Monday, February 19, 2018

The Resolute Desk


Let's talk about a desk. This desk is no ordinary desk. In fact, this desk was built from a British Arctic exploration ship, the HMS Resolute. The desk was a gift from Queen Victoria and was gifted to Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. The desk has been used by almost every President except Johnson, Nixon, and Ford at various locations of the White House. Under Franklin D. Roosevelt, he ordered a modesty panel to be fitted in order to conceal his leg braces. However, he never got to see the panel installed as he died in 1945. The panel installed actually had the old presidential seal with the eagle's head aimed right towards arrows of war instead of the left as we see it today aimed at olive branches. It was President Truman who enacted Executive Order 9646 which altered the presidential flag and seal symbolizing the United States' turn towards peace opposed to war.
The desk was first used in the Oval Office by John F. Kennedy and the only time it was removed was after his assassination. The desk went on a traveling exhibition for the Kennedy Presidential Library. From there, it went to the Smithsonian for display. Later, in 1977 Jimmy Carter brought the desk back to the White House and it has remained there ever since. The desk became known under the Kennedy administration after the famous photo of JFK Jr. playing in the FDR panel was taken. 
The Resolute Desk was used by President Barack Obama and is currently being used by President Donald Trump. In terms of decorations, Trump decided to use the desk because of its historical significance. He also decided to hang a portrait of Andrew Jackson because he felt "his campaign and [Trump's] campaign tended to mirror each other" (McGregor).
The Resolute Desk has clearly undergone more than a century of history in the United States and stands to be a symbol of power for the President. Many great Presidents have used the Resolute Desk, and more to come hope to add to that list of great Presidents. 
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Fun fact: President Obama was photographed with his feet up on the Resolute Desk. Many Americans were actually outraged that he had committed such an act upon such a historical piece of furniture which in my opinion is ridiculous considering it was literally his desk.






https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/treasures-of-the-white-house-resolute-desk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_desk
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/furnishings/resolute-desk.htm
https://www.snopes.com/history/american/turnhead.asp
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/05/06/trump-loves-his-new-desk-in-the-oval-office-but-it-also-has-its-downsides/?utm_term=.ecf7a1a85bc2
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2018 at 4:25 PM

    Once again Claire with a stellar blog post! I love how in every blog post I have read of yours thus far, you have a very strong voice that I can hear through humorous undertones and fun add-ins like your fun fact. I really enjoyed this more lighthearted post particularly in the picture of John Jr. playing in panel under his dad's feet. Even more interesting was how you explained the evolution of the presidential seal and how the eagles head faced a towards peace after Truman's executive order. Something I found interesting in my own research was how each president added his own fair to the desk for example Lyndon B Johnson found the desk to be "uncomfortable", and so he had made a desk topped with green leather. Personally I think green topped leather would have made the desk look like a pool table more than anything but to each his own.

    https://www.curbed.com/2016/11/8/13561396/president-resolute-desk-oval-office

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