What Animal Did President William Taft Save In Memory Of Theodore Roosevelt

Major General Andrew Jackson, President of the United States — Major General Andrew Jackson, President of the The states, engraved past James B. Longacre after painting by Thomas Sully c. 1820. Jacksons favorite horses were not warhorses but racehorses. He was the only president to maintain a racing stable at the White Business firm.

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The nineteenth century might be chosen the gilded age of the horse. Horsepower pulled plow, canal boat, and wagon to market; equus caballus-drawn stages linked towns; and omnibuses and carriages conveyed people to work within cities, to store, or to the railroad train station, which, a decade after the Ceremonious War, emerged as the hub of a transcontinental transportation system. Before automobiles, the residents of the White Firm, like almost of humankind, depended substantially on horses for transportation and the movement of goods and services. The president's stables, long demolished and largely forgotten today, were once integral to the performance of White House.

The Sequence of Stables

The primacy of the equus caballus at the White Firm ended in 1909 when President William Howard Taft converted the carriage room into a garage for his behemothic steam-powered cars. The Taft family unit cow, Pauline Wayne, remained the sole inhabitant of the stable until the construction was razed in 1911. Horses remained available to the White Business firm at nearby army stables for recreational riding into the late twentieth century. It was not until 1951 that Congress struck an expenditure from the White House budget for horses and stables.ⁱ

The various executive stables that were built on the White House Grounds over a period of a century were never intended to be great architecture. Public involvement was smashing merely because they were the president's stables. The first executive stable was a altitude away from the White Firm, a Georgian-style brick structure erected past builder William Lovell on the southeast corner of 14th and Yard Streets, NW, in 1800. Six years later President Thomas Jefferson designed a stable and railroad vehicle house in new wing dependencies flanking the White Business firm on the east and west. The west wing housed the coach house and tack room, and the stable with a cowshed were in the east wing.^two

Afterward the British burned the White Firm in 1814, a temporary frame stable was appended to the end of the rebuilt east fly. President James Monroe moved the stable to the due west fly in 1819 for greater convenience to the coach firm. James Hoban, who had built and rebuilt the White House, prepared plans and directed the construction of the new stable, turning information technology toward the due south where information technology made an ell to the existing wing. The colonnades of the stable and wing created a stately enclosure for a brick-paved courtyard, but the location below the windows of the State Dining Room was not ideal.³

The various executive stables that were built on the White House grounds over a period of a century were never intended to be slap-up architecture. Public involvement was keen but because they were the president's stables.

President Andrew Jackson, a passionate horseman, stabled not merely workhorses at the White Firm merely also thoroughbreds that raced at courses in Washington and Baltimore. His horses and so overflowed the Monroe stable that wooden shanties had to exist built for further housing along the due west fence of the grounds. Somewhen Jackson persuaded Congress to fund the construction of a freestanding neoclassical brick stable trimmed with Aquia sandstone about 100 yards east of the east wing of the White House. Washington builder William P. Elliot erected the structure at a toll of about $iii,600.⁴ In 1834, the National Intelligencer reported that "a fine stable, having a handsome picturesque appearance, calculated to adjust nigh 10 horses" had been completed.⁵ Tall and broad, the stuccoed brick stable had a porch on the s side with six round columns of plastered brick with stone bases. A brick wall with a flagstone courtyard enclosed it. The flagstone continued into the stable's eye hall, which was bordered by two ranges of stalls. Grooms fed the horses from the passage without inbound the stalls. A feed and tack room and a infinite for coaches and other smaller vehicles besides flanked the hall and extended into an ell to the side. On the 2nd level were a hayloft and living quarters for grooms and a coachman.⁶ According to the public gardener James Maher, Jackson told him: "Establish me a tree of rapid growth to protect my stable from a northwester." Maher planted silver maples calculated to create a shade awning of 425 square yards.⁷

Andrew Jackson'due south stable was razed in 1857 to make fashion for the present south wing of the Treasury Section. Workers salvaged the stone and bricks and used them to erect a new structure on the east grounds, south of the Treasury. The projection was planned and directed by Edward Clark, superintendent of construction piece of work then under way at the Patent Office extension and an assistant to Thomas U. Walter, architect of the Capitol. Costing approximately $8,000, the new stable was slightly larger and wider than Jackson's stable. The areas along its central passage accommodated twelve horses, the White House carriages, and feed and tack, and upstairs were bedchambers for the grooms. The brick edifice was stuccoed and whitewashed and had a painted tin can roof.⁸ Fire consumed this edifice in 1864, destroying the Lincoln children'southward ponies, Mary Todd Lincoln'southward blackness wagon horses, and John Nicolay'southward saddle horse. Abraham Lincoln witnessed the tragedy and in his decision to save the pony of his son Willie, who had died, had to be restrained by guards from rushing into the blazing stable.⁹

In one case again workmen salvaged bricks and stone and, with boosted new materials, erected the replacement stable on the westward grounds. Designed past Walter, this utilitarian structure price $12,000. Illustrated in Harper's Weekly in 1869, the two-story stable appears to take had a side-gable roof with a wide porch supported by sparse Tuscan columns sheltering the carriage entrance. Functionally, it mirrored its predecessor in providing spaces for the intendance and feeding of the horses, a carriage room, and second floor living quarters. In 1871, this construction made way for the earthworks of the foundation for the imposing Country, War and Navy Building (today's Eisenhower Executive Office Edifice).^x

Tad Lincoln on His Pony — Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, the president'due south son, posed on his pony, c. 1865.

