National Geographic: Inside the White House Page #5

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and construction,

the White House was res rebuilt.

The inside of the house was put back

exactly as before.

Though it was now constructed

of steel and concrete,

Jefferson and Lincoln would have

easily recognized their old home.

And the idea is preserved.

That's really what it is.

The idea of the house and the symbol

is bigger than any material part of it.

And that has remained intact

and is really more powerful

than ever today.

By the time the President and First Lady

reach the first floor,

everything is ready.

All the preparations have

led to this moment;

now all they need are guests.

At night, it's a very different thing

than what happens at the beginning

of the state visit.

We will have worked all day long.

And the visit will either

have been a success

or a moderate success

or maybe not so successful,

but what you want to do at night

is to simply seal the best

possible relationship you can

between the leaders of the countries.

So at night you really just want them

to enjoy themselves,

you want them to have a good time

at the dinner,

to say what they want to say

at the toast

and just be glad that they can be there.

In the family's private quarters

on the seldom seen Second Floor

of the White House,

one of the most critical moments

of the visit unfolds.

Here, the President and First Lady

have a chance to relax with their guest

in the warm atmosphere of a home.

The press waits at the foot

of the Grand Stair where in a moment

one of the most formal ceremonies

of the state visit will occur:

the Presidential entrance march.

Ladies and Gentlemen, President of

the United States and Mrs. Clinton,

accompanied by the President of

the Russian Federation and Mrs. Yeltsin.

The receiving line is charged

with excitement

because famous as the guests may be,

they are about to meet the two

most powerful men in the world.

The rising anticipation of the evening

is peaking by the time

the official toasts are made.

President Yeltsin's should be finishing

any minute now.

He's going a couple a minutes

over his five minutes.

He's up to about eight minutes now

of speaking.

And finally, dinner begins.

While dinner continues upstairs,

downstairs,

the staff is battling back

an avalanche of dishes.

Working hard. Working hard.

Cocktails is serving.

After the cocktails

that's when it starts flowing in.

Start coming down and after that,

it's nonstop.

Do you kind of forget where you are?

No, no. You know you're in the kitchen

washing and drying dishes.

At the top of the winding stair

that connects the two worlds,

days of work are about to payoff

for pastry chef Roland Mesnier.

If you are hungry enough,

you can eat the whole thing, yes.

On evenings like these,

dinner is followed by a performance

in the East Room.

During the civil rights movement,

singer Sarah Vaughan performed here.

At the end of the evening,

a staff member found her sobbing

in her dressing room.

When asked what was wrong,

she said, "Nothing is the matter.

It's just that 20 years ago

when I came to Washington,

I couldn't even get a hotel room,

and tonight I sang for the President

of the United States in the White House-

and then he asked me to dance with him.

It is more than I can stand!"

Tonight, Diva Kathleen Battle

lends her voice to the house.

I think one of the attractions

of the White House,

one of the things that makes it

so precious in our country,

is the fact that a family really

is living there every day.

That it's a center not only

of political power and prestige

on a global basis,

but has that human touch of individuals

enjoying life within those...

I guess you might say,

hallowed halls.

Tomorrow it will start all over again

and every day for as long

as there is a republic.

Families will come and go,

just as butlers and maids do,

dignitaries and old gentlemen

who wind clocks.

These are the people

who furnish this house and give it life

and as they do,

an American idea endures.

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