White House Visitors Office

The White House Visitors Office is responsible for public tours of the White House, for maintaining a facility where the public can obtain information about the White House, and for other White House events such as the White House Easter Egg Roll, Holiday Open Houses, Spring and Fall Garden tours, State Arrival Ceremonies and other special events.

The White House Visitor Center, which is managed and operated by the National Park Service, is located within President's Park at the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building (the Department of Commerce headquarters) between 14th Street and 15th Street on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in the Federal Triangle. Since September 11, 2001, it no longer serves as a starting point for those going on a reserved tour of the White House; however, it does provide a unique visitor experience for those who did not schedule a tour. The themes of the six permanent exhibits are "First Families", "Symbols and Images", "White House Architecture", "White House Interiors", "Working White House", and "Ceremonies and Celebrations". Other exhibits change throughout the year. It houses a small bookstore operated by the White House Historical Association.

The office is located in the East Wing of the White House and employed seven people at the start of the 2000s. Its role has been unique in that, up to 2001, the White House was the only home of a head of state that was regularly open to the public at no cost. Since January 2009, the Director of the White House Visitors Office has been Ellie Schafer.

Historically, the White House has offered tours to the general public. During the Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt administrations, the general public could see the ground floor hallways and the East Room. Those who had been given a special card given by a United States Senator could additionally see the three state parlors on the first floor—Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room—as well as the State Dining Room.

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