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Vice President's Residence Historical Photo Essay

The Vice President's Residence was built as the home of the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory in 1893. The house became the home of the chief of naval operations in 1923. Congress turned the home into the Vice President's Residence in 1974. Lynne Cheney gives a tour of the Naval Observatory to relatives of former Vice President Walter Mondale. Walter Mondale was the first full-time resident of the Naval Observatory in 1977. Vice President Dick Cheney hosts a state lunch at the Naval Observatory for Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao May 1, 2002. Photographed with the Vice President, from left to right, are National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney entertain Chief of Staff for the Vice President Lewis Libby (left) and his wife Harriet Grant (second on right) and former Vice President Dan Quayle (right) and his wife Marilyn Quayle (second on left) in the first floor library at the Naval Observatory Dec. 4, 2001.
This view of the Superintendent's House is from about 1895, before the Observatory roads were paved. The house was built as the official residence for the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory. Then-President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan spend an evening with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush and their dog C. Fred at the Naval Observatory Feb 12, 1981. Then-Vice President Nelson Rockefeller (right) and his wife Margaretta Murphy (second on right) entertain then-President Gerald R. Ford (left) his wife Betty (second on left) and their daughter Susan (center) at the Naval Observatory on September 7, 1975. Sitting in the first floor library of the Naval Observatory, then-Vice President George H. W. Bush, second on right, and his wife Barbara Bush, left, talk with then-President Ronald Reagan, second on left, and Nancy Reagan, right, Feb. 12, 1981.

Enjoy these photos of special moments at the Vice President's Residence.