The city of Washington, D.C., was created to be the center of the national government. A special home, now called the White House, was built for the president at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. George Washington chose the location and approved the plans, but he never lived there.
In fact, the capital city of the U.S. during his presidency was first New York and then Philadelphia. When the second president, John Adams, moved into the presidential home in 1800, it was still under construction. Since then, the building has been remodeled, expanded, and redecorated many times.
The location of the new capital in Washington was agreed upon at a dinner between James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. Madison agreed to allow the federal government to take on the debt carried by the states. In exchange, Hamilton agreed that the new capital could be located in the South.
