From the Resolute Desk to a Fractured Nation: A Quiet Center Waiting to Be Heard

From the Resolute Desk to a Fractured Nation: A Quiet Center Waiting to Be Heard

When one president leaves office and another takes the oath, there is a quiet ritual most Americans never see. On the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, the outgoing president leaves a handwritten note for his successor. These letters, preserved in presidential libraries, are not required by law. They are acts of civic grace—moments where rivals set aside campaigns and grudges to affirm something deeper: that the office belongs to all Americans. …