# What is a POTUS usually doing at his/her Oval Office desk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198 "2016-10-20T23:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/1 "2016-10-20T23:54:28Z")
There isn’t any computer at the desk, although there do seem to be phones. Does he/she just sit there and read documents (paper documents) the old-fashioned way? Sign bills? Chill out on the Oval Office sofas, go through Blackberry text messages? Other than meetings with guests, or having chats with advisors, the VP, Cabinet, etc., what is the POTUS using that desk or Oval Office for? (no Monica Lewinsky jokes, please) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/2 "2016-10-21T00:51:48Z")
Meeting with staff, reviewing briefing binders and signing papers, and talking on the phone, from all the pictures I’ve seen. The President also has a hideaway office through the door to his left, as he sits at the _Resolute_ desk. > **[Oval Office](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oval_Office)** > > The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. > The oval-shaped room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk and a fireplace at the north end. It has two built-in bookcases, and four doors: the east door opens to the Rose Garden; the west door leads to a private study and dining room; the nort... > **[Resolute desk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_desk)** > > The Resolute desk, also known as the Hayes desk, is a nineteenth-century partners desk used by several presidents of the United States in the White House as the Oval Office desk, including the five most recent presidents. The desk was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and was built from the oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute. The 1,300-pound (590-kilogram) desk was created by William Evenden, a skilled joiner at Chatham Dockyard i... ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/3 "2016-10-21T01:19:16Z")
This is really a General Question rather than an Election discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/4 "2016-10-21T01:22:06Z")
I’d bet the Oval Office and its desk are used 99% for ceremonial purposes - formal meetings, signing documents, addresses to the nation, photo ops. As EH said, he\* has a “real” office just a door away, where the desk can get a little messy and he can put things on the walls without it being a major historical/personal/international faux pas. - well, _so_ far! ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/5 "2016-10-21T01:29:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Meeting with staff, reviewing briefing binders and signing papers, and talking on the phone, from all the pictures I’ve seen. The President also has a hideaway office through the door to his left, as he sits at the _Resolute_ desk. Does the hideaway office have a name and is there photos of it? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/6 "2016-10-21T01:46:29Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Does the hideaway office have a name and is there photos of it? It’s just called the President’s Study. Here are some pictures. > **[whitehousemuseum.org domain name is for sale. Inquire now.](https://www.whitehousemuseum.org/)** > > whitehousemuseum.org is available for purchase. Get in touch to discuss the possibilities! ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/7 "2016-10-21T02:04:50Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d bet the Oval Office and its desk are used 99% for ceremonial purposes - formal meetings, signing documents, addresses to the nation, photo ops. As EH said, he\* has a “real” office just a door away, where the desk can get a little messy and he can put things on the walls without it being a major historical/personal/international faux pas. > > - well, _so_ far! Agreed. His REAL office may even be his bed in the living quarters or just walking around the Whitehouse. Probably varies with the style of the President. But I doubt any of them put on a tie every morning and spend 8-5 in the oval office. Why would they? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/8 "2016-10-21T02:17:13Z")
There are plenty of real meetings in the Oval Office. The President may not be behind the big desk, or wearing a tie, in all cases, but it’s typically his primary room for meeting with individuals and small, single-agency groups. > [@Velocity](#): > > Other than meetings with guests, or having chats with advisors, the VP, Cabinet, etc., what is the POTUS using that desk or Oval Office for? Meeting with guests, advisors, department heads, and members of Congress _is_ most of the President’s work. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/9 "2016-10-21T02:17:52Z")
Jed Bartlett did! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/10 "2016-10-21T02:28:11Z")
Drinking his Ovaltine. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/11 "2016-10-21T12:42:24Z")
In one of his books, Hunter S. Thompson said that Nixon had an office in the Eisenhower building where he usually worked. Of course, he also claimed that Nixon turned into a werewolf that had sex with Martha Mitchell on the full moon, so take that for what it’s worth. > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > It’s just called the President’s Study. Here are some pictures. > > [whitehousemuseum.org domain name is for sale. Inquire now.](http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/presidents-study.htm) 2009 and he still had a 13" tube TV? I bet Sasha and Malia got the new TV, and they just moved the old one from their room to his office. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/12 "2016-10-21T12:52:56Z")
I thought that Presidents also kept an office in the (now) Eisenhower Executive Office Building. But Nixon was the last sitting President to have one there (and which contained is infamous recording system, of course.). It still has the VP’s office. Nonetheless, the President still carries out quite a few official actions there. Meetings, press conferences, the odd address, etc. BTW, PotUS definitely does have and uses a [laptop](http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/presidential-gadgets-what-technology-does-obama-use/3/). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/13 "2016-10-21T12:56:28Z")
\*\*What is a POTUS usually doing at his/her Oval Office desk? \*\*Posing for pictures. Really. That’s not a slam at the current President, that’s pretty much a given for all Presidents. The real work is done, as noted by posters above, elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/14 "2016-10-21T13:01:14Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I thought that Presidents also kept an office in the (now) Eisenhower Executive Office Building. But Nixon was the last sitting President to have one there (and which contained is infamous recording system, of course.). It still has the VP’s office… The VP also has, since Mondale I believe, an office in the West Wing. > **[whitehousemuseum.org domain name is for sale. Inquire now.](https://www.whitehousemuseum.org/)** > > whitehousemuseum.org is available for purchase. Get in touch to discuss the possibilities! [http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00006pV6bw2IgGo/s/880/880/bk-biden-20090625-4341.jpg](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00006pV6bw2IgGo/s/880/880/bk-biden-20090625-4341.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/15 "2016-10-21T13:16:10Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > \*\*What is a POTUS usually doing at his/her Oval Office desk? > > \*\*Posing for pictures. Really. That’s not a slam at the current President, that’s pretty much a given for all Presidents. The real work is done, as noted by posters above, elsewhere. I don’t know why people think “real work” doesn’t go on in the actual Oval Office, just because it’s picturesque. Of the first-hand accounts I’ve heard of working meetings with Presidents, most all of them that weren’t (a) outside Washington, (b) with large groups, or (c) involving active military operations, were in the Oval Office. Yes, when somebody’s PM or Foreign Minister is in town, they do the photo shoot in chairs in front of the fireplace; they don’t then remove to some other room for the “real” talk. Or, cite? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/16 "2016-10-21T13:48:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There isn’t any computer at the desk, although there do seem to be phones. Wasn’t there fake outrage when Obama added a laptop to the desk? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/17 "2016-10-21T16:40:04Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I thought that Presidents also kept an office in the (now) Eisenhower Executive Office Building. But Nixon was the last sitting President to have one there (and which contained is infamous recording system, of course.) :eek: Is that right? I had always assumed the recording system was in the Oval Office. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/18 "2016-10-21T20:47:25Z")
It was, and some other places, too: [Nixon White House tapes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_White_House_tapes) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/19 "2016-10-21T20:53:49Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Wasn’t there fake outrage when Obama added a laptop to the desk? I’m not sure that you can add _any_ set of words to “Wasn’t there fake outrage when Obama…” that makes an untrue statement. But given the enormous number of hacks and such in the last few years, it wouldn’t surprise me if the President did most of his computing in some sort of Faraday cage (etc.) secure environment, which would be impractical to build into the Oval Office with all those windows. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198/20 "2016-10-21T21:04:16Z")
Short answer? Minesweeper. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-potus-usually-doing-at-his-her-oval-office-desk/769198.md?page=2)