Inside the White House - Part Four

Map RoomThe Map Room is so-named because it was used by President Franklin Roosevelt as a situation room from which to follow the course of World War II. It now serves as a private meeting room for the president or the first lady. But until 1929, it had historically been used as a billiard room by many presidents, and occasionally for doctors' visits. Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath of office second time in 2009 The Map Room in 2008, looking north The Map Room in 2008, looking west President Clinton reviews designs for his official portrait in his final days in the White House in 2001, looking southeast The map cabinet (HABS)The map room in 1992 (HABS)The Map Room in 1992, looking southwest The room around 1979 Queens' Bedroom The Queens' Bedroom is a bedroom on the second floor of the White House, part of a suite of rooms that includes the Queens' Sitting Room and Queens' Bath. Named for the many royal guests it has hosted (including queens of the Netherlands, Greece, Norway, and Great Britain), this room is sometimes used by presidents to reward friends and political supporters. Between 1902 and 1963, it was known as the "Rose Room" and was used by Anna Roosevelt (daughter of Theodore Roosevelt) and Emily Carow (Mrs. Roosevelt's sister), among others.The Queens' Bedroom, circa 2000, looking northeastThe Queens' Bedroom, circa 2000, looking northeastTreaty RoomOriginally part of the offices of the president on the White House's second floor, this room was used by several presidents as an audience or waiting room. It was partitioned near the windows to allow Abraham Lincoln to pass from the Library (Yellow Oval Room) to his office in today's Lincoln Bedroom without encountering anyone. The room has been a Cabinet meeting room since Andrew Johnson. When James Garfield was shot, it was turned into a kind of ice-house, where various crude air-conditioning machines were installed in an attempt to make the president more comfortable. William McKinley presided over the signing of the peace treaty with Spain in this room in 1898, which ended the Spanish-American War. The artist Theobald Chartran was inspired by that event to paint a depiction of it, which today hangs in the very room itself.The Obama family watching television in 2011, looking south Barack Obama in the Treaty Room in 2009, looking southwest Barack Obama in the Treaty Room in 2009, looking northeast The Treaty Room in 2002, looking southwest: the president is using the old cabinet table as a desk