Wilson desk
Encyclopedia
The misnamed Wilson desk is one of only five desks ever used by a President of the United States
in the Oval Office
. This Oval Office desk was used by only Richard Nixon
and subsequently Gerald Ford
after Nixon's resignation. The desk was ordered by Garret Augustus Hobart, 24th Vice President of the United States
, between 1897 and 1899. It was then installed in the the official office for the Vice President, the Vice President's Room of the United States Capitol
. When Nixon was elected President, he chose this desk as his Oval Office Desk because he used it as Vice President and believed it was used by former President Woodrow Wilson
in the Oval Office during his terms in the White House. In 1971 the President had five recording devices secretly installed by the United States Secret Service
within the Wilson Desk. The recordings from these microphones constitute some of the Watergate tapes
.
Nixon referred to the desk in 1969 in his "Silent majority" speech stating, "Fifty years ago, in this room and at this very desk, President Woodrow Wilson spoke words which caught the imagination of a war-weary world." In actuality the desk was never used by Woodrow Wilson in the Oval office. Nixon was informed by one of his speech writers, William Safire
, that the desk was actually used by Vice President of the United States
Henry Wilson
, under President Ulysses S. Grant
's administration. This also appears to be untrue as the desk was not ordered until 1897 or later, more than 22 years after Wilson's death. The "Wilson Desk" appears to be a misnomer
as it has never been continuously used by anyone with the last name of "Wilson."
built of mahogany
. Its workspace is roughly five feet deep by seven feet wide and it has drawers in both pedestals. The knee-hole extends all the way through the desk and during it's time in the White House a glass top was used. This sheet of glass covered the whole workspace of the desk. According to the book Presidential anecdotes By Paul F. Boller, President Nixon enjoyed working in the Oval Office with his feet propped up on the Wilson desk and, in spite of the glass cover, Nixon's "...heels began leaving scars on the top of it." Someone at the White House noticed the marring of the historic desk and, while Nixon was out of the United States, had it refinished. When Nixon returned and saw what had been done he supposedly stated, "Dammit. I didn't order that. I want to leave my mark on this place just like other Presidents!"
Garret Augustus Hobart was the 24th Vice President of the United States
serving from 1897 to 1899 under President William McKinley
. While in office he purchased and ordered many lavish furnishing for the Vice President's Room of the United States Capitol
, (room S–214) then the official office for the vice president. The furnishings either purchased or ordered during Hobart's time in office included Persian rug
s, mohair
carpeting, Neapolitan
silk
curtains, "a silk velour slumber robe" to match the velour
cushions on his office sofa, a $600 floor clock from Harris and Schafer jewelers, and the large mahogany desk now known as the Wilson Desk.
The desk remained in Vice President's Room and continued to be used by each Vice President. This use of the desk continued until 1969 when the desk was placed on loan to the White House
so that it could serve as the Oval Office desk for Richard Nixon's presidency. Nixon took a liking to the desk during his terms as Vice President because he was under the incorrect impression that it was used by Woodrow Wilson during his term as President. Nixon asked for the desk to be moved from the Vice President's Room to the Oval Office upon his inauguration as President.
During February of 1971, Richard Nixon had a secret audio recording system installed in the Wilson Desk. The presidents offices in the White House, Camp David
, and the Old Executive Office Building
all had hidden microphones installed by the United States Secret Service
, and some of the recordings created by this system make up the Watergate tapes
. There were seven microphones in total installed in the Oval office, one one either side of the fire place and five located within the Wilson Desk. These microphones, as well as recording devices in the Cabinet Room
were all wired to central mixers and recorders in "an old locker room in the White House basement." Not long after April 9th, 1973 a switch was installed in the desk to allow Nixon to turn the microphones on and off at will. Previously they turned on automatically whenever someone began talking.
Throughout Nixon's presidency he referred to the Wilson desk hundreds of times in official speeches, such as the "Silent majority" speech, and in talks with high ranking visitors. During official White House tours, guides wrongly told of how Woodrow Wilson used the desk. This misconception was first discovered to be untrue by an assistant curator at the White House. This assistant curator came to yet another incorrect conclusion about who had previously used the desk. This curator wrongly stated that the desk was not used by Woodrow Wilson, but instead by Vice President Henry Wilson
, under President Ulysses S. Grant
's administration. The assistant curator enlightened Cecilia Bellinger, a chief researcher in the writing operation at the White House, about the mistake who in turn told William Safire
, one of Nixon's speech writers. It fell to Safire to inform President Nixon about the mistake in the provenance of the Wilson Desk.
