White House Situation Room is located in the basement beneath the West Wing.^[3]

History

During World War II, a bomb shelter was constructed under the East Wing,^[4] later converted into the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

The sub-basement was added during the reconstruction of the White House under Harry S. Truman. It contains storage space, the laundry, elevator control machinery, the water softener, and incinerator, as well as dressing rooms for White House performers.^[5]

Dwight Eisenhower made the first White House television broadcast from a special room in the basement in 1953,^[1] though the "broadcast room" was soon divided for other purposes.

A bowling alley was added by Richard Nixon in 1969.^[6]

After the Recording Industry Association of America suggested that the White House Library should be expanded to include sound recordings, that trade group donated over 2200 LPs during the Nixon and Carter administrations; when Ronald Reagan took office, the collection was moved to the White House basement, where it is still located.^[7]

References

Further reading

• Seale, William. The President's House. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1987.

External links

• Basement and Sub-basement from whitehousemuseum.org, an unofficial website about the White House

Coordinates: 38°53′51″N 77°02′11″W / 38.8976°N 77.0365°W / 38.8976; -77.0365

White House Complex
White House
Executive Residence	Basement Basement Chief Floral Designer Ground floor China Room collection Office of the Curator Diplomatic Reception Room Library Map Room Vermeil Room State floor Blue Room Cross Hall East Room Entrance Hall Family Dining Room Grand Staircase Green Room Red Room South Portico State Dining Room Chief Usher Second floor Center Hall Dressing Room East Bedroom East Sitting Hall Family Kitchen Lincoln Bedroom Lincoln Sitting Room President's Bedroom President's Dining Room Private Sitting Room Queens' Bedroom Queens' Sitting Room Treaty Room Truman Balcony West Bedroom West Sitting Hall Yellow Oval Room Third floor Center Hall Diet Kitchen Linen Room Music Room Sun Room Work-out Room
West Wing	Cabinet Room Executive Office Oval Office Press Briefing Room Roosevelt Room Situation Room
East Wing	Office of the First Lady Graphics and Calligraphy Office Presidential Emergency Operations Center Social Secretary Visitors Office White House Military Office
Grounds	The Ellipse Jacqueline Kennedy Garden Lafayette Square North Lawn President's Park Rose Garden South Lawn
Annex	Eisenhower Executive Office Building New Executive Office Building White House Conference Center Blair House Trowbridge House Presidential Townhouse
Surrounding streets	15th Street 17th Street Constitution Avenue E Street East Executive Avenue H Street NW Hamilton Place Jackson Place Madison Place Pennsylvania Avenue State Place West Executive Avenue