President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse.

The park was separated from the White House grounds in 1804, when third President Thomas Jefferson had Pennsylvania Avenue cut through east–west.

In 1824, the park was officially renamed in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Frenchman and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).

Lafayette Square has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the War of 1812, and many political protests and celebrations.

During the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, the grounds of the Ellipse and the not yet complete Washington Monument were used as corrals for horses, mules, and cattle, and as campsites for Union Army troops.