Safire was chosen to inform the President of the issue because he was, "the most frequent Wilson-quoter on the writing staff." Safire wrote a memo to Nixon explaining that it was Henry Wilson, not Woodrow Wilson, who sat at the desk, and listed a litany of character traits and virtues of the other "Wilson." Safire heard nothing back from the White House about the memo. The only recognition Nixon's White House gave to their major mistake in the provenance of the desk was in 1969 when on page 909 of that year's edition of Public Papers of the Presidents there is a footnote to Nixon's "Silent majority" speech which states, "Later research indicated that the desk had not been Woodrow Wilson's as had long been assumed but was used by Vice President Henry Wilson during President Grant's Administration." This footnote itself is also in need of a footnote as the Wilson desk was not ordered until 1897 or later by Garret Augustus Hobart, more than 22 years after Wilson's death and therefore Henry Wilson could not have used the desk.
After Nixon's resignation from office in 1974, the desk remained in the Oval Office throughout Gerald Ford
's tenure as President. Ford changed much in the Oval Office including artworks, rugs, window treatments, and he even oversaw the removal of less than public entrances into the room, but the Wilson desk was one of the few things he left in place. The desk stayed in the Oval Office until 1977 when Jimmy Carter
became President of the United States. Carter replaced it with the more widely known Resolute desk
. The Wilson desk was returned to the Vice President's Room at this time, where it has remained since.
During the two time periods the Wilson desk was located in the Vice President's Room, before and after it was loaned to the White House, no Vice President has had the last name of "Wilson." Because of this, the "Wilson desk" has never had a "Wilson" use it on a regular basis, but a marble bust of Henry Wilson, the Vice President mistakenly believed to have used the Wilson desk, does sit in the Vice President's Office near the Wilson Desk. This bust, commissioned in 1885, "served as the genesis for the
Senate’s Vice Presidential Bust Collection
."
Below is a table with the location of the desk from its purchase by Garret Augustus Hobart to present day and each tenant of the desk.
, in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, as a part of a full-scale replica of the Oval Office furnished as it was during Ford's presidency.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
. This Oval Office desk was used by only Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and subsequently Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
after Nixon's resignation. The desk was ordered by Garret Augustus Hobart, 24th Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, between 1897 and 1899. It was then installed in the the official office for the Vice President, the Vice President's Room of the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
. When Nixon was elected President, he chose this desk as his Oval Office Desk because he used it as Vice President and believed it was used by former President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
in the Oval Office during his terms in the White House. In 1971 the President had five recording devices secretly installed by the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
within the Wilson Desk. The recordings from these microphones constitute some of the Watergate tapes
Watergate tapes
The Watergate tapes, a subset of the Nixon tapes, are a collection of recordings of conversations between Richard Nixon and his fellow conspirators plotting a break in to the Watergate Hotel. U.S. President Richard Nixon and various White House staff started communicating on February 1971 and...
.
Nixon referred to the desk in 1969 in his "Silent majority" speech stating, "Fifty years ago, in this room and at this very desk, President Woodrow Wilson spoke words which caught the imagination of a war-weary world." In actuality the desk was never used by Woodrow Wilson in the Oval office. Nixon was informed by one of his speech writers, William Safire
William Safire
William Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
, that the desk was actually used by Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson was the 18th Vice President of the United States and a Senator from Massachusetts...
, under President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's administration. This also appears to be untrue as the desk was not ordered until 1897 or later, more than 22 years after Wilson's death. The "Wilson Desk" appears to be a misnomer
Misnomer
A misnomer is a term which suggests an interpretation that is known to be untrue. Such incorrect terms sometimes derive their names because of the form, action, or origin of the subject becoming named popularly or widely referenced—long before their true natures were known.- Sources of misnomers...
as it has never been continuously used by anyone with the last name of "Wilson."
