WEBVTT - Why Does the White House Have a Rose Garden?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here back. In nineteen o two,

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<v Speaker 1>First Lady Edith Roosevelt, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt, took

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<v Speaker 1>it upon herself to convert an area of the White

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<v Speaker 1>House Grounds that once housed stables for horses and carriages

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<v Speaker 1>into a classic colonial garden as part of the Roosevelt Renovation.

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<v Speaker 1>Then in nineteen First Lady Ellen Louise Axon Wilson, the

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<v Speaker 1>first wife of President Woodrow Wilson, followed her lead by

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<v Speaker 1>replacing what had become known as the West Garden with

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<v Speaker 1>a rose garden, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt went on

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen thirty five to appoint famed landscape architect Frederick

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<v Speaker 1>Law Olmsted Jr. Son of the creator of New York

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<v Speaker 1>Central Park, to freshen up the design of the rose Garden.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty one, under the direction of First Lady

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<v Speaker 1>Jacqueline Kennedy, amateur gardenist Rachel Lambert Bunny Melon was asked

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<v Speaker 1>to design the current garden, which led to what is

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<v Speaker 1>known today as the Kennedy Rose Garden, adjacent to the

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<v Speaker 1>Oval Office and cabinet room. We spoke via email with

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<v Speaker 1>Dan Roberts, a liberal arts and history professor at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Richmond in Virginia who also serves as executive

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<v Speaker 1>producer and host of the syndicated history radio program A

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<v Speaker 1>Moment in Time. Roberts explained it was part of a

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<v Speaker 1>general landscape redesign of the White House complex. The Rose

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<v Speaker 1>Garden balanced the structure with the East Garden or Jacqueline

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<v Speaker 1>Kennedy Garden on the other side of living quarters in

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<v Speaker 1>the central and original building of the White House. This

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<v Speaker 1>is essentially the Rose Garden we know today. So how

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<v Speaker 1>did Bunny Melon become involved? It all began at a

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<v Speaker 1>summer picnic at Melon's Cape Cod Beach house that included

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<v Speaker 1>President in Missus Kennedy as guests, according to an interview

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<v Speaker 1>Melon conducted for the White House Historical Association. In that interview,

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<v Speaker 1>Mellon recalled hardly had the President came ashore from his

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<v Speaker 1>boat when he suggested we sit down and discuss a

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<v Speaker 1>garden for the White House. He and Missus Kennedy had

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<v Speaker 1>just returned from a state visit to France, followed by

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<v Speaker 1>stops in England and Austria. The President had noted that

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<v Speaker 1>the White House had no garden equal in quality or

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<v Speaker 1>attractiveness to the gardens that he had seen and in

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<v Speaker 1>which he had been entertained in Europe. There he had

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<v Speaker 1>recognized the importance of gardens surrounding an official residence, and

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<v Speaker 1>there appealed to the sensibilities of all people. Melan envisioned

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<v Speaker 1>a fifty by a hundred foot lawn that's about fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>by thirty meters, large enough to accommodate a thousand people

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<v Speaker 1>for ceremonial activities and receptions, and small enough to be

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<v Speaker 1>covered by a tent flanked in all four corners by

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<v Speaker 1>magnolia trees, and twelve foot or four meter wide borders

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<v Speaker 1>planted with smaller trees, roses, and other flowers, including flowers

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<v Speaker 1>used during Thomas Jefferson's period in office. The plans also

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<v Speaker 1>called for a platform on the west end of the

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<v Speaker 1>garden near the oval office, and a flagstone terrace on

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<v Speaker 1>the east end to serve as a place where the

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<v Speaker 1>president could relax and entertain guests or post small luncheons.

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<v Speaker 1>To execute her design, Melan sought out Irvin Williams, head

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<v Speaker 1>gardener of Washington's Kennilworth quatic gardens, and then asked Jackie

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<v Speaker 1>to arrange for Williams to be transferred to the White

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<v Speaker 1>House's Chief Gardener, prestigious job that he held for almost

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<v Speaker 1>fifty years. The garden was unveiled on April nineteen sixty two,

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<v Speaker 1>and the first ceremonial occasion held there in July of

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty two featured swearing in of Anthony Celebreezi, the

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<v Speaker 1>former mayor of Cleveland, as the new Secretary of Health,

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<v Speaker 1>Education and Welfare. Melon's design created the White House central

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<v Speaker 1>lawns so familiar to today's TV viewers, according to Roberts.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, it's surrounded by flower beds anchored by crab

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<v Speaker 1>apple and little leaved linden trees. Hedges of thyme and

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<v Speaker 1>boxwood are intermingled with flower beds filled with the gardens

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<v Speaker 1>signature rose varieties Queen Elizabeth, Pascali, Pat Nixon, and King's Ransom.

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<v Speaker 1>Blooming bulbs of john Quill, daffodils, and tulips burst into

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<v Speaker 1>verdant color in springtime and summertime annuals paint the flower

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<v Speaker 1>beds with rich hues until fall, when flowering kale and

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<v Speaker 1>chrysanthemums and live in the garden with color almost until

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<v Speaker 1>the early days of winter. While Kennedy was in office,

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<v Speaker 1>he used the gardens to host Peace Corps volunteers before

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<v Speaker 1>they went overseas, invited the award winning University of Arkansas

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<v Speaker 1>choir to join him there, welcomed Algerian Premier Ahmed ben

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<v Speaker 1>Bella with a twenty one gun salute, and greeted the

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts of Project Mercury. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the

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<v Speaker 1>Rose Garden also served as a dramatic backdrop as he

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<v Speaker 1>and advisers devised a strategy to avoid a nuclear war

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<v Speaker 1>with Russia. Today, the Rose Garden is kept as a

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<v Speaker 1>private reserve for the president to relax, read, converse with

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<v Speaker 1>his aids, and engage in contemplation, according to Roberts, but

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<v Speaker 1>he added that through the years, presidents have also used

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<v Speaker 1>the space to showcase diplomatic, social, and political events, making

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<v Speaker 1>important public proclamations, holding press conferences, greeting significant guests, introducing

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<v Speaker 1>political allies and appointees, rallying allies for partisan battles, and

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<v Speaker 1>celebrating congressional and national victory. Roberts said that among some

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<v Speaker 1>of the most memorable activities to take place there where

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<v Speaker 1>when quote Tricia Nixon was wed to Edward F. Cox

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<v Speaker 1>and spectacular nuptials in one and President Bill Clinton presided

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<v Speaker 1>over the declaration of peace between Israel and Jordan. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's not all serious stuff. He also said, one quirky

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<v Speaker 1>tradition rears its head, or shall we say their heads

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<v Speaker 1>in high summer. On July one, garden gnomes mysteriously appear

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<v Speaker 1>scattered throughout the rose garden. The number of these stone

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<v Speaker 1>characters happens to coincide with the number of living presidents,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Monday, July, First Lady Milannia Trump's office released

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<v Speaker 1>a statement announcing a massive renewal and enhancement of the

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<v Speaker 1>White House Rose Garden. The accompanying report lists, as part

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<v Speaker 1>of its mission statement quote to curate an outdoor experienced

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<v Speaker 1>transcendent of each administration and promote design solutions that are

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<v Speaker 1>steeped in scholarship and intellect and are reflective of meticular

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<v Speaker 1>liss attention to narrative intent and detail. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Wendy Bowman and produced by Tyler Klang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other green topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is a production of

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