Posterity and Posteriority

Dan Quayle apparently won’t get to the White House in 2001, but he could opt for the next best thing: an Oval Office chair made by the same company that cradled the rumps of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Harry Truman and six other modern presidents.

The Gunlocke Co., which also manufactures seats for the Supreme Court, is now selling replicas of its famous White House chairs to the general public. Each presidential throne is custom-built to exact historical specifications, says Michael Turback of NewYorkfirst.com, the online store that sells the seats.

The Clinton chair, for example, comes draped with thong underwear just like what Monica Lewinsky wore. OK, not really. Actually, Clinton’s seat is made by another manufacturer. “We couldn’t get any information on it,” Turback says. Ditto for Ronald Reagan, who sat in a “lucky chair” he brought with him from his days as governor of California.

But three other White House models are available: the $2,300 “ergonomic” used by Nixon and Jimmy Carter; the $2,400 “early edition” favored by Truman, FDR, Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower; and the $2,500 “American classic” preferred by JFK, Gerald Ford and Lyndon Johnson. All have steam-bent hardwood frames and leather upholstery (the presidents chose black leather, but 17 upholstery colors are available).

And Turback says the prices are lower than what the government pays.

The Web address is https://www.newyorkfirst.com.