kids encyclopedia robot

Oval Office facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
President Trump's First 100 Days- 43 (34252543421)
President Donald Trump meets with (from left) U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price; Vice President Mike Pence; Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; Zeke Emanuel; and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Andrew Bremberg, Monday, March 20, 2017, in the Oval Office.
Oval Office 1981
The Oval Office in 1981

The Oval Office is, since 1909, the working office space of the President of the United States, located in the West Wing of the White House, Washington, D.C.

Opened in 1909, the room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end. It has four doors: the east door opens to the Rose Garden; the west door leads to a private study and dining room; the northwest door opens onto the main corridor of the West Wing; and the northeast door opens to the office of the president's secretary.

Presidents generally decorate the office to suit their personal taste, choosing new furniture, new drapery, and designing their own oval-shaped carpet to take up most of the floor. Artwork is selected from the White House's own collection, or borrowed from museums for the president's term in office.

Cultural history

The Oval Office has become associated in Americans' minds with the presidency itself through memorable images, such as a young John F. Kennedy, Jr. peering through the front panel of his father's desk, President Richard Nixon speaking by telephone with the Apollo 11 astronauts during their moonwalk, and daughter Amy Carter bringing her Siamese cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang to brighten President Jimmy Carter's day. Several presidents have addressed the nation from the Oval Office on occasion. Examples include Kennedy presenting news of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Nixon announcing his resignation from office (1974), Ronald Reagan following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (1986), and George W. Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks (2001). In 2018, former White House stenographer Beck Dorey-Stein published a memoir about her years working for Obama called From the Corner of the Oval.

Antecedents

PhiladelphiaPresidentsHouse
President's House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Washington's Bow Window (not depicted) is echoed in the shape of the Oval Office.

Washington's Bow Window

George Washington never occupied the White House. He spent most of his presidency in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which served as the temporary national capital for 10 years, 1790–1800, while Washington, D.C. was under construction.

In 1790, Washington built a large, two-story, semi-circular addition to the rear of the President's House in Philadelphia, creating a ceremonial space in which the public would meet the President. Standing before the three windows of this Bow Window, he formally received guests for his Tuesday afternoon audiences, delegations from Congress and foreign dignitaries, and the general public at open houses on New Year's Day, the Fourth of July, and his birthday.

Washington received his guests, standing between the windows in his back drawing-room. The company, entering a front room and passing through an unfolding door, made their salutations to the President, and turning off, stood on one side.

President John Adams occupied the Philadelphia mansion beginning in March 1797, and used the Bow Window in the same manner as his predecessor.

Curved foundations of Washington's Bow Window were uncovered during a 2007 archaeological excavation of the President's House site. They are exhibited under glass at the President's House Commemoration, just north of the Liberty Bell Center.

White House

Yellow Oval Room 1886
The Yellow Oval Room as President Grover Cleveland's library and study, 1886. Note his use of the Resolute desk.

Architect James Hoban visited President Washington in Philadelphia in June 1792 and would have seen the Bow Window. The following month, he was named winner of the design competition for The White House.

The "elliptic salon" at the center of the White House was the outstanding feature of Hoban's original plan. An oval interior space was a Baroque concept that was adapted by Neoclassicism. Oval rooms became popular in eighteenth century neoclassical architecture.

In November 1800, John Adams became the first President to occupy the White House. He and his successor, President Thomas Jefferson, used Hoban's oval rooms in the same ceremonial manner that Washington had used the Bow Window, standing before the three windows at the south end to receive guests.

During the 19th century, a number of presidents used the White House's second-floor Yellow Oval Room as a private office or library.

