TOP TEN FACTS ABOUT THE US PRESIDENT AND THE WHITE HOUSE

1. The President of the United States is the head of state and the head of government so is a cross between our Queen and our Prime Minister. They are elected by the people and make the rules of the country.

2. The President travels to other countries to meet with heads of foreign governments and works out agreements concerning trade.

3. The President is also the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces and can send them anywhere in the world to protect the country’s interests.

4. The President lives in the White House, in Washington D.C.

5. The White House is an office, as well as a home, and every US president has lived there since it was built in 1800.

6. The first President of the United States, George Washington, supervised the building of the White House, but he did not get to live there! It was the second US President, John Adams, who first lived in the White House.

7. The White House has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and is set over 6 levels, to accommodate everyone who lives and works there. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fire places, 8 staircases and 3 elevators.

8. The White House also has tennis courts, a jogging track, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a cinema, a games room with ping pong tables and a putting green. Barack Obama added removable basketball hoops to the tennis court so he could practise his own favourite sport.

9. The White House receives over 6,000 visitors each day.

10. It takes 2,591 litres of paint to cover the outside of the White House – that’s enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool!