Andrew Johnson Suite
The served as the location of the
temporary White House in 1865 when Andrew
Johnson assumed the presidency following the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The
presidential association, coupled with
historic documentation for furnishing the
rooms, makes the Andrew Johnson Suite one of
the most significant spaces in the .
The assassination of Lincoln came at a
critical time in our country's history, just
one week after the surrender of the
Confederate Army. The President's plans to
reunite the country were interrupted on April
14, 1865 when John Wilkes Booth fired a
fatal shot at Lincoln. The following morning
Lincoln died, making his vice-president,
Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth president of
the United States.
As a courtesy to Mary Todd Lincoln,
Johnson delayed moving into the White House,
allowing Mrs. Lincoln time to recover and
plan her departure. In the meantime, Secretary
of the Treasury offered
his recently decorated reception room for the
President's official use. Here, within hours
of Lincoln's death, Andrew Johnson held his
first cabinet meeting in what would be his
temporary executive office for the next six
weeks.
During the time that Johnson was at the
Treasury Department, he worked methodically
and deliberately to calm the country.
Numerous delegations, including
representatives from various states, visited
him. A recurring theme in Johnson's addresses
to such groups was the assertion that he
would continue the policies set forth by
Lincoln. Newspaper articles also reported
that the American people were anxious to
express their support for the new
president.
While at Treasury, President Johnson held
a reception for foreign ambassadors, one of
the first official functions of his
presidency. Johnson also issued a $100,000
warrant for the arrest of Confederate
President Jefferson Davis who, at the time,
was suspected of conspiring in the
assassination of Lincoln.
Exhibited in the suite is a reproduction
of the , the original of which was
draped across the presidential box on the
April evening President and Mrs. Lincoln
attended Ford's Theater. When John Wilkes
Booth jumped to the stage after shooting the
president, he caught his spur in the Treasury
Guard Flag, causing him to break his leg upon
landing. After Lincoln's death, the torn flag
was brought back to Treasury and displayed in
the corridor outside the Secretary's suite as
a symbol of the nation's tragedy.
In 1863, the Treasury
Department commissioned a New York decorating
firm, Pottier & Stymus, to design and
furnish the rooms occupied by the Secretary
of the Treasury. This suite was used by
the Secretary
of the Treasury from 1864 to 1875.
Pottier &
Stymus' commissions included the decoration
of the White House Cabinet Room under
President Grant and late nineteenth century
commissions from clients such as William
Rockefeller, Frederick Steinway, and the New
York Plaza Hotel. At the time the firm
decorated the Treasury offices, they employed
nearly 700 men.
Invaluable in identifying furnishings for
the restoration were Pottier and Stymus'
original invoices and floor plans, historic
engravings from period newspapers, and
written descriptions. Careful research led to
the reproduction of period carpets woven in
27 inch widths, walnut window cornices and
tiebacks, and gilded chandeliers. The
Renaissance Revival style furniture is
ornamented with gilded and ebonized details.
The sofa and arm chairs with shields on the
back crest appear in an 1865 engraving of the
room and are part of the historic Treasury
furniture collection. As part of the
restoration project, these pieces were
reupholstered in period horsehair and plush
and returned to the suite.
To determine the suite's original paint
scheme, research was conducted using paint
samples taken from both rooms' architectural
features including the moldings, the ceiling
medallion, and columns. These samples, when
examined under a microscope, revealed a
complete chronology of paint layers and color
during the suite's history. Once the original
colors were identified, the suite was painted
accordingly and gold leaf was reinstated on
the entablature, door, and window frames.
Paint analysis conducted on one of the
suite's original doors revealed that it was
made from pine then faux grained to look like
oak. During restoration, skilled craftsmen
applied this graining technique on all of the
suite's doors to create a similar effect.
We appreciate the help of Treasury's
Office of the Curator in providing and
maintaining this information. The Curator
wishes to acknowledge the City of Bridgeport,
the Barnum Museum (loan of furniture)
Corcoran Gallery of Art (loan of Andrew
Johnson portrait) Darby Foundation (purchase
of textiles) Treasury Historical Association
(donation of artwork)
The restoration of the Andrew Johnson
Suite was funded by private donations raised
by the Committee for the Preservation of the
Treasury Building.
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