Sequoia case dismissed

Mar 8, 2013 by Lucy Chabot Reed

The Supreme Court of the State of New York has dismissed a legal complaint against FE Partners that alleged it tried to improperly wrest control of the former presidential yacht, the U.S.S. Sequoia. The judge ruled that a complaint filed by the owner of the Sequoia “is dismissed in its entirety.”

The judge’s order came the day after FE Partners filed its response in the case, which chronicled how the Sequoia’s owner had hidden and neglected debts and had repeatedly violated the terms of its loan agreement with FE Partners.

“We are pleased that the New York Supreme Court promptly dismissed this unfounded complaint, so that we can again devote our attention to preserving a treasured piece of American history that many call ‘the floating White House,'” said Richard Graf , legal counsel for FE Partners.

A national historic landmark, the 104-foot yacht was built in 1925 and served every president from Herbert Hoover through Gerald Ford. President Kennedy celebrated his last birthday aboard the Sequoia, and a melancholy President Nixon played “God Bless America” on a piano in the Sequoia upon deciding to resign from the White House.

President Johnson enjoyed watching movies on the top deck, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt was known to fish the Potomac from the stern.

World leaders from Winston Churchill to Leonid Brezhnev have met with U.S. presidents on the Sequoia, arguably the most important piece of American history in private hands.

Though owned by an Indian businessman, FE Partners said in a statement it is committed to keeping the Sequoia in the United States and properly funding its maintenance.

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About Lucy Chabot Reed

Lucy Chabot Reed is publisher and founding editor of The Triton.

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