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The last White Business firm stable, a Loftier Victorian mansard-roofedstructure, was completed during the Ulysses S. Grant administration in 1872.Funds for structure were drawn from the appropriation allotted for the newExecutive Office Building amounting to $27,025.xv.^eleven Alfred B. Mullett,supervising architect of the Treasury Department, the chief architect for thefederal government, had charge of the design. He became renowned for hismassive granite Second Empire-manner mail offices and federal courthouses builtin major cities across the United States.¹² In 1890, the Regular army Corps ofEngineers expanded Grant's stable substantially by adding new stalls and roomsfor the grooms to the rear of the building. The project as well covered the areawithin the ii wings with glass.^xiii

Mullett gave the executive stables a formal gateway entrancethat faced 17th Street. At the center of the U-shaped building was an openasphalt courtyard enclosed past a wrought-iron debate. The stable, wagon, feed,tack, and harness rooms, and a cozy sitting room for the coachmen and stablehands, were located on the first floor. An apartment for the coachman and hisfamily was in the second story. A reporter for The Evening Star described the WhiteHouse stables in 1889: A few rods south of the southern entrance to the greatState, War, and Navy buildings is a grove of young copse, from above theverdant tops of which peep out an odd-looking continuation of mansard roof. . .. The uninformed stranger wonders what manner of mansion it is which is thussecluded and finds that information technology is the White Firm stables. The stables areextensive enough to contain twenty-five horses and twelve vehicles. Nada buta pass from the President's private secretary will secure access to thesacred precincts where Albert Hawkins is male monarch.¹⁴

First Official White House Fleet of Automobiles — The official White Firm fleet with drivers and motorbike law in 1909 at the time the White House stable became a garage.

Smithsonian Institution

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The Coachmen

Albert Hawkins was a coachman who began his service nether Ulysses Due south. Grant. Past the 1880s, he was among the near historic of Washington'southward African American community. Tall and well built, the smartly uniformed Hawkins was considered the "young man ideal" of a coachman. He served the White House until 1889, when his eyesight began to neglect.^fifteen Occasional anecdotes about the White House stables appeared in newspapers and magazines, providing a contour of the reserved coachman. One of the all-time stories highlighted his humor. First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland, the bright and cute young wife of President Grover Cleveland, was in high demand on the social scene. Mrs. Cleveland devised a novel way to set bated several hours a calendar week for French lessons. Her teacher joined her for a carriage ride, driven by Hawkins, i morning time a week. In the privacy of the railroad vehicle, the outset lady could take her lessons undisturbed. Mrs. Cleveland became then absorbed that she would often direct Hawkins in French. With a smile and a nod, Hawkins smartly replied, "Oui, Oui Madame."^xvi

What is known about the grooms, coachmen, outriders, and other horsemen is episodic, similar much of what is known about Hawkins, and comes from surviving documents in the public building commissioner'south records, newspapers, and periodicals of that time. The coachman, conspicuous in formal livery on the box of the president's carnage, was always the almost recognized member of the domestic staff. William Willis, an adept horseman, succeeded Hawkins in 1889. He was of mixed African American descent and described past reporters equally "mulatto." Prominent in African American society, Willis was a Freemason and Odd Fellow and was invited to piece of work at the White Firm by Colonel William H. Cheat, disbursing amanuensis of the office staff, who appointed him the commuter of the carriage for the president's private secretaries.¹⁷ A widower, Willis lived in the stables with his girl and mother until he suffered a sudden stroke and died in 1895. Some other well-known White Business firm coachman was Charlie Lee, the commuter for Theodore Roosevelt. His livery consisted of a blue coat, white doeskin trousers, loftier boots, and a top hat with a blood-red white and bluish cockade. Lee, the last White House coachman, was among the employees who moved with the Roosevelts to the White Business firm from their home in Oyster Bay, New York.¹⁸

During the nineteenth century, it was customary to employ a coachman and a few grooms to intendance for the horses and manage the White Business firm stables. In 1889, The Evening Star reported that the president's stables had four employees, including coachman Hawkins, who managed the operations. By 1901, the stable staff included a foreman or director of the stables, iii coachmen, four grooms, and a general laborer. The president paid for his coachman from his personal funds. Two drivers for the executive and domestic staff and three grooms were paid out of the executive budget. The remaining workers with the White Business firm horses were employees of the U.South. Army Quartermaster Corps assigned to presidential stable duty.¹⁹

Frances Folsom Cleveland — Portrait of First Lady Frances Cleveland by Frances B. Johnston, 1886.

