White House Press Secretary
Encyclopedia
The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House
official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration
.
The Press Secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and issues the administration's reactions to developments around the world. The Press Secretary interacts with the media, and deals with the White House press corps
on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing.
During the United States's
early years, the White House staff or various White House Offices were not as robust as they are today and there was not a single designated staff person or office responsible for managing the relationship between the President and the growing number of journalists and media entities that were covering him. It was not until after President Abraham Lincoln
's administration that Congress formally appropriated funds for a White House Staff, which at first consisted merely of a Secretary. Ulysses S. Grant
's White House Staff official numbered six people at a cost of $13,800, though he supplemented with personnel from the War Department. Fifty years later under the Coolidge Administration, the staff had increased to just fewer than fifty people at a cost of nearly $100,000.00.
As Presidents increasingly hired more staff to support them in the execution of their duties, some showed a tendency to pick aides and confidantes who had backgrounds in the field of journalism. One of Abraham Lincoln's private secretaries, John Nicolay, had been an editor and owner of a newspaper in Illinois before he worked for the President in the White House. While the modern equivalent of a private or personal secretary to the President of the United States would be more narrowly concerned with the care and feeding of the President, the small size of the White House staff at that point meant that Nicolay interacted with the press occasionally in carrying out his duties. He was occasionally asked to verify stories or information that various members of the press had heard. Though the title and establishment of the roles and responsibilities of the Press Secretary job was still decades in the future, the small and growing White House staff was increasingly interacting with a growing number of professional journalists and mass media entities covering the President and the White House. Andrew Johnson
was the first President to grant a formal interview request to a reporter, sitting down with Col. Alexander K. McClure from Pennsylvania. It should be noted that while various Presidents and reporters had participated in conversations or dialogues with reporters prior to Johnson, the exchanges had been less formal.
, the relationship between the President, his administration and the small but growing number of newspapers covering him was such that there was little need for a formal plan or designated spokesperson to manage it. The relationship between government and the press was not as inherently adversarial and arms length as it is today. In fact, prior to the establishment of the Government Printing Office (GPO), some newspapers were awarded contracts to print government publications and often awarded the President with support in exchange. For example, the Gazette of the United States won an early U.S. Treasury Department contract and was supportive of then-President Washington. In general, though coverage of the President could be harsh and opinionated, newspapers were to some degree extensions of the political party apparatus and subsequently not seen as entities requiring specific, sustained management by the White House or administration.
The media environment had changed significantly by the time Grover Cleveland was elected to the Presidency in 1885. Between the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and Cleveland's election, the country had grown more than four times in size and increased in population from 2.5 million to approximately 56 million. The number of newspaper publications in active circulation had increased from approximately thirty seven to over twelve hundred dailies, with more publication such as monthly magazines popping up rapidly. The rapid growth in journalism as a booming industry resulted in an increase in reporters covering the activities of the President. When Grover Cleveland married Francis Folsom in 1886, the growing number of reporters and increasing aggressiveness in their style of coverage led to frustrations when the President and his new bride were unable to rid themselves of the reporters who had followed them to their honeymoon in the Blue Ridge Mountains. President Cleveland relied on his private secretary, Daniel Lamont, who had once been an editor of the Albany Argus, to keep the reporters at bay. The controversy surrounding coverage of the trip resulted in a public debate about the balance between the right of the President and his family to privacy and the role of the press in covering the country's most public figure, regardless of where or what he is doing. In an editorial, the New York World defended the right of the press to cover the President at all times:
The debate over the coverage of Grover Cleveland's honeymoon is not dissimilar from disagreements between the first family and the press within the last decade. Even before he was President, then-Senator Obama became irritated with his campaign press pool
when he felt they were too close to him and his daughters as they trick or treated on Halloween.
When President Cleveland was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in 1893, George B. Cortelyou
, formally trained as a stenographer, was named confidential stenographer at the White House and later named executive clerk. Though he was not given the formal title of private secretary to the President until later and the term Press Secretary had not yet been conceived, Cortelyou was highly respected by the press and William McKinley
's biographer, Margaret Leach, called Cortelyou "the first of the presidential press secretaries." President Cleveland's successor, William McKinley, kept Cortelyou on during the transition and later formally named him private secretary to the President, though he had been informally doing the job for some time prior. Under McKinley, Cortelyou became notable for his popularity with journalists covering the White House. The correspondents relied on him for information and his tenure as private secretary was noteworthy for some of the same working traits modern press secretaries have become popular for, including providing information to reporters later in the evening if events had transpired in the afternoon, offering advance copies of remarks prepared for the President, and ensuring reporters received transcripts of unprepared remarks made by the President while traveling, which were recorded by a stenographer. Cortelyou also circulated noteworthy stories to the President and other staffers (by this point the White House staff numbered approximately 18), which is similar to the exhaustive news summaries formally distributed to the White House staff in the modern era. The nascent press corps' appreciation for Cortelyou's responsiveness is similar to how a modern White House Press Secretary's responsiveness to the press corps can shape their positive or negative view of him or her.
The long-term presence of the White House Press Corps in the White House was cemented by Theodore Roosevelt
, who asked that planners include permanent space for the press corps in the executive office building now called the West Wing, which he had ordered built in the early 1900s. It is the West Wing that ultimately housed the Office of the Press Secretary and the now-famous James. S. Brady press briefing room, which was redone by the George W. Bush administration in 2007.
was elected Governor of New Jersey
in 1911, he asked Joseph P. Tumulty to serve as his Private Secretary. When he was elected President two years later, he brought Tumulty with him to the White House, where Tumulty served as Private Secretary to the President. As Private Secretary, Tumulty dealt extensively with the press. At the outset of the administration, Tumulty convinced Wilson, who was known for his distaste of the press, to hold news conferences on a regularized schedule, sometimes as much as twice every week. During the first such news conference, over one hundred reporters crowded into Wilson's office to ask him questions. Wilson often requested that reporters not publish answers given in these settings and on one occasion threatened to cancel the news conferences when a reporter revealed comments he had given regarding Mexico. The press conferences were later discontinued after the sinking of British liner Lusitania, and despite attempts to revive them during his second term were held only sporadically during Wilson's final years in office.
Joseph Tumulty also put into place a more regular schedule of briefing the press. He gave daily briefings to the press in the morning, which were attended by as many as thirty reporters. By formalizing the press briefing process, Tumulty laid the groundwork for what would later be called the White House Press Briefing. Tumulty also worked to clarify embargo rules for the press, ordering that the exact time a press embargo was lifted be noted on the confidential information that was being released.
to be fairly accessible once he took office in 1923 following the death of President Warren G. Harding
. During his over five years in office, Coolidge held approximately 520 press conferences, which averaged out to nearly 8 per month. The term "White House spokesman" was used extensively for the first time during the Coolidge administration, as press conference rules mandated that reporters could attribute quotes or statements only to a "White House spokesman" and not directly to the President himself. Some have said that this practice was a precursor to the more modern use of "senior administration official" offering statements or quotes not directly attributable to a specific person, which was used frequently by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon Administration.
When Herbert Hoover
assumed the Presidency in 1928, he brought his longtime aide George Akerson to Washington with him as his private secretary. Akerson did not have the formal title of "press secretary," but was the designated person to speak on behalf of President Hoover. Hoover asked the White House Correspondents Association to form a committee to discuss matters pertaining to coverage of the White House and formalized news conferences, dividing Presidential news into three different categories: 1) announcements directly attributable to the President 2) statements attributable to official sources, but not to the President himself, and 3) background information for the reporter's knowledge but not specifically attributable to the President or the White House.
George Akerson continued the tradition of meeting daily with reporters, and though usually of jovial temperament, was not known for the precision that was the hallmark of some of his predecessors, such as Cortelyou. On one occasion, he incorrectly stated that sitting Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone had been elevated to be Chief Justice, only to have to issue a statement later that the actual nominee was Charles Evans Hughes. Akerson also struggled at times with his role in a growing White House staff. Akerson was one of three secretaries to the President, and some speculated that Hoover's closeness to his other secretary, Lawrence Richey, a former detective and Secret Service agent, made it difficult for Akerson to obtain the kind of information he needed to effectively do his job. As poor coverage made President Hoover appear detached and out of touch amidst a worsening depression, Richey and Akerson disagreed about the most effective press strategy, with Akerson promoting the idea that Hoover should leverage the increasingly influential platform of radio, and Richey arguing that the radio strategy was not worthy of the Presidency. Akerson resigned not long thereafter, and Theodore Joslin, a former reporter, was named as the new secretary. Relations between the Hoover Administration and the press continued to decline.
, former journalist Stephen Early
became the first White House secretary charged only with press responsibilities. The manner in which Early approached his portfolio and increasingly high-profile nature of the job have lead many to state that Early is the first true White House Press Secretary, both in function and in formal title. Prior to joining the Roosevelt campaign and administration Early had served as an editor to the military paper Stars and Stripes and also as a reporter for the Associated Press. When Roosevelt was nominated on James Cox's ticket as the Vice Presidential nominee in 1920, he asked Early to serve as an advance representative. As an advance representative, Early traveled ahead of the campaign, arranged for logistics and attempted to promote positive coverage for the candidates.
When President Roosevelt won the Presidency in 1932, he chose Early to be his secretary responsible for handling the press, or as the role was becoming known, "the press secretary." After accepting the job, Early laid out for Roosevelt his vision of how the role should be conducted. He requested having unfettered access to the President, having his quotes and statements directly attributable to him as press secretary, and offering as much factual information to the press as it became available. He also convinced Roosevelt to agree to twice-weekly Presidential press conferences, with the timing of each tailored to the different deadline schedules of the White House Press Corps. Early also made himself available to the press corps as often as he could, and though he was not known for a lighthearted or amiable demeanor, he earned a reputation for responsiveness and openness, even having his own telephone number listed unlike some of those who held the job after him.
Despite the unpopularity of the press conferences by the end of the Hoover administration, Roosevelt continued the tradition. He did away with written questions submitted in advance and mandated that nothing he said in the press conferences could be attributed to him or the White House, but was instead intended for the reporters' general background information. Many reporters found this helpful, as it allowed the President to be forthright and candid in his assessments and answers to their questions. Unlike some of his predecessors who filled the role, Early routinely prepared Roosevelt for his press conferences, bringing the President's attention to issues that might come up, suggesting the appropriate answers, and even planting questions or issues with certain reporters. The press conferences also began a tradition where the senior wire reporter concludes the session by stating, "thank you, Mr. President," signaling that the time for questioning is over, a tradition that continues today. Roosevelt held well over 300 press conferences in his first term.
Though some reporters were unsatisfied with the amount of real news or new information they were getting from the press conferences, the Roosevelt administration under Early's leadership was considered by many to be effective at managing the White House's relationship with the press. During the administration, U.S. News reported that "The machinery for getting and giving the news runs about as smoothly as could be wished from either side."
The Roosevelt White House was also marked by a significant increase in the number of White House staff supporting the President and bureaucracy in general, largely as a result of increased New Deal funding. Early was criticized at times for attempting to closely manage the press officers at various department and agencies across the government, and gave out a number of such jobs to journalists who he knew, instead of the party loyalists who had traditionally received such appointments. A congressional investigation several years later revealed that across the government, just fewer than 150 employees were engaged in public relations along with an additional 14 part-time workers. This is a significant increase given that the White House staff numbered 11 in total when Roosevelt took office.
Early was involved in Roosevelt taking advantage of the radio medium through his fireside chats, an idea some say he got from George Akerson who had unsuccessfully tried to convince President Hoover to do something similar. Early also came under fire for the rules surrounding African American journalists not being allowed to attend Presidential press conferences. Some have said that Early used enforcement of the standing rule, which had been to only allow regular Washington journalists to attend the press conferences, to deny press conference access to black reporters. Since many if not most of black publications at the time were weeklies, they were restricted as a result of the rules. When African American reporters from daily publications requested access to the conferences, Early reportedly told them to seek accreditation from capitol hill press officers, which was another sometimes insurmountable challenge. African American reporters did not gain formal approval to attend White House news conferences until 1944.
Early's tenure as press secretary was also marked by stringent restrictions on photographers, largely aimed at hiding the severity of FDR's polio or his worsening immobility. Photographers were not permitted to be closer than 12 feet of FDR, or thirty feet in larger events.
As a result of the increasingly high-profile nature of the job and Early's sole responsibility of managing the White House press operations, it was during the Roosevelt administration that Early and the position he held began to be formally referred to as the press secretary. As a result, many point to Steve Early as the first "White House Press Secretary."
The Press Secretary traditionally also fields questions from the White House press corps
in briefings and press conferences
, which are generally televised, and "press gaggles", which are on-the-record briefings without video recording, although transcripts
are usually made available.
The position has often been filled by individuals from news media
backgrounds:
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration
Administration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
.
The Press Secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and issues the administration's reactions to developments around the world. The Press Secretary interacts with the media, and deals with the White House press corps
White House Press Corps
The White House Press Corps is the group of journalists or correspondents usually stationed at the White House in Washington, D.C. to cover the president of the United States, White House events and news briefings. Their offices are located in the West Wing....
on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing.
Presidential-press relations prior to the establishment of the role
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
early years, the White House staff or various White House Offices were not as robust as they are today and there was not a single designated staff person or office responsible for managing the relationship between the President and the growing number of journalists and media entities that were covering him. It was not until after President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's administration that Congress formally appropriated funds for a White House Staff, which at first consisted merely of a Secretary. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's White House Staff official numbered six people at a cost of $13,800, though he supplemented with personnel from the War Department. Fifty years later under the Coolidge Administration, the staff had increased to just fewer than fifty people at a cost of nearly $100,000.00.
As Presidents increasingly hired more staff to support them in the execution of their duties, some showed a tendency to pick aides and confidantes who had backgrounds in the field of journalism. One of Abraham Lincoln's private secretaries, John Nicolay, had been an editor and owner of a newspaper in Illinois before he worked for the President in the White House. While the modern equivalent of a private or personal secretary to the President of the United States would be more narrowly concerned with the care and feeding of the President, the small size of the White House staff at that point meant that Nicolay interacted with the press occasionally in carrying out his duties. He was occasionally asked to verify stories or information that various members of the press had heard. Though the title and establishment of the roles and responsibilities of the Press Secretary job was still decades in the future, the small and growing White House staff was increasingly interacting with a growing number of professional journalists and mass media entities covering the President and the White House. Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
was the first President to grant a formal interview request to a reporter, sitting down with Col. Alexander K. McClure from Pennsylvania. It should be noted that while various Presidents and reporters had participated in conversations or dialogues with reporters prior to Johnson, the exchanges had been less formal.
