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If there were one single building in American history that makes people think, “If these walls could talk…,” the White House would have to be at or near the top of the list. From Lincoln, Wilson and FDR drawing up wartime plans to Nixon saying what he said on the missing Watergate tapes, the mansion that represents the home of the leader of the free world oozes history in every hallway and corner.
A new book released earlier this month, “The Hidden History of the White House” (William Morrow), now chronicles some of the untold stories of history that have unfolded inside America’s Executive Mansion. Corey Mead, an associate professor of English at Baruch College, is the author; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss a few of the events and people that shaped the history of America and the world.
In the days before America’s entry into World War II, for instance, Mead says British Prime Minister Winston Churchill practically invited himself to the White House to impress war strategy upon Franklin Roosevelt. “Churchill was a real character, and the staff got used to seeing him walking around in his, uh- well, they all got used to seeing him standing in front of the bathtub naked- but he’d be walking around in his PJ’s and drinking, staying up til all hours. FDR would stay up until four or five a.m. trying to match Churchill’s hours; [meanwhile], Eleanor Roosevelt was not thrilled when she heard Churchill was coming, because she did not find out until the morning of his arrival, and he promptly moved in and took over her office.”
But Mead says the thing that surprised him most about life inside the White House may have been the White House itself, before its 1950s renovation. “It was in complete disrepair, like, literally falling apart. That really came to a head when the Trumans moved in in ’49. The carpets were falling apart, the curtains were threadbare, the floors were like, when you walked on them, they kind of rolled, like in an earthquake. The furniture was literally collapsing, it was rat-infested- so much so that when Bess Truman, one of the first days she visited, she burst into tears because it was so crappy.”
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