From Kottke.org via Ace: "If this photo series from 1950 of the interior of the White House being ripped out so that the building could be structurally reinforced isn't an apt metaphor for the current state of American politics, I don't know what is."
In the late '40s, the executive mansion was in a condemnable state. To save it, everything had to go.
Many more fascinating pictures are here.
(all photos courtesy of the National Archives.)