The Cleveland and McKinley Administrations: the role begins to take shape
Prior to the 1880s and the Presidency of Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, the relationship between the President, his administration and the small but growing number of newspapers covering him was such that there was little need for a formal plan or designated spokesperson to manage it. The relationship between government and the press was not as inherently adversarial and arms length as it is today. In fact, prior to the establishment of the Government Printing Office (GPO), some newspapers were awarded contracts to print government publications and often awarded the President with support in exchange. For example, the Gazette of the United States won an early U.S. Treasury Department contract and was supportive of then-President Washington. In general, though coverage of the President could be harsh and opinionated, newspapers were to some degree extensions of the political party apparatus and subsequently not seen as entities requiring specific, sustained management by the White House or administration.
The media environment had changed significantly by the time Grover Cleveland was elected to the Presidency in 1885. Between the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and Cleveland's election, the country had grown more than four times in size and increased in population from 2.5 million to approximately 56 million. The number of newspaper publications in active circulation had increased from approximately thirty seven to over twelve hundred dailies, with more publication such as monthly magazines popping up rapidly. The rapid growth in journalism as a booming industry resulted in an increase in reporters covering the activities of the President. When Grover Cleveland married Francis Folsom in 1886, the growing number of reporters and increasing aggressiveness in their style of coverage led to frustrations when the President and his new bride were unable to rid themselves of the reporters who had followed them to their honeymoon in the Blue Ridge Mountains. President Cleveland relied on his private secretary, Daniel Lamont, who had once been an editor of the Albany Argus, to keep the reporters at bay. The controversy surrounding coverage of the trip resulted in a public debate about the balance between the right of the President and his family to privacy and the role of the press in covering the country's most public figure, regardless of where or what he is doing. In an editorial, the New York World defended the right of the press to cover the President at all times:
The idea of offending the bachelor sensitiveness of President Cleveland or the maidenly reserve of his bride has been far from anybody's thought…We must insist that the President is public property; that it is perfectly legitimate to send correspondents and reporters to follow him when he goes on a journey, and to keep watch over him and his family.
The debate over the coverage of Grover Cleveland's honeymoon is not dissimilar from disagreements between the first family and the press within the last decade. Even before he was President, then-Senator Obama became irritated with his campaign press pool
Press pool
Press pool refers to a group of news gathering organizations that combine their resources in the collection of news. A pool feed is then distributed to members of the broadcast pool who are free to edit it or use it as they see fit. In the case of print reporters, a written pool report is...
when he felt they were too close to him and his daughters as they trick or treated on Halloween.
The beginnings of the White House press corps
At the end of the Cleveland administration, a new feature of press coverage of the White House materialized. William Price, a southern reporter, auditioned for a job at the Washington Evening Star by stationing himself at the White House to seek out stories. He interviewed guests coming and going from meetings or events with the President and ultimately reported a story in a piece carrying the headline "At the White House." Competitor newspapers responded by sending their own reporters to cover the White House in a daily, sustained way and soon the White House had reporters dedicated to covering the "White House beat." Some point to this as the early origins of a more formal White House Press Corps.When President Cleveland was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in 1893, George B. Cortelyou
George B. Cortelyou
George Bruce Cortelyou was an American Presidential Cabinet secretary of the early 20th century.-Early life:...
, formally trained as a stenographer, was named confidential stenographer at the White House and later named executive clerk. Though he was not given the formal title of private secretary to the President until later and the term Press Secretary had not yet been conceived, Cortelyou was highly respected by the press and William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
's biographer, Margaret Leach, called Cortelyou "the first of the presidential press secretaries." President Cleveland's successor, William McKinley, kept Cortelyou on during the transition and later formally named him private secretary to the President, though he had been informally doing the job for some time prior. Under McKinley, Cortelyou became notable for his popularity with journalists covering the White House. The correspondents relied on him for information and his tenure as private secretary was noteworthy for some of the same working traits modern press secretaries have become popular for, including providing information to reporters later in the evening if events had transpired in the afternoon, offering advance copies of remarks prepared for the President, and ensuring reporters received transcripts of unprepared remarks made by the President while traveling, which were recorded by a stenographer. Cortelyou also circulated noteworthy stories to the President and other staffers (by this point the White House staff numbered approximately 18), which is similar to the exhaustive news summaries formally distributed to the White House staff in the modern era. The nascent press corps' appreciation for Cortelyou's responsiveness is similar to how a modern White House Press Secretary's responsiveness to the press corps can shape their positive or negative view of him or her.
