1
00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:03,940
Just about any kid in America could tell you

2
00:00:03,940 --> 00:00:06,440
that's where the president of the United States lives.

3
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,510
But the real story of the White House is bigger,

4
00:00:09,510 --> 00:00:11,280
with secrets going deeper...

5
00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:12,550
That's cool.

6
00:00:12,550 --> 00:00:14,150
...than we ever thought possible...

7
00:00:14,150 --> 00:00:15,880
This looks like a king lives here.

8
00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,420
from little-known facts...

9
00:00:17,420 --> 00:00:19,720
You can see what appears to be a tunnel

10
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,460
being built deep beneath the White House.

11
00:00:22,460 --> 00:00:24,160
...to long-held myths.

12
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,090
And check it out -- no red phone.

13
00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:30,060
I'm chasing this incredible evolution...

14
00:00:30,070 --> 00:00:31,670
Shift. Go.

15
00:00:31,670 --> 00:00:33,430
...from simple stone house...

16
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,400
That just, like, sends rock everywhere.

17
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,740
...to the world's most important address --

18
00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:41,780
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

19
00:00:41,780 --> 00:00:43,280
I'm Don Wildman.

20
00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,480
I've explored the world's greatest mysteries,

21
00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:48,980
examined rare artifacts and epic monuments.

22
00:00:48,980 --> 00:00:50,380
That's amazing.

23
00:00:50,390 --> 00:00:51,890
Now, I'm digging deeper

24
00:00:51,890 --> 00:00:55,620
into some of the most perplexing and famous cases in history.

25
00:00:55,620 --> 00:00:59,090
My goal -- to get closer to the truth.

26
00:00:59,090 --> 00:01:01,460
It's a totally alien environment down there.

27
00:01:01,460 --> 00:01:06,600
This is "Mysteries at the Museum: The White House."

28
00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:14,074
Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE
www.osdb.link/lm

29
00:01:15,740 --> 00:01:18,710
I'm going through a familiar preflight ritual.

30
00:01:18,710 --> 00:01:20,810
Turn around, please.

31
00:01:20,820 --> 00:01:23,420
But this is no ordinary trip.

32
00:01:23,420 --> 00:01:24,820
We have a special agent from the Secret Service.

33
00:01:24,820 --> 00:01:26,320
He'll be flying with you today.

34
00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:27,650
-How are you doin'? -Good, Don.

35
00:01:27,660 --> 00:01:28,990
-How are you? -I'm good, thanks.

36
00:01:28,990 --> 00:01:31,490
All right. Following you.

37
00:01:34,630 --> 00:01:36,530
I'm flying over the White House.

38
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:41,470
To book this flight,

39
00:01:41,470 --> 00:01:44,740
I needed clearance from three federal agencies

40
00:01:44,740 --> 00:01:46,870
and a background check.

41
00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,580
And, yes, the Secret Service is along for the ride.

42
00:01:50,580 --> 00:01:52,410
Whoo. Here we go.

43
00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:56,780
Washington, D.C., has been the capital

44
00:01:56,790 --> 00:01:59,690
of the United States since 1790.

45
00:01:59,690 --> 00:02:02,290
And for much of its history, the skies above the city

46
00:02:02,290 --> 00:02:06,290
buzzed with airplanes and helicopters.

47
00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:10,100
That all changed on September 11th, 2001,

48
00:02:10,100 --> 00:02:13,670
when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four jetliners

49
00:02:13,670 --> 00:02:15,740
and hurled them at the Twin Towers

50
00:02:15,740 --> 00:02:17,670
and the Pentagon.

51
00:02:17,670 --> 00:02:22,310
The last plane might have been meant for the White House.

52
00:02:22,310 --> 00:02:23,540
In the aftermath,

53
00:02:23,550 --> 00:02:26,780
the government shut down the skies over Washington.

54
00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:30,680
Today, it's a no-fly zone 10 miles wide.

55
00:02:30,690 --> 00:02:34,690
Chopper flights like this come along once in a lifetime.

56
00:02:34,690 --> 00:02:37,290
And so does the chance to get a big-picture look

57
00:02:37,290 --> 00:02:39,890
at our nation's most famous front yard.

58
00:02:39,900 --> 00:02:44,330
Wow. You don't get this view every day, do you?

59
00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:47,270
We are in front of the most protected chunks

60
00:02:47,270 --> 00:02:51,340
of air space in the country, let alone the world.

61
00:02:51,340 --> 00:02:53,670
There she is, the White House.

62
00:02:59,050 --> 00:03:01,350
Just beautiful. This is amazing.

63
00:03:01,350 --> 00:03:03,280
What a privilege to get this close in

64
00:03:03,290 --> 00:03:07,290
and see the whole design of the Mall right before you.

65
00:03:07,290 --> 00:03:09,490
You can see all the monuments --

66
00:03:09,490 --> 00:03:11,520
Washington, Lincoln Memorial.

67
00:03:11,530 --> 00:03:15,060
The Capitol to my left there.

68
00:03:15,060 --> 00:03:18,200
And there's nothing moving in the sky.

69
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,730
I mean, in any other major metropolis --

70
00:03:20,740 --> 00:03:23,700
New York, L.A. -- you'd see air traffic teeming,

71
00:03:23,710 --> 00:03:25,040
helicopters and so forth.

72
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:30,040
This just points out how secure this city has to be.

73
00:03:30,050 --> 00:03:32,850
The Washington flight-restricted zone is surrounded

74
00:03:32,850 --> 00:03:35,620
by a sophisticated laser warning system.

75
00:03:35,620 --> 00:03:37,980
If a pilot ignores the warnings,

76
00:03:37,990 --> 00:03:42,120
a fighter jet will escort them to the nearest runway.

77
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,320
And that's if everything goes well.

78
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,830
I mean, that is what it's all about,

79
00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,330
protecting the White House,

80
00:03:53,340 --> 00:03:55,200
the executive branch of the government,

81
00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,340
the president.

82
00:03:57,340 --> 00:03:58,710
And it looks kind of vulnerable there.

83
00:03:58,710 --> 00:04:04,010
And that's why it needs to be so secure out here.

84
00:04:04,010 --> 00:04:07,310
It's really an amazing impact on me as an American

85
00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,020
to feel a part of this.

86
00:04:10,020 --> 00:04:14,190
Of course, the flight-restricted zone is a recent addition

87
00:04:14,190 --> 00:04:17,090
and just one of the ways the White House adapts

88
00:04:17,090 --> 00:04:20,290
to the ever-changing needs of the presidency.

89
00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:23,760
This constant evolution is what keeps the White House

90
00:04:23,770 --> 00:04:26,930
rooted at the center of our American story.

91
00:04:30,270 --> 00:04:33,210
It was here, in a great map-covered office,

92
00:04:33,210 --> 00:04:35,510
now used as the State Dining Room,

93
00:04:35,510 --> 00:04:37,180
that Thomas Jefferson planned

94
00:04:37,180 --> 00:04:40,180
the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1802.

95
00:04:42,250 --> 00:04:43,550
60 years later,

96
00:04:43,550 --> 00:04:46,320
the president's office was upstairs.

97
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,390
Abraham Lincoln tracked army movements

98
00:04:48,390 --> 00:04:49,690
during the Civil War

99
00:04:49,690 --> 00:04:53,090
with telegraphed dispatches from the front.

100
00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:55,630
During the Great Depression, the Oval Office

101
00:04:55,630 --> 00:04:58,030
was connected to every living room in America

102
00:04:58,030 --> 00:05:00,430
as Franklin Roosevelt harnessed the air waves

103
00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,040
to reassure a troubled nation.

104
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,270
And in the years after 9/11,

105
00:05:06,270 --> 00:05:09,580
the president was once again connected to the front lines,

106
00:05:09,580 --> 00:05:11,780
but this time from the state-of-the-art

107
00:05:11,780 --> 00:05:14,450
Situation Room under the West Wing.

108
00:05:14,450 --> 00:05:17,050
Here, Barack Obama watched over the raid

109
00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:19,390
to take down Osama bin Laden.

110
00:05:22,990 --> 00:05:25,230
But for every line of history written

111
00:05:25,230 --> 00:05:26,560
within these walls,

112
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,760
there are nearly as many myths and misconceptions.

113
00:05:30,770 --> 00:05:35,400
For example, George Washington never lived at the White House

114
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,410
because the new capital city was still under construction.

