When Thomas Jefferson became president of the United States in 1801, the President’s House, which is now known as the White House, stood largely unfinished in the midst of a cleared area at the west end of Pennsylvania Avenue. In this 1830s image by Philadelphia artist George Lehman (d. 1870), the home of the president is shown rebuilt after it was burned by the British in 1814. The President’s House and the Capitol, standing under two miles apart, symbolize the two centers of governmental power in the nation’s capital.

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