The following passage is an excerpt from American Notes, a travel journal by British writer Charles Dickens (1812-1870), author of such works as David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens recounts his visit to the White House in 1841.

We entered a large hall, and having twice or thrice rung a bell which nobody answered, walked without further ceremony through the rooms on the ground floor, as divers other gentlemen (mostly with their hats on, and their hands in their pockets) were doing very leisurely.... A few were closely eyeing the movables, as if to make quite sure that the President (who was far from popular) had not made away with any of the furniture, or sold the fixtures for his private benefit.... At a business-like table covered with papers, sat the President himself. He looked somewhat worn and...