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Just about any kid in America could tell you

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that's where the president of the United States lives.

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But the real story of the White House is bigger,

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with secrets going deeper...

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That's cool.

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...than we ever thought possible...

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This looks like a king lives here.

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from little-known facts...

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You can see what appears to be a tunnel

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being built deep beneath the White House.

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...to long-held myths.

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And check it out -- no red phone.

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I'm chasing this incredible evolution...

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Shift. Go.

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...from simple stone house...

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That just, like, sends rock everywhere.

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...to the world's most important address --

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1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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I'm Don Wildman.

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I've explored the world's greatest mysteries,

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examined rare artifacts and epic monuments.

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That's amazing.

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Now, I'm digging deeper

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into some of the most perplexing and famous cases in history.

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My goal -- to get closer to the truth.

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It's a totally alien environment down there.

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This is "Mysteries at the Museum: The White House."

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Do you want subtitles for any video?
-=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-

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I'm going through a familiar preflight ritual.

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Turn around, please.

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But this is no ordinary trip.

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We have a special agent from the Secret Service.

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He'll be flying with you today.

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-How are you doin'? -Good, Don.

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-How are you? -I'm good, thanks.

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All right. Following you.

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I'm flying over the White House.

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To book this flight,

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I needed clearance from three federal agencies

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and a background check.

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And, yes, the Secret Service is along for the ride.

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Whoo. Here we go.

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Washington, D.C., has been the capital

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of the United States since 1790.

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And for much of its history, the skies above the city

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buzzed with airplanes and helicopters.

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That all changed on September 11th, 2001,

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when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four jetliners

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and hurled them at the Twin Towers

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and the Pentagon.

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The last plane might have been meant for the White House.

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In the aftermath,

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the government shut down the skies over Washington.

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Today, it's a no-fly zone 10 miles wide.

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Chopper flights like this come along once in a lifetime.

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And so does the chance to get a big-picture look

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at our nation's most famous front yard.

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Wow. You don't get this view every day, do you?

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We are in front of the most protected chunks

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of air space in the country, let alone the world.

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There she is, the White House.

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Just beautiful. This is amazing.

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What a privilege to get this close in

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and see the whole design of the Mall right before you.

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You can see all the monuments --

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Washington, Lincoln Memorial.

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The Capitol to my left there.

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And there's nothing moving in the sky.

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I mean, in any other major metropolis --

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New York, L.A. -- you'd see air traffic teeming,

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helicopters and so forth.

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This just points out how secure this city has to be.

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The Washington flight-restricted zone is surrounded

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by a sophisticated laser warning system.

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If a pilot ignores the warnings,

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a fighter jet will escort them to the nearest runway.

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And that's if everything goes well.

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I mean, that is what it's all about,

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protecting the White House,

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the executive branch of the government,

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the president.

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And it looks kind of vulnerable there.

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And that's why it needs to be so secure out here.

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It's really an amazing impact on me as an American

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to feel a part of this.

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Of course, the flight-restricted zone is a recent addition

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and just one of the ways the White House adapts

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to the ever-changing needs of the presidency.

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This constant evolution is what keeps the White House

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rooted at the center of our American story.

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It was here, in a great map-covered office,

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now used as the State Dining Room,

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that Thomas Jefferson planned

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the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1802.

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60 years later,

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the president's office was upstairs.

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Abraham Lincoln tracked army movements

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during the Civil War

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with telegraphed dispatches from the front.

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During the Great Depression, the Oval Office

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was connected to every living room in America

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as Franklin Roosevelt harnessed the air waves

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to reassure a troubled nation.

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And in the years after 9/11,

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the president was once again connected to the front lines,

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but this time from the state-of-the-art

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Situation Room under the West Wing.

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Here, Barack Obama watched over the raid

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to take down Osama bin Laden.

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But for every line of history written

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within these walls,

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there are nearly as many myths and misconceptions.

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For example, George Washington never lived at the White House

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because the new capital city was still under construction.

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Abraham Lincoln never slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

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He used the room as his office.

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And Kennedy never spoke with Khrushchev

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on the famous Oval Office red phone

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because the red phone never existed.

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The White House has been the home

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of the president of the United States since 1800.

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But it's easy to forget just how old this building really is.

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When the first president moved in,

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the only bathroom was a wooden outhouse

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right there on the South Lawn.

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So how did a two-century-old building

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with no running water become the nerve center

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of the most powerful nation on Earth?

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To find out, I'm going all the way back to the beginning.

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My trip back in time has led me to an out-of-the-way corner

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of Stafford County, Virginia,

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40 miles downriver from Washington.

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This is Government Island on the Aquia Creek.

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If you're looking for the birthplace

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of the White House,

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this is as close as you're gonna get.

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In 1792, this whole island was a stone quarry.

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The government bought it and ran it for one reason.

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This is Aquia sandstone.

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This is the stone that built the White House.

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President Washington required that the new federal buildings

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in the capital be made out of stone.

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The White House was designed to last.

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Look at this.

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These are all quarriers' pick marks

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from 200 years ago, okay?

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The quarriers were the lowest skilled laborers on the island.

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Many of them were slaves.

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These slaves toiled away cutting stone

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that was used on the president's house.

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Hey, Rick.

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I've invited local historian Rick MacGregor

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to meet me here on the island to get a better understanding

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of what it was like to be an 18th-century quarrier.

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Are these real or replica?

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That's an original pick that was found here in this quarry.

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-Really? -Yes. It's about 200 years old,

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-handmade by a blacksmith. -Wow!

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And that's a wedge, handmade also.

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Basically, with these few tools,

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very simple tools, this stone was cut, yeah?

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Yes. Yeah.

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I'd love to get a feel for this.

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-Absolutely. -Cool.

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I want to be clear -- This is a practice stone

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that Rick brought for me

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because the whole island is a historic site.

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All right.

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Ooh, man.

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It just, like, sends rock everywhere.

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Can you imagine doing this day in, day out?

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Sun up, sun down?

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And, you know, this place was, like, hopping

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because stone was in real demand.

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So you had all these guys working like crazy

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trying to get the rock to build the president's house.

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Okay.

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Okay. Well, I've had enough.

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Thank God for the Industrial Revolution, huh?

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-Thank you. -All right.

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WILDMAN: Quarrying the stone was only the first step.

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It took eight more years to build the White House.

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George Washington personally guided the process.

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But it was our second president, John Adams,

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who would finally move in in 1800.

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Some rooms were still unfinished.

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And only a few years later, during the war of 1812,

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the British army invaded the capital

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and burned the White House down.

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But America rebuilt it.

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And the White House has been home to every president since.

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Abraham Lincoln's White House

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in 1865 looked a lot like Andrew Jackson's in 1835.

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The Civil War was in its fifth brutal year.

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But Lincoln continued his open-door policy at the house.

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In those days, anyone could walk right in off the street,

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enter that door right there

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and request a meeting with the President.

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Lincoln's advisors pleaded with him to limit his exposure.

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It was well known that there were Confederate spies

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right here in the capital.

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But Lincoln refused to cut himself off from the people.

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On April 14th, 1865,

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five days after the Confederacy surrendered,

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John Wilkes Booth snuck into the president's box

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at Ford's Theatre

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and shot Abraham Lincoln at point-blank range.

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Lincoln died at 7:22 the next morning.

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The nation was stunned.

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It was the first time

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an assassin had brought down an American president.

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The legislation creating the Secret Service

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was on Abraham Lincoln's desk the night he was assassinated.

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Then two more presidents were killed in office --

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James Garfield and William McKinley.

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So in 1901, Congress finally charged the Secret Service

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with the duty of protecting the president.

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Today, the Secret Service has hardened

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the White House into a fortress.

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But a modern president is always on the move.

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So what happens when the president ventures

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beyond the Beltway?

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And more importantly, how does the Secret Service

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get him safely back home...

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Turn.

