Seal of the President of the United States be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand". Also furthering this misconception was an episode of "The West Wing" entitled "What Kind of Day Has It Been?", aired in 2000. Character Admiral Fitzwallace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, observed that the presidential seal in the center of the Oval Office carpet contained a shield bearing a bald eagle clutching the olive branch in its right talons and arrows in its left. The eagle's head was turned toward the olive branch. Fitzwallace mentioned that in times of
Great Seal of the United States foreign governments. The seal was once required on presidential [[proclamation]]s, and on some now-obsolete documents such as [[exequatur]]s and [[Mediterranean pass]]ports. On July 4, 1776, the same day that independence from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] was declared by the thirteen states, the [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress]] named the first committee to design a Great Seal, or national emblem, for the country. Similar to other nations, the United States needed an official symbol of sovereignty to formalize and seal (or sign) international treaties and transactions. It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men before the [[Congress