The White House

Here Come the Puppets! at the White House (southern facade) in 1980.

Big Bird and Alice Snuffleupagus with Hillary Clinton in the sculpture garden on June 26, 1995.

Rizzo in front of the White House (northern facade).

Kermit the Frog in the Press Room.

Filming Here Come the Puppets!

Kermit meets First Lady Michelle Obama in 2014.

Kermit with children from military families in 2014.

Miss Piggy Goes to Washington in 2015.

The White House is the official home and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.

Appearances

• Multiple appearances at The White House Easter Egg Roll over the years.

• December 20, 1970: Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Mr. Hooper, Bob, Gordon, and Susan joined First Lady Pat Nixon to perform in that year's children’s Christmas show. The performance was recorded and aired locally on December 25 as Children's Christmas at the White House.

• December 14, 1976: Betty Ford hosts Big Bird, Loretta Long, Will Lee, Sonia Manzano, and Northern Calloway for the Diplomatic Children's Christmas Party.

• December 21, 1978: Big Bird and Kermit the Frog (with Jim Henson) appeared in the East Room for the White House children’s party, where they performed with Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo at piano and the United States Marine Band.

• February 2, 1990: Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog appear in the East Room for an event later televised as To Be Free: The National Literacy Honors From the White House.

• April 1, 1994: Rizzo appears outside the White House as part of an appearance on Larry King Live.

• June 26, 1995: Big Bird and Alice Snuffleupagus appeared in an event in the White House sculpture garden alongside first lady Hillary Clinton as the White House stepped up its effort to save federal funding for public television.

• September 29, 1995: President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Joan Ganz Cooney in a Whitehouse ceremony.

• April 3, 2002: President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush hosted several PBS stars - including Elmo, Mr. Rogers and the Vowelles - for a "Ready to Learn" event at the East Room of the White House.

• November 14, 2003: Joan Ganz Cooney was honored by the National Endowment for Humanities with a National Humanities Medal. The award was presented to Cooney by President George W.Bush in an Oval Office Ceremony.

• December 6, 2004: Elmo, Rosita, and characters from Between the Lions appeared alongside President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush at a children's Christmas reception in the East Room of the White House. The children's television characters sang Christmas songs during the event. A Cookie Monster walk-around also appeared.

• September 30, 2006: Elmo appeared at the National Book Festival event at the White House hosted by Laura Bush. Kevin Clash also spoke about his book My Life as a Furry Red Monster at the event.

• December 16, 2010: Elmo appeared at the White House and visited the kitchen with Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass on the day that President Obama signed the Hunger-Free Kids Act.

• December 1, 2011: Kermit the Frog joins Michelle Obama at The National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony and sings "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with Santa Claus.

• February 7, 2012: Grover visited the White House to help chef Sam Kass and the children of White House chefs learn about the ways kids can help their parents prepare a tasty and healthy meal.

• 2013: Big Bird and Michelle Obama taped two public service messages for the initiative Let's Move! at the White House. One takes place in the White House kitchen and the other in the East Room.

• June 12, 2013: Murray Monster and Alex appeared during at the "White House Children of Incarcerated Parents Champions of Change" event, promoting Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration.

• October 30, 2013: Elmo and Rosita appeared with Michelle Obama at a press conference in the State Dining Room announcing their involvement in the Let's Move! campaign.

• December 6, 2013: Abby Cadabby appeared at the National Christmas Tree Lighting, joining Michelle Obama in reading "The Night Before Christmas."

• March 12, 2014: Kermit the Frog joined Michelle Obama and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, to introduce a screening of Muppets Most Wanted presented by the Joining Forces Initiative for a group of military children and their families.

• December 2015: Miss Piggy Goes to Washington in a series of social media posts and appearances throughout the month, culminating in her participation in the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony.

December 20, 1970

December 14, 1976

Big Bird performs at the White House Christmas Party in the East Room, 1978

Rosalynn Carter's thank you letter to Jim Henson for his visit to the White House, 1978.

December 6, 2004

December 6, 2004

September 30, 2006

Grover outside of the White House on February 7, 2012

Murray and Alex in 2013

Kermit in March 2014

Raya outside the White House on June 17, 2015

Elmo in the Red Room
March 28, 2016

References

Ernie and Bert visit the White House.

Betty Lou imagines herself working in the Oval Office of the White House.

• In the Sesame Street coloring book Let's Take a Trip!, Bert and Ernie visit the White House.

• A Grouch from Pennsylvania Avenue attends the Annual Grouch Picnic in The Sesame Street Dictionary.

• In A Walking Tour of Sesame Street, James Earl Jones states he's on the most famous street in the world, eliminating Pennsylvania Avenue as one of the possible answers.

• When Hillary Clinton appeared on The Rosie O'Donnell Show on February 3, 1997, Oscar the Grouch maneuvered a meeting with the First Lady, where she presented him with trash from the White House.

• Betty Lou imagines many aspects of the White House in the Sesame Street storybook, I Want to Be President.

• In the Sesame Street song "Change the World", a singing girl claims she can be President of the United States when she's older, with the White House appearing behind her.

• The "Elmo the Musical" segment, "President the Musical," features the White House, only President Elmo has it changed to red.

• Pepe thinks the White House is the "Wide House" in The Muppets episode "Bear Left Then Bear Write". When Rizzo stresses that it's the White House, Pepe justifies his position by saying that it's also wide.

See also

• The West Wing

External links

• Official White House website
• The White House Historical Association
• The White House Museum
• Graydon Gordian, "This Week in Sesame Street: Our Furry Friends Visit the White House", News from the Neighborhood, February 10, 2012.