.jpg) The Theodore Roosevelt desk in the Oval office during Harry S. Truman's presidency | |
| Designer | Charles Follen McKim |
|---|---|
| Date | 1903 |
| Made in | Boston, Massachusetts, by A. H. Davenport and Company |
| Materials | Mahogany |
| Style / tradition | Colonial Revival |
| Height | 30 in (76 cm) |
| Width | 90 in (230 cm) |
| Depth | 53.5 in (136 cm) |
The desk in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, colloquially known as the Theodore Roosevelt desk, is a large mahogany pedestal desk in the collection of the White House. It is the first of six desks that have been used by U.S. presidents in the Oval Office, and since 1961 has been the used as the desk of the U.S. Vice President.
The desk was made in 1903 to a design by Charles Follen McKim for the newly constructed West Wing (then called the Executive Office Building) and was one of several pieces of furniture made specifically for the new interior spaces. In 1929, the desk survived a major fire in the West Wing and was subsequently placed in storage for over a decade. The desk was replaced by the Hoover desk in the Oval Office until after Franklin D. Roosevelt's death, with the next two presidents, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, returning the Theodore Roosevelt desk to the office. After briefly using this desk in the Oval Office, John F. Kennedy switched to the Resolute desk and moved the Theodore Roosevelt desk to the Vice President's Ceremonial Office. Richard Nixon used this desk in his "working office" in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where some of the Watergate tapes were recorded by microphones attached to it. After Nixon resigned, the desk was moved back to the Vice President's Ceremonial Office where it has been used by every Vice President since. Many of past users of the desk have signed their names on the bottom of the center drawer.