WHHQ 73: Foreword

Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 73, originally released in print form in 2024. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org

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foreword

Steeped in Tradition

“ welcome to the white house, ” the warm greeting delivered by military social aides to the president’s invited guests upon their arrival at the East Wing doors, represents just one of many time-honored traditions that make a White House visit an extraordinary experience. From performing traditional American music to welcome a visiting head of state, to showing guests their seats in the East Room on a special occasion, to managing a State Dinner receiving line, to serving lunch to the president in the Oval Office Dining Room, every branch of the military plays a role in facilitating ceremonial and everyday White House routines. With this issue of White House History Quarterly, released on Memorial Day 2024, we look at some of those military roles, long steeped in tradition. We also consider the influence of military life on the work of three first ladies, a president’s relationship with his generals as a war unfolds, and Civil War–era letters that reveal one soldier’s own experience in the President’s Neighborhood.

Historian Jessie Kratz opens the issue with a look at one of many White House traditions that can be traced back to President George Washington. With the first of what will be a recurring feature on documents preserved in the National Archives, Kratz highlights a letter of just a single sentence, with which John Adams nominates George Washington to be commander in chief the U.S. Armies.

The story of the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is told by Ross D. Andrews, J. Mark Reilly, and William E. White Jr., who remind us that the roots of the organization that provides “the soundtrack to America’s story” go back to George Washington, the Continental Army, “and the ideals and values on which the United States was founded.”

Archivist Thomas Richardson relates the history behind the military medals and awards established by the authority of U.S. presidents, a history that also begins with George Washington, who personally awarded three Badges for Military Merit, later revived as the Purple Heart, during the Revolutionary War.

Sharing the history and role of military social aides in the White House, Jonathan Sessions explains how

volunteer aides from every branch of the military accomplish their mission “to ensure that every guest of the president and first lady of the United States feels welcome and cared for in the President’s House.”

Focusing on a tradition of White House service that began during the presidency of Harry S. Truman, Robert A. Roncska reveals that the roles of those who serve in the White House Navy Mess go far beyond preparing and serving meals in the West Wing dining room.

Military advisers and officers have had many roles in the White House as well, and Holly M. Witchey takes us back to the Civil War for a glimpse at the role fulfilled by the military in ensuring President Abraham Lincoln’s urgent messages were sent and received. Through letters written by Captain Randall P. Wade, Witchey shares one soldier’s personal experience in the Telegraph Office of the War Department. Clifford Krainik goes back to the years of the Mexican-American War to relate the significance of a president’s relationship with the military on the battlefield as a war unfolds. Krainik reviews President James K. Polk’s management of three generals, his own “team of rivals”: John C. Frémont, Winfield Scott, and Zachary Taylor.

Historian Diana Carlin provides an interesting perspective on another way military traditions have influenced the operation of the White House. With her article, “The Generals’ Wives: Three First Ladies Shaped by the Military,” Carlin explains how the management approaches Martha Washington, Julia Grant, and Mamie Eisenhower brought to their roles as first ladies were influenced by their years of military life.

For our Presidential Sites Quarterly Feature, we visit a turning point in the history of Lafayette Square, the historic neighborhood a few steps from the president’s front door, named for a hero of the Revolutionary War. Slated for demolition to make way for monumental government office buildings in the early 1960s, the historic residential structures were spared when President and Mrs. Kennedy chose to pursue a creative solution first illustrated by architect Grosvenor Chapman. We are pleased to publish his original sketch here along with the story of how it came to President Kennedy’ s attention.

marcia mallet anderson editor, white house history quarterly

A U.S. Joint Military Services Honor Guard participates in the State Arrival Ceremony for President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron on the South Lawn of the White House, December 1, 2022.