115
00:05:39,410 --> 00:05:42,740
Abraham Lincoln never slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

116
00:05:42,740 --> 00:05:45,380
He used the room as his office.

117
00:05:45,380 --> 00:05:47,950
And Kennedy never spoke with Khrushchev

118
00:05:47,950 --> 00:05:50,580
on the famous Oval Office red phone

119
00:05:50,590 --> 00:05:54,090
because the red phone never existed.

120
00:05:54,090 --> 00:05:55,990
The White House has been the home

121
00:05:55,990 --> 00:05:58,590
of the president of the United States since 1800.

122
00:05:58,590 --> 00:06:01,860
But it's easy to forget just how old this building really is.

123
00:06:01,860 --> 00:06:03,600
When the first president moved in,

124
00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,300
the only bathroom was a wooden outhouse

125
00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:08,470
right there on the South Lawn.

126
00:06:08,470 --> 00:06:10,870
So how did a two-century-old building

127
00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:13,210
with no running water become the nerve center

128
00:06:13,210 --> 00:06:15,310
of the most powerful nation on Earth?

129
00:06:15,310 --> 00:06:18,480
To find out, I'm going all the way back to the beginning.

130
00:06:23,450 --> 00:06:27,020
My trip back in time has led me to an out-of-the-way corner

131
00:06:27,020 --> 00:06:28,820
of Stafford County, Virginia,

132
00:06:28,820 --> 00:06:31,390
40 miles downriver from Washington.

133
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,800
This is Government Island on the Aquia Creek.

134
00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:38,100
If you're looking for the birthplace

135
00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:39,300
of the White House,

136
00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:41,330
this is as close as you're gonna get.

137
00:06:41,340 --> 00:06:45,910
In 1792, this whole island was a stone quarry.

138
00:06:45,910 --> 00:06:49,080
The government bought it and ran it for one reason.

139
00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,310
This is Aquia sandstone.

140
00:06:51,310 --> 00:06:54,750
This is the stone that built the White House.

141
00:06:54,750 --> 00:06:58,420
President Washington required that the new federal buildings

142
00:06:58,420 --> 00:07:00,790
in the capital be made out of stone.

143
00:07:00,790 --> 00:07:03,220
The White House was designed to last.

144
00:07:03,230 --> 00:07:04,820
Look at this.

145
00:07:04,830 --> 00:07:07,760
These are all quarriers' pick marks

146
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,130
from 200 years ago, okay?

147
00:07:10,130 --> 00:07:13,970
The quarriers were the lowest skilled laborers on the island.

148
00:07:13,970 --> 00:07:15,540
Many of them were slaves.

149
00:07:15,540 --> 00:07:18,540
These slaves toiled away cutting stone

150
00:07:18,540 --> 00:07:21,610
that was used on the president's house.

151
00:07:21,610 --> 00:07:22,880
Hey, Rick.

152
00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,510
I've invited local historian Rick MacGregor

153
00:07:25,510 --> 00:07:29,220
to meet me here on the island to get a better understanding

154
00:07:29,220 --> 00:07:32,790
of what it was like to be an 18th-century quarrier.

155
00:07:32,790 --> 00:07:35,160
Are these real or replica?

156
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,690
That's an original pick that was found here in this quarry.

157
00:07:37,690 --> 00:07:39,690
-Really? -Yes. It's about 200 years old,

158
00:07:39,690 --> 00:07:41,730
-handmade by a blacksmith. -Wow!

159
00:07:41,730 --> 00:07:44,300
And that's a wedge, handmade also.

160
00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:46,430
Basically, with these few tools,

161
00:07:46,430 --> 00:07:49,940
very simple tools, this stone was cut, yeah?

162
00:07:49,940 --> 00:07:51,170
Yes. Yeah.

163
00:07:51,170 --> 00:07:52,510
I'd love to get a feel for this.

164
00:07:52,510 --> 00:07:53,870
-Absolutely. -Cool.

165
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,780
I want to be clear -- This is a practice stone

166
00:07:58,780 --> 00:08:00,310
that Rick brought for me

167
00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,520
because the whole island is a historic site.

168
00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:04,920
All right.

169
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:06,320
Ooh, man.

170
00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,990
It just, like, sends rock everywhere.

171
00:08:08,990 --> 00:08:11,360
Can you imagine doing this day in, day out?

172
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,460
Sun up, sun down?

173
00:08:15,460 --> 00:08:18,200
And, you know, this place was, like, hopping

174
00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,370
because stone was in real demand.

175
00:08:20,370 --> 00:08:24,100
So you had all these guys working like crazy

176
00:08:24,110 --> 00:08:27,770
trying to get the rock to build the president's house.

177
00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:29,540
Okay.

178
00:08:29,540 --> 00:08:31,440
Okay. Well, I've had enough.

179
00:08:31,450 --> 00:08:34,110
Thank God for the Industrial Revolution, huh?

180
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,150
-Thank you. -All right.

181
00:08:36,150 --> 00:08:40,350
Quarrying the stone was only the first step.

182
00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,060
It took eight more years to build the White House.

183
00:08:44,060 --> 00:08:48,030
George Washington personally guided the process.

184
00:08:48,030 --> 00:08:50,800
But it was our second president, John Adams,

185
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,130
who would finally move in in 1800.

186
00:08:54,140 --> 00:08:57,500
Some rooms were still unfinished.

187
00:08:57,510 --> 00:09:02,780
And only a few years later, during the war of 1812,

188
00:09:02,780 --> 00:09:05,380
the British army invaded the capital

189
00:09:05,380 --> 00:09:08,110
and burned the White House down.

190
00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,650
But America rebuilt it.

191
00:09:10,650 --> 00:09:15,620
And the White House has been home to every president since.

192
00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:17,090
Abraham Lincoln's White House

193
00:09:17,090 --> 00:09:21,890
in 1865 looked a lot like Andrew Jackson's in 1835.

194
00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:24,460
The Civil War was in its fifth brutal year.

195
00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:28,100
But Lincoln continued his open-door policy at the house.

196
00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:31,300
In those days, anyone could walk right in off the street,

197
00:09:31,310 --> 00:09:32,710
enter that door right there

198
00:09:32,710 --> 00:09:34,940
and request a meeting with the President.

199
00:09:34,940 --> 00:09:38,710
Lincoln's advisors pleaded with him to limit his exposure.

200
00:09:38,710 --> 00:09:40,750
It was well known that there were Confederate spies

201
00:09:40,750 --> 00:09:42,120
right here in the capital.

202
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,820
But Lincoln refused to cut himself off from the people.

203
00:09:46,820 --> 00:09:49,820
On April 14th, 1865,

204
00:09:49,820 --> 00:09:52,930
five days after the Confederacy surrendered,

205
00:09:52,930 --> 00:09:55,900
John Wilkes Booth snuck into the president's box

206
00:09:55,900 --> 00:09:58,430
at Ford's Theatre

207
00:09:58,430 --> 00:10:01,900
and shot Abraham Lincoln at point-blank range.

208
00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:08,170
Lincoln died at 7:22 the next morning.

209
00:10:08,180 --> 00:10:10,110
The nation was stunned.

210
00:10:10,110 --> 00:10:11,410
It was the first time

211
00:10:11,410 --> 00:10:15,420
an assassin had brought down an American president.

212
00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:18,150
The legislation creating the Secret Service

213
00:10:18,150 --> 00:10:21,990
was on Abraham Lincoln's desk the night he was assassinated.

214
00:10:21,990 --> 00:10:24,390
Then two more presidents were killed in office --

215
00:10:24,390 --> 00:10:26,490
James Garfield and William McKinley.

216
00:10:26,490 --> 00:10:31,160
So in 1901, Congress finally charged the Secret Service

217
00:10:31,170 --> 00:10:34,770
with the duty of protecting the president.

218
00:10:34,770 --> 00:10:36,970
Today, the Secret Service has hardened

219
00:10:36,970 --> 00:10:39,440
the White House into a fortress.

220
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,640
But a modern president is always on the move.

221
00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,840
So what happens when the president ventures

222
00:10:44,850 --> 00:10:46,310
beyond the Beltway?

223
00:10:46,310 --> 00:10:49,220
And more importantly, how does the Secret Service

224
00:10:49,220 --> 00:10:51,050
get him safely back home...

225
00:10:51,050 --> 00:10:51,980
Turn.

226
00:10:51,990 --> 00:10:52,790
...to the White House?

