Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 22, 1993 TAG: 9301220169
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
WHITE HOUSE BECOMES FULL HOUSE
President Clinton had a tough first day at the Oval Office Thursday, as reality quickly overtook the revelry of inauguration.His morning-after-the-night-before brought him trouble both abroad and at home: more U.S. Clinton eases goals for reducing deficit. A3 bombs falling on Iraq and his nominee for attorney general, Zoe E. Baird, heading deeper into trouble.
If both could produce increasing difficulties for Clinton, provoking early tests of both his diplomatic and political leadership, he showed no signs of any sense of impending crisis.
He threw the White House open to the public in the morning, partied with fellow Arkansans in the afternoon, and invited a handicapped group that had missed the inaugural parade because their float broke down to come see him.
He missed his early morning jog, but for a man who had less than six hours sleep - he got home from the inaugural balls after 2 a.m. and was awakened at 8 a.m. - he kept up the pace impressively throughout the day.
He took time out to give his White House staff a pep talk, telling them he wanted teamwork and high ethical standards, but that they should also have fun. There was little time for fun, however, Thursday as they settled into their new quarters, sorting out phones and files, learning who sat where.
He also signed the documents creating his new National Economic Council, and appointed its director, Robert Rubin, to his National Security Council.
But the day may be most remembered for the open house, which brought ordinary Americans through the entrance normally used by foreign dignitaries to find their president and vice president and their wives standing beneath a portrait of George Washington in front of a log fire, waiting to shake their hands.
The mood was spontaneous and sometimes unpredictable. One visitor introduced the man next to him as his wife, another remarked, "I'm a hillbilly, too." Several children got hugs and high fives from Clinton; a few others received happy birthday serenades.
Clinton reveled in what seemed like a little slice of Americana: a man dressed as Uncle Sam, complete with a striped top hat, and a woman draped in an American flag and sporting sunglasses resembling the Statue of Liberty's crown.
So many turned up that not all could be received. White House officials tried to limit the group to 1,300 winners of a lottery but passers-by just joined the line. Mike Cole, on a business trip from Los Angeles, was jogging past the White House when he decided to pop in to shake the president's hand. To his surprise, he succeeded.
In the afternoon, the crowd became so large Clinton was forced to step out onto the White House lawn in an effort to greet as many people as possible before the open house ended.