Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Children in the White House
Imagine you are the son or daughter of a president. What is your life like? Does the White House feel like a palace or a prison to you?
Dreaming about life in the White House might make life there appear perfect. Obviously, there are many luxuries that come with White House living. However, Thomas Jefferson called it "a splendid misery." Only a small group of people alive today can relate to his comments.
The White House serves two purposes. It holds the office of the President, thereby making it an important location for national business. At the same time, it is the home of the president. Therefore, the White House is also the home of the president's family.
Sharing one's life in the White House with the whole nation is also a double-edge sword. On one hand, it allows people to connect and relate to the First Family. This can sometimes help politically. On the other hand, it can diminish any privacy one has.
Weddings are one such example. There have been many children of presidents married at the White House. The daughter of James Monroe was the first child of a president to be married there. That was in 1820. The daughter of Ulysses S. Grant, nicknamed Nellie, also had a wedding in the White House in 1874 that was monitored by the nation. There were later weddings as well, including one in 1967, when the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson was married.
