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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. This week, go inside the house thatpresidents have called home for more than two hundred years.

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VOICE ONE:

America's first president supervised the building of the WhiteHouse. Yet George Washington and his wife, Martha, never had thechance to live there. It was completed after he left office inseventeen-ninety-seven. Since then, America has had forty-two otherpresidents. All of them have lived at sixteen-hundred PennsylvaniaAvenue Northwest, in Washington, D.C. This November, Americans willdecide who lives in the White House for the next four years.President Bush and his wife, Laura, know their way around the placealready.

If John Kerry is elected, he and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry,would meet with White House employees after the election. Anofficial would walk the Kerrys through the house. They would move inon Inauguration Day next January twentieth.

VOICE TWO:

The White House has more than one-hundred-thirty rooms. It alsohas collections of more than forty-thousand objects. Presidentialfamilies often find things in storage that they like when they movein. Two of the Carter children, for example, found a chair among theunused furniture in the White House. Jimmy Carter served fromnineteen-seventy-seven to nineteen-eighty-one. He was thethirty-ninth president. The chair belonged to the sixteenthpresident, Abraham Lincoln. His wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had boughtthe chair. The Carters made it part of their home.

Wives of presidents have all added to the White House in someway. Jacqueline Kennedy, for example, created a colorful garden. Itis named in her honor.

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VOICE ONE:

George Washington had great hopes for the home he started.Washington entered office in seventeen-eighty-nine. Inseventeen-ninety, he signed an act of Congress. It said the federalgovernment would occupy an area in the District of Columbia near thePotomac River. President Washington and the French city plannerPierre L'Enfant chose the land for the new presidential home.

VOICE TWO:

A competition took place to find a designer. An architect namedJames Hoban won five-hundred dollars and a piece of land for hisdesign. Hoban was an immigrant from Ireland. He chose a designsimilar to Leinster House in Dublin, where the Irish Parliament nowmeets. Grayish white sandstone was chosen for the walls of the newhome of the president. Work started in seventeen-ninety-two. GeorgeWashington lived in Philadelphia during this time but watched overthe work.

America's second president, John Adams, and his wife, Abigail,were the first to live in the new home. They moved in on Novemberfirst, eighteen-hundred. The home was not yet finished. John andAbigail Adams lived in six rooms and used others to entertainguests. But they lived there for only four months.

VOICE ONE:

John Adams lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson triedto finish work on the home. So did James Madison, the nextpresident. But, in eighteen-fourteen, British forces invadedWashington. They burned the White House. Dolley Madison, thepresident's wife, tried to save valuable objects from the fire. Shesaved a painting of George Washington. She took it with her as shefled for safety. This famous painting by Gilbert Stuart hangs in theWhite House to this day. After the fire, James Hoban came back tohelp rebuild the house he had designed. During this time, it waspainted white.

Over the years the White House has been enlarged and almosttotally rebuilt. In nineteen-sixty-one, Congress decided thatfurniture of historic and artistic value would always be White Houseproperty. In effect, Congress made the White House a museum.

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VOICE TWO:

As visitors enter the White House, they see pictures of pastpresidents on the walls. Among them is Franklin Roosevelt, thethirty-second president. Roosevelt led the nation through the end ofthe great economic depression and World War Two. He was elected fourtimes, more than any other president. He died in office. Today, theConstitution limits president to two terms.

In another hall on the first floor are paintings of first ladies.In one painting, Nancy Reagan wears a beautiful red dress. She lookslike the Hollywood movie actress she once was. Her husband, RonaldReagan, also was an actor. Later he became the governor ofCalifornia and, later still, the fortieth president of the UnitedStates. Another room off this hallway contains a collection of finedishes made of china. Each president has added to this collection.

VOICE ONE:

Wide marble steps lead to the nextfloor. It is called the State Floor. Presidents use rooms here forofficial duties and to entertain guests. The largest room on theState Floor is the East Room. News conferences and musicperformances take place here. But this room has had other uses overthe years. The daughter of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifthpresident, rode her tricycle in the East Room. Abigail Adams hungher family's clothes to dry from the wash.

Other rooms on the State Floor are named for their colors: theBlue Room, the Green Room and the Red Room. The president meets withdiplomats and other guests in these rooms.

VOICE TWO:

Nearby is the State Dining Room.This is where official state dinners take place. Important visitorssit with the president or first lady, or at tables with thesecretary of state or other officials.

Another room is the Treaty Room on the second floor. This is usedfor meetings. Important documents have been signed there. Atdifferent times, this was the cabinet room or the president'soffice.

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VOICE ONE:

The third floor of the White House contains bedrooms for guests.One of these is called the Lincoln Bedroom. Abraham Lincoln led thecountry through the Civil War in the eighteen-sixties. He freed theslaves in the South.

No story about a famous house would be complete without a ghoststory. Lincoln was killed soon after the fighting ended. A supporterof the defeated South shot him at Ford's Theater in Washington. Butsome say the ghost of Lincoln walks around the White House at night.

VOICE TWO:

The White House has an East Wing and a West Wing. In the WestWing is the Oval Office. This is the large rounded office where thepresident works. Rooms in the East Wing offer private living spacefor the president and his family. The home of the vice president ison the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington.

President Carter's wife Rosalynn described the family area in theWhite House as surprisingly small. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter ofBill Clinton, the forty-second president, had a favorite room inthis area. It was the sunroom.

VOICE ONE:

One day, during World War Two, a local woman stopped at the WhiteHouse. She asked to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of FranklinDelano Roosevelt. An aide to Missus Roosevelt was going to tell thevisitor that the first lady was busy. But the young woman said herhusband was fighting overseas.

Eleanor Roosevelt heard this and invited her to come in. Sheserved tea and told her visitor that she, too, had loved onesfighting overseas.

It seems hard to imagine such a visit today. In fact, the WhiteHouse was closed to visitors after the terrorist attacks on theUnited States on September eleventh, two-thousand-one. Now, groupscan take tours of the White House. But they must organize themthrough a member of Congress.

The White House also offers an online tour at its Web site. Theaddress is whitehouse.gov. Again, that address is whitehouse.gov.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus.. Join us again next week for THIS ISAMERICA, in VOA Special English.