Presidential call button

Some presidents of the United States have had a red call button in the Oval Office of the White House that could call aides. The earliest incarnation dates to 1881 or before, and the modern call button has been in a wooden box on the Resolute desk since at least the George W. Bush presidency (2001–2009).

History
An 1881 letter written by White House disbursing agent William H. Crook refers to an electric bell attached to president James Garfield's desk. Lyndon Johnson had a series of buttons, or keys, to summon different drinks to the Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and "Little Lounge" (a room just next to the Oval Office). In the Oval Office the keys were on the table behind the president's desk. The four keys were for coffee, tea, Coke, and Fresca, and when pressed a butler would fulfill the president's drink request.

The modern call button sits in an approximately 9 by wooden box marked with a golden presidential seal and has been on the Resolute desk since at least the George W. Bush presidency. According to Richard Branson, President Obama repurposed it to order tea for his White House guests.

During Donald Trump's presidency, when pressed, a signal would summon a valet who would bring a Diet Coke on a silver platter. At one time Walt Nauta had this job. Trump reportedly also used the button to request lunch, and to pull pranks on new visitors to the White House. Trump stated to one reporter that "everyone thinks it is [the nuclear button]" and that people "get a little nervous when I press that button."

In the first few days of Joe Biden's presidency, it was reported that he had the button removed; however, it appeared to return a few weeks later when a White House official told Politico that the button was back on the desk with an unspecified purpose. James Corden has said that Joe Biden has an "ice cream button" on his desk.