The Battle Over the Ownership of Desks by the U.S. Senators

The Wall Street Journal reported the beginning of the Senators` secret strife to possess desired desks with the open of the 108th U.S. Congress on 7th.

The journal stated that even though over half of the 100 Senators` desks are old desks which were bought in 1819 for $34 each, the Senators have practiced all kinds of traditional pressuring and lobbying to occupy desks used by famous predecessors which are like a historical antique objects. It has been custom for nearly 100 years for the Senators to engrave their names in the drawers of the desks, thus it is easy to guess the genealogy just by looking through the engraved names.

The Senators choose the desks used by either their own member of family or relative, or by those Senators who were well known first. Senator Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina), who entered the Congress in last December, inherited her husband, Bob Dole`s desk who has been the president candidate for the Republican Party.

The most popular items are the desks used by `The Great Three`, which are Henry Clay (Kentucky), Daniel Webster (Massachusetts) and John Calhoun (South Carolina) who contrive the unity by submitting a n arbitration proposition during the chaotic times of 1950s right before the Civil War. `Calhoun`s Desk` has been used by former presidents of Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson.

Some Senators even submit a Congress Resolution in order to monopolize a particular desk. There has been three instances, in 1974, 1995, and 1999, guaranteeing the ownership of the desk. In 1974, Senator Norris Cotton (New Hampshire) submitted a resolution, wanting the `Webster`s Desk`, which he was using to be exclusively possessed by the Senators of New Hampshire only forever. He submitted the resolution while the competitors, two Senators of Massachusetts, were absent. Thus, by showing this kind of sharpness, his resolution was successfully adopted.

As for Senator Ernest Hollings (South Calrolina), it took more than twenty years for him to possess the `Calhoun`s Desk` after going through unspeakable hardships and privations. As the result of his secret propose with Senator Russell Long (Louisiana), who owned the desk at that time, by saying “Hey, Russ. Don`t you think we might want to exchange something in the future?”, he successfully inherited the desk, cutting former Senator Strom Thurmond (South Carolina), the oldest politician in the U.S. Congress history, who had his eyes on the desk for 50 years.

On the other side, the desk of Warren Harding, a former president who had the most disordered Administration by the sex scandals along with the desk of Richard Nixson, the former president who dishonorably resigned due to the Watergate incident are the objects to be avoided. Their desks have been used up until recently by former Senator Jesse Helms (North Carolina), a prominent figure of the Conservative Republican Party who has resigned by himself due to his old age.

Not like the Senators, the desks don`t need to be assigned to the Representatives, so the desks don`t have ownership.

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