Executive Residence
4 floors above ground and 2 floors below ground
Updated October 2024
Posted August 2022
Third Floor:
Recreation of the third floor around 1992 (Derek Jensen)
Recreation of the third floor around 1992 (Derek Jensen)
Solarium:
William Howard Taft erected the Solarium as a cool and comfortable place for the First Family to sleep on hot summer nights. Also called the Sky Room or the Sun Room, the Solarium has been remodeled a few times over the years, and has been a favorite spot for many presidents. JFK's daughter Caroline even attended school in the Solarium.
William Howard Taft erected the Solarium as a cool and comfortable place for the First Family to sleep on hot summer nights. Also called the Sky Room or the Sun Room, the Solarium has been remodeled a few times over the years, and has been a favorite spot for many presidents. JFK's daughter Caroline even attended school in the Solarium.
In 1974, Nixon called a family meeting in the Solarium to inform them of his decision to resign. In 1981, First Lady Nancy Reagan was in the Solarium when she learned her husband had been shot.
https://www.ranker.com/list/lesser-known-white-house-rooms/donn-saylor
Project SolariumAs Commander-in-Chief and as a former Army General, Eisenhower called for a reconsideration of the country's Cold War policies upon taking office. He initiated Project Solarium - named for the room of the White House where the project was discussed-which requested three blue-ribbon, top secret panels to separately consider and propose a strategy for America's Cold War policy.
- Group A was headed by diplomat and Soviet expert George Kennan. Kennan's group concluded that since the Soviet threat remained strong, the previous administration's containment policy should be continued.
- Group B was led by Air Force Major General James McCormack, an expert on atomic weapons. The members of McCormack's group proposed drawing a "line of no aggression" around the Communist Bloc and areas necessary to the United States security.
- Vice Admiral Richard Conolly headed up Group C in the discussion of the nation's future Cold War policy. His group advocated an aggressive approach to winning the Cold War and reversing Communism, a policy publicly dubbed "roll back."
President Eisenhower ultimately adopted none of the three options, choosing instead a combination of the first two, which were drafted into National Security Council Paper Number 162 (NSC 162), his administration's Cold War blueprint.
