PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE TOUR

The purpose of this introductory self-guided tour is to start you thinking about Washington on more than one level. There are layers to this city: history and architecture are two. (There are others we will discuss – politics the most obvious, of course -- as we go through the semester.)

What I hope to get you started doing is to look behind the facades, or the everyday surface reality of Washington. You will have plenty of time to deal with the everyday reality of Washington in your internships and daily life. You need to stop every so often and drink in your surroundings, look up and notice details you can miss as you rush to the Metro, and also at times dig deeper to appreciate the persons and events that made this city famous.

This is important not only to those doing Cultural Heritage but for all of you: get under the surface in your analyses about Washington politics, just as you will do here when you walk the streets. It will deepen your appreciation of the city.

As you walk the route outlined here, refer to this guide. I will point out various sites and discuss their importance architecturally and historically. Many great people have walked the streets you will walk today. This has truly been called a “city of nostalgia”. The stories I will tell you run the gamut: about the famous, not so famous and infamous … literary as well as political … intrigue, adulterous affairs, scandal and even … murder!

PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

We will start at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17^th Street NW (Metro Farragut West).

Emerging abruptly out of a busy intersection with M Street in the west in Georgetown, Pennsylvania Avenue bisects the entire city of Washington and the rest of the District of Columbia to its southeasternmost border. It is arguably the most famous street in the world, creating in its pathway the political center of the city. That pathway is not always the broad and straight one so often pictured in newspapers and on television. It is crooked and broken up in places, a couple of those places important to this narrative of the avenue.

For example, the avenue that you see on this corner, as you look towards the White House. Once a busy four-lane thoroughfare, it was closed completely after 9/11 while city officials and the Secret Service decided what to do to protect the White House and still preserve some access to the area for tourists and city workers. In 2005, it was finally reopened as you see it now: a pedestrian street blocked off by security booths and barriers at each end.

Why are we only looking at one part of a very long avenue on this tour? The part we will examine is the best-known and will take in sights that will be familiar to you from books, pictures, TV shows and movies.

Our tour also follows the route first set out by an alum of KSU (’39) and one of the founders of WPNI, Frances Richardson. Living in Washington with her husband who worked at the World Bank, Fran always believed that the city offered a treasure of information and potentially life-changing experiences for Kent State students. Along with a few other alums who lived here in the 1970s, she was instrumental in setting up the WPNI. For more than 30 years, Fran welcomed a succession of students and program directors to the city, and helped us all adjust and feel comfortable here. Part of her self-imposed responsibility for the program was to conduct a walking tour that followed pretty much the path we will today. Always done the first week of the program in January, Fran bravely marched us along, through good weather and horrible, pointing out the sights along the way. I went along each year as director when I first started in 2002, furiously taking notes and marveling at her enthusiasm and her knowledge of the city.

When she got nearly into her nineties, Fran decided that the walking tour was too much for her, and she passed it along to me. What you will read builds on what she would tell us as we walked along.

This tour description is dedicated to her.

EISENHOWER EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING

Start at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, on the southeast corner of 17^th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Up until 2002, it was known as the Old Executive Office Building, and even now you might catch long-time Washingtonians refer to the “OEOB” rather than its actual acronym, the EEOB. One of the great buildings of Washington, it is French Second Empire in design, very gaudy. The architect was Alfred B. Mullet, an English immigrant. He chose this style to complement the building behind you on the northeast corner of the intersection, the Renwick Gallery, which is in the same style and had been built 20 years previously. French Second Empire is known for its ornate exterior, and especially its steep (mansard) slanted roof. The mansard roof became popular in France in large part for tax purposes, of all things: the government taxed buildings based on the number of stories and the roof hid the fact that there were perhaps several stories to the building not evident from the street, and tax surveyors.

At the time the Renwick was built, it was known as the Corcoran Museum after its benefactor, financier William Wilson Corcoran, and it is significant as the first art museum in Washington. Corcoran was a southern sympathizer and had to leave the building unfinished to flee the country. When he returned after the war, he wanted to show his loyalty to the country, and made sure the museum was finished. It opened to great success, so successful that the small building here couldn’t hold all the collection and the public, and so was moved down 17^th Street a few blocks to what is now the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Well worth visiting one day. Also worth a visit is the Renwick Gallery, a real gem of a small museum, now part of the Smithsonian complex. It is named, by the way, for its architect, James Renwick.

Back to the EEOB. Architect Mullet worked 17 years to build the masterpiece, and all the time felt overworked and underpaid. He even had to sue the government for back pay after it was done, and the stingy government told him to get lost. Despondent, Mullet shot himself. His ghost is now said to haunt the two miles of corridors of his creation.

The building is very significant for the history of Washington. At different times in American history, as the country has grown westward, there have been various calls to move the national capital from the East Coast to the middle of the country. The last major attempt in the 1860s, to move it to St. Louis, almost succeeded. But supporters of the city of Washington, buoyed by a public that had begun to appreciate the city as a symbol of national unity after the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, got Congress to spend a huge amount of money to build this building in 1870.

When it was finally finished 18 years later, it was the largest office building in the world. That sheer size and splendor finally helped to kill the movement to relocate the capital out of Washington. It was called the State, War and Navy Building when it was built because it housed those departments of government. As the federal government grew, those departments had to move out and occupy their own building complexes. Since the middle of the 20^th Century, the EEOB has been the primary residence of the members of the Executive Office of the President (EOP): offices such as the National Security Advisor, the National Economic Advisor, the Office of Management and Budget and others.

