Celebrate President's Day With These Plumbing Facts About the People's House
It's hard to imagine a time when the executive leader of the United States of America didn't have indoor plumbing. But the White House was built long before indoor plumbing was standard in construction. The White House has been the home and office of every president since James Adams, the second president, occupied it in 1800, so it has undergone many updates and reconstructions in its 220 years.
This President's Day, homeowners should celebrate with a few facts about the nation's most famous house and how it was updated with modern plumbing.
When Was Plumbing Installed?
The modern White House boasts an impressive 35 bathrooms, a swimming pool, multiple kitchens, and irrigation. Up until John Quincy Adams (1826-1829) moved in, there was no water service to the entire property. Adams was an avid gardener, so he had a well-pump installed to irrigate his gardens.
In 1833, President Andrew Jackson had water piped into the White House. Within the next year, a "bathing room" was added in the East Wing. Details are scant, but it would seem the bathing room didn't have flush toilets, and water had to be heated and hauled to fill bathtubs.
The year 1853 saw the first modern facilities introduced into the White House. President Franklin Pierce updated the bathrooms to include flush toilets and hot and cold water that didn't have to be hauled to fill up tubs.
President Taft and His Bathtub
There is a myth that exists about President William Howard Taft. At 6 feet tall and weighing in at 350 pounds, he was a larger than life figure that dwarfed his compatriots. Legend has it that he got stuck in the White House bathtub and commissioned a custom tub to prevent it from happening in the future.
In reality, the myth about President Taft didn't start circulating until about 20 years after his presidency. However, the truth is that he did have a custom tub installed in the White House bathroom to accommodate his girth. His custom tub was 7 feet long, 3 and a half feet wide, and weighed 2000 pounds. Pictures circulated of it comfortably seating 4 grown men that helped build it.
Nixon's Plumbers
It's funny to think of an elite group of plumbers stationed at the White House ready to handle emergency plumbing problems, but that's not what "Nixon's Plumbers" were tasked to do. The phrase refers to a special investigation unit commissioned by President Nixon to stop "leaks."
The group was established in response to a release of classified documents called The Pentagon Papers. The reason for releasing the papers was to inform the public of misinformation about the Vietnam War. Nixon's Plumbers were largely unsuccessful at stopping further leaks and discrediting the leaks' source. Members of the Plumbers continued in service of Nixon until they were involved with Watergate several years later.
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