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The White House S01E08 2026 Trending
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00:22Save them tears, the Lord's watching over us.
00:28Ain't nobody gonna be busting through them front doors any time soon.
00:32And our army's gonna stop the British right in their tracks.
00:36Bet on it.
00:37Well said, Freeman.
00:50You planning on cutting the cake with that, Mrs. Madison?
00:53Fake?
00:55No.
00:58The English?
01:01Perhaps.
01:03Chocolate sponge would be a whole lot easier to clean off that blade.
01:14The guests will be arriving in less than two hours.
01:18Please ensure there is enough cider and wine.
01:21The entire cabinet has been invited and some of them could drink a tavern dry.
01:27Mrs. Madison, are you sure the cabinet's gonna come?
01:32Seems to me they might be too busy.
01:35What with the redcoats on our doorstep.
01:37Of course they'll come.
01:38It is our duty to keep up appearances.
01:41Reassure the people of Washington that our army has everything under control.
01:57The blade itself incites the deeds of violence.
02:05The Odyssey.
02:07Homer.
02:10If we survive this, we've got some reading to do.
02:21In 1814, when the British are moving north towards Washington, D.C., the Americans decide
02:29to resist them at Bladensburg, which is east of Washington.
02:36And the whole thing is a mess.
02:42Water.
02:49Okay, son.
02:51Careful, careful.
02:52Madison.
02:53Madison is there.
02:54He's with a couple of aides.
02:56They're very worried about his safety.
02:59This was an active battlefield.
03:02Shots were being fired.
03:04President Madison, you shouldn't be here.
03:07The English have broken through.
03:11Sir.
03:12I'll go with you, son.
03:14I'll go with you.
03:17James Madison stays on the battlefield right up until it's clear that the battle is lost
03:22and he needs to leave or else he could be captured along with other U.S. forces.
03:29They called it the Bladensburg Races because it wasn't a battle as much as a race away.
04:01Freeman, what time is it?
04:06Quarter past four, Mrs. Madison.
04:10Everyone is late.
04:21They've gone.
04:28All of them.
04:32How could they?
04:35Cowards.
04:36At one point, Dolly looks out and sees that the militia have left.
04:43The White House was essentially left wide open, unguarded, and vulnerable.
04:49And here's Dolly still inside wondering what to do.
04:53Mrs. Madison.
04:55Do you think maybe we should collect your belongings and get you somewhere safe?
05:02I won't be going anywhere.
05:04Not till I hear from the president himself.
05:10You heard Mrs. Madison.
05:12We're staying.
05:22Bladensburg is actually quite close to the district of Columbia.
05:27A cannon fire could be heard rumbling in the distance.
05:33Oh, boy.
05:49Will I be a guest?
05:53Better be safe than sorry.
05:56Freeman.
05:56Then, grab the sword and join me.
06:27Compliments from General Armstrong.
06:37General Armstrong has ordered a complete retreat from Washington.
06:43British troops are expected to be here in a matter of hours.
06:50Any word of the President?
06:56General Armstrong, go and return to General Armstrong.
06:59Tell him our prayers are with him.
07:05Time to go, Mrs. Madison?
07:07Yes, John.
07:09Time to go.
07:12First, there are a few things we must do.
07:22I'm kind of scared to touch it.
07:24Don't be a coward.
07:25It's only a copy.
07:27Well, you do it then.
07:28Uh-uh.
07:29That there's a man's job.
07:36Don't drop it.
07:38Dolly needs to flee.
07:40She's told she should flee.
07:42But she thinks about what should I save?
07:45What should I preserve from the White House?
07:49Dolly Madison knows that the British are going to destroy anything they can find.
07:54They're going to desecrate any symbol of America and its independence.
07:59We hold these truths to be self-evident.
08:02That all men are created equal.
08:05And that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
08:12It's time to go, John.
08:16I know.
08:17That's the last of the things Mrs. Madison asked me to fetch.
08:21Now I should go find her.
08:23Do you think the English is going to kill us?
08:26Kill us?
08:27Not a chance.
08:28We're slaves.
08:30We're more valuable than all the silverware in this building.
08:41Damn you, Jimmy.
08:43Where are you?
08:48Mrs. Madison.
08:50We boxed up as much as we think can be carried away.
08:53I know you're worried about the president, but we can't wait any longer.
08:57The English can arrive at any moment.
08:59And I've heard what soldiers can do to women.
09:01They wouldn't dare.
09:03Hey, men.
09:04Ain't nothing a man wouldn't do when he survived being shot at.
09:07Please, men.
09:08My fiance is here, too.
09:14Right.
09:16But first, there's one more thing we need to pack.
09:28Are you sure?
09:30Why do men always have to overcompensate?
09:41These are all going to get killed for a president that died years ago.
09:44Freeman?
09:46Nothing, ma'am.
09:47Just admiring Mr. Washington is all.
09:49Well, stop admiring it and start packing it up.
09:57She's worried that if the British occupy the White House, that they'll deface the painting of George Washington.
10:05And that would be too embarrassing for the United States.
10:10But don't just stand there.
10:14Drop it to the floor and cut it from the frame.
10:40Enjoy this moment.
10:42It might be the only time a black man gets to stick a knife in the prison and not get
10:45hung for it.
10:50Let's go.
10:53Let's go.
11:00Let's go.