227
00:10:55,740 --> 00:10:58,140
I'm tracking the ways the White House adapts

228
00:10:58,140 --> 00:11:00,280
to the president's needs.

229
00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,180
After the Lincoln assassination,

230
00:11:02,180 --> 00:11:05,410
the nation clamored for better security.

231
00:11:05,420 --> 00:11:07,480
Today, the president is surrounded

232
00:11:07,490 --> 00:11:09,820
by multiple layers of protection,

233
00:11:09,820 --> 00:11:12,920
courtesy of the United States Secret Service.

234
00:11:14,930 --> 00:11:17,430
But how exactly do they do it?

235
00:11:17,430 --> 00:11:20,300
I'm going deep inside their secure training grounds

236
00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:22,160
to find out.

237
00:11:22,170 --> 00:11:25,070
The Secret Service protects the president 24/7

238
00:11:25,070 --> 00:11:26,640
wherever he goes.

239
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,300
Now, it's one thing when he stays inside

240
00:11:28,310 --> 00:11:29,540
the White House security bubble.

241
00:11:29,540 --> 00:11:31,270
But when he ventures outside,

242
00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,140
these guys gotta be ready for anything.

243
00:11:35,950 --> 00:11:38,810
The Secret Service compound features

244
00:11:38,820 --> 00:11:41,220
full-size mock-ups of Marine One

245
00:11:41,220 --> 00:11:44,550
and the forward fuselage of Air Force One.

246
00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:46,560
There's also an urban street

247
00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,820
for practicing presidential movements.

248
00:11:48,830 --> 00:11:50,530
It's the Secret Service's job

249
00:11:50,530 --> 00:11:53,260
to get the president wherever he needs to go

250
00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:56,200
and then bring him back to the White House safely.

251
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,700
On top of everything else, these men and women

252
00:11:58,700 --> 00:12:00,900
have to be masters behind the wheel.

253
00:12:00,910 --> 00:12:04,270
Now I can't show you who these Secret Service agents are.

254
00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:05,640
But they've agreed to demonstrate

255
00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,540
a little of what they can do.

256
00:12:10,750 --> 00:12:12,010
Whoo, man.

257
00:12:12,020 --> 00:12:14,650
Rule number one for the presidential motorcade

258
00:12:14,650 --> 00:12:15,750
is to keep moving.

259
00:12:15,750 --> 00:12:16,650
Wow!

260
00:12:16,650 --> 00:12:18,320
That's how fast they're going.

261
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,260
That's amazing.

262
00:12:19,260 --> 00:12:22,020
A sitting car is an easy target.

263
00:12:22,030 --> 00:12:25,260
Okay, so this is a critical situation they train for.

264
00:12:25,260 --> 00:12:27,600
Now, imagine they're on a tight, narrow passageway.

265
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:29,230
They've just been blocked at the end of an alley.

266
00:12:29,230 --> 00:12:30,730
They got to get out there.

267
00:12:30,740 --> 00:12:33,300
And they reverse.

268
00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:35,770
And without stopping, whoo, there you go.

269
00:12:35,770 --> 00:12:37,870
Wow. That's called a J-turn.

270
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,710
That is reversing in a tight alleyway without stopping.

271
00:12:40,710 --> 00:12:43,410
And they are gone!

272
00:12:43,410 --> 00:12:45,880
Wow.

273
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,950
But how hard is it to master skills like that?

274
00:12:48,950 --> 00:12:50,750
I intend to find out.

275
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,520
You have to be in the Secret Service

276
00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,060
to actually use their training facility.

277
00:12:55,060 --> 00:12:57,290
So I found the next-best thing.

278
00:12:57,300 --> 00:12:59,860
Summit Point Motorsports Park

279
00:12:59,860 --> 00:13:03,600
is home to the BSR Tactical Driving School.

280
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,300
This is where federal officials and security professionals

281
00:13:06,300 --> 00:13:09,170
hone their chops behind the wheel.

282
00:13:09,170 --> 00:13:11,610
Today, I'm meeting instructor Guy Frank

283
00:13:11,610 --> 00:13:13,040
for some driver's ed...

284
00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:14,780
-How you doing? -Very well, Don.

285
00:13:14,780 --> 00:13:15,950
Good morning and welcome.

286
00:13:15,950 --> 00:13:17,510
...Secret Service-style.

287
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,380
So I saw the Secret Service demonstrate how to escape

288
00:13:21,390 --> 00:13:23,720
from an ambush situation, tactical driving,

289
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:25,390
-the J-turn, right? -Yes.

290
00:13:25,390 --> 00:13:26,820
We know the J-turn very well here.

291
00:13:26,820 --> 00:13:28,690
It's the cornerstone of evasive driving.

292
00:13:28,690 --> 00:13:30,760
Can a guy like me learn how to do this?

293
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:31,890
Absolutely.

294
00:13:33,230 --> 00:13:34,860
Show me how this works.

295
00:13:34,870 --> 00:13:36,300
-Give me a J-turn. -All right.

296
00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:38,900
So three things to remember -- lift, turn, and shift.

297
00:13:38,900 --> 00:13:40,400
Yikes. Man, he just went into it.

298
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:42,300
-So here we go. -All right.

299
00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:43,810
Here's our lift...

300
00:13:43,810 --> 00:13:44,640
turn...

301
00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,840
Whoa! Whoo!

302
00:13:47,850 --> 00:13:49,450
Oh, boy!

303
00:13:49,450 --> 00:13:52,150
Man, that was intense.

304
00:13:52,150 --> 00:13:55,250
How do you keep that straight, literally?

305
00:13:55,250 --> 00:13:56,220
Practice.

306
00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:59,460
Man, that is wild.

307
00:13:59,460 --> 00:14:02,090
Guy pulls off a full-speed J-turn

308
00:14:02,090 --> 00:14:04,130
as smoothly as a stunt man.

309
00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:09,730
And it looks like a move straight out of Hollywood.

310
00:14:09,730 --> 00:14:11,800
These sort of maneuvers could be critical

311
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,940
for getting the president out of danger

312
00:14:13,940 --> 00:14:15,970
and back to the safety of the White House.

313
00:14:15,970 --> 00:14:17,810
-Are you ready? -Can I give this a shot?

314
00:14:17,810 --> 00:14:19,110
Absolutely.

315
00:14:22,450 --> 00:14:24,350
I didn't think I'd be so nervous about this,

316
00:14:24,350 --> 00:14:25,610
but I am.

317
00:14:25,620 --> 00:14:28,050
Guy talks me through the three steps

318
00:14:28,050 --> 00:14:30,590
of a J-turn -- lift off the gas,

319
00:14:30,590 --> 00:14:33,090
turn the wheel hard, shift into drive.

320
00:14:33,090 --> 00:14:34,190
Here we go.

321
00:14:34,190 --> 00:14:36,460
So it's in reverse, attack, back away.

322
00:14:36,460 --> 00:14:38,190
All right, let's do this. You can do this.

323
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:39,660
Let's go when you're ready, Don.

324
00:14:39,660 --> 00:14:41,130
All right.

325
00:14:41,130 --> 00:14:42,600
Keep backing. Keep backing.

326
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,030
Keep backing. Keep backing.

327
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:45,500
Keep backing. Keep backing.

328
00:14:45,500 --> 00:14:46,340
Lift.

329
00:14:46,340 --> 00:14:49,570
Turn.

330
00:14:49,570 --> 00:14:52,010
Cut.

331
00:14:52,010 --> 00:14:53,380
Turn us around. Let's go back, try it again.

332
00:14:53,380 --> 00:14:55,850
Oh, boy. Failure.

333
00:14:58,580 --> 00:14:59,820
Okay. What happened?

334
00:14:59,820 --> 00:15:01,980
Okay, as soon as you become uncomfortable

335
00:15:01,990 --> 00:15:03,490
you went to the comfort pedal.

336
00:15:03,490 --> 00:15:04,550
Everybody comfort pedal's what?

337
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:05,890
-The brake pedal. -The brake.

338
00:15:05,890 --> 00:15:08,490
You try to do what's normal, but it's not normal driving.

339
00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:09,660
I mean, that's the thing.

340
00:15:09,660 --> 00:15:10,590
You're just trying to do something

341
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,490
completely counterintuitive.

342
00:15:15,170 --> 00:15:16,970
-Okay. -All right.

343
00:15:16,970 --> 00:15:18,270
-Back us up. -I'm ready.

