Nixon chose this desk for the Oval Office because of his mistaken belief that former President Woodrow Wilson had used it there. In 1971 Nixon had five recording devices secretly installed in the Wilson desk by the United States Secret Service. These recordings constitute some of the Watergate tapes. Upon Jimmy Carter's ascent to the Presidency he moved the Wilson desk back to the Vice President's Room, preferring to work at the Resolute desk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_desk

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President%27s_Room

The double-pedestal, mahogany desk in the room is called the Wilson desk, due to associations with President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Henry Wilson. Every vice president from Hobart to Lyndon Johnson used it. In 1969, it was loaned to the White House as the Oval Office desk for Presidents Nixon and Ford. It was returned in 1977.