1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey Brainstuff, 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: Lauren fog Obam here. Most people probably know that the 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: United States President lives and works in the White House 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: at Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, d C. It's one of 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: the most famous homes on the planet and a symbol 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: of the power and prestige of the presidency. But what 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: about the Vice president, the second in the line of 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: succession to the nation's highest office. It's a post that's 9 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: become increasingly important as a source of policy advice and 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: legislative lobbying muscle in presidential administrations. But does it come 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: with an official residence as well? The answer is yes. 12 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: Since the mid nineteen seventies, the Vice president has had 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: a mansion of his and now her own as well, 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: and though it's not as well known as the White House, 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: it's pretty fancy and historic in its own right. The 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: Vice President's resident is located on the grounds of the 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: United States Naval Observatory, about two and a half miles 18 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: or four kilometers northwest of the White House. It doesn't 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: have a similarly iconic name, and is often referred to 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: prosaically as the VPR or by using its address Number 21 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: one Observatory Circle. We spoke with Kyle Copco, an adjunct 22 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: professor of political science at Elizabethtown College and the author 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: of two books on vice presidential candidates. He explained it's 24 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: probably due to the fact that a catchy name simply 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: didn't develop. The White House wasn't originally called that it 26 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: developed over time. Originally, the White House was called the 27 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: Executive Mansion, or President's Mansion, or various generic combinations throughout history. 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: In fact, the Presidential Mansion wasn't officially named the White 29 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: House until nineteen o one. But don't let the nondescript 30 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: nomenclature fool you. Number one Observatory Circle, built in three 31 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: is an ornate, three story Queen Anne style brick Victorian 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: home with nine thousand one square feet that's eight hundred 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: and fifty square meters of interior space. A Cupco said, 34 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: the demands of the vice presidency and the need for 35 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: security necessitate a government owned house for the vice president 36 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: and the second family. The establishment of an official vice 37 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,119 Speaker 1: presidential residence also coincides with the rise of the offices 38 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: informal power. Historically, the office of the vice president was 39 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: not very powerful, and the vice president mainly assumed ceremonial duties. 40 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: However that changed over time. Vice presidents now play significant 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: advisory roles overseas policy and assume a variety of responsibilities 42 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: on behalf of the President. Designed by Washington architect Leon E. 43 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: Disays and built by Philadelphia based construction firm, the house 44 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: originally was intended to serve as the home of the 45 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: superintendent of the Naval Observatory. According to book by Gail S. Clear, 46 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: called the House on Observatory Hill Home of the Vice 47 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: President of the United States. The home was meant to 48 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: be quote a gracious country house after the style of 49 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: the time. The ground floor consists of a reception hall, 50 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: living room, sitting room, sun porch, dining room, and pantry, 51 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: plus offices that were added on to the homes north side. 52 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: The second floor contains two bedrooms, a study, and a den, 53 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: while the third floor has four more rooms which originally 54 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: served as servants quarters and storage areas. In the basement, 55 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,919 Speaker 1: there's a kitchen, laundry room, and more storage. A dozen 56 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: observatory superintendents lived in the house from eight to ninety seven, 57 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: but the mansion was coveted by various officers who held 58 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: the post of Chief of Naval Operations, and in Congress 59 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: finally passed a law giving it to the Cieno at 60 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: the time when Admiral Charles Frederick Hughes, known as Handlebars 61 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: because of his lush mustache, he moved into the House 62 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: the following year. Vice presidents mostly either resided in their 63 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: own homes, or, as Calvin Coolidge did during the Warring 64 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: Gy Harding administration, lived in hotels. Coolidge, who became president 65 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: after Harding's death in n may have been the first 66 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: to advocate the notion of giving the vice president an 67 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: official home in keeping with the dignity of the position. 68 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: Coolidge wrote in his memoirs, the Great Office should have 69 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: a settled and permanent habitation, and a place irrespective of 70 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: the financial ability of its temporary occupant. By the mid 71 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, the expense of outfitting vice presidential residences with 72 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,919 Speaker 1: adequate security and communications equipment prompted Congress to pass a 73 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: bill authorizing construction of a new home for the Vice 74 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: President on a portion of the Naval Observatory grounds at 75 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: the cost of seven and fifty thousand dollars, which would 76 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: be about six million in today's money, but as the 77 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: cost of the Vietnam War escalated, then Vice President Hubert 78 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: Humphrey asked that project be delayed as quote an example 79 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: of prudent budget practices, and the new house was never built. Meanwhile, 80 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: the government continued to spend a fortune outfitting vice presidential residences. 81 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: After Richard Nixon picked Gerald R. Ford to replace Spireau 82 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: Agnew as vice president. When Agnew resigned in nineteen seventy three, 83 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: construction workers descended upon Ford's home in Alexandria, Virginia to 84 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: make extensive modifications, including installation of bullet resistant windows. Those 85 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: retrofits were only needed for nine months because Ford eventually 86 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: replaced Nixon as president. Eventually, as Clear's book notes, Congress 87 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: decided that what was at the time called the Admiral 88 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: House presented a cheaper alternative. In four Congress passed legislation 89 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: that took Number one Observatory Circle away from the Ciano 90 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: and made it the vice presidential residence. The Ciano was 91 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 1: relocated to Tigney House, a nineteen o four Georgian style 92 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: mansion that stands in the Washington Navy Yard, but the 93 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: transition didn't occur right away. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller never 94 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: actually moved into Number one Observatory Circle, though he did 95 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: use it for official events. Walter Mondale, who moved into 96 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: the mansion in nineteen seventy seven, was its first vice 97 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: presidential occupant. Over the years, various modifications have been made 98 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: to the vice presidential residence. Dan Quayle, who served as 99 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: vice president during the George H. W. Bush administration, added 100 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: a swimming pool. Karen Pence, the wife of Donald Trump's 101 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: Vice president Mike Pence, added a beehive as a reminder 102 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: of bees important role in agriculture. After Kamala Harris was 103 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: sworn in as Vice President of the United States in 104 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: January one, she and her husband, Doug Emhoff didn't immediately 105 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: move in. Instead, they temporarily took up residence in Blair House, 106 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: the presidential guest residence at sixteen fifty one Pennsylvania Avenue 107 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: near the White House, so that repairs and maintenance could 108 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: be completed. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Haiger 109 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and 110 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: lots of other curious topics, visit hous to works dot com. 111 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. Or more 112 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: podcasts my Heart Radio. Visit the i heart radio, app, 113 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.