President Bill Clinton works at his desk in the Oval Office, with First Daughter Chelsea Clinton in 1994. (Smith Collection/Gado, Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Changing the decor of the Oval Office might not be one of the most quintessential decisions a new president makes, but it’s done every time, nonetheless.
Between each administration, presidents are allowed to make slight tweaks to the decor in the Oval Office, such as swapping in another rug or hanging different artwork on the walls.
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The artwork is usually symbolic, and is typically a person in history that the president may admire or want to resemble as a leader.
The changes aren’t drastic, but it’s still fun to see the little things that each president changes here and there.
We went back and looked at how the Oval Office has changed over the years, going all the way back to Ronald Reagan. Here are some photos:
Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan in 1982. (Getty Images.)President Ronald Reagan and Prince Charles in the Oval Office. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)President Ronald Reagan leaving the Oval Office in 1989. (Photograph by Dirck Halstead/Getty Images) (1989 Dirck Halstead)President Ronald Reagan giving an address in 1989. (Photo by Ronald Reagan Library/Getty Images)
George HW Bush
President George HW Bush sits behind his desk in the White House's Oval Office in 1991. (Photo by Ron Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)Czech President Vaclav Havel and President George HW Bush talk together in the White House's Oval Office in 1991. (Photo by Ron Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)President George HW Bush sits behind his desk in the White House's Oval Office in 1991. (Photo by Arnie Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)President George HW Bush sits behind his desk in the White House's Oval Office in 1990. (Photo by Howard L. Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)
Bill Clinton
President Bill Clinton delivers his weekly radio address from the Oval Office in 1995. (Photo by White House/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)President Bill Clinton hosts a cabinet meeting in the White House's Oval Office in 1998. (Photo by Barbara Kinney/White House/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)From left, Representative Martin Meehan, President Bill Clinton and Representative Chris Shays as they talk in the White House's Oval Office in 1998. (Photo by Robert McNeely/White House/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)President Bill Clinton works at his desk in the Oval Office, with first daughter Chelsea Clinton in 1994. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
George W. Bush
President George W. Bush speaks to Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on the phone in the Oval Office in 2003. (Photo by Eric Draper/White House via Getty Images) (2003 White House)National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice waits as President George W. Bush talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair early Sept. 12, 2001 from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by Eric Draper/White House/Getty Images) (2001 Getty Images)President George W. Bush sits at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House after addressing the nation on the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2006 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg-Pool/Getty Images) (2006 Getty Images)President George W. Bush works on his address to the nation following 9/11 with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, speechwriter Mike Gerson, and Presidential Counselor Karen Hughes huddled around his desk in the Oval Office, Sept. 20, 2001. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Barack Obama
President Barack Obama walks into the Oval Office of the White House in the morning Jan. 21, 2009 in Washington, D.C. This was the first complete day of Obama's administration. (Photo by Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images) (2009 White House)President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Solicitor General Donald Verrilli in the Oval Office, after learning of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on June 28, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images) (2012 The White House)President Barack Obama talks on the phone with FBI Director Robert Mueller to receive an update on the explosions that occurred in Boston, in the Oval Office of the White House, April 15, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Seated with the President are Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. (Photo by Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images) (2013 The White House)President Barack Obama and German President Joachim Gauck speak to Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry und U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Oct. 7, 2015. (Photo by Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung via Getty Images) (2015 BPA)
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (2017 Getty Images)President Donald Trump discusses the potential impact of Hurricane Michael during a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and FEMA Administrator Brock Long in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 10, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (2018 Getty Images)President Donald Trump talks to journalists while hosting workers and members of his cabinet for a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Oct. 17, 2018 in Washington, D.C.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (2018 Getty Images)President Donald Trump argues about border security with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Vice President Mike Pence sits nearby in the Oval Office on Dec. 11, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) (2018 Getty Images)
Joe Biden
President Joe Biden prepares to sign a series of executive orders at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)A sculpted bust of Cesar Chavez is seen with a collection of framed photos on a table as U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to sign a series of executive orders at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)
Jack is a Digital Content Editor with a degree in creative writing and French from Western Michigan University. He specializes in writing about movies, food and the latest TV shows.
