Talk:Western White House

GA areas for improvement

After reviewing the article in accordance to Good Article Criteria, I have declined the nomination on the basis of the following areas that need to be address. I do believe that the Western White House has the potential to be a Good Article and would welcome a renomination after these areas have been attended to. Agne 08:33, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

• The main issue is that the article is "stubby" in the context of what could be written about the subject and so doesn't seem to "properly addresses all major aspects of the topic"-namely, as a reader, you're left wondering what is the major signifigance of the Western White House. I look at the Camp David article for a comparison point and I think the section Notable events at Camp David serves as a good example. While Camp David is obviously very notable, this article can do a great service is detailing some of the notable events, meetings, legislation, etc that took place at some of the lesser known Western White Houses.
• Another area is "History". You touch a bit on it, in regards to the Eisenhower legislation, but how did the concept of having a Western White House come into place?

Areas that are done well

As a positive note, I appreciate how well referenced the article is with reliable sources and the Crawford photos provide wonderful illustration. I also liked how well "wiki-link" it was, which gives the reader an opportunity to read more about these interest places. Agne 08:33, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, Agne! These are good points. I have just come upon the article myself, and it didn't even link to Camp David until I did. The main problem I have with it is scope. There really isn't "a" Western White House. There are Presidential residences (apart from Camp David) that have been informally called that or something else appropriate. Obviously Kennebunkport, during Bush 41's term, served the very same purposes, but it wasn't very Western. The article omits the whole history of the "summer White House" going back to the 19th century, as much to get away from the swamp-like weather of Washington as from the politics. Thus, I don't think the topic is properly named.--Dhartung | Talk 09:07, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Dhartung: The point of the article is that there really IS a Western White House -- check the reference for the following statement:

Federal law now requires the president to sign documents designating a residence outside of the White House as the Western White House, so that Federal money can be used to provide required facilities.("Around the Nation; Reagan designates ranch a 'Western White House'". The New York Times (Associate Press). 1981-02-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help))

Further, the Bush Admin has made the designation even more official. Btw, I don't believe that Camp David has ever been called the Western White House. What's your reference? --Renice 15:03, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

I included Camp David but I didn't say it was ever called the Western White House. As noted, what about Key Biscayne, Kennebunkport, Plains, Hyannisport, and other non-Western places that have been so designated? BTW, the CFR (it isn't a "law") says each Secret Service protectee may designate one other private residence that will receive full-time protection. Oddly, it specifies Reagan's Santa Barbara ranch by lot number, but it does not use the term "Western White House" or imply anything about the kind of business being done there; it's simply a limitation (one of many) on burgeoning USSS protection costs. --Dhartung | Talk 13:21, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I would have to source this, but my recall is that it was ex-President Nixon's combination of San Clemente and a New York condo that started to concern taxpayers, leading to the rule in question. --Dhartung | Talk 13:24, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Also, regarding the name of the article: YES, it is properly named (did you even read the photo captions?). The Western White House is not so called because it is some cowboy-wannabe respite -- it's because it is west of the White House, and the business of the nation is performed there... i.e., ostensibly, it isn't just a vacation place. --Renice 15:07, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

It simply seems to me that "place where the President does business that isn't the White House" is a more coherent topic than "places that have been called the Western White House but not the X, Y, or Z White House". Are you saying that Bush 41 never did any business in Kennebunkport? There's certainly no rule about it being "west" of Washington, either. Say we elect Hillary in 2008, will she call Chappaqua the "Western White House"? Or will she move to Crawford so she doesn't have to spend money on new signs? ;-) --Dhartung | Talk 16:56, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Good points :) I guess the main reason I think there's a need for this article is Dubya's Western White House logo -- judging first from my own reaction to the signage, and then from numerous bloggers' responses, I think there should be some explanation of the historical basis of Dub's usage of the term. Btw, I'm pretty sure you're right about RMN -- and I'm surprised at how Dub's expenditures are a non-issue now. Can you link to a CFR source -- I wasn't finding anything substantial on it. --Renice 14:10, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I was raised very near the "western white house" that was used by Richard Nixon. Until doing research, I never realized that any other president used this term. The article title "Western White House" is correct, but I dont think that all presidents called their alternate house their "western" house. As Observed above... Bush #1 went to Kennebunkport, and it was not called "western" and therefore is not listed in this article... So, Why is Clinton mentioned? and why is the alternate Florida location mentioned for Nixon? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Timshuwy (talk • contribs) 06:01, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

Eastern White House

What if a President has a residence east of the White House? Astrotrain 15:00, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Good question -- I wondered myself. But then it dawned on me that "Western White House", as an official White House term, will be of as much importance as any changes this admin has endeavored to create. His successors will distance themselves from dub (what's that spell?! uh, backwards?) in the future, as his partymates do in the present. Therefore, this article for "Western White House" is a future anachronism. ;)Renice 12:19, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

missing presidents

Is there any information about Truman, Kennedy (I assume his "Western" WH was Hyannis), and Carter? Wl219 11:03, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Bill Clinton paragraph

Originally the sentence apparently read "Bill Clinton, in contrast to most of his predecessors and his successor," the editable source contains a HTML comment which reads "commenting this out, unless there's something supporting that presidents before FDR also used fed monies to pay for personal residences: "most of his predecessors and" so that the sentence now begins "Bill Clinton, in contrast to his successor, ". This change was apparently made by editor Renice in edit 97525949. As compared with the rest of the article, the part of the original statement referring to Clinton's predecessors and successor appears to be factually correct in some measure (there is apparently some doubt over the word "most"). The change in the statement to refer to only Clinton's successor is either incorrect or biased. The POV-statement template has been used to suggest NPOV violation. The paragraph also lacks citations for its substantive claims. If there is reason to substantiate doubt about some of Clinton's predecessors then follow the correct procedure for disputing content and/or follow NPOV rules. PatrickDunfordNZ (talk) 13:42, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Reorganization thoughts

As I modified this into sections, I note several significant issues:

Alternate white house

Several of the "western" white houses are really "Alternate" White house.. Should there be a separate article on this subject, or should there just be a separate section in THIS article called "Other White Houses".

Another example of an "Alternate" White House is FDR's Little_White_House in Warm Springs, Georgia, which is not mentioned here. Wondering if it should be? Scratchmarc (talk) 03:02, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Missing Presidents

Several missing presidents (Carter, Bush #1) probably had an alternate White House as well... should these be listed?

Sorted by President or State?

Does this make sense how I sectionalized this article? or should it be sectioned by State, and then list the presidents that had a whitehouse in that state? (Texas, California, and Hawaii would have two presidents each).Timothy Alan Shoemaker (talk) 05:54, 27 April 2011 (UTC)