344
00:15:18,270 --> 00:15:20,570
Here we go. Keep backing.

345
00:15:20,570 --> 00:15:22,270
Keep backing. Lift.

346
00:15:22,270 --> 00:15:23,470
Turn.

347
00:15:23,470 --> 00:15:25,410
Shift.

348
00:15:25,410 --> 00:15:28,310
Oh, I braked. I braked.

349
00:15:30,150 --> 00:15:33,150
I'll tell you, the scary part is going backwards as fast.

350
00:15:35,290 --> 00:15:37,250
All right, here we go again. Oh, boy.

351
00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:39,360
It's the most terrifying thing I've ever done.

352
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:40,460
No brake this time.

353
00:15:40,460 --> 00:15:43,490
I'm going right to shift and gas.

354
00:15:43,490 --> 00:15:44,860
You got it.

355
00:15:44,860 --> 00:15:47,700
Whoo. Okay.

356
00:15:47,700 --> 00:15:49,530
All right, attack. Back away.

357
00:15:52,340 --> 00:15:54,840
Keep backing. Keep backing.

358
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:56,810
Lift. Turn.

359
00:15:56,810 --> 00:15:57,610
Shift.

360
00:15:57,610 --> 00:15:58,870
Go.

361
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,440
No bonus points for turning on the wipers, Don.

362
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,210
-Nice job! -Whoo!

363
00:16:02,210 --> 00:16:03,880
Yeah! Oh, my God.

364
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,820
It's a very successful feeling. Thank you so much.

365
00:16:06,820 --> 00:16:08,820
Secret Service, here I come.

366
00:16:13,820 --> 00:16:16,330
But before I celebrate too much,

367
00:16:16,330 --> 00:16:19,630
Guy has one more Secret Service technique for me to try.

368
00:16:19,630 --> 00:16:21,400
-What's next? -Barricade breaching.

369
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:22,770
Barricade breaching. What's that?

370
00:16:22,770 --> 00:16:24,030
We're gonna ram our way

371
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,240
through a vehicle blocking our space

372
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:27,740
so that we can exit that attack.

373
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:29,570
So I went in reverse at high speed.

374
00:16:29,570 --> 00:16:31,840
-Now, I'm going forward. -Correct.

375
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,310
-All right. -Those are our vehicles.

376
00:16:33,310 --> 00:16:35,410
And here's our exercise, in front of us.

377
00:16:35,410 --> 00:16:37,180
They look lovely.

378
00:16:37,180 --> 00:16:38,510
Why don't you have a seat behind the wheel?

379
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:39,720
Okay.

380
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,150
Guy tells me a successful barricade breach

381
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:45,520
comes down to physics.

382
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,020
The key is to align my car's frame

383
00:16:48,030 --> 00:16:50,330
with the blocking car's axle.

384
00:16:50,330 --> 00:16:52,430
And I want to hit it at just the right speed --

385
00:16:52,430 --> 00:16:55,200
about 15 miles per hour.

386
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:56,000
Let's go.

387
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,300
Little faster.

388
00:16:59,340 --> 00:17:01,770
Ram.

389
00:17:01,770 --> 00:17:03,310
Oh, yeah!

390
00:17:03,310 --> 00:17:04,240
Nice, nice.

391
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,210
Wow, right down the gullet.

392
00:17:08,250 --> 00:17:09,180
Ram.

393
00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:13,050
Phew.

394
00:17:13,050 --> 00:17:14,450
How to get out of an ambush. Thank you.

395
00:17:14,450 --> 00:17:16,220
-Well done, sir. -I'm well equipped.

396
00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:19,320
I'm getting out of this car now.

397
00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,090
My crash course in Secret Service training

398
00:17:22,090 --> 00:17:23,760
was exhilarating.

399
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,300
But it's time to get back to the White House,

400
00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:29,930
to the years after Lincoln's assassination.

401
00:17:29,930 --> 00:17:32,430
It's hard to believe today that the White House

402
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,100
was little loved in the late 19th century.

403
00:17:35,110 --> 00:17:36,610
The building was old and outdated

404
00:17:36,610 --> 00:17:38,110
by American standards.

405
00:17:38,110 --> 00:17:41,580
President Andrew Johnson wanted to build a new executive mansion

406
00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:42,750
north of the city

407
00:17:42,750 --> 00:17:45,250
in what is today Rock Creek Park.

408
00:17:45,250 --> 00:17:47,580
He was impeached before that could happen.

409
00:17:47,590 --> 00:17:51,350
But that wasn't the last attempt to reimagine the White House.

410
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:52,620
The modern White House

411
00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:55,660
only came to be in the 20th century.

412
00:17:55,660 --> 00:17:58,460
In fact, its most famous room

413
00:17:58,460 --> 00:18:00,900
was just built in 1934.

414
00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:02,800
For its first 100 years,

415
00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,440
the White House was plagued by a fundamental design flaw,

416
00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,470
which nearly led to its ultimate demise.

417
00:18:13,750 --> 00:18:15,540
I'm tracing the surprising ways

418
00:18:15,550 --> 00:18:17,580
that presidents have changed the White House

419
00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:20,420
to meet their needs.

420
00:18:20,420 --> 00:18:22,750
Take the Oval Office, for example.

421
00:18:22,750 --> 00:18:26,490
This famous room is an iconic emblem of the presidency.

422
00:18:26,490 --> 00:18:31,560
But the modern Oval Office was only added in 1934.

423
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,760
So where did the President work

424
00:18:33,770 --> 00:18:36,330
before the Oval Office was built?

425
00:18:36,330 --> 00:18:39,440
The answer uncovers an inherent problem

426
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:44,410
with the building's original 1792 design.

427
00:18:44,410 --> 00:18:46,180
For its first 100 years,

428
00:18:46,180 --> 00:18:50,510
the White House never had purpose-built offices.

429
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,180
Each president had to choose a room to work in,

430
00:18:53,180 --> 00:18:56,550
usually a converted bedroom upstairs.

431
00:18:56,550 --> 00:18:58,050
That meant official visitors

432
00:18:58,060 --> 00:19:03,160
were just steps away from where the first family slept.

433
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,060
By the late 1800s, the problem had come to a head.

434
00:19:07,070 --> 00:19:10,570
The White House was bursting at the seams.

435
00:19:10,570 --> 00:19:12,070
Peter? Hey. Don.

436
00:19:12,070 --> 00:19:14,200
-Hi. Nice to meet you. -You too.

437
00:19:14,210 --> 00:19:15,570
Peter Brower heads

438
00:19:15,570 --> 00:19:19,680
the Cartographic Reference Branch at the National Archives.

439
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,310
Here, among priceless old maps,

440
00:19:22,310 --> 00:19:26,120
you can find original hand-drawn blueprints of the White House,

441
00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:30,590
some as it is and some as it might have been.

442
00:19:30,590 --> 00:19:33,160
Look at that. That is so neat.

443
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:34,360
Oh, I see. That's...

444
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,390
Yeah, so these are the first two.

445
00:19:36,390 --> 00:19:39,960
Peter has proof of the extreme ways presidents tried

446
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,230
to fix the White House in the late 1800s.

447
00:19:43,230 --> 00:19:46,740
President Chester Arthur tried to add room by building

448
00:19:46,740 --> 00:19:51,210
a whole new private residence off to the side.

449
00:19:51,210 --> 00:19:54,680
But it has nothing to do with what the house originally,

450
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:56,010
and to this day, looks like...

451
00:19:56,010 --> 00:19:57,710
-Exactly. -...as a monument.

452
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,850
It looks like the mansion of a rich guy, a robber baron.

453
00:20:00,850 --> 00:20:04,250
A decade later, President Benjamin Harrison proposed

454
00:20:04,260 --> 00:20:05,920
an even grander solution

455
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,620
to the White House's space problem.

456
00:20:08,630 --> 00:20:10,960
This is a site plan.

457
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,430
And you have the original 1792 mansion there.

458
00:20:14,430 --> 00:20:18,300
And then the idea was to build a completely enclosed court,

459
00:20:18,300 --> 00:20:20,440
very similar to a castle

460
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,400
or other estate grounds, like a European setting.

461
00:20:22,410 --> 00:20:23,940
That's what I'm seeing here.

462
00:20:23,940 --> 00:20:25,840
This looks like a king lives here.

