Three types of lectern are used by the president of the United States. The Blue Goose is the main bullet-resistant lectern, used mostly at the White House and for domestic speeches. Its downsized counterpart, the Falcon, is used for travel purposes, and the Toast lectern is the smallest version, used for informal events. The White House Communications Agency presides over many Blue Goose and Falcon lecterns. All three are usually adorned with the seal of the president of the United States.
President Joe Biden gives a speech at the White House behind a Blue Goose lectern in 2021
Then-Vice President Joe Biden uses a Falcon lectern in Kosovo, 2009
President Barack Obama speaks from the Toast lectern in Venice, Louisiana, 2010
George W. Bush uses a Blue Goose to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 2001
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. To facilitate eye contact and improve posture when facing an audience, lecterns may have adjustable height and slant. People reading from a lectern, called lectors, generally do so while standing.
Incumbent U.S. President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter behind lecterns during a debate during the 1976 presidential election
A lectern in a US District Courthouse, similar to those found in academic lecture theatres
An early-twenty-first century lectern at the University of Canberra (2008)
Crucifixion panel and eagle lectern from the Siena Cathedral Pulpit, by Nicola Pisano, 1268
