Harry S Truman and His Screwy Porch
| This article first appeared in issue fourteen of Buttons
and Ballots, in November 1997. |
On the first day of 1948, a member of the national Fine Arts Commission
leaked the news to the press that President Truman planned to build a balcony
on the south portico of the White House. The commission member added that
the commission opposed the addition, because it would change the appearance
of the White House as envisioned by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
and others.
Improbably, the report developed into a major national news story, which
was big news for about a month, and continued to flare up occasionally for
the rest of the year. The actual change to the appearance of the White House
would actually be pretty minor, since the second-story porch would be partly
hidden inside the curved row of columns. Truman first said he needed a place
to go to get some fresh air, a place that would afford more privacy than
a stroll on the lawn. The New York Times and other newspapers took
the president to task for wanting to tamper with the hallowed old floor
plan, and said the president should subordinate his selfish desire for comfort
to a need to preserve a historical building that belonged to all the people.
Truman later explained that actually he worked too hard to find time to
use a porch, and that anyway the porch would not really be private since
tourists could see it through the iron fence.
Truman's new explanation of the need for the porch was that it would
do away with the need for the terribly unsightly awnings that were attached
to the outside of the columns, half-way up. The awnings were what really
marred the appearance of the historical building, and what is more the awnings
cost $700 per year for upkeep and replacement. Truman pointed out the $15,000
porch would actually save the government money over the years. Truman did
build the porch, and was able to avoid the scrutiny of Congress by using
his regular fund for White House upkeep.
Truman's second-story porch, seen in a Nixon-era photograph
One reason the porch story kept cropping up was that ingenious reporters
used it to interrogate Truman on his future plans. At one press conference
a reporter pointed out that McKinley and Harding had run front porch campaigns,
and he asked if Truman might be considering a back porch run for the presidency.
Truman admitted he might. Later, after Henry Wallace had started his third
party, and the Dixiecrats were revolting, a reporter asked if Truman expected
to get some use of the new porch over the next four years. An irritated
Truman replied that he would be there to use it, "don't you worry about
that."
The story was big enough news that the Republicans tapped into it by
issuing this litho button: "Truman was Screwy to Build a Porch for
Dewey." As early as January 1948, Dewey himself was talking about the
new porch. Dewey experienced a leaky roof at the New York Executive Mansion.
Reporters then questioned him at length about the state of the building.
Dewey said the governor's mansion had a very nice porch, but added that
he would look forward to examining the new one at the White House. Reporters
responded with a headline that Dewey was going to use the new porch "as
a resting place for his battered campaign hat."
| © 1997 by Stephen Cresswell |
Source: New York Times, articles from January, April, May,
and November 1948.