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WILDMAN: I'm tracking the ways the White House adapts

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to the president's needs.

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After the Lincoln assassination,

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the nation clamored for better security.

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Today, the president is surrounded

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by multiple layers of protection,

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courtesy of the United States Secret Service.

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But how exactly do they do it?

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I'm going deep inside their secure training grounds

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to find out.

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The Secret Service protects the president 24/7

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wherever he goes.

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Now, it's one thing when he stays inside

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the White House security bubble.

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But when he ventures outside,

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these guys gotta be ready for anything.

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The Secret Service compound features

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full-size mock-ups of Marine One

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and the forward fuselage of Air Force One.

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There's also an urban street

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for practicing presidential movements.

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It's the Secret Service's job

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to get the president wherever he needs to go

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and then bring him back to the White House safely.

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On top of everything else, these men and women

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have to be masters behind the wheel.

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Now I can't show you who these Secret Service agents are.

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But they've agreed to demonstrate

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a little of what they can do.

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Whoo, man.

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Rule number one for the presidential motorcade

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is to keep moving.

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Wow!

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That's how fast they're going.

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That's amazing.

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A sitting car is an easy target.

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Okay, so this is a critical situation they train for.

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Now, imagine they're on a tight, narrow passageway.

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They've just been blocked at the end of an alley.

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They got to get out there.

266
00:12:34,154 --> 00:12:36,754
And they reverse.

267
00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:39,157
And without stopping, whoo, there you go.

268
00:12:39,159 --> 00:12:41,292
Wow. That's called a J-turn.

269
00:12:41,294 --> 00:12:44,096
That is reversing in a tight alleyway without stopping.

270
00:12:44,098 --> 00:12:46,765
And they are gone!

271
00:12:46,767 --> 00:12:49,300
Wow.

272
00:12:49,302 --> 00:12:52,370
But how hard is it to master skills like that?

273
00:12:52,372 --> 00:12:54,106
I intend to find out.

274
00:12:54,108 --> 00:12:55,907
You have to be in the Secret Service

275
00:12:55,909 --> 00:12:58,443
to actually use their training facility.

276
00:12:58,445 --> 00:13:00,778
So I found the next-best thing.

277
00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:03,382
Summit Point Motorsports Park

278
00:13:03,384 --> 00:13:07,051
is home to the BSR Tactical Driving School.

279
00:13:07,053 --> 00:13:09,721
This is where federal officials and security professionals

280
00:13:09,723 --> 00:13:12,657
hone their chops behind the wheel.

281
00:13:12,659 --> 00:13:15,127
Today, I'm meeting instructor Guy Frank

282
00:13:15,129 --> 00:13:16,527
for some driver's ed...

283
00:13:16,529 --> 00:13:18,262
-How you doing? -Very well, Don.

284
00:13:18,264 --> 00:13:19,331
Good morning and welcome.

285
00:13:19,333 --> 00:13:20,999
...Secret Service-style.

286
00:13:21,001 --> 00:13:24,802
So I saw the Secret Service demonstrate how to escape

287
00:13:24,804 --> 00:13:27,138
from an ambush situation, tactical driving,

288
00:13:27,140 --> 00:13:28,874
-the J-turn, right? -Yes.

289
00:13:28,876 --> 00:13:30,274
We know the J-turn very well here.

290
00:13:30,276 --> 00:13:32,143
It's the cornerstone of evasive driving.

291
00:13:32,145 --> 00:13:34,146
Can a guy like me learn how to do this?

292
00:13:34,148 --> 00:13:35,314
Absolutely.

293
00:13:36,683 --> 00:13:38,350
Show me how this works.

294
00:13:38,352 --> 00:13:39,751
-Give me a J-turn. -All right.

295
00:13:39,753 --> 00:13:42,287
So three things to remember -- lift, turn, and shift.

296
00:13:42,289 --> 00:13:43,822
Yikes. Man, he just went into it.

297
00:13:43,824 --> 00:13:45,757
-So here we go. -All right.

298
00:13:45,759 --> 00:13:47,292
Here's our lift...

299
00:13:47,294 --> 00:13:48,026
turn...

300
00:13:48,028 --> 00:13:51,229
Whoa! Whoo!

301
00:13:51,231 --> 00:13:52,898
Oh, boy!

302
00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:55,500
Man, that was intense.

303
00:13:55,502 --> 00:13:58,770
How do you keep that straight, literally?

304
00:13:58,772 --> 00:13:59,638
Practice.

305
00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,907
Man, that is wild.

306
00:14:02,909 --> 00:14:05,510
Guy pulls off a full-speed J-turn

307
00:14:05,512 --> 00:14:07,579
as smoothly as a stunt man.

308
00:14:09,917 --> 00:14:13,184
And it looks like a move straight out of Hollywood.

309
00:14:13,186 --> 00:14:15,320
These sort of maneuvers could be critical

310
00:14:15,322 --> 00:14:17,456
for getting the president out of danger

311
00:14:17,458 --> 00:14:19,391
and back to the safety of the White House.

312
00:14:19,393 --> 00:14:21,326
-Are you ready? -Can I give this a shot?

313
00:14:21,328 --> 00:14:22,561
Absolutely.

314
00:14:25,866 --> 00:14:27,799
I didn't think I'd be so nervous about this,

315
00:14:27,801 --> 00:14:29,067
but I am.

316
00:14:29,069 --> 00:14:31,469
Guy talks me through the three steps

317
00:14:31,471 --> 00:14:34,005
of a J-turn -- lift off the gas,

318
00:14:34,007 --> 00:14:36,475
turn the wheel hard, shift into drive.

319
00:14:36,477 --> 00:14:37,609
Here we go.

320
00:14:37,611 --> 00:14:39,878
So it's in reverse, attack, back away.

321
00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:41,613
All right, let's do this. You can do this.

322
00:14:41,615 --> 00:14:43,081
Let's go when you're ready, Don.

323
00:14:43,083 --> 00:14:44,549
WILDMAN: All right.

324
00:14:44,551 --> 00:14:46,017
Keep backing. Keep backing.

325
00:14:46,019 --> 00:14:47,419
Keep backing. Keep backing.

326
00:14:47,421 --> 00:14:48,887
Keep backing. Keep backing.

327
00:14:48,889 --> 00:14:49,754
Lift.

328
00:14:49,756 --> 00:14:53,024
Turn.

329
00:14:53,026 --> 00:14:55,494
Cut.

330
00:14:55,496 --> 00:14:56,762
Turn us around. Let's go back, try it again.

331
00:14:56,764 --> 00:14:59,297
Oh, boy. Failure.

332
00:15:02,035 --> 00:15:03,301
Okay. What happened?

333
00:15:03,303 --> 00:15:05,503
Okay, as soon as you become uncomfortable

334
00:15:05,505 --> 00:15:06,972
you went to the comfort pedal.

335
00:15:06,974 --> 00:15:07,973
Everybody comfort pedal's what?

336
00:15:07,975 --> 00:15:09,341
-The brake pedal. -The brake.

337
00:15:09,343 --> 00:15:11,976
You try to do what's normal, but it's not normal driving.

338
00:15:11,978 --> 00:15:13,044
I mean, that's the thing.

339
00:15:13,046 --> 00:15:14,045
You're just trying to do something

340
00:15:14,047 --> 00:15:15,947
completely counterintuitive.

341
00:15:18,651 --> 00:15:20,385
-Okay. -All right.

342
00:15:20,387 --> 00:15:21,752
-Back us up. -I'm ready.

343
00:15:21,754 --> 00:15:23,989
Here we go. Keep backing.

344
00:15:23,991 --> 00:15:25,723
Keep backing. Lift.

345
00:15:25,725 --> 00:15:26,992
Turn.

346
00:15:26,994 --> 00:15:28,860
Shift.

347
00:15:28,862 --> 00:15:31,730
Oh, I braked. I braked.

