Du Publishing: Washington Watch Weekly/February 200411; Academic Exchange Network/American Social Life/February 2004 13 Forwarding

1790, one year after the American people elected their own president, Congress decided to build a new platform on the Potomac River.

Establish a permanent capital along the river and name it after the first president, Washington. 1792, the United States held an architectural design competition of "Presidential Residence". At that time, President Washington was very interested in this future building and personally selected James Houben, who was born in Ireland.

Hoban was named the best, but he was the only president who didn't live in the White House for a day.

The first owner of the White House was the second President of the United States, john adams.

Adams) couple. At that time, the White House had 36 rooms, but most of them were still unusable, and some walls were not even painted. During their term of office, The Addams Family only used 65,438+02 rooms in the White House, which is obviously a bit too much space for them. But when theodore roosevelt, the 26th president of 1902,

When the Roosevelt couple moved in with their six children, the White House, the office and the living room all looked too small. Therefore, the designers built the office on the west side of the White House main building and the guest room on the east side. 18 14 unwilling to be independent of the United States, the British army attacked Washington, the capital of the United States, and set fire to the White House. James madison, the fourth president of the United States.

Madison invited the designer James houben to rebuild the White House. Houben kept several walls in the fire and rebuilt them as they were. The reconstructed White House was opened in 18 17, and was occupied by the fifth President james monroe.

Monroe).1In the summer of 948, the 33rd President Harry Truman (Harry

Truman) found that the floor under his daughter's piano began to sink, and at the same time, the plaster on the lower ceiling kept falling off, so the president and his family moved out of the White House. Engineers replaced the old and overused house with reinforced concrete structure and modern heating and water supply system, but they still kept the walls that had been used in the fire all their lives.

The main building of the White House now has a bowling alley, 132 rooms, 4 restaurants, a dentist's office, 28 fireplaces, 12 chimneys, 3 elevators and 2 basements. About 150 staff members serve the President in the West Office of the White House and the First Lady in the East Office. More than 100 gardeners, guards and chefs are responsible for maintaining the normal operation of this presidential residence and museum.

Visiting the White House requires a group of at least 65,438+00 people, regardless of age, gender or any other organizational characteristics. Visiting groups with more than 10 people with hearing or visual impairment can get special tour guide service. The organizer of the visit needs to apply to the local councillors and make an appointment about one month in advance, and report the age and ID number of all visitors. On the day of the visit, visitors should arrive 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time of safety inspection.