The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1901-10-30
INTERESTING DATA
OF NATIONAL CAPITAL.
s THAT HAVE BEEN APPLIED
orr,cIAL HOME OF PRESIDENTS.
,,4ivp Mansion Too Formal, and 1t
will Hereafter Be Designated
as the White House.

r,a reported purpose of the present
,,cupants of the executive mansion,
~' ,,.oord that name as its formal and
.;o1 designation and to use white
,o, instead, writes the Washington
.rosnondent of the New York Post,
ao+ rpnresent so radical change
might be supposed. While "execu-
10 mansion is the name which the
n,ni+o House stationery has long borne
"a tho name employed in the appro-
-,,+ion bills, there seems to have been
Uniform practice in this regard dat
~ hack of Grants administration. He
Nd every president since have used
,,+ form. as did Lincoln. But johnson,
uho came in between, employed at
,,os+ three designations for the place
t,om which his public papers came
executive chamber, executive mansion
snd executive office. On May 1, 1865.
10 transmitted a message to the senate
and house bearing the heading, Exec
ntive Chamber, Washington City,"
Three days later he wrote under the
heading Executive Mansion, Washing
+on in announcing the funeral of the
lotto President Lincoln at Springfield,
III and ordering the various depart
ments closed at noon. On Nov. IL he
nspd the term executive office" in an
official communication.
His use Of washington city, was by
no means peculiar. That was the des-
tpnation of this municipality employed
nv the six cabinet officers who signed
the formal announcement to the vice
nrpsident of the death of Lincoln. Pres
ident Jackson almost invariably refer
red to Washington in the same way, a
southern trick of speech, perhaps most
familiar in the case of Baltimore city"
Fillmore in some of his public papers
wrote from the Executive chamber"
but prior to the civil war period there
seems to have been little use in official
messages Of any name for the habita'
ton itself, most presidents contenting
themselves with simply the name Of
the city and the date. Monroe, in a mes
sage in 1924, called his official home
simply "the presidents house." That
shows the designation of his time on
the part of congress and the president.
Earlier in the same administration he
sent a message to congress on the fur
llture of the "house appropriated for
the president of the United States" lie
Suggested, again, that it might be prop
g to commit the care of the public
buildings. particularly the president
, house and tie capitol. with the grounds
belonging to them. including likewise
the furniture OF the latter, in a more
special manner to a public agent
How long the executive mansion has
been popularity designated as the White
House seems to be a matter Of some
dispute. 1t is built of freestone, and III
order to cover Up the disfigurelnertS re-
Sulting from the British invasion OF
1914 was painted white and has since
been so maintained The same name
has often been applied to other places
notably General Grants famous head
quarters in Virginia during the war, as
well as mercantile establishments in
this and other cities.
For many years before the war there
was a picnic ground Oh the Potomac,
just below Fort Washington, ut which
the pavilion was known as the White
House" Many persons think the des-
ignation a little too colloquial for Off
cial purposes and formal documents.
On the other hard. Executive Man
sion" is an uncomfortable mouthful
and, besides. is employed in many
Of the states for the residence OF The
governor. The house iii which Jeffer'