White House Internship

Interns will be placed in a departmental office for their internship. Below is a list of departments in the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President where interns could be placed.

White House Department of Scheduling and Advance

The Office of Cabinet Affairs

The White House Communications Department

The White House Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs

The White House Internship Program provides a unique opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and build leadership skills. This hands-on program is designed to mentor and cultivate today’s young leaders, strengthen their understanding of the Executive Office and prepare them for future public service opportunities.

Applying for a White House internship isn’t a difficult process – it just takes a sharp cover letter, a resume a one-page essay and three letters of recommendation to get your foot in the door. True, not all applicants get in by merit alone (unless you count well-connected parents and friends as personal achievements). Powerful people can do wonders for your prospects, but they’re not required.

Applicants must be:

* At least 18 years of age on or before the first day of the internship

* Enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a college or university, or graduated the previous semester

* A U.S. citizen

Completed application materials must be submitted to Karen Race, Deputy Director and Intern Coordinator in the office of White House Personnel, at intern_application@whitehouse.gov prior to the following deadlines:

* Applications due March 6, 2007 for Summer 2007 (May 22 to August 24, 2007)

* Applications due June 26, 2007 for Fall 2007 (September 4 to December 14, 2007)

Getting an Application

There is an online application form which you can fill out. The Adobe PDF version is available here and the Microsoft Office DOC version is available here. To request an application from the internship office, call (202) 456-2742. Once the application is filled out, you need to submit it via Fax. The White House Intern fax number is (202) 456- 7966. You might also want to check with your college guidance office, which probably has a copy of the application on file. Or you can send an inquiry letter asking for an application – which is how I started off – to:

The White House Intern Program

Old Executive Office Building

Room 4

Washington, D.C. 20500

Interns will be placed in a departmental office for their internship. Below is a list of departments in the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President where interns could be placed.

The Office of Cabinet Affairs

The White House Communications Department

The White House Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs

The White House Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA)

The Office of Political Affairs

The Office of Management and Administration

The Office of White House Counsel

The Domestic Policy Council=20

The White House Office of Presidential Personnel

Office of the Vice President

More information on the White House Internship Program, including

application instructions, can be found at:

www.whitehouse.gov

White House Tour

White House Tours

Public tours of the White House are available. Requests must be submitted through one's Member of Congress and are accepted up to six months in advance. These self-guided tours are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Fridays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays (excluding federal holidays). Tour hours will be extended when possible based on the official White House schedule. Tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Requests can be submitted up to six months in advance and no less than 30 days in advance. You are encouraged to submit your request as early as possible since a limited number of tours are available. All White House tours are free of charge. For the most current tour information, please call the 24-hour line at 202-456-7041. Please note that White House tours may be subject to last minute cancellation.

If you wish to visit the White House and are a citizen of a foreign country, please contact your embassy in Washington, DC for assistance in submitting a tour request.

White House: History

The White House, one of the most recognizable buildings in Washington, DC, was designed by James Hoban, an Irish-born and-trained architect who won a competition organized by President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson in 1792. The competitions were held to determine who would design the nation's two most important buildings, the President's House and the Capitol. It is believed that Jefferson, competing under a pseudonym, submitted designs and lost both competitions. Hoban's inspiration for the house was drawn from an Anglo-Irish villa called the Leinster House in Dublin. Although President Washington oversaw construction, he never lived in the house. President John Adams, elected in 1796 as the second President, was the first resident of the White House. Abigail Adams, President Adams' wife, was known to have complained about the largely unfinished new residence. President Thomas Jefferson, upon moving to the house in 1801, was also not impressed, and dismissed the house as being too big. Jefferson made several structural changes under architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe such as the addition of terrace-pavilions on either side of the main building and single-story wings for storage. In addition to replacing the slate roof with one of sheet iron, Jefferson further improved the grounds by landscaping them in a picturesque manner. While James Madison was President from 1809 to 1817, the White House was torched by the British in the War of 1812. Although the fire was put out by a summer thunderstorm, all that remained were the outside, charred walls and the interior brick walls. Madison brought Hoban back to restore the mansion, which took three years. It was during this construction that the house was painted white. Hoban later added the South and North Porticos, using a slightly altered design by Latrobe.

View of the "Avenue of the Presidents" (16th Street) and the White House, 1914. From the collections of the Historical Society of Washington, DC

Expansion and further alterations were made when President Theodore Roosevelt declared the house unsafe to inhabit. He had the original building remodeled. By making the third-story attic into habitable rooms and adding the Executive Office wing and the East Gallery, Roosevelt separated his work space from his family life. In 1909, architect Nathan C. Wyeth extended the office wing adding the well-known oval office. Although used informally for some time, it was President Theodore Roosevelt who gave the White House its official name. Finally, the last major renovation took place when President Harry Truman decided that again the building was unsafe and had to be gutted. Steel replaced the original frame and paneling, and a balcony was added to the South Portico. The White House, an architectural symbol of the American presidency and the nation's power, remains a stylistically simple residence and an example of the stolid republican ideals of the Founding Fathers.