When a new president moves into the White House, one of his first actions is to decorate the Oval Office in a way that the aesthetics reflect his views and passions.
It’s no surprise that Joe Biden, who appointed the most diverse and inclusive cabinet in history, ditched the portrait of former president Andrew Jackson, who was acknowledged by historians as the most racist president in history before Donald Trump assumed office.
The presidential office now features Abraham Lincoln who emancipated the slaves and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president during the depths of the Great Depression and the horrors of World War II.
A bust of labor leader, community activist and Latino icon Cesar Chavez adorns the Oval Office, needless to say the immigrant-hating Trump doesn’t know Cesar Chavez from Cesar Romero from Little Caesars Pizza.
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, so it was no surprise that Trump’s Oval Office was festooned with American flags. The military flags displayed during the Trump presidency have been replaced by a solitary American flag.
Biden has included a moon rock, of all things, among the new decorations, as a reminder that we can accomplish the seemingly impossible, such as landing a man on the moon. A rock from Uranus would have been a perfect fit for Trump’s Oval Office.
The Oval Office is looking so much better, and so are the prospects for peace, racial equality and democracy during the Biden administration.
