February 27, 2007
Decorators-in-Chief IV Posted by John Steele Gordon at 01:15 PM EST Alexander Burns writes about how open the White House was when the Lincolns were in residence, how casual everything was, and how lax was security—if it can even be said security existed at all. He writes, “One can hardly imagine a similar scene in any recent White House.” Things weren’t that casual in recent years to be sure, but they were still remarkably casual by the standards of today. The late journalist David Brinkley, in his memoirs about his early days in Washington just before the Second World War, recalled a couple driving a convertible down Pennsylvania Avenue when it started to rain. The man simply swung into the driveway of the White House and stopped under the porte-cochère in order to put up the top. The doorman came out and helped, the man thanked him, got back in the car, and continued his drive down Pennsylvania Avenue. Today, of course, one cannot even drive past the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, let alone into the driveway, because of security concerns.
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