The White House

There have been so many amazing, wonderful experiences on this TR Tour. They far outnumber the challenges and the hardships along the way. In recent days, we received the most wonderful invitation that serves to wipe away all memories of transmission repairs, wrong turns in the mountains and $4.50 per gallon gasoline.

On TR’s 150th birthday, I will entertain at the White House for President and Mrs. Bush and a wonderful audience in the East Room. All I can say is, “Wow!”

Soon after taking office, TR signed an Executive Order instructing the federal government to call the President’s home by the name given to it by the people: the White House. To that time, the stationery, like the government, said The Executive Mansion.

As planned by Congress and the McKinley Administration, the White House was extensively renovated, with the additions of the East Wing and the West Wing during TR’s administration. As we know, TR’s impact on the Presidency and the business done at the White House was more groundbreaking than structural and name changes.

To have the honor and privilege to entertain at the official White House celebration of TR’s 150th birthday is a wonderful capstone to this portion of the TR Tour. Jenny will be with me, as we travel down from a wonderful weekend with the Theodore Roosevelt Association in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Sam will miss this moment, as she will be with grandma in Sewanee. Meanwhile, Jenny and I will focus on giving the best possible performance.

If I can bring a little TR history to life, if I can get the first family to enjoy a few moments of laughter in the midst of their amazing duties, I will have hit the mark. Here’s to TR and a wonderful visit to the White House.

In the spirit of TR, I ask you to follow your dreams, keep your feet on the ground, be a man or a woman in the arena, and leave your campground cleaner than you found it. Bully!