Roosevelt Room facts for kids
The Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House during the Clinton administration
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| Building | West Wing, White House |
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| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | USA |
| Coordinates | 38°53′51″N 77°02′15″W / 38.8974°N 77.0376°W |
| Purpose | Meeting room |
| Named for | Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt |
The Roosevelt Room is a special meeting room inside the West Wing of the White House. The White House is where the President of the United States lives and works. This important room is located in the middle of the West Wing, very close to the famous Oval Office. It is named after two presidents who were related: Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both of them helped design and change the West Wing.
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Building the West Wing and the Roosevelt Room
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt hired an architect named Charles Follen McKim. McKim's job was to redesign the White House. This included building the West Wing. The idea was to move the president's offices out of the main White House building.
The first West Wing was meant to be temporary. President William Howard Taft made some changes to it. But then, a big fire happened on December 24, 1929. This was during President Herbert Hoover's time. Because of a recent economic crash, Hoover only repaired the wing instead of making it bigger.
Later, in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt started working with an architect named Eric Gugler. They planned to make the West Wing larger and change it. Franklin Roosevelt moved the Oval Office to its current spot. This new location is in the southeast corner, next to the Rose Garden. Moving the office made it quicker and more private for the president to go between his home and his office.
Inside the Roosevelt Room
The Roosevelt Room today is in the same spot where Theodore Roosevelt's first West Wing office was. When Franklin Roosevelt rebuilt the West Wing, he used this room for meetings. He met with his staff and members of Congress here. Franklin Roosevelt even kept an aquarium and hung mounted fish in the room. Because of this, people started calling it "the fish room."
President Kennedy also liked the "fish room" name. He hung a large mounted sailfish on the wall. In 1969, President Nixon officially named the room the Roosevelt Room. He did this to honor both Theodore Roosevelt, who built the West Wing, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who made it bigger.
The east wall of the room is shaped like a half-circle. It has a fireplace in the middle with doors on each side. There used to be special bronze plaques on the south wall. These plaques showed the faces of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. They were removed during a renovation when President George W. Bush was in office.
The room does not have any windows. It is lit by a special "false skylight" that looks like a window to the sky. A large conference table sits in the center of the room. Up to 16 people can sit at this table. The walls are a light buff color with white trim. A decorative molding, similar to one in Independence Hall, goes around the room. Most of the furniture looks like old styles from the 1700s.
It's a tradition to hang paintings of both Roosevelt presidents in the room. Even before Nixon officially named it, Democratic presidents would hang Franklin D. Roosevelt's portrait above the fireplace. Theodore Roosevelt's painting, showing him on a horse, would be on the south wall. Republican presidents would switch them. President Bill Clinton decided to keep Theodore Roosevelt's painting above the fireplace and Franklin D. Roosevelt's on the south wall.
How the Room is Used Now
The Roosevelt Room is still used for many important things today. It is a common place for staff meetings. Presidents also use it to announce new staff members or people they want to nominate for jobs. Big groups of people often use the room to get ready before meeting the president in the Oval Office.
Images for kids
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Eating in the Roosevelt Room
