Washington DC (White House): First US President to officially, permanently close the White House and...

...turn it over to the Smithsonian Institution for all-access public tours.  The President then will travel the nation, spending one week in each US state and visiting them in the reverse order as they officially joined the nation.  [By visiting the states in reverse order, new states (especially those created by the "Statehood" challenges) will be visited first by new Presidents and that will make those new states feel more part of the union and less as if they're neglected at the end of the line of States.]  The President can take off for a week to visit other countries [likely seven countries, one for each day, and likely done to attend major meetings of nations] but when returning to the US, the President must start back up the tour of the States from where s/he left off.  [However, Presidents cannot do this too often or the public will turn on them.]  Only when visiting the State of Maryland can the President option to occupy (conduct business and sleep in) the White House.  [And a wise President would only do this on her/his second visit to Maryland to drive the point home that he isn't wishing to regain the regal trappings of the presidency.  The first state visit would then be wisely done to Baltimore.]  To win this challenge, once started, the President must not stop touring the nation in this fashion for the rest of their presidency.

What this challenge proposes isn't a new idea.  In fact, the first US President to visit all of the US States was George Washington.  He made a point of visiting all the States that were part of the Union while he was President.  He did this so the residents of each state could have a chance to see their President in person.  Sadly, no other President has made this a priority while in office.  This challenge means to correct that and to give each State more than a mere glimpse of their national leader.  [And any sane politician will see the logic of doing this forever tour of the nation since it will make her/him more popular with the public.  Holing up in Washington DC has NEVER helped a President's popularity with those outside of the nation's capital.  It has only hurt their popularity.  And once the first President does this challenge, it would be political suicide for any future President to reverse it.]

Future Challenges: First US President who does the above and:

1) Only stays and sleeps at military bases in each state.  He or she rotates among the different military branches in each state, each time a state is visited, to not show a preference for one military branch over another.  [In addition to improving relations with soldiers (for whom the President is the Commander-in-Chief), this will also enable the President to be more easily protected.  Expect a lot of photo ops of the President eating breakfast with young enlisted soldiers at their mess halls.]

2) Travels the continental US by way of a presidential train [See above illustration.] or tour bus and gives at least one “whistle stop” speech in each state s/he travels through to get to the next state at which s/he will be spending the next week.

3) Gives her or his inauguration speech in her/his hometown (not in Washington, DC) and then, after a night of celebration, the new President takes off to start their never-ending tour of the States while as President. 

First US President to do the above and holds a free black-tie presidential ball in each state which only the following state residents are invited:

4) Average citizens.  State residents are able to enter a lottery for tickets to this ball at the Presidential website.  This will be the first ball the President hosts in each state.  [This ball will likely be named “The People’s Ball.”  It will also likely be in the “terms and conditions” of the lottery that anyone who is invited to any of the following balls (or who is the guest of someone who has been invited) cannot win tickets to this ball or, if they have already won them, must give them back.]

5) Heroes and heroines.  [These would be people who have achieved heroic feats since the last time the President visited the state.  Not just police officers, firefighters, and soldiers, but especially ordinary citizens who risked their lives to save others.  This ball will likely be named “The Hero’s Ball.”]

6) Leading scientists and inventors.  [These would be scientists who made major scientific discoveries or received Nobel Prizes and inventors/engineers who received important, promising patents since the last time the President visited the state.  This ball would likely be named “The Science and Invention Ball.”]

7) Leading business leaders and new small business owners.  [A good name for this ball could be “The Engines of Creation Ball,” referring to the job creation these businesses produce that results in high employment numbers, which every President needs to be as high as possible to remain popular.]

8) Actors, actresses, authors, bloggers, film directors, models, musicians, newscast anchors, orchestra conductors, opera singers, painters, radio talk show hosts, TV producers, sports stars, etc.  [The ball will likely be named “The Entertainer’s Ball.”]

9) Top politicians of all political parties.  This would be the sixth and final ball the President hosts in each state and is a white-tie affair.  [Because it is the final ball it is a way for the President to show that politicians aren’t above anyone else, which is a way of humbly saying s/he isn’t either.  This is the only white-tie ball: it forces the politicians to really dress up and thus show respect for the President.  This ball will likely be called “The Politician’s Ball.”]

First TV documentary to solely chronicle:

10) What military bases go through to receive and host the US President.  Starting with the decision-making process of deciding which military base will be used by the US President in a state ... to the advance team showing up, evaluating, and determining what has to be upgraded and built on that base for the President's visit ... to the construction crews making the upgrades and improvements ... to additional military security personnel arriving up and beefing up the base's security ... to the President's arrival and stay there ... to the post-visit pulling out of personnel and moving onto the next base.

11) Presidential staff arranging, getting things ready, and running the Presidential balls in one state.  The documentary showing everything that is involved in pulling off a week's worth of Presidential balls.

First radio talk show host to champion this challenge and:

12) Start an online We the People petition calling upon the President to do this challenge and get at least the necessary signatures for it to be considered by the White House.

13) Broadcast her/his show live in front of the White House until the President permanently closes the White House and hits the road as outlined in the original challenge.

14) Start traveling the nation as the President should as outlined in the above challenge until the President permanently closes the White House and does likewise.  The host/ess spending one week in each US state and done in the order outlined in the original challenge.

15) Get all 50 US governors to come onto her/his show and publicly call upon the President to do the challenge.

16) Get every congressperson (both US House and US Senate), who has done the BTC congressional telecommute challenge, to come onto her/his show and publicly call upon the President to do the above challenge.  There must already be at least 50 telecommuting congresspersons for a host to take on and win this future challenge.

17) Organize and emcee a "Be Among Us" weekend mega-concert calling upon the President to do the above challenge to be out and amongst the People.  To win this future challenge, the concert can be anywhere in the USA except Washington DC.  The concert must also have at least 30 bands performing at it.  [However, Jack Decker believes such a concert won't actually take place since he cannot imagine any President not giving into the challenge before such a concert is held.  To not give into the challenge and to keep living at the White House would be political suicide for a President as it says s/he doesn't want to be out among the people who elected her/him.  But the threat of such a concert can be still done by a radio talk show host to add more pressure on the President to do the above challenge.]

Discussion:
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