A Gift From Queen Victoria

by Two Chums on January 25, 2017

Photo Opportunity with Members of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force/Headquarters European Theater of Operations US Army Veterans Association. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

The widely viewed PBS Masterpiece special “Victoria” is such an enlightening program. We have no doubt

that many of you have been watching it. If not, be sure to tune in.

One of the interesting things your Two Chums have learned is that the desk that is used in the Oval Office was a gift that Queen Victoria gave to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880, as a token of goodwill and friendship.

The desk, known as The Resolute Desk, was built from the timbers of the ship HMS Resolute.

Queen Victoria visits HMS Resolute, December 16, 1856, the day before the ship was granted to her as a good will gesture. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, with her great eye for beauty and decor, brought it into the Oval Office in 1961 for President John F. Kennedy. After his assassination, the desk went “touring” as part of an exhibition with the Kennedy Presidential Library. President Jimmy Carter brought the desk back to the Oval Office, where it was used by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama and now, Donald Trump.

Abundant good, for sure!