The Oval Office from above in 2001, during the administration of George W. Bush. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. President Bush chose a more somber color palette than his predecessor, using shades of taupe, celadon and navy. The president and Mrs. Bush worked with interior decorator Ken Blasingame on the design of the office. Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4 1946 is the wife of the forty-third and current President of the United States, George W

The Oval Office in 1999, during the administration of Bill Clinton. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States President Clinton's office was designed by Arkansan Kaki Hockersmith who used a vibrant color palette of cream, gold, crimson and sapphire blue.

The Oval Office in 1988, during the administration of Ronald Reagan. The drapery originated in the administration of Gerald Ford. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr (July 14 1913 December 26 2006 was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 and the fortieth Vice President President Reagan continued to use the Resolute desk that President Jimmy Carter had returned to the office in his administration. The Resolute desk is a large nineteenth century partners' desk that is frequently selected by U James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr (born October 1 1924 was the thirty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981 and the recipient of the 2002 First Lady Nancy Reagan contributed to the design of President Reagan's Oval Office rug and the placement of furniture. Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins on July 6 1921 is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and served as an influential

The first Oval Office, designed by Nathan C. Wyeth for President William Howard Taft in 1909 was nearly identical in proportion to the current office and was destroyed by fire in 1929. William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice

Exterior of the Oval Office as viewed from the South Lawn

An early color photograph of the Oval Ofice during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Oval Office floor, replaced during the administration of George W. Bush. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. Based on a 1933 design by Eric Gugler, the 2005 installation is arranged in a contrasting cross pattern of quarter-sawn oak and walnut. Most of the floor is usually covered with an elliptical rug.

Plaster ceiling medallion installed in 1934 includes elements of the Seal of the President of the United States. The Seal of the President of the United States is the official arms of the U

The Oval Office is the official office of the President of the United States. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by Located in the West Wing of the White House, the elliptical-shaped office features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk and a fireplace at the north end of the room. The West Wing is the Official offices of the President of the United States See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence In Mathematics, an ellipse (from the Greek ἔλλειψις literally absence) is a Conic section, the locus of points in a The Resolute desk is a large nineteenth century partners' desk that is frequently selected by U A fireplace is an architectural element consisting of a space designed to contain a Fire, generally for Heating but sometimes also for Cooking

The Oval Office has four doors: the east door opens to the Rose Garden; the west door leads to a private smaller 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. The White House Rose Garden is a Garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House.

Dimensions

Major north-south axis: 35' 10" (10. 9m)

Minor axis east-west axis: 29' (8. 8m)

Height: 18' 6" (5. 6m)

Line of rise (the point at which the ceiling starts to arch): 16' 7" (5. 0m)

Architecture and furnishings

Though architect James Hoban's original design for the White House included two oval rooms, the idea of an oval office did not come about until 1909. James Hoban (c 1758 - December 8, 1831) was an Irish Architect, best known for designing the White House in Washington An oval interior space is a Baroque concept that was adapted by Neoclassicism. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and Oval rooms became popular in eighteenth century neoclassical architecture, and it is considered likely that Hoban was influenced by the elliptical chamber at Castle Coole in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Castle Coole (pronounced cool) is a late-eighteenth-century neo-classical Mansion situated in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, That room has identical dimensions, and includes the two recessed niches found in Hoban's original design for the Blue Room. The "elliptic salon"—in the form of the Blue Room and Yellow Oval Room—was the outstanding feature of James Hoban's original plan of the White House. The Blue Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the home of the President of the United States. The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the home of the President of the United States. James Hoban (c 1758 - December 8, 1831) was an Irish Architect, best known for designing the White House in Washington At the temporary "President's House" in Philadelphia, George Washington had two rooms each modified with an apsidal bowed end, which were used for hosting the formal receptions called levees. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the APSE standing for Ada Programming Support Environment is a program or set of programs to support Software development in the Ada programming language. As his guests formed a circle around him, Washington could stand in the center with everyone an equal distance from the president. The apsidal end of a room was a traditional site of honor, for a host, a potentate, or the magistrate in a basilica. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman

The president's working office moved from the main residence to the newly constructed West Wing in 1902. At first the president had a rectangular office in the West Wing located just west of the present Cabinet Room. The Cabinet Room is the meeting room for the cabinet secretaries and advisors serving the President of the United States. The first Oval Office in the West Wing was designed by Nathan C. Wyeth and constructed in 1909, during the administration of Taft. William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice That office was centered east to west on the south side of the West Wing, much as the oval rooms in the White House residence are. President Taft intended the Oval Office to be the center of his administration. 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 in a vibrant green seagrass. A post card from late in 1909 shown on the right shows Taft's Oval Office.

On December 24, 1929, during the Herbert Hoover administration a fire damaged the West Wing requiring substantial rebuilding. Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10 1874 &ndash October 20 1964 was the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933 President Hoover rebuilt the Oval Office in the same location, upgrading the quality of trim and having the first air conditioning installed. Dissatisfied with the size and layout of the West Wing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt engaged a staff architect, Eric Gugler, to redesign the West Wing with the Oval Office placed in the southeast corner, offering more privacy, and easier access to the residence. President Roosevelt worked closely with Eric Gugler and devised a room architecturally grander than the previous two rooms, with more robust Georgian details: doors topped with substantial pediment hoods, bookcases set into niches, a deep bracketed crown molding and a ceiling medallion of the presidential seal. In small ways hints of Art Moderne can be seen, especially in the representation of the eagle in the ceiling medallion. Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone was a late branch of the Art Deco design style 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 President Roosevelt to be seated, with his guests at the same level, deemphasizing his inability to stand on his own accord.