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The Horses and Carriages

The U.Due south. government maintained the stable and paid the salaries of near of the staff, but it did not furnish horses or carriages for the president'south personal use. This policy began during the Thomas Jefferson administration. President John Adams had purchased a wagon and horses with authorities funds allocated for the White House household and offered them to his successor. Jefferson elected not to go along them, believing that the president should avoid any purple trappings of role by providing his own carriage and horses.²⁰

By the late 19th century a traditional division of the president's and the government's horses was well established. "A great many people think," said Colonel Crook, "that the expense of keeping the president's horses [is] borne by the authorities. Such is not the case. The government keeps up the office stable, of course, but all those horses on the north side [of the stable] are the president's own holding, and their keeping is paid for by him. There are practically two distinct stables. When Albert [Hawkins] needs feed he buys it from a private house, while the feed for the government horses comes from the quartermaster'southward department."²¹

Presidential horses received the nearly attention and occupied larger box stalls, while the government horses had smaller open stalls. However, all the White Firm horses earned their oats and were on telephone call twenty-iv hours a day. Years of pounding the cobblestone streets of Washington would take a price on the hoofs and legs of these horses, so they required and were given the best of care. Messengers, secretaries, clerks, and the housekeeper used the government horses for daily business organization and for hauling produce and goods. The White House stables became a hub of activity as messengers on horseback and horse-fatigued carriages conveying executive and domestic staff came and went.²²

Earlier the twentieth century the president'south vehicles were neither armored-plated nor specially built. Their carriages were similar to those of citizens of wealth. Ofttimes they were gifts from admirers. George Washington had the near elaborate turnout of the presidents for state occasions—a cream-colored carriage drawn by 6 matched horses "all brilliantly caparisoned." Coachmen and footmen wore livery trimmed with white and vivid ruby-orange that Washington had selected long before for his racing silks. President Franklin Pierce preferred an informal coach and often rode through Washington in an "unpretentious one-horse shay." Chester A. Arthur was far more conspicuous in his fashionable dark green landau, drawn by ii perfectly matched mahogany trophy with flowing manes and tails. The harness was mounted with argent, and the horse blankets were nighttime light-green kersey ornamented with the president'southward monogram.²³

Presidential horses received the most attention and occupied larger box stalls, while the government horses had smaller open up stalls. However, all the White Business firm Horses earned their oats and were on phone call twenty-four hours a twenty-four hours. Years of pounding the cobblestone streets of Washington would accept a cost on the hoofs and legs of these horses, and then they required and were given the best of care.

President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland kept fine matched brown horses in the White Firm stable for their carriages. Their favorite was the open landau that was taken out for drives in the Rock Creek valley and the surrounding hills of Washington. Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley also greatly enjoyed such relaxing excursions with their wives and families. Ulysses South. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes were the almost gorging enthusiasts of driving. No matter what the purpose, presidential style e'er was on display in carriages, equipage, and livery.²⁴

The horses, carriage, and livery of the president added dazzler and spectacle to state events, inaugural parades, and official ceremonies. Equus caballus-fatigued vehicles ceremoniously conveyed the president to and from the White House to the Capitol until Warren G. Harding's inaugural parade in 1921, when automobiles took over. Nineteenth-century presidential funerals were pageants, with elaborate horse-fatigued funeral cars and long processions. In the twentieth century, the president's flag- draped casket has been carried on an arms caisson drawn by six matched horses followed past a riderless horse.²⁵

Military heroes who risked their lives in devotion to the nation have long been attractive presidential candidates. The image of a uniformed officer on a warhorse was one time a powerful symbol of leadership and executive ability. Military heroes, such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Ulysses South. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Benjamin Harrison, were fine riders. However, Washington, Jackson, and Grant stand up out every bit the about ardent of presidential horsemen. It is no surprise that Jackson and Grant have awe-inspiring equestrian statues in the nation'southward majuscule and that some of Washington's finest portraits are equestrian. These men formed a recognized bond with the equus caballus that became a part of their presidential image and defined them every bit men.²⁶

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson took immense pride in their horses and bred them to improve the bloodlines of saddle, work, carriage, and racehorses. Early presidents loved horse racing, the almost popular sport in America at that fourth dimension. Considered essential to the comeback of the speed and stamina of the American horse, racing created more than excitement, enthusiasm, and interest in the colonial period and the early on democracy than any other sport. Considered by his peers the best horseman of his era, Washington helped organize races in Alexandria, Virginia, and frequently attended race meetings throughout the region. Jefferson rarely missed the meets at the National Race Course in Washington, which opened but outside the city boundary two miles north of the White House in 1802. The best horses in the country competed at the National Race Class into the 1840s, and the Jockey Club dinner and brawl, a highlight of the Washington social season, concluded the meeting.²⁷