Some notable rooms in the EEOB where history was made:

The office of Oliver North, the army colonel who was at the center of the Iran-contra scandals of the 1980s. North spent late nights here with his secretary Fawn Hall shredding documents.

The office where Richard Nixon taped most of the conversations that later became critical to the Watergate affair. Most people think this taping was done in the Oval Office, but the acoustics were better in the EEOB, and Nixon preferred working there. His secretary Rose Mary Woods was famous for the 18 minutes missing from one tape, which many suspect she erased while working on preparing the tapes for the Supreme Court. She remained loyal to Nixon throughout Watergate and afterwards. She stayed in an EEOB hideaway office until the Ford Administration made her leave. There she had kept a kind of shrine to Nixon that included his glasses on her desk, a half-filled wastebasket and half-smoked cigar.

General Douglas MacArthur was the building superintendent at one point; he designed the flower planters that flank the main entrance.

The US government was heavily involved in tracking down Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar. In 1993, when he was discovered and finally confirmed killed, a call came in from the CIA to NSC Chief Richard Canas in the OEOB. Elated, he walked to White House next door to give the news to President Clinton.

Continue walking east on Pennsylvania Avenue.

BLAIR HOUSE

Blair House, on your left at 1651 Pennsylvania Ave. with the long green walkway awning, was bought by the government in 1942 as a place for foreign leaders to stay when they visit the White House. Some say this happened because Eleanor Roosevelt became tired of having a succession of guests stay at the White House, which was so busy during FDR’s administration that at least one historian called it “Grand Central Station”. The White House is, after all, a family home too, and she was protective of her husband’s health and the family’s privacy. The story goes that the last straw for Eleanor was the night she ran into Winston Churchill walking in a hallway in his robe and pj’s, and she asked him where he was going. He said, “To see Franklin.”, and she replied, “No, you’re not. You kept him up half the night as it is. Let him sleep.”

When doing extensive renovations on the White House, Harry Truman lived in Blair House. In fact, the renovations were so extensive and took so much time that Truman spent almost his entire term of office in Blair House.

Check out the National Park Service sign in front of the house and read about the assassination attempt there on Truman in the 1950s. Members of a movement for Puerto Rican independence tried to carry out the assassination. A security guard and both assassins were killed on the pavement in front of Blair House.

Blair House was (and still is) the main residence not only for state leaders but for personal guests of the President and First Family. During your stay here in Washington, if you read of a visitor to the White House, they likely will be staying there.

WHITE HOUSE

Walk towards the White House. Behind the gate and fence in the corner to the right, between the EEOB and the White House, you will see paraphernalia that journalists use to broadcast their stories using the familiar scene of the White House as the backdrop.

You undoubtedly have read much about the White House. There is no need to add much more now. But as you stop in front and look at it, a couple of thoughts:

Do you know what the original name for the White House was? For all of its history until the 20^th Century, it was known as either “The President’s House” or “The Executive Mansion”. It wasn’t until 1901 that Teddy Roosevelt officially changed the name to White House, because it had become popularly known as this. It is the oldest public building in Washington.

As you look at the White House, imagine what might have happened on 9/11/01. No one is certain, but now most experts agree that the plane that hit the Pentagon was actually heading to the White House. The large and leafy trees you see around the mansion likely protected it. The terrorist pilot couldn’t spot it in the trees, so he went to the next noticeable target: the Pentagon.

The White House is full of history, of course. A few personal stories of presidents:

The first occupant was the second president, John Adams. When he and his wife Abigail arrived in 1800 the house was not quite finished.

Thomas Jefferson brought simplicity to the presidency after three terms of George Washington and John Adams, both of whom were rather stiff and formal in public. Instead of riding in a carriage with six white horses, as the two previous presidents did, Jefferson rode horseback everywhere around the capital. He answered callers at the White House himself, rather than using a servant. And he often did this in his slippers. His political enemy James Callender, editor of a scandal sheet that first broke the news of his affair with his slave Sally Hemmings, once stood outside the White House and shouted insults at the president.

Now, a few more pleasant thoughts. You may know of famous renovations of the White House done under the direction of Jackie Kennedy. But you may not know that the first real renovations were carried out earlier on two major occasions.

The White House was a rather staid and even dilapidated place as residence until Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901 (after the assassination of Ohioan William McKinley). TR brought children, life and activity to the White House – and the public loved it. His children had to have pets, so the White House lawn saw lots of dogs, cats and ponies… and even a white bear. Their daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth grew up there, and was famous for her rambunctious ways. She had a garter snake she called “Emily Spinach”, which she liked to pull out to liven things up at dinner parties. TR and his wife decided the house needed renovations, so they completely gutted the building and remodeled it. They made the inside spectacular, especially the East Room for ceremonies, which the president loved. Alice once said that her father wanted to be “the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.”

The White House offices were crowded into the basement and residence when TR took office, so he built the West Wing for office space. TR has also become known as the first president to invite a black man to the White House for dinner, Booker T. Washington. The act seems commonplace now, but at the time was very controversial. Especially southern newspapers excoriated him.

The next great renovations were carried out by Harry Truman. The renovations improved the White House until it is truly a beautiful place now. But is it livable? Not according to some Presidents:

§ It is often referred to as “loneliest place on earth”;

§ Lyndon Johnson dubbed it “Lonely Acres”;

§ And Truman called the Oval Office “the crown jewel of the penal colony”.

