Much more than a piece of furniture, the president’s Resolute Desk has echoed through history

WASHINGTON (AP) — Franklin D. Roosevelt toiled over paperwork there during the World War II’s darkest days. George W. Bush sat behind it to address the nation on 9/11. Beneath it, John F. Kennedy Jr. once crawled and peeked out from behind its front panel while his father worked above, an image so etched into American history that President Joe Biden recreated it with his grandson.

The Resolute Desk is one of the most recognizable pieces of furniture in the White House — and probably in the entire nation. As the president’s desk, it’s been at the center of American history for nearly 150 years.

That famous front panel has its own story. Many accounts claim it was added during FDR’s presidency to conceal his wheelchair and leg braces, but some historians dispute that. They argue Roosevelt used the desk in his private study, away from the public eye, and that the panel itself was not installed until after his death.

The desk’s origins extend far beyond the Oval Office. In fact, it’s not American; it’s British.

The desk is crafted of timbers from the HMS Resolute, a British naval vessel that set off for the Arctic in the early 1850s in search of Sir John Franklin, who disappeared while seeking the Northwest Passage. During that mission, the Resolute became trapped in ice and was abandoned by its crew. Years later, it was discovered drifting through Arctic waters by an American whaling vessel.

The United States repaired it and returned it to Queen Victoria. The vessel resumed service for many years before eventually being retired.

Once decommissioned, Queen Victoria expressed her gratitiude to the United States by ordering the timbers of Resolute to be transformed into several pieces of furniture. One of them was a large desk that she presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

The desk spent much of its early White House history out of public view until 1961, when first lady Jacqueline Kennedy moved it into the Oval Office.

Every president since Jimmy Carter has used the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, with the exception of President George H.W. Bush, who instead placed it in the Treaty Room. The desk has also become the place where recent presidents leave a letter for their successor on Inauguration Day.

The Resolute Desk stands not only as a symbol of the American presidency, but also as a reminder of the enduring friendship between the United States and Britain.

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.