Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the Department of State: An American Treasure
The Thomas Jefferson State Reception Room
First published Jan 1. 2024
The Harry S. Truman Building houses the Department of State and a little-known collection of early American furniture, paintings, silver, china, porcelain, and other items reflecting the craftsmanship of the 18th and early 19th century. Housed in 42 elegantly furnished spaces covering nearly 30,000 square feet, the architecture of the rooms themselves, walls and ceilings, and their contents are extraordinary. Used for important diplomatic events, one can view the rooms online through a virtual tour using the link:
https://tour.diplomaticrooms.state.gov/index.html
I had the opportunity to dine in one of the three Benjamin Franklin Dining Rooms when I served on the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross from 1990 to 1996. The President of the Red Cross at the time was Elizabeth Dole; Norman Augustine was the Principal Officer and Board Chairman. Augustine was the Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin and a person of achievement. See this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_R._Augustine#cite_note-11
Robert Dole was the Republican leader in the Senate, and Elizabeth Dole, a former cabinet officer and future senator, had entrée into many interesting federal facilities. Thus, the Board of Governor dinners were held in such venues as the Statuary Hall of Congress, the Franklin dining room of the Department of State Diplomatic Rooms, and the Washington Botanical Gardens. At the latter dinner, I was at a table of six attendees: Elizabeth and Robert Dole and three other Board members. Midway through dinner, a Capitol Police Officer came to our table and asked Senator Dole to accompany him to his car. When he returned, we learned that this brief excursion was to take a call from President George H.W. Bush. Dole, as the ranking Republican Senator, was receiving a call from the President to advise him that Allied aircraft had begun an attack on Iraqi forces in Kuwait in anticipation of a ground offensive to liberate that country, one of the principal oil suppliers to the United States; Operation Desert Storm had begun.
The American Red Cross provides 40 to 50 percent of all the blood products used in the United States and has a much wider mission. The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, had entered the blood supply in the 1980’s, the result of the blood donations by unsuspecting infected individuals. Arthur Ashe, the American tennis star, died of an HIV infection, the result of an HIV-containing unit of blood accompanying his heart operation, before a test of blood for HIV became standard. This problem was among the Board’s many challenges, and my service on the Blood Services Committee of the Board, along with others experienced in the discipline of transfusion medicine, was an effort to design systems to make transfusion of blood products safe in the face of this threat. Fortunately, the power of science prevailed as a sensitive diagnostic test for HIV to test all blood donations was developed, and biological understanding and therapy ensued with the potential for control of the disease, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, caused by HIV. Tony Fauci spearheaded the latter achievements at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is among the great therapeutic accomplishments of the late 20th and early 21st century. My service on the American Red Cross Board of Governors was a meaningful experience. One unexpected benefit was my introduction to the Diplomatic Rooms of the Department of State. Take the virtual tour. Every American should have an opportunity to explore this heritage, so splendidly displayed.
The Entrance Hall, one of 42 rooms, is based on the 18th-century mansions in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The cabinetry, chairs, paintings, and clock are period pieces.