Look at the top of the White House. When Jimmy Carter was President one of his house guests was Willie Nelson. Those were his “bad boy” days, and it is said that one night Willie crawled up on the roof of the White House to smoke pot. While up there, he marveled how all roads led to the capital … or, as he said, “the center of the world”.

LAFAYETTE PARK

Now turn around and take in the view of the pretty little square behind you. It was first known as the President’s Park after the White House was built, and was wild and forested. When Pennsylvania Avenue was cut through during Jefferson’s administration, the park was cut off from the White House. The street you see now was no more than a muddy thoroughfare, and stayed that way for many years.

The park is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution. It got that name following Lafayette’s visit to Washington in 1824 when he stayed in the White House. So many people came to get a glimpse of him that they overflowed into the park. The event became part of Washington lore and it was known informally as Lafayette Park until given that designation officially after Lafayette’s death in 1834.

On that 1824 visit and tour of America, Lafayette was given a pet alligator by someone in Florida. When he arrived at the White House and stayed as guest, he didn’t know what to do with it, so they kept it in the East Room. It is the only known instance of an alligator staying in the White House.

Lafayette’s statue is to the right. It shows him petitioning the French National Assembly for aid for the American war, aid which became critical to the war effort. Notice that he appears to be carrying clothes and there is a statue of half-naked Columbia who appears to be offering him a sword. The statue of course is serious and well done, but the arrangement has been the butt of Washingtonian jokes: as if to say, “Here, give me back my clothes and I’ll give you your sword.”

Positioned at each corner of the square are other foreigners who were critical to the war effort on behalf of America during the revolution. Check each of these out as you circle the square on this tour.

The equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in the center of the square is the first equestrian statue of any size in the US. It is partly made of the metal from brass guns captured by Jackson during War of 1812 at the Battle of Pensacola, FL. The cannons at the base were captured at the Battle of New Orleans.

So near the White House and the center of Washington life, Lafayette Square has seen much history.

It is the traditional last stage of every presidential inaugural, which start on Capitol Hill and proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue and end after the new president has had a chance to watch the parade with family and friends at a reviewing stand at the White House. This tradition started with Jefferson’s second inaugural, which was a very simple affair compared to the extravaganza it has become since.

Look around the square and you will see a number of well-preserved buildings. They are what is left of the dignified Federal-style homes that were erected mostly in the 19^th Century as Washington was growing and becoming a more significant city in the life of the nation. As the federal government grew in importance this land, mostly forested at the time, was cleared and homes were erected for the Washington wealthy who took up residence to be as close to power as they could. The buildings fell into disrepair in the 20^th century and were mostly marked for demolition when Jacqueline Kennedy took up the effort to preserve them in the early 1960s. Much of the history and architecture of this part of the city is owed to her efforts.

As you walk away from the White House on the left side of the square, you will see, at 708 Jackson Place, the Trowbridge House. The elegant townhouse, built by a mathematician in 1859, has six fireplaces, classic American furniture and decorative arts, a 14-member staff and one small condition for staying there: you have to be an ex-president. Plans are underway to have it renovated for use as a bed and breakfast and office for ex-presidents, and to connect it through a series of passageways to the Blair House back around the corner. The staff will help the former presidents in their research and work. Funds are being raised now; for $1 million you can get a named plaque for a major room; or a staircase for $500,000.

Walking further along Jackson Place, at the far northwest side of Lafayette Square, you will find the Decatur House. The first private home on what was then President’s Park, the Decatur house was built by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the “Father of American Architecture”. Emigrating from England after the Revolution, Latrobe became the nation’s first professional architect, working for the new government on parts of the Capitol Building and the White House. His genius was in the way he brought together classical design with concepts borrowed from French and British traditions, resulting in the first truly American architecture.

Stephen Decatur was a naval war hero who at one time in the early 19^th century was one of the most famous men in America. His exploits throughout his career, and especially during the War of 1812, showed him to be a selfless and brave patriot that the young nation very much needed to hold up as an example. When he and his young wife moved into the home, they were the sensation of the young capital, and they responded by entertaining lavishly.

Decatur died rather young, in a duel. It happened not in Washington but in nearby Bladensburg, Maryland, the favorite dueling site when such practices were outlawed in Washington. His death was a shock to the nation and focused attention on Lafayette Square, where he was brought after the duel, and where he died in his home.

Dectaur’s widow couldn’t afford to keep the house, and it was sold. Subsequent owners down through the years have included former president Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay, Senator from Kentucky and sometimes called “The Great Compromiser” for his work in the Senate to try and stave off the Civil War.

The Decatur house is well worth a visit for its view of early 19^th century American architecture and furnishings, as well as for the exhibits of Decatur’s life.

HAY-ADAMS HOTEL

As you turn right away from the Decatur House and walk along the northern border of Lafayette Park along H Street, across the street on the left you will see the exclusive Hay-Adams Hotel. It has served for more than a century as the hotel of choice for mostly wealthy visitors to the city, often friends of the family that occupies the White House, and its rooftop has become one of the most desirable spots for well-heeled receptions, with the most exclusive view of Washington, looking down on the White House. That may be too expensive for you; take a look inside for a free view of one of the more famous lobbies in Washington. And, if you have time, money and the inclination, you might try their very good and up-scale afternoon tea service in the lobby: finger sandwiches and scones in a great setting to do some people-watching.

