At the end of House of Cards episode S02E05, when Frank attends the groundbreaking ceremony at the Civil War reenactment site he places (and ultimately buries) his ring in the soil (of what I assume to become some kind of monument). Later in episode S02E11, during the investigations for the illegal fundings, when President Walker brings the conversation to Frank's "fidgeting" he mentions his missing ring, much to the president's surprise, but without much exposition of the matter either:
Francis: It's my class ring, I forget I'd...I buried it.
Garrett: You what?
Francis: Ah, it's a long story.
And after Francis Underwood finally becomes the 46th president of the USA at the end of season 2, Claire has him made a new one as a pre-birthday present.
So what is the background of this ring and its significance for Frank and why did he bury it there at the Civil War site? It is hard to believe that this was simply a publicity act, seeing how important that ring is to him and that at least Walker seemed completely oblivious to this. Is it maybe related to Frank's meeting with his "great great great grandfather" (to whom he also delegated his groundbreaking duty)?