Presidential call button

The red button in a wooden box next to the telephone on the Resolute desk in March 2017

Some presidents of the United States have had a red call button in the Oval Office of the White House that could call aides. The earliest incarnation dates to 1881 or before, and the modern call button has been in a wooden box on the Resolute desk since at least the George W. Bush presidency (2001–2009).