The building actually started as the separate mansions of two of the more interesting men of Washington, John Hay and Henry Adams. After their deaths, the mansions were eventually bought and fused into the one building that is now the hotel.

John Hay came to Washington as a young twenty-something to work in the administration of Abraham Lincoln as one of his personal secretaries, then stayed on to become a statesman, diplomat, author and journalist. Working there during the bitter time of history caused by the war, Hay became more of a friend and confident to the president than a mere secretary, sharing in some of the most difficult times of his administration. He was present at Lincoln’s death after being shot at Ford’s Theater. His diaries and writings have been mined by historians and form much of our views of Lincoln. Hay went on afterwards to become Ambassador to the UK and Secretary of State in the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations, where he was, among other things, instrumental in forging the open door policy towards China and the building of the Panama Canal. He died in 1905 and is buried, of all places, in Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland.

Hay was a friend of the writer Henry Adams, leading them to construct the mansions next to each other that later has become the hotel. Adams, a descendant of the famous political family that produced two presidents, resisted going into politics and instead became an author and historian. His autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, is more than simply an autobiography. It is an inquiry into the forces that are shaping the modern era, and is considered to be one of the most important non-fiction books of the 20^th century. It is well worth a read.

Another of his works is well worth a read, although it is harder to find. His fictional work Democracy is a brilliant satire on political life of Washington in the post-Civil War period.

Speaking of books about Washington, you might consider several that would be fun to read and would extend your knowledge of this important city. Gore Vidal has a series of fictional books that are based on America’s role in the world, several of which center largely on Washington: Washington DC, Library of Congress and Lincoln. (In the very well-written latter book, John Hay plays a prominent role.) Mark Twain’s The Gilded Age is a novel that ridicules the leading political and business figures of the city during a time of economic expansion and unbridled greed.

ST. JOHN’S CHURCH

As you continue along H Street and the northern border of Lafayette Park, you will see on the corner of H and 16^th Street the “president’s church”, St. John’s Church, with its distinctive golden bell tower. Started through funds raised by local Episcopalians, the church was built in 1815 to be “suitable and convenient for the worship of chief executives and their families living in the White House”, and has since become one of the most prestigious churches in Washington.

Every president from Madison to George W. Bush has worshipped here, no matter the president’s personal denomination. (By the way, more have been Episcopalian than any other denomination, 12; the others: 8 Presbyterian; 4 each of Baptist, Unitarian, and Methodist; 3 “Nonspecific”; 2 each of Dutch Reform and Quaker; 2 Disciples of Christ and one Congregationalist.)

Inside the church, Pew #54 – nine rows from the altar – is traditionally reserved for the president. It is marked with a small brass plaque. It was chosen by Madison, who wanted to be treated as a regular parishioner and with no special place of honor. Abraham Lincoln worshipped here during the dark days of the Civil War. Lyndon Johnson came the day after the assassination of JFK. Bill Clinton, on a snowy day, walked over from the White House in flannel shirt and jeans. George W. Bush, whenever he is in town, prefers the 8 am Sunday service. Typically, he will arrive by motorcade and with a Secret Service detail that enters and sits nearby. Bush attended the all-black Lincoln Park United Methodist when he first became president, but left after one service. It is said that he didn’t like the fact that people there got up and sang and danced to a live band.

The architect for St. John’s is the inimitable Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The church interior has the same domed ceiling and clean lines as the White House, also his work. He wrote his son after finishing the church: “I have just completed a church that made many Washingtonians religious who had not been religious before.”

Continue walking around the square to its northeast corner. Before leaving Lafayette Park, we will consider its connection to Ohio politicians, including two of our state’s presidents, and a couple of assassinations.

The house on the corner of H Street and Dolley Madison Place was once owned and occupied by Mark Hanna. He was the titular head of the “Ohio mafia”, all friends and supporters of President William McKinley of Ohio. As president, McKinley would often walk over here from the White House and spend time meeting with his friends, discussing politics, drinking, smoking and playing poker. He spent so much time there that it became known as “the little White House”.

Hanna was a major political figure in Ohio, a “kingmaker” who decided to help McKinley in his run for the presidency against William Jennings Bryant in 1896. Today the campaign he ran as manager is considered the forerunner of the modern political campaign for its adroit use of publicity, its overall national plan, its strategic use of issues, its amassing of campaign funds (McKinley outspent Bryant 12 to 1) and especially the candidate's own speech making.

Now walk towards the White House on Dolley Madison Place. Let’s take a look at a couple of the most notorious episodes in the history of this small park.

Next to the Taylor House (you will see a plaque), now occupied by offices, was the location of the home of Representative Dan Sickles (NY). It was in front of that long-ago destroyed home, in broad daylight in front of witnesses, Sickles shot and killed his friend Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key, in the most notorious event in the history of Lafayette Square. What led to this?

Key was having an affair with Sickles’ wife, Teresa. This was a real betrayal, not only because of the infidelity, which was bad enough, but also because the two men were close personally and politically; for example, Sickles got Key his appointment as Washington’s district attorney.

Key and Teresa had a pre-arranged signal for their rendezvous. He would walk through Lafayette Square, stop in front of the house, pull out a handkerchief and wave it. If the coast was clear and the husband out, she would let him in. It seems that everybody in Washington knew of the affair except Sickles, until he got an anonymous letter one day and started to make inquiries. He confronted his wife at home and there was a terrible scene.

