| Existing comment:
The Blair House was built in 1824 by Joseph Lovell, the nation's first Surgeon General. In 1861, Francis Blair met here with Robert E Lee to offer him command of the federal armies but Lee refused, and then sided with the Confederacy. In 1942, the house was purchased by the federal government and was used to house visiting dignitaries. In 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists tried to kill Harry Truman who was staying here when the White House was being redone. A month before he was assassinated, I saw Anwar Sadat coming out of this house. |