Politics is a noisy business. Senators, congressmen, MPs, lords and representatives hammering out speeches, deals, new laws and arguing over everything from taxes to immigration.

To keep the peace, the house’s presiding officer needs an instrument with which to call people to order – traditionally, this was a gavel – a ceremonial hammer which produced a loud enough noise to be heard over all the arguing and debates.

In the U.S. Senate, this gavel, which dates back to 1789, and which was first used by John Adams, was an hourglass-shaped piece of ivory, sans handle, which was in use by the senate for over 100 years…until an unfortunate day in 1954.

The original U.S. Senate Gavel being used by Vice President John Garner, in 1938

By the 1940s, the gavel, by then in use for over 100 years, was starting to show its age. Repeated hammering had caused the edges to weaken and the ivory to chip. In an effort to prolong the gavel’s use, the decision was made in 1952 to carry out some repairs, and two sterling silver plates were riveted to the flat top and base of the gavel to protect the ivory and absorb the shock of it striking the lecturn during use.

And this might’ve been enough, if not for Richard Nixon.

Yes, that Nixon.

In 1954, Nixon, during a heated senate debate about atomic energy, slammed the gavel down so hard that, despite the silver reinforcements, the gavel cracked down the side!

Whoops.

In a second, a priceless historical artifact had been irreparably damaged!

The shattered-off piece of ivory was found, and carefully glued and screwed back into place, but the damage was done. Embarrassed, Nixon and his colleagues tried to find a new piece of ivory to make another gavel! The problem was that they couldn’t find any chunks of ivory large enough to replace the original gavel.

The Senate’s two ivory gavels. The original 18th century one on the left, and the 20th century replacement one on the right. You can see the screw and the cracked-off piece of ivory on the left, on the original gavel

Famous for its elephants, and ivory carving, the government of the newly independent Republic of India volunteered to make the Senate a new gavel. Hourglass-shaped, made of ivory, and to the exact dimensions of the original 18th century gavel, the new gavel was delivered to the Senate on the 17th of November, 1954 by Sarvepalli Radhakrishna, the first vice-president of India, as a token of friendship between the two nations.

The Senate Gavels in their presentation & storage box

On the day of delivery, Nixon thanked the Indian vice-president for India’s gift to the Senate, and said that the gavel would be used in place of the original, which had started to “come apart” from “overuse”.

He tactfully omitted the fact that it was HIS overuse that had caused the gavel to come apart in the first place!

That gavel, and its older brother, are still in use in the U.S. Senate today.

Want To Know More?

Read up about it here:

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Senates_New_Gavel.htm