463
00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,150
The plan would quadruple the White House in size

464
00:20:29,150 --> 00:20:31,750
by adding new wings to house offices

465
00:20:31,750 --> 00:20:33,620
for the president's staff

466
00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:36,950
and an art gallery for visiting tourists.

467
00:20:36,950 --> 00:20:39,760
But Congress refused to pay for it.

468
00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,460
This drawing dates from 1905.

469
00:20:42,460 --> 00:20:44,960
This is from Theodore Roosevelt's administration.

470
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,060
So this is TR's,

471
00:20:47,060 --> 00:20:50,130
his own reimagining of the whole complex,

472
00:20:50,130 --> 00:20:53,140
which is pared down to basics.

473
00:20:53,140 --> 00:20:56,370
He's getting back to the original idea.

474
00:20:56,370 --> 00:20:58,770
In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt

475
00:20:58,780 --> 00:21:02,480
finally did what a century's worth of presidents could not.

476
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,920
He reorganized the White House to separate its public

477
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,020
and private functions and returned the building

478
00:21:09,020 --> 00:21:11,520
to its clean, original appearance.

479
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:12,760
Theodore Roosevelt was famous

480
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,220
for loving the presidency, you know,

481
00:21:15,230 --> 00:21:16,890
and therefore loving the White House

482
00:21:16,890 --> 00:21:19,260
and what it represented, the history behind the office.

483
00:21:19,260 --> 00:21:21,230
But he has done the pragmatic thing

484
00:21:21,230 --> 00:21:22,970
of separating from the living space --

485
00:21:22,970 --> 00:21:24,100
I mean, he has a huge family,

486
00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:25,630
so they have to have some place to live.

487
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,570
So he's separated from the president's house

488
00:21:28,570 --> 00:21:31,410
the offices over here on the West Wing.

489
00:21:31,410 --> 00:21:34,510
Roosevelt's 1902 restoration claimed

490
00:21:34,510 --> 00:21:38,680
the entire second floor as private living space.

491
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,790
He added new wings to separate the house's official functions.

492
00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:45,090
The public entrance moved to the east

493
00:21:45,090 --> 00:21:48,860
and the executive offices to the western wing.

494
00:21:48,860 --> 00:21:50,830
At last, there was plenty of space

495
00:21:50,830 --> 00:21:53,230
for the president's cabinet and staff,

496
00:21:53,230 --> 00:21:55,430
a new office for Roosevelt himself,

497
00:21:55,430 --> 00:21:59,240
though one with four walls and four corners.

498
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,500
The Oval Office as we know it today

499
00:22:01,510 --> 00:22:04,140
would be built by another President Roosevelt

500
00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:06,110
30 years later.

501
00:22:06,110 --> 00:22:07,280
So interesting.

502
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,850
I mean, you have right here the White Houses

503
00:22:09,850 --> 00:22:11,510
as they could have been

504
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,120
and then the White House as it is today.

505
00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:15,650
So cool. Thanks, man.

506
00:22:15,650 --> 00:22:17,190
All right. Thank you.

507
00:22:17,190 --> 00:22:20,160
Theodore Roosevelt ended any plans of replacing

508
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:21,860
or reconfiguring the White House.

509
00:22:21,860 --> 00:22:24,330
His restoration was hailed as a success

510
00:22:24,330 --> 00:22:26,800
and set the tone for the building's appearance

511
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,900
as it is today.

512
00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:31,070
What Roosevelt didn't know is that the changes

513
00:22:31,070 --> 00:22:34,700
he made would also help doom the old house.

514
00:22:39,340 --> 00:22:42,340
I'm chasing the incredible evolution

515
00:22:42,350 --> 00:22:43,680
of the White House,

516
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,050
and I've arrived at a crossroads.

517
00:22:48,090 --> 00:22:50,350
In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt

518
00:22:50,350 --> 00:22:52,890
solved the White House's oldest problem

519
00:22:52,890 --> 00:22:55,890
and separated its public and private halves.

520
00:22:55,890 --> 00:22:58,230
But one of the changes he made would lead

521
00:22:58,230 --> 00:23:01,060
directly to the building's greatest crisis

522
00:23:01,070 --> 00:23:05,730
and indirectly to its deepest mystery.

523
00:23:05,740 --> 00:23:07,840
In the late 1940s,

524
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,410
the United States was emerging

525
00:23:09,410 --> 00:23:12,610
from two decades of war and austerity.

526
00:23:12,610 --> 00:23:14,540
The economy was roaring.

527
00:23:14,550 --> 00:23:17,080
Millions of Americans were moving to the suburbs

528
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,050
and buying brand-new homes.

529
00:23:21,050 --> 00:23:24,150
But at the White House, President Harry Truman

530
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,260
was beginning to notice the building's age.

531
00:23:28,260 --> 00:23:32,190
In the summer of 1948, a piano leg suddenly burst

532
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,830
through the ceiling into the family dining room.

533
00:23:34,830 --> 00:23:37,800
The upstairs floor had given way.

534
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,070
Truman ordered a complete inspection.

535
00:23:40,070 --> 00:23:42,400
The results were dire.

536
00:23:42,410 --> 00:23:45,140
The White House was falling down.

537
00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:51,110
Sagging timbers and leaking pipes had been hastily patched

538
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:55,280
and painted for a century and a half.

539
00:23:55,290 --> 00:23:56,750
But the real culprit

540
00:23:56,750 --> 00:24:00,290
was Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 renovation.

541
00:24:00,290 --> 00:24:02,690
Roosevelt expanded the State Dining Room

542
00:24:02,690 --> 00:24:03,890
to seat more guests,

543
00:24:03,890 --> 00:24:07,000
which required removing a load-bearing wall.

544
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,970
The house's frame had been overstressed

545
00:24:09,970 --> 00:24:12,770
for nearly 50 years.

546
00:24:12,770 --> 00:24:14,670
The engineer's report warned

547
00:24:14,670 --> 00:24:17,270
that the White House was in danger of collapsing,

548
00:24:17,270 --> 00:24:21,040
claiming it was staying up by force of habit only.

549
00:24:21,050 --> 00:24:22,780
The easiest solution would be

550
00:24:22,780 --> 00:24:25,050
to knock down the old house and build a new one.

551
00:24:25,050 --> 00:24:28,020
Some even suggested moving to a new location

552
00:24:28,020 --> 00:24:29,650
outside the city.

553
00:24:29,650 --> 00:24:31,650
But Truman was having none of that.

554
00:24:31,660 --> 00:24:33,890
He insisted that the original White House

555
00:24:33,890 --> 00:24:36,960
be preserved in every possible way.

556
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,200
The answer was an epic gut renovation.

557
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,300
Doors, trim and paneling were carefully cataloged and removed.

558
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:48,900
Then everything inside the stone walls was demolished.

559
00:24:48,910 --> 00:24:50,940
A new steel frame was built.

560
00:24:50,940 --> 00:24:52,980
And the old interior was re-created

561
00:24:52,980 --> 00:24:56,680
with a mix of original items and modern materials.

562
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,250
But the renovation would also provide cover

563
00:24:59,250 --> 00:25:02,750
for a huge excavation project.

564
00:25:02,750 --> 00:25:05,250
So what's underneath the White House?

565
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,100
This is the famous Off the Record Bar

566
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:16,700
in the basement of the Hay-Adams Hotel.

567
00:25:16,700 --> 00:25:19,500
And on the other side of this wall,

568
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:22,240
through about 1,000 feet of earth,

569
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,110
is the White House subbasement.

570
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,450
Truman took advantage of the renovation

571
00:25:30,450 --> 00:25:32,180
to add some square footage,

572
00:25:32,180 --> 00:25:34,920
mostly in a two-level subbasement

573
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,150
beneath the original basement.

574
00:25:37,150 --> 00:25:39,760
These subbasements were mostly for utilities,

575
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,160
service areas, and storage.

576
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,730
But there might have been more to them than that.

577
00:25:43,730 --> 00:25:44,790
Check this out.

578
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,200
This is a photo from the excavation

579
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,100
inside the White House in 1950.

580
00:25:49,100 --> 00:25:52,770
And right away, you can see what a gut reno this really is.

581
00:25:52,770 --> 00:25:54,770
I mean, you could see the steel structure that's been

582
00:25:54,770 --> 00:25:56,710
added to support the floors.

583
00:25:56,710 --> 00:25:58,410
And you can also see, interestingly,

584
00:25:58,410 --> 00:26:00,910
the line of the original foundation

585
00:26:00,910 --> 00:26:02,540
that they are now digging beneath.

