LBJ MOVES INTO THE OVAL OFFICE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 26, 1963, The Evening Star reports "President (Lyndon B.) Johnson moved into the oval White House office this morning but he will not use the desk President (John F.) Kennedy utilized."
The Star says that the JFK (a.k.a. Resolute) Desk*, "a startling discovery of history-minded Jacqueline Kennedy" early in the Kennedy's tenure in the Executive Mansion, was found gathering dust in the basement.
Mr. Johnson was using "an unadorned mahogany desk" on a temporary basis. The desk he used in his office at the Capitol would soon replace it.
Although all of Mr. Kennedy's personal effects had been removed, LBJ had a rocker "looking very much like the one in which President Kennedy was so often photographed" brought in.
The Resolute Desk was a gift to President Hayes (1880) from Queen Victoria & built from the timbers of the HMS Resolute. The desk was put in the President's office on the 2nd floor of the White House & after reconstruction of the mansion (1948-1952) it was placed in the Broadcast Room.
After LBJ & Nixon's tenures, President Jimmy Carter brought the Resolute back to the Oval Office (1977). It has been used there by JFK, Carter, Reagan, GW Bush, Obama, Trump & Biden. FDR actually had the keyhole cover (with eagle) built to conceal the steel braces on his legs, but it was not finished until after his death.
SOURCES
"A Look at the Oval Office Desks of Presidents Past," by Mary Elizabeth Androiotis, January 20, 2021, House Beautiful, www.housebeautiful.com/
"Historic Kennedy Desk Is Take From Office," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 26, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
