where did the president's desk come from
Resolute desk The Resolute desk is a large, nineteenth-century partners' desk used by seven presidents of the United States in the White House Oval Office as the Oval Office desk. It was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and was built from the English oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMSÂ Resolute. Franklin Roosevelt requested the addition of a door with the presidential seal to conceal his leg braces.[1] Many presidents since Hayes, except Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, have used the desk at various locations in the White House.[2]
White House The building was originally variously referred to as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion", or "President's House".[22] The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811.[23] A myth emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure after the Burning of Washington, white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered,[24] giving the building its namesake hue.[25] The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having "White Houseâ€“Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901.[26][27] The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[27]