WASHINGTON (AP) — The view from the press room door of the White House vaults over the spearheads of the iron fence to take in a 180-degree sweep of trees, grass, scrambling squirrels, shivering tourists — and two centuries of American history. History tends to get layered in these precincts and there's a story nearly everywhere. For example, to get to the view a reporter steps out of the press briefing room installed during the Nixon administration inside the swimming pool built for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the colonnade constructed by Thomas Jefferson when the White House was new. Formally, it's the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, named for the genial and indomitable press secretary wounded in the 1981 attempt to assassinate President Reagan. Inside, press secretaries joust and parry with reporters and spin the news of the day. But back to the view.<p>*** No, back to the delete key.
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