The East Wing, in the form people usually mean today, was added to the White House in 1942 during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.

Quick Scoop

  • An early East Terrace and colonnade on the east side of the White House date back to Thomas Jefferson in the early 1800s, but these were not the modern East Wing.
  • A smaller East Wing–type entrance structure was first built in 1902 as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s major renovation of the White House complex.
  • The two‑story East Wing most people refer to today was designed by architect Lorenzo Winslow and formally added in 1942, partly to conceal the new underground Presidential Emergency Operations Center bunker during World War II.

Why 1942 Matters

  • The 1942 project greatly enlarged the footprint, added a second story, and created office and support space for the growing wartime White House staff.
  • That construction phase is why many historians and official descriptions say the East Wing was “added to the White House” in 1942, even though smaller east‑side structures existed earlier.

In everyday usage, when people ask “when was the East Wing added to the White House,” the historically accepted answer is 1942 during FDR’s administration.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.