I’m in Washington, D.C. today. What does the former malarial swamp have to do with the mostly-frozen (still) Northwest Passage? It turns out that timbers from a British Royal Navy ship sent out to search for Franklin, HMS Resolute, were used to make the Resolute desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to Rutherford B. Hayes.
Who is using the desk now? Donald Trump! (at least until he is convicted following the impeachment process that the New York Times assures us is right around the corner)
Where else in the U.S. do folks love polar exploration? One of the experts on our cruise had studied the Arctic at Ohio State, home of the Institute for Polar Studies (renamed “Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center” because #ClimateMatters).
Here are some photos from Nome, Alaska, commemorating the Amundsen-Ellsworth airship trip over the North Pole, very likely the first time that humans reached that point:
Readers: What do we make of the fact that most American presidents do much of their work at a desk that is associated with a famous British failure?
Related:
- In the #MeToo age, let’s just be grateful that no furniture associated with the polar hero Fridtjof Nansen is in the White House; it turns out that he was sending nude selfies (made with a view camera?) to a woman 30 years his junior (Vice)
I wonder whether the desk ever contained a copy of War Plan Red? That would be ironic.
America was built on a British failure. Happy birthday Phil!
All governments have collapsed after roughly 300 years, so no surprise. The steel from the world trade center was sent to China & they haven’t had any recessions. After this week’s impeachment hearing of the week, the democrats best hope is China just nuking him.
British culture is about celebrating failure, so it is only respectful to take it in the spirit it was given.