White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin Celebrates the 200th Anniversary of Blair House and its History
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The White House Historical Association released a new episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast today to honor the bicentennial of the building of Blair House featuring a conversation about the history of what has become known as Blair House: The President’s Guest House and its importance to American diplomacy. Stewart McLaurin, president of the Association, speaks with the Honorable Capricia Marshall, former U.S. chief of protocol and vice chair of the Blair House 200th Anniversary Campaign, and Ambassador Stuart Holliday, former U.S. ambassador for special political affairs at the United Nations and trustee of the Blair House Foundation. McLaurin also takes a tour of the complex with Matthew Wendel, the assistant chief of protocol and general manager of Blair House. In this episode, McLaurin and his guests provide a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at Blair House, which is closed to the public, and see the museum-quality collection, diplomatic spaces, and the principal suite where queens, presidents, and other dignitaries have stayed.
Blair House is located mere steps from the White House. In the 1940s, the federal government purchased the private home and began transforming it into the president’s guest house for visiting dignitaries. It’s also become the place where the president-elect usually stays before every presidential inauguration, and a welcoming sanctuary for many of the grieving presidential families during a state funeral.
Originally built in 1824 for Doctor Joseph Lovell, the first surgeon general of the U.S. Army, the Blair family purchased the property in 1837 when Francis Preston Blair became publisher and editor-in-chief of the pro-Andrew Jackson newspaper, The Washington Globe. Blair was an influential member of President Jackson’s inner circle, and remained an informal adviser and confidante to Presidents Martin Van Buren and Abraham Lincoln, the latter of whom was a frequent visitor. As the city began to change, it would be Blair’s grandson, Gist, who sought President Franklin Roosevelt’s help in preserving the home.
Blair House: The President’s Guest House by William Seale is available at shop.whitehousehistory.org.
The full video of this podcast episode is also available on the White House Historical Association’s YouTube channel here.
The White House 1600 Sessions podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
About the White House Historical Association
The White House Historical Association was founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to support her vision to restore and preserve the Executive Mansion and its legacy for generations to come. Mrs. Kennedy sought to inspire Americans, especially children, to explore and engage with American history and its presidents. Supported entirely by private resources, the Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has contributed more than $115 million to the White House in fulfillment of its mission. To learn more about the White House Historical Association, please visit WhiteHouseHistory.org.
SOURCE The White House Historical Association
