The Telegraph Room

The Lincoln Bath in 1992 (HABS)

Like the other rooms on the east side of the second floor, the Lincoln Sitting Room was for its first hundred years used as part of the president's offices—specifically as the White House telegraph room between 1865 and 1902. When the West Wing was constructed in 1902 and the executive offices moved there, this room became a sitting room for guests in the bedroom next door.

It is furnished in Victorian style to match the bedroom. The overstuffed sofa and matching chair were formerly furnishings in the Green Room. This room was Florence Harding's busy office. After the Kennedy renovation in 1963 restored it to Victorian style, the room has been maintained in the same style. In 1993, Hillary Clinton redecorated it in vibrant patterns appropriate to the era.

The room became Richard Nixon's favorite spot in the house (he even had it replicated in his presidential library). He liked to work beside its roaring fireplace so much that he sometimes lit a fire even in the summer and had the air-conditioning turned on. He listened to his favorite music, the score of Victory at Sea, as he worked in his favorite brown easy chair.

The Lincoln Bath

Connected to the Lincoln Sitting Room is the Lincoln Bath. About the bath, the Washington Post wrote in 2007: