West Wing

visible on the roof of the Cabinet Room in 1984 Before the construction of the West Wing, offices for the president and his staff were on the eastern end of the second floor of the Executive Residence. However, when Theodore Roosevelt became president, he found that the existing offices in the mansion were insufficient to accommodate his family of six children as well as his staff. A year later, in 1902, First Lady Edith Roosevelt hired McKim, Mead & White to separate the living quarters from the offices, to enlarge and modernize the public rooms, to re-do the landscaping, and to redecorate the interior. Congress approved over half a million dollars for the renovation. The West Wing was originally intended as a temporary office structure; In 1909, William Howard Taft expanded the building southward, covering the tennis court. He placed the first Oval Office at the center of the addition's south facade, reminiscent of the oval rooms in the Executive Residence. Fortunately, many important documents had recently been moved to the Library of Congress due to the remodeling of the West Wing. During 1930, Hoover had the West Wing rebuilt and added air-conditioning. and built an unobtrusive "penthouse" storey. The directive to wring the most office space out of the existing building resulted in narrow corridors and generally small staff offices. Gugler's most notable change was the addition to the east side containing a new Cabinet Room, Secretary's Office, and Oval Office. The location of the new Oval Office gave presidents greater privacy, allowing them to slip back and forth between the Executive Residence and the West Wing outdoors on the covered portico, without being in the view of the staff or press indoors. As the size of the president's staff grew over the latter half of the 20th century, the West Wing could no longer house the entire staff. Today, most of the staff members of the Executive Office of the President are located in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building. File:White House Office Building, and tennis court c.1909.jpg|The original West Wing and tennis court, File:West Wing between 1910 and 1920 cropped.jpg|The expanded West Wing, , after President Taft's 1909 expansion covered most of the tennis court. Note the "bow" of the first Oval Office. File:West-wing-1934-construction.jpg|The modern West Wing under construction, File:Oval Office Exterior.jpg|Exterior of the modern Oval Office, completed in 1934 ==Ground floor==

The ground floor is partially a basement, as the White House was located on a hill. Situation Room White House Mess The West Wing ground floor is also the site of a small restaurant operated by the Presidential Food Service and staffed by Naval culinary specialists and called the White House Mess. It is located underneath the Oval Office, and was established by President Truman on June 11, 1951. File:White House Situation Room Friday May 18 2007.jpg|The Situation Room, newly renovated during the presidency of George W. Bush File:Pumpkins decorate the Navy Mess in the West Wing.jpg|Entrance to the White House Mess, decorated for Halloween ==First floor==

Cabinet Room Oval Office Press Briefing Room During the 1930s, the March of Dimes constructed a swimming pool so that Franklin Roosevelt could exercise, as therapy for his polio-related disability. Richard Nixon had the swimming pool covered over to create the Press Briefing Room, where the White House press secretary gives daily briefings. Roosevelt Room Originally this space was the office of Theodore Roosevelt, but later it was converted into a meeting room. It became known as the "Fish Room" because Franklin D. Roosevelt kept an aquarium there and because both he and John F. Kennedy displayed trophy fish on the walls. In 1969, Richard Nixon renamed the room in honor of the two presidents Roosevelt: Theodore, who first constructed the West Wing, and Franklin, who built the current Oval Office. By tradition, a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt hangs over the mantel of the Roosevelt Room White House press corps The journalists, correspondents, and others who are part of the White House press corps have offices near the press briefing room. File:Entrance of the West Wing under snow.jpg|Entrance, 2009 File:Exterior of the White House West wing 001.jpg|Exterior, 2022 File:Bush - 2007-10-17 press release.jpg|James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, 2007. Formerly, the swimming pool. File:President Donald Trump poses with members of the U.S. delegation in the West Wing Lobby of the White House (54571291409).jpg|Lobby, 2025 File:Photograph of President Reagan and Vice-President Bush eating lunch in the Oval Office Private Dining Room - NARA - 198591.tiff|Private Dining Room, 1988 File:George W. Bush meets in Roosevelt Room October 20, 2006.jpg|Roosevelt Room, 2006 File:Watching flight of Astronaut Shepard on television. Attorney General Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, Vice President Johnson... - NARA - 194236.jpg|Secretary's Office, 1961 File:Vice President Kamala Harris meets with emerging labor leaders in her West Wing Office of the White House (V20230717LJ-0301).jpg|Vice President's Office, 2023 File:Trump and Conway walking at West Wing Colonnade in 2019.jpg|West Wing Colonnade, 2019 ==Second floor==

==Depiction on The West Wing TV series==

In 1999, The West Wing television series brought greater public attention to the workings of the presidential staff, as well as to the location of those working in the West Wing. The show followed the working lives of a fictional Democratic U.S. president, Josiah Bartlet, and his senior staff. When asked whether the show accurately captured the working environment in 2003, Press Secretary Scott McClellan commented that the show portrayed more foot traffic and larger rooms than in the real West Wing. ==References==