Photos show how Biden replaced Trump's Oval Office decorations with symbols of American icons
- President Biden's new Oval Office decorations feature numerous portraits and busts of American icons.
- Biden notably removed a portrait of Andrew Jackson that once hung in Trump's Oval Office.
- Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton portraits are hung together to symbolize the benefits of different opinions.
Even before Joe Biden stepped foot into the Oval Office for the first time as president of the United States, the symbolic and formal workplace had been redecorated to reflect the type of president he hopes to be.
New presidents almost always redesign the legendary room to reflect their personal tastes and presidential aspirations. Biden is no exception. With an abundance of artwork honoring distinguished American icons, Biden has created a room full of reverent reminders and inspiration.
"It was important for President Biden to walk into an Oval that looked like America and started to show the landscape of who he is going to be as president," Ashley Williams, deputy director of Oval Office Operations, told The Washington Post.
Gone is the portrait of populist President Andrew Jackson that Trump so admired, replaced by a grand portrait of progressive President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the man who once guided the country out of troubled times - a task that President Biden now faces.
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In addition to Roosevelt, Biden's new office features busts of fellow progressives and activists showcased throughout the room: Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
"Placing a bust of my father in the Oval Office symbolizes the hopeful new day that is dawning for our nation," said Paul F. Chavez, Chavez's son and president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, in a press release. "That isn't just because it honors my dad, but more importantly because it represents faith and empowerment for an entire people on whose behalf he fought and sacrificed."
According to the Post, Benjamin Franklin's portrait reflects Biden's respect for science, while a featured moon rock set represents America's ambition.
Paintings of President Thomas Jefferson and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton are paired together, reportedly hanging near one another to serve as an example of the advantages of contradicting opinions. The two founding fathers notoriously disagreed.
Also removed from Trump's time in the office are the military flags that hung behind the Resolute Desk, replaced by an American flag and a presidential seal flag, according to the Post.
Biden also replaced Trump's light gold drapes with a darker gold shade that also hung in President Bill Clinton's office, and switched out the carpet to a dark blue one.
The Post reported that the office furniture was switched out Wednesday morning to be ready for the new president's arrival.