348
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,568
I'll tell you, the scary part is going backwards as fast.

349
00:15:38,672 --> 00:15:40,739
All right, here we go again. Oh, boy.

350
00:15:40,741 --> 00:15:42,807
It's the most terrifying thing I've ever done.

351
00:15:42,809 --> 00:15:43,942
No brake this time.

352
00:15:43,944 --> 00:15:46,944
I'm going right to shift and gas.

353
00:15:46,946 --> 00:15:48,346
You got it.

354
00:15:48,348 --> 00:15:51,082
Whoo. Okay.

355
00:15:51,084 --> 00:15:52,951
All right, attack. Back away.

356
00:15:55,822 --> 00:15:58,289
Keep backing. Keep backing.

357
00:15:58,291 --> 00:16:00,358
Lift. Turn.

358
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:01,159
Shift.

359
00:16:01,161 --> 00:16:02,360
Go.

360
00:16:02,362 --> 00:16:03,895
No bonus points for turning on the wipers, Don.

361
00:16:03,897 --> 00:16:05,630
-Nice job! -Whoo!

362
00:16:05,632 --> 00:16:07,365
Yeah! Oh, my God.

363
00:16:07,367 --> 00:16:10,235
It's a very successful feeling. Thank you so much.

364
00:16:10,237 --> 00:16:12,270
Secret Service, here I come.

365
00:16:17,244 --> 00:16:19,844
But before I celebrate too much,

366
00:16:19,846 --> 00:16:23,081
Guy has one more Secret Service technique for me to try.

367
00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:24,916
-What's next? -Barricade breaching.

368
00:16:24,918 --> 00:16:26,184
Barricade breaching. What's that?

369
00:16:26,186 --> 00:16:27,518
We're gonna ram our way

370
00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,654
through a vehicle blocking our space

371
00:16:29,656 --> 00:16:31,189
so that we can exit that attack.

372
00:16:31,191 --> 00:16:32,991
So I went in reverse at high speed.

373
00:16:32,993 --> 00:16:35,260
-Now, I'm going forward. -Correct.

374
00:16:35,262 --> 00:16:36,728
-All right. -Those are our vehicles.

375
00:16:36,730 --> 00:16:38,863
And here's our exercise, in front of us.

376
00:16:38,865 --> 00:16:40,665
They look lovely.

377
00:16:40,667 --> 00:16:42,000
Why don't you have a seat behind the wheel?

378
00:16:42,002 --> 00:16:43,134
Okay.

379
00:16:44,538 --> 00:16:47,539
WILDMAN: Guy tells me a successful barricade breach

380
00:16:47,541 --> 00:16:48,940
comes down to physics.

381
00:16:48,942 --> 00:16:51,409
The key is to align my car's frame

382
00:16:51,411 --> 00:16:53,745
with the blocking car's axle.

383
00:16:53,747 --> 00:16:55,814
And I want to hit it at just the right speed --

384
00:16:55,816 --> 00:16:58,683
about 15 miles per hour.

385
00:16:58,685 --> 00:16:59,484
Let's go.

386
00:16:59,486 --> 00:17:00,786
Little faster.

387
00:17:02,823 --> 00:17:05,289
Ram.

388
00:17:05,291 --> 00:17:06,758
Oh, yeah!

389
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:07,692
Nice, nice.

390
00:17:07,694 --> 00:17:09,761
Wow, right down the gullet.

391
00:17:11,698 --> 00:17:12,631
Ram.

392
00:17:15,235 --> 00:17:16,568
Phew.

393
00:17:16,570 --> 00:17:17,902
How to get out of an ambush. Thank you.

394
00:17:17,904 --> 00:17:19,704
-Well done, sir. -I'm well equipped.

395
00:17:20,641 --> 00:17:22,841
I'm getting out of this car now.

396
00:17:22,843 --> 00:17:25,576
My crash course in Secret Service training

397
00:17:25,578 --> 00:17:27,179
was exhilarating.

398
00:17:27,181 --> 00:17:29,714
But it's time to get back to the White House,

399
00:17:29,716 --> 00:17:33,384
to the years after Lincoln's assassination.

400
00:17:33,386 --> 00:17:35,854
It's hard to believe today that the White House

401
00:17:35,856 --> 00:17:38,523
was little loved in the late 19th century.

402
00:17:38,525 --> 00:17:40,058
The building was old and outdated

403
00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:41,592
by American standards.

404
00:17:41,594 --> 00:17:44,963
President Andrew Johnson wanted to build a new executive mansion

405
00:17:44,965 --> 00:17:46,131
north of the city

406
00:17:46,133 --> 00:17:48,733
in what is today Rock Creek Park.

407
00:17:48,735 --> 00:17:51,002
He was impeached before that could happen.

408
00:17:51,004 --> 00:17:54,805
But that wasn't the last attempt to reimagine the White House.

409
00:17:54,807 --> 00:17:56,007
The modern White House

410
00:17:56,009 --> 00:17:59,143
only came to be in the 20th century.

411
00:17:59,145 --> 00:18:01,946
In fact, its most famous room

412
00:18:01,948 --> 00:18:04,415
was just built in 1934.

413
00:18:04,417 --> 00:18:06,351
For its first 100 years,

414
00:18:06,353 --> 00:18:09,888
the White House was plagued by a fundamental design flaw,

415
00:18:09,890 --> 00:18:12,958
which nearly led to its ultimate demise.

416
00:18:21,568 --> 00:18:23,301
WILDMAN: I'm tracing the surprising ways

417
00:18:23,303 --> 00:18:25,369
that presidents have changed the White House

418
00:18:25,371 --> 00:18:28,239
to meet their needs.

419
00:18:28,241 --> 00:18:30,508
Take the Oval Office, for example.

420
00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:34,245
This famous room is an iconic emblem of the presidency.

421
00:18:34,247 --> 00:18:39,317
But the modern Oval Office was only added in 1934.

422
00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:41,586
So where did the President work

423
00:18:41,588 --> 00:18:44,055
before the Oval Office was built?

424
00:18:44,057 --> 00:18:47,191
The answer uncovers an inherent problem

425
00:18:47,193 --> 00:18:52,130
with the building's original 1792 design.

426
00:18:52,132 --> 00:18:53,931
For its first 100 years,

427
00:18:53,933 --> 00:18:58,336
the White House never had purpose-built offices.

428
00:18:58,338 --> 00:19:01,005
Each president had to choose a room to work in,

429
00:19:01,007 --> 00:19:04,409
usually a converted bedroom upstairs.

430
00:19:04,411 --> 00:19:05,810
That meant official visitors

431
00:19:05,812 --> 00:19:10,882
were just steps away from where the first family slept.

432
00:19:10,884 --> 00:19:14,885
By the late 1800s, the problem had come to a head.

433
00:19:14,887 --> 00:19:18,423
The White House was bursting at the seams.

434
00:19:18,425 --> 00:19:19,824
Peter? Hey. Don.

435
00:19:19,826 --> 00:19:22,027
-Hi. Nice to meet you. -You too.

436
00:19:22,029 --> 00:19:23,361
Peter Brower heads

437
00:19:23,363 --> 00:19:27,499
the Cartographic Reference Branch at the National Archives.

438
00:19:27,501 --> 00:19:30,101
Here, among priceless old maps,

439
00:19:30,103 --> 00:19:33,838
you can find original hand-drawn blueprints of the White House,

440
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,376
some as it is and some as it might have been.

441
00:19:38,378 --> 00:19:40,979
Look at that. That is so neat.

442
00:19:40,981 --> 00:19:42,180
Oh, I see. That's...

443
00:19:42,182 --> 00:19:44,115
Yeah, so these are the first two.

444
00:19:44,117 --> 00:19:47,786
Peter has proof of the extreme ways presidents tried

445
00:19:47,788 --> 00:19:50,989
to fix the White House in the late 1800s.