General Benjamin Harrison--"Come on boys!" - Battle of Resaca - May 13th to 16th 1864 — "Come on Boys!" General Benjamin Harrison on his mount at the battle ofResaca, Georgia, 1864

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Andrew Jackson'due south renowned passion for horseracing was accompanied by an inclination to gamble. A wager sparked ane of his duels. Jackson was a fierce competitor and wagered big sums on his horses. In one case he lost a hefty bet at the Washington races and to his chagrin had to pay off wagers of almost $ i,000 when his favored horse was beaten in an upset.²⁸

Jackson bred racehorses at The Hermitage, his home in Tennessee, and operated a racing stable from the White Firm during his presidency. It was an open secret that he entered runners in the name of his nephew and private secretarial assistant, Andrew Jackson Donelson. Jackson stabled his filly Republic of bolivia and the colt Busiris, owned by his friend General Callender Irvine of Philadelphia, at the White House.²⁹ One day at the National Race Course, President Jackson took Vice President Martin Van Buren to watch Busiris train. When the equus caballus on the track became unruly, Jackson shouted, "Get behind me, Mr. Van Buren. He volition run yous over!" Although Van Buren was an accomplished rider, for a long time after newspapers and cartoonists used this incident to ridicule Van Buren'south reliance on Jackson's fatherly political back up.^xxx

Ulysses South. Grant was the last president actively interested in horse racing. While a presidential candidate, Grant held the ribbons of the not bad champion trotter Dexter owned by Robert Bonner. Quite an issue was made of it, commemorated by Currier and Ives in a pop print. As president, Grant bred trotters and, in the belatedly 1870s, Arabians. He loved mounting a sulky and driving at loftier speed downward Pennsylvania Artery, often in a race with his friend and neighbor, General Edward Beale of Decatur House on Lafayette Square. One time Grant engaged in a friendly race on the streets of Washington with a butcher's carriage and was amazed when the horse pulling the wagon outpaced his horse. Afterwards, he sent a representative effectually to the butcher's store and eventually bought the horse. Butcher's Male child became his favorite trotter.³¹

Jacqueline Kennedy on Horseback — Jacqueline Kennedy takes Sardar over a leap in Middleburg, Virginia in 1962.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

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The last true horseman to use the White House stables was Theodore Roosevelt. His love of fine horses was legendary and played a part in shaping his vigorous personal epitome and advocacy of the "strenuous life." Roosevelt had been a rancher in the Dakota Territory, and his volunteer, mounted Crude Riders emerged as national heroes subsequently the famous accuse at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. After the bump-off of President William McKinley in 1901, Roosevelt brought his image as a rugged outdoorsman and state of war hero very successfully to the presidency.

The Roosevelt family loved horseback riding and driving and did both oftentimes in the public eye. Late in his tenure, Roosevelt's presidential schedule included daily rides to Potomac and Rock Creek parks with his armed services aide, Archie Butt, a superb horseman. Roosevelt, with iii companions, once rode more than ninety miles in one day through sleet and snow between the White Business firm and Warrenton, Virginia, to bear witness that the test ride for army and naval officers was not as well difficult. The Roosevelts were the last family to fully utilize the White Firm stables. When offered an machine, the president refused, saying that the Roosevelts were equus caballus people.³²

With the invention of photography and the popularity of illustrated magazines and newspapers past the late nineteenth century, images of the chief executives and their families on horseback became familiar subjects for news photographs. Presidents William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, and Calvin Coolidge and Eleanor Roosevelt every bit beginning lady regularly rode horses for practise and relaxation in public both in the urban center parks of Washington and on vacation. Many modern presidents and first ladies have had a casual involvement in horseback riding, particularly equally a vacation sport. Most notable were Jacqueline Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Mrs. Kennedy was a skilled rider with a passion for jumping and hunt riding. She stabled ponies, Macaroni and Tex, at the White House for her children to learn to ride. Ronald Reagan was the terminal president who might be considered an accomplished passenger and horseman. His career in films had demanded that he ride well. As president, he was comfortable in the saddle or simply working with his horses.

American presidents throughout history have admired the grandeur and appreciated the utility of the horse. George Washington regarded horses every bit a source of pardonable pride, and his warhorses were of great importance to him as loyal companions and symbols of his leadership. Many presidents since his time accept enjoyed the beauty and skill of these uncomplaining public servants for work, sport, and leisure. Everyday apply of horses at the White House has long passed, only at special ceremonies and country occasions the equus caballus regains the stage.

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