Design and markings
The Wilson desk is a double-pedestal deskPedestal desk
A pedestal desk is usually a large free-standing desk made of a simple rectangular working surface resting on two pedestals or small cabinets of stacked drawers of one or two sizes, with plinths around the bases. Often, there is also a central large drawer above the legs and knees of the user...
built of mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
. Its workspace is roughly five feet deep by seven feet wide and it has drawers in both pedestals. The knee-hole extends all the way through the desk and during it's time in the White House a glass top was used. This sheet of glass covered the whole workspace of the desk. According to the book Presidential anecdotes By Paul F. Boller, President Nixon enjoyed working in the Oval Office with his feet propped up on the Wilson desk and, in spite of the glass cover, Nixon's "...heels began leaving scars on the top of it." Someone at the White House noticed the marring of the historic desk and, while Nixon was out of the United States, had it refinished. When Nixon returned and saw what had been done he supposedly stated, "Dammit. I didn't order that. I want to leave my mark on this place just like other Presidents!"
History
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
serving from 1897 to 1899 under President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
. While in office he purchased and ordered many lavish furnishing for the Vice President's Room of the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, (room S–214) then the official office for the vice president. The furnishings either purchased or ordered during Hobart's time in office included Persian rug
Persian rug
The Persian carpet is an essential part of Persian art and culture. Carpet-weaving is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished manifestations of Persian culture and art, and dates back to ancient Persia. In 2008, Iran’s exports of hand-woven carpets was $420 million or 30% of the world's market...
s, mohair
Mohair
Mohair usually refers to a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. The word "mohair" was adopted into English before 1570 from the Arabic: mukhayyar, a type of haircloth, literally 'choice', from khayyara, 'he chose'. Mohair fiber is approximately 25-45 microns in...
carpeting, Neapolitan
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
curtains, "a silk velour slumber robe" to match the velour
Velour
Velour or velours is a plush, knitted fabric or textile. It is usually made from cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Velour is used in a wide variety of applications, including clothing and upholstery....
cushions on his office sofa, a $600 floor clock from Harris and Schafer jewelers, and the large mahogany desk now known as the Wilson Desk.
The desk remained in Vice President's Room and continued to be used by each Vice President. This use of the desk continued until 1969 when the desk was placed on loan to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
so that it could serve as the Oval Office desk for Richard Nixon's presidency. Nixon took a liking to the desk during his terms as Vice President because he was under the incorrect impression that it was used by Woodrow Wilson during his term as President. Nixon asked for the desk to be moved from the Vice President's Room to the Oval Office upon his inauguration as President.
During February of 1971, Richard Nixon had a secret audio recording system installed in the Wilson Desk. The presidents offices in the White House, Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
, and the Old Executive Office Building
Old Executive Office Building
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building , formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building and as the State, War, and Navy Building, is an office building in Washington, D.C., just west of the White House...
all had hidden microphones installed by the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
, and some of the recordings created by this system make up the Watergate tapes
Watergate tapes
The Watergate tapes, a subset of the Nixon tapes, are a collection of recordings of conversations between Richard Nixon and his fellow conspirators plotting a break in to the Watergate Hotel. U.S. President Richard Nixon and various White House staff started communicating on February 1971 and...
. There were seven microphones in total installed in the Oval office, one one either side of the fire place and five located within the Wilson Desk. These microphones, as well as recording devices in the Cabinet Room
Cabinet Room
The Cabinet Room is the meeting room for the cabinet secretaries and advisors serving the President of the United States. The body is defined as the United States Cabinet. The Cabinet Room is located in the West Wing of the White House Complex, adjoining the Oval Office, and looks out upon the...
were all wired to central mixers and recorders in "an old locker room in the White House basement." Not long after April 9th, 1973 a switch was installed in the desk to allow Nixon to turn the microphones on and off at will. Previously they turned on automatically whenever someone began talking.
Throughout Nixon's presidency he referred to the Wilson desk hundreds of times in official speeches, such as the "Silent majority" speech, and in talks with high ranking visitors. During official White House tours, guides wrongly told of how Woodrow Wilson used the desk. This misconception was first discovered to be untrue by an assistant curator at the White House. This assistant curator came to yet another incorrect conclusion about who had previously used the desk. This curator wrongly stated that the desk was not used by Woodrow Wilson, but instead by Vice President Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson was the 18th Vice President of the United States and a Senator from Massachusetts...
