Shapes

The Oval Office

“The Oval Office” is the official office of the President of the United States. It is located in the White House in Washington, DC. “The Oval Office" is often used as a metonym for the President or the Presidency. For example:

• "This is an ancient conflict, and the Israeli Prime Minister is in no hurry to help the latest US President to achieve what his predecessors in the Oval Office failed to do."—Tim Reid, "Analysis: Tried and tested tactic to wear a President down," The Times (UK), June 15, 2009;
• "Since reaching the Oval Office last January, Mr. Obama has ordered more than 20,000 additional soldiers and marines to Afghanistan, boosting the coalition of foreign troops to more than 100,000 – or roughly the peak level deployed by the Soviet Union in its 10-year failed effort to subjugate Afghanistan."—Paul Koring, "Dissent mounting to Obama's Afghan strategy; U.S. President may need allies outside his own party should he decide to send massive reinforcements to Afghanistan," The Globe and Mail, September 15, 2009, p. A16;
• "All in all, Ms. Palin emerges from "Going Rogue" as an eager player in the blame game, thoroughly ungrateful toward the McCain campaign for putting her on the national stage. As for the McCain campaign, it often feels like a desperate and cynical operation, willing to make a risky Hail Mary pass in order to try to score a tactical win, instead of making a considered judgment as to who might be genuinely qualified to sit a heartbeat away from the Oval Office."—Michiko Kakutani, "Memoir Is Palin’s Payback to McCain Campaign," The New York Times, November 15, 2009.

How It's Used

“Meanwhile, both Obama and McCain are using the financial crisis as an opportunity to 'audition for who could best handle a national economic emergency,' notes the NYT. Each candidate is trying to come up with quick responses to a changing situation as if they were actually sitting in the Oval Office, even though neither of them is at the center of the action yet, they're 'expected to act as if they have the best information available.' But, of course, they're also using the opportunity to dig into each other.”

“We cannot expect one man to heal every wound, to solve every major crisis of policy. So much of the presidency, as they say, is a matter of waking up in the morning and trying to drink from a fire hydrant. In the quiet of the Oval Office, the noise of immediate demands can be deafening. And yet Obama has precisely the temperament to shut out the noise when necessary and concentrate on the essential.”

“The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.”

"It is hard to recall now - with Obama safely ensconced in the Oval Office - how vulnerable he seemed in those final months leading up to the election. His home in Chicago was guarded night and day, and he was assigned his own secret service detail less than four months after he launched his presidential bid, much earlier than any previous candidate. Yet he continued to put himself at risk as he campaigned in front of huge crowds in open settings."

"His first deadline for a healthcare bill to reach the Oval Office sailed by in August. Christmas is the next, unofficial, deadline. That looks likely to be missed as well."

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