586
00:26:02,550 --> 00:26:03,950
Here, look at this.

587
00:26:03,950 --> 00:26:05,710
So this is the bulldozer,

588
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,080
you can see, is digging deeper

589
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,890
and deeper beneath that original foundation.

590
00:26:09,890 --> 00:26:11,190
So they are going down.

591
00:26:11,190 --> 00:26:13,890
So here's a shot from inside

592
00:26:13,890 --> 00:26:16,630
the new subbasement in late 1950.

593
00:26:16,630 --> 00:26:18,290
And you can see what appears to be

594
00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:20,260
a reinforced concrete tunnel

595
00:26:20,260 --> 00:26:23,070
being built deep beneath the house.

596
00:26:23,070 --> 00:26:26,670
And this is inside that tunnel in the construction process.

597
00:26:26,670 --> 00:26:28,240
And look at all the conduit

598
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,240
that's run along the floor there.

599
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,680
This last shot is inside the finished tunnel.

600
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:35,840
I mean, this is heavy construction.

601
00:26:35,850 --> 00:26:37,810
Look at the thickness of this wall.

602
00:26:37,820 --> 00:26:40,080
I mean, this is all deep underground.

603
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,680
So what's it for?

604
00:26:42,690 --> 00:26:43,990
Hard to say.

605
00:26:43,990 --> 00:26:45,490
What we do know is that

606
00:26:45,490 --> 00:26:48,690
FDR built a bomb shelter beneath the East Wing

607
00:26:48,690 --> 00:26:50,160
during World War II.

608
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,390
It was never used.

609
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:58,070
Our national policy is not directed toward war.

610
00:26:58,070 --> 00:27:01,700
So could this hallway have been built by Truman

611
00:27:01,710 --> 00:27:03,770
to connect that shelter to the house?

612
00:27:03,770 --> 00:27:06,340
Or did he enlarge Roosevelt's shelter

613
00:27:06,340 --> 00:27:09,850
to create a larger bunker complex?

614
00:27:09,850 --> 00:27:11,750
Nobody knows for sure.

615
00:27:11,750 --> 00:27:16,990
These subbasements are not on the White House tour.

616
00:27:16,990 --> 00:27:18,320
We do know this.

617
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,720
The Soviets detonated their first atom bomb

618
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,860
while the White House was being rebuilt.

619
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:30,930
If any of those underground spaces

620
00:27:30,940 --> 00:27:34,440
were meant to be bomb shelters, they were suddenly obsolete.

621
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,740
To survive that kind of bomb,

622
00:27:36,740 --> 00:27:39,680
the President was gonna need a much bigger basement.

623
00:27:43,950 --> 00:27:46,720
The White House at the dawn of the atomic age

624
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,280
had come a long way from the open-door days

625
00:27:49,290 --> 00:27:51,190
of the Lincoln administration.

626
00:27:51,190 --> 00:27:53,520
Already, the house was evolving

627
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,390
into the secure command center we know today.

628
00:27:56,390 --> 00:27:58,630
So how did the president prepare

629
00:27:58,630 --> 00:28:00,730
for the ultimate security threat...

630
00:28:03,700 --> 00:28:07,700
a nuclear attack on the White House?

631
00:28:07,710 --> 00:28:12,470
We know about FDR's World War II bomb shelter.

632
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,410
And we have photos from 1950

633
00:28:14,410 --> 00:28:17,310
showing heavy underground construction.

634
00:28:17,310 --> 00:28:19,580
But it's unlikely that any of this could

635
00:28:19,580 --> 00:28:22,320
withstand a direct nuclear attack.

636
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,620
So is it possible that there's another, secret bunker

637
00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:28,190
somewhere beneath the White House?

638
00:28:28,190 --> 00:28:31,730
In 2011, President Obama quietly kicked off

639
00:28:31,730 --> 00:28:35,030
a large excavation project under the West Wing.

640
00:28:35,030 --> 00:28:37,030
Officials claimed it was an update

641
00:28:37,030 --> 00:28:38,900
of the building's cooling system.

642
00:28:38,900 --> 00:28:42,240
Whatever it is, it's off-limits.

643
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,610
But I know of a recently declassified top-secret location

644
00:28:46,610 --> 00:28:48,710
that can give us an insider's look

645
00:28:48,710 --> 00:28:52,510
at the ultimate Cold War contingency plan.

646
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,820
I'm in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia,

647
00:28:54,820 --> 00:28:57,590
about 200 miles southeast of Washington,

648
00:28:57,590 --> 00:29:00,890
heading to one of the grandest hotels in America.

649
00:29:00,890 --> 00:29:05,430
The Greenbrier is a sprawling 11,000-acre resort nestled

650
00:29:05,430 --> 00:29:08,760
in the Allegheny Mountains.

651
00:29:08,770 --> 00:29:11,930
The Greenbrier has a long connection to Washington.

652
00:29:11,940 --> 00:29:14,300
26 presidents have stayed here.

653
00:29:14,300 --> 00:29:15,540
And the army ran the place

654
00:29:15,540 --> 00:29:18,140
as a military hospital back in World War II.

655
00:29:18,140 --> 00:29:22,110
But I'm here for a whole different reason.

656
00:29:22,110 --> 00:29:26,380
In 1955, the Cold War was heating up.

657
00:29:26,380 --> 00:29:28,250
The United States and the Soviet Union

658
00:29:28,250 --> 00:29:31,450
had warheads aimed at each other's capitals.

659
00:29:31,460 --> 00:29:34,660
President Eisenhower issued an executive order

660
00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:36,790
outlining a plan for the federal government

661
00:29:36,790 --> 00:29:39,690
to survive a nuclear attack.

662
00:29:39,700 --> 00:29:43,130
The Greenbrier was an essential part of the plan.

663
00:29:43,130 --> 00:29:44,730
Beneath this hotel is one of the most

664
00:29:44,740 --> 00:29:47,640
top-secret locations of the Cold War,

665
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,170
a giant fallout bunker hidden in plain sight.

666
00:29:51,180 --> 00:29:53,640
Check this out.

667
00:30:02,090 --> 00:30:05,790
The program was code named Project Greek Island.

668
00:30:05,790 --> 00:30:08,660
The government funded the construction of the bunker

669
00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:10,660
and built a new wing of the hotel

670
00:30:10,660 --> 00:30:12,790
on top to hide it.

671
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,560
The whole complex was designed

672
00:30:14,570 --> 00:30:17,100
to blend seamlessly with the hotel.

673
00:30:17,100 --> 00:30:19,530
Guests were free to enter parts of the bunker

674
00:30:19,540 --> 00:30:24,140
completely unaware of its true purpose.

675
00:30:24,140 --> 00:30:27,010
The bunker had to be kept in a constant state of readiness.

676
00:30:27,010 --> 00:30:29,310
A group of government employees posed

677
00:30:29,310 --> 00:30:31,810
as TV repairmen for the hotel.

678
00:30:31,820 --> 00:30:33,750
And one of them has agreed to meet with me.

679
00:30:36,420 --> 00:30:37,890
Fritz?

680
00:30:37,890 --> 00:30:39,350
Fritz Bugas ran

681
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,720
the undercover team here for 20 years.

682
00:30:41,730 --> 00:30:44,790
So this is the room that was really the center point

683
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,500
of the whole cover story, yeah?

684
00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:48,800
In essence, yes.

685
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,870
This was the Forsythe Television Repair Shop.

686
00:30:52,870 --> 00:30:56,470
But the repair shop was really a front, basically.

687
00:30:56,470 --> 00:31:01,480
That allowed us a reason to be here to start with

688
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,580
so we could do our maintenance work

689
00:31:04,580 --> 00:31:05,780
in the back part of the bunker.

690
00:31:05,780 --> 00:31:07,480
Wow. So this is really

691
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:12,250
the line between the overt and the covert, the bunker.

692
00:31:12,260 --> 00:31:13,260
That's correct.

693
00:31:13,260 --> 00:31:15,020
So how do you get to the covert?

694
00:31:15,030 --> 00:31:19,160
Don, if you'll turn around and go through this door here

695
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:20,130
This one?

696
00:31:20,130 --> 00:31:22,260
That leads into a closet.

697
00:31:24,330 --> 00:31:28,640
Now, in this closet, we had electronic supplies,

698
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:29,840
cable, et cetera,

699
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,640
things necessary to repair the television.

