The Truman Balcony is the second-floor

balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

of the

Executive Residence The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. It is the most recognizable part of the complex, being the actual "house" part of the White House. This central building, f ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, which overlooks the

South Lawn The South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., is directly south of the house and is bordered on the east by East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, on the west by West Executive Drive and the Old Executive Office Building, and ...

. It was completed in March 1948, during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

Proposal

Truman's plans to build a

off the Yellow Oval Room were controversial. Truman argued that the addition of a balcony would provide shade for the first floor

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, avoiding the need for

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

s, and would balance the White House's south face by breaking up the long verticals created by the columns. Truman had previously had a request for an extension to the

West Wing The West Wing of the White House is the location of the office space of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room (White House), Cabinet Room, the White House Situation Room, Situation Room, a ...

rejected by Congress. Though Truman had told Howell G. Crim, the White House Chief Usher, and J. B. West, Crim's assistant, of his ideas for a balcony, the announcement by his press secretary, Charlie Ross that the balcony would be built was the first public statement. The plans were executed by architect William Adams Delano, who had carried out alterations to the house during the presidency of

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

. Critics of the proposal, including members of the Commission of Fine Arts, argued that the Classic Greek style of the building would be undermined in order to create a leisure space for the First Family. The commission's chairman, civil engineer and landscape architect Gilmore David Clarke, wrote to Truman to voice his opposition to the balcony. Truman responded, restating his belief that the residence would be enhanced by the project especially as it presented an opportunity to replace unattractive awnings (which already broke the vertical column line) and which he said collected dirt and constituted an eyesore. Instead, wooden slate shades could be rolled up under the new balcony, essentially disappearing when not in use. Contemporary political cartoonists satirized the President's balcony project, suggesting that it might even cost him the 1948 presidential election.

Construction and subsequent history

Plans for the balcony were approved by architect Delano. No request was made to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

for the $16,050.74 () cost of constructing the balcony, as Truman had saved a sufficient sum from his household account. Once the balcony was completed, several of those who had opposed the project wrote to the President acknowledging that the balcony had in fact improved the south face of the Residence.Balcony -- Letter 4 from Deloevare King, April 29,1948
In a September 2012 interview in '' Vanity Fair'', President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

listed the balcony as his and his wife

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

's favorite spot in the White House.Vanity Fair interview, September 2012

Proposal

Construction and subsequent history

References

Further reading