The Little White House
Posted by: 
sfwife
N 24° 33.388 W 081° 48.399
17R E 418309 N 2716076
Key West Historical Marker
Waymark Code: WM4Z7Y
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/16/2008
Views: 35
Marker Text:
Built in 1890 as quarters for Navy officers, the Little White House later was used by American Presidents William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Truman used the facility as a vacation home and functioning White House between 1946 and 1952. National legislation was drafted and official government business was conducted daily from the site. Perhaps the most important of these actions occurred on December 5, 1951, when Truman enacted a Civil Rights Executive Order requiring federal contractors to hire minorites. The house is considered the birthplace of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air force as a result of the Key West Accords of 1948. President Eisenhower used the site in 1956 while recuperating from a heart attack. In 1961, the house was the venue for a summit between President Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan during the Bay of Pigs incident. Kennedy returned in 1962 after the Cuban Missile Crises. Secretary of State Colin Powell and foreign leaders held an international summit here in 2001. The Little White House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Marker Number: F-546
Date: 2005
County: Monroe
Marker Type: City
Sponsored or placed by: Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation, Historic Tours of America Inc. and Florida Dept. of State
Website: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.
Please post a photo at the marker location.