Oval Office replica opens at the New-York Historical Society

This Presidents’ Day, visit Washington, D.C. without leaving New York City. The New-York Historical Society on Friday opened a special permanent gallery that features a detailed replica of the White House Oval Office. The “Meet the Presidents” exhibit allows visitors to play POTUS for a day, with the classic Resolute Desk set up for photo ops.

The Oval Office copy, which the Wall Street Journal reported cost $2 million to create, sits on the Upper West Side museum’s fourth floor. The installation is a recreation of President Ronald Reagan’s second term in office, seen as a “classic interpretation” of the space’s design, according to the New-York Historical Society.

See Reagan’s influence in the jar of jelly beans on the desk, a plaque reading “It can be done,” and artist Frederic Remington’s bronze sculpture of a cowboy on a horse. The Society told the WSJ it worked with the Ronald Reagan Library in California to locate vendors who supplied the decor used during Reagan’s presidency and purchased them.

President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev have their first meeting at the White House, December 8, 1987; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum

The “Meet the Presidents” gallery also features unique presidential artifacts and objects, including the actual Bible sworn on by George Washington during his 1789 inauguration and a 1962 student scrapbook detailing JFK’s administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

According to the WSJ, the museum’s exhibit includes a small area hidden by a door, that could potentially serve as a bar if they decide to host special events at the exhibit.

The new exhibit is part of a series of special presentations from the museum related to American democracy, as the country prepares for the 2020 election. In addition to “Meet the Presidents,” other exhibits set to open this year include “Women March,” to mark the centennial of the 19th amendment, “Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions,” which explores principles of government in the U.S., and “The People Count: The Census in the Making of America,” a history of census taking in the country.

Admission is $22 for adults, $17 for seniors, educators, and active military, $13 for students, $6 for kids up to 13 years of age, and free for kids aged 4 and under.

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Installation photos by Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society