White House
| Type | 18 Government Building | |
| Historical Name of Location | Washington, United States | |
| Coordinates | 38.897670000, -77.036550000 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseSince 1800, the White House had been the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. Located in the US capital city of Washington, the building was designed by James Hoban and was built between 1792 and 1800. It was reconstructed starting in 1814 after much of the original building was damaged by the British Army during the War of 1812. Until the WW2-era, major reconstructions, expansions, and renovations took place during the presidencies of Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. It was Taft who established the first Oval Office, which Roosevelt moved to the location at the present, adjacent to the Rose Garden. When the United States entered the war in Dec 1941, the Secret Service installed bulletproof glass in the windows of the Oval Office, painted some windows black and installed black out curtains on the others, and placed submachine gun wielding sentries on the roof of the building to ensure Roosevelt's safety. During the war years, the White House hosted foreign dignitaries such as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Chinese First Lady Song Meiling, Philippine President Manuel Quezon, and many others. Roosevelt and Truman also awarded high honors in the White House or on the adjacent lawns and gardens. On 14 Aug 1945, Truman announced the Japanese surrender at a reporter-filled Oval Office, popularly marking the end of the war for Americans.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Jul 2013
White House Interactive Map
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White House Timeline
| 12 Jun 1940 | Vannevar Bush and Commerce Secretary Harry L. Hopkins met with President Franklin Roosevelt and proposed the formation of the National Defense Research Committee. Within 10 minutes, Roosevelt approved it writing "OK-FDR" on the single-page outline Bush had brought with him. |
| 14 Feb 1941 | Kichisaburo Nomura presented his credentials to Franklin Roosevelt at the White House, Washington DC, United States. |
| 22 Apr 1941 | At the White House in Washington DC, United States, President Franklin met with Utah Senator Orrice “Abe” Murdock and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. |
| 28 Jun 1941 | By Executive Order, Franklin Roosevelt established the Office of Scientific Research and Development with Vannevar Bush as its chairman. |
| 9 Oct 1941 | Vannevar Bush met with President Franklin Roosevelt and Vice-President Henry Wallace about the progress of the Uranium Committee. Bush described the progress of the British Military Application of Uranium Detonation (MAUD) Committee and what was known about what progress the Germans were making. Roosevelt approved an expedited atomic program and a Top Policy Group that included Wallace and Bush to control it. |
| 6 Nov 1941 | Franklin Roosevelt had dinner with Princess Märtha of Sweden (Crown Princess of Norway) at the White House in Washington DC, United States. |
| 15 Nov 1941 | Franklin Roosevelt had lunch with Princess Märtha of Sweden (Crown Princess of Norway) at the White House in Washington DC, United States, followed by a private showing of the film Dumbo. |
| 7 Dec 1941 | Franklin Roosevelt met with Chinese ambassador Hu Shih at the White House in Washington DC, United States, had lunch with Harry Hopkins, and at 1347 hours he was interrupted by a telephone call from Frank Knox, informing him of the Pearl Harbor attack. At 2030 hours, Roosevelt gave a briefing to a small group of Congressmen. |
| 8 Dec 1941 | Edward Murrow and his wife Janet had dinner at the White House in Washington DC, United States with Eleanor Roosevelt. The dinner was arranged prior to the Japanese attack, and Murrow had expected the invitation to be canceled, but surprisingly Franklin Roosevelt insisted that the plans be kept; although Roosevelt was too busy to join them at the meal, he would make sure to meet with Murrow for some time late in the evening. |
| 23 Dec 1941 | Churchill and Roosevelt met at the White House, Washington DC during the First Washington Conference (Arcadia). |
| 5 Feb 1943 | Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, commanding officer of US 1st Marine Division, was decorated with the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony. |
| 17 Mar 1943 | George Kenney and Richard Sutherland met with Franklin Roosevelt at the White House in Washington DC, United States. Later on the same day, Roosevelt called in Kenney for a second meeting, during which Kenney successfully lobbied for additional aircraft to be assigned to the USAAF in Australia. |
| 18 Mar 1943 | At the White House in Washington DC, United States, President Franklin met with Navy Rear Admiral Emory Land, Chairman of the United States Maritime Commission, Rear Admiral Howard Vickery, Vice-Chairman of the United States Maritime Commission, Artemis Gates, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser who presented the President with a model of the proposed Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier, 50 of which Kaiser would build at his Vancouver, Washington shipyard. |
| 25 Mar 1943 | George Kenney attended the posthumous Medal of Honor award ceremony for Brigadier General Kenneth Walker at the White House in Washington DC, United States. |
| 19 Oct 1944 | At the White House in Washington DC, United States, President Franklin had lunch with his daughter, Anna (Mrs. John Boettiger), and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. |
| 25 Oct 1944 | At the White House in Washington DC, United States, President Franklin had lunch with his daughter, Anna (Mrs. John Boettiger), Navy Rear Admiral Emory Land, Chairman of the United States Maritime Commission, and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. |
| 14 May 1945 | William Donovan met with the new US President Harry Truman at the White House in Washington DC, United States. Truman only granted him 15 minutes as he did not value the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). |
| 15 Dec 1983 | Grace Hopper was promoted to the rank of commodore at the White House in Washington, DC, United States. The ceremony was oversaw by US President Ronald Reagan. |
| 30 May 1986 | US President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George Bush, and other high level officials posthumously awarded Joseph Rochefort the Navy Distinguished Service Medal at the White House in Washington DC, United States. |
| 22 Nov 2016 | US President Barack Obama, during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC, United States, posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Grace Hopper. |
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| WW2-Era Place Name | Washington, United States |
| Lat/Long | 38.8977, -77.0366 |
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