[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 45 (Monday, November 11, 2002)]
[Pages 1996-1997]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7622--In Celebration of the Centennial of the West Wing of 
the White House, 2002

November 5, 2002

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    For 100 years, the West Wing of the White House has served as the 
workplace of the President of the United States and his staff. Now 
housing the Oval Office, the Roosevelt Room, Cabinet Room, offices of 
the President's senior staff, and the James C. Brady Press Briefing 
Room, the West Wing has become the center of executive branch operation.
    Prior to 1902, the President and his staff worked out of offices 
housed in the White House Residence, causing crowded staff conditions 
and a lack of privacy for the President's family. This overcrowding 
prompted planning for the construction of a new wing to serve as offices 
for the President and his staff. While plans were reviewed during 
several Administrations, construction did not begin until Theodore 
Roosevelt's presidency. The wing was completed in 1902, and the 
Presidential Offices were then moved from the Residence to the new 
addition. The wing underwent a major expansion in 1909, doubling its 
size, and further renovations were done in 1929, 1934, and 1969.
    Following a Christmas Eve fire in 1929, renovations and restoration 
displaced Herbert Hoover for several months while new and improved 
facilities were built. In 1934 the Oval Office was moved to its current 
location on the southeast corner, overlooking the Rose Garden. In the 
1940's, the building became known as the ``West Wing.''
    For a century, the West Wing has served as the headquarters of White 
House staff members who work to address national and international 
concerns, advance democracy, and secure a future of opportunity for all. 
Government and military leaders, Olympic athletes, college champions, 
artists, entertainers, and citizens from around the world have been 
welcomed to the West Wing to attend briefings, meetings, bill signing 
ceremonies, and countless activities that have contributed to the 
prosperity and security of our Nation and the world. As we celebrate its 
100th anniversary, I encourage all Americans to recognize the vital role 
the West Wing has played in the ongoing work to ensure that the United 
States of America remains a beacon of freedom, and symbol of hope.
     Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States 
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, November 6, 
2002, as West Wing Centennial Day. I encourage all Americans to 
commemorate this occasion with appropriate programs and activities, 
thereby celebrating this important part of our American heritage and the 
values it represents and upholds for our Nation and the world.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
November, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
seventh.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., November 7, 
2002]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 8.

[[Page 1997]]