Talisman and yearbook staffers tour the West Wing 

Max Miyake and Sam Heikell, Yearbook Reporter and Staff Reporter
Originally published November 13, 2014

Staff reporters avoided jumping the White House fence and instead were given a private tour of the West Wing on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Going through security is a mix of emotions: excitement, nervousness and intimidation as the secret service agents stare us down while we walk through the metal detectors.

However, after completing the security check, they began asking us questions about what brought us to DC and where we live.

The first step inside the White House is surreal, as if we were stepping into history. Pictures of President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden cover the walls. They both have their own photographer who follows them throughout the day. These photos are constantly being changed as White House photographer Pete Souza also serves as curator.

The pictures include moments from meetings with fellow politicians, to playing catch with the speechwriter–who just happens to walk out of the bathroom as we pass by.

We even surprisingly catch a quick glimpse of the Situation Room, the very room that Obama, Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other advisers sat in as they watched live footage of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Knowing that some of the most famous presidents such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan have walked these very halls made everything that much more remarkable.

We walk outside to the famous Rose Garden where the president gives many of his speeches. Because of the fall season the rose bushes aren’t in bloom and the only visible color is that of the well manicured grass.

Leaving the Rose Garden we walk the same path Obama walks daily to work.

As we re-enter the building our tour guide points out that there are three photos that remain on the wall near the Oval Office.

One is of an African-American boy touching the top of Obama’s head because he wanted to know if the president’s hair felt the same as his own.

The second is of Obama and the Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney doing her famous “not impressed” look. The third picture is of the president and his closest advisers in the situation room.

These three photos represent three sides of the president: caring, silly, and serious.

Yet nothing matches seeing the Oval Office. We learn that the president can customize the office to his or her liking. Obama has tan and white striped wallpaper that lines the curved walls, and two casual-looking couches placed between a stone coffee table in the center of the room.

We are also told that President Taft made the office oval because everyone is equal and as a result no one is left in a corner. In the back stands the famous presidential desk, the same desk where John F. Kennedy sat and worked as his son John Jr. played in the secret compartment.

Also inside are two metal busts, one of President Abraham Lincoln and the second of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Notably, Obama is the first head of state to include a bust of a non-president.

Our final stop inside the White House is the press briefing room. It’s a tight room with several blue chairs and monitors that sit at the back of the room.

At the front of the room is the president’s podium, accompanied by an American flag and a few cameras. Each publication and TV network has an assigned position in the room. As journalists it’s fitting to end our White House tour with the press room.

Contributing Reporters: Ruby Stauffer and Gianna Barbadillo