The Wreckers Haven’t Started Yet
Quick answer: What is the history of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building?
Authorized by Congress in 1871 as a fire-proof home for the State, War, and Navy Departments, the building took seventeen years to build. Architect Alfred Mullett used pink Maine granite and gray Virginia granite, walls nearly four feet thick, and cast iron inside. Cordell Hull met Japanese envoys in Room 208 on December 7, 1941.
For two years, John's working day began on black-and-white tile laid in the 1880s, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. Work there a week, he writes, and the building becomes a colleague that was at its desk long before you and will be there long after. In 1871 Congress authorized a home for State, War, and Navy and wrote one requirement into law: fire-proof construction. Washington had watched its offices burn in 1814 and 1833. Architect Alfred Mullett, a man with an explosive temper, gave the city Second Empire mansard roofs instead of Greek Revival. It took seventeen years: pink granite from Vinalhaven, Maine, gray granite from Virginia, walls nearly four feet thick, and cast iron painted to look like wood. Cordell Hull met Japan's envoys in Room 208 on December 7, 1941, and Eisenhower held the first televised presidential press conference there. Now there's a plan to paint the granite. The scaffolding isn't up. The court hasn't ruled. Until the wreckers start, it can be saved.
Why it matters for leaders: Stewardship means protecting what was built to outlast us from the people who mistake themselves for its owners.
Q: Why did Congress require fire-proof construction?
A: Washington had watched the British burn its executive offices in 1814 and the Treasury burn again in 1833.
Q: What is John's concern?
A: A plan to paint the building's granite, which he and preservationists say would damage the natural stone; he notes the work hadn't begun and the court hadn't ruled.
Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/the-wreckers-havent-started-yet
By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation