Life in the White House

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Life in the White House
A Social History of the First Family and the President's House

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Robert P. Watson - Editor

Price: $57.50
Hardcover - 346 pages

Release Date: May 2004

ISBN10: 0-7914-6097-5
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6097-9

Price: $31.95
Paperback - 346 pages

Release Date: May 2004

ISBN10: 0-7914-6098-3
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6098-6

Available as a Google eBook for other eReaders and tablet devices. Click icon below...

Summary

Interdisciplinary essays on the White House and the lives of first families.

This unique perspective on the White House, one of the most readily identifiable structures in the world, brings together the views of librarians, journalists, political advisers, attorneys, researchers, and professors. Filled with anecdotes, little-known facts, and scholarly analysis, the book shows how "The People's House" has been shaped and molded both architecturally and philosophically by the different administrations over the past 200 years.

Erudite and entertaining, Life in the White House looks at the social history of the first family, the creation of the president's home, and efforts by first families to carve out a space for the important business of family, while preserving the history of their famous residence. This public museum and private residence, which began as the result of a $500 Jefferson-era architectural design contest, now symbolizes one of the world's great superpowers.

"Life in the White House is a pleasure to read. In fact, I could not put it down. It is filled with anecdotal stories that range from funny to tragic. One gets a real sense of what it was like to live there. This book should be in every presidential library." — Anthony J. Eksterowicz, coeditor of The Post-Cold War Presidency

"This is a unique and interesting compilation that is carefully researched and written in an engaging and accessible style. By focusing on both the structure of the White House and its many usages, the contributors give an unusually complete and comprehensive view of life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." — Mary Linehan, Spalding University

Contributors include Carol Lynn Bower, Virginia A. Chanley, Robert E. Dewhirst, Raymond Frey, Lori Cox Han, Christopher S. Kelley, Tom Lansford, Michael E. Long, Russell L. Mahan, James S. McCallops, Michael J. C. Taylor, Elizabeth Lorelei Thacker-Estrada, and Robert P. Watson.

Robert P. Watson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. He has published several books, including the coedited volume (with Colton C. Campbell) Campaigns and Elections: Issues, Concepts, Cases.

Table of Contents

Tables

Preface

Part I. Introduction: The "First Home"

Overview: Welcome to the White House

1. At Home with the First Families
Robert P. Watson

2. Political Architecture: The Building of the President's House
Russell L. Mahan

3. Rooms of Their Own: First Ladies and Their Impact on Historic White House Rooms
Elizabeth Lorelei Thacker-Estrada

Part II. Private Lives in a Public Home: Media Coverage of First Families

Overview: On Stage in a Public Home

4. The Media in Their Midst
Carol Lynn Bower

5. The Carter White House: The Public and Semiprivate Lives of the First Family
Virginia A. Chanley

6. A Tale of Two Brothers: Billy Carter, Roger Clinton, and the Media
Christopher S. Kelley

7. First Sons versus First Daughters: A Gender Bias in News Media Coverage?
Lori Cox Han

Part III. Profiles of First Families in the White House

Overview: Calling the White House "Home"

8. "A Hell on Earth": The Pierce Marriage During the White House Years, 1853-1857
Michael J. C. Taylor

9. TR's White House: The Biggest First Family
Tom Lansford

10. The Scandalous Hardings
James S. McCallops

Part IV. Preserving the President's House

Overview: A Mansion with a History

11. Renovating the White House: A Brief History
Robert E. Dewhirst

12. Preserving the President's House: The Office of the White House Curator
Michael E. Long

13. Edith Roosevelt and the 1902 White House Renovation
Tom Lansford

14. The Truman Renovations of the White House: The House That Harry (Re)Built
Raymond Frey

Appendixes

1. White House Floor Plan
2. First Families, 1789-2002

Bibliography

Contributors

Index

Related Subjects

American History
Architectural History/Architecture
Political Sociology

42427/42428(MR/JB/SP)

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