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. A carpet is any loom-woven felted textile or grass floor covering Drapery refers to Cloths or Textiles ( Old French drap, from Late Latin drappus) used for decorative purposes--such on windows--or to 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. First Lady of the United States is the unofficial title of the hostess of the White House. This article is about the East Wing of the White House The more famous structure is the West Wing. The Curator of the White House or less formally White House Curator is head of the White House Office of the Curator which is charged with the conservation and study of the Art may be selected from the White House collection, or may be borrowed for the length of an administration. President Clinton borrowed a bronze sculpture of The Thinker by Auguste Rodin from a museum. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States The Thinker (Le Penseur is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin held in the Musée Rodin in Paris. Auguste Rodin (born François-Auguste-René Rodin; November 12 1840–November 17 1917 was a French artist most famous as a sculptor. President George W. Bush has borrowed an oil painting titled A Charge to Keep from a longtime Texan friend. Sometimes the look of one administration's Oval Office evolves over time. President George W. Bush at first had the two highback Martha Washington style "lolling chairs" in front of the fireplace upholstered in shades of tan, sage and melon. Media reports referring to the new fabric's melon color as "pink" caused him to request a new fabric replacing the melon with a medium blue.

The desk used by many presidents in the Oval Office is a large partners' desk called the Resolute desk, so named because it was built from the timbers of the British frigate HMS Resolute. The Resolute desk is a large nineteenth century partners' desk that is frequently selected by U Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Resolute. The desk was a gift of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4 1822 January 17 1893 was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the nineteenth Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Most recent presidents have hung a portrait of George Washington over the mantel on the north end of the room. A tradition of displaying potted Swedish ivy (Plectranthus australis) atop the mantel goes back to the Kennedy administration, and the current plants were rooted from the original plant. Mantel is a municipality in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria in Germany. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of A series of bronze sculptures of horses and Western themes by Frederic Remington (1861-1909) are often displayed in the room. A large case clock, commonly called a grandfather clock, built in Boston by John and Thomas Seymour, c. A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, grandfather clock or floor clock, is a freestanding weight-driven Pendulum clock with the 1795-1805, stands in the northeast portion of the room.

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, Richard Nixon speaking by telephone with the Apollo 11 astronauts after their successful voyage, or Amy Carter bringing her Siamese cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang to brighten President Jimmy Carter's day. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr (November 25 1960 – July 16 1999 often referred to as John F Amy Lynn Carter (born October 19, 1967) is the youngest of the four children and the only daughter of U James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr (born October 1 1924 was the thirty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981 and the recipient of the 2002 Use of the Oval Office for television broadcasts has a sense of gravity, as when President Kennedy presented news of the Cuban missile crisis, or President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster took place on January 28 1986 when ''Challenger'', a Space Shuttle operated by NASA, broke apart

Oval Office carpet

The carpet of the oval office bears the Seal of the President. The Seal of the President of the United States is the official arms of the U There is a popular misconception that the seal changes during time of war, with the eagle's head turning from the olive branch to the arrows. In fact, the design of the seal has not changed since Truman redesigned the Seal in 1945. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar President Truman's elliptical 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. The Curator of the White House or less formally White House Curator is head of the White House Office of the Curator which is charged with the conservation and study of the

Design and materials

Since the present Oval Office's construction in 1934 during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt the room has remained mostly unchanged architecturally. More than any president, FDR left an impression on the room and its use. Doors and window frames have been modified slightly. A domestic screen door on the east wall was removed after the installation of air conditioning. During the Cold War window panes were outfitted with small vibrators when it was learned that the Soviets had developed a means of reading the effect of voice sound waves on glass panes. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the President 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. A sconce is a type of light fixture affixed to a wall in such a way that it uses only the wall for support and the light is usually directed upwards

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 Eisenhower was an avid golfer and damaged the floor with his golf spikes. Cork material is a Prime-subset of generic cork tissue, harvested for commercial use primarily from the Cork Oak tree Quercus Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general President Johnson had the floor replaced in the mid-1960s with wood-grain linoleum. Linoleum is a Floor covering made from solidified Linseed oil (linoxyn in combination with Wood flour or cork dust over a Burlap or Canvas In 1982, embarrassed by the linoleum floor, President Reagan had the floor replaced with white pine and oak in a cross parquet pattern similar in design to Eric Gugler's 1933 sketch which was never installed. In August of 2005, the floor was replaced again under George W. Bush, in nearly the same pattern as the Reagan floor but replacing the soft white pine with walnut. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States.

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 Building Survey (HABS). The National Park Service ( NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS Historic American Engineering Record (HAER and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS are programs of the 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.

References and additional reading

• Portions of this article are based on public domain text from the White House. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
• The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.
• Abbott James A. , and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7.
• Clinton, Hillary Rodham. An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History. Simon & Schuster: 2000. ISBN 0-684-85799-5.
• Monkman, Betty C. The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families. Abbeville Press: 2000. ISBN 0-7892-0624-2.
• Ryan, William and Desmond Guinness. The White House: An Architectural History. McGraw Hill Book Company: 1980. ISBN 0-07-054352-6.
• Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. ISBN 0-912308-28-1.
• Seale, William, The White House: The History of an American Idea. White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001. ISBN 0-912308-85-0.
• West, J. B. with Mary Lynn Kotz. Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan: 1973. SBN 698-10546-X.

External links

• Oval Office historical photo essay
• Washington Post: "Inside the Real West Wing"
• White House Museum online tour: the Oval Office, with history and images from each administration
• President George W. Bush White House video tour of the Oval Office
• Google Sketchup 3D Model
• Oval Office is at coordinates 38°53′51″N 77°02′15″W / 38.89736, -77.03742 (Oval Office)Coordinates: 38°53′51″N 77°02′15″W / 38.89736, -77.03742 (Oval Office)