since 1800 every single president of the United States has lived and worked in the white house it's a big job that puts a big Target on their backs so over the years security features of the White House have been constantly upgraded the exact details are kept pretty confidential but from past biographies public construction records and well-timed photos we do actually have an idea of what's going on behind the front door from rooftop missiles to Hidden snipers and even underground bunkers join me as we take a look at what makes the White House a formidable [Music]
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of 55,000 Square ft that's around 25 times the size of a standard American house and that means it also has a whole lot of Windows around 147 in fact great for natural light but they also present 147 opportunities for anyone with a gun and a vendetta but it ain't that easy just ask Oscar Ramiro Orga Hernandez he believed the federal government was trying to control him through things like GPS chips fluoride and asper tame the conspiracy theory Trifecta so in November 2011 he drove across the country from Idaho parked his car here and then without
warning opened fire on the White House with a semi-auto automatic assault rifle despite firing at least eight rounds only one hit a window on the second floor but it didn't penetrate the glass why because every single one of the White House's Windows is made from bulletproof glass it's not known exactly how sturdy the White House windows are although level four bulletproof glass is strong enough to repel bullets from Firearms more powerful than a handgun this being the White House though it's likely they've got the Best in Class otherwise known as level 8 bulletproof glass this
stuff is a whopping 2 and 1/2 in thick and designed to withstand multiple shots from military-grade automatic Firearms well with any luck that'll disuade any other conspiracy theorists from just rocking up with a tin hat and a gun you're in their sites if you've ever visited the White House and looked up you may have noticed something strange on the roof of the executive residence there can you see it this Reddit user was taking a picture when they spotted what looks like a tripod on the roof and then something else way scarier below the tripod any
ideas well that's a sniper rifle yep there are snipers on the White House roof the counter sniper team is a branch of the Secret Service responsible for providing long range observation and realtime information on any threats to the building it's unknown how many snipers are on the roof at any one time one thing's for sure though anyone up there has a pretty clear shot over all 18 Acres of the compound it's reported that each member of the counter sniper team must qualify for the job every month by hitting targets as far as 3,000 ft away
that's more than half a mile although these guys are blessed with aim that Call of Duty snipers can only dream of they don't get chance to show off their sniping skills in fact never have the counter sniper team shot a threat on site instead they're predominantly stationed to Monitor and Survey activity around the building so next time you pay a visit to the president's house don't forget to smile you're on scope as below so above now very few security measures go over the White House snipers heads literally because the air space above the White House
is classed as a special restricted Zone the Washington DC special flight rules area or sfra is a circular area within a 33m radius around Washington for any aircraft flying within the sfra pilots must obtain an advanced clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly in the area if they don't the North American Aerospace Defense command or NORAD will will issue a warning signal if the pilot refuses to divert their course they'll either be intercepted by military aircraft and escorted to the nearest airport or destroyed man I guess all Pilots are super cautious around here right
well back in 2023 a Cessna 560 citation V carrying four people was on track to enter the sfra without authorization or any communication from the pilot six F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from Joint Base Andrews intercepting the Cessna in just 12 minutes it was escorted by the f-16s who tried to establish visual communication with the pilot but no luck 10 minutes later the Cessna crashed in Virginia it's theorized that the pilot suffered from hypoxia where there wasn't enough oxygen in the cabin causing everyone on board to pass out while it was tragic it did show
just how formidable the White House's air precautions are six jets for one plane in just 12 minutes I couldn't even take a shower in that time fire and power okay that Cessna crashed of its own accord so how would an aircraft that somehow entered the no-fly zone be destroyed well we got a glimpse of the White House's anti-aircraft Force when Shephard Johnson posted a series of screenshots from Google Earth on the web site Krypto these images show what appears to be a missile battery badass as it would be for the White House roof to be
equipped with missiles these were actually found on the roof of the new executive office building A Stones Throw from the potus's house at first a lot of people didn't think this was actually a missile battery however in November 2019 the White House was placed on full alert due to an airspace violation an ominous slow low moving blob was picked up on the radar as a result of this alert a CBS news reporter noticed something strange on the roof of the new executive office building reportedly an air missile system was deployed on the roof of the
building across from the White House it's believed this particular missile system is an Avenger air defense this bad boy consists of eight infrared guided Stinger missiles each with a frightening 2m range thankfully we never got to see the full force of the missile system the question is what was it that entered the restricted airspace above the White House another unconscious pilot a genuine threat to the White House's security well it turned out to be neither the slow-moving blob was actually just a flock of birds boy those birds don't know how lucky they were good boys
dogs are man's best friend and also also a man's best bodyguard if you live in the White House since 1976 the secret service has been using guard dogs to protect the White House's grounds the dog of choice tends to be the Belgian malinoa as they've been selectively bred over the centuries to be good workers effective at detecting explosives and agile capable of clearing 6-ft fences with ease and can run at speeds of up to 30 mph on top of that Belgian alanw have been specifically bred for their ability to bite meaning there's nothing more rewarding
to them than clamping down on something sounds great as long as you're not the one being bitten each dog stationed at the White House must complete a 20we training course meaning these guys are trained to know a threat when they see one don't believe me well just ask Dominic Adisa in 2014 he jumped the White House fence before being swiftly wrestled down by two Belgian Malinois called hurricane and Jordan terrifying as being attacked by those doggo sounds recently the Department of Homeland Security posted an article confirming the deployment of robotic dogs at the US Mexico
border the 110 lb heavy robot can move its speeds close to 7 mph and even come armed with an unmanned rifle to offer Precision fire ah yes the answer to what if dogs had guns for heads man who knows when we might see these Android hounds roaming the White House's Gardens well real dog or robot dog I pity anyone dumb enough to think hopping that fence is a good idea droning on ever wandered outside for a peaceful walk when all of a sudden a drones they're everywhere these days but these devices can also be used
for Destruction if fitted with an explosive with that in mind you might be surprised to hear that in 2015 a drone was spotted flying around The Gardens of the White House despite a secret service officer hearing and seeing the Drone they were unable to bring it down luckily on this occasion the Drone belonged to a government employee who was just a drone hobbyist using the toy after his shift the incident though harmless did raise concern about how easily drones could get close to the White House since then DJI the world's largest drone manufacturer introduced Geo
fencing drones that are programmed with Geo fencing aren't able to fly in active nogo zones like the White House if a drone were to fly towards the building its built-in GPS will sense the boundary and stop mid-flight the secret service has even began deploying their own drones for protection of the president in 2017 while on a golf trip former president Trump was followed by a drone unsurprisingly the Secret Service remained tight lipped on the capabilities of the device although it did feature electrooptical and infrared cameras to scan for any threats still I wouldn't be all
that surprised if the White House was working on some supersized weaponized lawn drones sorry doggos looks like your days might be numbered do not climb not all the White House defense features are high-tech though in fact this next security feature goes all the way back to the start of the 19th century just a year after the building was first opened Thomas Jefferson was the first president to erect a simple wooden post and rail fence around the building in 1801 overtime the fences became taller and more robust but they haven't been impenetrable in 2014 Omar Gonzalez
scaled the fence carrying a knife before sprinting across the North Lawn and actually made it inside the White House he was hauled down and arrested by security officers before doing any damage but after finding the hatchet machete and more than 800 rounds of ammunition in his car nearby the White House took it as a warning to ramp up security construction on a new and improved 13t tall fence F began in 2019 yeah good luck scaling that the new fence estimated to cost 64 million features anti-climb and intrusion detection technology there are also rumored to be
multiple pressure sensors on the fence which Alert security whenever pressure is applied to the bars so this guy wouldn't stand much chance today the uniform have any of you watching actually been into the White House those of you saying yes or more likely staring blankly at the screen while silently saying yes in your head probably remember these guys now when I went earlier this year I thought these guys were the White House's answer to Paul Blart they kind of look like M cops but thank God I never decided to test that theory because these guys
are in fact part of the United States Secret Service uniformed division in other words these are the security guards of the White House house ensuring no external threats get near the building it's not known how many are patrolling the White House at any given time however the Secret Service employs around, 1300 of these guys so chances are on any given day there will be hundreds of uniformed division agents on duty that may sound like Overkill but that's not the half of it each recruit who must already have extensive experience must undergo an intensive 29 we
