6th
Emanuel then bolted out of his chair, saying, “This’ll give you a sense of his mind.” He led me into a hallway where the walls were festooned with images from the Oval Office. Pointing, the mayor said: “This is literally his first day as president, 9:30 in the morning. There’s nothing on his desk, obviously — first day. This,” he then gestured to another framed photograph, “is me coming back after I’m mayor-elect, sometime in early 2011. You see anything on that desk?”
I didn’t. Obama’s desk still looked nearly vacant. Emanuel whirled to the other wall and directed my attention to a much earlier photo, featuring himself and another familiar face, seated behind the same desk, which in this shot was ornamented by a riot of Victorian clutter. “Clinton,” he grinned. “Look at the desk. Now mind you, he’s got everything arranged. Books are stacked, folders are over here, the coins soldiers gave him here, the pens — he loved pens — here. Incredibly creative mind.” And then pointing back to Obama’s spartan desk: “Incredibly disciplined mind. Both incredible presidents. But their desks, in my view, say something.”
