Some presidents of the United States have had a red call button in the

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 ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

that could call aides. The earliest incarnation dates to 1881 or before, and the modern call button has been in a wooden box on the ''Resolute'' desk since at least the

George W. Bush presidency George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic in ...

(2001–2009).

History

An 1881 letter written by White House disbursing agent William H. Crook refers to an electric bell attached to president James Garfield's desk. Lyndon Johnson had a series of buttons, or keys, to summon different drinks to the

, Cabinet Room, and " Little Lounge" (a room just next to the Oval Office). In the Oval Office the keys were on the table behind the president's desk. The four keys were for

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

, Coke, and

Fresca Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word ''Fresca'' (meaning "fresh") from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled suga ...

, and when pressed a butler would fulfill the president's drink request. The modern call button sits in an approximately wooden box marked with a golden presidential seal and has been on the ''Resolute'' desk since at least the George W. Bush presidency. According to

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

repurposed it to order tea for his White House guests. During

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's presidency, when pressed, a signal would summon a

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...

who would bring a

Diet Coke Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on ...

on a silver platter. At one time Walt Nauta had this job. Trump reportedly also used the button to request lunch, and to pull pranks on new visitors to the White House. Trump stated to one reporter that "everyone thinks it is he_nuclear_button.html" ;"title="nuclear_button.html" ;"title="he nuclear button">he nuclear button">nuclear_button.html" ;"title="he nuclear button">he nuclear button and that people "get a little nervous when I press that button." In the first few days of Joe Biden's presidency, it was reported that he had the button removed; however, it appeared to return a few weeks later when a White House official told ''Politico'' that the button was back on the desk with an unspecified purpose.

References

{{Coord, 38.8974, -77.0374, region:US-DC_type:landmark, display=title Alarms Furnishings of the White House