Real life at the White House : two hundred years of daily life at America's most famous residence / John Whitcomb and Claire Whitcomb.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 471-496) and index.

Dates -- George Washington, 1789-1797: The Foundation Is Laid -- Creating Washington, D.C., 1790-1800 -- John Adams, 1797-1801: The Great Castle -- Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809: The Leveling Principles of Democracy -- James Madison, 1809-1817: Conflagration -- The Rebuilding of the White House, 1814-1817 -- James Monroe, 1817-1825: Good Feelings and Gold Spoons -- John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829: A Dull and Stately Prison -- Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837: The People's Choice -- Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841: Felled by a Gold Spoon -- William Henry Harrison, March 4-April 4, 1841: Mourning -- John Tyler, 1841-1845: Courtship -- James Knox Polk, 1845-1849: Attention to Detail -- Zachary Taylor, 1849-July 9, 1850: Tragedy -- Souvenir Hunters -- Millard Fillmore, July 1850-March 4, 1853: The Last Whig -- Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857: Twice Forgotten -- James Buchanan, 1857-1861: The Eve of Rebellion -- Abraham Lincoln, 1861-April 14, 1865: A "Whited Sepulcure" -- Civil War Washington -- Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869: Traitor to Patriot -- Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877: A Bright and Beautiful Dream -- Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881: Lemonade -- James Garfield, March 4-September 19, 1881: Death Watch -- Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885: Tiffany Tastes -- Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889, 1893-1897: Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage -- Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893: No Room to Spare -- Ponies, Snakes, Raccoons, and Other White House Pets -- William McKinley, 1897-1901: Better Than a Bishopric -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909: The Reign of Enthusiasm.

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the White House with this richly illustrated new book on America's, if not the world's, most famous residence. Abigail Adams dried her wash in the unfinished East Room. Benjamin Harrison left the lights burning all night because he feared being shocked by the newly installed electric switches. LBJ waged an obsessive battle with the water pressure in the shower, demanding shower heads on all sides. His successor, Richard Nixon, promptly had them removed. The White House has not always been the ideal home, and as each president moved in, he transformed the house in small and large ways to fit his family's needs. Real Life at the White House celebrates two centuries of domestic life in this historic abode. In forty-two chapters - one for each administration - this stylish sourcebook takes us on an intimate tour of the daily life of each president and his family, bringing into view everything from china patterns to built-in closets (a luxury added during the Truman renovation), from plumbing to telephones (Coolidge refused to use the phone for business) from architectural structure to state dinners and family meals. Filled with hundreds of anecdotes, photographs, and presidential quotes from Washington (who never lived there but oversaw the first plans) to Clinton, this thoroughly engaging book captures the texture of presidential life while documenting the very human history of a house.--Publisher description.

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