Inaugural Table

You can view this unusual table at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., as part of a presidential exhibit. If you have seen the picture of President Lincoln's second inauguration, you may recognize the table's distinctive shape. Crafted in 1865 for the ceremony, it was assembled from cast iron left over from the then-new Capitol dome. Benjamin French, who had the table made, promised to give it to Lincoln as a memento when he left office. After Lincoln's assassination, French donated it to the Massachusetts History Society, the current owner. The Bible on top came from President Eisenhower's inauguration.

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