Resolute Desk in the White House

About a month ago, when our new president was sworn into office, I kept hearing about the Resolute Desk in the White House.  It was repeated so often that I made a note to myself - find out what’s so special about that damn desk!

And whoa - talk about jumping down a rabbit hole!

Turns out this desk holds both historical and woodworking interest for me - check this out! 

Here's what I gleaned from a variety of websites:

On November 2, 1880, a large crate arrived at the White House. No one knew what was in it; they weren’t expecting any deliveries that day. 

 

This was in the days before the Secret Service... I'm guessing you can't just ship something there today, without making prior arrangements.

 

 President Rutherford Hayes stood by as workmen opened the mysterious package. Inside was an intricately carved desk, made from dark oak with repeating panels all around.  President Hayes didn't know who had sent it until he noticed the brass plaque accompanying it that read: “Presented by the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland to the President of the United States.”

The Arctic during the 1800s was still undiscovered territory. In 1852, the ship the Resolute was sent to the Arctic Ocean to search for missing explorer Sir John Franklin. 

 

The ship was built strong with three thicknesses of oak on her bow, but this did not stop her from becoming ice bound. After two winters stuck in the ice the Resolute was abandoned. For over a year she drifted as a ghost ship. Then American whalers spotted her and discovered she was the HMS Resolute (Her Majesty’s Ship) and brought her home to Connecticut.

Queen Victoria ordered that a desk be made from her best timbers. This was the gift that she sent to the White House. The desk, made from the ship that sealed a lasting friendship between Great Britain and the United States, has been in the White House ever since.

Originally, the desk was built with an opening in the center area, 

 

but when Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to hide his leg braces, he had the privacy panel added. Later, the desk was moved into storage.

 

Fast forward into the 1960s....First Lady Jackie Kennedy, found the desk downstairs in the broadcast room when she was restoring the White House. John Kennedy, who loved the sea, loved the desk and was the first president to use it in the Oval Office.

 

Young John Kennedy Jr. and other Kennedy kids liked to play under the desk pretending the panel was a secret door.

Lyndon Johnson was too big for the Resolute desk, so he had it moved into storage once again. Nixon and Ford did not use it, but Jimmy Carter brought it back to the Oval Office. That makes sense - Jimmy is a woodworker!

 

 

Reagan had it raised a couple of inches as he was over six feet tall.

 

 

 

The desk is still in the Oval Office today. 

 

Imagine the stories it could tell...