The next day Key, not knowing any of this, came strolling around the park as usual and stopped in front of the house, pulling out his handkerchief. When there was no response he left, but he came back later two and three times. This last time he was met by the family dog, who came bounding out, barking. Key reached down to pet him, all the while waving his handkerchief wildly. Sickles then came racing out of the house and shot Key several times. He was taken to a nearby house and died later.

This, however, was not the end of the story. It becomes stranger still, as the fortunes of the impulsive Congressman Sickles followed a definitely roller coaster trajectory.

First, he was acquitted of murder, even though it all happened in broad daylight in front of many witnesses and he had voluntarily turned himself in. The trial was a sensation at the time, dominating headlines of the nation’s newspapers for weeks. Sickles assembled the 19^th Century equivalent of a “Dream Team” of eight lawyers to defend him. Using for the first time in US court history the temporary insanity (“irresistible impulse”) defense, they managed to get him off the hook. By the end of the trial, the public was definitely on Sickles’ side, and the verdict was met with great acclaim, even resulting in a small parade on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Despite all that, Sickles nonetheless later reconciled with his fickle wife. Unfortunately for him, doing that meant an immediate plunge in his public image. It got so bad for him that he had to leave Congress.

But his reputation was once again revived during the Civil War. He became a Major General for the Union side, fought in the battle of Gettysburg, and lost a leg. Not at all the squeamish sort, he had his leg brought back to Washington, where it is still on display in the National Museum of Health and Medicine. He became a national hero for his war service. As for the further ups and downs of his life: his wife died young, he remarried, then served again in Congress. After such an eventful and risky life, he died a natural death at the ripe old age of 94.

Before leaving Lafayette Park, consider one last near-encounter here that almost resulted in another assassination, one that was nonetheless carried out not far from here later. This one involved another Ohio president, James Garfield.

Garfield came into office as the dark horse candidate of the Republican Party, not well known outside his home state of Ohio or even his native northeast corner of the state. That’s right, he comes from our section of the state, living most of his life within a few miles of Kent. He was born in Orange, a small town north of Kent and east of Cleveland near Chagrin Falls, in a humble log cabin (the last president with that distinction in our nation’s history). An exact replica of the cabin can be visited there.

James as a young boy wanted to go to sea, but during an early job working on a canal boat on the Ohio & Erie Canal he discovered sea sickness, which convinced him that he should stick to the land. He excelled in his studies, eventually becoming the first in his family to get an advanced degree, when he graduated from Hiram College. He went on to teach there and eventually to become its president. He served with distinction in the Civil War, and afterwards was elected to the Ohio legislature and then to the U.S. Senate.

His campaign for president was known chiefly for its sedate quality in comparison to modern campaigns (which, as we know, started with McKinley later). In those days, it was considered unseemly to put oneself forward in campaigns, and Garfield followed that custom, traveling little around the country and instead relying on talks he gave from his farmhouse in Mentor. Given on the broad front porch of that house, these became famous as the “front porch” speeches. By the way, this house like his boyhood cabin is also a National Historic Site and can and should be visited. It is of special interest because his wife Lucretia, deciding on his death that his papers should be preserved, managed to raise funds to construct a beautiful library, the forerunner of today’s more famous presidential libraries.

A vigorous, capable, well-educated and intelligent person, Garfield came into the presidency well positioned to make a mark. Historians and political scientists look at his hopes for his presidency, especially in reviving the faltering Reconstruction of the South, and felt that he might have had a significant impact on the rights and well-being of African-Americans in general and former slaves in particular.

But it was not to be. He was cut down by an assassin only six months into the presidency. And in a paradox of history, he made his lasting impact on American politics and government through that assassination. How could that be?

In those days, a major part of the job of the president was in overseeing the process of patronage – handing out jobs in the administration to political supporters. Candidates for these positions thronged the White House, especially in the early days of an administration, and took up an inordinate amount of time of the busy chief executive. Garfield in particular hated the process, writing soon after occupying the White House that “the personal aspects of the presidency are far from pleasant.” He decided that the process should be rationalized, and he started discussions with Congress on ways to do this.

One of those candidates for patronage was one Charles Guiteau, a strange little man but a strong supporter of Garfield during the campaign who felt he should be rewarded for his efforts. Considering the openings, he decided he wanted to be Consul to France … this despite the fact that he did not speak French, had never been to the country and had no diplomatic experience. His attempts to get the job naturally failed and, as he stayed for weeks and then months in Washington hoping to get better results, all the while running out of money, he descended into a psychopathic state. He decided his predicament was the fault of Garfield and, knowing that Vice President Chester A. Arthur was an avid dispenser of patronage during his career as a New York politician, Guiteau hit upon a plan: the way to get satisfaction and do the country some good in preserving an important part of politics, was to do away with the president.

He purchased a handgun near Lafayette Park and, not knowing how to use it, would walk down 15^th Street past the White House to the banks of the Potomac and practice. Since carrying and using handguns was common then, even in the city, it did not attract attention. In those days before the swampland was filled in to create the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the river was much closer to the Mall area. In an eerie way, it is very likely that Guiteau’s practice shots may even have been heard in the White House by his intended target.

