Existing comment:
Working From Home:
During the 19th century, the president and his staff worked in rooms near the first family living quarters.
President Thomas Jefferson (1801-09) divided the east Room to create an office and bedchamber for his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis. President James Madison (1809-17) used one of these rooms for his cabinet meetings. Other president worked in room son the Second Floor. President Abraham Lincoln (1861-65) used what is now the Lincoln Bedroom. His two secretaries also slept in the White House, and he frequently woke them in the middle of the night to talk. As the staff expanded, work areas became increasingly crowed. By 1901, 23 staff members crammed into five Second Floor rooms. |