The White House has gone through many changes. Presidents have remodeled gardens, changed rooms, and even added a basketball court. President Donald Trump wants to build a big ballroom. On October 20, workers began tearing down the East Wing to make that happen. Now, the East Wing is gone. Let’s look back at its presidential past.
It all began in 1902. President Theodore Roosevelt decided that the White House needed a guest entrance. Workers built a new wing to serve as that entrance. It also became a cloakroom. Visitors could leave their coats and hats there.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt the cloakroom. It became the White House Family Theater. Roosevelt did more than just make a movie theater, though. He added a second floor with more workspace. Roosevelt also put in a hidden underground bunker known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. That shelter was to protect the president in an emergency.
The president’s office is in the West Wing of the White House. But many first ladies put the East Wing to use. Eleanor Roosevelt was using the space as early as the 1930s and ’40s. And in the 1970s, first lady Betty Ford took steps to make the Office of the First Lady. Ford planned it for the East Wing. She said, “If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart.” The office officially opened under Rosalynn Carter in 1977.
The East Wing went on to hold other offices as well. They included the Graphics and Office (which crafts formal White House invitations) and the Visitors Office (which runs the public tours of the White House).
The site’s next chapter is as a ballroom. It will have space for about 1,000 guests.
The East Wing is now gone. But its place in history remains. Next time you see a photo of the White House’s east side, remember the East Wing: the cloakroom of 1902, the presidential protector of 1942, the visitor entrance, and the first lady’s office.
By Alexa Tirapelli
Updated October 24, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
