Vice-president’s residence

I’ve just added two new photos of 1 Observatory Circle that Seth B pointed me to. Great pics of the back of the house.

Senator Ted Kennedy

Multi-time White House hopeful, brother to statesmen John and Robert Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy died last night after a lengthy period of poor health. Certainly a polarizing figure in his personal as well as political life, the senator was personally known to be generous and capable of compromise. Condolences to his family.

Your refreshing beverage, Mr. President

Peter Sharkey writes:

I was watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire yesterday and a contestant was able to work all the way up to the Million-dollar question and that question was:

For ordering his favorite beverages on demand, LBJ had four buttons installed in the Oval Office labeled “coffee,” “tea,” “Coke” and what? A. Fresca, B. V8, C. Yoo-hoo, D. A&W” Basin answered Yoo Hoo which was wrong, and lost the $1,000,000 prize money.

I thought it was an interesting tidbit of info.

Oh, man. I totally knew that one.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: LBJ was the crazy uncle of American presidents. Policies aside, I would be just like him. “More water pressure! Shut off those lights! I’ve named my dogs after pronouns! I named by daughter after myself! I don’t trust a man unless I’ve got his @#$%#$ in my pocket!”

ETCetera Magazine

The September issue of the typewriter enthusiast’s ETCetera Magazine is out, and features an article by Peter Weil detailing the creation and operation of the old White House telegraph and communications room. I’m happy to say that WHM was a help to him in the creation of the article, and he graciously acknowledged the site for information, photos, and diagrams. Thanks, Peter!

Lazy days of summer

Just a few months into the new administration, and fresh and interesting photos of the White House have become few and far between. I’ve been spending most of my time on my other websites, but today, I’ve added a few new pictures that freshen up the Entrance Hall, Situation Room, and Elevator Hall. See the What’s New page.

Esquire

Had a short phone interview with an Esquire writer who is working on their answer column. We talked about the front door and the role of the chief usher in handling arrivals of the first family.

New White House stream photos

There are at last some new photos of the White House on the official Flickr photostream. I don’t think there’s anything there that it new to us, but I’ll keep looking.

Also, I’ve been sent some great video captures from recent video tours of the WH. I’ll add some of those soon. And I just got delivery of Reilly of the White House, a 1947 memoir of a Secret Service man that promises to have some interesting tidbits.

New front page – McKinley dining room

I’ve changed the front page for August to a pic of the Family Dining Room around 1900 that I had used a couple of years ago.