National Geographic's Inside the White House

It is a simple mansion, built of stone and irony,

a symbol of freedom invested with the labor of slaves

and great statesman alike.

It is like no other place on earth,

a house alive with the past and present.

I deem this reply a full acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Japan.

...that a strong and a confident

and a vigilant America stands ready tonight...

It is an odd place,

where the monumental and the mundane coexist.

To provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere...

therefore, I shall resign

the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

It is where the most critical decisions in our history are made.

And where any American can visit.

And all the things that American

Independence means to you and to me and to ours.

My fellow Americans, our constitution works -

here the people rule.

Now you will journey through time and a day

meeting the people and hearing the stories

that give this powerful place its soul.

For this is more than just an office or a monument or a home,

it is an American idea known as the White House.

This isn't the biggest house.

Many and most, in even smaller countries are much bigger.

This isn't the finest house, but this is the best house.

It's the best house

because it has something far more important than

numbers of people who serve,

far more important than numbers of rooms

or how big it is,

far more important than numbers of magnificent pieces of art.

This house has a great heart,

and that heart comes from those who serve.

At the White House, there is no such thing as a typical day

For those who serve inside, today will be one of the most intense.

These people, stagehands to history

are preparing the house for the visit of Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Hi, Brenda, this is Gary Walters at the White House.

How are you today.

Fine. Is Jerry in?

Each time a foreign leader visits the White House,

the President has an opportunity to showcase the power

and heritage of the nation

in a setting that embodies them in every wall,

floorboard, and stone.

This is the symbol not only of the Presidency,

but in the eyes of the world, of the United States of America.

Nothing compares to the simplicity and the strength

nothing, nothing in the world like it.

...black tie, the dinner is...

will start off with the private reception...

Very shortly the Yeltsins will arrive.

To insure a flawless visit,

there are briefings on the 1000 details of protocol and timing.

Then in terms of the movements, the arrival back here by the car,

going up to the stage...

The high point of the visit will be the state dinner tonight.

Dramatic, entertaining, and essential,

the state dinner is the ultimate expression of White House power.

Not a thing. Not a thing.

Okay, we're gonna start the escorts out to the South Lawn now...

More than 200 reporters will cover the visit of the Russian leader.

It will begin in a few moments with a carefully orchestrated event

called the arrival ceremony.

Will you repeat the name again please.

Ladies and Gentlemen this is an audience check

from the South Lawn of the White House.

Checking one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

I'm Mrs. Gore. I'm Secretary Christopher.

Inside the White House, with only minutes to go,

the President and the First Lady receive their final briefing.

The only thing I don't remember is what are the cues for down here -

both coming and going?

I hope I don't sneeze...

Ladies and Gentlemen.

The President of the United States and the First Lady.

The White House is so universally recognized today

that it's hard to imagine when it didn't exist.

But almost 13 years after the United States

had declared independence,

the city of Washington

was still nothing but untamed woodlands.

In 1789, Congress agreed to build a new capital city.

Ridiculed in New York and Philadelphia,

the city and the President's house would never have been built

had it not been for one man.

Washington wanted the city built.

By law it had to be occupied by November 1, 1800

and many forces were acting against this new city

in the wilderness.

Washington wanted it, he wanted it in the middle of the country,

he wanted it on the Potomac River.

And he was determined in having those buildings,

because in having the buildings, he would have his capital.

Its foundations were dug by slaves, the intricate stonework

carved by Scottish masons.

More than half the workforce were foreign born.

The workers lived at the job site

and each morning received a lb. Of meat and all the cornbread they could eat.

After one especially randy night there,

the commissioners overseeing

the project closed down the only house of prostitution

to have ever operated on the White House grounds.

When it was finished, it was immense;

a bigger home would not be built in this country

until after the Civil War.

Today, the power of the symbol is inescapable,

something every visiting leader learns upon arriving.

At that moment...

...I become the United States and he becomes Russia.

And we stand for all of our people.

And if this state visit goes well,

then it's proof that the Cold War is really over.

And we're making a newer and better world.

And I don't want to mess it up.

I want to do it right, because it's the United States.

Conceived by President ennedy in 1961,

the modern ceremony not only impresses the visiting leader,

it gives him the distinction of being welcomed here.

Together we have agreed to safeguard nuclear materials

and to shut down plutonium production reactors.

Together we can and we will make a difference

not only for our own people but also for men, women,

and children all around the world.

The receiving line's going on right now inside.

The President and Mrs. Clinton are receiving the official party.

We have a full day, full slate in front of us.

We have some canopies to put up yet, flower material to put around,

there's a lot of activities going on, yeah.

See ya later.

All right, Jim what else you got?

In the White House basement,

the first preparations for the state dinner are underway.

Here the butlers will find some of the 1,500 different pieces of china

to set tonight's tables.

It's one of a hundred different tasks the White House staff will finish

in their push to the dinner, now ten hours away.

Upstairs, in the entrance hall,

a receiving line welcoming the Russian delegation is concluding.

Just a few steps away,

the china is wheeled into the old family dining room.

The White House is barely large enough to hold a dinner like the one

planned for tonight.

So this elegant room has been converted into a giant pantry

so butlers like Buddy Carter can serve tonight's 150 guests.

There are so many people that are capable of doing this job,

but I'm one of the few selected that get to do it.

So I take a lot of pride in what I do and I love it.

Can I speak to Jim please?

Chief Usher Gary Walters is the house conductor.

He directs everyone from butlers to plumbers,

all the people who serve the family and make the house work.

Although he built the house,

George Washington died before it was finished.

John Adams, intimidated by the expense of running such a home,

said he'd prefer a row house instead.

But Washington's house held irresistible allure,

and on the night of November 1, 1800,

Adams became the first President to sleep in the White House.

Well, he woke up the next morning and he wrote a letter to his wife.

It seemed to settle in on him.

And it's really, you might say, the first experience, you know

of a President having in that house and see by now

it is the President's house.

It seems almost an afterthought, it was very beautiful,

when he says, you know,

may heaven bestow the best of blessings on this house and may none

but honest and wise men inhabit it hereafter.

When the Johnsons entered the White House,

the nation was still in mourning for President John ennedy.

One of the times that was a throat gasping time

for me was the morning of a December the 22nd,

when I came down to the first floor

where all of the chandeliers had been draped in black net,

and to come back and see that gone

and the Christmas tree brilliantly alight,

I think we had it in the Blue Room.

That was just a... you just gasp with sort of a relief,

and now we are started, and life will go on.

For the first families, from the moment they move in,

life goes on in the public eye.

For their own sanity, there must be a refuge

and at the White House it is upstairs.

Only above this stair is privacy absolute.

Never, while the Presidential family is in residence,

may cameras pass beyond this gate.

Cameras above the first floor are still rare,

because this is where the families live.

The second and third floors are one of the few places on earth

where the families are not accompanied by Secret Service.

At the heart of the second floor is the Yellow Oval Room

which leads to the Truman Balcony.

These rooms provide a haven,

a place safe from everything but history.

For me, I would get so caught up in what I was doing

that you forget where you are... that this is home.

But then we'd sit down at dinner at night