446
00:19:50,991 --> 00:19:54,525
President Chester Arthur tried to add room by building

447
00:19:54,527 --> 00:19:58,997
a whole new private residence off to the side.

448
00:19:58,999 --> 00:20:02,467
But it has nothing to do with what the house originally,

449
00:20:02,469 --> 00:20:03,802
and to this day, looks like...

450
00:20:03,804 --> 00:20:05,469
-Exactly. -...as a monument.

451
00:20:05,471 --> 00:20:08,540
It looks like the mansion of a rich guy, a robber baron.

452
00:20:08,542 --> 00:20:12,009
A decade later, President Benjamin Harrison proposed

453
00:20:12,011 --> 00:20:13,678
an even grander solution

454
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,347
to the White House's space problem.

455
00:20:16,349 --> 00:20:18,750
This is a site plan.

456
00:20:18,752 --> 00:20:22,220
And you have the original 1792 mansion there.

457
00:20:22,222 --> 00:20:26,023
And then the idea was to build a completely enclosed court,

458
00:20:26,025 --> 00:20:28,226
very similar to a castle

459
00:20:28,228 --> 00:20:30,161
or other estate grounds, like a European setting.

460
00:20:30,163 --> 00:20:31,696
That's what I'm seeing here.

461
00:20:31,698 --> 00:20:33,498
This looks like a king lives here.

462
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:36,901
The plan would quadruple the White House in size

463
00:20:36,903 --> 00:20:39,437
by adding new wings to house offices

464
00:20:39,439 --> 00:20:41,305
for the president's staff

465
00:20:41,307 --> 00:20:44,642
and an art gallery for visiting tourists.

466
00:20:44,644 --> 00:20:47,445
But Congress refused to pay for it.

467
00:20:47,447 --> 00:20:50,181
This drawing dates from 1905.

468
00:20:50,183 --> 00:20:52,650
This is from Theodore Roosevelt's administration.

469
00:20:52,652 --> 00:20:54,719
So this is TR's,

470
00:20:54,721 --> 00:20:57,922
his own reimagining of the whole complex,

471
00:20:57,924 --> 00:21:00,859
which is pared down to basics.

472
00:21:00,861 --> 00:21:04,062
He's getting back to the original idea.

473
00:21:04,064 --> 00:21:06,464
In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt

474
00:21:06,466 --> 00:21:10,268
finally did what a century's worth of presidents could not.

475
00:21:10,270 --> 00:21:13,671
He reorganized the White House to separate its public

476
00:21:13,673 --> 00:21:16,808
and private functions and returned the building

477
00:21:16,810 --> 00:21:19,276
to its clean, original appearance.

478
00:21:19,278 --> 00:21:20,545
Theodore Roosevelt was famous

479
00:21:20,547 --> 00:21:22,881
for loving the presidency, you know,

480
00:21:22,883 --> 00:21:24,682
and therefore loving the White House

481
00:21:24,684 --> 00:21:27,017
and what it represented, the history behind the office.

482
00:21:27,019 --> 00:21:28,953
But he has done the pragmatic thing

483
00:21:28,955 --> 00:21:30,688
of separating from the living space --

484
00:21:30,690 --> 00:21:31,890
I mean, he has a huge family,

485
00:21:31,892 --> 00:21:33,357
so they have to have some place to live.

486
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,294
So he's separated from the president's house

487
00:21:36,296 --> 00:21:39,097
the offices over here on the West Wing.

488
00:21:39,099 --> 00:21:42,233
Roosevelt's 1902 restoration claimed

489
00:21:42,235 --> 00:21:46,438
the entire second floor as private living space.

490
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,508
He added new wings to separate the house's official functions.

491
00:21:50,510 --> 00:21:52,844
The public entrance moved to the east

492
00:21:52,846 --> 00:21:56,514
and the executive offices to the western wing.

493
00:21:56,516 --> 00:21:58,583
At last, there was plenty of space

494
00:21:58,585 --> 00:22:00,985
for the president's cabinet and staff,

495
00:22:00,987 --> 00:22:03,254
a new office for Roosevelt himself,

496
00:22:03,256 --> 00:22:06,991
though one with four walls and four corners.

497
00:22:06,993 --> 00:22:09,260
The Oval Office as we know it today

498
00:22:09,262 --> 00:22:11,930
would be built by another President Roosevelt

499
00:22:11,932 --> 00:22:13,798
30 years later.

500
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:14,999
So interesting.

501
00:22:15,001 --> 00:22:17,601
I mean, you have right here the White Houses

502
00:22:17,603 --> 00:22:19,204
as they could have been

503
00:22:19,206 --> 00:22:21,872
and then the White House as it is today.

504
00:22:21,874 --> 00:22:23,341
So cool. Thanks, man.

505
00:22:23,343 --> 00:22:24,942
All right. Thank you.

506
00:22:24,944 --> 00:22:27,946
Theodore Roosevelt ended any plans of replacing

507
00:22:27,948 --> 00:22:29,613
or reconfiguring the White House.

508
00:22:29,615 --> 00:22:32,016
His restoration was hailed as a success

509
00:22:32,018 --> 00:22:34,552
and set the tone for the building's appearance

510
00:22:34,554 --> 00:22:36,621
as it is today.

511
00:22:36,623 --> 00:22:38,823
What Roosevelt didn't know is that the changes

512
00:22:38,825 --> 00:22:42,427
he made would also help doom the old house.

513
00:22:52,512 --> 00:22:55,446
WILDMAN: I'm chasing the incredible evolution

514
00:22:55,448 --> 00:22:56,781
of the White House,

515
00:22:56,783 --> 00:22:59,217
and I've arrived at a crossroads.

516
00:23:01,321 --> 00:23:03,588
In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt

517
00:23:03,590 --> 00:23:06,124
solved the White House's oldest problem

518
00:23:06,126 --> 00:23:09,060
and separated its public and private halves.

519
00:23:09,062 --> 00:23:11,463
But one of the changes he made would lead

520
00:23:11,465 --> 00:23:14,199
directly to the building's greatest crisis

521
00:23:14,201 --> 00:23:18,937
and indirectly to its deepest mystery.

522
00:23:18,939 --> 00:23:21,005
In the late 1940s,

523
00:23:21,007 --> 00:23:22,540
the United States was emerging

524
00:23:22,542 --> 00:23:25,743
from two decades of war and austerity.

525
00:23:25,745 --> 00:23:27,678
The economy was roaring.

526
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,281
Millions of Americans were moving to the suburbs

527
00:23:30,283 --> 00:23:34,152
and buying brand-new homes.

528
00:23:34,154 --> 00:23:37,355
But at the White House, President Harry Truman

529
00:23:37,357 --> 00:23:41,425
was beginning to notice the building's age.

530
00:23:41,427 --> 00:23:45,297
In the summer of 1948, a piano leg suddenly burst

531
00:23:45,299 --> 00:23:48,033
through the ceiling into the family dining room.

532
00:23:48,035 --> 00:23:50,902
The upstairs floor had given way.

533
00:23:50,904 --> 00:23:53,170
Truman ordered a complete inspection.

534
00:23:53,172 --> 00:23:55,506
The results were dire.

535
00:23:55,508 --> 00:23:58,310
The White House was falling down.

536
00:24:00,380 --> 00:24:04,249
Sagging timbers and leaking pipes had been hastily patched

537
00:24:04,251 --> 00:24:08,453
and painted for a century and a half.

538
00:24:08,455 --> 00:24:09,921
But the real culprit

539
00:24:09,923 --> 00:24:13,525
was Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 renovation.

540
00:24:13,527 --> 00:24:15,927
Roosevelt expanded the State Dining Room

541
00:24:15,929 --> 00:24:17,128
to seat more guests,

542
00:24:17,130 --> 00:24:20,131
which required removing a load-bearing wall.

543
00:24:20,133 --> 00:24:23,134
The house's frame had been overstressed

544
00:24:23,136 --> 00:24:25,870
for nearly 50 years.

