The title pretty much says it.
I can see all sorts of reasons a president would choose to live there (location, security, tradition and so forth) but if a president were elected who wanted to live in a home somewhere else in DC or the surrounding area that he could still commute and do the job or even in a home that had sufficient space to provide offices for all the staff who would ordinarilly work in the White House, is there a legal reason he would have to live in the White House?
Not strictly speaking, no but it is certainly the preferable and practical choice. George Washington didn’t live in the White House because it hadn’t been completed by the time he left office. More recently, Truman had to move out of the White House and live in nearby Blair House after it was discovered that the existing structure was in imminent danger of collapse
The resulting renovation project is fascinating on its own and little known to most people today. The White House was almost 100% gutted from the inside-out and completely rebuilt over several years. Only parts of the outer shell are all that remains of the original structure. It makes you question what historical references to areas like the Lincoln Bedroom really mean because it is not the same room at all.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ronbaileyphotography.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/white-house.jpg%3Fw%3D497%26h%3D362&imgrefurl=http://ronbaileyphotography.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/the-tomb-of-the-unknowns-restoration-project/&h=362&w=497&sz=132&tbnid=FrGmf4cEcjpE8M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=128&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwhite%2Bhouse%2Brenovation%2Bphotos%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=white+house+renovation+photos&usg=__bKieDfoOnWNHk0fEiIZDV0O-3GY=&docid=PM4f6Cwo-VD3XM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pyPvULmdC8attAaH2YG4Ag&ved=0CFAQ9QEwCg&dur=1207
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/photo_2011_02_15_white_house_interior_4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2011/02/16/archives/post-perspective/gutting-white-house.html/attachment/photo_2011_02_15_white_house_interior_4&h=354&w=500&sz=53&tbnid=S8YOruqsW6D1ZM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=121&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwhite%2Bhouse%2Brenovation%2Bphotos%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=white+house+renovation+photos&usg=__q_uZAvVIGAbx7CKmKomprVSJ9R0=&docid=_b3odnNxEeZ2XM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pyPvULmdC8attAaH2YG4Ag&ved=0CEMQ9QEwBg&dur=1406
I would say that security and the cost of it are the biggest reasons he should. I don’t know if it’s a legal requirement, but from a cost perspective it’s got the be the most efficient use of resources.
Unless his home in DC includes a secure bunker, a helipad and a half mile of lawns with reinforced fences and guard shacks for the secret service. Oh and neighbors that don’t object to the building of all of this if it doesn’t already exist.
I remember Jerry Brown getting a lot of grief in the 70s for not moving into the California Governor’s mansion, preferring the modest apartment he rented. I’m not sure if he lives in the mansion during his current term.
On a sort-of related note, Bill Bryson notes that one of the PM’s of Australia refused to move to Canberra, commuting weekends from Sydney.
George Pataki never lived in the New York Governor’s mansion.
The governor’s mansion that was built in Reagan’s last years was a sprawling monstrosity overlooking the river in a location rather distant from downtown Sacramento and the capitol. AFAIK, no one ever lived in it and it was maintained at state expense for many years - 10? 12? - only being used occasionally for social functions, sometimes by third parties. It was finally sold sometime in the early 90s, I think. There hasn’t been an official governor’s mansion since; each one chose a house that was modified and protected instead.
I don’t know where JB lives this time around. While Brown took the frugal minimalism thing a bit far, I recall most people approving his choice to live in a downtown apartment rather than a Don Draper retirement villa.
Am I remembering correctly - Didn’t Reagan spend most of the later years of his administration at Camp David?
Sent from my SGH-i677 using Board Express
That was John Howard, and he lived in Kirribilli House, the PM’s official Sydney residence. Back in '08 there was some debate over whether Biden would move into the VP’s official residence, or continue commuting from his home in Deleware. He opted to move to DC; it’s much cheaper to do that than to have the Secret Service make all the security modifications to a private home.
There is no official governor’s mansion in CA. The one built during Reagan’s term was sold decades ago. Brown lives in Sac, I believe in a rented flat.
What this all has to do with the White House, I don’t know. The kind of security the president has is in a different galaxy than what a state governor has.
New Hampshire has a Governor’s residence, but I don’t believe anyone has actually lived there for a while. New Hampshire Governor's Mansion - Wikipedia
There are several instances of state governors refusing to live in the governor’s mansion, sometimes with good reason, namely that the place was a dump. The one Brown refused to live in in 1975 was built during Reagan’s term to replace the antiquated 19th century mansion, and Brown thought it excessively ostentatious. Reagan was the only governor to live in it - it was sold before the end of Brown’s first administration. Since then, CA has been one of five states that doesn’t have a governor’s mansion. In his current term, Jerry Brown has chosen a loft near the Capitol:
http://www.luxist.com/2010/12/21/jerry-brown-chooses-a-loft-for-his-governors-residence/
Most of the recent governor’s took various residences in Sacramento - Schwarzenegger chose to stay in a hotel suite when he was in Sacramento, and commute to Sacramento via private plane from Brentwood.
MA is the only state w/o a Governor’s Mansion.
One of these things is not like the other.
Really, etv78? If you had bothered to read the thread before posting you would have realized that you were wrong and not posted incorrect information in GQ. **yabob **was one of several people talking about the situation in CA.
In my state, the last governor before the current one refused to live in the governor’s mansion because it was a run-down and mold infested relic that was built by the WPA in 1937. Since he was from the capitol city anyway, he chose to just live at home while they built a new governor’s mansion.
I think it’s kind of neat that the governor’s mansion is actually on the capitol grounds within walking distance of the capitol building.
Not true - List of governors' residences in the United States - Wikipedia
Several states are without any official residence.
Arizona and Rhode Island also have no official governor’s residences. Making a quick check, I can’t find the fifth.
And to get back to the actual OP - Truman’s stint in Blair House would probably provide a good argument as to why the president shouldn’t live anywhere but the White House for security reasons. The Blair House assassination attempt on Truman came a little too close.
Did not see yabob’s post. I sit corrected.