If anyone might have thoughts on President Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing to make way for a new ballroom, it's Chelsea Clinton, who lived decades ago at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as a child when her dad, Bill Clinton, was president. But "although I spent many of my formative years living in the White House, I always knew it wasn't my house," she writes in a USA Today op-ed decrying the razing. "It was my home, absolutely, but not my house." That's because it's the "People's House," she writes, a structure that ultimately belongs to all Americans—with the abrupt destruction of the East Wing serving as a "reflection of how easily history can be erased when power forgets purpose."
Clinton acknowledges that other presidents and first ladies have indeed made changes to the White House over the years, though most alterations in modern times were additions, not complete teardowns of major portions of the building, and some were merely cosmetic—"my mom was the first first lady to bring contemporary art into the White House," Clinton notes of Hillary Clinton. Plus, past renovations typically involved following the proper channels and consulting with historians and other experts to ensure the White House's integrity remained intact. "I am clearly not alone in feeling unsettled" at what Trump is doing to his temporary home, she writes, adding that while the president does have "authority" with certain parameters over the White House grounds, "authority is not the same as stewardship. Stewardship requires transparency, consultation, and an accounting for history." More here.
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