Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-111-005
Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy’s remarks at the dedication of the restored mantelpiece in the State Dining Room of the White House. In his speech the President discusses the importance Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt placed on restoring the White House, and thanks the staff of Steinman, Cain, and White (formerly McKim, Mead, and White) and the Marble Industry of New York for their efforts. The prayer President Kennedy refers to in his remarks was written by President John Adams and follows: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”