“I think it’s a shame,” says Falanghe, “not just for Nasa but for mankind in general, that there isn’t as much interest in space exploration these days as there should be. There will be a premium for urban life (cafes, music, theatre), physical safety, respect for women, and cosmopolitan culture. Right now, the number of ideas being implemented is severely constrained because there is no way to make money off of most of them. Some systems are the other way around, with the user wearing the emitters while surrounded by sensors attached to the environment. Statuettes, busts, heads, and figurines are frequently displayed in the Oval Office. Western bronzes by Frederic Remington have been frequent choices: Lyndon Johnson displayed The Bronco Buster, as did Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. President Barack Obama honored Abraham Lincoln with the portrait by Story, a bust by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. Tito Salas’s Equestrian Portrait of Simon Bolivar (the gift of Venezuela). Most of these works remained in place through the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

In August 2005, the floor was replaced again under President George W. Bush, in exactly the same pattern as the Reagan floor. Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Other past presidents have used the Hoover desk, the Johnson desk, and the Wilson desk. Treasures of the White House: “Resolute” desk””. 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. Detailed photographs and measured drawings were made documenting the interior and exterior and showing even slight imperfections. President John F. Kennedy surrounded himself with paintings of naval battles from the War of 1812, photographs of sailboats, and ship models. President Harry S. Truman displayed works related to his home state of Missouri, prints of biplanes and sailing ships, and models of jet airplanes. Abraham Lincoln has been the most common subject, in works by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Gutzon Borglum, Adolph Alexander Weinman, Leo Cherne and others. President George W. Bush mixed traditional works with paintings by Texas artists and Western sculptures. He also displayed the painting Fired On by Western artist Frederic Remington. The ship was discovered in 1855 by an American whaling ship and later underwent a complete refit, repaint, and restock paid for by the United States Government.

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 Buildings Survey (HABS). Part of the app is available for free, part of its functionality is opened only by a paid subscription, the price of which starts from $4,90 per month. 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. President Richard M. Nixon and Bob Hope play golf in the Oval Office. President Richard Nixon tried three different portraits of George Washington over the mantel, and hung a copy of Earthrise – a photograph of the Earth taken from the Moon’s orbit during the Apollo 8 mission – beside his desk. President Joe Biden’s Oval Office features a cluster of five portraits at its north end, with Frank O. Salisbury’s Franklin D. Roosevelt given pride of place over the mantel. President Donald Trump hung mostly portraits on the office walls: Rembrandt Peale’s George Washington, George H. Story’s Abraham Lincoln, Asher B. Durand’s Andrew Jackson, George P. A. Healy’s Thomas Jefferson, John Trumbull’s Alexander Hamilton, Joseph-Siffred Duplessis’s Benjamin Franklin.

President George H. W. Bush hung landscape paintings on the walls, along with three portraits: Rembrandt Peale’s George Washington, Charles Willson Peale’s Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and Thomas Sully’s Andrew Jackson. He later substituted in other portraits: Rembrandt Peale’s Thomas Jefferson and Ralph E. W. Earl’s Andrew Jackson. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to occupy the Modern Oval Office, and placed Rembrandt Peale’s George Washington over the mantel. 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. Following a competitive, peer-review process, the two missions were chosen based on their potential scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans. Following the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, the Resolute desk was transferred, on loan, to the Smithsonian Institution and went on tour around the country to help raise funds for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.