700
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,110
Okay.

701
00:31:34,110 --> 00:31:37,310
And if you turn around, there's a wall behind you.

702
00:31:37,310 --> 00:31:41,150
Now, if you lean or push against that wall...

703
00:31:41,150 --> 00:31:43,950
This is the entrance?

704
00:31:43,950 --> 00:31:45,950
Oh, that's so neat.

705
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:47,990
That's cool. Wow.

706
00:31:47,990 --> 00:31:49,220
So this is the covert.

707
00:31:49,230 --> 00:31:52,160
This leads you further into the bunker,

708
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,130
into the covert part

709
00:31:54,130 --> 00:31:55,730
Unbelievable.

710
00:31:55,730 --> 00:31:58,200
The Greenbrier bunker was built to house

711
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,970
the entire legislative branch of government.

712
00:32:00,970 --> 00:32:02,500
That's 100 senators,

713
00:32:02,510 --> 00:32:06,840
435 members of the House, plus staff.

714
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,650
The entire facility could sustain 1,100 people

715
00:32:10,650 --> 00:32:12,010
for up to 40 days.

716
00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:14,480
Look into the door on the right. You'll see the kitchen.

717
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,850
The refrigeration was off to the left.

718
00:32:16,850 --> 00:32:17,920
And nobody knew this was here?

719
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:19,220
And nobody knew that this was here.

720
00:32:19,220 --> 00:32:20,420
Crazy!

721
00:32:20,420 --> 00:32:22,020
The plan was for Congress

722
00:32:22,030 --> 00:32:24,830
to arrive by car, plane, and train.

723
00:32:24,830 --> 00:32:28,460
Three giant blast doors would seal them inside.

724
00:32:28,470 --> 00:32:32,770
Then the Greenbrier bunker would become the U.S. capital.

725
00:32:35,670 --> 00:32:39,540
There you go.

726
00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:41,810
So this is the Governor's Hall.

727
00:32:41,810 --> 00:32:44,350
I mean, it looks like a school auditorium.

728
00:32:44,350 --> 00:32:46,350
But there's enough seats in here

729
00:32:46,350 --> 00:32:51,050
for the whole House of Representatives, 435.

730
00:32:51,050 --> 00:32:54,720
Right next door is another meeting chamber for the Senate.

731
00:32:54,730 --> 00:32:57,230
The Greenbrier bunker was only intended

732
00:32:57,230 --> 00:33:00,030
for the legislative branch.

733
00:33:00,030 --> 00:33:03,000
So this is the bunker for the Congress, okay.

734
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,770
There must be other bunkers as well,

735
00:33:04,770 --> 00:33:07,140
one for the president, I suppose.

736
00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:08,700
-I would assume so. -Okay.

737
00:33:08,710 --> 00:33:10,710
But it's part of a network of bunkers

738
00:33:10,710 --> 00:33:13,340
around the whole D.C. area.

739
00:33:13,340 --> 00:33:15,740
Well, you have the executive branch

740
00:33:15,750 --> 00:33:18,310
of government, I'm sure, has bunkers

741
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:19,880
that are scattered around in D.C.

742
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,980
Well, if anybody should know, it's you.

743
00:33:21,990 --> 00:33:24,020
I do know about the legislative branch,

744
00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:28,190
that it was designed and geared for their relocation.

745
00:33:28,190 --> 00:33:30,660
You're still keeping secrets, aren't you?

746
00:33:30,660 --> 00:33:32,290
No! No!

747
00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:33,660
Not really.

748
00:33:33,660 --> 00:33:34,900
But there's bunkers today

749
00:33:34,900 --> 00:33:38,270
equally prepared, because the threat is still there.

750
00:33:38,270 --> 00:33:40,100
-I would hope so. -Yeah.

751
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:41,800
A vast complex.

752
00:33:41,810 --> 00:33:43,070
You mind if I take a look around?

753
00:33:43,070 --> 00:33:45,140
-Not at all. -Thank you, sir.

754
00:33:45,140 --> 00:33:47,110
Honor.

755
00:33:47,110 --> 00:33:48,340
It's easy to imagine

756
00:33:48,350 --> 00:33:49,680
that there are active bunkers

757
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:51,950
for the president out there somewhere.

758
00:33:51,950 --> 00:33:55,880
The Greenbrier complex was declassified in 1992.

759
00:33:55,890 --> 00:33:58,620
But parts of it still seem ready for action.

760
00:33:58,620 --> 00:34:01,460
This would be the first stop for the lawmakers at the bunker,

761
00:34:01,460 --> 00:34:03,220
the decontamination showers.

762
00:34:03,230 --> 00:34:05,860
First, they had to strip off their clothes

763
00:34:05,860 --> 00:34:09,200
and toss them in here to be incinerated.

764
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,130
Then they moved through this passageway.

765
00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:16,400
A series of high-pressure shower heads would wash off

766
00:34:16,410 --> 00:34:18,440
all the radioactive contaminants.

767
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,110
They could process up to 120 people per hour

768
00:34:22,110 --> 00:34:23,450
in this place.

769
00:34:23,450 --> 00:34:26,880
Then they move through here

770
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,220
and get their fresh clothes.

771
00:34:30,220 --> 00:34:31,590
And then they're free to move into

772
00:34:31,590 --> 00:34:33,490
the clean part of the facility.

773
00:34:33,490 --> 00:34:36,690
The bunker contains 153 rooms

774
00:34:36,690 --> 00:34:38,690
on two underground levels,

775
00:34:38,700 --> 00:34:42,560
112,000 square feet in all.

776
00:34:42,570 --> 00:34:45,030
It was designed to be a wholly contained,

777
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,300
self-sufficient city.

778
00:34:48,310 --> 00:34:50,210
This was the TV studio,

779
00:34:50,210 --> 00:34:52,810
one of the most important rooms in the entire bunker.

780
00:34:52,810 --> 00:34:55,510
From here, officials could address the nation,

781
00:34:55,510 --> 00:34:57,380
two available backdrops --

782
00:34:57,380 --> 00:35:00,180
the U.S. Capitol and, over here,

783
00:35:00,180 --> 00:35:03,520
the White House -- you know, to reassure Americans

784
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,650
that everything's gonna be okay.

785
00:35:05,660 --> 00:35:07,890
See, this place was designed

786
00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:09,390
for the legislative branch.

787
00:35:09,390 --> 00:35:10,890
But the speaker of the House

788
00:35:10,890 --> 00:35:12,690
is the third in line for the presidency.

789
00:35:12,700 --> 00:35:16,030
So depending on what was going on out there,

790
00:35:16,030 --> 00:35:19,800
the Greenbrier could end up housing the president after all.

791
00:35:25,010 --> 00:35:27,740
The Greenbrier bunker was never used

792
00:35:27,740 --> 00:35:30,850
because nuclear doomsday never came.

793
00:35:35,850 --> 00:35:38,090
As the arms race heated up,

794
00:35:38,090 --> 00:35:41,320
cooler heads would have to talk us back from the brink.

795
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,260
Easier said than done.

796
00:35:48,530 --> 00:35:49,560
Oh, that's neat.

797
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,170
I'm digging deep into the White House

798
00:35:55,170 --> 00:35:58,140
and have already uncovered some of the invisible walls

799
00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:00,610
that surround this fortress.

800
00:36:00,610 --> 00:36:02,180
But the modern-day White House

801
00:36:02,180 --> 00:36:04,510
must also be able to connect the president

802
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:07,680
to any place on Earth at a minute's notice,

803
00:36:07,690 --> 00:36:09,850
a lesson we learned the hard way.

804
00:36:09,850 --> 00:36:13,020
In 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States

805
00:36:13,020 --> 00:36:15,160
were locked in a dangerous standoff.

806
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:20,100
Both nations had stockpiled massive nuclear arsenals.

807
00:36:20,100 --> 00:36:22,260
If the enemy launched an attack,

808
00:36:22,270 --> 00:36:24,100
the hope was that enough warheads

809
00:36:24,100 --> 00:36:25,770
would survive the first wave

810
00:36:25,770 --> 00:36:28,300
that they could then launch an immediate counterattack.

811
00:36:28,310 --> 00:36:31,910
This strategy was called mutually assured destruction.

812
00:36:35,010 --> 00:36:38,510
In October 1962, American spy planes

813
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:41,320
found Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba,

814
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,650
only 90 miles off Florida.