545
00:24:25,872 --> 00:24:27,805
The engineer's report warned

546
00:24:27,807 --> 00:24:30,475
that the White House was in danger of collapsing,

547
00:24:30,477 --> 00:24:34,145
claiming it was staying up by force of habit only.

548
00:24:34,147 --> 00:24:35,880
The easiest solution would be

549
00:24:35,882 --> 00:24:38,149
to knock down the old house and build a new one.

550
00:24:38,151 --> 00:24:41,152
Some even suggested moving to a new location

551
00:24:41,154 --> 00:24:42,820
outside the city.

552
00:24:42,822 --> 00:24:44,822
But Truman was having none of that.

553
00:24:44,824 --> 00:24:47,024
He insisted that the original White House

554
00:24:47,026 --> 00:24:50,094
be preserved in every possible way.

555
00:24:50,096 --> 00:24:53,364
The answer was an epic gut renovation.

556
00:24:53,366 --> 00:24:57,435
Doors, trim and paneling were carefully cataloged and removed.

557
00:24:57,437 --> 00:25:02,040
Then everything inside the stone walls was demolished.

558
00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:04,108
A new steel frame was built.

559
00:25:04,110 --> 00:25:06,177
And the old interior was re-created

560
00:25:06,179 --> 00:25:09,781
with a mix of original items and modern materials.

561
00:25:09,783 --> 00:25:12,450
But the renovation would also provide cover

562
00:25:12,452 --> 00:25:15,987
for a huge excavation project.

563
00:25:15,989 --> 00:25:18,423
So what's underneath the White House?

564
00:25:24,731 --> 00:25:27,332
This is the famous Off the Record Bar

565
00:25:27,334 --> 00:25:29,867
in the basement of the Hay-Adams Hotel.

566
00:25:29,869 --> 00:25:32,604
And on the other side of this wall,

567
00:25:32,606 --> 00:25:35,406
through about 1,000 feet of earth,

568
00:25:35,408 --> 00:25:37,242
is the White House subbasement.

569
00:25:41,481 --> 00:25:43,548
Truman took advantage of the renovation

570
00:25:43,550 --> 00:25:45,283
to add some square footage,

571
00:25:45,285 --> 00:25:48,019
mostly in a two-level subbasement

572
00:25:48,021 --> 00:25:50,288
beneath the original basement.

573
00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:52,990
These subbasements were mostly for utilities,

574
00:25:52,992 --> 00:25:54,292
service areas, and storage.

575
00:25:54,294 --> 00:25:56,927
But there might have been more to them than that.

576
00:25:56,929 --> 00:25:57,962
Check this out.

577
00:25:57,964 --> 00:26:00,431
This is a photo from the excavation

578
00:26:00,433 --> 00:26:02,300
inside the White House in 1950.

579
00:26:02,302 --> 00:26:05,970
And right away, you can see what a gut reno this really is.

580
00:26:05,972 --> 00:26:07,972
I mean, you could see the steel structure that's been

581
00:26:07,974 --> 00:26:09,841
added to support the floors.

582
00:26:09,843 --> 00:26:11,643
And you can also see, interestingly,

583
00:26:11,645 --> 00:26:14,111
the line of the original foundation

584
00:26:14,113 --> 00:26:15,780
that they are now digging beneath.

585
00:26:15,782 --> 00:26:17,115
Here, look at this.

586
00:26:17,117 --> 00:26:18,850
So this is the bulldozer,

587
00:26:18,852 --> 00:26:20,318
you can see, is digging deeper

588
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,121
and deeper beneath that original foundation.

589
00:26:23,123 --> 00:26:24,388
So they are going down.

590
00:26:24,390 --> 00:26:27,125
So here's a shot from inside

591
00:26:27,127 --> 00:26:29,794
the new subbasement in late 1950.

592
00:26:29,796 --> 00:26:31,529
And you can see what appears to be

593
00:26:31,531 --> 00:26:33,464
a reinforced concrete tunnel

594
00:26:33,466 --> 00:26:36,267
being built deep beneath the house.

595
00:26:36,269 --> 00:26:39,804
And this is inside that tunnel in the construction process.

596
00:26:39,806 --> 00:26:41,339
And look at all the conduit

597
00:26:41,341 --> 00:26:43,341
that's run along the floor there.

598
00:26:43,343 --> 00:26:46,878
This last shot is inside the finished tunnel.

599
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,947
I mean, this is heavy construction.

600
00:26:48,949 --> 00:26:50,948
Look at the thickness of this wall.

601
00:26:50,950 --> 00:26:53,284
I mean, this is all deep underground.

602
00:26:53,286 --> 00:26:55,820
So what's it for?

603
00:26:55,822 --> 00:26:57,088
Hard to say.

604
00:26:57,090 --> 00:26:58,756
What we do know is that

605
00:26:58,758 --> 00:27:01,960
FDR built a bomb shelter beneath the East Wing

606
00:27:01,962 --> 00:27:03,360
during World War II.

607
00:27:03,362 --> 00:27:04,562
It was never used.

608
00:27:04,564 --> 00:27:11,236
Our national policy is not directed toward war.

609
00:27:11,238 --> 00:27:14,839
WILDMAN: So could this hallway have been built by Truman

610
00:27:14,841 --> 00:27:16,974
to connect that shelter to the house?

611
00:27:16,976 --> 00:27:19,577
Or did he enlarge Roosevelt's shelter

612
00:27:19,579 --> 00:27:22,981
to create a larger bunker complex?

613
00:27:22,983 --> 00:27:24,916
Nobody knows for sure.

614
00:27:24,918 --> 00:27:30,187
These subbasements are not on the White House tour.

615
00:27:30,189 --> 00:27:31,522
We do know this.

616
00:27:31,524 --> 00:27:33,924
The Soviets detonated their first atom bomb

617
00:27:33,926 --> 00:27:36,027
while the White House was being rebuilt.

618
00:27:42,602 --> 00:27:44,068
If any of those underground spaces

619
00:27:44,070 --> 00:27:47,539
were meant to be bomb shelters, they were suddenly obsolete.

620
00:27:47,541 --> 00:27:49,874
To survive that kind of bomb,

621
00:27:49,876 --> 00:27:52,811
the President was gonna need a much bigger basement.

622
00:28:02,835 --> 00:28:05,568
WILDMAN: The White House at the dawn of the atomic age

623
00:28:05,570 --> 00:28:08,171
had come a long way from the open-door days

624
00:28:08,173 --> 00:28:09,973
of the Lincoln administration.

625
00:28:09,975 --> 00:28:12,375
Already, the house was evolving

626
00:28:12,377 --> 00:28:15,179
into the secure command center we know today.

627
00:28:15,181 --> 00:28:17,514
So how did the president prepare

628
00:28:17,516 --> 00:28:19,516
for the ultimate security threat...

629
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,522
a nuclear attack on the White House?

630
00:28:26,524 --> 00:28:31,261
We know about FDR's World War II bomb shelter.

631
00:28:31,263 --> 00:28:33,263
And we have photos from 1950

632
00:28:33,265 --> 00:28:36,066
showing heavy underground construction.

633
00:28:36,068 --> 00:28:38,401
But it's unlikely that any of this could

634
00:28:38,403 --> 00:28:41,071
withstand a direct nuclear attack.

635
00:28:41,073 --> 00:28:44,474
So is it possible that there's another, secret bunker

636
00:28:44,476 --> 00:28:46,944
somewhere beneath the White House?

637
00:28:46,946 --> 00:28:50,546
In 2011, President Obama quietly kicked off

638
00:28:50,548 --> 00:28:53,750
a large excavation project under the West Wing.

639
00:28:53,752 --> 00:28:55,752
Officials claimed it was an update

640
00:28:55,754 --> 00:28:57,754
of the building's cooling system.

