Visitors to America’s most famous residence — 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — will experience a place most strongly influenced, still to this day, by first lady Patricia Nixon, for it was Mrs. Nixon who was responsible for the largest acquisition of antiques and furnishings in the White House collection, as well as converting the Executive Mansion into a museum experience that welcomes about a million visitors every year.

The impact of Mrs. Nixon — who died 25 years ago, on this day, in 1993 — on the White House and its collections are often times overlooked. Her better publicized achievements — which include traveling to more than 80 countries, becoming the first sitting first lady to visit a combat zone, addressing another nation’s parliament, and conferring solo with foreign leaders on diplomatic matters — tend to overshadow her role in the extensive acquisition of art and antiques, and the redecoration of the White House.