If there had been a real "shut down" at the White House because of some national emergency I can assure you the whole White House staff (or the President) would not have informally gathered in the White House cafeteria to give a history/civics lesson to a group of high school students (and the television audience of course).

They would have been VERY busy.

But busy at what? Weren't those roughly the circunmstances in which Slick Willy got together with young Monica?

Civics lectures in the cafe would maybe have been a better use of the situation.