The official site of the White House

[Т А Кузнецова]

White House Web-site

During the first visit of the US president to Russia, I think it would be interesting to know more about the USA and the place where the president and his family live and work. Of course it’s White House; it has its own site and more that you can use in your teaching practice.

It’s www.whitehouse.gov , and then go to White House 101 where you can find information about:

• All US presidents

• Their pets

• Fun facts for all ages

Did you know?

1. Before he became president, Lyndon Johnson was a teacher at a small school in South Texas.

2. Before he became president, Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University.

3. Only one president was a preacher -- James Garfield.

4. Did you know that William Howard Taft is the only President who served as both President and Chief Justice of the United States?

5. President John F. Kennedy won a Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for his collection of essays, Profiles in Courage.

6. Both George Washington and Jimmy Carter were farmers before they became president -- President Washington was a planter and a farmer at his home in Mount Vernon, and before he was President, Jimmy Carter ran his family's peanut farm in Plains, Georgia.

7. Before he became president, Barack Obama was a U.S. Senator. Before that, he was an Illinois State Senator, and before that he was a community organizer in Chicago.

8. The President's personal office is called the oval office. Any plane he flies on is called Air Force One, and any helicopter is called Marine One.

9. The "S" in Harry S. Truman's name isn't short for anything. The President was named after both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young. The initial honors them both.

10. The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in Philadelphia -- where the bell now-known as the Liberty Bell rang out to call the city's population together on July 8, 1776.

11. On July 9, 1776, General George Washington gave an order for the Declaration of Independence to be read to his army.

12. In the early part of the 19th century, a network called the Underground Railroad, which received its name in 1831, helped escaped slaves gain freedom. As a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman helped 300 slaves gain freedom during the 1800s.

13. The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship resulting from the diplomatic relationship between the United States and France.

14. President Lincoln owned only one home during his lifetime -- in Springfield, Ill.

15. President Jefferson spent more than 40 years designing and building his home in Charlottesville, VA known as Monticello. The President admired classical architecture and incorporated this style into his home.