Washington - City of the World (1965)

[music] [music] [music] In every age, there has been one city which has seemed the center of the world, which the fates have chosen to be a guardian for the hopes of all men to hold and control their aspirations to determine the probability of their glory or their regret, their happiness or their misery, their bondage or their freedom. That world city in our time is Washington. Fittingly, the city is dominated by the monument which bears its name. For it was George Washington himself who chose this plot of open ground on the banks of the Battoomeac River to be the site of the future federal city. Seen from the top of the monument, the city spreads below in all its grace and dignity. The mall, the capital, the enduring statess of the past living beside the present. the beautiful broad river in the tidal basin reflecting [music] the classic beauty of the Jefferson Memorial. If George Washington was the strong father of his country, it might be said that Thomas Jefferson was its wise uncle because it was largely he whose thoughts and words commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1775 set the fledgling nation on the road to greatness. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Nearby in the National Archives, guarded for our children and our children's children from every known hazard, is preserved the original Declaration of Independence, together with our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, on open view to we the people, those who have lived their good lives under their protection, and those who still have their lives to live. All men are created equal. These being more than just words, our nation's progress and triumph have been tempered at times with struggle and heartbreak. And in the high company of the founders belongs the man born without advantage except equality of opportunity. A young rail spplitter become lawyer, become leader, Abraham Lincoln. This was the tired man who had to say, and this was the gaunt hand that wrote the enduring words. >> Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth. [music] The White House was the first building begun in the new capital city in 1792. It wasn't actually called the White House then. The walls were a sandstone color until after the invading British burned it in the War of 1812. It was painted white to cover the scars of the attack. The presidential family makes its home on the upper floors with the first floor mostly the ceremonial rooms pictured in the guide books in one of which it said the first first lady occupant hung out her wash in the winter but now more appropriately used for state receptions and balls and dinners. It's hard to realize that the gracious Pennsylvania Avenue of Lon's city plan was once unpaved mud. Now, of course, Washington is one of the most beautiful cities of our time, and the stately capital takes its place among the magnificent buildings of the world. The capital building has literally lived the city's history. From wounded soldiers of the war between the states to the peaceful inauguration of peacefully elected presidents. From the visitors galleries, we the people can watch our living democracy in action. And here connecting the capital with the new Senate building is the shortest but perhaps the most distinguished underground electric railway in the world, the Senate subway. In the senator's offices, staff members handle the many letters, suggestions, and requests for assistance from the constituents back home, as do their equally busy colleagues in the representatives offices. The daily work of government involves a lot more than speeches and cornerstone laying. High on the visiting list of any red-blooded TV watcher is the FBI. What most people want to see are items like the real life crime labs with vital clues bubbling in the test tubes and the agents down in the basement firing range. These men are highly educated, often scientists, attorneys, or accountants. They're also trained in the practical arts of capture and survival. Nearby in the National Gallery of Art is one of the world's great collections of paintings by the great masters of all the important schools from the 13th to the 19th century. A wireless earphone brings the guide lecture to those who want it without disturbing the serious artists and students. At the Library of Congress, with its 41 million separate items in 36 acres of floor space, is one of the three surviving original Gutenberg Bibles dating from before the time of Columbus, the birth of volume production printing for a knowledge hungry world. And finally, the must for all people of culture, for students of literature and people who just happen to like Shakespeare, the Fulier Library. There's a beautiful little model of London's original Globe Theater, the drive-in of its period, you might say, because Shakespeare in his own time is popular entertainment, and it contains about everything Shakespearean you can think of. The Mint, so-called, is naturally one of Washington's most provocative sites because what's more reassuring than to see somebody making money. They use very special papers and special inks blended here at the bureau, which they make sure are very hard to come by. It wouldn't be too easy to start a business of one's own like this, although people occasionally try. Among the functions of the United States Naval Observatory is keeping track of what time it is because a surprising number of modern-day activities are dependent upon knowing the exact instant of time. exact that is to the microcond. [bell] The Naval Observatory is one of the foremost astronomical workshops of the world. The telescopes, balanced as delicately as a fine watch, are used for photographing the eternally changing heavens. [bell] The Smithsonian Institution, not institute by the way, institution, is also known as America's attic because of the diversity of the 51 million items stored in its several buildings. A prime attraction is this mothlike little plane that was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, piloted by Charles Lindberg at the then breathtaking speed of about 100 mph. And near it, another pioneering vehicle, Alan Shepard's space capsule, which traveled literally out of this world, a thousand times as fast. Adding to the worldly flavor of the city is a real mosque, the Islamic [music] Center. The only mosque in the United States built in accordance with Muslim custom to face far away Mecca. One odd custom is having to take one's shoes off before going to church. Not far from the mosque is the great Gothic pile of Washington Cathedral, one of the six largest churches in the world, which has been building for 50 years. Each of the stained glass windows, which light its eternally [music] peaceful interior, tells its own inspiring story of ageless faith and love. The beautiful Franciscan monastery houses reproductions of great Christian shrines such as the chapel of our lady of the angels with its quiet garden for meditation. A copy of the shrine near Aisi in Italy where St. Francis founded the order which bears his name. Contributing their own special significance to the cosmopolitan feeling of the city are the foreign embassies with diplomats from nearby Canada to distant Tunisia. Diplomats from all over the world coming and going on their urgent affairs. The British alone maintain a staff of 600 people. This unobtrusive brass plate identifies the not at all unobtrusive USSR. Across the river and under the trees on the Virginia Heights overlooking Washington, the Arlington National Cemetery is a place for memories and realization of the ultimate meaning of war. Each one of these [music] stones represents some boy named Howard or Tony or Mike or Mars, alive and vital, who taught his kid brother to play catch and wore his good blue suit for graduation. To the tomb of the unknown soldier, every visiting dignitary comes under military escort to pay his formal respects. This man is the head of one of the [music] new African nations. And it's fine all the pomp and ceremony. But in truth, this is not so much a tomb as a temple for every American who loves his country and is grateful to his fellows who have given their lives to preserve it through its long and glorious history. In a very real sense, this capital city belongs to every American. For Washington is America. Reverent toward the past, strong in the present, confident of the future. Any one of us who visits Washington will return home a richer human being, a better citizen, and more conscious of, in a phrase now with fresh meaning, our American heritage of freedom. In every age there has been one city which has seen the center of the world. A city which the fates have chosen to be a guardian for the hopes of all men. To hold and control their aspirations to determine the probability of their glory or their regrets, their happiness or their misery, their bondage or their freedom. City in our time is Washington. [music] >> [music] [music]