We instituted a landscape program on the grounds that will leave a lasting legacy of natural terrain and indigenous plant species. Inside, my wife Tipper has selected some beautiful American paintings on loan from many of Washington's great museums, such as the National Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, and the Hirshhorn Museum. We have a special interest in photography and are extremely proud of the historic and contemporary images that have been made available to us by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Library of Congress. And most recently, the foundation commissioned a new painting of the house by the artist Jamie Wyeth. It's a great privilege and very exciting to be able to see them so frequently and to share them with our guests.
People come from around the world to the official residence.
We entertain heads of state, governors from across America, and individuals from all walks of life. At these official functions, it's really very nice to be able to say to them that these are some of the fine paintings and photographs from America's artistic tradition. Our number-one priority is to build and improve upon the structure of security and peace that will give us a chance to make warfare a thing of the past. There have been some destructive habits of thought that we have made obsolete in the past. We're certainly not there yet.