The Mystery of the Blue Goose

What with all the Presidential transition stuff going on, it renewed my interest in the Presidential lectern. It’s got a very distinctive shape and has become a minor icon in itself, a physical symbol of American power that is consistently used at press conferences, and at speeches around the US and throughout the world.

I have been wondering who designed it, but so far have not been able to find anything about that. It’s another one of those examples of anonymous governmental design, like tax forms and the post office logo, that just appear and seep into culture.

There are a couple of interesting factoids I found out about it though:

• It is known as the Blue Goose, and originated with Bill Clinton
• It travels around the world on the same plane that carries all enormous amounts of paraphernalia for Presidential travels, such as the limos
• It is armored to stand in the way of assassin’s bullets, and weighs several hundred pounds. This may also explain why it is unusually tall for a lectern, it covers more of the body.

If anyone has any knowledge on who designed it (I’m guessing deep in the bowels of some government department), I’d appreciate hearing.

Related articles

• Show Time book excerpt
• Photos of before and after renovation of the White House Press Briefing Room

Comments

[Robert]

Hi Adam, good site.
What do you think about the Obama presidency?. He will be another Clinton or the same as Carter.
I think the first.