The Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Most presidential staff members work in the EEOB, which also houses the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council. Designed to house the State, War, and Navy Departments, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969.

The Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the east wing of the EEOB originally served as the Navy Secretary's Office. In 1921, General John Pershing took over the room as Army Chief of Staff and occupied it for the next 26 years.

Since 1960, every vice president but one has used this office. Since it was restored in the 1980s, though, it has been considered a “ceremonial” office, used primarily for meetings and press interviews.

The room holds several clues that it was once the office of the Secretary of the Navy. Note the naval prints and the model sailing ships. The ornamental stenciling includes this naval insignia with 13 stars.

This desk was first used by Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, and at least a half dozen presidents who succeeded him also chose to use it. If you could peek inside the top drawer, you’d see the signatures of many of its users.

This bust of Christopher Columbus has been in the EEOB since it first opened. During the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in 1898, it was removed from a Spanish cruiser by crew members of the USS Montgomery.

The office’s 3 brass chandeliers are replicas of ones that were in the room in about 1900. The unusual original fixtures were hybrid gas and electric lights.

It shouldn’t be surprising to find George Washington in this room. Washington commanded the Continental Army, credited with winning the American War of Independence, and, as America’s first president, Washington’s cabinet included the first United States Secretary of War.

For years, the painting on the ceiling was covered over. Expert restorers carefully peeled away 21 coats of paint to reveal Mars, the god of war, and, at the other end of the ceiling, his female counterpart Victoria, goddess of victory.

The walls are lined with a covering called Lincrusta Walton, created by Englishman Frederick Walton, who also invented linoleum. To make the covering, a mixture of linseed oil and wood pulp was embossed on a canvas backing. 

The design of the offices of the Secretary of War made heavy use of wood. The parquet floor is made from mahogany, maple, and black walnut. The wainscoting, the mantel, and the door and window frames are all made of mahogany.

Originally the War Department Library, the Executive Office of the President (EOP) Law Library was designed by Richard Ezdorf and completed in 1887. 

The War Department moved out of the EEOB in 1938, and the library was used as storage space until 1970, when it was altered for use as a conference room. A complete restoration of the space was completed in 1985. Now, it is one of 3 libraries maintained by the EOP.

The balcony columns and railings are cast iron. The fluted columns were electroplated to look like copper. The floors are finished with English Minton tiles with mosaic features. Minton tiles were also used in the Capitol Building and the Smithsonian Institution.

Decorative elements include symbols of military might. Oak leaves and acorns in the ceiling cove symbolize strength and steadfastness. Butterflies in the floor tiles symbolize immortality. Laurel leaves on the balcony columns symbolize triumph and glory.

The library holds the EOP’s collection of materials on the presidency, American and world history, U.S. government and politics, foreign relations, homeland security, and national security.

Shelves had to be adjusted as they were designed to organize books by size, not subject matter.

Originally the Navy Department Library, the Indian Treaty Room was completed in 1880, about halfway into the building’s construction. The materials used in this room made it the most expensive room in the building. 

The marble wall panels, tiled floors, bronze sconces, and gold leaf ornamentation were costly, but presidents have made good use of this dramatic space for important events and press conferences. How the room got the name “Indian Treaty Room” is a complete mystery.

The room’s decorative elements include many nautical motifs. Look for shells above the marble panels, seahorses in the cast iron railings, stars (for navigation) on the ceiling, and a compass rose in the center of the floor.

The 4 cast bronze wall sconces weigh 800 pounds each. The winged figures represent Peace and War, Liberty, Arts and Sciences, and Industry. The light fixtures in this room are the only original ones in the building.

Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference in 1913. The first filmed-for-television presidential press conference took place in this room on January 19, 1955. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s opening remark was, “Well, I see we are trying a new experiment this morning.”

A member of Congress representing Tennessee, Cordell Hull was appointed Secretary of State by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. 

On December 7, 1941, the Secretary was in his office—this room—when he received a phone call from Roosevelt informing him that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. 

In the final years of World War II, Hull prepared the blueprint for what would become the United Nations, an effort for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945.

This portrait of Hull was painted by Edward Murray in 1943. At the time, Murray was a Lieutenant Commander in the U. S. Navy. Hull was known as shy and earnest. Do you see those qualities in the portrait? 

This office and 2 other rooms that comprised the State Department suite were designed to be a showcase for the department. In 1987, restorers stripped away many layers of paint to reveal the intricate stenciled ornamentation based on designs from ancient Greece.

This photograph shows the office as it appeared in 1890, when James G. Blaine was Secretary of State. A total of 24 Secretaries of State used this office before the State Department moved into its own building in 1947.