1. It Was Almost Torn Down In 1945 Because It Was In Such Bad Shape
By 1945, the White House had been lived in for 145 years and it was in rough shape. Besides being nearly destroyed in 1814, there was another fire in the White House on Christmas Eve 1929. The White House was hosting a party and when the fire started in the West Wing, Herbert Hoover left the party to oversee the removal of papers and documents from the Oval Office, while the First Lady kept the party going. The fire ended up gutting the West Wing, including the Oval Office.
Another problem was that the White House wasn’t constructed to have indoor plumbing and electricity and that was all added well after it was built. This added a lot of stress to the structure of the building. It got to be so bad that Harry S. Truman thought it was going to collapse. In fact, his daughter’s piano fell through a floor into the room below it.
The condition of the White House got to be so bad that it would have been cheaper to tear it down and build something new in its place. However, since it was a national monument Truman was against the idea. They chose to gut the interior of the White House and rebuild it as close to its original design as possible. The reconstruction took four years, during which time Harry and Bess Truman lived in Blair House, which is across the street from the White House.
CLICK HERE to join our BBM Channel for juicy updates & free giveaways
TRENDING NOW
- See what Miyonse did after watching TBoss kiss Jon in #BBNaija – So bad! (Video)
- Yahoo boy formats in Nigeria: How they work, operate and make money
- 15 Nollywood “A-list” celebrities who went into music and failed woefully – #6 was a laughing stock for all (With Pics)
- 15 times Katy Perry showed more than she should have – Don’t open if you’re fasting (With Pictures)
- Top 10 lies Lagos girls tell to deceive guys – Run away if you hear #5
- #BBNaija: Bisola insults TBoss, calls her an ashawo for doing “things” with Jon (Watch)
- JUST IN! 8 updates candidates must know about JAMB 2017 – Read this to avoid fake admission
Discussion about this post