Obama Breaks Bush Jacket Rule In Oval Office

Following the release of the Oval Office photograph from Obama's first day, many observers have noted a distinct change from the Bush years: the new president is not wearing his jacket.

As Taegan Goddard writes, "It was a rule during the Bush administration that no one ever enter the Oval Office without a jacket."

And Politico's Ben Smith muses, "Still unclear which press staffer will be the first to show up in flip-flops."

Though this change is no doubt trivial in the larger scheme of things, it at least signifies yet another example of a symbolic break with the past. Also, the Oval Office's less stringent dress code could very well prove psychologically advantageous to visitors and aides alike by creating a more comfortable atmosphere in which to handle presumably stressful situations - - better to worry about major economic and foreign policies to right the American ship than about gratuitous sartorial punctilios.