[4] Opened in 1888, the building was renamed in 1999 in honor of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president and a five-star U.S. Army general who was Allied forces commander during World War II.

The building is located on 17th Street NW, between Pennsylvania Avenue and State Place and West Executive Drive.

It was commissioned by President Ulysses S. Grant, and built between 1871 and 1888 on the site of the original 1800 War/State/Navy Building[5] and the White House stables, in the French Second Empire style.

The building's elaborate architectural style received substantial criticism when it was first completed; it has since been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Patterned after French Second Empire architecture that clashed sharply with the neoclassical style of the other Federal buildings in the city, it was generally regarded with scorn and disdain.

[citation needed] The original tenants quickly outgrew the building and finally vacated it completely in the late 1930s.

Its most public function is that of the Vice President's Ceremonial Office, which is used chiefly for special meetings and press conferences.

Sir Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[18] According to media reporting, the office of the vice president's Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire.