User:LunaEatsTuna/Oval Office socket

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Coordinates: 38°53′50″N 77°02′15″W / 38.897329°N 77.037419°W / 38.897329; -77.037419
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38°53′50″N 77°02′15″W / 38.897329°N 77.037419°W / 38.897329; -77.037419

Approximate location of the socket in the West Wing of the White House

A golden, NEMA 5-15 grounded—colloquially "Type B"—duplex socket (or outlet) is located at the south-east of the President's desk in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. A NEMA 5-15, the socket has three pins and posses the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard 60906-2. When the original NEMA 1-15 socket was first installed in January 1934, it was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt to power a telephone located on the west of the Hoover desk. Since then, it has survived through 14 presidencies, and has been used for various purposes including a lamp, an answering machine, and to charge Donald Trump's iPhone.

Electrification of the White House began in 1891, and electrical sockets began to be introduced in 1932. A socket at the south-east of the President's desk was first installed in January 1934, just after the Hoover Administration. The socket was a NEMA 1-15 ungrounded. On 21 January 1969, Richard Nixon, inaugurated the previous day, was shocked to discover that the White House only had NEMA 1-15 sockets; angered by this, Nixon immediately ordered that all sockets be changed to NEMA 5-15 sockets, and on 23 January the socket to the south-east of the President's desk in the Oval Office was changed to a NEMA 5-15 outlet. In 1979, the outlet was replaced with a gold frame during the Carter administration to look "more fitting with the decor of the [Oval] Office".[1] As of August 2022, the outlet still works, however is noticeably warn out.

Background[edit]

A NEMA 5–15P plug (left) and socket

Electricity was first installed in the White House in 1891 during the Harrison Administration.[2] However, while the United Kingdom had begun installing power plugs and electrical sockets in 1881, the United States did not; this meant that the White House was unable to have electrical sockets.[3][4] Between 1903 and 1916, Harvey Hubbell II patented several designs of electrical plugs and sockets. His early designs had round pins, but he later found them unsatisfactory and filed a subsequent patent on 27 May 1904 which replaced the plug with coplanar (tandem) flat pins. Hubbell first began to experiment with three-way adaptors in 1906.[5] In 1912, Hubbell rotated his tandem pins by 90 degrees to arrive at the parallel flat pin configuration still used today in the NEMA 5-15, the same socket type that is used in the Oval Office.[6]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) was established in 1926, and in 1928 gave the designation of NEMA 5-15 to Hubbell's plug and socket.[7] By the mid-1930s, the NEMA 5-15 ("Type B") and the NEMA 1-15 ungrounded ("Type A")—also Hubbell's design—had become the most prominent power plugs and sockets throughout the United States.[8] In 1932, the first electrical socket in the White House, the NEMA 1-15, was installed by the Hoover Administration—in the President's Bedroom to power a lamp.[9][10] Thereafter, NEMA 1-15 sockets were installed in every room, and in January 1934 the socket was installed in the south-east of the President's desk in the Oval Office.[11] In 1965, due to NEMA wanting to better standardise the power plugs and sockets, they passed the 319-NEMA-PC regulation stipulating that NEMA 1-15 sockets no longer be permitted to be installed in new buildings.[12]

Installation of the NEMA 5-15 socket[edit]

On 21 January 1969, Richard Nixon, inaugurated the previous day, began moving his belongings into the White House. He took with him NEMA 5-15 power plugs, however was appalled to discover that the White House only had NEMA 1-15 sockets; angered by this, Nixon immediately ordered that all sockets in the White House be changed to NEMA 5-15 sockets.[13] On 23 January, the socket to the south-east of the President's desk in the Oval Office was changed to a NEMA 5-15 outlet as Nixon had commanded.[14] In 1979 during the Carter administration, the outlet was replaced with a gold frame to look "more fitting with the decor of the [Oval] Office."[1]

Usage[edit]

When the NEMA 1-15 socket was first installed in January 1934, it was initially used by Franklin D. Roosevelt to power a telephone located on the west corner of the Hoover desk.[9][10] Over the course of his presidency, Roosevelt took several important calls on said telephone, all powered by the NEMA 1-15 socket.[15] Roosevelt died suddenly in 1945, leaving the role of president to vice president Harry S. Truman. On Truman's first day as president he cleared off the Hoover desk, had it removed from the Oval Office, and replaced it with the Theodore Roosevelt desk. However, he kept the same telephone plugged into the socket.[16] The socket remained in use by various different telephone models during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations.[17] After Nixon replaced the socket in January 1969, he continued to use it for a telephone,[13] which was wiretapped in February 1971 later resulting in the Nixon White House tapes.[17] In 1977, a cordless telephone was installed by President Jimmy Carter, and the socket was then used to power a lamp until 1981; it then powered an answering machine until at least May 1984.[18] It has since been seldom used,[19] however was notably used to charge Donald Trump's iPhone during his presidency so that he could publish tweets on Twitter.[20][21]

As of August 2022, the outlet still works, however is noticeably warn out.[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Berg 1999, p. 79.
  2. ^ Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 24.
  3. ^ Berg 1999, p. 11.
  4. ^ Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 21.
  5. ^ Fielding, R. (6 August 1930). "Hubbell's household electric revolution". The Trade Mark Reporter. 32 (6): 186–189.
  6. ^ Berg 1999, p. 25.
  7. ^ "NEMA standardises sockets". Chattanooga Chronicle. 5 November 1930 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 59.
  9. ^ a b Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 63–64.
  10. ^ a b Berg 1999, p. 30.
  11. ^ Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 65.
  12. ^ Berg 1999, p. 42.
  13. ^ a b Berg 1999, p. 45.
  14. ^ Schroeder & Roberts 1988, p. 112.
  15. ^ Berg 1999, p. 36.
  16. ^ Berg 1999, p. 39–40.
  17. ^ a b c Hernandez, J. A. (6 August 2022). "The Presidential Socket". BBC News.
  18. ^ Berg 1999, p. 47.
  19. ^ Berg 1999, p. 49.
  20. ^ Sunak, Ali (8 June 2017). "Inside Trump's Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017.
  21. ^ Brown, Jonas; Wu, Fang (1 February 2018). "NEMA 5-15: Why Donald Trump cannot stop charging his phone". Politico. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 11 December 2017 suggested (help)

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oval Office socket.
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