Photos of President Truman's White House Renovation/Excavation Project

[Donkees]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/white-house-mostly-reconstruction-original-180955229/

[democratisphere]

1. Amazing photos.

Thanks for this Donkees!

[Sneederbunk]

2. Truman had to live in Blair House during refurbishment.

That is where some Puerto Ricans attempted to assassinate him.

[UTUSN]

3. And that will be the final product when SHITLER gets through with it and the country.

[Agschmid]

4. Amazing!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Very cool!

[Donkees]

6. Total cost: $5.7 million USD Duration: December, 1948 - March 27, 1952

Truman’s White House Renovation
December 1948 – March 1952

Total cost: $5.7 million USD
Duration: December, 1948 – March 27, 1952

Notable changes
– Structure rebuilt using concrete and steel beams in place of original wooden joists
– 126 new reinforced concrete support columns to a depth of 25 ft
– 660 tons of steel to strengthen the new concrete inner walls and floors
– Repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall, rather than the Cross Hall
– Additional of central air conditioning
– Addition of two sub-basements providing space for workrooms, storage, and a bomb shelter

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/02/trumans-white-house-renovation/

More Photos at this link


Second Floor Oval Study above Blue Room, 03/09/1950

[oasis]

14. $5.7 million was HUGE back then. Btw

Great photos. Thanx.

[Exotica]

16. around 53.5 million in 2018 USD

https://www.saving.org/inflation/inflation.php?amount=5,700,000&year=1952

https://www.officialdata.org/1952-dollars-in-2018?amount=5700000

[oasis]

21. Trump's people woulda done it for 1/2 the cost and ahead of schedule.

Of course he'd stiff the contractors.

[Donkees]

20. ''... roughly, $53 million today''

And in 1949, Congress approved a $5.4 million restoration project (roughly, $53 million today) to completely gut and replace the mansion's interior while preserving the historic exterior facade.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/history-culture/article/Historical-photographs-show-the-White-House-6964980.php#photo-9669091

[OldHippieChick]

7. Thank heaven so much was done then. I'm sure he got criticism, but

the cost now would be astronomical.

[Donkees]

8. ''The Project that Saved the White House from Collapse''

While the cost of completely tearing down and rebuilding the White House from scratch was found to be cheaper than a full interior restoration/renovation, Truman deemed the ‘cultural’ value of keeping the original structure intact greater than any economic cost savings a total tear-down would provide.

So in December of 1948, President Truman moved to the Blair House across the street and so began a multi-year renovation that would cost $5.7 million USD. The entire process was faithfully documented by Abbie Rowe, a photographer for the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. High-resolution photos (seen below) of the renovation were uploaded ...to the Flickr Commons account of The U.S. National Archives.

– The house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse
– The ceiling of the East Room, weighing seventy pounds to the square foot, was found to be sagging as much as 18 inches
– The marble grand staircase was in imminent danger of collapse
– Supporting bricks, bought second-hand in 1880, were disintegrating
– The mansion’s plumbing was deemed “makeshift and unsanitary”
– The president’s bathtub was sinking into the floor
– Wooden beams had been weakened by cutting and drilling for plumbing and wiring over 150 years
– The addition of the steel roof and full third floor in 1927 added weight the building could no longer handle

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/02/trumans-white-house-renovation/

[FakeNoose]

9. Wasn't this also meant to be a bomb shelter?

The early 1950's had everybody freaking out about "the A-bomb" and people were building shelters in their backyards. I know the White House needed renovation as well as many more offices for the president's staff, but the bomb shelter was another reason. Just in case the big one hit.

[Donkees]

10. ''The basement included a shelter from nuclear attack''

It would have been cheaper to destroy the White House and build something sounder, perhaps even in a larger tract of land, writes Beschloss for The Times. But Truman felt strongly about what should be done:

As one of the most voracious readers of history ever to serve as president, Truman recoiled from that prospect.

He also felt that witnessing the old White House being torn to the ground would wound Americans’ psyches. He instead approved a plan to shore up the outer walls, tear out everything inside and install a new internal steel superstructure (“of skyscraper strength,” The Washington Evening Star said) above a large new, poured-concrete basement. (The basement included a shelter from nuclear attack, where President George W. Bush was taken on the evening of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/white-house-mostly-reconstruction-original-180955229/

[xxqqqzme]

17. After the interior was demo-ed, the bulldozer was

dismantled, put together inside so the excavation work could begin. He didn't want pictures of a bulldozer being driven into the White House either.

[Donkees]

18. I found a quote supporting what you are saying, but the photo shows large openings in the walls too

(?)

Bulldozers and other large excavation and construction vehicles were taken apart to enter the White House and reassembled inside.

Truman was adamant that no large holes were made in the walls of the White House.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/history-culture/article/Historical-photographs-show-the-White-House-6964980.php#photo-9669091

[BigmanPigman]

11. Today there is a sinkhole opening at the foundation

where the wall meets the W House lawn. Scientists say it is from a ton of rain that they recently got but I think it is the fucking moron's SWAMP due to the large amount of corruption.

[moose65]

12. Fascinating!

Amazing photographs!

[gilligan]

13. Trump:

I could have done for much less.

[oasis]

22. By stiffing the contractors. nt

[erronis]

15. Truman gave my family and me (4-5yo) a quick tour of the renovations

I was much more in awe of the construction/destruction than who was leading the tour.

Much later I was able to visit him with my very young family in Independence just prior to his death. And I still didn't understand the significance.

And now, another 50+ years, I'm learning about the world anew and how it needs to be re-interpreted through the various lenses of history.

[Donkees]

19. What a surprise reading this! Truman might have been on the cusp of the celebrity era ...

It seems like such a far away world now.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence, Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”

[kwassa]

23. and the construction crew is mostly African-American.

just like the slaves who originally built the place.

[defacto7]

24. Fascinating history. Thank you.

[mcar]

25. Didn't know this

Excellent photos. Thanks.

[Rhiannon12866]

26. K&R! Fascinating history and wonderful photos!

Thanks so much for posting!

[Kilgore]

27. Thank you

Really enjoyed the Smithsonian article and the link to all the photos.