West Wing

The West Wing was the idea of President Theodore Roosevelt, brought about by his wife's opinion that the second floor of the White House, then shared between bedrooms and offices, should be just a domestic space. The one-story Executive Office Building was intended to be a temporary structure, for use until a permanent building was erected either on that site or elsewhere. Building it to the west of the White House allowed the removal of a vast, dilapidated set of pre-Civil War greenhouses that had been constructed by President James Buchanan. Roosevelt moved the offices of the executive branch to the newly constructed wing in 1902. His workspace was a two-room suite of Executive Office and Cabinet Room, located just west of the present Cabinet Room. The furniture, including the president's desk, was designed by architect Charles Follen McKim and executed by A. H. Davenport and Company, of Boston.

Taft Oval Office: 1909–1933

TaftOval1909
Taft Oval Office, completed 1909. Nearly identical in size to the modern office, it was damaged by fire in 1929 and demolished in 1933.

President William Howard Taft made the West Wing a permanent building, expanding it southward, doubling its size, and building the first Oval Office. Designed by Nathan C. Wyeth and completed in 1909, the office was centered on the south side of the building, much as the oval rooms in the White House are. Taft intended it to be the hub of his administration, and, by locating it in the center of the West Wing, he could be more involved with the day-to-day operation of his presidency. The Taft Oval Office had simple Georgian Revival trim, and was likely the most colorful in history; the walls were covered with vibrant seagrass green burlap.

On December 24, 1929, during President Herbert Hoover's administration, a fire severely damaged the West Wing. Hoover used this as an opportunity to create more space, excavating a partial basement for additional offices. He restored the Oval Office, upgrading the quality of trim and installing air-conditioning. He also replaced the furniture, which had undergone no major changes in twenty years.

Modern Oval Office: 1934–present

White House West Wing - 1st Floor with the Oval Office highlighted
Location of the Oval Office in the West Wing.
FDR Oval Office in 1934 LOC37952v cropped
The newly built Oval Office in 1934.
OvalMedallion
Plaster ceiling medallion installed in 1934 includes elements of the Seal of the President of the United States.
REAGANEugeniaCharles
Ronald Reagan discussing Grenada with Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica in the Oval Office

Dissatisfied with the size and layout of the West Wing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt engaged New York architect Eric Gugler to redesign it in 1933. To create additional space without increasing the apparent size of the building, Gugler excavated a full basement, added a set of subterranean offices under the adjacent lawn, and built an unobtrusive "penthouse" story. The directive to wring the most office space out of the existing building was responsible for its narrow corridors and cramped staff offices. Gugler's most visible addition was the expansion of the building eastward for a new Cabinet Room and Oval Office.

The modern Oval Office was built at the West Wing's southeast corner, offering Roosevelt, who was physically disabled and used a wheelchair, more privacy and easier access to the Residence. He and Gugler devised a room architecturally grander than the previous two rooms, with more robust Georgian details: doors topped with substantial pediments, bookcases set into niches, a deep bracketed cornice, and a ceiling medallion of the Presidential Seal. Rather than a chandelier or ceiling fixture, the room is illuminated by light bulbs hidden within the cornice that "wash" the ceiling in light. In small ways, hints of Art Moderne can be seen, in the sconces flanking the windows and the representation of the eagle in the ceiling medallion. Roosevelt and Gugler worked closely together, often over breakfast, with Gugler sketching the president's ideas. One notion resulting from these sketches that has become fixed in the layout of the room's furniture, is that of two high back chairs in front of the fireplace. The public sees this most often with the president seated on the left, and a visiting head of state on the right. This allowed Roosevelt to be seated, with his guests at the same level, de-emphasizing his inability to stand. Construction of the modern Oval Office was completed in 1934.

Decoration

The basic Oval Office furnishings have been a desk in front of the three windows at the south end, a pair of chairs in front of the fireplace at the north end, a pair of sofas, and assorted tables and chairs. The Neoclassical mantel was made for the Taft Oval Office in 1909, and salvaged after the 1929 West Wing fire. A tradition of displaying potted Swedish ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus) atop the mantel goes back to the administration of John F. Kennedy, and the current plants were rooted from the original plant.

A Federal longcase clock, made in Boston by John and Thomas Seymour c. 1795–1805 – commonly known as the Oval Office grandfather clock – was purchased by the White House Historical Association in 1972, and has stood next to the Oval Office's northeast door since 1975.

The carpet of the Oval Office bears the Seal of the President. President Harry S. Truman's oval carpet was the first to incorporate the presidential seal. In Truman's carpet, the seal was represented monochromatically through varying depths of the cut pile. His carpet was used in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. In recent years most administrations have created their own rug, working with an interior designer and the Curator of the White House. As part of her overall restoration of the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy had a redecoration of the Oval Office begun on November 21, 1963, when she accompanied President John F. Kennedy on a trip to Texas. The next day, November 22, a new carpet was installed just as the Kennedys were making their way through Dallas and the President was assassinated.

Desks

Caroline Kennedy Kerry Kennedy Resolute Desk a

Six desks have been used in the Oval Office by U.S. Presidents. The Theodore Roosevelt desk was used there by seven presidents – most recently by Dwight Eisenhower – and by Theodore Roosevelt in his non-oval office.

Equally popular is the Resolute Desk, so named because it was made from the timbers of the British frigate HMS Resolute. The ship had been frozen in Arctic ice and abandoned but was later found and freed by American seamen. It was refurbished and presented as a gift from the United States to Queen Victoria in 1856. When the ship was decommissioned from the British Navy in 1879, Queen Victoria ordered twin desks made from its timbers, keeping one and presenting the other as a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a kneehole panel with the Presidential Seal added, but work was not completed until after his 1945 death in office. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had the desk restored, and she was the first to place it in the Oval Office. Following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the desk toured the country as part of a traveling exhibit for the Kennedy Presidential Library and was then lent to the Smithsonian Institution. President Jimmy Carter brought the desk back to the Oval Office in the 1970s. Since then, Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump have also used it as their Oval Office desk.

When not in use in the Oval Office, a desk is often placed in the adjacent Oval Office Study, in the White House, or is used by the vice-president.

Artwork

OvalFloor
Oval Office floor, replaced during the administration of Ronald Reagan. Designed by Nancy Reagan, the installation is arranged in a contrasting cross pattern of quarter sawn oak and walnut.

Decorator Ted Graber arranged for the floor to be built, installed and donated by Rode Brothers from Los Angeles.

Art may be selected from the White House collection, or may be borrowed from museums or individuals for the length of an administration.

Most presidents have hung a portrait of George Washington – usually the Rembrandt Peale "Porthole" portrait or the Charles Willson Peale three-quarter-length portrait – over the mantel at the north end of the room. A portrait of Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully hung in Lyndon Johnson's office, and in Ronald Reagan's, George H. W. Bush's and Bill Clinton's. A portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Henry Story hung in George W. Bush's office, and continued in Barack Obama's. Three landscapes/cityscapes by minor artists – City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke, Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay by Victor de Grailly, and The President's House, a copy after William Henry Bartlett – have adorned the walls in multiple administrations. The Avenue in the Rain by Childe Hassam and Working on the Statue of Liberty by Norman Rockwell flanked the Resolute Desk in Bill Clinton's office, and did the same in Barack Obama's.

Statuettes, busts, heads, and figurines are frequently displayed in the Oval Office. Abraham Lincoln has been the most common subject, in works by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Gutzon Borglum, Adolph Alexander Weinman, Leo Cherne and others. In recent administrations, traditional busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin have given way to heads of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman or Dwight Eisenhower. Western bronzes by Frederic Remington have been frequent choices: Lyndon Johnson displayed The Bronco Buster, as did Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Presidents Reagan and Bush added its companion piece, The Rattlesnake. Harry S. Truman displayed Remington's oil painting Fired On.

