Before the construction of West Wing, presidential staff worked on the western end of the second floor of what is now the Executive Residence. However, when Theodore Roosevelt became president, he found that the existing offices in the mansion were insufficient to accommodate his family of six children as well as his staff. A year later in 1902, First LadyEdith Roosevelt hired McKim, Mead & White to separate the living quarters from the offices, to enlarge and modernize the public rooms, to re-do the landscaping, and to redecorate the interior. Congress approved over half a million dollars for the renovation. The West Wing was originally intended as a temporary office structure, built on the site of the extensive greenhouses and stables. The President's Office and the Cabinet Room took up the eastern third of the building closest to the Residence and attached collonaded terrace. Roosevelt's rectangular office with adjacent Cabinet Room through a set of double doors which was located approximately where the Roosevelt Room is now near the centre. In 1909, William Howard Taft expanded the building southward, covering the tennis court. He placed the first Oval Office at the centre of the addition's south facade, reminiscent of the oval rooms on the three floors of the White House. Later, at the outset of his presidency, Herbert Hoover rebuilt the West Wing, excavating a partial basement, and supporting it with structural steel. The completed building, however, lasted less than seven months. On December 24, 1929, the West Wing was significantly damaged by an electrical fire. Hoover rebuilt it, and added air-conditioning. The fourth and final major reorganization was undertaken less than three years later by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dissatisfied with the size and layout of President Hoover's West Wing, he engaged New York architect Eric Gugler to redesign it in 1933. To create additional space without increasing the apparent size of the building, Gugler excavated a full basement, added a set of subterranean offices under the adjacent lawn, and built an unobtrusive "penthouse" story. The directive to wring the most office space out of the existing building was responsible for its narrow corridors and cramped staff offices. Gugler's most notable change was the addition to the east side containing a new Cabinet Room, Secretary's Office, and Oval Office. The new office's location gave presidents greater privacy, allowing them to slip back and forth between the White House and the West Wing without being in full view of the staff. As the size of the president's staff grew over the latter half of the 20th century, the West Wing generally came to be seen as too small for its modern governmental functions. Today, most of the staff members of the Executive Office of the President are located in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
First Floor
Oval Office
Cabinet Room
Roosevelt Room
also renamed the room, previously called by Franklin Roosevelt the "Fish Room" in honour of the two presidents Roosevelt: Theodore, who first built the West Wing, and Franklin, who built the current Oval Office. By tradition, a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt hangs over the mantel of the Roosevelt Room during the administration of a president from the Democratic Party and a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt hangs during the administration of a Republican president. In the past, the portrait not hanging over the mantel hung on the opposite wall. However, during the first term of George W. Bush, an audio-visual cabinet was placed on the opposite wall providing secure audio and visual conference capabilities across the hall from the Oval Office.
During the 1930s, the March of Dimes constructed a swimming pool so that Franklin Roosevelt could exercise, as therapy for his polio-related disability. Richard Nixon had the swimming pool covered over to create the Press Briefing Room, where the White House Press Secretary gives daily briefings.
The journalists, correspondents, and others who are part of the White House press corps have offices near the press briefing room.
Ground Floor
Situation Room
White House Mess
The West Wing ground floor is also the site of a small dining facility staffed by Naval culinary specialists and called the White House Mess. It is located underneath the Oval Office, and was established by President Truman on June 11, 1951.
In 1999, The West Wing television series brought greater public attention to the workings of the presidential staff, as well as to the location of those working in the West Wing. The show followed the working lives of a fictional U.S. president, Josiah Bartlet, and his senior staff. When asked whether the show accurately captured the working environment in 2003, Press Secretary Scott McClellan commented that the show portrayed more foot traffic and larger rooms than in the real West Wing.
