Presidential call button

[3] An 1881 letter written by White House disbursing agent William H. Crook refers to an electric bell attached to president James Garfield's desk.

[5] In the 1889 Publication Historic Homes in Washington; its noted men and women by Mary S. Lockwood a story is told about Benjamin Harrison's grandson pushing a call button on the President's desk.

She wrote: Did not little Benjamin, when alone one day in his grandfather's office, climb to his table, and by a touch here and there with his baby hand, set the whole force of secretaries, clerks and messengers on a chase to do his majesty's bidding?

[10] The modern call button sits in an approximately 9 by 3 in (20 by 8 cm) wooden box marked with a golden presidential seal[11][12] and has been on the Resolute desk since at least the George W. Bush presidency.

[14] During Donald Trump's presidencies, when pressed, a signal summons a valet who brings a Diet Coke on a silver platter.

four objects on the Resolute desk including the Presidential call button
The Presidential call button on the Resolute desk alongside the HMS Gannet pen holder, a "Hard things are hard" plaque given to president Obama by David Axelrod , and a Petoskey stone given to Obama by Pete Souza 's wife for his 50th birthday. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Bill Clinton on the phone with his dog Buddy jumping up on him. the desk infront of him is littered with objects including the Presidential call button
Bill Clinton and his dog Buddy in the Oval Office with the Presidential call button visible on his desk
George W. Bush at the Resolute desk during 9/11 , with the call button on the desk, to his left
Barack Obama pointign at the call button on the Resolute desk while four children look on.
Barack Obama pointing out the call button to Washington, D.C. area students.
The call button in a wooden box next to the telephone on the Resolute desk in March 2017