Why the new Oval Office decor is more important than you think
New US President Joe Biden moved into a redecorated Oval Office Tuesday evening. The Trump touch is over: some very symbolic changes mark the change of era.
Tradition has it that every American president changes the decoration of the Oval Office, where he will stay for at least four years. Sometimes the renovations take several weeks (as was the case in 2017 when Donald Trump had the 75 square meter room redecorated in gold). Sometimes the changes are more subtle, but say a lot. This is the case for the decoration which has already been redone for Joe Biden's installation on January 20.
New tables and change of "reference character"
For example, the painting of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, installed by Donald Trump, has already been replaced by that of Benjamin Franklin, the abolitionist inventor. Jackson, a supporter of individual freedoms, was widely criticized, in particular for having supported slavery and suppressed social movements by Amerindians.
Behind the desk is a console on which Donald Trump had placed a bronze statuette. Joe Biden, he preferred to install family photos.
The carpet turns blue (and closer to the American flag)
Each president changes the huge carpet in the Oval Office. Donald Trump's was beige, and Joe Biden went back to blue, which appears to match the one in the upper left corner of the American flag. Barack Obama had also installed a beige carpet, but with quotes (including Martin Luther King) printed.
Will the golden curtains disappear?
The question today is how far will the changes in the decor of the Biden era go? The Trumps are particularly fond of gold, and had changed the curtains of the Obamas: they had gone from red to "gold" in 2017. We can think that Joe Biden will change the color of the curtains again.
The office remains
What is certain is that the office, The Resolute desk, will not budge. It was made with wood from the English frigate Resolute. It was presented to President Hayes by the Queen of England, Victoria, in 1880.
