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New president brings a slightly new look to Oval Office

Published:Friday | January 22, 2021 | 12:06 AM
A bust of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, whose life and legacy was recently commemorated on Martin Luther King Jr Day last Monday, sits beside Rosa Parks’s sculpture.
A bust of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, whose life and legacy was recently commemorated on Martin Luther King Jr Day last Monday, sits beside Rosa Parks’s sculpture.
The desk behind President Joe Biden is filled with an array of framed family photos.
The desk behind President Joe Biden is filled with an array of framed family photos.
A bust of civil rights leader Rosa Parks sits atop a plinth inside the Oval Office.
A bust of civil rights leader Rosa Parks sits atop a plinth inside the Oval Office.
The Oval Office of the White House is newly redecorated for the first day of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The Oval Office of the White House is newly redecorated for the first day of President Joe Biden’s administration.
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WASHINGTON (AP):

President Joe Biden has given the Oval Office a slight makeover.

Biden revealed the new décor Wednesday as he invited reporters into his new office to watch him sign a series of executive orders hours after he took office.

A bust of Cesar Chavez, the labour leader and civil rights activist, is nestled among an array of framed family photos displayed on a desk behind the new president. Also represented in sculptures are civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks.

Benjamin Franklin peers down at Biden from a portrait on a nearby wall.

Biden brought a dark blue rug out of storage to replace a lighter coloured one installed by former President Donald Trump.

One office feature remains: Biden is also using what’s known as the Resolute Desk because it was built from oak used in the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute.

Trump used that desk, too.