The White House

Summertime means travel time. I'm lucky when it comes to travel. I've seen many of the world's landmarks up close and personal. Places like the Eiffel Tower, The Acropolis, Vatican City, Ayres Rock, Franz Josep Glacier, Norte Dame and Big Ben. For the next few postings I want to share some lesson plans I use for my students as I present some of America's outstanding landmarks and places of interest. So get your luggage packed and gas-up your mental car because we're off. Today, let's go to The White House:

The White House is the official home and main workplace of President of the United States. It was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted sandstone in the late Georgian style, it has been the executive residence of every U.S. President since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into it in 1801, he, with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe made it larger by making two colonnades which was built to hide stables for horses and a storage area.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set on fire by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior walls. Reconstruction began almost immediately and President James Monroe moved into it before the work was completed in October 1817.

Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829. By 1901 the White House had become too small so President Theodore Roosevelt had nearly all work offices moved to the newly-constructed West Wing. Eight years later, President William Howard Taft made the West Wing larger by adding the Oval Office which was moved too as the building expanded. The third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927.

A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events and both new wings were connected by Jefferson's colonnades. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946 creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under President Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely taken apart and a new steel framework was created.

Today, the White House includes the area where the President and his family lives, The West Wing, and the East Wing as well as the Old Executive Office Building which houses the offices of the President and Vice President. The White house is six stories high and has a two story basement. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington D. C. Find out more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, one of my poems that would fit right into the Executive Branch:


Instructions To S/He Who Waits

Then finally, I make a list of the things we won’t need:

-Hula honey in the airplane propeller.

-A stand-in knot of arsenal bondage.

-Any spittish trail that pours out of chance.

-Straw bales from your marooned pelvic purse.

-Any trifle act of a same-sex drought.

-Every go-go boot germ in a robot’s heartbeat.

-Four synonyms for male perversity worry beads.

-All ink fountains of mastectomy cheeks.

-The rejection slip of a steel-toed jodhpurs.

-Chest wax designed for a cruise missile.

-Fragrant stirrups encased in a falsetto toll box.

-And of course, the rubber pulley of gesture implants.


Poem previoulsy published at: http://www.coupremine.com/
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Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.