Night a naked ChurChill13 met linColn’s ghost...
tHE battle for the White House is in full swing as US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump go head to head. Whoever wins the election on November 8 will eventually move into an official residence in Washington DC bursting with history. Here we reveal the secrets of the iconic building… like the night Winston Churchill stepped from his bath to be met by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. George Washington, the first US president, was the only one not to live in the White House. He lived in Philadelphia while the nation’s new capital city, named after him, was under construction. He died in 1799 before his new home could be finished. Irish architect James Hoban won a competition to design the building, basing it on Leinster House in Dublin – then the palace of the Dukes of Leinster, now the core of the Irish Parliament building. The cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1792. Originally two storeys, the building took eight years to complete at a cost of $232,372 (£175,347). The workforce was mostly African slaves. The White House got its nickname from the whitewash used to coat its sandstone walls. The building, now at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, was called the Executive Mansion until officially renamed the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901. Its first residents in 1800 were President John Adams and wife Abigail. The next occupant, Thomas Jefferson, complained it was too big but did install its first indoor toilets. In 1814, British troops at war with the US ransacked and set fire to the building – but not before sitting down to a feast with the abandoned dinner service and food. By the time of the attack President James Madison had already left the city. Before she left, First Lady Dolley Madison is credited with saving a famous portrait of George Washington, hurriedly cut out of its frame. It’s now back in the White House. The gutted shell was rebuilt in time for President James Monroe to take residence in 1817. Scorch marks from the blaze can still be found in today’s building. During the American Civil War Union troops were billeted there. It was the largest house in the US for more than 60 years. Plumbing came in 1833, gas lighting in 1848 and electricity in 1891 – though President Benjamin Harrison refused to touch the light switches, fearing electrocution. The famous West Wing was established by Roosevelt in 1901 to keep the residential and business areas separate. The Oval Office, the president’s personal workspace, was constructed in 1909 and the famous Rose Garden was begun in 1913. An indoor pool was added by disabled President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933, an outdoor one in 1975 by Gerald Ford. President Richard Nixon installed a bowling alley in 1969. Bill Clinton put in a jogging track. Lyndon B Johnson had a soda dispenser moved into the Oval Office. The White House has been home to 43 presidents and hosted thousands of guests. The first British monarch to visit was King George VI in 1939. The Queen enjoyed grand state dinners at the White House in 1957, 1976, 1991 and 2007. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was one of many guests to encounter the ghost of former president Abraham Lincoln. Staying there in the 1940s Churchill came out of his bathroom naked, smoking a cigar, to find the spectre of Lincoln, assassinated in 1865, standing at a fireplace in his bedroom. Churchill claimed to have greeted him – but said Lincoln simply smiled and vanished. The Obamas have also reported spooky noises and Hillary Clinton, who lived there during husband Bill’s presidency, said: “It can be a little creepy.” President Woodrow Wilson kept 48 sheep on the lawn. Other odd presidential pets include a pair of goats (Abraham Lincoln), ponies (John F Kennedy), a snake (Teddy Roosevelt), cows (William Taft), lion cubs (Calvin Coolidge) and two alligators (Herbert Hoover). Grover Cleveland was the only president married in the White House, to Frances Folsom in 1886. The couple also had the only child to be born at the White House, Esther, in 1893. More than two dozen “First Kids” have lived in the White House, while two presidents have died in it – William Harrison in 1841 and Zachary Taylor in 1850. White House traditions include the president pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey and an Easter egg roll since 1878. The First Lady has been in charge of decorating the official White House Christmas tree since 1929. Recent presidents use the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, a gift from Queen Victoria in 1880. It was built from the timbers of a British Arctic exploration ship. President Truman described the White House as a “glamorous prison”. Ronald Reagan called it an “eight star hotel”. President Warren Harding used it to host poker parties. First Lady Michelle Obama likes to grow fruit and veg in the gardens. It has been the backdrop to history-changing events from Lincoln signing the emancipation of slaves act to the 1987 nuclear arms treaty between President Reagan and Soviet leader Michael Gorbachev. There has been a Situation Room under the West Wing since 1961, where the president oversees military operations. There’s also a nuclear-proof bunker under the East Wing. Hundreds of armed Secret Service agents guard the White House. There are bulletproof windows and panic buttons in bedrooms. A stolen army helicopter landed in the grounds in 1974, a plane crashed there in 1994 and in 1985 Robert Latta simply strolled in with a Marine Corps band. Monday October 17 2016 In the 19th century visitors might have been invited in for tea with the president or be allowed to picnic on the lawn. The White House still welcomes 11,000 visitors every week. The First Family live on the second and third floor rent free but do get a bill for living costs, detailing everything from food to laundry. The White House is managed by the Chief Usher, who oversees 100 household staff from butlers and maids to doormen. There’s even an official beekeeper. There are five full-time chefs. The White House kitchen can serve dinner to 140 guests and hors d’oeuvres to a thousand-plus. The chefs have had to cater to an array of presidential tastes. George W Bush, for example, liked to order “cheeseburger pizzas”. President Reagan kept a jar of jellybeans on his Oval Office desk. Today’s White House is set in 18 acres and covers 55,000 sq ft. It boasts 132 rooms – including 16 bedrooms and 35 bathrooms – over six levels. There are 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, and three lifts. There’s also a florist, tennis court, cinema and putting green. It takes 570 gallons of paint a time to keep it looking white. Whoever wins the election will not move into the White House until January 20, 2017. On Inauguration Day it is traditional for new presidents to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to their new home.