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White House Photo Blog: Friday, Mar. 28, 2008

The
Brooks Kraft / Corbis for TIME

Inter-National Treasure

The "Resolute" desk in the Oval Office was made from the timbers of H.M.S. Resolute, an abandoned British ship discovered by an American vessel and returned to the Queen of England as a token of friendship. When the ship was retired, Queen Victoria commissioned the desk and presented it to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

The White House Photo Blog is an intimate look at the presidency and life in and around the White House.

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