C&O desk
Oval Office desk / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The C&O desk is one of six desks ever used in the Oval Office by a sitting President of the United States. The C&O Desk was used in the executive office by only George H. W. Bush, making it one of two Oval Office desks to be used by only one president there. (The other one is the Johnson desk.) Prior to its use in the Oval Office by Bush, the desk had been in use elsewhere in the White House. It is the shortest-serving Oval Office desk to date, having been used for one four-year term.
Designer | Rorimer-Brooks |
---|---|
Date | c. 1920 |
Materials | Walnut |
Style / tradition | Partners desk |
Built around 1920, the C&O desk is one of four desks built for the owners of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) by Rorimer-Brooks. Following a series of railway mergers, Clement Conger convinced Hays T. Watkins of the Chessie System to loan the desk to the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the United States Department of State at some point between 1969 and 1974. Conger later became White House Curator and in March 1975 had the desk moved to the Oval Office Study. It was used in this room by Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. George H. W. Bush first had it moved to the Vice President's office in the White House, then the White House Residence, and finally the Oval Office. The C&O desk was donated by Chessie System's successor CSX Corporation to the White House in 1987. It is now a part of the White House collection.
The George Bush Presidential Library, in College Station, Texas, houses a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, including a replica of the C&O desk.