For Immediate Release:
November 3, 2008

Inauguration 2009: New Attractions, Election Exhibitions and Presidential Places

The votes are in, and the excitement in DC is electric in preparation for one of the biggest inauguration celebrations in history. From new attractions and historic sites to election-themed exhibitions, DC packs a powerful line up of events and activities for inauguration-goers.

New Attractions

The new Capitol Visitor Center, opening Dec. 2, is designed to welcome visitors to the seat of the U.S. government. The largest project in the Capitol’s 212-year history, it encompasses two orientation theatres, an exhibition gallery, a dining facility for up to 550 people, two gift shops and an underground walkway linking to the Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. Aoc.gov/cvc

Trace remnants of past presidencies at the newly renovated National Museum of American History, re-opening to the public on Nov. 21 after a massive two year renovation. Visitors can look forward to a new high-tech gallery displaying the original Star-Spangled Banner, a central atrium and grand staircase, and a new permanent exhibit space - the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Nmah.si.edu

Election Exhibitions

As part of DC’s citywide Abraham Lincoln bicentennial celebration, which runs Jan. 1-April 30, 2009, you can step back in time to experience another historic presidential moment in The Honor of Your Company is Requested: President Lincoln's Inaugural Ball, on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through Jan. 18, 2010. The ball actually took place inside the museum itself, which once housed the US Patent Office. Americanart.si.edu

See a re-creation of the White House China Room, including more than 150 pieces of presidential china in The Presidential Dish, on display at the Woodrow Wilson House Museum through Jan. 25, 2009. Woodrowwilsonhouse.org

Experience Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power, currently on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art through Jan. 25, 2009. The Collection features nearly 250 juxtaposing images of elite government, media, and labor officials, such as Karl Rove, Julian Bond and Barack Obama, with counter-cultural activists and ordinary citizens caught up in national debates. Corcoran.org

And coinciding with Inauguration Day, Presidents in Waiting comes to the National Portrait Gallery on Jan. 20, 2009. It highlights American vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency. The exhibition will be on display through Jan. 2, 2010. While you’re there, check out the Gallery’s permanent collection, America’s Presidents, featuring imagery of all 42 U.S. presidents and One Life, a special exhibition saluting President Lincoln, on display through July 5, 2009. Npg.si.edu

Presidential Places

Travelers who can't snag a seat at an inaugural ball or a photo-op with the President-elect can stage their own brush with political celebrities at Madame Tussauds Washington, DC. At the wax attraction, visitors can pose for photos in the "Oval Office," take a seat next to Lincoln in the presidential box at "Ford's Theatre" and shake hands with famous leaders including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.  

City designer Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for the city of Washington called for a church “intended for national purposes, such as public prayer, thanksgiving, funeral orations, etc., and assigned it to the special use of no particular sect or denomination, but equally open to all.” The Washington National Cathedral has filled this role with its share of presidential connections. President Theodore Roosevelt spoke at the foundation stone laying in 1907.  Woodrow Wilson was buried at the Cathedral in 1956—the only president buried within the District. On the grounds of the Cathedral, the Bishop’s Garden contains a collection of plants from historic gardens owned by Washington and Jefferson.

Organized to accommodate the worship of residents of the White House and their families, St. John’s Church dates back to 1815 and is one of the original buildings on Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.  Every president since James Madison has attended regular or occasional service at this historic church, known as the “President’s Church.” Pew 54 is outfitted with embroidered pillows that honor each man who has held the office.  
Also near the White House, the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (at 1313  New York Avenue, NW) is most closely linked to one of its most noted members, Abraham Lincoln, though Presidents Jackson, Pierce, Buchanan, Johnson, Fillmore, and Cleveland were all visitors.  Lincoln paid $50 per year to rent his own personal pew at the center of the church, and a plaque on the pew honors his memory today. 

Washington, DC’s natural surroundings have long been inviting retreats for occupants of the White House. Carved out of the middle of the District, Rock Creek Park has long held a reputation among visitors and Washingtonians as an ideal spot for an urban escape. Teddy Roosevelt frequented the park for hiking and bird-watching. Visitors today can enjoy tours of the park on horseback by visiting the stables where Ronald Reagan used to ride. 

During the hot summer season, Abraham Lincoln almost never slept at the White House. Instead, he brought his family to Anderson Cottage.  Lincoln spent about a quarter of his administration at the cottage and was there the day before his assassination.  Now open daily for tours, the peaceful and charming President Lincoln's Cottage is one of the city’s newest presidential attractions.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine has its share of medical oddities, including some with presidential connections: a segment of John Wilkes Booth's vertebrae;  gallstones and a molar from President Eisenhower; microscope slides of Ulysses S. Grant's tumor;  the brain, spleen, and partial skeleton of President Garfield's assassin; and microscope slides of President Cleveland’s tumor.

Presidential Residences

Near the White House on Lafayette Square, the building now known as the Octagon Museum served as a temporary residence for James and Dolley Madison when the Executive Mansion was burned in 1814. Now home to the American Architectural Foundation, the Federalist-style house museum displays the table where Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.

While reconstruction continued on the White House, James Monroe took office in 1817 and maintained residence in his home, located at 2017 I Street, NW. The Monroe House now forms part of the Arts Club of Washington, where visitors can enjoy public exhibitions and weekly performances. The Monroe House is one of five structures that has been used as an executive mansion for the sitting president. Monroe’s inaugural ball was held in one of the second floor parlors.

Woodrow Wilson opted to remain in Washington, DC after his final term in office and purchased a home in the Kalorama neighborhood. His home, located at 2340 S Street, opened to the public following the death of First Lady Edith Wilson in 1961 as the Woodrow Wilson House Museum.  The museum’s collection includes furnishings, books, portraits, autographed photographs, a tapestry and various pieces of China, offering both a glimpse at the personal life of a former president and a snapshot of upper class life in the 1920s.

Though not full-time residents of the District, Bill and Hillary Clinton also purchased a home in Washington after the President’s term ended. The White House wasn’t Bill Clinton’s first home in Washington, DC, however; as a student at Georgetown University, Clinton’s first dorm was located in Loyola Hall, in the 1200 block of 35th Street, NW.

John F. Kennedy lived in five separate residences within a few blocks’ radius in Georgetown: his bachelor quarters at 1528 31st Street, NW; his home after his election to the Senate, 1400 34th Street, NW; his first home with Jacqueline at 3271 P Street, NW. The Kennedys briefly rented a home at 2808 P Street, NW before moving to a more permanent home, 3307 N Street, NW in 1957, where they stayed until their move into the White House. A plaque is on display across the street at 3302 N Street, NW—a gift to the home’s owners by members of the White House press corps who camped out there in the winter of 1960-61, anxious for a glimpse of the new president and his family.  After Kennedy’s death in 1963, Jackie moved to 3038 N Street, NW. Although none of the Kennedy family homes are open to the public, regularly scheduled walking tours point out the homes and the haunts enjoyed by the famous First Family.

Other former presidential addresses include 3238 R Street, NW, where Ulysses S. Grant lived in 1865 before becoming president; the Patterson House at 15 Dupont Circle, which Calvin Coolidge called home while the White House was being renovated; and 3240 S Street, NW, which was home to Herbert Hoover before it became the present-day Embassy of Myanmar.

For more presidential highlights, stay tuned to Washington.org.