Cabinet Room (White House)

The Cabinet Room is the conference room of the Cabinet of the United States which is subordinate to the President of the United States. It is located in the White House, the official residence of the President in Washington, DC.

History

The first president of the United States, George Washington, established the first cabinet of the United States, which consisted at that time of three Cabinet Secretaries ( Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence ) and the Federal Attorney General. Originally, the Cabinet met on the second floor of the Executive Residence. The extension of the White House to the West Wing in 1902 an official space for the Cabinet was formed. The first Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room was held under Theodore Roosevelt on November 6, 1902.

In 2006, the room was renovated, which he has been brought closer to the appearance during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. At that time the West Wing and the Cabinet Room was largely rebuilt after the West Wing was in 1929 during the presidency of Herbert Hoover was severely damaged by fire. The renovation included Sconce in Art Deco style, with eagle carry inside illuminated balls with outstretched wings. Three glass pendant lamps in the style of the Streamline Moderne were reconstructed through old photographs and a similar lamp in the hallway between the Oval Office and Roosevelt Room.

Dimensions and design

The Cabinet Room is located in the West Wing of the White House Complex and adjacent to the Oval Office, where it has a view of the White House Rose Garden. He is seven meters (23 feet) wide and 11.9 meters ( 39 feet ) long, the ceiling height is 5.5 meters ( 18 feet ). There are four outputs east towards the White House Rose Garden, two Western in the West Wing and a southern personal to the Presidential Secretariat.

Although the room was completed in 1934, it meets the Georgian style. The neoclassical ceiling is decorated with triglyphs and 1934 was assembled. Located on the eastern side of the room a series of French doors with arched lunette windows. A fire place that is surrounded by two niches, located on the northern side of the room. In the niches are busts of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin of the artist Jean -Antoine Houdon. Over the mantel hangs a painting entitled The Signing of the Declaration of Independence (English: The signing of the Declaration of Independence ), which was painted by Charles Édouard Armand- Dumaresq. Additional portraits at the Western Wall will be selected by the current President, so hung during George W. Bush's presidency from portraits of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Dwight Eisenhower and George Washington. Obama changed the portrait of Eisenhower against one of Harry S. Truman. The large elliptical conference table in mahogany is a gift of Richard Nixon in 1970, the table cost about $ 4,000. Between 1869 and 1902 a walnut table was used as a conference table, in which the respective cabinet members could include important documents. After the completion of the West Wing, he was replaced in 1961 but was brought back to the second floor of the Executive Residence at the direction of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Chairs and arrangement

The chair of the President is centrally positioned on the eastern side of the table. The backrest of the chair of the President is about five centimeters ( two inches ) higher than that of the other members of the Cabinet. President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) used a special desk chair on wheels with a particularly high backrest and thicker leather-covered cushion. On the back of the chairs engraved brass plates are attached, which is called the position in the cabinet and the data of the term. The chair of the President has the inscription THE PRESIDENT. The Vice President of the United States sits opposite the President. The cabinet members are arranged according to the age of their respective ministries. Thus, the foreign ministers of the United States sits on the right of the President, the Treasury of the United States the right of the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense of the United States left the President and the Attorney General of the United States left the Vice-President.

The table is designed for 20 people, which now sit in Cabinet meetings up to 25 people at the table. Cabinet meetings are held at least every two months.

After their term of office, it is the Cabinet members are allowed to buy the chairs. It is tradition that the chair is there bought and paid by their employees.

Areas of responsibility

The renovation of the rooms of the White House have in common task of the curator of the White House, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and the White House Historical Association. The construction costs are often borne by the White House Endowment Trust. The purchase of works of art, antique furniture or reproduction of decorative arts is paid regularly by the White House Acquisition Trust.