the above photo and below text appeared on The New York TImes archives page on Instagram 1/5/2017 https://www.instagram.com/nytarchives/
nytarchivesBefore he left the Oval Office to attend the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan took one last look at his desk. @jrlopeznyc — a retired staff photographer who now works as a freelance picture editor for @nytimes — captured this scene on January 20, 1989. He was one of about a dozen photographers in the room that day. “Unlike other situations, we were not being held back or put in a certain area in the Oval,” @jrlopeznyc recalls. He decided to wait near the desk, but he remembers watching @whitehouse photographer @petesouza take photos from a 12-foot ladder. The next day, @nytimes published this photo and described the president and first lady's departure. “Mr. Reagan put out both hands to touch the desk as though to hold it in his memory," we reported. Meanwhile, Nancy Reagan spent the morning searching the @whitehouse, making sure she’d packed everything. In an empty drawer, she left a note for Barbara Bush, along with a small white orchid. — @kermac, @nytimes social photo editor #inauguration #regram