List of Oval Office desks

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 Dwight D. Eisenhower, used the desk in this room only for these ceremonial purposes, while others, including Richard Nixon used it as their main workspace.^[3]

The first desk used in the Oval Office was the Theodore Roosevelt desk, and the desk currently in use by Joe Biden is the Resolute desk. Of the six desks used in the Oval Office, the Resolute desk has spent the longest time there, having been used by eight presidents in the room. The Resolute has been used by all U.S. presidents since 1977 with the exception of George H.W. Bush, who 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 chose 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 ,^[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]

The first Oval Office was constructed as part of the expansion of the West Wing to the White House in 1909 under president William Howard Taft.^[7] The room was designed by Nathan C. Wyeth who chose the Charles Follen McKim designed Theodore Roosevelt desk, which was first used by Theodore Roosevelt in the previous executive office, for the new office space.^[8] This desk remained in use by subsequent presidents until, on December 24, 1929, a fire severely damaged the West Wing during President Herbert Hoover's administration.^[9][10]

Hoover reconstructed the part of the White House affected, including the Oval Office, reopening them in 1930.^[9] With the repair, Hoover was gifted a suite of 17 furniture pieces including a new desk, known as the Hoover desk, by an association of Grand Rapids, Michigan furniture-makers.^[11] This new desk was used for the rest of Hoover's term in office and by Franklin D. Roosevelt for his presidency.^[12] Roosevelt had the West Wing expanded during his time in office including the construction of a new Oval Office.^[13] After Roosevelt died in office, the Hoover desk was given to his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Theodore Roosevelt desk was brought back to the newly rebuilt Oval Office in 1945 by then president Harry S. Truman and subsequently used by Dwight Eisenhower.^[12][4]

John F. Kennedy briefly used the Theodore Roosevelt desk before it was switched out in 1961 for the Resolute desk. Jacqueline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy's wife, thought the more ornately carved Resolute desk should be the most visible presidential desk.^[14][15]

Upon Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the Resolute desk was sent on a national tour, and his successor Lyndon B. Johnson elected to use the desk he had used as a senator and as Vice President.^[16][17] When Johnson left office the desk he used was sent to his presidential library.^[18] When Richard Nixon became president he brought the Wilson desk, which he had used as Vice President, and it remained in the Oval Office when Gerald Ford took over after Nixon's resignation.^[19]

Jimmy Carter returned the Resolute desk to the Oval Office in 1977.^[20] The desk has since been used in that room by every president other than George H. W. Bush who elected to go with the C&O desk, the desk he had used as vice president.^[21] Doro Bush Koch, one of George Bush's children, suggests Bush's choice to use his Vice Presidential desk may have been due to a perceived tradition of Vice Presidents that ascend to the Presidency using their vice presidential desks.^[22] Joe Biden, the next Vice President to become President, did not follow this perceived tradition and continued using the Resolute desk.^[23]

The desks[]

Below is a table noting each of the six desks ever used in the Oval Office including the name they are most commonly known by, the presidents that used the desk, a description, and the desk's current location. A seventh desk, not listed here, is also offered to presidents for use in the Oval Office but has never been used there. This unnamed, mahogany, pedestal desk, was built in 1952, measures 72 by 36 inches (183 by 91 cm), and was gifted to the White House by John McShain, the general contractor of the Truman reconstruction of the White House. Originally housed in the Second Floor Center Hall it was moved to La Casa Pacifica in 1969 where it remained through at least 1974.^[4]

Desk	Oval Office tenant(s)[1]	Workspace dimensions	Notes	Current Location	Picture
Theodore Roosevelt desk	William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover[a] Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower	90 by 53.5 inches (229 by 136 cm)[4]	This desk was created in 1903 for then President Theodore Roosevelt. It was first used in the Oval Office by William Howard Taft and remained there until the West Wing fire in 1929. It remained in storage until 1945 when Harry S. Truman placed it in the modern Oval Office. Richard Nixon used this desk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution presumes, "the Watergate tapes were made by an apparatus concealed in its drawer."[3]	, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.[24]
Hoover desk	Herbert Hoover[a] Franklin D. Roosevelt	82.5 by 45.5 inches (210 by 116 cm)[25]	A December 24, 1929 fire severely damaged the West Wing, including the Oval Office. President Herbert Hoover accepted the donation of a new desk from a group of Grand Rapids, Michigan, furniture-makers and used it as his Oval Office desk after the new office was completed.[26][27]	Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, New York[12]
Resolute desk	John F. Kennedy Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan Bill Clinton George W. Bush Barack Obama Donald Trump Joe Biden	72 by 48 inches (180 by 120 cm)[4]	This desk was created from wood salvaged from HMS Resolute and given to Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1879.[28] It had a hinged front panel added to it by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The desk resided in the White House in various rooms, until Jacqueline Kennedy found it languishing in the "White House broadcast room." She had it restored and moved into the Oval Office.[28] After Kennedy's death, the desk was removed for a traveling exhibition, returning to the Oval Office under Jimmy Carter in 1977. It has been the Oval Office desk ever since with the exception of the George H.W. Bush presidential years.[28]	Oval Office, The White House, Washington, D.C.[29]
Johnson desk	Lyndon B. Johnson	75.5 by 45.5 inches (192 by 116 cm)[30]	This desk was used by Johnson from the time he was in the United States Senate up through his tenure in the Oval Office.[31] It is one of only two desks to date, along with the C&O desk, to serve only one president.	Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, Austin, Texas[17]
Wilson desk	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford	80.75 by 58.25 inches (205.1 by 148.0 cm)[4]	Nixon used this desk both as vice president and president as he believed it was used by Woodrow Wilson. Actually, the desk was not used by Woodrow Wilson or by former vice president of the United States Henry Wilson, as was later suggested.[3][19]	Vice President's Room, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.[32]
C&O desk	George H. W. Bush	Unknown	George H. W. Bush used this desk during his tenure as both vice president and president of the United States. It was created for the owners of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway around 1920 and subsequently donated to the White House. Previously, Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan had used it in the West Wing Study.[3]	Unknown

Chronology[]

The Theodore Roosevelt desk in William Howard Taft's new Oval Office in 1909

Stanley Tretick's October 2, 1963 photo of John F. Kennedy Jr. playing in the kneehole of the Resolute desk

President Richard Nixon at the Wilson desk giving a televised address explaining release of edited transcripts of the Watergate tapes on April 29, 1974

Below is a table noting the desk used for each presidency since the Oval Office was created in 1909.

Notes[]

References[]

Works cited

• Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society. Washington, D.C. 1986. ISBN 0-912308-28-1.

External links[]

• Media related to Oval Office desks at Wikimedia Commons