training TR course where they're then assessed and directed to specialized teams this ranges from White House security to counter sniper operations K9 units emergency response and more so the guys I thought of as upmarket Mall cops are actually trained to do all that yeah really glad I kept my opinions to myself that day heat vision well some of you might think that the cover of night might provide the best opportunity to try and break into the White House you might not have considered one thing the secret sensors although it's never officially been disclosed multiple news
outlets have claimed that infrared sensors surround the perimeter of the building these sensors are apparently able to detect heat signatures so can detect human shaped movement around the building even at night and triager alarms while any spy movie fan might conjure up images of an intruder being detected by a swarm of lasers it's more likely that the infrared sensors are instead surveilled by a member of the White House security team so why wouldn't the Secret Service officially confirm this well if they revealed the location of the sensors anyone dumb enough to try making a move
could potentially plot out a route over the grounds to avoid them or uh try taking them out regardless not knowing where they are or even if they are is more scary if you ask me Sakura tasty being the president of the United States you can eat whatever you want whenever you want it yep that can even mean ice cream for breakfast cool as it sounds what the president eats is actually a security concern as someone at risk of assassination the president is always in danger of being poisoned as such White House food tasters are believed
to be employed to test meals and foods for poison and while the secret service has has never officially confirmed this the service itself is known to go to Great Lengths to ensure the food being served to the president isn't tampered with when they're out in restaurants or on the go should the president go out for a meal even just to grab a burger a secret service agent who is also a trained Chef watches over all the staff in the kitchen in that regard it makes sense that an official taster is among the ranks what's more
there was a job advert put out for the role back in 201 20 on the White House's official LinkedIn at George Bush's presidential opening lunch in 2001 the New York Times wrote the president's tasters were on the job by 6:00 a.m. to make certain no one was trying to poison him and again in 2013 Barack Obama refused to eat a lobster salad at his lunch in the capital apparently because his taster wasn't available lobster salad never has a security job sounded so delicious into the Oval Office from a variety of photos and documents we know
the Secret Service aren't always in direct contact with the president sometimes they just need to conduct business alone in the Oval Office and while this gives the president some privacy how can agents guarantee the president's protection when they're not in the same room well political researcher and author Brad Meltzer claims there are weight sensitive pressure pads under the carpet of the Oval Office allowing agents to track his movements the only problem with that is the Oval Office isn't completely covered by carpet so do agents burst in if the president stands and stares out the window
seems unlikely though that's not the only unconfirmed claim for decades there have been rumors of a secret door allowing the president to escape in case of an emergency many think it's found under the desk in the Oval Office and at 6 ft wide and 4 ft deep it's certainly big enough to hi height a big hole although the desk does have a panel at the front which opens up like a hidden door chances are it doesn't house some hidden Stairway to safety however another potential Oval Office Escape point is found on the wall Can you
spot it if you look closely you'll see that the wall looks suspiciously like a door now why would an office need a door to be hidden perhaps it's an Escape point to some Secret underground layer well as much as I'd love to believe that this side door actually just leads out to the corridor whereas the main door we see here leads to the president's study that's disappointing but luckily the rest of the White House does have some Secrets hidden in plain sight secret tunnels big as the White House is did you know this building is
actually much larger than it looks believe it or not underneath the building are a whole host of secret tunnels work first began on an underground tunnel system here in the early 19th century but it's not the James Bond Escape Route you're thinking of nope the White House's first tunnel was constructed to flush out water and waste from the house lovely in 1941 during World War II plans were made to dig another big burrow due to fears that an enemy bombardment would bury President Franklin D Roosevelt under a pile of rubble reportedly a massive 761 ft
long tunnel was created allowing the president to be evacuated from the White House to the nearby treasury building now here's where things get even more interesting supposedly the basement of the treasury building is also connected to the nearby treasury Annex the tunnel is said to lead out to a locked door at the back of the treasury Annex found at the end of a long narrow alley way on H Street if you visit H Street today you'll find an alley with a ram prooof vehicle barrier and bulletproof Secret Service kiosk seems like an awful lot of
