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Washington, D.C., was created to be the center of the United States government. And government business goes on in buildings all across the city.
The founders of the United States wanted to make sure that no leader ever had too much power. That’s why they created a government with three branches. Each can limit the power of the others. The legislative branch is the two houses of Congress. It makes the laws that govern the country. The executive branch is headed by the president, who lives in the White House. It enforces national laws. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court. It makes sure that national laws and the president’s actions are legal. It does that by comparing them to the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land.
Washington started out small. It was a small government for a small nation. But as the nation grew, so did the government. Here are some places in Washington, D.C., where government happens every day.
▲ Nine judges sit on the Supreme Court. Each is picked by the president and serves for life. For 147 years, the court heard cases in boardinghouses, bars, and seven different rooms in the Capitol. In 1935, the Supreme Court finally got its own home.
▲ The Pentagon stands outside Washington near Arlington, Virginia. It’s the headquarters of the Defense Department. That agency is in charge of national security. The building is named for its five sides. It also stands five stories tall and is built around a five-acre courtyard. It’s one of the largest office buildings in the world. More than 23,000 people work there.
◀ The Capitol is where 100 senators—two from each state—and 435 members of the House of Representatives hold meetings. They also pass the laws that govern the country. More than 18,000 people work for Congress. The youngest are pages. These are women and men ages 16 to 18. They run errands, answer phones, and deliver messages. Pages go to Capitol Page School very early in the morning. That way, they can do their jobs after school.
▲ Fifteen departments help the president run the executive branch. The oldest is the State Department. It has handled relations with other countries since 1789. The newest is the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in 2002. The heads of all 15 departments form the president’s Cabinet. This group meets at the White House (above). Votes are rarely taken at these meetings because the president has the final say. For example, President Lincoln once took a vote at a Cabinet meeting. After all his Cabinet members had voted against a measure that he supported, Lincoln said, “Seven nays, one aye. The aye has it.”
The Library of Congress began in 1800 with 3,000 books. During the war of 1812, the Capitol was burned by the British. Every book was lost. So Congress bought Thomas Jefferson’s personal library of 6,487 books. Some are still on the library’s 838 miles of bookshelves. The library holds 147 million items. They include the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. You can also find there one of three remaining copies of the Gutenberg Bible (printed in 1455). The library has the world’s largest collection of comic books. It even contains the first Barbie and Ken dolls. ▶
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◀ Over the years, the U.S. government has created billions of official papers. The National Archives Building holds many of them. They include the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are sealed in bronze-and-glass cases filled with helium gas to prevent rot. Beneath them is a burglarproof, fireproof, and shockproof vault. They can be dropped into the vault at a moment’s notice.
◀ Government also has to make sure there is enough money. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has presses in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas. They print 26 million bills a day. The bills are worth about $907 million! These bills come off the presses in large sheets. They’re checked for errors before being cut.