Guiteau stalked the president around Washington for several weeks, trying to gauge the best time to carry out the deed. He frequented Lafayette Park, and would often see the president walking the grounds of the White House and the park, frequently alone in those days of little security for even the chief executive. On Friday evening, July 1, 1881, Guiteau saw the president leave the White House and he got up from his bench in Lafayette Square and followed him as he walked across the park to visit the home of his Secretary of State and friend, James Blaine, across H Street on 15^th Street. Guiteau walked along Madison Place behind Garfield. As Guiteau testified later at his trial, “I was several yards behind him … it was a splendid chance. I walked along on the opposite side of the street from him … The pistol was in my hand and in my pocket.”

But he couldn’t get up the nerve to do it. He knew that the next day, however, the president was to leave Washington by train and fearing his chances would be over, he went to the Sixth Street station and there shot him. As it turned out, the wounds were not fatal, but the care Garfield received by his doctors was atrocious, and he died in the White House after lingering for more than two months after the assassination.

The nation was transfixed by the assassination and lingering death and Garfield became a heroic and tragic figure. This no doubt helped to win passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, the political outcome of the assassination, which established the system of hiring, firing and maintaining government bureaucrats of the civil service that we know today.

A statue of Garfield can be found at the bottom of Capitol Hill, bordering the west side of the National Mall. It looks across the Mall to the exact location where he was assassinated, the site of the old Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, now the site of the National Gallery of Art, near where we will end our tour.

Continue across Pennsylvania Avenue from Lafayette Park and walk east past the Treasury Building. Notice again that this is one of those places where the broad and straight Pennsylvania Avenue is broken up, dividing to go around both the White House complex and the Treasury Building. The latter got its place of distinction following a dispute in the Jackson administration over where this important part of the executive branch of government should be located. Legend has it that the old general, angry with Congress, deliberately chose the building's site next to the White House to obscure the view to Capitol Hill. Some in his administration, trying to be diplomatic with the legislative branch, disagreed with putting it there. It is said that, disgusted with all the debate, Jackson stalked out of a cabinet meeting and, limping over to the site, stuck his cane in the ground and declared the dispute over. Thus, its location here.

The massive granite building occupies two city blocks. Tourists often mistake the statue in the front as Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. Actually, it is of Albert Gallatin, one of his successors. Hamilton’s statue is on the other, north side of the building.

Its façade is Greek Revival, popular at the time of its building in the early 19^th century, reflecting the optimism and hope of the time of the new nation to establish the kind of democracy that hearkens back to its founding in ancient Greece. If you recall the image of the Acropolis in Athens, you will see its echoes here. The style is best-exemplified by the Ionic colonnade on the east side (around the corner on 15^th Street), which has 30 monolithic columns, each 36 feet high. It took more than 30 years to complete the entire building and several architects worked on it, including Thomas Walter, the designer of the Capitol dome, and our friend Alfred Mullet, who completed his part of the building before starting his personally ill-fated work on his masterpiece, the EEOC, on the other side of the White House.

Cross 15^th Street and continue south. Look down at the pavement as you walk and you will spot bronze medallions of some famous Americans. Hollywood has its Walk of Fame for showbiz celebrities; these medallions in the nation’s capital honor “stars” in the field of public service. Called “The Extra Mile”, the walkway honors worthy Americans other than government officials who made major contributions to our society. You may see Clara Barton (founder of the Red Cross), Harriet Tubman (who led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad), Cesar Chavez (who unionized migrant workers in the 1960s), among others who went the extra mile to help their fellow Americans. Who else is there?

On your left, between G and H Streets, you will see the elegant Beaux-Arts façade of the venerable Old Ebbitt Grill. This is one of the more famous eateries in Washington, and the site of my first food-stop suggestion. As you are doing the tour, you may find yourself hungry, so I will give several suggestions along the way for food. The Old Ebbitt Grill is fanciest and priciest, although at lunchtime and with care you can get away with a good meal for only around $10. And it is a place not to be missed ... either now or when your parents come to visit and you want to show them a bit of the Washington scene.

The Old Ebbitt Grill is the one of the oldest continually-operated eating establishments in Washington, and its location and attention to the food made it a favorite of presidents from Grant to TR. Nowadays it is something of a tourist trap, and can be extremely busy, but it still a favorite of locals and is a great insider-Washington-spotting place because it is still serves good food and serves it pretty well. And the décor is fun. It is a huge place, so take some time to wander around and see the paintings on the walls, the wood carvings in the bar area and the airy courtyard in the back.

There is no particular dress code at the Grill. In late spring and summer when the tourists come the dress code for lunch gets pretty casual, but you may feel more comfortable if you dress better than street casual, considering the crowd that may be in from nearby White House offices and you might spot a future boss.

Continue down 15^th Street where it rejoins Pennsylvania Avenue. Hang a left. Cross 14^th Street. On your left is the Willard Hotel.

WILLARD HOTEL

You exchange nods with governors of sovereign states; you elbow illustrious men and tread on the toes of generals; you hear statesmen and orators speaking in their familiar tones; you are mixed up with office seekers, wire pullers, inventors, artists, poets, posers … until identity is lost among them … It could more justly be called the center of Washington and the Union than either the Capitol, the White House or the State Department.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1862

The most famous hotel in Washington, the Willard has played an important role in the social and political life of the city. It was here in February 1861 that delegates from the north and south met and tried in vain to find a compromise to keep the Union together. It was also here in its lobby, a favorite meeting place of politicians and their backers, that the term “lobbyist” was born.

The pricey hotel with its elegant lobby of today was not always so grand. And neither was the city of Washington, which if you can imagine as you look down a busy and packed Pennsylvania Avenue, was in the pre-Civil War era little more than a large town with muddy streets, wooden walkways and ramshackle homes that bordered the avenue.

