Summer White Houses: Eisenhower House
At the time that President Dwight D. Eisenhower used this residence at his Summer White House in 1958 and 1960, the building now known as Eisenhower House was then known as the Commandant's Residence or Quarters Number One of Fort Adams. Located in Rhode Island, Eisenhower House became part of Fort Adams State Park after the U.S. Navy transferred Fort Adams to the State of Rhode Island in 1964.
The building that Ike used as his Summer White House was built by George C. Mason and Son in 1873. Its first inhabitant was General Henry Jackson Hunt. The house was built as the commandant's residence at Fort Adams, which was an important citadel that was built to protect the bay and Newport Harbor from naval invasion. Mason and Son was a firm of Newport architects who were hired to design a substantial house outside the walls of the fort for the commandant and his family to reside in.
Eisenhower spent his first summer in Newport, Rhode Island in September 1957, when he resided at the Naval War College. He liked the area and decided to return. The next year he settled into the Summer White House at the commandant's residence at Fort Adams in August 1958. In a letter to Col. Edythe P. Turner dated September 15, 1958, Eisenhower wrote:
As you know, we are spending our second summer "vacation" in Newport. This year Mrs. Eisenhower and I have managed to achieve a little more isolation than formerly, and–despite the fact that I have already been called back to Washington twice–I have managed to keep paper work to a minimum. Of course there are always trouble spots that give me great concern, but I have become reconciled to the fact that in this job there is always a crisis of some kind or other. I am trying to get in as much golf (of a rather poor variety) as possible and in general charge my batteries for the months ahead.
During some of Eisenhower's vacations he had to address matters of vital national importance. In September 1957 for example, he was contending with the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas following the order of the US Supreme Court. In September 1958, he was dealing with Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and in July 1960, it was Soviet interests in Cuba and Congo and a downed American plane over the Barents Sea.
But there was also time for some presidential rest and relaxation when Eisenhower was in Rhode Island. He enjoyed golfing at the Newport Country Club, movies, and visiting local attractions such as Colony House, Trinity Church, Touro Synagogue, and Washington Square. Initially, in the summer of 1958, Eisenhower was living at the Naval War College on Coasters Harbor Island. However, he moved his summer base to this location because it was close to the Newport Country Club.
President Eisenhower rejected the notion that his time spent at his summer white house was a time of relaxation. Eisenhower told reporters that the demands on a President were no different during his summers in Newport, despite the change of scenery. He told a reporter, "The White House office is wherever the President may happen to be."
The United States Navy transferred Fort Adams and Eisenhower House to the State of Rhode Island in 1964 for use as a state park. Today Eisenhower House is a historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the property is the scene of many public and social events.
The building that Ike used as his Summer White House was built by George C. Mason and Son in 1873. Its first inhabitant was General Henry Jackson Hunt. The house was built as the commandant's residence at Fort Adams, which was an important citadel that was built to protect the bay and Newport Harbor from naval invasion. Mason and Son was a firm of Newport architects who were hired to design a substantial house outside the walls of the fort for the commandant and his family to reside in.
Eisenhower spent his first summer in Newport, Rhode Island in September 1957, when he resided at the Naval War College. He liked the area and decided to return. The next year he settled into the Summer White House at the commandant's residence at Fort Adams in August 1958. In a letter to Col. Edythe P. Turner dated September 15, 1958, Eisenhower wrote:
As you know, we are spending our second summer "vacation" in Newport. This year Mrs. Eisenhower and I have managed to achieve a little more isolation than formerly, and–despite the fact that I have already been called back to Washington twice–I have managed to keep paper work to a minimum. Of course there are always trouble spots that give me great concern, but I have become reconciled to the fact that in this job there is always a crisis of some kind or other. I am trying to get in as much golf (of a rather poor variety) as possible and in general charge my batteries for the months ahead.
During some of Eisenhower's vacations he had to address matters of vital national importance. In September 1957 for example, he was contending with the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas following the order of the US Supreme Court. In September 1958, he was dealing with Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and in July 1960, it was Soviet interests in Cuba and Congo and a downed American plane over the Barents Sea.
But there was also time for some presidential rest and relaxation when Eisenhower was in Rhode Island. He enjoyed golfing at the Newport Country Club, movies, and visiting local attractions such as Colony House, Trinity Church, Touro Synagogue, and Washington Square. Initially, in the summer of 1958, Eisenhower was living at the Naval War College on Coasters Harbor Island. However, he moved his summer base to this location because it was close to the Newport Country Club.
President Eisenhower rejected the notion that his time spent at his summer white house was a time of relaxation. Eisenhower told reporters that the demands on a President were no different during his summers in Newport, despite the change of scenery. He told a reporter, "The White House office is wherever the President may happen to be."
The United States Navy transferred Fort Adams and Eisenhower House to the State of Rhode Island in 1964 for use as a state park. Today Eisenhower House is a historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the property is the scene of many public and social events.