Once upon a time, Britain was the only one in the world, and the United States was just one of the British colonies. Today, however, Britain is like a loyal follower of the United States, always following the United States closely in the international political arena.
Therefore, some call it the "little brother" of the United States. Historically, this desk, known as the "Fortitude Table", has seen the roles of the United Kingdom and the United States reversed.
A desk to witness the historical changes of the two countries. The "Fortitude Table" is not only quietly located in the Oval Office of the White House, but also carries the 142-year history of the United States and the United Kingdom.
It is both a practical piece of office furniture and a precious relic with historical and symbolic significance. Although the history of the United States is shorter than that of the United Kingdom, after a hundred years of development, the total economic volume of the United States has surpassed that of the United Kingdom.
In the interwar period, Britain's position changed dramatically, and the United States became the boss of the capitalist camp in the West. Since then, Britain has become dependent on the United States and willingly acted as America's "little brother" politically, economically, and securely.
The "Perseverance Table" has witnessed this historical change and has become a symbol of the relationship between the two countries.
Original: In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin sailed to the Arctic Ocean with a crew of 133 sailors, tasked with exploring the "Northwest Passage".
However, two months later, the expedition disappeared mysteriously. After five years, the British** finally organized a rescue team, and they set sail on four converted merchant ships to find John Franklin.
The flagship of the rescue team is a three-masted wooden ship named the Perseverance, from which the wood used for the Perseverance is derived. The rescue team successfully reached the eastern Arctic Ocean, but they did not find the surviving Franklin expedition members, but only found the graves of three expedition members on Beech Island.
In 1853, the Perseverance and two other rescue ships set off again, but the Perseverance was unlucky this time, as the Perseverance was surrounded by floating ice floes on the surface of the sea and could not move.
In the extreme cold and without outside help, the crew can only cut down on food and clothing, and wait for the day when the weather will warm up and the snow and ice will melt. However, until April of the following year, there was still no sign of melting ice on the sea, and in an emergency, the crew had no choice but to abandon ship and escape.
After the ordeal, the crew of the Fortitude finally trekked across the ice floes and encountered two other rescue boats at Beech Island. The crew was out of a desperate situation, but the "Perseverance" became an "orphan" floating in the Arctic Ocean, and the British ** did not plan to rescue the "Perseverance", in fact, abandoned the wooden ship.
Unexpectedly, on September 10, 1855, an American whaling ship discovered the "Perseverance" in the waters near Baffin Island in Canada. It is 1,900 kilometers away from the place where the "Perseverance" was shipwrecked, and what is even more amazing is that the "Perseverance" has drifted here for a long time, and its hull is undamaged.
The U.S. whaling crew was so rewarded that they divided the crew into two groups, leaving one group to continue the whaling while the other group returned to the United States on the Perseverance. On Christmas Eve 1856, the Perseverance finally docked at the port of New London, Connecticut, USA.
Although the Americans have gained a windfall, for the United States, how to deal with the "Perseverance" is quite a headache. At that time, the relationship between Britain and the United States was far from being as close as it is now, and Britain's overall strength was far stronger than that of the United States; in other words, the United States at that time not only did not dare to offend Britain because of the "Perseverance" incident, but wanted to take this opportunity to curry favor with Britain and improve relations between the two countries.
As a result, the United States spent $40,000 to renovate the Perseverance, and in December 1856 returned the Perseverance to the British. Queen Victoria of Britain was very touched by the friendly gestures made by the United States, and she not only boarded the "Perseverance" and personally met with the American crew members who saw off the "Perseverance," but also "shouted through the air" to the United States and expressed her gratitude to the United States for this move.
In this way, the "Perseverance" became a "medium" for the improvement of relations between Britain and the United States, and the United States carried out a successful "public relations operation". The Perseverance remained in the Royal Navy until 1879.
In 1880, the "Perseverance," which had already retired from active service, "exerted its residual heat" and made another meritorious contribution to improving and enhancing Anglo-American relations. The British dismantled the Perseverance and carefully crafted three desks from the finest woods.
The three desks were given to three people: the first was given to Queen Victoria, which is still in the British Royal Collections; The second desk was given to an American, the widow of American businessman Henry Greenel, who had financed the search for John Franklin in England; Britain took the third desk as a national gift, and it was the nineteenth ** Rutherford Burtchard Hayes of the United States who received this national gift.
Rutherford Burchard Hayes was so pleased to accept the gift from England that he called the "Fortitude Desk" and moved it into his Oval Office to become his desk.
Suffice it to say, the "Perseverance Table" is a "token" of the transformation of Britain and the United States from hostility to friendship.
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The Fortitude Desk: A Reserved Choice for American** Offices Regardless of the differences in American** personalities, habits, and preferences, the Fortitude Desk has always been an integral part of their office and is always in the same place.
Even the maverick Trump is no exception. The Oval Office is not only the best place to work in the United States, but also a place for their children to play. Kennedy's children used to play in the Oval Office, and the scene was captured and recorded by a reporter at the White House at the time, in which the children were hiding under a huge gritty table, playing with their parents.
Decades later, when Obama appointed Kennedy's daughter, Carolyn Kennedy, as U.S. ambassador to Japan, he arranged a surprise. When Caroline walked into the Oval Office, she didn't see Obama.
However, Obama hid behind the "grit table" and imitated the famous **, playing a game of "hide and seek" with Caroline (see image below). This is a continuation of the game they played under the "Fortitude Table" back then, showing Obama's sense of humor and cherishing the past.
1.The White House was not originally named "The White House", and the origin of its name is related to Anglo-American relations. 2.In 1814, the British invaded Washington, D.C., and the mansion was burned down.
After the fire, the United States repaired it and painted it white, hence the name of the White House. 3.There was a fire in the White House in the seventies of the twentieth century, caused by a bottle of Moutai brought back from China by an American**.
4.Nixon witnessed the miracle of lighting Moutai with a match.
**Moutai, which entertained Nixon, amazed the White House because it "caught fire." Nixon tried to emulate *** but ignored the issue of the amount of alcohol, which led to a fire that, although eventually extinguished, burned down the desk.
Fortunately, this desk was not the "Fortitude Desk", and the desk was sent to the Kennedy Library because of the JFK assassination, and it was not until the Carter ** time that it returned to the Oval Office.
Today, the "Perseverance Table" has become the symbol of successive American leaders, witnessing countless historical events.
The "Grit Table" where Clinton and Lewinsky took a photo bears witness to the crimes committed by the United States. On 8 May 1999, the United States-led NATO forces attacked our embassy in Yugoslavia for no apparent reason.
Since then, China and its people have been filled with righteous indignation and strongly condemned the atrocities of the United States. In the face of pressure, Clinton verbally expressed his apologies and condolences to the families of the victims.
On May 13, 1999, in front of the "Perseverance Table," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing presented a book of condolences and asked Clinton to "write on it his sincere apologies to the Chinese people."
After a moment of silence, Clinton wrote in the book of condolences: "I express my deep condolences to the victims and sincere apologies to their families and the Chinese people." ”
Clinton wrote an apology in the condolence book, which spread on social media and attracted a lot of attention and discussion. Some people expressed dissatisfaction with this, believing that this was a defacement of the image of the United States.
However, there are also those who believe that Clinton's behavior shows his humility and honesty, which is worthy of our learning and respect. In any case, this ** reminds us that we should treat others with respect and take responsibility for our actions, no matter where we are.