Critically acclaimed author Robert Klara leads readers through
an unmatched tale of political ambition and technical skill: the
Truman administration's controversial rebuilding of the White
House.
In 1948, President Harry Truman, enjoying a bath on the White
House's second floor, almost plunged through the ceiling of the
Blue Room into a tea party for the Daughters of the American
Revolution. A handpicked team of the country's top architects
conducted a secret inspection of the troubled mansion and, after
discovering it was in imminent danger of collapse, insisted that
the First Family be evicted immediately. What followed would be the
most historically significant and politically complex
home-improvement job in American history. While the Trumans camped
across the street at Blair House, Congress debated whether to
bulldoze the White House completely, and the Soviets exploded their
first atomic bomb, starting the Cold War.
Indefatigable researcher Robert Klara reveals what has, until now,
been little understood about this episode: America's most famous
historic home was basically demolished, giving birth to today's
White House. Leaving only the mansion's facade untouched, workmen
gutted everything within, replacing it with a steel frame and a
complex labyrinth deep below ground that soon came to include a
top-secret nuclear fallout shelter,
The story of Truman's rebuilding of the White House is a snapshot
of postwar America and its first Cold War leader, undertaking a job
that changed the centerpiece of the country's national heritage.
The job was by no means perfect, but it was remarkable--and, until
now, all but forgotten.
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