Just curious. Anyone know?
No. Truman lived in Blair House while the White House was renovated.
I doubt it. About all the President swears to do is “preserve, protect, and defend” the nation and it’s laws. No requirement to live in the White House, and not all Presidents have. (It wasn’t built for the first one, and after the British burned it down, Adams lived elsewhere for a while.)
But he’d have to be a fool not to live there. A building designed & built for that purpose, all the appropriate communications & security built in, good location , etc., not to mention all the economic benefits of living in this government housing.
Possibly relevant:
There is a Vice-President’s house also, but when Nelson Rockefeller became VP, it was smaller & in poorer condition than his own house in DC (which he maintained so he didn’t have to stay in a hotel when visiting DC). So he decided to just live in his own house, rather than the VP one. Meanwhile he worked on getting the VP one redone so that it was up to snuff for a VP.
No, and rock stars don’t HAVE to have sex with supermodels. It’s a perq not many turn down, and not many Presidential types want to have hundreds of staffers set up offices in their (the President’s) private home.
Truman spent as much time away from the White House as he could get away with; the place was falling apart by the time he got there and most of the massive rebuilding of it happened during his administration. Lots of Presidential work has been conducted from Camp David, the Blair House, the Western White House in San Clemente, the LBJ Ranch, Plains, Kennebunkport and what have you; but when all the people you have to do business with have offices situated for their proximity to the White House, it’s a difficult matter to stay away too long.
Madison, actually. His wife famously salvaged some paintings. As soon as British troops left town, he set up shop at the “Octagon,” across the street from the modern-day Corcoran.
This house is on the same grounds as the Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Ave.
Nope. You can just hang out on the ranch.
hee hee hee.
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FTR, the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has refused to live in the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield, choosing instead to hang out at his family home in Chicago. A lot of downstate folks are pretty livid.
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[continuing slight hijack]
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York has elected to reside at his townhouse on East 79th Street rather than Gracie Mansion, though he does use Gracie Mansion for some official functions. Apparently his 79th Street digs are much nicer than the official mayor’s residence. Interestingly enough, someone has given an “anonymous” donation to renovate Gracie Mansion while it is being more-or-less unused.
This is less of an issue than with the President as Gracie Mansion is more than five miles from City Hall. Also, the Mayor of New York is less likely to have the urgent needs of the communications, situation room, etc. facilities of that the White House provides on a 24-hour basis.
As a practical matter, the prez would need a pretty good reason to blow off the White House. Congress would probably not be very willing to appropriate a big pile of money to fit up a second house somewhere with all the goodies in the White House.