施工開始時，首先的基石，奠定了在10月的1792年。雖然總統華盛頓主持建設的內務，他從來沒有住在這。但直到1800年，當白宮正在接近完成，其第壹居民，前總統約翰亞當斯和他的妻子，阿比蓋爾，遷入自那時起，每個總統作出了自己的修改和補充。白宮是，畢竟，總統的私人住宅。它也是唯壹的私人住宅的國家元首，就是向公眾開放，費用全免。
白宮具有獨特和迷人的歷史。它存活火警在手中，英國在1814年（在戰爭期間的1812年）和另壹個的火災中區政府合署西座在1929年，而赫伯特胡佛總統。大部分杜魯門奇摩院長會議，內部內務，除三樓，是完全燒毀和翻新，而trumans住在布萊爾家，整個賓夕法尼亞大道。然而，外部石墻，是那些首次提出在地方時，白宮正在興建的兩個世紀前。
總統可以表達他們的個人風格，在他們如何裝飾部分內務和在他們如何接受公眾他們在港期間。托馬斯傑弗遜舉行了第壹次就職開放眾議院在1805年。許多人誰出席了宣誓就職儀式在美國國會只是其次是他回家，他在那裏迎接他們在藍室。總統傑弗遜還開通了房子，供市民參觀，並已保持開放，除在戰時，自從。此外，他歡迎遊客，每年接待元旦日及對7月4日。在1829年， horde的20000就職來電被迫總統安德魯傑克遜逃往安全的壹間酒店的同時，對草坪上，身邊充滿washtubs與橙汁和威士忌，以吸引暴徒走出泥濘履帶白宮。
之後，美國總統林肯的總統，就職的人群，成為迄今為止過大，為白宮，以容納他們的舒適。然而，並不是直到Grover的騎士隊的第壹任主席這樣做不安全的實踐改變。他舉行了總統檢討部隊從國旗披上看臺建在白宮前面。這遊行演變成正式就職遊行我們今天知道。接待元旦日和7月4日繼續舉行，直到1930年代初。
克林頓總統的公開眾議院對1993年1月21日再度歷代白宮就職的傳統。 2000公民，選定的彩票，迎接在外交接待室，由總統和夫人克林頓和副總統戈爾和夫人。
For two hundred years, the White House has stood as a symbol of the Presidency, the United States government, and the American people. Its history, and the history of the nation’s capital, began when President George Washington signed an Act of Congress in December of 1790 declaring that the federal government would reside in a district "not exceeding ten miles square…on the river Potomac." President Washington, together with city planner Pierre L’Enfant, chose the site for the new residence, which is now 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As preparations began for the new federal city, a competition was held to find a builder of the "President’s House." Nine proposals were submitted, and Irish-born architect James Hoban won a gold medal for his practical and handsome design.
Construction began when the first cornerstone was laid in October of 1792. Although President Washington oversaw the construction of the house, he never lived in it. It was not until 1800, when the White House was nearly completed, that its first residents, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved in. Since that time, each President has made his own changes and additions. The White House is, after all, the President’s private home. It is also the only private residence of a head of state that is open to the public, free of charge.
The White House has a unique and fascinating history. It survived a fire at the hands of the British in 1814 (during the war of 1812) and another fire in the West Wing in 1929, while Herbert Hoover was President. Throughout much of Harry S. Truman’s presidency, the interior of the house, with the exception of the third floor, was completely gutted and renovated while the Trumans lived at Blair House, right across Pennsylvania Avenue. Nonetheless, the exterior stone walls are those first put in place when the White House was constructed two centuries ago.
Presidents can express their individual style in how they decorate some parts of the house and in how they receive the public during their stay. Thomas Jefferson held the first Inaugural open house in 1805. Many of those who attended the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol simply followed him home, where he greeted them in the Blue Room. President Jefferson also opened the house for public tours, and it has remained open, except during wartime, ever since. In addition, he welcomed visitors to annual receptions on New Year’s Day and on the Fourth of July. In 1829, a horde of 20,000 Inaugural callers forced President Andrew Jackson to flee to the safety of a hotel while, on the lawn, aides filled washtubs with orange juice and whiskey to lure the mob out of the mud-tracked White House.
After Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, Inaugural crowds became far too large for the White House to accommodate them comfortably. However, not until Grover Cleveland’s first presidency did this unsafe practice change. He held a presidential review of the troops from a flag-draped grandstand built in front of the White House. This procession evolved into the official Inaugural parade we know today. Receptions on New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July continued to be held until the early 1930s.
President Clinton’s open house on January 21, 1993 renewed a venerable White House Inaugural tradition. Two thousand citizens, selected by lottery, were greeted in the Diplomatic Reception Room by President and Mrs. Clinton and Vice President and Mrs. Gore.