Sunday June 29th 08
I am really struggling to put my experiences of today into words. Not only was I privileged enough to visit the White House, but I was fortunate enough to see Mr. George W. Bush himself, only about 6 metres from where I stood. This fantastic opportunity came about because Lisa’s friend Amy Zantzinger is the, yes the, social secretary for George & Laura Bush. She organizes all events and functions that take place in the White House, from deciding which flowers and china to use, to devising a seating plan for the event. Pretty impressive alright.
Upon arriving at the White House, in true US style, we were screened and searched before being allowed to pass through. I even had a ‘special’ pass, what with me being an ‘alien’ and all
Amy brought us to see her office, which is in the East Wing, in the First Lady’s quarters. The corridor that led to Amy’s office was lined with photographs of Laura Bush at various events throughout the world, and the photos were absolutely amazing to say the least. Amy’s office displayed her “contract’ if you could call it that – a personal message from Mr. Bush himself, signing her into her position. She also had some china lying around the office. Turns out it’s GWB’s china that has yet to be released. Each President designs their own china during their time in office, and I’m pretty sure Amy was approving this new pattern. COOL OR WHAT!?
We visited each of the coloured rooms – the red, blue, and green rooms. The State dining room was beautiful, as was the Receiving room and now that I think of it, every other room we saw! Oh hold on – I almost forgot to mention the Oval Office. Impressive? Yes! We had to wrap up our tour as GWB was expected to land in 5 minutes, so we rushed out onto the balcony overlooking the South Lawn. There were spectacular views of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial from the balcony, and Lisa was in her element snapping away with her camera.
Each time the President travels in Marine One, two other helicopters travel with him for security reasons. So no one knew which helicopter he was in. The three tiny dots in the sky gradually grew closer, as the winds grew stronger and all the ladies grabbed on to their skirts and dresses for dear life! As the first two helicopters diverted off course at the last minute, the third one landed on the lawn, only 10 metres from where we stood. The door opened slowly, and George W. Bush himself emerged, with the First Lady, Laura Bush. They waved and began walking across the lawn to greet some people that were gathered on the path. I was amazed by Laura Bush’s grace and elegance. She smiled graciously and waved to the crowd while her husband continued his way along the line of people waiting eagerly to meet their President.
Obviously I knew that this was a big deal, and a huge privilege, but the true extent of what was happening hit me when I realized that Lisa was so overwhelmed by the experience that she shed a tear. I had just seen the most powerful man in the world, in the flesh. And whether or not you’re a fan of his, you cannot help but feel overcome by being in his presence.