The hotel and its city of that time were described thusly by New York lawyer George Templeton Strong: “Of all the detestable places Washington is first. Crowd, heat, bad quarters, bad smells, bad fare, mosquitoes, and a plague of flies transcending everything within my experience. The Devil surely reigns here and the Willard Hotel is his temple.” (Considering that description, what have you got to complain about with today’s Washington traffic and the Metro?)

The Willard truly did fall on hard times in the twentieth century, and for a time was even boarded up and left unoccupied. Extensively remodeled in the 1980s, it has regained its splendor and is now one of the in-places to stay for celebrities, guests of politicians and wealthy tourists.

It is a favorite of mine, too, for its afternoon tea, which rivals the Hay-Adams. Served in the famous lobby, and not too expensive, tea is a pretty fun way to show off a bit of Washington to parents. And you can wow them with some of the hotel’s history that I recount here.

One interesting side note of history to start: the Confederacy also had its influential hotel, the Spotswood, which was also located no more than a few hundred feet from its Capitol. One writer of the time described the two: “The Union had its government offices and so did the Confederacy. But the real action went on at Willard’s in Washington and at the Spotswood Hotel in Richmond.” Nathaniel Hawthorne called the Willard “the real State Department.”

Important guests and visitors to the Willard have included:

Abraham Lincoln, who spent 10 nights here from his arrival in Washington until his inauguration. He arrived early on the night of February 23, 1861, whisked into town by detectives of the new Pinkerton Agency that had been hastily pressed into service to protect the president, who had already gotten numerous death threats. Lincoln stayed in Parlor #6, a nice suite, which cost $78 a night then (nowadays it likely would set you back $800-$1,000). He paid the bill with his first paycheck as president. Lincoln watched his inaugural parade from the hotel. About a month later, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederacy. In another strange mirror image of the time, Davis stayed at the Spotswood Hotel.

Ulysses S. Grant stayed at the Willard in 1864. A description by an author of the time captured his arrival: “a rumpled, stocky man in uniform entered the Willard Hotel, trailed by a 14-year-old boy carrying his cane … and asked for a room. The clerk, who had seen lots of famous people, didn’t recognize him, and said casually, ‘Maybe I have a room at the top.’ ‘That’s fine.’ The clerk looked at the name and went ‘bug-eyed’ at the signature: ‘U.S. Grant and son.’ ‘You may have the presidential suite, sir.’” When Grant later came down for dinner, everyone in the lobby rose and applauded.

Grant had come to Washington from the battlefield to receive his fourth star as general. The designation he received from Lincoln of “Lieutenant General” was the first since George Washington. He was named the head of all Northern armies, at that time 500,000 troops, the largest army in the world.

Julia Ward Howe: writer, fervent abolitionist, suffragette and supporter of the Union cause, stayed at the hotel in the spring of 1862. Visiting a Union army camp, a friend suggested she write some poetry about the visit. As she told it later, she awoke early the next morning with the then-well-known tune “John Brown’s Body” in her mind, and scrawled words to paper. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was finished in a couple of hours. “I like this better than most things I have written,” she said later. It became her best remembered lyric.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “I Have a Dream” speech here when he stayed in 1963, just before the famous March on Washington.

Mark Twain ate often at the Willard while he lived nearby at 14^th and F Streets, 1867-8. At that time the young Twain was secretary to Senator Stewart (NV). It was an unhappy experience: the two clashed often because Twain spent more time working on a book than doing the Senator’s work. Let that be a lesson to you budding interns who hope to get ahead in professional life in Washington. Of course, if you are working on a book as good as Twain’s became, Innocents Abroad, you might get away with it.

Walt Whitman came by infrequently: he couldn’t afford the restaurant, but met with friends and politicos in the lobby and once famously had his hair and beard cut in the barber shop. The “good grey poet” came to Washington from his native Long Island, New York, trying to find his brother fighting in the Union Army on the Virginia front lines of the Civil War. He saw terrible things there, and was determined to help the soldiers. Returning to Washington, Whitman stayed in the city throughout the rest of the war as a nurse and as a clerk in the Paymaster’s Office, then at the corner of New York and Pennsylvania Avenues.

Other famous writer guests of the Willard: Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

FREEDOM PLAZA

Across the street in front of the Willard is Freedom Plaza.

Conceived as a part of the redevelopment plans for Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1970s, Freedom Plaza is a paean to the city of Washington and its history. Around the edges of the plaza are quotations about the city, from Whitman to Woodrow Wilson.

But it is one of my favorite places in Washington chiefly because of the centerpiece of the plaza: a copy of L’Enfant’s Plan of Washington. Look around you as you walk through the plaza and you will see the old map of the city that was drawn up in 1791 by Pierre L’Enfant, the French engineer designated by George Washington to lay out the Federal City. The plan L’Enfant conceived, after spending only a few weeks riding on his horse around the marshes and forests of the Maryland and Virginia countryside of that time, was followed largely by city planners. The Washington of today is virtually the city L’Enfant conceived more than 200 years ago. A remarkable and prescient feat.

OLD POST OFFICE

Continue down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol. Take in one of the more famous scenes of the avenue: its broad, tree-lined expanse that leads to the Capitol, a scene familiar to millions of people around the world.

On your right, on the corner of 12^th Street, is the Old Post Office.

