before she became first lady, presidents and their families had taken furniture and other items from the white house when they left office. this was why the white house had few historical items. she wrote letters to find the missing furniture and other historical pieces. kennedy supported a congressional bill saying that white house furniture and other items would be the property of the smithsonian institution. she also started the white house historical association, the committee for the preservation of the white house, a curator of the white house, the white house endowment trust, and the white house acquisition trust.