641
00:28:57,756 --> 00:29:01,090
Whatever it is, it's off-limits.

642
00:29:01,092 --> 00:29:05,428
But I know of a recently declassified top-secret location

643
00:29:05,430 --> 00:29:07,497
that can give us an insider's look

644
00:29:07,499 --> 00:29:11,367
at the ultimate Cold War contingency plan.

645
00:29:11,369 --> 00:29:13,703
I'm in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia,

646
00:29:13,705 --> 00:29:16,439
about 200 miles southeast of Washington,

647
00:29:16,441 --> 00:29:19,643
heading to one of the grandest hotels in America.

648
00:29:19,645 --> 00:29:24,247
The Greenbrier is a sprawling 11,000-acre resort nestled

649
00:29:24,249 --> 00:29:27,517
in the Allegheny Mountains.

650
00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:30,787
The Greenbrier has a long connection to Washington.

651
00:29:30,789 --> 00:29:33,122
26 presidents have stayed here.

652
00:29:33,124 --> 00:29:34,391
And the army ran the place

653
00:29:34,393 --> 00:29:36,926
as a military hospital back in World War II.

654
00:29:36,928 --> 00:29:40,864
But I'm here for a whole different reason.

655
00:29:40,866 --> 00:29:45,202
In 1955, the Cold War was heating up.

656
00:29:45,204 --> 00:29:47,004
The United States and the Soviet Union

657
00:29:47,006 --> 00:29:50,207
had warheads aimed at each other's capitals.

658
00:29:50,209 --> 00:29:53,410
President Eisenhower issued an executive order

659
00:29:53,412 --> 00:29:55,545
outlining a plan for the federal government

660
00:29:55,547 --> 00:29:58,481
to survive a nuclear attack.

661
00:29:58,483 --> 00:30:01,885
The Greenbrier was an essential part of the plan.

662
00:30:01,887 --> 00:30:03,486
Beneath this hotel is one of the most

663
00:30:03,488 --> 00:30:06,356
top-secret locations of the Cold War,

664
00:30:06,358 --> 00:30:09,959
a giant fallout bunker hidden in plain sight.

665
00:30:09,961 --> 00:30:12,396
Check this out.

666
00:30:20,839 --> 00:30:24,508
The program was code named Project Greek Island.

667
00:30:24,510 --> 00:30:27,443
The government funded the construction of the bunker

668
00:30:27,445 --> 00:30:29,379
and built a new wing of the hotel

669
00:30:29,381 --> 00:30:31,581
on top to hide it.

670
00:30:31,583 --> 00:30:33,316
The whole complex was designed

671
00:30:33,318 --> 00:30:35,852
to blend seamlessly with the hotel.

672
00:30:35,854 --> 00:30:38,321
Guests were free to enter parts of the bunker

673
00:30:38,323 --> 00:30:42,793
completely unaware of its true purpose.

674
00:30:42,795 --> 00:30:45,796
The bunker had to be kept in a constant state of readiness.

675
00:30:45,798 --> 00:30:47,998
A group of government employees posed

676
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,600
as TV repairmen for the hotel.

677
00:30:50,602 --> 00:30:52,469
And one of them has agreed to meet with me.

678
00:30:55,140 --> 00:30:56,606
Fritz?

679
00:30:56,608 --> 00:30:58,208
Fritz Bugas ran

680
00:30:58,210 --> 00:31:00,543
the undercover team here for 20 years.

681
00:31:00,545 --> 00:31:03,613
So this is the room that was really the center point

682
00:31:03,615 --> 00:31:06,282
of the whole cover story, yeah?

683
00:31:06,284 --> 00:31:07,550
In essence, yes.

684
00:31:07,552 --> 00:31:11,621
This was the Forsythe Television Repair Shop.

685
00:31:11,623 --> 00:31:15,292
But the repair shop was really a front, basically.

686
00:31:15,294 --> 00:31:20,230
That allowed us a reason to be here to start with

687
00:31:20,232 --> 00:31:23,366
so we could do our maintenance work

688
00:31:23,368 --> 00:31:24,567
in the back part of the bunker.

689
00:31:24,569 --> 00:31:26,169
Wow. So this is really

690
00:31:26,171 --> 00:31:30,974
the line between the overt and the covert, the bunker.

691
00:31:30,976 --> 00:31:32,041
That's correct.

692
00:31:32,043 --> 00:31:33,844
So how do you get to the covert?

693
00:31:33,846 --> 00:31:37,981
Don, if you'll turn around and go through this door here

694
00:31:37,983 --> 00:31:38,915
This one?

695
00:31:38,917 --> 00:31:40,984
That leads into a closet.

696
00:31:43,054 --> 00:31:47,390
Now, in this closet, we had electronic supplies,

697
00:31:47,392 --> 00:31:48,591
cable, et cetera,

698
00:31:48,593 --> 00:31:51,394
things necessary to repair the television.

699
00:31:51,396 --> 00:31:52,862
Okay.

700
00:31:52,864 --> 00:31:56,065
And if you turn around, there's a wall behind you.

701
00:31:56,067 --> 00:32:00,003
Now, if you lean or push against that wall...

702
00:32:00,005 --> 00:32:02,806
This is the entrance?

703
00:32:02,808 --> 00:32:04,808
Oh, that's so neat.

704
00:32:04,810 --> 00:32:06,743
That's cool. Wow.

705
00:32:06,745 --> 00:32:08,011
So this is the covert.

706
00:32:08,013 --> 00:32:10,947
This leads you further into the bunker,

707
00:32:10,949 --> 00:32:12,949
into the covert part

708
00:32:12,951 --> 00:32:14,551
Unbelievable.

709
00:32:14,553 --> 00:32:16,953
The Greenbrier bunker was built to house

710
00:32:16,955 --> 00:32:19,689
the entire legislative branch of government.

711
00:32:19,691 --> 00:32:21,324
That's 100 senators,

712
00:32:21,326 --> 00:32:25,562
435 members of the House, plus staff.

713
00:32:25,564 --> 00:32:29,365
The entire facility could sustain 1,100 people

714
00:32:29,367 --> 00:32:30,766
for up to 40 days.

715
00:32:30,768 --> 00:32:33,236
Look into the door on the right. You'll see the kitchen.

716
00:32:33,238 --> 00:32:35,572
The refrigeration was off to the left.

717
00:32:35,574 --> 00:32:36,640
And nobody knew this was here?

718
00:32:36,642 --> 00:32:38,041
And nobody knew that this was here.

719
00:32:38,043 --> 00:32:39,242
Crazy!

720
00:32:39,244 --> 00:32:40,844
The plan was for Congress

721
00:32:40,846 --> 00:32:43,647
to arrive by car, plane, and train.

722
00:32:43,649 --> 00:32:47,250
Three giant blast doors would seal them inside.

723
00:32:47,252 --> 00:32:51,455
Then the Greenbrier bunker would become the U.S. capital.

724
00:32:54,459 --> 00:32:58,328
There you go.

725
00:32:58,330 --> 00:33:00,597
So this is the Governor's Hall.

726
00:33:00,599 --> 00:33:03,132
I mean, it looks like a school auditorium.

727
00:33:03,134 --> 00:33:05,134
But there's enough seats in here

728
00:33:05,136 --> 00:33:09,872
for the whole House of Representatives, 435.

729
00:33:09,874 --> 00:33:13,476
Right next door is another meeting chamber for the Senate.

730
00:33:13,478 --> 00:33:16,079
The Greenbrier bunker was only intended

731
00:33:16,081 --> 00:33:18,814
for the legislative branch.

732
00:33:18,816 --> 00:33:21,818
So this is the bunker for the Congress, okay.

733
00:33:21,820 --> 00:33:23,487
There must be other bunkers as well,

734
00:33:23,489 --> 00:33:25,956
one for the president, I suppose.

735
00:33:25,958 --> 00:33:27,423
-I would assume so. -Okay.