Working space in the White House for the press corps
The White House "beat" concept that had been started during the Cleveland administration by reporter William Price was continued during the McKinley administration. Around the time of the outbreak of the Spanish American war in 1898, the reporters covering the White House were invited into the mansion itself and provided with space to write, conduct interviews, and generally cover the White House. Now reporting from inside the White House, the reporters used their new location to interview guests entering or leaving the White House or confirm pieces of information from the President's secretaries as they passed through in the course of their duties. Reporters working in the White House did, however, honor an unspoken rule and refrain from asking the President himself a question if he happened to walk through their working area.The long-term presence of the White House Press Corps in the White House was cemented by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who asked that planners include permanent space for the press corps in the executive office building now called the West Wing, which he had ordered built in the early 1900s. It is the West Wing that ultimately housed the Office of the Press Secretary and the now-famous James. S. Brady press briefing room, which was redone by the George W. Bush administration in 2007.
The Woodrow Wilson administration
When Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
was elected Governor of New Jersey
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
in 1911, he asked Joseph P. Tumulty to serve as his Private Secretary. When he was elected President two years later, he brought Tumulty with him to the White House, where Tumulty served as Private Secretary to the President. As Private Secretary, Tumulty dealt extensively with the press. At the outset of the administration, Tumulty convinced Wilson, who was known for his distaste of the press, to hold news conferences on a regularized schedule, sometimes as much as twice every week. During the first such news conference, over one hundred reporters crowded into Wilson's office to ask him questions. Wilson often requested that reporters not publish answers given in these settings and on one occasion threatened to cancel the news conferences when a reporter revealed comments he had given regarding Mexico. The press conferences were later discontinued after the sinking of British liner Lusitania, and despite attempts to revive them during his second term were held only sporadically during Wilson's final years in office.
Joseph Tumulty also put into place a more regular schedule of briefing the press. He gave daily briefings to the press in the morning, which were attended by as many as thirty reporters. By formalizing the press briefing process, Tumulty laid the groundwork for what would later be called the White House Press Briefing. Tumulty also worked to clarify embargo rules for the press, ordering that the exact time a press embargo was lifted be noted on the confidential information that was being released.
The Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover administrations
Despite being nicknamed "Silent Cal," many reporters covering the White House found President Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
to be fairly accessible once he took office in 1923 following the death of President Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
. During his over five years in office, Coolidge held approximately 520 press conferences, which averaged out to nearly 8 per month. The term "White House spokesman" was used extensively for the first time during the Coolidge administration, as press conference rules mandated that reporters could attribute quotes or statements only to a "White House spokesman" and not directly to the President himself. Some have said that this practice was a precursor to the more modern use of "senior administration official" offering statements or quotes not directly attributable to a specific person, which was used frequently by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon Administration.
When Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
assumed the Presidency in 1928, he brought his longtime aide George Akerson to Washington with him as his private secretary. Akerson did not have the formal title of "press secretary," but was the designated person to speak on behalf of President Hoover. Hoover asked the White House Correspondents Association to form a committee to discuss matters pertaining to coverage of the White House and formalized news conferences, dividing Presidential news into three different categories: 1) announcements directly attributable to the President 2) statements attributable to official sources, but not to the President himself, and 3) background information for the reporter's knowledge but not specifically attributable to the President or the White House.
George Akerson continued the tradition of meeting daily with reporters, and though usually of jovial temperament, was not known for the precision that was the hallmark of some of his predecessors, such as Cortelyou. On one occasion, he incorrectly stated that sitting Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone had been elevated to be Chief Justice, only to have to issue a statement later that the actual nominee was Charles Evans Hughes. Akerson also struggled at times with his role in a growing White House staff. Akerson was one of three secretaries to the President, and some speculated that Hoover's closeness to his other secretary, Lawrence Richey, a former detective and Secret Service agent, made it difficult for Akerson to obtain the kind of information he needed to effectively do his job. As poor coverage made President Hoover appear detached and out of touch amidst a worsening depression, Richey and Akerson disagreed about the most effective press strategy, with Akerson promoting the idea that Hoover should leverage the increasingly influential platform of radio, and Richey arguing that the radio strategy was not worthy of the Presidency. Akerson resigned not long thereafter, and Theodore Joslin, a former reporter, was named as the new secretary. Relations between the Hoover Administration and the press continued to decline.
The Roosevelt Administration, Steve Early, and the first "White House Press Secretary"
During the administration of Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, former journalist Stephen Early
Stephen Early
Stephen Tyree Early was a U.S. journalist and government official. He served as White House Press Secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and again under President Harry S. Truman in 1950.-Career:...
became the first White House secretary charged only with press responsibilities. The manner in which Early approached his portfolio and increasingly high-profile nature of the job have lead many to state that Early is the first true White House Press Secretary, both in function and in formal title. Prior to joining the Roosevelt campaign and administration Early had served as an editor to the military paper Stars and Stripes and also as a reporter for the Associated Press. When Roosevelt was nominated on James Cox's ticket as the Vice Presidential nominee in 1920, he asked Early to serve as an advance representative. As an advance representative, Early traveled ahead of the campaign, arranged for logistics and attempted to promote positive coverage for the candidates.
