Franklin D. Roosevelt had a mind that saw in maps. His love of maps can be traced to his childhood when he first began collecting postage stamps.  Stamps from all over the world expanded FDR’s knowledge and understanding of geography and the international community, a knowledge that he brought with him to the White House in 1933.  

After the outbreak of the war in 1939, National Geographic provided President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill with special wall mounted map cabinets hidden by enlarged photographs.  Inside the cabinets were maps on rollers organized by hemisphere, region, and theater of operation.  Cartographers from National Geographic routinely updated these maps, bringing the new maps to the White House and personally installing them in the President’s cabinet that hung in his private Oval Study.  By simply turning in his chair and opening the cabinet, FDR could quickly check battle locations around the world.

In January 1942, FDR converted a ladies’ cloakroom in the White House basement into a top secret communications center. Modeled on a similar room maintained by Winston Churchill, the Map Room was a place where the President could monitor military activities around the globe. Here reports, documents, and coded messages were received, summarized, and filed. Through the Map Room, Roosevelt communicated with Allied leaders around the globe, including Churchill, Stalin, and Chiang Kai-Shek.  Maps posted in the room were used to track the locations of land, sea and air forces. The drably-furnished office was staffed 24-hours a day by army and navy officers. The President could drop in at any time.  Access was restricted to him, the Map Room staff, and specific individuals at the direction of the President. Even the Secret Service was barred.  FDR’s Map Room was the precursor to the modern day White House Situation Room.