When it comes to fixing up the White House, every first lady has a little “Jackie” in them.
Take former first lady Pat Nixon. She quietly acquired more historical artifacts than Jacqueline Kennedy. Nancy Reagan raised about $1 million to redecorate the private quarters and refurbish some public areas. Laura Bush supervised the first major renovation of the Lincoln Bedroom since 1952. And Michelle Obama introduced abstract art to the Family Dining Room.
SECRET SERVICE: BIDEN DOG WOULD BE ‘PUT DOWN’ IF NOT PRESIDENT’S PET
“They always say how beautiful everything is and how much they appreciate how historic it is, and then frequently, they say, ‘What can we leave as our mark?’” said longtime former White House curator William Allman. “Families have a legacy opportunity to leave something behind that people will say, ‘Oh, this came from that administration.'”
Allman is the co-author with three other White House curators of the most comprehensive and fantastically illustrated book on the living museum’s items, Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection. Published by the White House Historical Association, it goes on sale Sept. 25 for $65.
The 395-page coffee table-style book provides details on nearly all the significant items in the White House and dishes on how they got there.
Included are the stories of President George Washington collecting furniture that eventually made it into the house, President James Monroe’s efforts to refurbish the house after the British burned it in 1814, and Kennedy’s famously televised rehab, which set the bar for all who followed her.
Asked who had the biggest impact on decorating the White House in modern times, Allman said, “You’d have to say Mrs. Kennedy.” In her time, the office of the curator was established, efforts were made to retrieve items taken out of the White House, and the White House Historical Association was created to help fund restorations.
Important for recent first ladies has been how to make changes that bring a current-day look while offering a link to the past.
“They don’t want to jump out of the past,” said Allman, but “they don’t necessarily want to be living with the past.”
While considered a third edition of an older White House furnishings book, the newly titled version offers many updates and features, including essays by decorators who worked with the curators for Michelle Obama and former first lady Melania Trump.
Both wrote of how the first ladies emphasized folding history into their updates.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
Michael Smith, Obama’s interior designer, said, “My challenge was to balance that respect for the past with the realities of modern life for a young family.” Tham Kannalikham, Trump’s interior designer, wrote, “Our approach was to use the historic collections as the foundation around which modern additions were to be based.”
In a first, the book includes a chapter on how the curator’s team restores centuries-old furnishings and even repairs items broken so badly most would just toss them in the trash, such as an 1810 urn lamp smashed to pieces in 2019.
And it ends with a catalog of items that also feature a thumbnail photo to reference.
“I think maybe in the previous editions, there had been a question of not making the book too big, you know, limiting the number of pages and things. This time around, I think they were a little bit more, ‘Let’s go for the best. Then we’ll see if it becomes too cumbersome.’ I think they decided it was going to work,” Allman told us.
