The 200-year-history of the White House---a flamboyant tapestry of drama and dreams," says narrator Martin Sheen---is recalled through quotations from Presidents and their families, as read by actors, including Philip Bosco, Avery Brooks, Kathleen Chalfant, Blythe Danner, Robert Prosky, Campbell Scott, Regina Taylor, Sam Waterston and Dianne Wiest. Topics range from the torching of the White House during the War of 1812 to the flack Theodore Roosevelt caught when he installed a tennis court.