PRESIDENTIAL PONIES AND OTHER PETS - The Presidential families living in the White House have had over 400 pet. Twice there have been ponies in the White House - first during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt, and secondly during the administration of John F. Kennedy. President Barack Obama has promised his daughters that he would get them a puppy in the White House.

Under the administration of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy refurbished the White House and established the White House Historical Association to preserve the history of the White House. She also brought an elegance to the White House that helped establish the White House as a cultural center. Finally, the Kennedy administration brought a youthfulness to the White House.

President Eisenhower was the first president to implement and use a Presidential helicopter, which lands on the South Lawn of the White House.

Above are: (1) President Harry Truman, who spent much of his presidency living in the Blair House during the reconstruction of the White House; and (2) Truman's would-be assassinator Oscar Collazo lying wounded outside the Blair House on November 1, 1950.

Truman Reconstruction of White House - Between 1948 and 1952, President Truman had the interior of the White House completed gutted and reconstructed with modern steel support beams. During this reconstruction, Truman lived across the street in the Blair House. After an assassination attempt on Truman at the Blair House, screens were installed on the windows to provide protection. A little known bit of history is that these screens were made by the Psychiatric Screen Company.

FDR and Eleanor were the longest occupants of White House - Having been the only President elected to four terms in office, President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt lived in the White House longer than any other President. The second longest presidential occupant of the White House has been George W. Bush. This results from the fact that he often stayed at the White House during the presidency of his father George H. W. Bush. George W. Bush was then elected himself to two terms as President.

White House Swimming Pool - During the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a swimming pool was constructed in the White House. It has since been covered over with the space used as the White House Press Room, while an outside swimming pool has instead been constructed.

White House Bomb Shelter and Tunnel to Treasury Department - During World War II, it was decided that it was necessary to construct a bomb shelter under the East Wing of the White House to protect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the case of an enemy attack. While this bomb shelter was being constructed under the White House, a temporary bomb shelter was hastily constructed under the adjacent U.S. Treasury building consisting of 10 vaults each approximately 1,100 ft. square two floors under the Cash Room in the North Wing of the Treasury building, all protected by a large single vault door. It was accessed by a tunnel with a sloping floor that connected the White House with the Treasury Department building that would allow FDR to be wheeled to it in his wheelchair. This tunnel still connects the White House with the Treasury Department building, but can only be accessed through heavy locked doors.

TEMPORARY WHITE HOUSE LOCATED IN THE TREASURY BUILDING - It is not generally known that after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln continued to occupy the White House for some period of time. As a result, then President Andrew Johnson was forced to temporarily locate his office in the Treasury Department (in the office that is currently occupied by the Undersecretary of State for International Affairs).

View of the South Portico of the White House in 2007.

View of the North Portico of the White House (or public entrance) in 2007.

The White House as it appeared in 1898.

The White House as it appeared in 1890.

The White House draped in mourning after the assassination of President Garfield.

The White House in 1870.

White House with first green house, 1860.

Depiction of the White House in 1833.

Lincoln White House, view from North Portico, 1860. Notice both the black wrought iron fence around the immediate White perimeter and the status of Thomas Jefferson in the middle of the White House lawn.

The first photograph of the White House taken in 1848 with a view of the South Portico.

Lithograph of the White House in the early 1800's.