815
00:36:44,660 --> 00:36:47,220
President John F. Kennedy's advisors urged him

816
00:36:47,230 --> 00:36:49,260
to launch an air strike.

817
00:36:49,260 --> 00:36:50,690
He refused.

818
00:36:50,700 --> 00:36:53,860
Instead, Kennedy imposed a naval blockade

819
00:36:53,870 --> 00:36:56,330
while he tried to work out a peaceful solution

820
00:36:56,330 --> 00:36:59,470
with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

821
00:36:59,470 --> 00:37:01,900
To halt this offensive buildup,

822
00:37:01,910 --> 00:37:04,110
a strict quarantine on all offensive

823
00:37:04,110 --> 00:37:06,880
military equipment under shipment to Cuba

824
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:08,440
is being initiated.

825
00:37:08,450 --> 00:37:11,610
Nobody knew how the Russians would respond.

826
00:37:11,620 --> 00:37:14,580
For 13 days, America held its breath

827
00:37:14,590 --> 00:37:17,420
at the brink of Armageddon.

828
00:37:17,420 --> 00:37:20,290
In the end, the Soviets removed the missiles.

829
00:37:20,290 --> 00:37:24,360
It's as close as we've ever come to full-scale nuclear war.

830
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,060
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a wake-up call.

831
00:37:27,060 --> 00:37:29,430
Messages between Kennedy and Khrushchev

832
00:37:29,430 --> 00:37:31,130
would take more than six hours

833
00:37:31,140 --> 00:37:33,840
to deliver through regular diplomatic channels,

834
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,040
way too long for the nuclear age.

835
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,710
Kennedy knew that fast, direct communication was the key

836
00:37:39,710 --> 00:37:41,540
to avoiding a future crisis.

837
00:37:46,450 --> 00:37:47,980
The John F. Kennedy Library

838
00:37:47,990 --> 00:37:50,390
displays hundreds of real artifacts

839
00:37:50,390 --> 00:37:53,190
from JFK's presidency.

840
00:37:53,190 --> 00:37:57,630
But I'm more interested in something that isn't here.

841
00:37:57,630 --> 00:38:00,530
After the missile crisis, Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed

842
00:38:00,530 --> 00:38:03,730
to set up a Moscow-Washington hotline.

843
00:38:03,730 --> 00:38:06,240
The hotline enabled direct communication

844
00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:10,340
between the two superpowers for the first time.

845
00:38:10,340 --> 00:38:13,580
The red phone has become an icon of the Cold War,

846
00:38:13,580 --> 00:38:15,210
a symbol of the thin line

847
00:38:15,210 --> 00:38:18,780
between peace and mutually assured destruction.

848
00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:20,380
Only there's one problem --

849
00:38:20,380 --> 00:38:23,790
The red phone never existed.

850
00:38:23,790 --> 00:38:27,220
This is a replica of the Oval Office desk

851
00:38:27,230 --> 00:38:29,760
during President Kennedy's time.

852
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,430
And check it out -- no red phone.

853
00:38:35,930 --> 00:38:37,200
But come with me.

854
00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:42,100
See, the red phone is a total Hollywood creation,

855
00:38:42,110 --> 00:38:43,910
not the hotline itself.

856
00:38:43,910 --> 00:38:45,940
The hotline is real.

857
00:38:45,940 --> 00:38:48,540
I mean, right over here.

858
00:38:48,550 --> 00:38:52,880
That is the real Moscow-Washington hotline.

859
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,950
And that is some serious stuff.

860
00:38:55,950 --> 00:38:57,920
The original hotline was a pair

861
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,860
of electromechanical teletype machines

862
00:39:00,860 --> 00:39:04,360
connected by a 10,000-mile transatlantic cable.

863
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,400
It became operational 10 months

864
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,860
after the Cuban Missile Crisis ended.

865
00:39:11,170 --> 00:39:14,470
This was a major breakthrough in foreign relations.

866
00:39:14,470 --> 00:39:16,610
The hotline agreement marked the first time

867
00:39:16,610 --> 00:39:19,640
the U.S. and Soviet Union both took action

868
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:21,840
to limit the risk of nuclear war.

869
00:39:21,850 --> 00:39:23,680
The hotline also strengthened

870
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,720
the President's role in Cold War diplomacy.

871
00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:28,480
Now, thanks to technology,

872
00:39:28,490 --> 00:39:32,690
the White House could connect with the Kremlin directly.

873
00:39:32,690 --> 00:39:35,960
I want to learn a little more about the hotline.

874
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,730
To find a teletype machine that still works,

875
00:39:38,730 --> 00:39:41,730
I'm heading to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum

876
00:39:41,730 --> 00:39:42,630
of Connecticut.

877
00:39:45,170 --> 00:39:48,700
Oh, look at that. She's a beauty.

878
00:39:48,710 --> 00:39:50,110
That's the teletype machine.

879
00:39:50,110 --> 00:39:51,770
That is a teletype machine, yes.

880
00:39:51,780 --> 00:39:53,580
Founder John Ellsworth has offered

881
00:39:53,580 --> 00:39:56,850
to give me a quick lesson on Cold War communication.

882
00:39:56,850 --> 00:39:59,550
Explain to me the technology behind this -- teletype.

883
00:39:59,550 --> 00:40:00,950
-How does that work? -What it does

884
00:40:00,950 --> 00:40:02,920
is it sends typewritten information

885
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,550
over a wire from point "A" to point "B."

886
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:07,690
-So does this turn on? -Yes.

887
00:40:07,690 --> 00:40:09,660
A little switch down here.

888
00:40:09,660 --> 00:40:12,860
Oh, that's neat. How beautiful.

889
00:40:12,860 --> 00:40:14,730
I happen to know that the original message

890
00:40:14,730 --> 00:40:17,930
that was sent on that Moscow-Washington line was,

891
00:40:17,940 --> 00:40:22,300
"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back,"

892
00:40:22,310 --> 00:40:24,770
a message that basically tests every single key.

893
00:40:24,780 --> 00:40:26,080
Every single key, yeah.

894
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:27,410
-And then the numbers. -And then the numbers.

895
00:40:27,410 --> 00:40:28,840
So I'm gonna type that right now.

896
00:40:28,850 --> 00:40:30,710
So it's the early 1960s.

897
00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:33,650
And here goes the first one.

898
00:40:33,650 --> 00:40:34,980
There she goes.

899
00:40:34,990 --> 00:40:36,850
It's a nice feeling. It's got good action.

900
00:40:36,850 --> 00:40:40,320
Yeah.

901
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,660
I feel like I'm in high school typing class.

902
00:40:43,660 --> 00:40:47,300
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, zero.

903
00:40:47,300 --> 00:40:48,860
-Beautiful. -There it is.

904
00:40:48,870 --> 00:40:51,730
There's the text. I have typed in D.C.

905
00:40:54,370 --> 00:40:55,570
There she goes.

906
00:40:55,570 --> 00:40:58,170
Here comes the all-important top-secret message.

907
00:40:58,180 --> 00:40:59,610
Okay.

908
00:40:59,610 --> 00:41:02,140
The quick brown fox jumped over the...

909
00:41:02,150 --> 00:41:07,120
You know, that's very satisfying.

910
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:08,120
Look at that.

911
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,090
So this line of text I typed in D.C.

912
00:41:11,090 --> 00:41:15,120
gets transmitted and read in Moscow.

913
00:41:15,130 --> 00:41:18,760
This is nuclear war avoided.

914
00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:21,160
Cool.

915
00:41:21,170 --> 00:41:24,000
The White House has seen incredible changes

916
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,300
in its 200-plus-year history,

917
00:41:26,300 --> 00:41:32,070
from simple stone house to state-of-the-art fortress,

918
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,640
from Roosevelt's renovation

919
00:41:34,650 --> 00:41:37,880
to Kennedy's Cold War command center,

920
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:41,680
and from analog to digital.

921
00:41:41,690 --> 00:41:44,490
The White House has been and will always be

922
00:41:44,490 --> 00:41:47,920
an enduring emblem of freedom and democracy

923
00:41:47,930 --> 00:41:51,360
and the most important home office in the world.

924
00:41:53,830 --> 00:41:54,760
I'm Don Wildman.

925
00:41:54,770 --> 00:41:55,860
Thanks for watching

926
00:41:55,870 --> 00:41:58,370
"Mysteries at the Museum: The White House."

926
00:41:59,305 --> 00:42:59,471
Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE
www.osdb.link/lm