President Harry S. Truman displayed works related to his home state of Missouri, illustrations of biplanes, and models of jet-airplanes. He hung a large photograph of the White House portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, under whom he had served as Vice President and who died in office in 1945. President Dwight Eisenhower filled the office walls with landscape paintings, as well as a painting of Robert E. Lee. President John F. Kennedy surrounded himself with paintings of naval battles from the War of 1812, photographs of sailboats, and ship models. President Lyndon Johnson installed sconces on either side of the mantel, and added the office's first painting by a woman artist, Franklin D. Roosevelt by Elizabeth Shoumatoff. President Richard Nixon tried three different George Washington portraits over the mantel, and hung a copy of Earthrise – a photograph of the earth taken from the moon's orbit during the Apollo 8 mission – beside his desk. President Gerald Ford displayed tasteful, conservative works, paintings that remained mostly in place through the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. President George H. W. Bush added luminist landscapes. President Bill Clinton chose the Childe Hassam and Norman Rockwell paintings mentioned above, along with Waiting for the Hour by William T. Carlton, a genre painting showing African-Americans gathered in anticipation of the Emancipation Proclamation going into effect. President George W. Bush mixed traditional works with paintings by Texas artists and Western sculptures. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, British Prime Minister Tony Blair lent him a bust of Winston Churchill, who had guided Great Britain through World War II. President Barack Obama honored Abraham Lincoln with the portrait by Story, a bust by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. Below the proclamation was a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. by Charles Alston, and in the nearby bookcase was a program from the August 28, 1963, March on Washington, at which King gave his "I Have a Dream Speech."

Redecoration

A tradition evolved in the latter part of the twentieth century of each new administration redecorating the office to the President's liking. A new administration usually selects an oval carpet, new drapery, the paintings on the walls, and some furniture. Most incoming presidents continue using the rug of their predecessor until their new one is installed. The retired carpet very often is then moved to the presidential library of the president for whom it was made.

The redecoration of the Oval Office is usually coordinated by the First Lady's office in the East Wing, working with an interior designer and the White House Curator.

Alterations

Since the present Oval Office's construction in 1934 during the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt the room has remained mostly unchanged architecturally. More than any president, Roosevelt left an impression on the room and its use. Doors and window frames have been modified slightly. A screen door on the east wall was removed after the installation of air conditioning. President Lyndon B. Johnson's row of wire service Teletype machines on the southeast wall required cutting plaster and flooring to accommodate wiring. The Georgian style plaster ornament has been cleaned to remove accumulated paint, and a series of electrified wall sconces have come and gone.

Though some presidents have chosen to do day-to-day work in a smaller study just west of the Oval Office, most use the actual Oval Office for work and meetings. Traffic from the large numbers of staff, visitors, and pets over time takes its toll. There have been four sets of flooring in the Oval Office. The original floor was made of cork installed over soft wood; however, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was an avid golfer and damaged the floor with his golf spikes. Johnson had the floor replaced in the mid-1960s with wood-grain linoleum. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan had the floor replaced with quarter sawn oak and walnut, in a cross parquet pattern similar in design to Eric Gugler's 1933 sketch, which had never been installed. In August 2005, the floor was replaced again under President George W. Bush, in exactly the same pattern as the Reagan floor.

Conservation

In the late 1980s, a comprehensive assessment of the entire house, including the Oval Office, was made as part of the National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Detailed photographs and measured drawings were made documenting the interior and exterior and showing even slight imperfections. A checklist of materials and methods was generated for future conservation and restoration.

Dimensions

Dimensions US SI
Major axis (north-south) 35 ft 10 in 10.9 m
Minor axis (east-west) 29 ft 8.8 m
Eccentricity 0.59 0.59
Height 18 ft 6 in 5.6 m
Line of rise (the point at which the ceiling starts to arch) 16 ft 7 in 5.0 m
Approximate circumference 102 ft 5 in 31.2 m
Approximate area 816.2 sq ft 75.8 sq m

The ratio of the major axis to the minor axis is approximately 21:17 or 1.24.

