Editing White House (section)

== Public access and security ==
{{Further|White House Visitors Office|List of White House security breaches}}
[[File:Tourists by WH.JPG|thumb|For security reasons, the section of [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] on the north side of the White House is closed to all vehicular traffic except that of government officials.]]

=== Historical accessibility ===
Like the English and Irish country houses it was modeled on, the White House was, from the start, open to the public until the early part of the 20th century.

Inspired by Washington's open houses in New York and Philadelphia, [[John Adams]] began the tradition of the [[White House New Year's Reception]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://issuu.com/whhapubl/docs/whhq_20_2359_strolle |title=White House History Quarterly 59 – Winter Holidays – Strolle by White House Historical Association – Issuu |date=November 6, 2020 |access-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214844/https://issuu.com/whhapubl/docs/whhq_20_2359_strolle |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Thomas Jefferson]] permitted public tours of his house, which have continued ever since, except during wartime, and began the tradition of an annual reception on [[Independence Day (United States)|the Fourth of July]].

President Jefferson held an open house for his second inaugural in 1805, and many of the people at his swearing-in ceremony at the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] followed him home, where he greeted them in the [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]]. Those open houses sometimes became rowdy: in 1829, President [[Andrew Jackson]] had to leave for a hotel when roughly 20,000 citizens celebrated his inauguration inside the White House. His aides ultimately had to lure the mob outside with washtubs filled with a potent cocktail of orange juice and whiskey.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Elizabeth B. |title=Buildings and Landmarks of 19th-Century America: American Society Revealed |date=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3573-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7GzDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |access-date=May 24, 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214839/https://books.google.com/books?id=J7GzDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |url-status=live}}</ref> The practice continued until 1885, when newly elected [[Grover Cleveland]] arranged for a presidential review of the troops from a grandstand in front of the White House instead of the traditional open house.

Those receptions ended in the early 1930s. President [[Bill Clinton]] briefly revived the New Year's Day open house in his first term.

=== Aviation incidents ===
In February 1974, a stolen [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] helicopter [[1974 White House helicopter incident|landed without authorization]] on the White House's grounds.{{r|bXgDO}} Twenty years later, in 1994, a stolen [[Cessna 150|light plane]] flown by [[Frank Eugene Corder]] crashed on White House grounds, instantly killing him.{{r|JO4kZ}}

During the [[September 11 attacks]], shortly after notice of the plane impacts, the White House staff and other occupants were ordered to evacuate by the [[US Secret Service|U.S. Secret Service]] after a call was made to them from [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport]] air traffic control staff, stating, "There is an aircraft coming at you," though an aircraft never did show up.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2021 |title=This is what it was like inside the White House on 9/11 |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/white-house-staff-member-shares-their-experience-of-9-11/ |access-date=December 19, 2023 |website=World Economic Forum |language=en}}</ref>

On May 12, 2005, as a result of increased security regarding air traffic in the capital, the White House was evacuated after an unauthorized aircraft approached the grounds.{{r|ZScbt}} After being forced to land by two [[General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16 fighter jets]] and a [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|Black Hawk helicopter]] at a small airport nearby, the pilot was identified to be a student pilot who accidentally breached White House grounds without knowledge.<ref name="ZScbt" />

On January 27, 2015, at 3 a.m. an intoxicated man flew a [[quadcopter]] drone from his apartment near the White House but lost control of it, prompting it to crash on the southeast side on White House grounds. The White House was temporarily locked down by the Secret Service shortly after an officer reported witnessing "[a] drone flying at a low altitude." Investigators suspected that the drone accidentally flew and breached into the property because of either wind or trees.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Acosta |first1=Jim |last2=Diamond |first2=Jeremy |title=U.S. intel worker blamed for White House drone crash |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/26/politics/white-house-device-secret-service/index.html |date=January 26, 2015 |department=Politics |website=CNN |language=en |access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shear |first1=Michael D. |last2=Schmidt |first2=Michael S. |date=January 27, 2015 |title=White House Drone Crash Described as a U.S. Worker's Drunken Lark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/us/white-house-drone.html |access-date=December 18, 2023 |website=New York Times}}</ref>

In June 2023, fighter jets moved to [[2023 Virginia plane crash|intercept a light aircraft that violated Washington DC airspace]] near the White House, before it crashed in Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Maya |date=June 4, 2023 |title=US jets pursue light aircraft over Washington DC before it crashes in Virginia |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/04/sonic-boom-from-us-military-aircraft-rattles-washington-dc-residents |access-date=July 5, 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705054446/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/04/sonic-boom-from-us-military-aircraft-rattles-washington-dc-residents |url-status=live}}</ref> All occupants in the intrusion aircraft were killed.

=== Closure of Pennsylvania Avenue ===
[[File:U.S. Secret Service Agent.jpg|upright|thumb|A uniformed [[United States Secret Service|U.S. Secret Service]] agent on [[Pennsylvania Avenue]]]]

On May 20, 1995, primarily as a response to the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] of April 19, 1995, the [[United States Secret Service]] closed off Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic in front of the White House, from the eastern edge of Lafayette Park to 17th Street. Later, the closure was extended an additional block to the east to 15th Street, and East Executive Avenue, a small street between the White House and the [[Treasury Building (Washington, D.C.)|Treasury Building]].

After [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], this change was made permanent, in addition to closing E Street between the South Portico of the White House and [[the Ellipse]].{{r|VuiCP}} In response to the [[Boston Marathon bombing]], the road was closed to the public in its entirety for a period of two days.

The Pennsylvania Avenue closure has been opposed by organized civic groups in Washington, D.C. They argue that the closing impedes traffic flow unnecessarily and is inconsistent with the well-conceived historic plan for the city. As for security considerations, they note that the White House is set much farther back from the street than numerous other sensitive federal buildings are.{{r|F17OZ}}

Prior to its inclusion within the fenced compound that now includes the [[Old Executive Office Building]] to the west and the Treasury Building to the east, this sidewalk{{clarify|reason=which sidewalk?|date=December 2020}} served as a queuing area for the daily public tours of the White House. These tours were suspended in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In September 2003, they resumed on a limited basis for groups making prior arrangements through their Congressional representatives or embassies in Washington for foreign nationals and submitting to background checks, but the White House remained closed to the public.{{r|6Dutd}} Due to budget constraints, White House tours were suspended for most of 2013 due to [[United States budget sequestration in 2013|sequestration]].{{r|1xVao}} The White House reopened to the public in November 2013.{{r|msl6S}}

=== Protection ===

The White House Complex is protected by the [[United States Secret Service]] and the [[United States Park Police]].

During the 2005 presidential inauguration, [[NASAMS]] (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) units were used to patrol the airspace over Washington, D.C. The same units have since been used to protect the president and all airspace around the White House, which is strictly prohibited to aircraft.{{r|2YCbp}}{{r|D55GA}}