Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida

Popularized by President Truman, the Little White House in Key West, Florida has been used by several presidents for both personal reasons and official state business. I took a tour of this historic property while in the Florida Keys, however photography was not allowed inside.

The placard outside the Little White House reads:

Built in 1890 as quarters for Navy officers, the Little White House later was used by American Presidents William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. Truman used the facility as a vacation home and functioning White House between 1946 and 1952. National legislation was drafted and official government business was conducted daily from the site.

Perhaps most important of these actions occurred on December 5, 1951, when Truman enacted a Civil Rights Executive Order requiring federal contractors to hire minorities. The house is considered the birthplace of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force as a result of the Key West Accords of 1948.

President Eisenhower used the site in 1956 while recuperating from a heart attack. In 1961, the house was the venue for a summit between President Kennedy and British Prime Minister Macmillan during the Bay of Pigs incident. Kennedy returned in 1962 after the Cuban Missile Crises. Secretary of State Colin Powell and foreign leaders held an international summit here in 2001. The Little White House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.