The First White House Redecorating Adventure

By Lisa June 20th, 2010

We all know that one of the first things we want to do when we move into a new home is make it our own. Dolley Madison was no exception. When she and her husband, James Madison, moved into the White House in 1809 the house was 9 years old and had rooms with no furniture and too many drab offices. Dolley loved parties and was sure that if she became the leading hostess in Washington she could increase her husband’s popularity and push his political programs through Congress. However, she certainly couldn’t entertain in the space she had inherited! She approached James about redecorating. However, when the president learned that the first lady’s proposed redecoration would exceed his annual salary of $25,000 he told her she’d have to raise the money herself. (Does this conversation ring a bell with anyone?)

James Madison did not have any enthusiasm for entertaining. He was short, pale, and thin and wore plain black suits. He was too shy to make small talk and had a very solemn manner. I can only imagine the discussions about the velvet curtains in the drawing room—insisted on by his much more flamboyant wife. His lack of excitement about dressing up his new home led Dolley to seek help from the United States Congress. She invited congressmen (of both political parties, by the way) to tea and took them on tours to show them the bare rooms, which she described as a national embarrassment. Many of those congressmen were eager to improve America’s image and so voted an appropriation of $12,000 for repairs and $14,000 for new furnishings. (I’d love to hear what her husband had to say about her fund raising efforts at his place of work!)

Once the new décor was in place, Dolley began holding weekly receptions for congressmen, foreign diplomats, celebrities, important businessmen and distinguished visitors. Unfortunately, try as she might, her awesome parties couldn’t save her husband’s popularity (although it sure helped at first) from crashing when James Madison asked Congress to vote to declare war on England. Although Britain, who was at war with France, had provoked the US, most Americans preferred the British monarchy to Napoleon Bonaparte’s radical dictatorship. Without reciting the history of the war of 1812, let me just say that as British sympathizers and spies were rumored to be plotting to burn the White House, Dolley slept with a saber under her bed to protect her lovely (redecorated) home! When the White House was eventually burned, the country finally united behind Madison and, of course, we won the next major battles that led to a peace treaty.

Although her White House redecoration did not survive, Dolley Madison’s public persona became the model for subsequent first ladies. I wonder how the future first men will redecorate some day?