Laura Bush hosting tour ‘Behind Closed Doors’

First lady Laura Bush says she has loved living in the White House.

Now, as she and President George W. Bush prepare to leave after eight years, she is hosting a History Channel special, “The White House: Behind Closed Doors.”

Premiering tonight at 9 (cable channel 37 in Spokane, 34 in Coeur d’Alene), this 90-minute documentary is a combination inside look, history lesson and parting gift from a grateful resident.

“I’m very proud of how beautiful the White House is,” Mrs. Bush said during a phone call Tuesday from the upstairs living quarters.

She said she’s proud, too, of the White House staff – “all the people who work here, who’ve worked here for many presidents. This was a way for me to pay tribute to them as well; to thank them, here at the end of our time.”

Masterminded by George Washington (the only president who never got to live there), the White House was first occupied by John Adams in 1800, and since then has been the official residence of 40-and-counting chief executives.

As with the United States itself, the White House has faced many challenges – as early as 1814, when British troops set it ablaze. It was reduced to a charred shell, but within a few years, it was rebuilt.

“I think it’s encouraging to get to live here,” Mrs. Bush said.

The program takes viewers into the Oval Office, the East Room and the State Dining Room, as preparations are abuzz for an official state visit. Cameras venture into the kitchen and the tiny pastry shop to catch behind-the-scenes action.

In the Green Room, Mrs. Bush offers a delightful fact about the third president, Thomas Jefferson: It was there that he enjoyed eating his dinner – with a color-appropriate green canvas cloth to catch any spills.

She shares with her audience the seldom-photographed Lincoln Bedroom, as well as the Treaty Room, used by President Bush as his private office, which was refurnished with pieces from the era of Ulysses Grant.

When she first visited the White House for the 1989 inauguration of her father-in-law, George H.W. Bush, she said, she initially was struck not only by its beauty, but by an unexpected coziness.

“It’s grand, but it’s not huge,” she said. “It’s much more human scale than many other homes of leaders, and I like that because I think that fits with our country.”