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The memories abound.
The East Wing housed the offices of the first lady and her staff beginning in 1977. The space also served as an entryway for tours and special events at the White House.
The sudden and complete demolition of the East Wing on Oct. 20, to make way for a $300 million ballroom envisioned by President Donald Trump, took many by surprise, sparking concern from critics, preservationists and a few former residents.
Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, who became Secretary of State and later a presidential candidate, responded on Oct. 21, when images of the demolition site began circulating. She expressed outrage that a preeminent national structure stood gutted.
Clinton posted a picture of the torn-down facade on X, noting, "It's not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it."
Former first lady Michelle Obama also did not hold back about the demolition during an interview with Vanity Fair on Nov. 6: “When we talk about the East Wing, it is the heart of the work,” she said. “And to denigrate it, to tear it down, to pretend like it doesn’t matter – it’s a reflection of how you think of that role.”
USA TODAY asked several people who worked in the East Wing in various capacities across multiple administrations to share memories of the now-vanished historic space and what it meant to them.
East Wing 'smelled great,' had a different energy
Ashley Etienne, who served as a senior advisor in the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, says the East Wing had a “different energy” from the West Wing, where the Oval Office and offices of the president’s staff are located.
“The East Wing was a lighter space. It smelled great. It was warm,” said Etienne. “The West Wing's so intense. You know, knives out, sharp elbows.”
Her fondest memories include walking across the White House complex, from her office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and passing through the West Wing and East Wing to the Commerce Department Childcare Center across the street to pick up her daughter.
“I remember working there late nights and having to go through the East Wing to go pick up my daughter and bring her back into the White House,” she said.
To Etienne, the East Wing represented the People's House.
“That was the mood and the air of that space,” she said. "Whenever I tried to escape the craziness of the West Wing, I'd go to the East Wing."
After the bulldozers razed the entire East Wing in October, Trump told reporters on Oct. 22 that he had consulted with architects who had told him "in order to do it properly," they would have to take down the existing structure.
He also offered his take on the East Wing: “It was never thought of as being much. It was a very small building.”
Etienne said she was "insulted" by that suggestion.
"That's by design, and I don't think he appreciates that," she said. "The White House is humble by design because it's the People's House."
History of assorted remodels
The White House has undergone a range of structural changes since it was built in 1792.
In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson added two colonnades, or covered walkways, that extend east and west from the White House. They were designed to “blend into the gradual slope on which the White House was built to hide them from view when standing in front of the White House,” according to the White House Historical Society.
The east walkway, originally called the East Terrace, fell into disrepair and was torn down in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson, said Leslie B. Jones, former Director of Historical Resources & Programming for the White House Historical Association.
President Theodore Roosevelt began the construction of the East Wing and West Wing in 1902. However, it was not until three-quarters of a century later, in 1977, that a first lady made the space her own. Rosalynn Carter set up her office in the East Wing, establishing a new tradition.
The wing expanded during World War II when President Franklin D. Roosevelt added a second story and an underground bomb shelter in 1942.
“However, it was made as a mirror image of the West Wing,” said Jones. “They could easily have added another story to the West Wing, but they wanted to keep the symmetry and balance in the design.”
The National Trust for Preservation has expressed concerns that the 90,000 square feet of new construction “will overwhelm the White House itself,” which is 55,000 square feet.
Trump, a second-generation real estate businessman who views himself as an "important designer," has sought to display his expertise in the White House and beyond. He's bathed the Oval Office in gold, added a "Presidential Walk of Fame,” adisplay along the South Colonnade featuring portraits of himself and his predecessors. He has paved over the Rose Garden lawn, redone the Lincoln Bathroom with marble and gold accents.
Birthday parties and Willow, the cat
Michael LaRosa, who served as the communications director for former first lady Jill Biden, said he is sad that his old office no longer exists, but he believes the first family is “afforded the opportunity” to leave their personal mark on the 18-acre property.
“All of our presidents and their families are short-term occupants of the White House,” said LaRosa. “But they all play a role in updating, modernizing, beautifying, and yes, even adding to the house, as so many of them have done throughout history.”
LaRosa’s favorite spot in the East Wing was his own desk in an office next to Jill Biden’s.
“It had a big window facing the south lawn with gorgeous views of the Washington Monument, the landscaping and Marine One coming and going,” he said.
He also enjoyed keeping tabs on Willow, the Bidens' cat, who had free rein of the suite of offices.
“I would throw her cat balls down the long hallway on the second floor so she could chase them, jump and sometimes carry them back in her mouth like a dog fetching a frisbee,” said LaRosa.
Among the memories LaRosa cherishes are team parties on the rooftop of the East Colonnade and a farewell party Biden threw for him in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden in September 2022, just off the colonnade. The colonnade and that garden are now belong to White House history.
Redecorating Jill Biden's office
For Mark D. Sikes, a Los Angeles-based designer known for his "all-American" style, being invited to redecorate and refresh the first lady’s office for the Bidens was a career highlight.
Sikes worked on the project for about a year and a half before delivering the new décor in 2023, featuring soft blue, ivory and cream accents. There were Kimball & Bean jardinière boxes with topiary trees, Christopher Spitzmiller custom lamps and art made by the Bidens’ grandchildren.
His best memory of the East Wing was the day of the “big reveal” of his redesign with members of the White House staff, the White House Historical Society and several others assembled to witness it.
Biden brought fresh flowers from her home in Delaware, and with the help of the White House florist, she and her staff made little floral arrangements using fresh-cut flowers.
“She came into the area that we had done for the first time with a basket of small bouquets, and literally the first thing she did was hand them out and thank everybody,” Sikes said.
Minutes later, her husband walked in to check out the refreshed digs.
Sikes says knowing that he was among the last designers to work in the East Wing makes the experience all the more meaningful/poignant.
Significant place to do 'good work'
Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, described the wing as a “place of significance and purpose."
“People that worked there, of course, felt sad to see it come down,” she said. “But it doesn't change the fact of the stories and the history of the work that happened there.”
“We worked closely with one another. We have great memories of working on all kinds of projects, planning trips around the country, planning trips around the world, planning visits of heads of state to the White House there,” she said. “A lot of good work happened in those offices.”
People who worked in other parts of the White House, McBride said, were always “envious of those of us who worked in the East Wing because it was such a beautiful part of the White House to work in.”
“You could see the White House from the doors where you walked in, you could see the garden,” said McBride, who currently serves as the director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University. “You see the portraits of the former first ladies that hung on the walls. It was special. It was beautiful.”
Seeing elderly Black people walk through during Obama years
Deesha Dyer said she was pained by the loss of the East Wing.
She served as the White House social secretary during the Obama Administration and her cubicle was near Michelle Obama's office, said
“It’s not just devastating on a personal level, but on a historic level,” she said. “It’s just sad to see that a part of history is just gone and gone so easily. The way I see it is this is just kind of a representation of everything that we're living in right now.”
As social secretary, her job was to coordinate with the executive residence team, the White House and the first lady’s office, ensuring events hosted by the White House ran smoothly. Everything from working with the kitchen on food, with the calligraphers on invitations, charting out the flow of the events, coordinating with performers, staging and lighting fell under her purview.
Her fondest memory is of children and elderly visitors coming into the White House and being able to see their faces and reactions.
“Mainly, elderly Black people coming through the White House doors, just kind of knowing that there's a Black family in there and just feeling like they would never have seen that.”
Dyer’s favorite spot in the East Wing was the family theater.
“We had a lot of movie screenings, events and meetings there,” she said. “Sometimes you’d get to sit in the back and be able to watch the movie with the president and the first lady, too. So that was kind of like a fun thing to do.”
Melania Trump 'loved her little, tiny office'
Melania Trump may have had reservations at first, but the first lady quickly came around to the idea, the president said in a recent interview with Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."
“She loved her little, tiny office,” he said. “But you know what? She’s very smart. If you would ask her now (about the changes), she says, ‘It’s great,’”
Before the demolition got underway, the first lady's offices were moved to the ground floor of the White House, and now occupy the Vermeil Room, Library and China Room. Those rooms, which were previously included on White House tours, are now closed to the public. Other offices in the East Wing, including White House Calligraphy Office and the White House Military Office, have moved to the Eisenhower Building, which is adjacent to the West Wing.
A historic, digitized record, thanks to Jackie Kennedy
In the end, it’s not just memories that are left of the East Wing. Thanks to one of the first ladies, there’s also a digitized historic record.
The White House Historical Association, established by former first lady Jackie Kennedy in 1961, documents and shares the history of the White House and preserves the furnishings, fine art and decorative objects presidents and their families and staff used.
The association has “supported the preservation of East Wing history through a comprehensive digital scanning project and photography to create an historic record,” it said in a letter on Oct. 22, following the announcement that demolition had begun for the ballroom construction project.
“The East Wing and gardens have been captured in detail for the benefit of our nation and historic artifacts from the East Wing have been preserved and stored,” the statement said.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What was it like to work in the East Wing? Former White House aides look back.
Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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