List of Oval Office desks

Barack Obama sits in the left Foreground while Donald Trump sits to the right with the ornate Resolute desk center in the background.
President Barack Obama and President-Elect Donald Trump sit in the Oval Office with the Resolute desk, the desk they both used, in the background.

Since the construction of the Oval Office in 1909, there have been six different desks used in the office by the president of the United States.[1] The desk usually sits in front of the south wall of the Oval Office, which is composed of three large windows, has an executive chair behind, and has chairs for advisors placed to either side or in front.[2] Each president uses the Oval Office, and the desk in it, differently. It is widely used ceremonially for photo opportunities and press announcements. Some presidents, such as Richard Nixon, used the desk in this room only for these ceremonial purposes, while others, including Dwight D. Eisenhower used it as their main workspace.[3]

The first desk used in the Oval Office was the Theodore Roosevelt desk. The desk currently in use by Joe Biden is the Resolute desk. Of the six desks that have occupied the Oval Office, the Resolute has spent the longest time in the room, having been used by eight presidents. The Resolute has been used by John F. Kennedy and by all U.S. presidents since 1977 with the exception of George H. W. Bush. Bush used the C&O desk for his one term, making it the shortest-serving desk to date. Other past presidents have used the Hoover desk, the Johnson desk, and the Wilson desk.[1]

The process for choosing a desk is not standardized and different presidents chose desks for different reasons. A few presidents have made public through interviews or papers in their presidential libraries how their choice was made. A 1974 memo explaining the desk options Gerald Ford could choose from is held at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library,[4] Jimmy Carter wrote about choosing a desk as his first official presidential decision in his memoir Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President,[5] and in an interview with Chris Wallace, Donald Trump described that there are seven desks to choose from and that he chose the Resolute desk due to its history and beauty.[6] Joe Biden explained in an interview with Architectural Digest that in suburban Maryland there is a facility with a replica Oval Office where interior decorators can test out the placement of furnishings before they are moved into the actual Oval Office on inauguration day.[7]

  1. ^ a b Andriotis, Mary Elizabeth (2021-01-19). "Joe Biden Chooses the Resolute Desk for His Oval Office". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  2. ^ Fallows, James (2017-08-27). "Readers on What Trump's Office Decor Reveals About His Leadership". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  3. ^ Hess, Stephen (2009-01-08). "What Now? The Oval Office". Brookings Institution.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MEMO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Jimmy Carter (October 1, 1982). Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President. Bantam Books. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-61075-223-7.
  6. ^ "Trump gives Chris Wallace a tour of the Oval Office". Fox News. At 1:18-1:35. November 18, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "Inside The White House With President Joe Biden". Architectural Digest. 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-23.