It was bad enough when the White House Oval Office was suddenly transformed into a fire sale of faux gold decorations dripping from the mantlepiece and every other available space. Before that it was an elegant room in the White House, lovingly called the People’s House, which has always been recognized as a national historic site. The “Oval” was a warm and elegant place where serious, important decisions were discussed by dignified, respected leaders and advisors with strong portfolios who realized the magnitude of the issues being addressed. Today, sadly, it looks like a third-rate setting for a Moliere comedy.
Now comes the devastation of the East Wing. Photos of the desecration of that much loved part of the White House are a sickening metaphor for the destruction of democracy we are witnessing. In addition to the building disappearing, some of us can’t stop wondering what happened to the artwork, furnishings, historic references and more that were housed in the East Wing. Was it treated as debris, or simply looted before the demolition, as other dictators have done?
Critics have compared the demolition of the historic building to “slashing a ”Rembrandt.” One of them called the East Wing “the heartbeat for more than 100 years” as first ladies worked from their offices there on important issues ranging from drug abuse to boosting literacy and preserving the White House itself.
In an opinion editorial in Architect’s Newsletter, a columnist noted that “The East Wing historically housed the Office of the First Lady. [Now] it seems nothing was done to protect the history of women’s contributions to the presidency. By bulldozing the structure, Trump is effectively erasing women from the history of the White House.”
Roslyn Carter was the original First Lady to have an office in the East Wing. She wanted a private place to go to work where she “didn’t have to dress up and put on makeup,” she wrote in her memoir. Hillary Clinton became the determined First Lady to insist that her office be in the West Wing because she felt that her staff needed to be “integrated physically” with the president’s team. Michelle Obama worked to support military families and promote higher education for girls in poor countries from the East Wing and set a standard as a global role model. And Jill Biden, who continued teaching while serving as First Lady, advocated for cancer research and women’s health.
Historically notable, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the White House movie theater in 1942 by converting a cloakroom in the East Terrace into a screening room so that he could watch newsreels during World War II. Other presidents used the theater to rehearse important speeches including the State of the Union.
The East Wing was originally known as the East Terrace in 1902 when Theodore Roosevelt was president. FDR created the East Wing as we have known it in 1942 to have more workspace during the war, and to conceal an underground bunker for the president and staff. Today some people posit that the bunker is the reason the current president wants to obscure it with a massive ballroom which, unsurprisingly, will be named The Donald J. Trump Ballroom. They suggest that the ever-paranoid president wants the bunker to be a safe, well-equipped space for him to indulge the ultra-right-wing fascist fantasies that he clings to, along with his sycophants who can be directed by their leader as he advances his autocratic regime.
The idea of a massive ballroom, whether it is being built as camouflage or not where the beautiful East Wing once was, is obscene. It’s not only likely to be illegal, having ignored proper approvals from the National Park Service and the National Capital Planning Commission. It’s an especially heinous Gilded Age insult and anomaly in face of a government shutdown that will affect millions of Americans in numerous and terrible ways. It smacks of robber barons and “Let them eat cake.” It’s clearly a corrupt moneymaker, an eyesore in the landscape of Washington, and a symbol of the narcissism that is tearing us apart.
No wonder historians, preservationists, art lovers, architects, and ordinary Americans are distraught, not only for the loss of this historical building, but for the lack of transparency, the lying about funding, the underlying corruption, and its implications – all of which the president chooses to call “manufactured outrage.” The travesty of such narcissism is stunning.
The bottom line is that a ballroom monument to oneself has no place in the People’s House, now or ever. It’s time to insist that such acts of ego be stopped.
###
Elayne Clift writes from Brattleboro, Vt. www.elayne-clift.com/blog