WASHINGTON (AP) – Betty Ford says if the West Wing of the White House is the “heart” of the nation, east wing The traditional center of power for a first lady is her heart.
That “heart” has been beating for more than 100 years as the first lady and her team worked from their East Wing offices on everything from stopping drug abuse and promoting literacy to beautifying and preserving the White House itself. This is where they planned the White House state dinner and brainstormed the elaborate themes that characterize the American holiday season.
That history came to an end last week when vandals destroyed the wing’s two-story office and reception room. Gone is the company movie theater and the covered walkway to the White House that has been so photographed over the years. A garden in the east wing dedicated to Jacqueline Kennedy was also uprooted, according to photos.
Republican President Donald Trump It was ordered to be demolished as part of a still-unapproved plan to build a $300 million ballroom.
The former real estate developer has long been obsessed with building a large ballroom at the White House. In 2010, he called Democratic President Barack Obama’s top adviser and offered to create it. President Trump has made no secret of his distaste for the practice of hosting elegant White House state dinners under a tent on the South Lawn. This offer was not pursued.
Now in his second term, President Trump is moving rapidly to realize what he calls his “Great Legacy Project.” He has sought to justify the East Wing demolition and banquet plans by pointing to the additions to the White House over the years that some of his predecessors have made.
Anita McBride, who worked in the building as first lady Laura Bush’s chief of staff, said the first lady and her staff witnessed history in the East Wing, a “place of purpose and service.”
“Just because we tear down the walls doesn’t diminish the importance of the work we accomplished there,” McBride told The Associated Press.
Construction workers (bottom right, above the U.S. Treasury) watch as demolition continues on the east wing of the White House to make space for a new ballroom, October 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
McBride said he supports adding more ballrooms because the “large, expensive tent option” that has been used when guest lists grow longer than can be comfortably accommodated inside the White House is “not sustainable.” Tents damage the lawn and require additional infrastructure to be put in place, such as outdoor toilets and trolleys to move people around, especially during inclement weather, she said.
Others feel differently.
Krish Omara Vignaraja, former policy director for first lady Michelle Obama, said the demolition was a “symbolic blow” to the East Tower’s legacy as a place where women made history.
“The East Wing was the physical space that saw the first lady’s role evolve from a gregarious hostess to a strong advocate for a variety of issues,” she said in an interview.
Here’s a little history of the East Wing and the first women who lived there.
Rosalynn Carter
She was the first first lady to have her own office in the East Wing. Most first ladies before President Carter worked from private quarters on the second or third floor of their official residences. Carter wanted a place where she could separate work and home life.
“I always needed a private place where I didn’t have to get dressed or put on makeup,” she wrote in her memoir. “The first lady’s staff offices have always been in the East Wing, and I thought it would be a perfect location for my office as well.”
In her memoir, Carter writes about her favorite route to the office during the winter. She walked through the basement, past the laundry room and workshop and the bomb shelter that was kept for the president and his staff. Because of President Jimmy Carter’s energy conservation program, the thermostat in the mansion above had been set low, so it was so cold in the east wing that she was forced to wear long underwear.
The underground passageway that the dormitory staff led her through gave her some peace of mind. “Jimmy’s energy-saving program installed large steam pipes overhead, making it the only truly warm place in the White House,” the first lady wrote.
nancy regan
A photo from the East Wing from the early 1980s shows the first lady meeting with staff, including press secretary Sheila Tate. For a generation of Americans, Nancy Reagan was most closely associated with phrases such as: “Just say no.” A substance abuse prevention program marked her tenure in the White House.
As President Reagan once recalled, the idea for the campaign came to him in 1982 during a visit with schoolchildren to Oakland, California. “A little girl raised her hand and said, ‘Mrs. Reagan, what would you do if someone offered you drugs?’ And I said, ‘Well, you just say no.’ And that’s where it was born. ”
Hillary Clinton
President Bill Clinton watches the Super Bowl game between the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills with his daughter Chelsea and cat Sox, flanked by Texas Governor Ann Richards (left) and New York Governor Mario Cuomo, at the White House Family Theater on January 31, 1993. (AP Photo/Wilfried Lee, File)
Clinton defied history by becoming the first first lady to insist that her office be located in the West Wing instead of the East Wing. In her memoir, Clinton wrote that she wanted her staff to be “physically integrated” into the presidential team. The first lady’s office was moved to the current Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and Mr. Clinton’s office was assigned to the second floor of the West Wing.
“This was another unprecedented event in the history of the White House, and it quickly became fodder for late-night comedians and political pundits,” Clinton later wrote.
Laura Bush
In his memoir, President Bush writes about what the White House was like after the September 11 attacks. Most of the staff members, who were in their 20s at the time, were told to “run for their lives” after receiving reports that the White House was being targeted, and “took off their high heels and fled from the East Wing.”
Anita McBride (left) and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush (right) watch as President Bush gives opening remarks during a video conference call in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., December 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dalapak, File)
“Now they are being asked to work for the presidency and a country at war in a building that everyone considers a target,” she wrote.
michelle obama
Obama was the first Black woman to serve as first lady, advocated for improved child nutrition through her “Let’s Move” initiative, and became a global role model and style icon. She and East Wing staff also worked to support military families and promote higher education for girls in developing countries.
Photos from the time show Obama typing on a laptop during an online chat about school nutrition and the White House garden. she made.
A large ribbon is displayed outside the East Wing of the White House during a preview of the 2016 holiday decorations on November 29, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
melania trump
Trump pushed the envelope as first lady by not living in the White House during the first few months of Donald Trump’s first term. She remained in New York with her then-school-aged son, Barron, so he wouldn’t have to transfer schools mid-year. When she eventually moved to the White House, she and her East Wing aides We have launched an initiative called “Be Best”” focuses on child welfare, opioid abuse, and online safety.
Guests perform at the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden as part of First Lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” one-year anniversary event at the White House on May 7, 2019 in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Jill Biden
Mr. Biden is First lady to continue her career outside of the White House. A longtime community college English professor, she taught twice a week while serving as first lady. But in her work in the East Wing, she was an advocate for military families. Her late father and late son Beau served in the military. Biden also advocated for research into cancer treatments and secured millions of dollars in federal funding. Research on women’s health.
