The Resolute Desk was a peace offering gift from Queen Victoria, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Wikimedia CommonsPresident Barack Obama sit down at the Resolute Desk .
When Jacqueline Kennedy moved into the White House , she immediatelydove into a renovation project , hop-skip to restore the White House to its former glory . Since its building , the building had been ravaged by several presidential debacles , and at least one fire . She desire to bestow fresh lifespan to the piazza while honoring the American custom it have .
As part of her quest , Jackie commence to search for novel furniture for the West Wing to do away with the stuffiness of the offices and make the presidency seem more casual and accessible . While looking for furniture , Jackie came across a desk , hidden away in the basement of the West Wing , covered in tarps and dust .
Wikimedia CommonsPresident Barack Obama sitting at the Resolute Desk.
It was a large , stately desk , one of the largest in the construction . The front paneling was hand - carved , depict scrolls , filigree , and a unique , more or less neutered version of the presidential seal . On the front was a small brass section plaque , maculate with years , with an inscription on it :
“ H.M.S. ‘ Resolute ’ , forming part of the expedition sent in hunt of Sir John Franklin in 1852 , was abandoned in Latitude 74º 41′ N. Longitude 101º 22′ W. on 15th May 1854 . She was unwrap and extricated in September 1855 , in Latitude 67º N. by Captain Buddington of the United States Whaler ‘ George Henry ’ . The ship was purchase , fit out and mail to England , as a talent to Her Majesty Queen Victoria by the President and hoi polloi of the United States , as a token of goodwill & friendship . This mesa was made from her timbers when she was broken up , and is presented by the Queen of Great Britain & Ireland , to the President of the United States , as a memorial of the courtesy and loving kindness which dictate the offer of the gift of the “ Resolute ’ . ”
The desk that Jacqueline Kennedy found , known as the Resolute Desk , is one of the most fascinating pieces of presidential history and one that ’s often overleap . When she place it in JFK ’s Oval Office , she was continuing a tradition that had been long - standing for almost a century , and one that would carry on for days to come .
Wikimedia CommonsA painting of theHMS Resolutetrapped in the ice before its rescue.
Wikimedia CommonsA picture of theHMS Resolutetrapped in the glass before its rescue .
In 1880 , Queen Victoria commissioned the desk as a gift for U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes , but the chronicle extends far beyond that . The desk is named for the vessel from which its woodwind instrument comes , a British Royal Navy ship known as theHMS Resolute , which had been design for Arctic exploration .
In the early nineteenth century , the Arctic was a vast wasteland of unexplored territory , one that only the braw ( in the most decked out ships ) attempted to tackle . One of those brave men was Sir John Franklin . In 1845 , Franklin lay out out to explore the Arctic but vanished mysteriously . TheResoluteset out seven years later on to depend for the lose expedition , but at long last ended up dispiritedly trapped in the ice .
Wikimedia CommonsBritish Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher admires the Resolute Desk, after President Jimmy Carter returned it to the Oval Office.
In 1855 , an American whaler name James Buddington on theGeorge Henrydiscovered theResoluteand extricated her from the chalk , cautiously sailing her back to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York . Over the next class , the ship was refurbished and made seaworthy again , before being sailed back to Britain as a ataraxis offering for the Queen .
Great Britain and America had been in a territorial difference of opinion over several pieces of land , and President Rutherford B. Hayes hoped the secure getting even of one of her Majesty ’s ship would help smoothen the tensions . Indeed , upon receiving her natural endowment , Queen Victoria expressed her gratitude and carefully guarded the ship for the duration of its life .
Wikimedia CommonsBritish Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher look up to the Resolute Desk , after President Jimmy Carter pass it to the Oval Office .
FlickrA closer look at FDR’s panel.
In 1879 , theResolutewas deem no longer fit for ocean change of location . Wanting to continue to honor the ship ’s role in smoothing tensions between the two nations , Queen Victoria had the ship turn into three desk . The largest would be sent to President Hayes in America , and the other two , both modest writing desk , would remain behind as twin Resolute Desks to stand for the familial human relationship between the countries .
Upon receiving the gift of the Resolute Desk , President Hayes placed it in the president ’s private office , where it remained for several generations of Commanders in Chief . At the sentence , the Oval Office , which was a much different way than we have intercourse it today , had no desk and would continue to be desk - less until Theodore Roosevelt insist upon have one .
Though this “ Roosevelt Desk ” held the place of honour in the Oval Office for several presidents , the Resolute Desk remained in the secret subject where Hayes placed it . Every U.S. prexy from Hayes until Kennedy would sit at the Resolute Desk in that study .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesJohn Kennedy Jr. pokes his head out from underneath the Resolute Desk as his father, President John F. Kennedy works above him.
Eisenhower was the one who moved the desk to the ground floor and afterwards to the basement . He opted to use it during broadcasts that were send out from the Broadcasting Station on the first floor of the West Wing .
FlickrA close-fitting aspect at FDR ’s gore .
For the most part , the desk remained the same . When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office , however , a minor accommodation was made .
The Resolute Desk , as it was presented to Hayes , have two pedestals , each holding three drawer , with another three drawers across the top of the desk and a kneehole underneath . When FDR took office , he requested a hinged front panel be added to cover the kneehole . The panel sport the presidential seal , though a slenderly altered interpretation .
It is just one of three seals present in the integral White House that show the eagle ’s head look the arrow in its left talon , rather than the prescribed reading which shows the eagle look the olive branch in its right hand .
FDR , stick out from polio , was notoriously adamant that he never be photographed or seen , if potential , in his leg braces or wheelchair . Though the desk was in his private study and therefore improbable to be snap , the United States President still wanted the control panel to hide his leg brace which would have been visible through the kneehole .
unluckily , he would not know to see the dialog box be bring , though his wish were grant . The Resolute Desk ’s new frontage , including the panel , would become noted after Jacquline Kennedy added it to the Oval Office and a photographer becharm John Kennedy Jr. peeking out from behind the panel as his don worked at the desk above him .
Bettmann / Getty ImagesJohn Kennedy Jr. horn in his head out from underneath the Resolute Desk as his Father-God , President John F. Kennedy works above him .
Since the Resolute Desk was gifted to America , only three president have declined to expend it . The first was President Lyndon B. Johnson . After JFK ’s assassination , Johnson allowed the desk to join a jaunt expo of Kennedy memorabilia , which enter as a memorial to the fall president . Rumor has it he was also too tall to fit behind the desk . After the enlistment , the desk was gifted to the Smithsonian Institution , as yet another testament to JFK .
During its time at the Smithsonian , Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford used the Wilson Desk , a simple , useful , artistic production - deco piece that had rested in Woodrow Wilson ’s Oval Office .
In 1977 , President Jimmy Carter contribute the Resolute Desk back to the White House and Oval Office where it remained throughout his and Reagan ’s presidency . President George H.W. Bush prompt it to his private study for his term , but in 1993 , Bill Clinton go it back to the Oval Office , where it has remain ever since .
In 2009 , the British Prime Minister visited President Barack Obama , and play the original gifting of the Resolute Desk full rope , show him with the original commissioning papers for theResolute . He also brought along an ornamental playpen holder made from another ship , theHMS Gannet , which was launched from the same sour grass where theResolutewas deconstructed .
After ascertain the fascinating story of the White House ’s Resolute Desk , check out these pic of Americanpresidents as immature he-man . Then , check out theseshocking presidential quotesyou have to read to trust .