protection for an Alleyway right the White House has remained pretty tight lipped about its underground burrowing so we can't know for sure how extensive the tunnel system is but if there other security measures or anything to go by it could be like a maze down there a load of bunkers back in the 1950s The Truman reconstruction of the White House showed the world that there would be a new Subterranean level to this Fortress today that basement houses areas like the president's own bowling alley and a private dentist's office cool as that is if you go
deeper you'll find something more impressive an underground bunker it was built around the time one of those previously mentioned tunnels was dug during World War II formerly known as the presidential emergency Operation Center or poock it's located underneath the East Wing the space is used in case of emergencies like the fateful day of September 11th 2001 when President Bush met with his National Security Council in his bunker in case of another attack former first lady Laura Bush said in her Memoir I was hustled inside and downstairs through a pair of big steel doors that closed
behind me forming an airtight seal I was now in one of the unfinished Subterranean hallways underneath the White House heading for the poock photos from 2001 showed the Pak contained all the modern communication equipment of the time including phones and TVs to coordinate with external government units unsurprisingly today specifics about the poak are highly classified but we do know the space to be deep underground reportedly the most destructive US nuclear weapon could blast up to 1,000 ft below the surface so it's safe to assume this bunker could be at least that far below ground that
make the poock around as far underground as the Eiffel Tower is tall this place is so deep that it requires an elevator to access I mean can you imagine the strain of climbing up 1,000 ft worth of steps I can feel my thighs burning just thinking about it get a good look when you think of a secure location it's not normally a place that is visited by over 1.2 million people per year yet that's exactly what happens at the White House visitors enter through the East Wing before walking through the residence and exploring places like
the state dining room and Family Theater but normally when you visit a museum or Art Gallery you can just rock up on the day that ain't going to happen at the White House though you see anyone that wants to visit the presidential Palace for a tour has to book at at least 21 days in advance why background checks you need to submit a bunch of personal information and bring identification with you on the day before stepping foot inside the place but if you thought that sounded strict wait until you hear what items are prohibited from
being brought inside the building no pointed objects at all including pens and pencils no Flags no bags of any kind no food there are a whole host of seeming ly innocent everyday I hang on does that say martial arts are martial arts an object okay well sorry Jackie Chan you can't be here Marine One while bringing a prohibited pen into the White House is forgivable I'd be far less sympathetic of someone trying to fly a helicopter around the building's perimeter yet crazy as it sounds that is exactly what happened back in 1974 Robert Preston was
a US Army private so you'd presume he'd be a fairly responsible fella well think again for some reason Preston decided it'd be a bright idea to steal a helicopter from an unguarded Airfield before flying 20 M Southwest towards the White House where he briefly landed on the south lawn before long he was off again except this time he was being chased by a police helicopter after deliberating in the air Preston thought his best bet was to give himself up to president Richard Nixon in person so unbelievably he flew all the way back to the White
House where he parked on the southon again as he was Landing the Secret Service opened fire lightly wounding Preston after that you'd think the White House would ban helicopters from their airspace outright but today Choppers are also used to protect the president specifically Marine one which is the call sign of any US Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president usually this corsky vh3d SE king or the vh60n white hawk you may be wondering where are these helicopters are coming from after all they don't magically appear out of thin air to whisk the president away well Marine
Corps helicopter base at quano Virginia just over 30 mi from the White House considering that current models are said to fly at speeds greater than 150 mph it' take them just 12 minutes to make the journey from Quantico to the White House lawn such speed also means these helicopters can quickly fly the president out of the White House's grounds if anything disastrous were to happen yet speed alone isn't what makes the Marine One helicopters such Supreme security features these Choppers are also fitted with Ballistic armor and anti-missile features making them virtually impossible to shoot down
man I wish my Uber had anti-missile features would at least make the cost seem worth it before I go I want to say thanks to conflict of Nations for making this video possible to help support the channel hit the link in the description below to download this endlessly entertaining military strategy game and don't forget you only have 30 days to claim your exclusive gift so don't miss out and that's it as far as we know which security feature did you find the most mindblowing let me know down in the comments below and thanks for watching
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