Filed under: Domestic Policy, History | Tags: President Barack Obama, The Historical Oval Office, The Oval Office Redecorated
While the Obamas were on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, the Oval Office was redecorated. Most presidents redecorate the Oval Office. They spend a lot of time there and like to have it express their own taste, rather than that of their predecessor. The cost of the redecoration comes from private funds, instead of taxpayer money. A tour through the history of the Oval Office is available here.
The new decor is slightly more informal than George W. Bush’s Oval Office, with leather covered chairs, and more neutral colors. Republicans immediately jumped on everything they disliked about the decorations, calling it bland and motel-like, which is nonsense. It is a tastefully decorated room, a little more neutral than the Bush decor. Save your criticism, Conservatives, for things that matter. Don’t nit-pick. You aren’t really criticizing presidents, but decorators.
If you are determined to criticize, suggest that the President refrain from putting his feet on the Resolute desk. And do take a look at how past presidents have decorated the Oval Office. You’ll find plenty to criticize there, and the union has survived.
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Nice.
Comment by Subsidy Eye September 8, 2010 @ 10:55 pmThis hits on the very thing that bothers me about those conservatives that seem to be more worried about getting their name and face out there…they nit-pick over stupid crap that does nothing to improve America or the lives of Americans…so when someone hears I’m conservative, they get the idea that I’m ‘just another moron’ when in fact, I think I could manage a lot of those departments in the government a lot better than those (on either side)with all that experience seem to be able.
Comment by mike lovell September 9, 2010 @ 8:30 amPersonally, I think the new decor is very attractive (well, everything except the coffee table). Sure, it’s a lot more casual, and it’s very modern compared to that historical building, but that fits the personality of the occupant. It’s an office where people who work in jeans and shirt sleeves are going to be much more comfortable, and it’s an office for people who do not value the historical principles that that office exists to uphold as much as they look to the future as an opportunity to change those principles.
Not a criticism, just a statement about what the design says about the person.
Besides, if you want to criticize Obama’s design choices, criticize the fact that he has apparently lined all the hallways of the West Wing with photographs of himself.
And Obama’s decor is light years better than Clinton’s, LBJ’s or Nixon’s.
(Little known Oval Office trivia: whenever the President gives an address from the Oval Office, they erect a photographic backdrop outside the windows, I assume to protect the president and/or to prevent any distractions should something pass behind the window)
Comment by American Elephant September 9, 2010 @ 11:26 am