736
00:33:27,425 --> 00:33:29,492
But it's part of a network of bunkers

737
00:33:29,494 --> 00:33:32,095
around the whole D.C. area.

738
00:33:32,097 --> 00:33:34,497
Well, you have the executive branch

739
00:33:34,499 --> 00:33:37,099
of government, I'm sure, has bunkers

740
00:33:37,101 --> 00:33:38,635
that are scattered around in D.C.

741
00:33:38,637 --> 00:33:40,704
Well, if anybody should know, it's you.

742
00:33:40,706 --> 00:33:42,772
I do know about the legislative branch,

743
00:33:42,774 --> 00:33:46,976
that it was designed and geared for their relocation.

744
00:33:46,978 --> 00:33:49,379
You're still keeping secrets, aren't you?

745
00:33:49,381 --> 00:33:51,047
No! No!

746
00:33:51,049 --> 00:33:52,382
Not really.

747
00:33:52,384 --> 00:33:53,649
But there's bunkers today

748
00:33:53,651 --> 00:33:57,053
equally prepared, because the threat is still there.

749
00:33:57,055 --> 00:33:58,855
-I would hope so. -Yeah.

750
00:33:58,857 --> 00:34:00,657
A vast complex.

751
00:34:00,659 --> 00:34:01,858
You mind if I take a look around?

752
00:34:01,860 --> 00:34:03,994
-Not at all. -Thank you, sir.

753
00:34:03,996 --> 00:34:05,928
Honor.

754
00:34:05,930 --> 00:34:07,197
It's easy to imagine

755
00:34:07,199 --> 00:34:08,531
that there are active bunkers

756
00:34:08,533 --> 00:34:10,800
for the president out there somewhere.

757
00:34:10,802 --> 00:34:14,671
The Greenbrier complex was declassified in 1992.

758
00:34:14,673 --> 00:34:17,406
But parts of it still seem ready for action.

759
00:34:17,408 --> 00:34:20,210
This would be the first stop for the lawmakers at the bunker,

760
00:34:20,212 --> 00:34:22,011
the decontamination showers.

761
00:34:22,013 --> 00:34:24,614
First, they had to strip off their clothes

762
00:34:24,616 --> 00:34:28,017
and toss them in here to be incinerated.

763
00:34:28,019 --> 00:34:30,886
Then they moved through this passageway.

764
00:34:30,888 --> 00:34:35,225
A series of high-pressure shower heads would wash off

765
00:34:35,227 --> 00:34:37,160
all the radioactive contaminants.

766
00:34:37,162 --> 00:34:40,896
They could process up to 120 people per hour

767
00:34:40,898 --> 00:34:42,231
in this place.

768
00:34:42,233 --> 00:34:45,635
Then they move through here

769
00:34:45,637 --> 00:34:48,972
and get their fresh clothes.

770
00:34:48,974 --> 00:34:50,373
And then they're free to move into

771
00:34:50,375 --> 00:34:52,308
the clean part of the facility.

772
00:34:52,310 --> 00:34:55,512
The bunker contains 153 rooms

773
00:34:55,514 --> 00:34:57,513
on two underground levels,

774
00:34:57,515 --> 00:35:01,317
112,000 square feet in all.

775
00:35:01,319 --> 00:35:03,853
It was designed to be a wholly contained,

776
00:35:03,855 --> 00:35:07,057
self-sufficient city.

777
00:35:07,059 --> 00:35:08,991
This was the TV studio,

778
00:35:08,993 --> 00:35:11,661
one of the most important rooms in the entire bunker.

779
00:35:11,663 --> 00:35:14,264
From here, officials could address the nation,

780
00:35:14,266 --> 00:35:16,132
two available backdrops --

781
00:35:16,134 --> 00:35:18,935
the U.S. Capitol and, over here,

782
00:35:18,937 --> 00:35:22,338
the White House -- you know, to reassure Americans

783
00:35:22,340 --> 00:35:24,407
that everything's gonna be okay.

784
00:35:24,409 --> 00:35:26,743
See, this place was designed

785
00:35:26,745 --> 00:35:28,144
for the legislative branch.

786
00:35:28,146 --> 00:35:29,646
But the speaker of the House

787
00:35:29,648 --> 00:35:31,548
is the third in line for the presidency.

788
00:35:31,550 --> 00:35:34,817
So depending on what was going on out there,

789
00:35:34,819 --> 00:35:38,555
the Greenbrier could end up housing the president after all.

790
00:35:43,829 --> 00:35:46,496
The Greenbrier bunker was never used

791
00:35:46,498 --> 00:35:49,599
because nuclear doomsday never came.

792
00:35:54,573 --> 00:35:56,906
As the arms race heated up,

793
00:35:56,908 --> 00:36:00,176
cooler heads would have to talk us back from the brink.

794
00:36:02,647 --> 00:36:05,081
Easier said than done.

795
00:36:07,318 --> 00:36:08,351
Oh, that's neat.

796
00:36:17,746 --> 00:36:19,879
WILDMAN: I'm digging deep into the White House

797
00:36:19,881 --> 00:36:22,815
and have already uncovered some of the invisible walls

798
00:36:22,817 --> 00:36:25,351
that surround this fortress.

799
00:36:25,353 --> 00:36:26,885
But the modern-day White House

800
00:36:26,887 --> 00:36:29,155
must also be able to connect the president

801
00:36:29,157 --> 00:36:32,425
to any place on Earth at a minute's notice,

802
00:36:32,427 --> 00:36:34,494
a lesson we learned the hard way.

803
00:36:34,496 --> 00:36:37,764
In 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States

804
00:36:37,766 --> 00:36:39,832
were locked in a dangerous standoff.

805
00:36:39,834 --> 00:36:44,770
Both nations had stockpiled massive nuclear arsenals.

806
00:36:44,772 --> 00:36:46,973
If the enemy launched an attack,

807
00:36:46,975 --> 00:36:48,774
the hope was that enough warheads

808
00:36:48,776 --> 00:36:50,376
would survive the first wave

809
00:36:50,378 --> 00:36:52,912
that they could then launch an immediate counterattack.

810
00:36:52,914 --> 00:36:56,549
This strategy was called mutually assured destruction.

811
00:36:59,788 --> 00:37:03,189
In October 1962, American spy planes

812
00:37:03,191 --> 00:37:05,992
found Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba,

813
00:37:05,994 --> 00:37:09,329
only 90 miles off Florida.

814
00:37:09,331 --> 00:37:11,931
President John F. Kennedy's advisors urged him

815
00:37:11,933 --> 00:37:13,933
to launch an air strike.

816
00:37:13,935 --> 00:37:15,335
He refused.

817
00:37:15,337 --> 00:37:18,604
Instead, Kennedy imposed a naval blockade

818
00:37:18,606 --> 00:37:21,006
while he tried to work out a peaceful solution

819
00:37:21,008 --> 00:37:24,210
with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

820
00:37:24,212 --> 00:37:26,546
To halt this offensive buildup,

821
00:37:26,548 --> 00:37:28,814
a strict quarantine on all offensive

822
00:37:28,816 --> 00:37:31,550
military equipment under shipment to Cuba

823
00:37:31,552 --> 00:37:33,086
is being initiated.

824
00:37:33,088 --> 00:37:36,355
WILDMAN: Nobody knew how the Russians would respond.

825
00:37:36,357 --> 00:37:39,225
For 13 days, America held its breath

826
00:37:39,227 --> 00:37:42,028
at the brink of Armageddon.

827
00:37:42,030 --> 00:37:45,031
In the end, the Soviets removed the missiles.

828
00:37:45,033 --> 00:37:49,035
It's as close as we've ever come to full-scale nuclear war.

829
00:37:49,037 --> 00:37:51,704
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a wake-up call.