Taft Oval Office, 1909–1933

President Image Designer Furnishings Artwork/Statues/Pictures Notes
William Howard Taft
1909–1913
TaftOval1909.jpg Nathan C. Wyeth, 1909 Marble Neoclassical mantel
Bookcases with glass doors
Lighting fixtures by E. F. Caldwell & Co.
Walls covered in green burlap
Skylight

Theodore Roosevelt desk
Green drapery
Green rug
2 leather "Davenport" sofas
Leather armchairs
Side chairs covered in leather
The President's office by Detroit Photographic Company.jpg
President Roosevelt's Executive Office, 1904.
President Taft used the desk and furniture from President Roosevelt's office.
Woodrow Wilson
1913–1921
Woodrow Wilson at his desk in the Oval Office c.1913 cropped.jpg President Wilson rarely used the Oval Office, preferring to work in the Treaty Room.
Warren G. Harding
1921–1923
Mr. Harding's desk in the Executive Offices LOC3c32075v.jpg President Harding died in office on August 2, 1923. This photo, taken on the day of his funeral, shows a mourning crepe tied to the desk chair and blotter.
Calvin Coolidge
1923–1929
Calvin Coolidge seated at desk in Oval Office LOC3b39484r.jpg President Coolidge's first official photograph, taken August 15, 1923.
Herbert Hoover
1929–1933
1st Oval Office after Dec. 24, 1929 fire.jpg Before fire:
Theodore Roosevelt desk

After fire:
Hoover desk
Art Moderne-style sconces
6 cane-back armchairs
Upholstered furniture
President Hoover rebuilt the West Wing after the December 24, 1929 fire. He installed air-conditioning, and replaced the Oval Office's Colonial-Revival lighting fixtures with Art Moderne ones. He replaced the leather sofas and chairs with upholstered furniture, and added the 6 cane-back armchairs that are still used in the modern Oval Office.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933–1945
Franklin Roosevelt at desk in Oval Office, 1933.jpg Hoover desk Note the Art Moderne sconces in this 1933 photo.

President Roosevelt moved the marble mantel, 2 of the sconces, the rug, drapery, desk, and furniture to the modern Oval Office.

Modern Oval Office, 1934–present

President Image Designer Furnishings Artwork/Statues/Pictures Notes
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933–1945
White House Oval Office photographed by Theodor Horydczak.jpg Eric Gugler, 1934 Marble mantel (from prior Oval Office)
2 sconces (from prior Oval Office)

Hoover desk
Green drapery
Green rug
Arched-back desk chair
Arched-back armchairs (against the wall)
"Lawson" sofa (against the wall)
6 cane-back armchairs
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale

Prints of the Hudson Valley

Ship models
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale - George Washington (Porthole type) - Google Art Project.jpg





Oval Office replica at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
FDR Oval Office.tif
Harry S. Truman
1945–1953
Photograph of President Truman's desk and other furnishings in the Oval Office of the White House. - NARA - 199460.jpg Theodore Roosevelt desk
Gray drapery
Blue-gray rug with the Presidential Seal
Television set
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
George Washington by Luis Cadena (gift of Ecuador)
Simón Bolívar by Tito Salas (gift of Venezuela)
José de San Martín, copy after Jean Baptiste Madou (gift of Argentina)
USS Constitution by Gordon Grant
Missouri State Seal plaque

Fired On by Frederic Remington
Equestrian Statue of Andrew Jackson by Charles Keck

Photograph of Portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Frank O. Salisbury

Jet-airplane models
Photograph of President Truman receiving a marble bust of Simon Bolivar from a Venezuelan delegation in the Oval... - NARA - 199531.tif
Truman receiving a bust of Simón Bolívar (gift of Venezuela), 1946.
Trumanovalofficereplica.jpg



Oval Office replica at Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953–1961
EisenhowerAtomicEnergyAct.jpg Theodore Roosevelt desk
Truman drapery
Truman rug
Landscape paintings

