Its no different than what clothes you choose to wear, your haircut, or your tattoos. You are just not used to thinking about furniture that way. The more money you have, the more furniture is about choices, not necessity, and in such cases it reveals a great deal about how somebody thinks.
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A man said to the universe:
“Sir I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
~ Stephen Crane
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Did Hitler have a nice antique desk or did he get it from Ikea?
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Hitler dictated all his memos while hanging from the ceiling like a bat 
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I think gold plated toilets are so outside of normal that you might assume it a symptom of a wide range of afflictions.
But generally an office with a big wood desk, a brass lamp, a painting of a fox hunt, a putter leaning in the corner, are all signifiers of a board room class, executive, or moneyed individual. The intention, or lack there of with which they are deployed is where insights are revealed. In this instance, I am assuming this is Biden’s home office, so generally not intended for public consumption, nor even private consumption by employees as might be the case in somebody’s office at work, so in this case it reveals more about how Biden sees himself than selling a reassuring image. He has chosen these things for an audience of one.
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He was fond of very large, very heavy oak furnishings, much to von Stauffenberg’s annoyance.
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Clever. Disguised his intentions that way. No other way to read him.
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There’s always an XKCD.
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Is there another photo somewhere besides the post that supports this?
Because if we remove the painting and chair guesses that cannot be seen. We’re left with the brass desk lamp and expanse of surface. But, that could just as easily be an oak table top on a lift desk, or support legs, or anything. It may only be an inch thick providing a large flat surface. I don’t see anything in this photo (and I didn’t try track down any others) that says this is a large imposing mass of a desk instead of just a flat surface on something like lift legs.
The brass lamp looks like an old library lamp to me. Perhaps he has a fond memory of libraries. Maybe it’s a salvaged lamp the he cleaned up sometime earlier in life. Who knows from just this picture.
From the highlighter, marker, and lack of external monitor collection, it’s probably safe to assume he likes to work with hard copy instead of completely digital. But, the phone stand also says he also likes the phone to be nearby and visible.
What looks like a ceramic cup says he likes to drink from a proper cup not some travel mug and is confident enough to not worry about spilling the contents without the protection a travel mug tends offer.
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It just makes me happy to look at and think about the history behind it? (It’s a reproduction btw, if that wasn’t clear, I could never afford a genuine one). In the same way old buildings make me happy.
I resent the implication that liking old objects and designs means you can’t be progressive. I’m an archaeologist, I like old things a lot.
There’s a good chance your grandmother’s curtains were designed by a radical social reformer who was also really into the Middle Ages and everything old. The man who said things like
I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.
No man is good enough to be another’s master
or
I want a real revolution, a real change in society: society, a great organic mass of well-regulated forces used for the bringing-about a happy life for all.
The same guy also designed this
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Fortunately we have a national stockpile of Joe Biden memes ready to distribute in an emergency
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Where did the putter come from?
I already don’t see the painting, and I cannot tell if it’s a huge imposing desk or just a slab of wood on top of some legs. Now there’s a putter I cannot see either?
I know the image edges are blurred out of focus, and I probably need glasses if I ever see an eye doctor. But, I didn’t think I was that blind.
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Who told you about my toilet?
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Thanks for making assumptions about me. I’ve chosen some nice mid-century modern pieces for my living room, not because I want to be Don Draper or return to the era of segregation but because I like the look and the lines. I also have a ca. 1920 dining room set, not because I’m 100 years old but because I inherited it from people I love and respected and because the table and chairs are well-crafted and sturdy.
I think a lot about design, professionally and personally. Design reveals a lot about people, but it’s not necessarily (as you’re implying) an ideological statement. You’re being quite silly here and making a lot of assumptions.
The cartoon says something about Biden (something laudable in my opinion). The books he keeps on his shelves probably also do, although one has to be careful making assumptions there. But his desk or the way he arranges his electronics on them are petty concerns.
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As long as we’re making up additional office furnishings to attack Biden over then I’m frankly disgusted that you find the putter more offensive than the endangered rhino head on the wall or the cage filled with underage sex slaves in the corner.
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Accepting all of this as true for the sake of discussion, what does Warren’s office in the photo above reveal about how she thinks? If this is, in fact a meaningful indicator of something, what is the something it is telling us about Elizabeth Warren?
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