When President Roosevelt won the Presidency in 1932, he chose Early to be his secretary responsible for handling the press, or as the role was becoming known, "the press secretary." After accepting the job, Early laid out for Roosevelt his vision of how the role should be conducted. He requested having unfettered access to the President, having his quotes and statements directly attributable to him as press secretary, and offering as much factual information to the press as it became available. He also convinced Roosevelt to agree to twice-weekly Presidential press conferences, with the timing of each tailored to the different deadline schedules of the White House Press Corps. Early also made himself available to the press corps as often as he could, and though he was not known for a lighthearted or amiable demeanor, he earned a reputation for responsiveness and openness, even having his own telephone number listed unlike some of those who held the job after him.
Despite the unpopularity of the press conferences by the end of the Hoover administration, Roosevelt continued the tradition. He did away with written questions submitted in advance and mandated that nothing he said in the press conferences could be attributed to him or the White House, but was instead intended for the reporters' general background information. Many reporters found this helpful, as it allowed the President to be forthright and candid in his assessments and answers to their questions. Unlike some of his predecessors who filled the role, Early routinely prepared Roosevelt for his press conferences, bringing the President's attention to issues that might come up, suggesting the appropriate answers, and even planting questions or issues with certain reporters. The press conferences also began a tradition where the senior wire reporter concludes the session by stating, "thank you, Mr. President," signaling that the time for questioning is over, a tradition that continues today. Roosevelt held well over 300 press conferences in his first term.
Though some reporters were unsatisfied with the amount of real news or new information they were getting from the press conferences, the Roosevelt administration under Early's leadership was considered by many to be effective at managing the White House's relationship with the press. During the administration, U.S. News reported that "The machinery for getting and giving the news runs about as smoothly as could be wished from either side."
The Roosevelt White House was also marked by a significant increase in the number of White House staff supporting the President and bureaucracy in general, largely as a result of increased New Deal funding. Early was criticized at times for attempting to closely manage the press officers at various department and agencies across the government, and gave out a number of such jobs to journalists who he knew, instead of the party loyalists who had traditionally received such appointments. A congressional investigation several years later revealed that across the government, just fewer than 150 employees were engaged in public relations along with an additional 14 part-time workers. This is a significant increase given that the White House staff numbered 11 in total when Roosevelt took office.
Early was involved in Roosevelt taking advantage of the radio medium through his fireside chats, an idea some say he got from George Akerson who had unsuccessfully tried to convince President Hoover to do something similar. Early also came under fire for the rules surrounding African American journalists not being allowed to attend Presidential press conferences. Some have said that Early used enforcement of the standing rule, which had been to only allow regular Washington journalists to attend the press conferences, to deny press conference access to black reporters. Since many if not most of black publications at the time were weeklies, they were restricted as a result of the rules. When African American reporters from daily publications requested access to the conferences, Early reportedly told them to seek accreditation from capitol hill press officers, which was another sometimes insurmountable challenge. African American reporters did not gain formal approval to attend White House news conferences until 1944.
Early's tenure as press secretary was also marked by stringent restrictions on photographers, largely aimed at hiding the severity of FDR's polio or his worsening immobility. Photographers were not permitted to be closer than 12 feet of FDR, or thirty feet in larger events.
As a result of the increasingly high-profile nature of the job and Early's sole responsibility of managing the White House press operations, it was during the Roosevelt administration that Early and the position he held began to be formally referred to as the press secretary. As a result, many point to Steve Early as the first "White House Press Secretary."
General responsibilities
The Press Secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and around the world, and interacting with the media, generally in a daily press briefing. The information includes items such as a summary of the President's schedule for the day, whom the president has seen, or had communication and the official position of the administration on the news of the day.The Press Secretary traditionally also fields questions from the White House press corps
White House Press Corps
The White House Press Corps is the group of journalists or correspondents usually stationed at the White House in Washington, D.C. to cover the president of the United States, White House events and news briefings. Their offices are located in the West Wing....
in briefings and press conferences
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
, which are generally televised, and "press gaggles", which are on-the-record briefings without video recording, although transcripts
Transcript (law)
A transcript is a written record of spoken language. In court proceedings, a transcript is usually a record of all decisions of the judge, and the spoken arguments by the litigants' lawyers. A related term used in the US is docket, not a full transcript. The transcript is expected to be an exact...
are usually made available.
The position has often been filled by individuals from news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
backgrounds:
- Roosevelt administration – Stephen EarlyStephen EarlyStephen Tyree Early was a U.S. journalist and government official. He served as White House Press Secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and again under President Harry S. Truman in 1950.-Career:...