Seated Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum
Lincoln7.jpg
Seated Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum.
John F. Kennedy
1961–1963
Caroline Kennedy Kerry Kennedy Resolute Desk b.jpg Stéphane Boudin, 1963 Resolute desk
White drapery
Red rug
Rocking chair
2 white sofas (not against the wall)
Round coffee table, with phone attached

Replaced sconces with brass lanterns
USS United States vs. HMS Macedonian by Thomas Birch
Paintings of naval battles

Photographs of sailboats

Ship models
Meeting with General Clay and David Bell. Adminstrator of the Agency for International Development David Bell... - NARA - 194220.tif


First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy restored the Resolute desk.
Redecoration of the Oval Office was nearing completion at the time of JFK's assassination.
Lyndon B. Johnson
1963–1969
LBJ watching TV in the Oval Office.jpg Johnson desk
Truman rug
Kennedy drapery
Cabinet for Teletype
Banquette with three televisions
Kennedy rocking chair
Kennedy sofas
Round coffee table, with phone in drawer
Federal-style tall-case clock

Replaced brass lanterns with brass sconces
Covered floor with wood-grained linoleum
George Washington by Gilbert Stuart
Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully
Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart
Franklin D. Roosevelt by Elizabeth Shoumatoff

The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Bust of Lyndon B. Johnson (1966) by Jimilu Mason
Oval Office Meeting 5 June 1967.jpg
Franklin D. Roosevelt by Elizabeth Shoumatoff (on mantel).
Richard Nixon
1969–1974
Photograph of President Richard M. Nixon and Representative Gerald R. Ford in the Oval Office Prior to the Nomination... - NARA - 186969.tif Wilson desk
Yellow drapery
Royal blue rug
1st. George Washington by Gilbert Stuart
2nd. George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
3rd. George Washington by Charles Willson Peale
The President's House, copy after William Henry Bartlett

Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Leo Cherne
Bird figurines by Edward Marshall Boehm

Earthrise (photograph of the earth from the moon's orbit)
Nixon Presidential Library & Museum (30608035520) (cropped1).jpg
Oval Office replica at Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
First Lady Pat Nixon designed the Oval Office's royal blue rug.
Gerald Ford
1974–1977
Ford Oval Office.jpg Wilson desk
Red drapery
Yellow floral rug
2 yellow Queen Anne-style armchairs
2 yellow wing chairs
2 striped sofas
Seymour tall-case clock

Removed the brass sconces
George Washington by Charles Willson Peale
The President's House, copy after William Henry Bartlett
Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay by Victor de Grailly
City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke
Benjamin Franklin by Charles Willson Peale

Standing Lincoln by Adolph Alexander Weinman
The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Seymour Clock in the Oval Office.jpg
President Ford first placed the Seymour tall-case clock in the Oval Office.
Jimmy Carter
1977–1981
The Oval Office - NARA - 177693.tif 1977 Resolute desk
Ford drapery
Ford rug

Placed the Ford sofas back-to-back
George Washington by Charles Willson Peale.
The President's House, copy after William Henry Bartlett
Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay by Victor de Grailly
The City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke

Bust of Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon
Bust of George Washington by Hiram Powers
Bust of Thomas Jefferson by Jean-Antoine Houdon
The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Bust of Harry S. Truman by Charles Keck

Ship model
Jimmy Carter Library and Museum 68.JPG
Oval Office replica at Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.
Ronald Reagan
1981–1989
Oval Office 1981.jpg
REAGANWORKSINOVALOFFICE.jpg
Ted Graber, 1981
Ted Graber, 1988
Resolute desk
Ford drapery
Ford rug (First Term)
Replaced the wood floor
"Sunbeam" rug (Second Term)
George Washington by Charles Willson Peale.
The President's House, copy after William Henry Bartlett
Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay by Victor de Grailly
The City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke
Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully

The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Rattlesnake by Frederic Remington

