Press Secretary’s Office

President Obama and Robert Gibbs watch coverage of the first lady and daughters
planting a garden on the south lawn in 2009 (White House - Pete Souza)

Office of the White House Press Secretary

Just down the corridor from the Oval Office and, in the opposite direction, around the corner from the Press Briefing Room, are the offices of the White House press secretary and his staff. Journalists in the White House press corps are allowed to roam only this far into the West Wing without explicit permission and do so for regular "gaggles" that are less formal and not televised as the briefings in the Press Briefing Room are. For that reason, the press secretary's office is one of the largest in the West Wing.

When the West Wing was expanded in 1934, this office was used by Franklin Roosevelt's top secretary Louis Howe and sat empty for a time after his death but was eventually taken over by FDR's press secretary, Steve Early. Early's office had previously been the one now used by the vice-president because it adjoined the old Press Room at the time (now the National Security Adviser's Office).

More Images

Tony Snow conducts his first press gaggle in 2006 (Chicago Tribune)

Bush 2 Press Secretary Tony Snow meets with reporters on his first day on the job in 2006 (White House )

The world clocks over the mantel, circa 2005, looking southwest

Press Secretary Scott McClellan taking questions, circa 2005

Press Secretary Scott McClellan taking questions, circa 2005

Bush 2 Press Secretary Scott McClellan taking questions in a morning press gaggle in his office, circa 2003 (White House)

Bush 2 Press Secretary Ari Fleischer in his office in 2002

A visitor in the office of Bill Clinton's press secretary, circa 1997 (Lura)

A visitor in the office of Bill Clinton's press secretary, circa 1997

Marlin Fitzwater briefs the press in 1987 (Getty Images - Cynthia Johnson)

Marlin Fitzwater briefs the press on Nancy Reagan's surgery in 1987 (Getty Images - Cynthia Johnson)

Marlin Fitzwater briefs the press on Nancy Reagan's surgery in 1987; notice how the room as shrunk (Getty Images - Cynthia Johnson)

Incoming Marlin Fitzwater with outgoing Larry Speakes 1987 (Getty Images - Diana Walker)

Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler with assistant Diane Sawyer and Special Assistant to the President Frank Gannon,
immediately following Nixon's resignation announcement in 1974 (Nixon Library)

Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler around 1971 (Life)

Urban Affairs Adviser Daniel Moynihan briefs the press on a policy change in 1969 (Corbis)

Johnson Press Secretary George Reedy in the office in 1965 (Life)

Fish-eye view of a briefing in 1965 (Life)

George Reedy and staff in 1965 (Life)

Johnson Press Secretary Bill Moyers briefs the press in 1965 (Life)

Bill Moyers and staff around 1964 (Life - Francis Miller)

Bill Moyers and staff around 1964 (Life - Francis Miller)

Kennedy Press Secretary Pierre Salinger briefs the press in 1961 (Corbis)

Pierre Salinger briefs the press around 1961 (Life)

Pierre Salinger in 1961, with visitor (Kennedy Library - Robert Knudsen)

Barely moved in, Pierre Salinger in 1961 (Corbis)

Eisenhower Press Secretary James Hagerty briefs the press in 1959 (Life)

Eisenhower Press Secretary James Hagerty briefs the press in 1958 (Life)

Eisenhower Press Secretary James Hagerty briefs the press in 1958 (Life)

Eisenhower Press Secretary James Hagerty briefs the press on the president's health in 1957 (Life)

Lavatory in 1953 (Life - George Skadding)

Eisenhower Press Secretary James Hagerty with television consultant Robert Montgomery in 1953 (Life - George Skadding)

Truman Press Adviser Charles G Ross briefs the press in 1948 (Life - Thomas D Mcavoy)

The room in 1946 (NARA)

Charles G Ross briefs the press in 1946 (Life)

Steve Early holding a press conference on the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (Life)

Press conference on the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (Life)