The tallest building in Washington at 315 feet, the Old Post Office is sometimes called “Old Tooth” because of the shape of its famous clock tower. It was the first “skyscraper” in the city because it was the first major steel-frame building, when built in 1899. And it is the only “skyscraper” because Congress has decreed that no building should be higher than the Washington Monument. It was also the largest indoor space in the city when it was built, although it was later surpassed in this distinction by the National Building Museum (which itself is pretty spectacular inside … I usually duck in there for a coffee on the way to our briefings at the nearby GAO, so you can check it out then). Now the new Convention Center has the largest indoor space.

Cross the street and check out the statue in front of the Old Post Office. Who is it and why is it placed here? Correct answers will get great rewards during a contest in class.

The Old Post Office is also the site of my second lunch suggestion. Inside there is a pretty good food court, in the spectacular main hall. After eating, check out the elevators up to the tower, where there is an observation deck, with some of the best views of the city.

You now know what the tallest building is in Washington. What is the tallest structure? And what building is the highest point above sea level? Correct answers to these will also get great rewards during quiz contests in class.

As you continue up Pennsylvania Avenue, reflect on the fact that for most of its history, well into the 19^th century, it was little more than a muddy footpath, not the grand avenue you see today or that was envisioned by L’Enfant in his original plan. As the federal government grew, so did the avenue. But its growth was not smooth. Even as the government grew to huge proportions in the 20^th century, and as a consequence more people moved into the city to work here, the avenue and indeed most of the city grew rather haphazardly. Pennsylvania Avenue, even after it was paved in the early 19^th century and then maintained in the 20^th century, was still home to a hodge-podge of office buildings, tacky storefronts, sex shops and liquor stores. It took John Kennedy, actually riding down the avenue during his inaugural parade in 1961, to notice how ugly it had become. “It’s a disgrace,” he said and then commanded, “Fix it.” Nevertheless, it took more than a decade after his assassination to make it happen, through the efforts of several administrations.

On your left after you cross 10^th Street you will see one of the better-known, but nonetheless what many would consider one of the uglier buildings of Washington, the FBI Building. Built in the 1970s, its design exemplifies a style of architecture known as the New Brutalism: exposed concrete with little embellishment. Stand back and look at the entire building, or at least what you can see of it since it covers an entire city block. What does it look like to you? According to the Bureau itself in its literature, it is to convey the idea of “a central core of files”. And thus the building was created to house the ever-expanding bureau, a huge headquarters that centralizes the records of more than 50 field offices all over the US. It has since even outgrown this building; much of the training and operations units of the FBI have been moved out to its Quantico, Virginia, campus and offices. We used to take the tours of the FBI Building on WPNI, but ever since 9/11 it has been closed up to tours. Perhaps soon …

NAVY MEMORIAL

The last stop on the tour is the U.S. Navy Memorial in Market Square, on the left side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 7^th and 9^th Streets. This was the traditional end of the tour that Fran Richardson gave, and I thought always a good place to stop because by now you are probably pretty tired or ready to eat or go on your own to do other things, or all three.

I like the memorial a lot because it is simple and straightforward, telling the story of the US Navy in a statue of a single sailor standing on a map of the world. With the waterfalls and flags all around, it seems to capture the spirit and reality of the navy. If you are interested in learning more about the navy and have time, you can check out the Naval Heritage Center behind the memorial.

What to do now? If you want to head out quickly home or to other points in Washington, you are at the Navy Memorial Metro Station.

However, you are centrally located to do lots of things in DC. Things to see and do, as well as places to eat in the area include:

Right across from you on Pennsylvania Avenue is the National Archives, which houses the Charters of Freedom: the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Well worth seeing to remind you of the documents that set up the government we are studying this semester. And there is a cool mural in the rotunda with the documents that portrays all the Founding Fathers. You can also sign up to do research at the Archives. Along with the Library of Congress, the Archives would be a great place for research which could put you in touch with original documents and primary sources (professors love that in papers that students write …).

Or, from the Navy Memorial, continue up Penn Avenue to 6^th Street and turn right and you will see the National Gallery of Art. One of the world’s great museums, this is Washington’s equivalent of Paris’ Louvre and Madrid’s Prado. It houses a phenomenal collection of art from classical to modern, all in two buildings: the original West Building which has the mostly classical stuff and the more contemporary East Building with its collection of moderns.

The National Gallery of Art also has one of the better food courts on the Mall, in the Cascade Café which is underground between the two buildings.

The National Gallery of Art is on the Mall, which has most of the museums of the Smithsonian complex, so from here you can continue on for more great museum-going.

If art or museums are not your thing just now, you can have a burger at the Hard Rock Café (from the Navy Memorial, go back up Penn Avenue to 9^th,, hang a right and go up to E Street). Afterwards, make sure and see Ford’s Theater, the place where Lincoln was assassinated, which is just a block away on 10^th Street between E and F.

Or, after Hard Rock, if you are in the mood for art, you could check out the great National Portrait Gallery with its wonderful portraits of the presidents and other famous Americans, on F Street between 7^th and 9^th Streets.

Further along Penn Avenue from the Navy Memorial is of course the Capitol Building. We will see lots of it during the semester, mostly the inside. Weather permitting, I will do a Capitol Exterior Tour that will take in the sights of what has been called the “most beautiful building in the world” and its equally beautiful grounds … with its surprisingly numerous statuary of persons from one familiar state in the United States.

But that is for another day …