JOHN DICKERSON: President Trump’s plan to build a $200 million ballroom at The White House, funded by private donations, brings to mind one of the greatest episodes in the history of White House splendor, a moment when fancy furnishings helped decide a presidency. It's known as The Gold Spoon Oration. In 1840, President Martin Van Buren ran for reelection. The economy had collapsed. His opponents wanted to turn the trappings of his office into a vulnerability. Charles Ogle, a Whig congressman from Pennsylvania, rose to address Congress about a routine appropriation for White House upkeep. He kept speaking over three days. He called Van Buren “a Democratic peacock in full court costume, strutting by the hour before golden-framed mirrors nine feet high and 4.5ft wide.” Laughter and applause rippled from the crowd, drawn to the spectacle. Ogle said the president's soul was so very, very, very diminutive it could pirouette inside a thimble. He called Van Buren “Sweet Sandy Whiskers”, referring to the shrubbery on his face. The name stuck. The official title of the speech was The Regal Splendor of the President's Palace. Its nickname came from an anecdote about a Kentucky congressman dining at The White House, who lifted a gold spoon and told Van Buren, “if you will let me take this spoon to Kentucky and show it to my constituents, I will promise not to make use of any other argument against you. This will be enough.” What started as an attack on wasting public money became a festival of mockery, where tall tales of decadence painted the president as out of touch with the common man. Van Buren lost the election. The trappings of the office, including the spoons, were then conveyed to the next 38 occupants.
