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Eisenhower Executive Office Building

U.S. historic place and government building

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

U.S. historic place and government building

FieldValue
nameState, War, and Navy Building
nrhp_typenhl
imageOld Executive Office Building 1981.jpg
captionEisenhower Executive Office Building in 1981
location1650 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., 20006, United States
coordinates
locmapinUnited States Washington, D.C. central
built1871–
architectAlfred B. Mullett
architectureFrench Second Empire
designated_nrhp_typeNovember 11, 1971
addedJune 4, 1969
refnum69000293

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally known as the State, War, and Navy Building (SWAN Building), is a United States government building that is now part of the White House compound in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. The building houses various agencies that comprise the Executive Office of the President, such as the White House Office, the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council. Opened in 1888, the building was renamed in 1999 in honor of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president and a five-star U.S. Army general who was Allied forces commander during World War II.

The building is located on 17th Street NW, between Pennsylvania Avenue and State Place and West Executive Drive. It was commissioned by President Ulysses S. Grant, and built between 1871 and 1888 on the site of the original 1800 War/State/Navy Building and the White House stables, in the French Second Empire style.

As its original name suggests, it was initially built to house the staff of three government cabinet departments. The building's elaborate architectural style received substantial criticism when it was first completed; it has since been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

History

The first executive offices were constructed between 1799 and 1820 on the former site of the Washington Jockey Club, flanking the White House. In 1869, following the Civil War, Congress appointed a commission to select a site and submit plan and cost estimates for a new State Department Building, with possible arrangements to house the War and Navy departments.

Construction of the building (undated), now the EEOB
The (second) State, War, and Navy Building in 1917

The building, originally called the State, War, and Navy (SWAN) Building because it housed these three departments, was built between 1871 and 1888 in the French Second Empire style.

It was designed by Alfred B. Mullett, Supervising Architect of the Department of Treasury, which had responsibility for federal buildings. Patterned after French Second Empire architecture that clashed sharply with the neoclassical style of the other Federal buildings in the city, it was generally regarded with scorn and disdain. Writer Mark Twain referred to this building as "the ugliest building in America." President Harry S. Truman called it "the greatest monstrosity in America." Historian Henry Adams called it Mullett's "architectural infant asylum." Mullett later resigned. Beset by financial difficulties, litigation, and illness, in 1890 he died by suicide.

The exterior granite was cut and polished on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine, under a contract with Bodwell Granite Company. Much of the interior was designed by Richard von Ezdorf, using fireproof cast-iron structural and decorative elements. These included massive skylights above each of the major stairwells, and doorknobs with cast patterns indicating which of the original three occupying departments (State, Navy, or War) occupied a particular space. The total cost to construct the building was $10,038,482 when construction ended in 1888 , after 17 years.

The original tenants quickly outgrew the building and finally vacated it completely in the late 1930s. Becoming known as the Old Executive Office Building, it housed staff members of the Executive Office of the President. The building was considered inefficient and was nearly demolished in 1957. In 1969, the building was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

In 1981, plans began to restore all the "secretary of" suites. The main office of the Secretary of the Navy was restored in 1987 and is now used as the ceremonial office of the vice president. Shortly after September 11, 2001, the 17th Street side of the building was vacated and has since been modernized. The building continues to house various agencies that compose the president's executive office, such as the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council. Its most public function is that of the Vice President's Ceremonial Office, which is used chiefly for special meetings and press conferences.

Many celebrated national figures have participated in historical events that have taken place within the Old Executive Office Building. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush all had offices in this building before becoming president. It has housed 16 secretaries of the Navy, 21 secretaries of war, and 24 secretaries of state. Sir Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Presidents have occupied space in the EEOB as well. Herbert Hoover worked out of the Secretary of the Navy's office for a few months following a fire in the Oval Office on Christmas Eve 1929. President Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first televised presidential news conference in the building's Indian Treaty Room (Room 474) on January 19, 1955. President Richard Nixon maintained a private "hideaway" office in room 180 of the EEOB during his presidency, from where he preferred to work, using the Oval Office only for ceremonial occasions.

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first in a succession of vice presidents who have had offices in the building. The first wife of a vice president to have an office in the building was Marilyn Quayle, wife of Dan Quayle, vice president to George H.W. Bush.

The Old Executive Office Building was renamed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building when President Bill Clinton approved legislation changing the name on November 9, 1999. President George W. Bush participated in a rededication ceremony on May 7, 2002.

A small fire on December 19, 2007, damaged an office of the vice-president's staff and included the VP ceremonial office. According to media reporting, the office of the vice president's Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire.

The building underwent major modernization from 2008-2014, updating all building systems while preserving historic character. The project earned a GSA Honor Award in 2014.

During the second Trump administration, the president showed a mock-up of the building painted white during a television interview. With a slate gray exterior, he considered the building ugly especially with its close proximity to the White House.

Past occupants

The EEOB from the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave and 17th St. NW, pictured in 2021

Presidents

  • Theodore Roosevelt – while Assistant Secretary of the Navy
  • William Howard Taft – while Secretary of War
  • Herbert Hoover – temporary offices after White House fire
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt – while Assistant Secretary of the Navy
  • Harry S. Truman – offices during reconstruction of the White House
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower – while assigned to the Army General Staff
  • Lyndon B. Johnson – while Vice President
  • Richard Nixon – had "hideaway" office
  • Gerald Ford – while Vice President
  • George H. W. Bush – while Vice President
  • Joe Biden – while Vice President

Vice presidents

  • Hubert Humphrey
  • Spiro Agnew
  • Nelson Rockefeller
  • Walter Mondale
  • Dan Quayle
  • Al Gore
  • Dick Cheney
  • Mike Pence
  • Kamala Harris
  • JD Vance

Secretaries of State

  • John Hay
  • Elihu Root
  • William Jennings Bryan
  • Cordell Hull

Secretaries of War

  • Henry L. Stimson
  • Russell A. Alger
  • Newton D. Baker
  • Patrick J. Hurley

Army chiefs of staff

  • John Schofield
  • Nelson A. Miles
  • John J. Pershing
  • John L. Hines
  • Charles Pelot Summerall
  • Tasker H. Bliss
  • Peyton C. March
  • Douglas MacArthur
  • Malin Craig
  • George Marshall

Secretaries of the Navy

  • John Davis Long
  • Josephus Daniels
  • Charles Joseph Bonaparte
  • Charles Francis Adams III
  • Frank Knox

Senior Navy officers

  • George Dewey
  • William S. Benson
  • William Sims
  • Ernest King
  • William D. Leahy
  • Harold Rainsford Stark
  • Robert Coontz

References

References

  1. "Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, DC".
  2. "State, War, and Navy Building". National Park Service.
  3. {{NRISref. 2008a
  4. "Eisenhower Executive Office Building".
  5. "Public Building West of the White House May 1801 - August 1814".
  6. "Eisenhower Executive Office Building".
  7. Edleson, Harriet. (February 1, 2012). "Little Black Book of Washington DC". Peter Pauper Press, Inc..
  8. "The White House Area".
  9. (November 10, 1999). "Call it ugly or a monstrosity; call it Eisenhower Building". [[The Morning Sun]].
  10. White Jr., Richard D.. (November 10, 2003). "Roosevelt the Reformer". The University of Alabama Press.
  11. "Mullett, Alfred B. (1834-1890)".
  12. Grindle, Roger. (October 1, 1976). "Bodwell Blue: The Story of Vinalhaven's Granite Industry". Maine History.
  13. Morton III, W. Brown. (May 24, 1971). ["three photos from 1971"]({{NRHP url).
  14. Edwards, Jonathan. (2025-11-15). "Preservationists sue Trump over plans to paint Eisenhower building". The Washington Post.
  15. "Vice President's Ceremonial Office". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  16. "Indian Treaty Room". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  17. "Room 180". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  18. "An Imaginary Tour of Pennsylvania Avenue: Pennsylvania Avenue Old Executive Building".
  19. (December 19, 2007). "Fire damages Cheney's ceremonial offices near White House". [[NBC News]].
  20. Hunt, Terence. (December 20, 2007). "Fire damages Cheney's ceremonial offices near White House". [[The Boston Globe]].
  21. (April 11, 2019). "Eisenhower Executive Office Building – Modernization". Grunley Construction.
  22. Tucker, Brianna. (2025-11-19). "Trump administration agrees not to paint the Eisenhower building before 2026". The Washington Post.
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1888-establishments-in-washington,-d.c. alfred-b.-mullett-buildings buildings-of-the-united-states-government-in-washington,-d.c. government-buildings-completed-in-1888 national-historic-landmarks-in-washington,-d.c. office-buildings-completed-in-1888 office-buildings-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-washington,-d.c. president's-park second-empire-architecture-in-washington,-d.c. ulysses-s.-grant vice-presidency-of-the-united-states
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