White House Timeline of Events

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White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams...

Timeline of Events

1792

10.13.1792

In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1800

6.3.1800

U.S. President John Adams takes up residence in Washington, D.C. (in a tavern because the White House was not yet completed).

11.1.1800

US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

1814

8.24.1814

British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.

8.25.1814

Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.

1841

8.16.1841

U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

1886

6.2.1886

U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.

1901

10.12.1901

President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.

1910

10.14.1910

The English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his Farman Aircraft biplane on Executive Avenue near the White House in Washington, D.C.

1917

8.28.1917

Ten Suffragettes are arrested while picketing the White House.

1922

2.8.1922

President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.

1924

2.22.1924

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

1932

7.20.1932

In Washington, D.C., police fire tear gas on World War I veterans part of the Bonus Expeditionary Force who attempt to march to the White House.

1945

1.20.1945

Franklin Roosevelt's fourth and final inauguration is held at the White House due to wartime considerations.

1947

10.5.1947

The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

1962

2.14.1962

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.

1970

5.9.1970

Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.

1972

6.17.1972

Watergate scandal: five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.

6.23.1972

Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

11.30.1972

Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

1973

4.30.1973

Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others have resigned.

7.16.1973

Watergate Scandal: former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield informs the United States Senate that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.

1974

2.17.1974

Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.

4.29.1974

Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings related to the scandal.

7.24.1974

Watergate scandal: the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

7.30.1974

Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the United States Supreme Court.

12.25.1974

Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.

1975

2.21.1975

Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.

1979

10.6.1979

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.

1989

5.4.1989

Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.

1993

9.13.1993

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

1994

9.12.1994

Frank Eugene Corder crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West wing and killing himself.

10.29.1994

Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).

1998

1.26.1998

Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

8.17.1998

Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.