By the time TR became president in 1901, the White House was becoming too small a space to fit both the executive residence and offices. Neither the West Wing nor the East Wing existed at this time! So, in 1902, Congress passed an appropriations bill that allocated money to create a new space dedicated to the executive offices. The bill also included money for a general renovation of the White House.
Originally, this expansion was meant to be temporary offices for TR’s presidency. The newly constructed offices became the start of what is today the West Wing. This 1902 “West Wing” was much smaller in scale than what we think of now. The image highlighted in this artifact spotlight is a stereographic photo of TR in his newly constructed presidential office, taken shortly after its completion in 1902. Some of the original structures of TR’s 1902 extension still stand in the White House today, including his office.
TR’s office went through many interesting uses after his presidency. In the 1930s, TR’s cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) stored his fishing trophies in the room and installed an aquarium; the room became known as the “Fish Room.” Fun fact: FDR’s three direct presidential successors – Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy – all reportedly hated the “Fish Room” name. However, President Kennedy used it to display a sailfish he caught on his honeymoon, in keeping with the “Fish Room” moniker. The room was used for a range of things: a spillover space for Presidential gatherings, a briefing room for the National Security Council, and a presidential “waiting room.” President Lyndon Johnson used the room for radio and TV broadcasting. President Johnson almost went through with a plan to make it a dedicated newsroom. However, the room was deemed too small, and that job went to what is now the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon named the room the “Roosevelt Room” after both Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Nixon named the room after both presidents because they were major contributors to the expansion of the West Wing. The room prominently features TR’s 1906 Nobel Peace Prize medal for his efforts in ending the Russo-Japanese War, along with his posthumously awarded Medal of Honor (given to him in 2001 by President George W. Bush for his heroism in the 1898 Spanish-American War). Prominent portraits of both TR and FDR are on display today, along with busts of the heads of both Presidents.
Today, the room is commonly used for staff meetings and to announce the appointment or nomination of new staff members for the executive branch. The room is also used for teleconferencing, and as a preparation room for large groups meeting with the president.
What a history for a single room! The TR Site features a recreation of TR’s office. We encourage you to come visit and see it yourself! You can sit at TR’s presidential desk, where you can pretend to be president for a day and veto or pass bills that came across TR’s desk in real life. Personally, I think we need to spread the awareness that there was once a White House “Fish Room.” I know the next time I step foot into our version of TR’s office, I will be thinking about the fact that it became a room dedicated to FDR’s fish!
– Will DeMartinis, (2026 Gardiner Summer fellow)
