{"id":3194,"date":"2016-04-28T08:08:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T12:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3194"},"modified":"2016-04-25T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T18:12:03","slug":"flag-color-white-house-red-white-and-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/flag-color-white-house-red-white-and-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Flag color White House red, white and blue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drawing<\/a>
Drawing of 1861 flag-raising ceremony at the White House. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Voters are voting, candidates are campaigning, and reporters are recording. It\u2019s the year of a presidential election, and a new chief executive will move into the White House next January. But one thing will remain consistent: American flags displayed inside and waving outside the most famous home in the nation.<\/p>\n

The following stories, listed chronologically, derive from a two-volume work, \u201cThe President\u2019s House,\u201d by William Seale.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. Marine Band poses at White House while a flag flies above<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LINCOLN\u2019S FLAG<\/h3>\n

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, his wife, Mary, lingered in the White House, so the new chief executive, Andrew Johnson, temporarily worked in the Treasury Building.<\/p>\n

To decorate the makeshift rooms, staffers brought in American flags, including ones that had hung from the Ford\u2019s Theater box where the Great Emancipator was killed. \u201cOne bore a long rip made by [John Wilkes] Booth\u2019s spur as the assassin leaped to the stage,\u201d Seale noted.<\/p>\n

\"Benjamin<\/a>
Benjamin Harrison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TOUCHES OF NORMALITY<\/h3>\n

After President Johnson won his impeachment trial, the White House resumed its normal celebrations, including dinners in the State Dining Room.<\/p>\n

Martha Johnson Patterson, the president\u2019s daughter, saw to it that her father\u2019s home was spruced up and readied for parties. She had George Washington\u2019s portrait cleaned and restored, sent furniture out to be repaired, and, according to Seale, \u201cordered four large American flags<\/a> made of silk\u201d to be set in the corners of dining room.<\/p>\n

\"Flagpoles<\/a>
Flagpoles on top of the White House, 1923. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW FLAGPOLE<\/a><\/h3>\n

In the wake of the 1876 centennial of the Declaration of Independence, Seale recounted, President Benjamin Harrison was filled \u201cwith great affection for the United States flag\u201d and \u201cordered all federal offices to display the flag daily.\u201d He also saw to it that a new flagpole was put up on the Mansion\u2019s roof.<\/p>\n

Previously, President Rutherford B. Hayes had arranged for a flagstaff to be \u201cput over the south portico.\u201d But, after a windstorm damaged the pole, it was taken down. Harrison placed a new one on the roof, and a worker was charged with raising and lowering it.<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s love for the banner \u201cextended to the East Room, which was decorated with presidential shields and American flags.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American flag flies on White House in 1929 while President Hoover stands next to one to welcome teens. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COSBY\u2019S RAID<\/h3>\n

As Woodrow Wilson\u2019s first inauguration neared in 1913, Col. Spencer Cosby hatched a plot. As the man in charge of public buildings in the District of Columbia, a job he was about to lose with the change of parties, he was in the right place at the right time to get a very special souvenir.<\/p>\n

He assigned a White House staffer to go to the roof, wait till noon exactly and swap the flag waving there for another one. While everyone\u2019s attention was on Wilson\u2019s oath-taking, Cosby got his prize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voters are voting, candidates are campaigning, and reporters are recording. It\u2019s the year of a presidential election, and a new chief executive will move into the White House next January. But one thing will remain consistent: American flags displayed inside and waving outside the most famous home in the nation. The following stories, listed chronologically,… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,10,347],"class_list":["post-3194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-abraham-lincoln","tag-american-flag","tag-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nFlag color White House red, white and blue - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/flag-color-white-house-red-white-and-blue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flag color White House red, white and blue - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Voters are voting, candidates are campaigning, and reporters are recording. 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