James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is a small theater in the West Wing of the White House where the White House Press Secretary gives briefings to the news media and the President of the United States sometimes addresses the press and the nation. It is located between the workspace assigned to the White House press corps and the office of the Press Secretary.

Between the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson to 1969, communications from the President and general Press news conferences took place in the Indian Treaty Room, the State Department auditorium and the White House East Room.

In 1969, to accommodate the growing number of reporters assigned to the White House, President Richard Nixon had the indoor swimming pool, which had been installed by the March of Dimes for Franklin D. Roosevelt, covered and turned into press offices and a lounge that could double as a briefing room.

In 2000, the room was renamed the "James S. Brady Press Briefing Room" in honor of James Brady, the press secretary who was shot and permanently disabled during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

In December 2005, the White House announced the intention to renovate the aging Press Briefing Room and cramped press corps offices. On August 2, 2006, the final briefing was held, and President George W. Bush hosted several previous press secretaries at a closing ceremony and there was some hesitation and concern about whether the press would be allowed to return to the White House. In the interim the White House Conference Center was used as temporary location for press conferences.

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