Press Briefing Room

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Press Secretary Scott McClellan bids farewell to the press pool on May 5, 2006, after delivering his last official briefing at the White House

President Bush and former Press Secretary McClellan welcome Press Secretary Tony Snow in April 2006

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is a small theater room in the West Wing of the White House where the White House Press Secretary gives daily briefings to the news media and the President of the United States sometimes addresses the press and the nation.

In 1969, to accommodate the growing number of reporters assigned to the White House, Richard Nixon had the indoor swimming pool, which had been installed by the March of Dimes for Franklin Roosevelt, covered and turned into press offices and a briefing room. The swimming pool still exists, viewable by lifting a trapdoor in the floor.

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 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 Bush hosted several previous press secretaries at a closing ceremony.