White House Visitors Office - Tickets and Methods

Tickets and Methods

In 1976 during the United States Bicentennial, long waits in line and a whole morning spent were commonplace due to large numbers in Washington, and a color-coded ticket distribution system was put in place. The system was put in place for good beginning in May 1977.

White House tours were often in high demand. By 1981, a Director of the White House Visitor Center was in charge of the operation. During the early 1980s, as many as 6,000 visitors were accommodated each day, with just as many turned away. Special pleas for tours coming from Washington officials had to be dealt with frequently. In 1981, there was a dispute between First Lady Nancy Reagan and New York U.S. Representative Thomas Downey over his free tickets privileges having been suspended. During the early 1980s recession, White House tours remained fully booked even when other Washington attractions saw declining attendance; the Visitor Center continued to process well over one million visits a year. White House Visitors Office personnel are constantly caught between trying to satisfy demands and expectations for tours and events, and preserving the dignity of the presidential office and setting.

The White House Visitor Office is also in charge of assorted White House special events, such as the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, in the South Lawn, the State Arrival Ceremony for visiting heads of state, and a national Christmas celebration. Carol McCain, Director of the White House Visitors Office from 1981 to 1987, added participatory activities and doubled the size of the crowds attending the Easter Egg Roll.

In April 1995 the current White House Visitor Center facility was opened in the Herbert C. Hoover Building, two blocks from the White House. The daily tour ticket distribution place was moved there, with exhibits meant to spend the time until one's tour slot had come about. The yearly run rate for visitors was now at 1.25 million, with as always demand exceeding supply. By 1997, ticket scalping was a persistent problem, with scalpers getting from $5 to $50 a throw.

Early in the George W. Bush administration, White House officials "cracked down" on commercialized tours trying to get into the building as well as people late getting to their tour slot. Comparison were made against the more lenient policies of the Clinton administration.