Obamas order new look for Oval Office

While the first family was on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, the Obamas had the Oval Office in the White House remodeled.

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

The chairs used by Obama and other world leaders are now leather. The walls have striped wallpaper. And the new wheat, cream and blue oval rug is ringed with five inspiring quotes.

All of it was made in Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania — states that Obama won in 2008.

It's customary for presidents to remodel the office and add their favorite photos and knickknacks. George W. Bush did it. Bill Clinton did it. So did Ronald Reagan.

In recent years, the funds have come from each president's inaugural committee. Obama's raised $53 million, much of it from nearly 500 wealthy donors who chipped in $50,000 each. The White House wouldn't say what was spent from the inaugural kitty but said it was "in line with" the Bush and Clinton redesigns.

The first president to redecorate was Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, who established the West Wing. Seven years later, the walls were covered in green burlap to welcome William Howard Taft. Warren Harding had them painted cream-white in 1923. In 1934, when the office took on its present size and shape, Franklin Roosevelt added drapes with a patriotic star-and-eagle motif.

The border of Obama's new rug has these five quotes:

• "Government of the People, By the People, For the People" —Abraham Lincoln

• "The Welfare of Each of Us is Dependent Fundamentally Upon the Welfare of All of Us" — Theodore Roosevelt

• "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself" — Franklin Roosevelt

• "No Problem of Human Destiny is Beyond Human Beings"—John Kennedy

• "The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Towards Justice" —Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama remodels house a second time -- less than 2 years since he took office. Obama and wife spending lavishly when America is broke, golfing, vacations in times of disasters, job loss, companies folding, housing crashing, as a bonus to all US citizens not illegals he raises taxes on more and more people, fruitless agenda's, senseless wars - where this guys walking papers?

(Edited by Senior Editor Bailout Main Street Now)