James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

[1][citation needed] The first presidential press conference was held in March 1913 in the Oval Office, during the Woodrow Wilson administration.

[2] In 1969, to accommodate the growing number of reporters assigned to the White House, President Richard Nixon had the indoor swimming pool, which had been installed by the March of Dimes for Franklin D. Roosevelt, covered and turned into press offices and a lounge that could double as a briefing room.

[3][4] From August to November 1981, the room was refurbished at a cost of $160,566 after the General Services Administration found the terrace roof over the press center was about to collapse; first families had hosted parties there.

The White House press corps was moved to temporary quarters in the fourth-floor auditorium of the Old Executive Office Building.

48 theater-style seats, blue and white tweed wall-to-wall carpeting, off-white wall coverings and a larger podium were added.