Hey YouTube, Jim here! Welcome to Top 10 Archive! Today, we'll be looking at the Top 10
Unknown Secrets Of the most famous presidential house in the world,
The Whitehouse. From secret tunnels and an indoor pool that's been covered for over 50 years,
we're willing to gamble that you're going to learn a few things from this list.
10. Under Attack The White House was burned by the British in 1814,
but that wasn’t the last time it was under attack. In 1841, it was attacked by its own citizens. Then
President, John Tyler, vetoed a bill that people say could have saved the economy. They gathered
outside with guns while the President sat inside with his family with no protection. Luckily, the
mob didn’t breach the house and Tyler continued to govern until the end of his administration.
Not too long ago, in 1994, a man named Francisco Martin Duran raced to the Executive Mansion,
opening fire with an assault rifle. He was taken down by two civilians. Though he claimed in
court that he was “trying to destroy an alien mist” and save the world, those close to him
said he was faking insanity and just really hated the government, President Bill Clinton in
particular. Clinton already had another scare just weeks before that, when Frank Corder had
crashed a plane into the White House lawn, dying on impact. Finally, in 2011, a conspiracy theorist
named Oscar Ortega-Hernandez parked just 650 yards away to shoot into the White House,
in hopes of assassinating President Barack Obama, who he claimed was the antichrist. He escaped on
foot after crashing his car while the White House remained undisturbed. It wasn’t until days later
when a maid found a broken window that they searched for and arrested Oscar.
9. 1300 Uniformed Secret Service Officers Though the Secret Service gets all the limelight,
appearing in TV shows and movies, the Uniformed Division of the service has most of the work.
The Secret Service takes care of the President and his family, but the uniformed officers protect
the entire White House. They started in 1922 and combined with the Secret Service in 1930.
There are over 1300 of them with a variety of responsibilities, including watching over the
US Naval Observatory, where the Vice President lives, and diplomatic missions across the capital.
8. Bring Your Own Food
Though becoming President seems like an all-inclusive stay in the most historic
home of America, it actually only includes rent. The President must pay for all of his,
and his family's personal meals, regardless if he eats at the White House or elsewhere.
One small caveat is that the White House chefs are paid for by the government. Other than that,
the president actually pays for a lot of their own things, even simple things like toothpaste.
7. It Was Almost Torn Down Many know the struggles of owning an
old house. You’re constantly shaking your fist in the air at the previous owner who
cut corners in renovating and restoring it. Now imagine the White House, hundreds of years old,
going through quick and reckless additions of new features for decades. This could be why,
when 1945 came along, the place was almost to the point of being dangerous.
During President Harry Truman’s term, a chandelier fell and nearly crushed his wife
and friends. His wife’s piano later started to sink into the floor and the constant movements
of the house made the President call in a team of inspectors. There was talk of
tearing the whole thing down while Truman lived across the street. In the end, Truman fiercely
opposed the tearing down of so much tradition and the White House was gutted and renovated.
6. People Have Died There A house that old is bound to have a
few spirits roaming around, especially considering how old some presidents are when they’re elected.
There are several Presidents and First Ladies who have died in the White House.
In fact, a total of 10 people have died inside. Most notably, two Presidents have died there,
William Harrison and Zachary Taylor; three First Lady's, Letitia Tyler,
Caroline Harrison, and Ellen Wilson; and Willie Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln.
5. It Almost Changed Colors In 1941, Pearl Harbor really
concerned the Secret Service, and they were reaching for ideas of how to keep President
FDR safe. Some thought about surrounding the White House with a sandbag barricade,
others offered men with machine guns on the roof, and even airlocks to seal the building.
Frankly, these were the tamest of ideas. Some officials suggested rebuilding the
whole house away from the coast, while others wanted the house painted black or camouflage.
Instead, they just increased security and closed the White House to visitors.
They even started a bomb shelter and found a temporary bunker vault in the Treasury Department
to which they connected a tunnel from the White House. Luckily the White House remained safe.
4. “Skeletons” in the Closets The 29th President, Warren G. Harding himself,
knew he wasn’t fit for the job. And he was even man enough to say so with this quote:
"I am not fit for this office and should never have been here."
Doesn't leave much to interpret, huh? He had a list of reasons, too.
He gambled away White House china, he had many affairs in White House closets, and was overall
distracted. He’s lucky we weren’t under attack or his head really wouldn’t have been in the game.
It was so bad that the closet in the anteroom became the place where his mistress got pregnant.
3. It Has a Secret Pool The White House has a very non-secret
pool outside, but there’s actually an interior one underneath the floors of the press room that not
many people know about. It opened in 1933, after the New York Daily News led a campaign to raise
money for a personal pool for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who suffered from poliomyelitis
and often swam at therapy pools. President Truman loved the pool, but the last president to use the
pool as an actual pool, was President Kennedy. President Nixon decided to drain the pool to use
it for modern press offices instead. Today, it's currently packed with computer servers.
Perhaps the most interesting fact of all, is that even after being drained for over 50 years,
it still smells like chlorine. 2. It's Huge
They usually say houses look bigger on the inside, but the White House is big no matter how you look
at it - it's a mansion. The White House residence consists of six floors and includes 132 rooms
and 35 bathrooms. There's also 412 doors, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators,
an escape tunnel, and we're assuming a UFO landing pad. Ever wonder how much a place
like that would cost you? Recent appraisals valued the property at just under $400 million.
White House: $400 Million. Most Epic game of hide-and-seek with your friends? Priceless.
1. There's a Secret Entrance This is perhaps one of the least surprising facts
of the house, but the most secret. The President and secret visitors don’t use the main entrance.
Rather, they use a secret entrance that faces H street. You have to go through two tunnels and
an alley, and then you’re in the White House basement. The entrance was built as a bomb
shelter during WWII, but now being used for transporting important and secret visitors.
Thanks for watching! Know of other features of the White House that may be surprising to the
rest of us? Let us know in the comments. Before you go off to swim in your secret basement pool
or head to the closet, be sure to subscribe, ring the notify me bell, and give this video a like!