Shortly after US president-elect Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris won the elections, meme designers went overboard. The one that went viral in India was a simple image of the White House with the words Kamala Vilas spelt out in bold, red capitals above the famous Truman Balcony.
But why pick the White House? Frankly, the vice president does not have an official residence. Yes, Kamala Harris will be moving into 1 Observatory Circle NW, Washington, DC, 20008—the “temporary” official residence of the vice president. The house has not been legislatively designated as the vice president’s official residence, says Charles Denyer in his exhaustive book, Number One Observatory Circle: The Home of the Vice President of the United States.
Intrigued? Well, here is something to bring you up to speed on the vice presidential trivia.
1 Observatory Circle
Considering that the Central Vista project in New Delhi has just been green-lit by the Supreme Court, it is interesting to note that Kamala will be living in a house that is considerably older (built in 1893) than the Indian prime minister’s residence (early 1980s) and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan (1931).
Unlike the White House, the vice president’s home has not had a short name. Joan Mondale, the first second lady to live there, referred to it formally in her recipe book (“Vice President’s House, Washington, DC 20501”). Vice president Dick Cheney typically called it the VPR. Barbara Bush and Tipper Gore simply called it “the house” or “the home”. Rarely is it referred to by its old name: Admiralty House.
This story is from the January 24, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the January 24, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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