When I was little, my mom told me a Cinderella story that happened to be true. Once upon a time, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson held a competition for the design of the house of our presidents. Well-established architects submitted proposals, but the winner was a young Irishman, James Hoban. He also supervised the construction of part of the Capitol.

My dad, another Irishman, worked at the Capitol. And sometimes my mom and I would drive down and gaze at the White House and Capitol, so proud that an up-and-coming Irishman could have beaten out all the other architects to play such a central role in conjuring the seats of our new republic.

Donald Trump is turning the White House into a rococo place with a “dictator-chic” aesthetic.Credit: AP

I would think about that when I grew up to be a White House reporter, interviewing president George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office. The room where it happens was a place of wonder, baked in history – good and bad. A famous old ivy, which lasted through so many administrations and eavesdropped on so many remarkable conversations, was the main item on the mantel, flanked by porcelain vases. (Now there are nine gold decorative objects and counting.)

Back then, the room was understated and overwhelming. As Michael Douglas’ CEO said in The American President, showing off the Oval Office: “The White House is the single greatest home court advantage in the modern world.”

Real power........

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