I am in the midst of reading 2 books that are taking me longer than I expected – hence the gap in posts. The first is Corelli’s Mandolin…more on that one in another post. The second, and the subject of this post is The President’s House by Margaret Truman. I stumbled across this book when looking for new audiobooks to download (for free) from my local library. It was published in 2005 by Margaret Truman, daughter of the late Harry S. Truman. Harry Truman was the 34th President of the United States. He followed immediately in the footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt and was president after Roosevelt’s death until 1953. Margaret was in her early twenties when her dad was president and she was able to experience the White House first hand. Much of this first hand experience is mentioned here and there throughout this book. It is this experience that really gives the book a feeling of reality and intense interest.
The book is broken into chapters that talk about different aspects of the White House and life inside the White House. There are chapters about the building itself, the gardens, White House brides, White House children, and much more. One of my favorites would have to be the chapter on White House pets. Did you know that Herbert Hoover had 8 dogs? and Franklin Roosevelt’s monument is one of the only (if not the only – not sure) with not just him, but his dog, “Fala”, shown for eternity?
This book definitely has increased my curiousity and made me want to go for a visit. If you are fascinated by the history of the White House and some of the first family’s this is definitely worth checking out. There are also some online tours that are worth a look. Here are two that I found:
- The White House Historical Associations “A Tour of the White House”
- The White House Museum’s Overview of the White House
What do you think?
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