, a reporter for United Press InternationalUnited Press InternationalUnited Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
and correspondent for The Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. - Truman administration – Jonathan W. DanielsJonathan W. DanielsJonathan Worth Daniels was an American author, editor, and White House Press Secretary. Daniels' term serving as White House Press Secretary was the shortest since the inception of the position in 1937. He held the position in 1945 under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman...
, a newspaper man who was in the Franklin Roosevelt administration in multiple agencies and on various boards just prior to becoming Press Secretary; Charlie RossCharlie RossCharlie Ross is an American politician and attorney who lives in Brandon, Mississippi. He served as Senator from District 20 in the Mississippi Senate until 2007. District 20 comprises parts of Madison and Rankin Counties. Charlie was first elected to the Senate in 1997 after serving as the...
, a journalist who received the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1932; Early; Joseph ShortJoseph ShortJoseph H. Short was White House Press Secretary from 1950 to 1952 and served under President Harry S. Truman-Timeline:* 1904 Born, Vicksburg, Mississippi* 1925 A.B., Virginia Military Institute...
, a newspaper man; and Roger TubbyRoger TubbyRoger Wellington Tubby was White House Press Secretary from 1952 to 1953 and served under President Harry Truman.-Career:Roger Tubby born in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1910 and went to Yale University. He worked in Bennington, Vermont, for the Bennington Banner; Tubby was a reporter and then editor...
, a reporter and editor turned Democratic National CommitteeDemocratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
spokesman before becoming White House Press Secretary. - Eisenhower administration – James C. Hagerty, a reporter for The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. - Kennedy administration – Pierre SalingerPierre SalingerPierre Emil George Salinger was a White House Press Secretary to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...
, a reporter and editor for theSan Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. - Johnson administration – appointed George ChristianGeorge ChristianGeorge Eastland Christian was a U.S. journalist and White House press secretary from 1966 to 1969.-Career:Christian was born in Austin, Texas...
, a reporter for International News Service and PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
Commentator Bill MoyersBill MoyersBill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
. - Ford administration – appointed Jerald terHorstJerald terHorstJerald Franklin "Jerry" terHorst was the first person to serve as press secretary for U.S. President Gerald Ford. Before being appointed press secretary, terHorst had been a newspaper reporter from Michigan who had covered Ford's career since 1948.-Early career:Jerald terHorst was born in Grand...
, a newspaper veteran; and Ron NessenRon NessenRonald Harold Nessen was White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. He replaced Jerald terHorst, who resigned in the wake of President Ford's pardon of former president Richard Nixon....
, an NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
correspondent. - Reagan administration – Larry SpeakesLarry SpeakesLarry M. Speakes is a former acting spokesman for the White House under President Ronald Reagan, having held the position from 1981 to 1987.Speakes was born in Cleveland, Mississippi...
, a newspaper man; and Marlin FitzwaterMarlin FitzwaterMax Marlin Fitzwater was White House Press Secretary for six years under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secretaries in history.-Early life:...
, a newspaper man. - George H.W. Bush administration – Marlin Fitzwater.
- George W. Bush administration – Tony SnowTony SnowRobert Anthony "Tony" Snow was an American journalist, political commentator, television news anchor, syndicated columnist, radio host, musician, and the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush. Snow also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and...
, a veteran journalist and Fox NewsFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
anchor. - Obama administration – Jay CarneyJay CarneyJames "Jay" Carney is an American journalist and President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden...
, Time MagazineTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
journalist.
List of Press Secretaries
| Year(s) | Press Secretary | President |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 | J. Leonard Reinsch J. Leonard Reinsch James Leonard Reinsch was White House Press Secretary in 1945 and served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.Reinsch was one of the most famous names in radio broadcasting. He was called on by Governor James M. Cox in 1939 to manage WSB. He eventually became president and CEO of Cox Broadcasting... |
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... |
| 1945 | Jonathan W. Daniels Jonathan W. Daniels Jonathan Worth Daniels was an American author, editor, and White House Press Secretary. Daniels' term serving as White House Press Secretary was the shortest since the inception of the position in 1937. He held the position in 1945 under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman... |
|
| Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... |
||
| 1945–1950 | Charlie Ross Charlie Ross Charlie Ross is an American politician and attorney who lives in Brandon, Mississippi. He served as Senator from District 20 in the Mississippi Senate until 2007. District 20 comprises parts of Madison and Rankin Counties. Charlie was first elected to the Senate in 1997 after serving as the... |
|
| 1950 | Stephen Early | |
| 1950–1952 | Joseph Short Joseph Short Joseph H. Short was White House Press Secretary from 1950 to 1952 and served under President Harry S. Truman-Timeline:* 1904 Born, Vicksburg, Mississippi* 1925 A.B., Virginia Military Institute... |
|
| 1952–1953 | Roger Tubby Roger Tubby Roger Wellington Tubby was White House Press Secretary from 1952 to 1953 and served under President Harry Truman.-Career:Roger Tubby born in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1910 and went to Yale University. He worked in Bennington, Vermont, for the Bennington Banner; Tubby was a reporter and then editor... |
|
| 1953–1961 | James Hagerty | Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army... |