830
00:37:51,706 --> 00:37:54,040
Messages between Kennedy and Khrushchev

831
00:37:54,042 --> 00:37:55,842
would take more than six hours

832
00:37:55,844 --> 00:37:58,577
to deliver through regular diplomatic channels,

833
00:37:58,579 --> 00:38:00,713
way too long for the nuclear age.

834
00:38:00,715 --> 00:38:04,450
Kennedy knew that fast, direct communication was the key

835
00:38:04,452 --> 00:38:06,252
to avoiding a future crisis.

836
00:38:11,126 --> 00:38:12,724
The John F. Kennedy Library

837
00:38:12,726 --> 00:38:15,127
displays hundreds of real artifacts

838
00:38:15,129 --> 00:38:17,930
from JFK's presidency.

839
00:38:17,932 --> 00:38:22,334
But I'm more interested in something that isn't here.

840
00:38:22,336 --> 00:38:25,204
After the missile crisis, Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed

841
00:38:25,206 --> 00:38:28,407
to set up a Moscow-Washington hotline.

842
00:38:28,409 --> 00:38:30,877
The hotline enabled direct communication

843
00:38:30,879 --> 00:38:35,081
between the two superpowers for the first time.

844
00:38:35,083 --> 00:38:38,217
The red phone has become an icon of the Cold War,

845
00:38:38,219 --> 00:38:39,819
a symbol of the thin line

846
00:38:39,821 --> 00:38:43,423
between peace and mutually assured destruction.

847
00:38:43,425 --> 00:38:45,024
Only there's one problem --

848
00:38:45,026 --> 00:38:48,494
The red phone never existed.

849
00:38:48,496 --> 00:38:51,897
This is a replica of the Oval Office desk

850
00:38:51,899 --> 00:38:54,367
during President Kennedy's time.

851
00:38:54,369 --> 00:38:57,136
And check it out -- no red phone.

852
00:39:00,641 --> 00:39:01,907
But come with me.

853
00:39:01,909 --> 00:39:06,779
See, the red phone is a total Hollywood creation,

854
00:39:06,781 --> 00:39:08,647
not the hotline itself.

855
00:39:08,649 --> 00:39:10,716
The hotline is real.

856
00:39:10,718 --> 00:39:13,252
I mean, right over here.

857
00:39:13,254 --> 00:39:17,657
That is the real Moscow-Washington hotline.

858
00:39:17,659 --> 00:39:20,726
And that is some serious stuff.

859
00:39:20,728 --> 00:39:22,661
The original hotline was a pair

860
00:39:22,663 --> 00:39:25,564
of electromechanical teletype machines

861
00:39:25,566 --> 00:39:29,067
connected by a 10,000-mile transatlantic cable.

862
00:39:29,069 --> 00:39:31,137
It became operational 10 months

863
00:39:31,139 --> 00:39:33,539
after the Cuban Missile Crisis ended.

864
00:39:35,876 --> 00:39:39,145
This was a major breakthrough in foreign relations.

865
00:39:39,147 --> 00:39:41,280
The hotline agreement marked the first time

866
00:39:41,282 --> 00:39:44,283
the U.S. and Soviet Union both took action

867
00:39:44,285 --> 00:39:46,552
to limit the risk of nuclear war.

868
00:39:46,554 --> 00:39:48,354
The hotline also strengthened

869
00:39:48,356 --> 00:39:51,357
the President's role in Cold War diplomacy.

870
00:39:51,359 --> 00:39:53,159
Now, thanks to technology,

871
00:39:53,161 --> 00:39:57,430
the White House could connect with the Kremlin directly.

872
00:39:57,432 --> 00:40:00,566
I want to learn a little more about the hotline.

873
00:40:00,568 --> 00:40:03,436
To find a teletype machine that still works,

874
00:40:03,438 --> 00:40:06,372
I'm heading to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum

875
00:40:06,374 --> 00:40:07,273
of Connecticut.

876
00:40:09,777 --> 00:40:13,378
Oh, look at that. She's a beauty.

877
00:40:13,380 --> 00:40:14,780
That's the teletype machine.

878
00:40:14,782 --> 00:40:16,382
That is a teletype machine, yes.

879
00:40:16,384 --> 00:40:18,184
Founder John Ellsworth has offered

880
00:40:18,186 --> 00:40:21,520
to give me a quick lesson on Cold War communication.

881
00:40:21,522 --> 00:40:24,257
Explain to me the technology behind this -- teletype.

882
00:40:24,259 --> 00:40:25,591
-How does that work? -What it does

883
00:40:25,593 --> 00:40:27,527
is it sends typewritten information

884
00:40:27,529 --> 00:40:30,263
over a wire from point "A" to point "B."

885
00:40:30,265 --> 00:40:32,331
-So does this turn on? -Yes.

886
00:40:32,333 --> 00:40:34,266
A little switch down here.

887
00:40:34,268 --> 00:40:37,469
Oh, that's neat. How beautiful.

888
00:40:37,471 --> 00:40:39,338
I happen to know that the original message

889
00:40:39,340 --> 00:40:42,541
that was sent on that Moscow-Washington line was,

890
00:40:42,543 --> 00:40:46,879
"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back,"

891
00:40:46,881 --> 00:40:49,414
a message that basically tests every single key.

892
00:40:49,416 --> 00:40:50,683
Every single key, yeah.

893
00:40:50,685 --> 00:40:52,017
-And then the numbers. -And then the numbers.

894
00:40:52,019 --> 00:40:53,419
So I'm gonna type that right now.

895
00:40:53,421 --> 00:40:55,288
So it's the early 1960s.

896
00:40:55,290 --> 00:40:58,357
And here goes the first one.

897
00:40:58,359 --> 00:40:59,691
There she goes.

898
00:40:59,693 --> 00:41:01,560
It's a nice feeling. It's got good action.

899
00:41:01,562 --> 00:41:05,030
Yeah.

900
00:41:05,032 --> 00:41:08,300
I feel like I'm in high school typing class.

901
00:41:08,302 --> 00:41:11,970
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, zero.

902
00:41:11,972 --> 00:41:13,505
-Beautiful. -There it is.

903
00:41:13,507 --> 00:41:16,375
There's the text. I have typed in D.C.

904
00:41:19,046 --> 00:41:20,245
There she goes.

905
00:41:20,247 --> 00:41:22,782
Here comes the all-important top-secret message.

906
00:41:22,784 --> 00:41:24,316
Okay.

907
00:41:24,318 --> 00:41:26,852
The quick brown fox jumped over the...

908
00:41:26,854 --> 00:41:31,724
You know, that's very satisfying.

909
00:41:31,726 --> 00:41:32,791
Look at that.

910
00:41:32,793 --> 00:41:35,795
So this line of text I typed in D.C.

911
00:41:35,797 --> 00:41:39,799
gets transmitted and read in Moscow.

912
00:41:39,801 --> 00:41:43,402
This is nuclear war avoided.

913
00:41:43,404 --> 00:41:45,738
Cool.

914
00:41:45,740 --> 00:41:48,607
The White House has seen incredible changes

915
00:41:48,609 --> 00:41:50,942
in its 200-plus-year history,

916
00:41:50,944 --> 00:41:56,749
from simple stone house to state-of-the-art fortress,

917
00:41:56,751 --> 00:41:59,351
from Roosevelt's renovation

918
00:41:59,353 --> 00:42:02,554
to Kennedy's Cold War command center,

919
00:42:02,556 --> 00:42:06,358
and from analog to digital.

920
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:09,095
The White House has been and will always be

921
00:42:09,097 --> 00:42:12,631
an enduring emblem of freedom and democracy

922
00:42:12,633 --> 00:42:16,002
and the most important home office in the world.

923
00:42:18,439 --> 00:42:19,372
I'm Don Wildman.

924
00:42:19,374 --> 00:42:20,506
Thanks for watching

925
00:42:20,508 --> 00:42:23,009
"Mysteries at the Museum: The White House."

925
00:42:24,305 --> 00:43:24,167