• Franklin D. Roosevelt in Map Room
    Unknown
    Map Room
    Ground Floor
    In this color drawing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is depicted sitting at a desk in the Map Room of the White House. This drawing shows the President sitting in a wheelchair, but during the course of his presidency, he went to great lengths to not have the public see him using a wheelchair.
  • Last World War II Situation Map
    Unknown
    Map
    This map was created in 1945 during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The framed war map of Europe shows the movement of forces predicted for May 1, 1945 and was delivered to President Roosevelt during his respite in Warm Springs, Georgia in April 1945. It is likely the last map Roosevelt examined before his death on April 12th. The map was saved by Ensign George Elsey who worked in the Map Room, a room started by Roosevelt on the Ground Floor of the Executive Mansion to monitor movements and classified information during World War II. Today, the room is a sitting room, but the Map Room was a predecessor for the Situation Room.
  • 1800 Map of L'Enfant Plan for Washington, D.C.
    John Reid
    map
    This map showing the plan for the city of Washington, D.C. was published by John Reid in 1800 and based upon the famous L'Enfant-Ellicott plan published by Thackara and Vallance in 1792. President George Washington asked French-born architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant to design the new capital. L'Enfant developed plans for the city, but his refusal to cooperate with the president’s commissioners led to his dismissal in February 1792. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia began implementation of the plan under the direction of surveyor Andrew Ellicott. Renewed interest in beautifying the nation's capital in the early 20th century, however, led to the revival of L'Enfant's vision, especially his plan for creating cardinal features in the city with the Capitol and White House connected by "by a grand avenue four hundred feet in breadth, and about a mile in length, bordered by gardens, ending in a slope from the houses on each side." This vista was the inspiration for McMillan Plan's park-like means of communication between the legislative and the executive branches which became the National Mall.