OPINION:
The recent breach of White House security by an intruder Friday night reinforces once more that the issue of protecting the president of the United States has been put off — it’s on the fence, so to speak. No matter that a series of intrusions has plagued the White House in recent years, federal authorities seem to be following the not-so-grand illusion that the Secret Service can stop violators before significant harm is done.
It’s reminiscent of the popular movie today, “Fences,” which deals in a complicated way with a Pittsburgh trash collector, Troy (played by Denzel Washington), who is largely deaf to his wife Rose (Viola Davis), who believes that he should build a fence around their small home. To make a long story short, Troy builds neither an adequate physical fence nor an emotionally stable family enclosure that can ward off a tragic ending to the movie.
To look at the White House Historical Association website on the matter, it brings to mind the old Bing Crosby-Andrew Sisters song, “Don’t Fence Me In.” To be sure, Thomas Jefferson may have started a little fencing and Ulysses Grant did a great deal more, concerned as he was about controlling White House crowds wanting to be part of the traditional New Year’s Day open house when attendees could actually shake the president’s hand. No doubt, the view that the White House was “the people’s house” played a critical part in minimizing obstacles to entry. That’s one of the reasons that after the Civil War the East and West Executive Avenues were built and open to the public.
Even with the modest gates that prevailed through most of the 19th century, the White House was open daily to visitors. No passes were required, and often presidents, such as James K. Polk, spent much of their day greeting visitors. A good case can be made that the open-gate policy resulted in Polk’s early death at age 54 just three months after leaving office. In his words, “I cannot seclude myself but must be accessible to my fellow-citizens, and this gives an opportunity to all classes and descriptions of people to obtrude themselves upon me about matters in which the public has not the slightest interest.” Not until the era of Grover Cleveland did the gates close to the public, largely because his daughter Ruth liked to play on the grounds without interruption from sightseers.
Of course, in war times, the White House hunkered down, especially in World War II, but with victory came the famous picture of President Harry S. Truman shaking hands with well-wishers through the White House gates.
Aesthetics became an important part of the fencing matter, especially in recent years when the Commission of Fine Arts was involved in the design of any new barriers. But even though the Sept. 19, 2014, breach was so serious as to lead to the resignation of the Secret Service director, the commission has been slow to move forward. That intrusion, it should be underscored, involved one Omar Gonzalez who not only got over the fence but into the East Room where he was taken down by an off-duty Secret Service agent. In Gonzalez’s car were found 800 rounds of ammunition plus other lethal weaponry.
In July, the commission gave preliminary approval to a new fence that would be more than four feet higher than the present one. But still more details had to be worked out so that when it met again in January and gave final approval, there arose other issues that have to be refined by staff in the coming months. To wit, construction wasn’t designated to start as soon as possible, but next year. One has to seriously wonder why building a secure fence for the most powerful leader of the world must go through so many stages when the necessity to act immediately is so great.
Making the White House look pretty is a great idea, but, in comparison to so many of the world’s residences for national leaders, it’s a modest abode, although Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, dubs it a “palace.” It should be highfalutin primarily for the security it provides for the first family.
And speaking of other national homes, one mustn’t overlook Vladimir Putin and his secure Moscow Kremlin Wall, the height of which ranges from some 16 to 62 feet.
• Thomas V. DiBacco is professor emeritus at American University.
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