Vice President's Ceremonial Office
Former
Office of the Secretary of the Navy
In addition to
the Vice President's Office in the West Wing, the Vice President and his
staff maintain a set of offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
(EEOB), which is located next to the West Wing on the White House premises.
The Vice President's Office in the EEOB is called the Vice President's
Ceremonial Office. This restored, historical office served as the Navy
Secretary's Office when the EEOB housed the State, Navy and War Departments.
Today, the Vice President uses the office for meetings and press interviews.
Sixteen secretaries of the Navy occupied the office from 1879 until 1921.
From 1921 until 1947, General John Pershing occupied the room as Army
Chief of Staff and as Chairman of the Battle Monuments Commission. Pershing's
occupancy of the office was interrupted only once during these 26 years,
when President Hoover was
forced to relocate his offices following a Christmas Eve fire in the West
Wing of the White House in 1929. Since 1960 it has been occupied by every
Vice President from Lyndon B. Johnson
to Richard B. Cheney. (with the exception
of Hubert Humphrey, who used a room on the floor below). Since its restoration
in the 1980s, it has been considered a "ceremonial" office.
The room was designed by William McPherson, a well-known Boston painter
and decorator. The walls and ceiling were decorated with ornamental stencilling
and allegorical symbols of the Navy Department,
hand painted in typical Victorian colors. These designs have been restored
on part of one wall (two places between the hall way entrance doors) and
replicated on canvas throughout the rest of the room. The reason for replication
on canvas is two-fold: first, large areas of the original designs were
damaged and a large amount of in-painting would have been necessary; second,
the replicated designs on canvas preserve the original design underneath.
The floor is very delicate, being of mahogany, white maple and cherry.
The two fireplaces are original Belgian black marble; the overmantles
regilded during the restoration. The original Minton tile hearths were
removed and replaced with green marble.
The chandeliers are replicas of the circa 1900 gasoliers, which had been
removed and could not be located. The historic fixtures, as viewed in
photographs, were equipped for both gas and electric power, the gas globes
being on top, the electric lights below.
There are
several items of note in the room, but the most interesting may be the
Vice-President's Desk. This desk is part of the White House collection
and was first used by Theodore Roosevelt
in 1902. Several important figures have chosen to use this desk - including
Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Eisenhower. It was
placed in storage from December of 1929 until 1945, when it was then used
by President Truman.
Vice President Johnson
and all subsequent Vice Presidents have used the desk. The inside of the
top drawer has been signed by the various users since the 1940s.
Another item of note is the Bust of Christopher Columbus. One of the
few items on display that were original to the building, it was removed
from the Spanish Cruiser Christabal Colom by the crew of the USS
Montgomery after the battle of Santiago in July 1898. It was exhibited
here in the Secretary's office between 1898-1924.