Irony in Ivory
Dateline: 06/19/98
When debate there gets a little too heated, the presiding officer of the US Senate gets help in restoring order from a currently most unlikely source, India.
The President of the Senate (normally the Vice President of the United States) uses an unusual gavel bearing little or no resemblance to those used by judges, or that big wooden slammer wielded by the Speaker of the House. Instead, the Senate's gavel is an hourglass-shaped piece of solid ivory with an intricately hand carved center band, silver caps on both ends and no handle.
In the entire history of the Senate, there have been only two such gavels used. The original was first used by Vice President John Adams at one of the first meetings of the Senate back in 1789. It served loyally for 165 years until it finally broke apart while being used during an especially long and hot debate in 1954.
Senators wanted an exact replica to replace the historic gavel, but when unable to find a large enough piece of ivory through legal sources, they asked the Embassy of India for help. Before long, the Vice President of India arrived in Washington and presented the new gavel to our own Vice President, Richard M. Nixon.
So, where is the irony in this pleasant little story of international cooperation? What do you think the Senate was debating in 1954 when the original gavel was shattered in anger? Nuclear energy.
Here's a picture of both the original (left) and current gavel from the Senate Art and Historical Collection Click on the picture to see an enlargement.
From the US Senate's Art and Historical Collection.
The gavels are locked up at night and brought to the Senate before the start of each day's session.
Your opinion is welcome on the
U.S.
Government Info/Resources Bulletin Board
Totally Free. Conspiracy Theories Welcome. Open 24-hours.
Federal
Job Openings and Resources
40,000 people will get U.S. Government jobs this year. Want to be one of
them?
Index
to U.S. Government Web Space
Links to over 250 agencies, bureaus, commissions and offices in all three
branches of government.
