Richard Nixon greeting Elvis Presley in the Oval Office in 1970 (Nixon Library - Ollie Atkins) Heritage Over the decades, Americans developed a sentimental attachment to the Oval Office through memorable images. Television broadcasts from the Oval Office, such as President Reagan's speech following the Challenger explosion, would leave lasting impressions in the minds of Americans of both the office and its occupant. The photo of JFK, Jr. peeking out of the modesty panel of the Resolute desk made it famous, too. Origin President Clinton's Oval Office rug—digitally reconstructed

(Clinton Birthplace Museum |

designed by Kaki Hockersmith) Prior to the construction of the "temporary Executive Office building" in 1902, the president worked out of the Residence, generally in what is now the Lincoln Bedroom. The first West Wing office of the president was Theodore Roosevelt's conventional rectangular room in the location of the current Roosevelt Room. This room adjoined his Cabinet Room, as the office in the mansion had and as the modern Oval Office still does. In this structure, the president's secretary (a position now called "White House chief of staff") occupied the office in the center of the building, and it had a rounded southern end (the northern end was square). In 1909, William Howard Taft had the West Wing expanded and extensively remodeled. He relocated the chief executive's office in the middle of the south side—taking over the secretary's round-ended office—and changed its shape to a full oval, like the Blue Room in the White House, about 34 feet by 27 feet. Furnishing it were silk velvet curtains and a checkerboard floor made of mahajua wood from the Philippines. Caribou hide tacked with brass studs covered the chairs in the room. President Taft chose an olive green color scheme. President Reagan's Oval Office rug—digitally reconstructed (Brumark) For President Taft, an oval office may have symbolized his view of the modern-day president. Taft intended to be the center of his administration, and by creating the Oval Office in the center of the West Wing, he was more involved with the day-to-day operation of his presidency than were his recent predecessors. Renovation and Expansion When the West Wing caught fire in 1929, the original Oval Office was gutted along with most of the rest of the buildng. It was rebuilt by Hoover to the same design. Digital rendering of President Bush's Oval Office rug

(Peter Sharkey) Franklin Roosevelt chose to renovate and further expand the West Wing to accommodate additional staff in 1933. He moved the Oval Office to the southeast corner in place of the laundry drying yard. The new location had better light (with windows to the east as well as south) and provided easier travel back and forth to the Residence. Time magazine described FDR's new office as: Oval like the old one but, by his order, two feet wider, two feet longer. Handsomest room in the building, it is decorated with the great Presidential Seal set in the ceiling, has indirect lighting simulating daylight. Since its completion in 1934, the modern Oval Office has changed very little except in its furnishings. Most presidents have commissioned a new rug and drapes, but two presidents chose not to change the decor: Eisenhower and Carter. Kennedy's new decor was just being installed the day he was assassinated. Barack Obama is the first president to choose a wall color that is not a simple solid. His walls have a pattern of vertical stripes that alternate between tan and light beige. President Decor Taft to Hoover

(old location) Green rug and dark green drapes with eagle valances and olive green walls Franklin Roosevelt Blue-green rug and dark green drapes with eagle valances and gray-green walls Harry Truman Blue-green rug and drapes with gray-green walls Dwight Eisenhower No change Jack Kennedy FDR's blue-green rug and drapes with off white walls

(At the time of his death, a new red rug with pale curtains were being installed by Boudin) Lyndon Johnson Kennedy's red rug and pale curtains; then FDR's blue-green rug with Kennedy's pale curtains Richard Nixon Navy blue rug with gold drapes Jerry Ford Pale gold rug with blue florettes; pumpkin drapes with gold curtains Jimmy Carter No change Ronald Reagan No change; then (second term) pale gold rug with sunbeam design George Bush Light blue rug with light blue drapes Bill Clinton Navy blue rug with gold drapes George W Bush Pale gold rug with sunbeam design (different from Reagan); antique gold drapes Barack Obama Light beige rug with quotations on border; muted red-orange drapes; tan and light beige vertical striped walls