Presidential meanderings

The holiday observed tomorrow primarily by banks and post offices originated with the birthdays of our first and 16th presidents.

For years, the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln caused February confusion. Then, in 1968, when Congress shifted observance of the holiday to the third Monday of the month, it became a day to honor all of our country's chief executives.

And honor them we have done. Perhaps because the country had no kings, we have conferred considerable geographic honors on our first citizens.

In the 19th century, when residents of the rapidly expanding nation were selecting names for the new places they lived, previous presidents were a popular choice. According to map-maker Rand McNally, the United States has 181 cities and towns that bear a president's name. There are 18 Madisons, 16 Washingtons, 15 Jacksons, 13 Lincolns, 11 Monroes, and 10 Jeffersons.

Ironically, the president who appears in more places than any other was named "after" the towns, rather than the other way around; 25 places call themselves Clinton.

Somewhere, there's a shrine to virtually every one of those past presidents. Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Hyde Park are certainly well-known and much visited; others are more obscure but equally interesting.

Ohio, for example, can claim seven presidents as native sons: Harrison, Grant, Harding, Garfield, Hayes, McKinley, Taft, and Harding. This week's Sunday travel pays visits to the homes and monuments of three of them. And homes and monuments aren't the country's only form of presidential geographica.

With the opening of the George Bush Library and Museum at Texas A&M in College Station, every former president since Herbert Hoover has a home for his public papers. Bill Clinton has already selected Hot Springs, Ark., as the site for his library.

Whether the purpose of your visit is patriotic interest, scholarship or souvenirs, you'll find any of these libraries of interest. For example, Franklin Roosevelt's Library and Home in Hyde Park, N.Y., offer an intimate portrait of our 32nd president, down to the clutter on his desk. The Truman Library is in Independence, Mo. There are Eisenhower shrines in both Gettysburg and Abilene, Kan.

The Kennedy Library in Boston is a scholarly resource and a museum with video displays that will even pique the interest of the increasing number of visitors too young to remember JFK's thousand days in office. The tragedies that have plagued the Kennedy clan since have only magnified the mystique.

LBJ's Library in Austin, Texas, works hard to capture Lyndon Johnson's more human side.

The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif., doesn't shirk from dealing with the events that lead to his resignation. Grand Rapids, Mich., has a Gerald Ford Museum, and new deeds are being chronicled in Jimmy Carter's Atlanta Library.

And the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., appropriately features a three-ton chunk of the Berlin Wall.

Finally, despite whoever wins this November's election, you'll still be welcome at the White House whenever you visit Washington, D.C. And you don't even have to make a campaign contribution. In fact, before the Civil War, any American citizen was free to walk up and knock on the front door of the White House at anytime and be admitted, often by the president himself. As recently as Teddy Roosevelt's administration, the president held a New Year's Day reception open to all.

Over the years, White House security has become increasingly stringent, especially now that Pennsylvania Avenue has been permanently blocked off. But a visit to the White House is still the high point of many Washington visits.

Short of running for office, winning a major sports championship, or being a big campaign donor, there are two ways to join the millions of visitors who pass through the White House each year.

You can contact the office of any of our local congressional representatives six weeks in advance and get a pass for the guided tours given each Tuesday through Saturday between 8 and 10 a.m.

Or you can take a self-guided tour between10 a.m. and noon, also on those same days.

From Labor Day through early March, visitors simply join the line that forms each morning at the southeast gate. The rest of the year, visitors get tickets from the Visitors Center at 15th and E Streets.

Either way, there's no charge, but do get there early in morning because the lines can be long and the tickets go quickly. Seven rooms are open to the public, most of them on the second floor.

There's the State dining room and the Americana-packed, color-theme rooms. But the past echoes most loudly in the huge East Room, the setting for many state functions.

In this coming season of presidential personality, a visit to the White House is a good reminder that our nation's history is larger than any one individual.

For more information The White House visitors center at 202-456-7041 or www.whitehouse.gov; Herbert Hoover Library/Museum, West Branch, Iowa, 319-643-5301 or www.hoover.nara.gov; Franklin Roosevelt Library/Museum, Hyde Park, N.Y.; 914-229-8114 or www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu Harry Truman Library/Museum, Independence, Mo., 816-833-1400 or www.trumanlibrary.org; Dwight Eisenhower Center, Abilene, Kan., 785-263-4751 or www.eisenhower.utexas.edu; John F. Kennedy Library/Museum, Boston, Mass., 617-929-4500 or www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/museum.htm; Lyndon Johnson Library/Museum, Austin, Texas, 512-916-5137 or www.lbjlib.utexas.edu; Richard Nixon Library/Birthplace, Yorba Linda, Calif., 714-993-5057 or www.nixonlibrary.org;Gerald Ford Library/Museum, Grand Rapids, Mich., 616-451-9263 or www.ford.utexas.edu; Jimmy Carter Museum/Library, Atlanta, Ga., 404-331-3942 or carterlibrary.galileo.peachnet.edu; Ronald Reagan Library/Museum, Simi Valley, Calif., 805-522-8444 or www.reagan.utexas.edu; George Bush Library/Museum, College Station, Texas, 409-260-9552 or bushlibrary.tamu.edu