By Pamela Upshur
The Resolute desk was made in the 19th Century and built using timbers that came from the British ship. The British barque-rigged ship Resolute became stuck in the Arctic ice and was abandoned by its crew in 1854. An American whaling ship found it the next year and brought it to Connecticut. Congress rescued and restored the ship which was then given to Queen Victoria as a token of peace and goodwill.
When the ship was decommissioned in 1879.. The British government arranged to have a desk made from its timber. The desk was built by William Evendan, a skilled joiner employed in Chatham, England. The Queen presented the richly carved “Resolute desk” to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 as a gift. Every president since Rutherford B. Hayes has used the desk in the White House Oval Office since except Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush.
Independent museums also display replicas of the Resolute desk including a full-scale replica of the Oval Office at the American Village in Montevallo, Alabama, the Quality West Wing Foundation Museum in Corona, CA, the Treehouse Children’s Museum in Ogden, Utah, and the American Presidential Museum in Branson, Missouri.
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Five presidential libraries display exact replicas of the Resolute desk including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Vally, California, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the George and Barbara Bush Center at the University of New England, Maine, and the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The desk has twice been modified since 1880. President Franklin D. Roosevelt order a hinged front panel in order to hide his wheelchair. He often placed a waste basket in front of his desks. He preferred people not see his leg braces. The hinged front panel was commissioned in 1944, but was not delivered until 1945 after Rooselvelt’s dealth. The desk originally had a space in the center called a knee hole. President Roosevelt had the knee hold fitted with the panel with the Seal of the President carved on it. President Roosevelt didn’t live long enough to see the modification. President Truman liked it decided to have the hinged panel installed anyway.
The second modification was made during the Ronald Reagan Administration. President Reagan brought a chair he used from the capital in California. President Reagan knees bumped into the desk whenever he moved. A separate, uniform base was added to the desk to accommodate Reagan and his chair.
Ms John F. Kennedy had the height of Resolute Desk increased by adding approximately 4 inches to the base to adjust it to President Kennedy’s height. She also had it sanded and refinished.
If you compare the photographrs of John F. Kennedy, Jr. under the desk, and the photograph of President Eisenhower in the Broadcast Room, you can see a difference in the height of the desk.
Presently, the desk has been in the Oval Office for the past 16 years. The Resolute Desk is an important part of history and is still used today by President President Obama.
About the Author: David Newton is the owner of Antique Replica Furniture. Antique Replica Furniture specializes in hand-carved mahogany replicas of English Antiques in Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Regency, Queen Anne and english Victorian styles furniture. To learn more, visit:
Resolute Desks.
Source:
isnare.com
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