WASHINGTON — A trip to the nation's capital is not complete without stops at some of the magnificent memorials scattered throughout the city, which honor everyone from former presidents to slain journalists. But many visitors leave unfulfilled if all they see is bricks and mortar--and no flesh-and-blood representations of official Washington.
These days, of course, Washington newsmakers can range from a white-haired senator with a penchant for quoting Cicero to a 20-something intern who received a book of Walt Whitman poetry from the president.
There are no star maps hawked along Pennsylvania Avenue pointing out the living quarters of this cabinet secretary or the favorite hangout of that national security advisor. But there are plenty of ways for visitors to get close to politicos--without ever having to write a hefty check to their campaigns.
Just as handy as a star map is a paperback called "Celebrity Washington: Who They Are, Where They Live, and Why They're Famous" by Jan Pottker (Writer's Cramp Books) that lists home addresses of Washington's glitterati, everyone from CNN anchor Frank Sesno (Reston, Va.) to Clinton attorney David Kendall (Bethesda, Md.) to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno (Downtown D.C.). With this slim volume as a guide, a visitor might see columnist George Will mowing the front lawn of his Chevy Chase, Md., home, presidential wannabe Jack Kemp playing touch football at his place in Bethesda, Md., or veteran journalist Helen Thomas hustling from her Woodley Park apartment to a White House briefing.
Simple laws of probability make the Capitol the best place to see politicians in action. Your hometown congressperson's office is one place worth a stop. If that leaves you unfulfilled, keep your eyes open for the three Kennedys--Sen. Edward, Rep. Joseph and Rep. Patrick. Or the familiar face of Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), whose credits include starring roles in the 1990 movie "The Hunt for Red October" and--a bit less riveting--the Senate's hearings into campaign fund-raising abuses. Just the other day, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright briefed members of the Senate on the situation in Iraq. The session itself was in a secret chamber inaccessible to the public, but scores of excited tourists let out a cheer when they spotted her walking by.
There are free tours through the Capitol that allow visitors to watch the floor debate in both the House and the Senate--which amounts to a more panoramic view of what C-SPAN broadcasts every day. For more face-to-face contact, stroll the corridors of the building studying the dark-suited passersby. One prime spot in which to dawdle is near the subways that carry lawmakers from their offices to the House and Senate floors for votes--but be ready to be shooed away by a police officer. Also try the sidewalk outside, where you may see House Speaker Newt Gingrich commuting on foot in the morning from his nearby apartment.
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Beyond the confines of Congress, remember that history is made in the oddest of places. When the sun is shining, cooped-up lawmakers sometimes make deals on benches along the Reflecting Pool. Spies have passed state secrets in the restaurants lining M Street in Georgetown. (See "Undercover Washington: Touring the Sites Where Famous Spies Lived, Worked, and Loved" by Pamela Kessler [EPM Publications] for a description of real-life spy spots.) Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward revealed the identity of his secret source "Deep Throat" to his editor, Ben Bradlee, on a bench in McPherson Square, the small park in between the Washington Post and the White House.
The Watergate complex is a must see, and not just because of its central role in the Nixon scandal and his resignation; former White House intern Monica Lewinsky lives in a first-floor condominium there. Last week, a gaggle of photographers were waiting outside the lobby for her eventual escape, although they had missed her backdoor visits to the Watergate's underground supermarket, drugstore and hair salon. In a Washington moment extraordinaire, former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, a neighbor of Lewinsky's at the Watergate, the other day sent some doughnuts out to the media camp.
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Scandal is the specialty of the Gross National Product comedy troupe, which conducts "scandal tours" of spots throughout the capital that are connected with one lurid story or another. The 75-minute bus rides are led by three actors who transform themselves into scandalous characters from U.S. political history. In order to take more immediate advantage of all the current controversy, the $75-per-person tours will begin this year on March 15 instead of the usual April 1. New characters this season: Gennifer Flowers and Paula Corbin Jones, two women who have accused the president of sexual misdeeds, and Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, the prosecutor hot on the scandal trail.
