{"id":809,"date":"2015-03-08T19:33:46","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T19:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mediarhetoric.com\/blog\/?p=809"},"modified":"2015-03-09T21:12:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T21:12:52","slug":"west-wing-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mediarhetoric.com\/blog\/west-wing-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"West Wing Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2014, during the #SOTUSocial, I took a tour of\u00a0the White House residence-you know the China room, Blue Room, Green Room, Red Room, East Room, State Dining Room, etc. I also, by chance, saw Bo and Sunny while talking to a Secret Service Agent about the rooms on the\u00a0first\u00a0floor. \u00a0You can read about my experience in this blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The
The entrance to the West Wing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wednesday night, I was lucky enough to have a gracious, intelligent host who works in the White House Office of\u00a0Digital Strategy take me the most inspiring tour of the West Wing–the heart of the White House.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a>
The main entrance to the West Wing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"About<\/a>
About to walk into the West Wing. Cameras are not allowed beyond this point.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The White House does not allow pictures within the West Wing and even within the Residence. I will try to describe my experience as best as I can because words escape me while trying to describe the emotions I felt.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
I met Press Secretary Josh Earnest last year at the SOTU.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I first walked into the West Wing, the White House Press Secretary\u00a0Josh Earnest was heading out. Of course I said, hello.<\/p>\n

When you first walk into the West Wing, the first doors you see are to the Situation Room. Yes, I thought the highly secure Situation Room\u00a0was in the basement–in a dungeon. No, it’s RIGHT there when you walk into the main entrance to the West Wing. The tour then took me past Pete Souza’s Photo office and then to the Navy Mess where West Wing staffers can grab lunch.\u00a0I heard it’s\u00a0not uncommon to see President Obama or Vice President Biden enjoying lunch in the Navy Mess.<\/p>\n

A shout out to Pete Souza and the photography staff. The walls are covered in photographs–both of pictures released to the public and some that have not. The pictures are brilliant and tell stories. Each. And. Every. One. The pictures are changed out every Thursday.<\/p>\n

I also was in awe of the art work, especially a series of Norman Rockwall paintings never seen by the public called So You Want to See the President<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Then I was taken upstairs and outside\u00a0where I saw the famous 45 second commute–the West Wing Collande. You have all seen the President walk from the Oval Office, along side the Rose Garden, to the main residence.<\/p>\n

\"www.whitehousemuseum.org\"
The famous West Wing Colonnade. I went through the doors and stood right past where the president is walking. Image: www.whitehousemuseum.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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After envisioning the President and former Presidents (yes, you can feel the influence of all the Presidents in this space) walking to and from the Oval Office, I was taken to the Cabinet Room. The Cabinet Room is regal. My favorite was the bust of Ben Franklin. All the chairs are in order of when that department was established. The oldest departments, such as the State Department, means, the Secretary of State sits closest\u00a0to the President. Of course, the President’s back of his\u00a0chair is a bit higher than the rest of the cabinet member’s chairs. And, in front of his seat is a plaque that documents his spot and also serves as a pen holder. Very functional. Here’s a fact that I didn’t know and found very interesting: President Nixon bought the long table used in the Cabinet Room for only $4,000. That same table is used today.<\/p>\n

Past the Cabinet Room is the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room. I first took in\u00a0the Roosevelt Room, which is directly across the hall from the Oval Office. In fact, the last president to use the Roosevelt Room as the presidential office was President Roosevelt. The Oval Office that we know of now was added in 1941. I saw President Roosevelt’s\u00a0Nobel Prize hanging on the wall. Both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt were highlighted in the room. My favorite picture of Theodore Roosevelt was hanging above the fire place-him on the back of a bucking horse. That night, I had no idea that the Oval Office was on the tour. I thought I would see a few offices and that would be it. But, no. I saw THE West Wing. A few steps away behind me, I saw the Oval Office. Here I had to take a moment and soak in the fact that I’ve seen the Oval Office. THE Oval Office. Not a replica, but the real, working office of the President of the United States. Let’s take a moment…<\/p>\n

I have no words to describe the\u00a0emotions\u00a0I had when I saw the inside of the Oval Office. You can see President Obama’s\u00a0personal touches to the office. There are a few things that each president\u00a0can personalize. The Oval Office looks very comfortable. Fresh flowers, elegant wallpaper,\u00a0regal curtains and superb art work. \u00a0I noticed behind the Resolute Desk, personal pictures, one was a black and white photo of\u00a0the President and First Lady. \u00a0You could tell the table behind his desk was filled with snapshots that meant something to the man, not the President, but the man–as I hope every President uses that space to do so.<\/p>\n

I was also shown this picture below while looking at the famous Resolute desk. The picture is of President Obama who successfully figures out how to remove the front panel of the Resolute Desk where the famous picture of when John F. Kennedy, Jr. hid while his father, President Kennedy, worked.<\/p>\n