Biden’s Oval Office Swaps Andrew Jackson, Military Flags for Family Photos, Civil Rights Leaders
U.S President Joe Biden has decorated his new office with busts of civil rights and labor leaders, nods to other presidents who faced great crises, and side-by-side portraits of American founders who famously disagreed…
U.S President Joe Biden has decorated his new office with busts of civil rights and labor leaders, nods to other presidents who faced great crises, and side-by-side portraits of American founders who famously disagreed.
The military flags displayed during the Donald Trump presidency have been replaced by just an American flag and one with the Presidential Seal, and a collection of family photos.
The Oval Office is the formal working space for the president, and most choose new drapery, furniture and carpets when they enter, as well as art and artifacts from the White House collection, museums and collectors.
A portrait of former President Andrew Jackson, who espoused a populist political style that has sometimes been compared with that of Trump, is gone.
The space now features American leaders who faced challenges and persevered, including Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through the Civil War, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president in the depths of the Great Depression.
The redesign includes side-by-side pictures of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and President Thomas Jefferson – men known to vehemently disagree with one another.
There is also a bust of U.S. Senator Daniel Webster – who forcefully defended the country’s unity in 1830, saying “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”
Biden took the helm on Wednesday of an extremely polarized nation, ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, with millions of people out of work.
The new Oval Office highlights the country’s diversity with busts of civil rights icons including Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez, and a sculpture made by a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.