Washington DC, Politics Trip

The White House 
The Capitol  
Washington At Large 

The White House

Spick and span on our first morning, we walked down Constitution Avenue ready to brave our first encounter with U.S. federal security and make our 9:30 appointment at the White House. 

We saw various magnificent rooms of state, each with a story to tell. The East Room was where Kennedy lay in state and ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt hosted a wrestling match. Historic portraits of Washington hung from the walls; we eyed a pensive JFK and a gleaming Reagan and viewed the ‘ellipsis’ – but from the inside.  A special moment was catching a glimpse of ‘Barney’ – President Bush’s pooch – tearing across the front lawn.

The Capitol

At the Capitol, we met up with Congressman ‘Mac’ Thornberry, who is an unreconstructed Republican from Texas complete with polished cowboy boots and the easy drawl of “Y’all”; he sits on both Military and Intelligence Committees.  He gave us a privileged insight into the inner working of the U.S. political system despite the fact that our gift of a Harrods hamper was deemed to be a threat to national security risk and promptly impounded.

Some zealous and earnest interns led us on a tour of the Capitol building, including the soaring rotunda, the first Supreme Court and the ‘Chamber of Whispers’.

The undoubted highlight was the chance to sit in on a session of Congress, at which we witnessed a reading of a legislative amendment and the subsequent vote. From the viewing gallery we saw the congressman stream in and the futile attempts of the Speaker to curb informal wheeling and dealing from the floor. 

Washington at Large

In the evolution section of the Natural History Museum, some of the boys recognised near relatives – many of whom did not survive the ice-age – and the girls headed straight for the mineral section and went weak at the knees gazing at the 46K ‘Hope Diamond’. 

At the ultra-modern and captivating Spy Museum, we were delighted to find out more of the traitorous activities of that infamous ‘Fifth Man’ and Old Marlburian, Anthony Blunt.

The boys enjoyed the National Air and Space Museum with its adrenalin racing IMAX films and flight simulators and a side visit to the evocative Native American Indian Museum. The girls immersed themselves in the cultured delights of the National Gallery of Art and Hirshhorn Institute.  The odd brave soul also took in the harrowing but impressive Holocaust Museum.

We wondered at the opulent grandeur of the Congress Library and its spectacular reading room, taking in the sage, gilded quotations on the walls, the magnificent mosaics, abundant resources and the Guttenberg Bible. 

A slack jawed ex-USAAF guide then took us on an amphibious walking tour of Washington under a deluge of biblical proportions before a restorative feast at the Hard Rock Café.

At an ice hockey game between the Washington Capitals and the Vancouver Canucks, our ‘lads on tour’ gave a fine rendition of English football terrace chants and well conducted Zulu war songs to the stunned bemusement of the ‘Caps’ fans.
 
We celebrated Halloween in extravagant style in vibrant Georgetown. Here, we were joined by an ex-Marlborough graduate assistant who is now a White House intern and personal assistant to Democrat Senator, Joe Liebermann.

A visit to the Arlington National Cemetery proved to be a moving experience; we were confronted by countless rows of tombstones and an obvious veneration for those who had served their country. Notable resting places included the ‘eternal flame’ of JFK, the solitary cross of his also assassinated brother, Robert Kennedy, the grave of heavyweight boxer, Joe ‘The Bomber’ Louis, and the house of tragic Confederate General Robert E. Lee.  The seriousness of the occasion was exemplified in the hourly changing of the guards at the tomb of the ‘unknown soldier’.