text: The hit US TV series House of Cards features Francis Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, and his wife Claire, played by Robin Wright . So here’s the deal. Step one: book a private dining room at Washington’s Capital Grille. Step two: invite your political enemies to lunch. Step three: ask the waiter for an extra-sharp steak knife. Lunch is never just lunch when you’re dining in the shadow of Capitol Hill. It’s an exercise in power-broking and political assassination. I’d come to Washington to learn some tricks from House Of Cards –the hit US political TV series starring Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood – on how best to neutralise your opponents. America’s capital is filled with Underwood wannabes: senators and governors with razor tongues and egos to match. The Capital Grille is a favoured venue for political plots. With crisply starched linen, glittering candlesticks and heavy silver cutlery, the decor suggests an atmosphere of civility and restraint, while the stuffed heads of deer and bison are redolent of a New England country mansion. But there’s a subtext to those severed heads: this is a place where the hunt always ends in a kill. I’ve been brought here by Alicia Malone, whose job is to sell Washington to foreign visitors. The seat of the United States Congress is in the United States Capitol, atop Capitol Hill in Washington . I ask if the city really functions as darkly as it does in House Of Cards. She swings around in her chair and points towards a closed door. ‘That’s one of the private rooms,’ she says. ‘And there’s a senator hosting a political lunch in there right now.’ My imagination goes into overdrive. A corrupt governor. A call-girl. A line of cocaine. If the host was Underwood, he’d certainly be exploiting it for political gain. Much of the action in House Of Cards takes place on Capitol Hill, home to the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are tours of the vast building and it’s a good introduction to how the city ticks. My guide is Martin, a preppy student with a smile like Matt Damon’s. The Lincoln Memorial was built to honour the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln . He whisks me around the gilded splendour of the old Senate, as well as the still-functioning chamber of the new. It’s easy to forget you’re touring a working political building – a place where senators, advisers and policy wonks battle for influence. For more than two centuries, arm-twisting and bullying has been the reality of American politics. Even the hallowed founding fathers relied on strong-arm tactics to pass legislation. As Martin spills stories of feuds and political assassinations, I realise that men like Underwood have been controlling Washington ever since the birth of America. Giles Milton pictured at the Capital Grille . Some of those early politicians – such as the seventh President, Andrew Jackson – were so fiery that they make the players in the TV series look like amateurs. President Jackson’s solution to every problem was to fight a duel: Martin jokes that his body was so full of lead-shot that these days he wouldn’t get through the metal-detectors at the entrance to the Capitol building. Washington was chosen as America’s new capital in 1790 after months of haggling and compromise. The states of Maryland and Virginia each agreed to donate land in order that one small area – the District of Columbia (DC) – could be placed under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress. This holds true to this day. Despite its status, the city faces a struggle to lure tourists away from New York. Yet Washington has many more public monuments than its rival, including the two biggest hits in America: the White House (tours have to be reserved in advance) and the National Mall, home to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The latter is a vast statue built to honour Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th President and considered by many to have been its greatest. US president Barack Obama (left) pays for his lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl restaurant (right) in 2009 . Every politician needs to connect with his or her voters: Frank Underwood and Barack Obama are no exception. Underwood’s way of connecting is to go to Freddy’s BBQ Joint and eat ribs. When Obama wants to connect, he heads 12 blocks north from the White House to the intersection of 14th Street and U Street. This rough-and-ready area, just below Columbia Heights, has been transformed into a popular shabby-chic district in recent years. More famously, it’s home to Ben’s Chili Bowl, an all-American burger and hot-dog joint and a favourite of Obama. You don’t come here for gastro-cuisine. Ben’s serves junk food with a spicy twist. A plastic sign proclaims it to be ‘a Washington landmark’. At 10am it’s doing a brisk trade in chilli-dogs dripping with cholesterol – but they certainly kick-start the morning. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The main building on the National Mall contains 1.5 million square feet of space and altogether is the size of 18 football fields . Washington’s biggest draw is resolutely apolitical: the Smithsonian is one of the greatest museum complexes in the world. It has it all, from Rembrandts to rockets, along with stuffed elephants and tribal headgear. Best of all, James Smithson’s legacy decreed that all the museums established with his legacy must always be free, including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Sandwiched between the many museums of the Smithsonian is one of the city’s least likely attractions. The US National Archives viewed from the Smithsonian National Sculpture Garden . The National Archives is a classical beast of a building that displays an early copy of the Magna Carta (which inspired the authors of the constitution), daguerreotypes of cowboy pioneers in the Wild West and terrifying tracts written by the Ku Klux Klan. The stars of the show are found in the Rotunda, which houses the three documents that defined America – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Yellowing, faded and scarcely legible, they are powerfully emotive symbols of the American dream. All the hopes of early America are contained in these three pieces of parchment. ‘We the People of the United States’ are the opening words of the Constitution, a text that extols the lofty principles of justice, liberty and welfare – universally ignored by the characters in House Of Cards and, alas, by a large number of flesh-and-blood politicians. America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit.com, 020 8742 8299) offers four nights at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington from £799 per person, including return flights from Heathrow. For further information, visit discoveramerica.com.
target: House of Cards  follows a ruthless Democrat congressman's rise to power .
  Set in Washington, the hit US TV series features the capital's best sights .
  Discover the famous and lesser-known gems in Washington, DC .