Potus Geeks Book Review: The Hidden History of the White House
The Hidden History of the White House: Power Struggles, Scandals, and Defining Moments is a 2024 publication presented by the American History Tellers podcast and written by Cory Mead, an associate English professor at the University of New York. The book selects fifteen events from Presidential history, with a look at how each of these fascinating events may have been viewed by an observer other than the man sitting at the big desk inside the oval office.
Meads divides his book into three sections. The first part contains stories about the history of the building itself, including the building's construction, the burning of what was then called "the President's Mansion" by the British during the War of 1812, the renovations that almost got Harry Truman killed, and even the construction of the White House swimming pool. In the second section, Meads recalls events when the White House served as "the people's house" and how it was trashed by attendees at Andrew Jackson's inauguration, how a Native American tried to use his White House position for the descendants of the original inhabitants of the United States, and the first time an African-American came to the White House as a dinner guest. In the final section, entitled "the Halls of Power," Meads recalls pivotal events as they unfolded through the eyes of those in the White House. These events include the time the First Lady served as acting President, the houseguest who was also Prime Minister of Great Britain, the hidden recording system that brought down a President, and the killing of one of the most evil terrorists in history.
Those intimately familiar with Presidential history will not learn much new in this book, and the author acknowledges that in telling these stories, he has borrowed from the work of presidential historians and authors. This doesn't make the recollection of these events any less interesting however, and the author's device of looking at the events through bystanders (such as Pinkerton detective Kate Warne, enslaved White House servant Paul Jennings, or Barack Obama's deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes) is refreshing and presents these events from a different perspective.
Meads reminds us that history is not the property of an academic elite, but rather that it belongs to all of us. The book's lack of pretentiousness is one of its strengths and adds to its appeal.