In addition
to the Vice President's Office in the West Wing, the Vice President
and his staff maintain a set of offices in the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building (EEOB), which is located next to the West Wing on
the White House premises. The Vice President's Office in the EEOB
is called the Vice President's Ceremonial Office. This restored,
historical office served as the Navy Secretary's Office when the
EEOB housed the State, Navy and War Departments. Today, the Vice
President uses the office for meetings and press interviews.
Sixteen secretaries of the Navy occupied the office from 1879 until
1921. From 1921 until 1947, General John Pershing occupied the room
as Army Chief of Staff and as Chairman of the Battle Monuments Commission.
Pershing's occupancy of the office was interrupted only once during
these 26 years, when President Hoover
was forced to relocate his offices following a Christmas Eve fire
in the West Wing of the White House in 1929. Since 1960 it has been
occupied by every Vice President from Lyndon B. Johnson
to Richard B. Cheney. (with the exception of Hubert Humphrey, who
used a room on the floor below). Since its restoration in the 1980s,
it has been considered a "ceremonial" office.
The room was
designed by William McPherson, a well-known Boston painter and decorator.
The walls and ceiling were decorated with ornamental
stencilling and allegorical symbols of the Navy
Department, hand painted in typical Victorian colors. These
designs have been restored on part of one wall (two places between
the hall way entrance doors) and replicated on canvas throughout
the rest of the room. The reason for replication on canvas is two-fold:
first, large areas of the original designs were damaged and a large
amount of in-painting would have been necessary; second, the replicated
designs on canvas preserve the original design underneath. The floor
is very delicate, being of mahogany, white maple and cherry. The
two fireplaces are original Belgian black marble; the overmantles
regilded during the restoration. The original Minton tile hearths
were removed and replaced with green marble.
The chandeliers are replicas of the circa 1900 gasoliers, which
had been removed and could not be located. The historic fixtures,
as viewed in photographs, were equipped for both gas and electric
power, the gas globes being on top, the electric lights below.
There are several
items of note in the room, but the most interesting may be the Vice-President's
Desk. This desk is part of the White House collection and was first
used by Theodore Roosevelt
in 1902. Several important figures have chosen
to use this desk - including Presidents Taft,
Wilson,
Harding,
Coolidge,
Hoover
and Eisenhower.
It was placed in storage from December of 1929 until 1945, when
it was then used by President Truman.
Vice President
Johnson and all subsequent Vice Presidents have used the
desk. The inside of the top drawer has been signed by the various
users since the 1940s.
Another item of note is the Bust of Christopher Columbus. One of
the few items on display that were original to the building, it
was removed from the Spanish Cruiser Christabal Colom by the crew
of the USS Montgomery after the battle of Santiago in July 1898.
It was exhibited here in the Secretary's office between 1898-1924.