11:21that's everything mrs madison something has happened to him it must have he'd have been here
11:29i know you want to wait man but i have to tell you unless you come now i'll be forced
11:33to pick you up
11:33myself and suffer the consequences later if i were a man i'd post a can in every window of the
11:40white
11:41house and fight to the bitter end i know you would now let's get going
11:54she really does stay longer than she probably should have she could have been captured as a
11:59prisoner of war and paraded through the streets of london
12:08she finally leaves and just in the nick of time
12:16golly
12:31dolly dolly
12:37anyone anyone
12:49what the hell is going on here
12:53do
13:02do
13:06do
13:07do
13:26by the time james madison gets back to the white house dolly has already left and there will be
13:33looters who start raiding the white house for any goods that they can find eventually madison
13:40leaves he goes to a town in maryland called brookville
13:47and once the british pass bladensburg that is effectively the final resistance the british
14:02meat the british enter the white house and the first thing they do is have a party dolly's left
14:07them with dinner they sit down it's the famous last dinner party where they all sit around they
14:14wonder if the food's been poisoned but they drink and eat anyway
14:19and it was only then after enjoying themselves that they decided to set fire to the white house
14:26put that food down the general has ordered us to torch the place now
14:41for king george
14:53let's go
15:05they'd start burning public buildings and really terrorize washington for about 24 hours
15:14it was the burning of the white house itself that was really the symbol of the entire war the white
15:20the white house symbol of the nation torched by an invading army
15:24for the dead
15:26the enemy
15:31the enemy
15:33the enemy
15:40the enemy
16:04Please be here.
16:07Please be here.
16:25James Madison, you are a fool, a dumb fool.
16:29You swore you would go nowhere near the fighting.
16:32Did that tell you to leave the presidential house before the British arrived?
16:36You did.
16:38I changed my mind.
16:43That doesn't sound good.
16:46Cannons.
16:47No, it's a storm.
16:50Hopefully it'll slow the British down.
16:54Let's hunker here until it passes.
16:59The British are holding Washington, but one thing that encourages them to leave is a hurricane
17:04the following day, the hellacious storm rain, winds.
17:10They called it the storm that saved Washington because it helped put out all the fires.
17:16And to some, it was as if there had been divine intervention to spare America.
17:20So, let's go.
17:20Let's go.
17:21Let's go.
17:23Let's go.
17:47Let's go.
17:53Let's go.
17:54Let's go.
17:55Let's go.
18:12Let's go.
18:19Let's go.
18:22Let's go.
18:30Let's go.
18:33Let's go.
18:42Let's go.
18:48Let's go.
19:00Let's go.
19:03Let's go.
19:06Let's go.
19:09Let's go.
19:12Let's go.
19:12After the attack on Washington, D.C., a lot of people believe now that Washington lay
19:18too exposed.
19:19There was talk about relocating to the nation's capital much further inland.
19:24The city of Cincinnati, in Ohio, was discussed.
19:29There was a time when we first arrived in Washington, and I thought, surely this can't be the new home
19:39of our great nation.
19:40What? A great big pile of bricks dropped onto a swamp?
19:47Honestly, James, I would have hitched up my skirt and run all the way back to Montpelier if someone had
19:52told me there was no shame in it.
19:56But now, this building, the Capitol, are symbols of everything we're trying to build.
20:10The British tried to destroy it, but here we are, still standing.
20:17If we abandon Washington now, they will have won.
20:24Then we must fight for it, my dear.
20:36When we first arrived in Washington, many years ago, it's safe to say that we were surprised.
20:43I lost a good pair of shoes, helping to push my carriage across the stream on the outskirts of town,
20:48and a couple of men threw a bottle at my head from the steps of the local tavern as we
20:52finally arrived.
20:53It's too bad they missed.
20:54Oh.
20:56And then we saw the President's house.
21:00Under John Adams, the water closet was outside, the steps were half built, and I do believe that Mrs. Adams
21:06was forced to hang the washing from the East Room.
21:11Jefferson finished the stairs and got some fancy privies built inside the house.
21:16And when my wife and I moved to the President's house, Ali made it into the most beautiful home in
21:25America, with some of the best parties, too.
21:29But then the British paid us a visit and burnt it all down to the ground.
21:35If the Presidential Palace were a dog, you'd put it down.
21:39The Senate Building, too.
21:42Now, we know that most of you think that that is the right thing to do, leave Washington and return
21:51government and this residence to Philadelphia.
21:54But that is not a vision I subscribe to, and neither does he.
22:10George Washington united this nation and defeated the British.
22:17It was his will that this new nation have its capital here and that the President should live right here.
22:27Now, I ask you, would Washington run with his tail between his legs back to Philadelphia?
22:35No.
22:38My husband and I ask that you back new plans to rebuild this city so it becomes even greater.
22:47A shining beacon that no other nation can ever destroy.
22:51And that beautiful White House will be the beaten heart of our nation, a home for all of us, forever.
23:10Forever!
23:20Do you really think this place can be rebuilt, Jimmy?
23:24It's fit to collapse and blacker than a coal mine.
23:29White really isn't a very practical cover for a building.
23:33Oh, I don't doubt it can be rebuilt.
23:37We're concerned about the next inhabitants.
23:40It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
23:46It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
24:08It seems that this house is really Organized!
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