, under President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's administration. The assistant curator enlightened Cecilia Bellinger, a chief researcher in the writing operation at the White House, about the mistake who in turn told William Safire
William Safire
William Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
, one of Nixon's speech writers. It fell to Safire to inform President Nixon about the mistake in the provenance of the Wilson Desk.
Safire was chosen to inform the President of the issue because he was, "the most frequent Wilson-quoter on the writing staff." Safire wrote a memo to Nixon explaining that it was Henry Wilson, not Woodrow Wilson, who sat at the desk, and listed a litany of character traits and virtues of the other "Wilson." Safire heard nothing back from the White House about the memo. The only recognition Nixon's White House gave to their major mistake in the provenance of the desk was in 1969 when on page 909 of that year's edition of Public Papers of the Presidents there is a footnote to Nixon's "Silent majority" speech which states, "Later research indicated that the desk had not been Woodrow Wilson's as had long been assumed but was used by Vice President Henry Wilson during President Grant's Administration." This footnote itself is also in need of a footnote as the Wilson desk was not ordered until 1897 or later by Garret Augustus Hobart, more than 22 years after Wilson's death and therefore Henry Wilson could not have used the desk.
After Nixon's resignation from office in 1974, the desk remained in the Oval Office throughout Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's tenure as President. Ford changed much in the Oval Office including artworks, rugs, window treatments, and he even oversaw the removal of less than public entrances into the room, but the Wilson desk was one of the few things he left in place. The desk stayed in the Oval Office until 1977 when Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
became President of the United States. Carter replaced it with the more widely known Resolute desk
Resolute desk
The Resolute desk is a large, nineteenth-century partners' desk often chosen by presidents of the United States for use 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 timbers of the British...
. The Wilson desk was returned to the Vice President's Room at this time, where it has remained since.
During the two time periods the Wilson desk was located in the Vice President's Room, before and after it was loaned to the White House, no Vice President has had the last name of "Wilson." Because of this, the "Wilson desk" has never had a "Wilson" use it on a regular basis, but a marble bust of Henry Wilson, the Vice President mistakenly believed to have used the Wilson desk, does sit in the Vice President's Office near the Wilson Desk. This bust, commissioned in 1885, "served as the genesis for the
Senate’s Vice Presidential Bust Collection
United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection
The United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection is a series of 44 busts in the United States Capitol, each one bearing the likenesses of a Vice President of the United States. Each sculpture, from John Adams to Dan Quayle, honors the role of the Vice President as both a member of the...
."
Timeline
| Tenant | Location |
|---|---|
| Garret Augustus Hobart | Vice President's Room United States Capitol United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall... |
| Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity... |
|
| Charles W. Fairbanks Charles W. Fairbanks Charles Warren Fairbanks was a Senator from Indiana and the 26th Vice President of the United States .... |
|
| James S. Sherman James S. Sherman James Schoolcraft Sherman was a United States Representative from New York and the 27th Vice President of the United States . He was a member of the Baldwin, Hoar, and Sherman families.-Early life:... |
|
| Thomas R. Marshall Thomas R. Marshall Thomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson... |
|
| John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. | |
| Charles G. Dawes Charles G. Dawes Charles Gates Dawes was an American banker and politician who was the 30th Vice President of the United States . For his work on the Dawes Plan for World War I reparations he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served in the First World War, was U.S... |
|
| Charles Curtis Charles Curtis Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States... |
|
| John N. Garner IV | |
| Henry A. Wallace Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A... |
|
| Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... |
|
| Alben W. Barkley Alben W. Barkley Alben William Barkley was an American politician in the Democratic Party who served as the 35th Vice President of the United States , under President Harry S. Truman.... |
|
| Richard Milhous Nixon | |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson | |
| Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. | |
| Richard Milhous Nixon | Oval Office Oval Office The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end... White House White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical... |
| Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. | |
| Walter Frederick Mondale | Vice President's Room United States Capitol United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall... |
| George Herbert Walker Bush | |
| James Danforth Quayle | |
| Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. | |
| Richard Bruce Cheney | |
| Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. |
Replicas
A replica of the Wilson desk is located in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is part of the Presidential Libraries System of the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency. Unlike most other presidential libraries and museums, Ford's are two geographically separate buildings. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential...
, in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, as a part of a full-scale replica of the Oval Office furnished as it was during Ford's presidency.
External Links
- video of the "Silent Majority" speech from CSPAN