Numerous family pictures
REAGAN PRESIDENTAL LIBRARY, SIMI VALLEY.jpg
Oval Office replica at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
First Lady Nancy Reagan designed the rug.
George H. W. Bush
1989–1993
President Bush meets with Secretary Dick Cheney, General Colin Powell, General Scowcroft, Governor Sununu and Robert... - NARA - 186427.tif Mark Hampton C&O desk
Pale blue drapery
Pale blue rug
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
The President's House, copy after William Henry Bartlett
Rutland Falls, Vermont by Frederic Edwin Church
The Three Tetons by Thomas Moran
Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully

Ship model
Numerous family pictures
Bush Library Oval Office Replica.jpg
Oval Office replica at George Bush Presidential Library.
Bill Clinton
1993–2001
WJCovaloffice.jpg Kaki Hockersmith, 1993 Resolute desk
Yellow drapery
Navy blue rug
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
The Avenue in the Rain by Childe Hassam
Statue of Liberty by Norman Rockwell
The City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke
Waiting for the Hour by William Tolman Carlton
Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin
The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Appeal to the Great Spirit by Cyrus Dallin
Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Robert Berks
Bust of Franklin D. Roosevelt by Jo Davidson

Numerous family pictures
Clinton exhibit Presidential Library Little Rock AR 2013-06-07 023.jpg
Oval Office replica at William J. Clinton Presidential Library.
George W. Bush
2001–2009
OvalOffice.whitehouse.jpg Ken Blasingame, 2001 Resolute desk
Gold drapery
"Sunbeam" rug

Replaced the wood floor
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale.
A Charge to Keep by W. H. D. Koerner
Rio Grande by Tom Lea
Near San Antonio by Julian Onderdonk
Chili Queens at the Alamo by Julian Onderdonk
Cactus Flower by Julian Onderdonk
Abraham Lincoln by George Henry Story

The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Rattlesnake by Frederic Remington
Bust of Dwight D. Eisenhower by Nison Tregor
Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Bust of Winston Churchill by Jacob Epstein (lent by British Prime Minister Tony Blair from the British Government Art Collection)

Numerous family pictures
Barack Obama in the Oval Office replica in the George W. Bush Presidential Center.jpg




Oval Office replica at George W. Bush Presidential Center. First Lady Laura Bush designed the "Sunbeam" rug.
Barack Obama
2009–2017
Obama edits speech before announcing death of Osama bin Laden.jpg Michael S. Smith, 2010 Resolute desk
Red drapery
Taupe rug with quotes in border
Striped wallpaper
George Washington by Rembrandt Peale
The Avenue in the Rain by Childe Hassam
Statue of Liberty by Norman Rockwell
The Three Tetons by Thomas Moran
Abraham Lincoln by George Henry Story
Cobb's Barns, South Truro by Edward Hopper
Burly Cobb's House, South Truro by Edward Hopper

The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Charles Alston

Copy of the Emancipation Proclamation
Numerous family pictures
Barack Obama on the telephone to John Boehner.jpg
The rug's border incorporates quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Donald Trump
2017–present
Photo of the Day October 18, 2017 (38276499374).jpg 2017 Resolute desk
Clinton drapery
Reagan sunburst rug
Classic White motif wallpaper
G.W. Bush cream-colored sofas
Andrew Jackson by Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl
Abraham Lincoln by George Henry Story
George Washington by Gilbert Stuart
Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart

The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington
Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Bust of Winston Churchill by Jacob Epstein
Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Charles Alston
Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson by Clark Mills

Letter from President Nixon
Pictures of Trump's parents (Fred and Mary Anne Trump)
Collection of Challenge coins
Wounded Warrior Project Award
Mini World Cup replica trophy
Trump International Golf Club Championship trophy.
Trump originally used the Obama striped wallpaper, but was changed out for the current white wallpaper during renovations made in August 2017.
The World Cup miniature trophy was a gift given by FIFA officials after the U.S. was announced as host country of the 2026 World Cup.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Despacho Oval para niños

kids search engine
Oval Office Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.