The Oval Office is the official office of the President of the United States, and since its construction in 1909 it has gone through three different incarnations. In all three of these versions there have only been five desks that have ever been used by a sitting president within its walls. These desks are the Theodore Roosevelt desk, the Resolute desk, the Johnson desk, the Wilson desk, and the C&O desk.
The Theodore Roosevelt Desk has been in the Oval Office for eight presidencies making it the longest serving desk, while the C&O desk has been in the office for the least amount of time, only being used for one four year term.
Contents |
| Presidency | President | Dates in office | Desk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | William Howard Taft | March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913 | Theodore Roosevelt desk |
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson | March 4, 1913 - March 4, 1921 | |
| 29 | Warren G. Harding | March 4, 1921 - August 2, 1923 | |
| 30 | Calvin Coolidge | August 2, 1923 - March 4, 1929 | |
| 31 | Herbert Hoover | March 4, 1929 - March 4, 1933 | |
| 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945 | |
| 33 | Harry S. Truman | April 12, 1945 - January 20, 1953 | |
| 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | January 20, 1953 - January 20, 1961 | |
| 35 | John F. Kennedy | January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963 | Resolute desk |
| 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969 | Johnson desk |
| 37 | Richard Nixon | January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974 | Wilson desk |
| 38 | Gerald Ford | August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977 | |
| 39 | Jimmy Carter | January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981 | Resolute desk |
| 40 | Ronald Reagan | January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989 | |
| 41 | George H. W. Bush | January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1993 | C&O desk |
| 42 | Bill Clinton | January 20, 1993 - January 20, 2001 | Resolute desk |
| 43 | George W. Bush | January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2009 | |
| 44 | Barack Obama | January 20, 2009 - Incumbent |
The Theodore Roosevelt desk was created in 1902 for Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States. It was the first and longest-staying desk in Oval Office history. It was placed there by William Howard Taft and remained for eight consecutive presidencies, until the Resolute Desk was used in its place in 1961. Richard Nixon used this desk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in his "working office". Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institute presumes that, "the Watergate tapes were made by an apparatus concealed in its drawer." [1]
The Resolute desk was created from wood salvaged from the HMS Resolute and given to Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1879.[2] The desk resided in the White House in various rooms and usages, without much change until Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933 and had a hinged front panel with a carved Seal of the President of the United States on it to "hide his iron leg braces from view and to conceal a safe." [1]. The desk continued to be used by presidents in various places and for various reasons throughout the White House, until Jacqueline Kennedy found it languishing in the "White House broadcast room," had it restored, and then had it moved into the Oval Office.[2] After Kennedy's death, the desk was taken out of the Oval Office for a traveling exhibition with the John F. Kennedy Library.
President Jimmy Carter returned the desk to the Oval Office in 1977, where it remained until George H.W. Bush had it removed in favor of the C&O Desk. Bill Clinton subsequently returned the Resolute Desk to the Oval Office in 1993, where it has remained since.
The Johnson Desk was only used for one presidency, the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.[1] This desk was used by Johnson from the time he was in the United States Senate up through his tenure in the oval office.[3] The desk currently resides at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. After Johnson retired he was known to go to the museum and sit at his desk to "surprise unsuspecting museum visitors." [1]
The misnamed Wilson desk was used by only two Presidents in the Oval Office: Richard Nixon and subsequently Gerald Ford after Nixon's resignation. Nixon chose this desk as his Oval Office Desk due to his belief that it was used by former President Woodrow Wilson. The desk followed him from the Vice President's Room of the United States Capitol to the Oval Office when he became President himself. Nixon referred to the desk in 1969 in his "Silent majority" speech stating, "Fifty years ago, in this room and at this very desk, President Woodrow Wilson spoke words which caught the imagination of a war-weary world."[4] In actuality the desk was not used by Woodrow Wilson and Nixon was informed by one of his speech writers, William Safire, that the desk was actually used by Vice President of the United States Henry Wilson, under President Ulysses S. Grant's administration. This also appears to be untrue as the desk was not ordered until 1897 or later by Garret Augustus Hobart, more than 22 years after Wilson's death. The "Wilson Desk" appears to be a misnomer as it has never been continuously used by anyone with the last name of "Wilson."
The C&O desk was used by George H. W. Bush during his tenure as both Vice President and President of the United States. Originally created for the owners of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway circa 1920, it is a replica of an English style, double pedestal desk. It was donated to the White House where it was used by Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan as the desk located in the West Wing Study.[1]
|
|||||