9781422287576

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This 1815 watercolor by George Munger shows the Executive Mansion, the residence of the president of the United States, after it was set on fire by by British troops during the War of 1812. Although the fire gutted the rooms inside, the stone walls remained stand- ing.The mansion was rebuilt after the war, and eventually received the nickname by which it has become known: theWhite House.

D olley Madison was the first First Lady to under- stand that the White House should be more than just a place for the president and his family to reside in Washington while the president served his term in office. The White House, she believed, should be a symbol of America, a place where the styles and tastes of the young country could be displayed to the world. And so she set about furnishing and decorating the White House with taste and grand style. For help she called on the talents of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Latrobe was the official architect of the federal government, responsible for overseeing many of the construction pro- jects in the nation’s capital . One of his main responsibil- ities was construction of the United States Capitol , the Perilous Moments

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