President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its name on this day in 1901. Before then, it went by all kinds of titles, including the “President’s Palace,” “President’s House,” and “Executive Mansion.” The original building had been painted white in 1798 to protect it in cold weather, and the color stuck after it was burned by the British in 1814 and rebuilt a few years later. Roosevelt didn’t come up with the name — it was the public that first started referring to the presidential residence by its hue.
Newspapers and other publications started calling it the White House throughout the 1800s, but most people used those other terms in their day-to-day life. By 1901, the presidential letterhead still said “Executive Mansion.” The renaming was part of a broader reworking of the building’s image. The year after, the West Wing was built and the president’s offices moved there. Within five decades, the place was falling apart, so the whole building was gutted and reconstructed, save for the outer walls.
