The White House

Early one cold winter morning, Di Yin and I walked the six blocks or so from our apartment to the White House. I'd arranged a tour through my congresswoman's office a few months prior as required. As we walked, the sun's early glow rose above the Washington Monument.

I didn't take pictures because cameras weren't allowed in the complex, so I didn't have mine with me. On other days I took pictures of the outside of the White House.

Security is provided by the "uniformed division" of the Secret Service. They look and act much like regular police. We passed through three explicit checkpoints, two where they checked our IDs and one with an x-ray machine. We also passed by multiple spots where guards simply eyed us as we walked by. I think they watch every intersection, every place where someone can deviate from where he or she should be.

On the White House grounds, our constrained route passed by the General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument. I liked the monument not for its main statue but rather for the life-size statues of guards standing watch at each corner of its base. It seemed appropriate. Here are other people's pictures of the monument from a distance, a close-up of a guard, and more pictures of the monument.

We entered the White House through the East Wing. Its hallways are lined with photos of White House events. One set of pictures are of White House gingerbread houses!

Our tour guide explained the East Wing has a movie screening room because it makes life easier for the Secret Service than letting the president go to a public movie theater.

The tour mainly focused on five important rooms in the central wing.

My overall impression is that the White House is the American equivalent to European royal palaces, though on a much smaller scale. Its decor is old-fashioned, with ornate (sometimes Persian) carpets and furniture that looks uncomfortable. The rooms are usually in eighteenth-century or French-Empire style. They all have twenty-foot ceilings.

I'm sure part of the reason it's old-fashioned is for historic reasons and historic sentimentality. The President has little say in how the public rooms are decorated. He can redecorate the private rooms such as the Oval Office at will. He even has the right to borrow art from the Hirshhorn Museum and the National Gallery of Art. Changes to the public room, on the other hand, have to be approved by committee (the Committee for the Preservation of the White House).

The East Room is a grand ballroom with reliefs on the ceiling and walls, three large hanging chandeliers, and many candelabras on columns and attached to walls. We noticed the windows have the old-style wavy type of glass.

The Green, Blue, and Red Rooms--all appropriately named--are smaller, more of a normal size. They all have surprisingly nice wall coverings (wallpaper, satin, or silk). When I read about the wallpaper, I assumed it would be ugly. I was wrong; these wall covers don't attract attention.

I like the artwork in the Green Room; it's a good variety from early American through the twentieth century. I liked a few paintings in this room, but the only one of those the tour guide mentioned the name of is Independence Hall in Philadelphia by Ferdinand Richardt. I also caught the name of two nice Red Room paintings: Rocky Mountain Landscape by Albert Bierstadt and The Indian's Vespers by Asher Durand. All these three rooms have fewer portraits than the East Room, though still at least half a dozen each.

In one of these rooms, Di Yin spotted a really nice looking paper quilled vase (as in quilling).

The State Dining Room, though the same size as the East Room, is, in terms of decorations, no East Room. It has one painting--of Abraham Lincoln--that was donated on condition that it hangs as the focal point in the room. Putting forth such a strong condition to the President of the United States takes chutzpah! Also, I was impressed in this room by the wooden tables with carved eagles as legs (picture).

We didn't get to go into the West Wing.

Curious fact I read in a guide book: in 1818, white lead paint replaced limestone whitewashing for the exterior of the White House. I think lead paint is still used. I can't find any evidence to the contrary despite extensive research on the web and in books.

At other times, I visited the White House Visitor Center. It houses a large display exploring many aspects of the house and life in it. Over the course of visits, I probably spent two and a half hours in it.

There I watched a good thirty minute video about the history of the White House and the many objects within it. Given the topics, you might be surprised to see me write that the video was interesting throughout.

The visitor center has large panels with pictures of the presidents' families and information about how they lived. It explores, for instance, what did their kids do in the White House, how do they make it their home, and what impact did they leave on it. There's lots of text here, but the stories are personal and interesting. I came back to read this stuff in depth.

There are also lots of panels on how the White House architecture and decorations have been renovated / redesigned over time. I thought it was neat to see before/after photos, as well as photos of the Oval Office under each president for the last fifty years. By the way, even if the White House decorations don't change much in style, much of the furniture is replaced regularly because it gets so much use.

The center has a display of large, vibrant paintings by Peter Waddell of his vision of White House interiors and exteriors at various points in time. They're both historic and artistic. They're lavishly painted with wonderful texture.