The Western White House is the name currently used for the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush, President of the United States. The term has also been used by other chief executives for their homes in California (Presidents Nixon and Reagan), and in Hawaii by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt while working away from the official presidential residence, the White House.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt briefly resided and administered the duties of his office from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawai i, during World War II. The hotel was called the Western White House during his stay. Roosevelt was also the first President to use the Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland, facility later named Camp David (named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower's grandson). Camp David is sometimes known as the "Weekend White House". The model for Camp David is Herbert Hoover's retreat known as Rapidan Camp (Camp Hoover).
The first governmental spending on property improvements of private presidential residences was at Dwight Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm, where the Secret Service added three guard posts to a fence. Federal law now allows the president to designate a residence outside of the White House as his temporary offices, so that federal money can be used to provide required facilities.
During the Johnson administration, the LBJ Ranch on the Pedernales River in Texas served as the Western White House. Likewise, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan often retreated to their California homes during their presidencies. Nixon went to La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California, while Reagan spent nearly 1/8th of his presidency at his Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara County, California. Reagan also spent so much time at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, that the press also dubbed the hotel the Western White House for a time. Their homes were each officially dubbed the Western White House, and substantial Federal funds were used to make security, communications, and real estate improvements. Nixon also had a home in Key Biscayne, Florida, which was known as the "Southern White House" or the Florida White House.
Gerald Ford conducted a considerable amount of the nation’s business from "The Lodge" in Vail, Colorado, which became known as the Western White House during his presidency.
Bill Clinton, in contrast to his successor, did not maintain a "Western White House" during his presidency (neither did he maintain a personal residence as Governor of Arkansas). After leaving office, he and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), purchased a home in New York.
The current official Western White House is Prairie Chapel Ranch, the Crawford, Texas, home of George W. Bush. The Bush administration created a logo for the Western White House in August 2001. A sign with the logo has been hung in the press briefing area in Crawford at the start of each of Bush's August vacations; the blue oval sign bears the Seal of the President of the United States and reads, "The Western White House / Crawford, Texas". The sign is similar in size and shape to the one that hangs on the wall of the White House pressroom.
