|
The most important room in the White House is the Oval Office. Here the
President goes about his daily work routine: making decisions, signing
bills and Executive Orders and meeting both with staff, Heads of State,
and a multitude of others. The decor of the Oval office changes with each
new administration, as each President brings personal mementos and
favorite furniture or artwork, and each makes selections from the White
House collection.
On the ceiling of the Oval Office is a bas-relief of the Presidential
Seal. Over the fireplace (which is the same mantel that was in the 1909
Oval Office) hangs a porthole portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt
Peale painted in 1776. The United States flag and the President's flag
stand behind the President's desk.
The desk, given to Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880, is
fashioned from the timbers of the H.M.S. Resolute. It was a goodwill gift
to Hayes in recognition of America's successful efforts to rescue the
Resolute after it was lost in Artic waters in 1855. Every President from
Hayes through Dwight Eisenhower used the desk, but it was at the request
of President John F. Kennedy that it was first placed in the office,
in 1961.
Also in 1993 a new oval wool carpet was woven for the room. A dark blue
field centers a full-color Presidential Coat-of-Arms encircled by fifty
white stars and framed by a gilt rope band nestled into a plain red band.
The rug's border features green olive branches and gold laurel wreaths
separated by red rosettes on a white field.
|
