I watched part 2 of the PBD Kennedy special last night-and I didn’t understand why Jackie had the massive WH renovations done. In President Truman’s term, the White House was dump-it was falling apart. So, he moved out and the place was rebuilt from the inside out-it was essentially brand new when Eisenhower became president. So why was Jackie Kennedy allowed to rebuild it again?
She was redecorating, not renovating. AFAIK nothing was built – they just moved in different furniture.
First ladies often would redecorate to their liking even before Jackie, but Jackie was the first to give a tour showing how things looked.
Here is an article with before-and-after photos from an unofficial website about the White House.
That article is really good. Here’s the first paragraph, which sums up nicely:
I remember when she did this-- I was about 13-- and I followed every detail.
What I’ve always wondered is, why was Jackie lauded for spending money on fine china and elegant furniture while Nancy Reagan was condemned for doing so?
Jackie was hailed for her conspicuous consumption while Nancy was derieded for it.
As far as I remember reading, Jackie Kennedy didn’t spend public funds on acquiring all of that antique furniture. Instead, she convinced others to donate it to the White House.
She was also Jackie Fuckin’ Kennedy! Which Nancy Regan wasn’t!
That, and this (from the article):
The article notes that she “put in place a fine arts committee to accept gifts of antique furniture that fit the White House.” My guess is that the structure they set up allowed people to take a tax write-off when they contributed furniture. But there’s also the prestige associated with having your antique in the White House.
Kennedy’s renovation applied to areas of the White House that many visitors could see and appreciate. The big fury over Reagan was the expensive china for state dinners that ordinary people could never see but drove her own glory.
Noblesse oblige may have reflected a time when class differences were hurtfully omnipresent, but that notion of doing good for others was an important mitigator that has been largely lost.
Thanks… I actually like the WH BEFORE Jackie’s renovations. One thing puzzles me…why did JFK and Jackie have separate bedrooms?
From the tours I’ve taken of mansions in places like Newport, Rhode Island, I gather that was common among the wealthy. Perhaps the reason was in case one of them was working late, they could go to bed without disturbing the other?
Interesting. What did you like best about the pre-Jackie White House?
Marilyn snored? 
/Somebody was gonna go there. . .
Yeah, I was gonna, but, didn’t have the gray matter to pull it off.
Good job.
Considering his long history of back pain, not to mention side effects from the various medications he was on for that, he and/or Jackie may have slept better in separate beds.
In the tour that Jackie led of the redecorated White House, I remember she made a point of mentioning the names of the donors of each item. “This lovely chair was a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Rocket J. Squirrel, of Frostbite Falls, MN.”
It was Puritanical American tradition, that the president and first lady have separate bedrooms. Sleep together?!?!?! Shocking! Scandalous! Moral outrage!
Sometime later, an American president broke that tradition and became the first to sleep with (gasp!) his wife! IIRC it was Gerald Ford (? Anybody remember better?) At the time, America was scandalized, I tell you, SCANDALIZED! Well, at least certain factions in America were.
ETA: Just skimmed the Wiki about Betty Ford. I’m sure now that I’m remembering right, that it was the Fords. Betty was surprisingly liberal for a Republican, and was outspokenly forward about subjects like sex, abortion, child-rearing (against corporal punishment), and everything else that sends conservatives into frothing cataplexy. She said once that if anyone had asked her how often she and Jerry had sex, she would have said “As often as possible”. (So, in other words, she actually said that.)
Didn’t Mamie Eisenhower talk about liking to reach over during the night and feel the top of Ike’s bald head?
“That’s not my head, Mamie.”