| 1961–1964 | Pierre Salinger Pierre Salinger Pierre Emil George Salinger was a White House Press Secretary to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson... |
John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.... |
| Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States... |
||
| 1964–1965 | George Reedy George Reedy George Edward Reedy was White House Press Secretary from 1964 to 1965. Reedy served under President Lyndon B. Johnson.-Biography:... |
|
| 1965–1966 | Bill Moyers Bill Moyers Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public... |
|
| 1966–1969 | George Christian George Christian George Eastland Christian was a U.S. journalist and White House press secretary from 1966 to 1969.-Career:Christian was born in Austin, Texas... |
|
| 1969–1974 | Ron Ziegler Ron Ziegler Ronald Louis "Ron" Ziegler was White House Press Secretary and Assistant to the President during United States President Richard Nixon's administration.-Early life:... |
Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
| 1974 | Jerald terHorst Jerald terHorst Jerald Franklin "Jerry" terHorst was the first person to serve as press secretary for U.S. President Gerald Ford. Before being appointed press secretary, terHorst had been a newspaper reporter from Michigan who had covered Ford's career since 1948.-Early career:Jerald terHorst was born in Grand... |
Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974... |
| 1974–1977 | Ron Nessen Ron Nessen Ronald Harold Nessen was White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. He replaced Jerald terHorst, who resigned in the wake of President Ford's pardon of former president Richard Nixon.... |
|
| 1977–1981 | Jody Powell | Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office... |
| 1981–1989 | James Brady James Brady James Scott "Jim" Brady is a former Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary under U.S. President Ronald Reagan... 1 |
Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.... |
| 1981–1987 | Larry Speakes Larry Speakes Larry M. Speakes is a former acting spokesman for the White House under President Ronald Reagan, having held the position from 1981 to 1987.Speakes was born in Cleveland, Mississippi... 2 |
|
| 1987–1989 | Marlin Fitzwater Marlin Fitzwater Max Marlin Fitzwater was White House Press Secretary for six years under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secretaries in history.-Early life:... 2 |
|
| 1989–1993 | Marlin Fitzwater | George H.W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to... |
| 1993–1994 | Dee Dee Myers Dee Dee Myers Dee Dee Myers served as White House Press Secretary for the first two years of the Clinton administration, from January 20, 1993 to December 22, 1994.-Early life and education:... 3 |
Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation... |
| 1993 | George Stephanopoulos George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news... 4 |
|
| 1994–1998 | Mike McCurry | |
| 1998–2000 | Joe Lockhart Joe Lockhart Joseph Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant, best known for being the White House Press Secretary from October 5, 1998 to September 29, 2000, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton... |
|
| 2000–2001 | Jake Siewert Jake Siewert Richard L. "Jake" Siewert, Jr. served as White House Press Secretary from September 30, 2000, to January 20, 2001, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton. Jake is married to Christine Anderson, who served as Communications Director for former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Ms... |
|
| 2001–2003 | Ari Fleischer Ari Fleischer On May 19, 2003, he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector... |
George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... |
| 2003–2006 | Scott McClellan Scott McClellan Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush, and author of a controversial No. 1 New York Times bestseller about the Bush Administration titled What Happened. He replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in July 2003 and served until May 10, 2006... |
|
| 2006–2007 | Tony Snow Tony Snow Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow was an American journalist, political commentator, television news anchor, syndicated columnist, radio host, musician, and the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush. Snow also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and... |
|
| 2007–2009 | Dana Perino Dana Perino Dana Maria Perino is an American political commentator for Fox News. She served as the White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007 to January 20, 2009... |
|
| 2009–2011 | Robert Gibbs Robert Gibbs Robert Lane Gibbs was the 28th White House Press Secretary. Gibbs was the communications director for then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama and Obama's 2008 presidential campaign... |
Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... |
| 2011–present | Jay Carney Jay Carney James "Jay" Carney is an American journalist and President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden... |
|
| 1 Did not brief the press after being wounded in the Reagan assassination attempt Reagan assassination attempt The Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr... . 2 De facto Press Secretary (as White House Deputy Press Secretary). 3 Did not brief the press while Stephanopoulos was Communications Director. First female Press Secretary. 4 De facto Press Secretary (as White House Communications Director White House Communications Director The White House Director of Communications, also known as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the President of the United States, and is responsible for developing and promoting the agenda of the President and leading its media campaign... ). |
||
Fictional Press Secretaries
- C. J. CreggC. J. CreggClaudia Jean "C. J." Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. From the beginning of the series until the sixth season, she is White House Press Secretary in the administration of President Josiah Bartlet...
in the television serial drama The West Wing
External links
- Briefing Room at the official White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
website - George W. Bush Administration Press Briefings at the National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
's archive of the official White House website - Clinton administration archives at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center