Vice President Johnson and all subsequent Vice Presidents (except Hubert Humphrey) have used the desk. The desk was placed in storage early on during Herbert Hoover's Presidency where it remained until 1945 when President Truman then used it. Several important figures have used the desk including Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and for a few months, Hoover. The current desk is part of the White House collection, and was commissioned to be built for Theodore Roosevelt's use in the Oval Office. Since 1960 it has been used as the Vice President's Ceremonial Office with the exception of Vice President Hubert Humphrey, because Lyndon Johnson did not give up the office when he became President after the Kennedy assassination. Additionally, President Hoover used the office for three months following a Christmas Eve fire in the West Wing in 1929. From 1923 to 1947, General John Pershing occupied the office initially as the Army Chief of Staff then as the Chairman of the Battle and Monuments Commission, becoming the longest single occupant of this room (24 years). The current Vice President's Ceremonial Office was originally used as the Secretary of Navy's office from 1879 to 1923. The top drawer of the Vice Presidents desk has been signed by Vice Presidents Cheney, Gore, Quayle, Mondale, and Rockefeller and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. The building continues to house 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. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969. The White House began to move some of its offices across West Executive Avenue in 1939, and in 1949 the building was turned over to the Executive Office of the President and renamed the Executive Office Building. The Navy Department left in 1918 (except for the Secretary who stayed until 1921), followed by the War Department in 1938, and finally by the State Department in 1947. The EEOB was finished in 1888 and was the largest office building in Washington with nearly 2 miles of black and white tiled corridors. Construction took 17 years as the building slowly rose wing by wing. Originally built for the State, War, and Navy Departments between 18, the EEOB is an impressive building that commands a unique position in both our national history and architectural heritage.ĭesigned by Supervising Architect of the Treasury Alfred Mullett, the granite, slate, and cast iron exterior makes the EEOB one of America’s best examples of the French Second Empire style of architecture. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) is located next to the West Wing, and houses a majority of offices for White House staff.

Inside of office building