Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 1

Large Print Exhibition Text

America’s Presidents

Throughout the history of the American presidency,

from George Washington’s inauguration to the

present day, the chief executive’s duties have

encompassed more than politics. Our presidents are

charged with responding to the hopes and

aspirations of the American people, and this is a

tremendous burden—one that has crushed some

and elevated others.

The Constitution only minimally defines the powers

of the president because the Founders sought to

create an office that could change and develop as

the course of American history unfolded. They

trusted in posterity and relied upon the character

and wisdom of American citizenry. In our

democracy, the power of the office is subject to the

leader’s relationship with the electorate, and the

most influential American presidents have

transcended their own eras to shape the country’s

present as well as its future.

When these individuals took the oath of office, they

all accepted an enormous responsibility. But their

specific circumstances and their distinct

personalities leave us with unique stories of both

triumph and failure. On their own, each of the

portraits in

America’s Presidents

depicts a leader

whose life offers lessons in governance, endurance,

and character. Collectively, they reveal the contours

of the history of the United States.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 3

Washington to J. Q. Adams

Building the Presidency

As early as 1795, Americans regarded George

Washington as the

Patriae pater

(father of his

country). The ornate title recognized the critical role

that he had in the creation of the American Republic

as well as the weight of his responsibilities as the

first president of the United States. Washington not

only established the legitimacy of the new

government but also set precedents for the scope of

presidential power, including the tradition of leaving

office after two terms.

Following Washington’s tenure, separate political

parties emerged: the Federalist Party and the

Democratic-Republican Party. State

representatives—who embodied diverse regional

and economic interests—viewed the duties of

government through different lenses, and political

rivalries among them grew fierce as they debated

the reach and limits of federal power. After the

Louisiana Purchase of 1803, westward expansion

was inevitable, and organizing this territory into new

states dominated nineteenth-century American

politics. Foremost in the political situation was the

crucial issue that the Founders recognized but failed

to solve: the coexistence of democracy with slavery.

Image Credit: The First Great Western Empire, 1812

Jonathan Clark (life dates unknown)

Detail reproduced from the original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 4

George Washington, 1732–1799

(“Lansdowne” Portrait)

First president, 1789–1797

As a military and political figure, George

Washington was a unifying force during

the country’s formative years. He fought

in the French and Indian War and later served as

commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the

Revolutionary War. After being unanimously elected

as the first president of the United States, in 1789,

he installed the Supreme Court and the cabinet,

quelled the Whiskey Rebellion, and defeated the

Western Lakes Confederacy in the Northwest Indian

War (and facilitated the subsequent peace

negotiations with the alliance). Washington enjoyed

immense popularity at the end of his second term,

but he declined to run again, insisting that the

United States needed to take proper precautions to

avoid hereditary leadership or dictatorship.

While mapping out the composition for this painting,

American artist Gilbert Stuart, who had previously

worked in England and Ireland, drew from European

traditions of state portraiture to evoke Washington’s

leadership. The artist made a number of direct

references to the newly formed United States, and

the pose he chose for the president is believed to

allude to Washington’s annual address in front of

Congress in December 1795. Stuart completed

several replicas of the image, which spread rapidly

through popular engravings.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 5

Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828)

Oil on canvas, 1796

Acquired as a gift to the nation through the

generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 6

George Washington, 1732–1799

Born Westmoreland County, Virginia

In 1784, the French sculptor Jean-Antoine

Houdon agreed to execute a full-length

marble statue of George Washington for

the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.

The following year, he traveled across the Atlantic

and spent two weeks at Mount Vernon. While there,

he made a life mask of Washington. That mask

became the basis for several plaster and terra-cotta

busts, including this one.

Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)

Plaster, c. 1786

Partial gift of Joe L. and Barbara B. Albritton and

Robert H. and Clarice Smith

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 7

George Washington, 1732–1799

Born Westmoreland County,

Virginia

Edward Savage’s mezzotint engraving

portrays George Washington as the

nation’s president rather than as a

general: he wears a black velvet suit

and not a military uniform. In his

hand is a plan of the new capital city named in his

honor. While in London, Savage adapted the pose of

this elegant print from one of his own paintings.

Washington’s face, however, was based on an

earlier portrait that Savage had painted from life

between 1789, the year he was inaugurated as

president, and 1790. The caption at the bottom of

this print refers to the latter work.

On October 6, 1793, Savage sent his subject an

impression of this mezzotint, along with a portrait

print he had made of Benjamin Franklin. In the

accompanying letter, the artist expressed his hope

that “it will meet with the approbation of yourself

and Mrs. Washington as it is the first I ever

published in that method of Engraving.”

Edward Savage (1761–1817)

Mezzotint, 1793

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 8

George Washington, 1732–1799

Born Westmoreland County, Virginia

In 1795, the Philadelphia artist Charles

Wilson Peale persuaded President

George Washington to pose for his

seventeen-year-old son Rembrandt, who wanted to

paint the president’s portrait. Upon learning that

Rembrandt was joined in the painting room by his

father, his brother Raphaelle, and his Uncle James

(all artists), Gilbert Stuart quipped that the

president was in danger of being “Pealed all

around.” Rembrandt Peale’s original life portrait is

now in the collection of the Historical Society of

Pennsylvania. He once stated that he had painted

ten replicas, but only two are known—this example

and one in the collection of the Detroit Institute of

Arts.

Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860)

Oil on canvas, 1795

Gift of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable

Trust, 1942

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 9

George Washington, 1732–1799

Born Westmoreland County, Virginia

In October or early November of 1795,

President George Washington granted

Charles Willson Peale a seventh—and

last—portrait sitting. Peale, who had

been commissioned by Henry William De Saussure

to paint the president’s likeness, decided to offer the

opportunity to his extremely talented but

inexperienced son, Rembrandt. In order to make the

atmosphere of the sitting less formal, Peale invited

his brother James and his oldest son, Raphaelle, to

participate in the session. The older men engaged

Washington in conversation and painted their own

portraits of him so that Rembrandt could feel more

at ease.

This is one of several “cabinet-size” replicas of

Charles Willson Peale’s image from this famous

group sitting.

Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827)

Oil on canvas, 1795

Jonathan and Debra Stein

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 10

George Washington, 1732–1799

Born Westmoreland County,

Virginia

Rembrandt Peale, son of American

artist Charles Willson Peale, painted

George Washington from life in 1795

when he was seventeen. He later made

numerous portraits of the president based on his

memory of this sitting and on likenesses by other

artists. From these he developed an idealized

image—known by the Latin name “Patriae Pater”

(Father of His Country)—which served as a model

for his many so-called “porthole” portraits of

Washington. In these compositions, the subject’s

face is seen through an oval stonework frame—an

honorific convention in European art dating from the

Renaissance.

Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860)

Oil on canvas, probably 1853

Gift of an anonymous donor

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 11

George Washington and

Benjamin Franklin

This print, depicting George

Washington (1732–1799) and

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)

facing each other in profile, was

published in the

Columbian Magazine

(Philadelphia,

March 1788). However, it was copied from an early

edition of the Swiss author Johan Caspar Lavater’s

Essays on Physiognomy

(1775–78), which proposed

a person’s character was evident in their

expressions, facial features, and head shape. The

magazine’s author quoted Lavater’s analysis of

Washington’s silhouetted profile, noting his good

qualities and adding, “the original must be

distinguished by an indefatigable activity—a man

who acts with prudence, and always with dignity.”

Unidentified artist

Etching and engraving, 1788

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 12

Martha Washington, 1731–1802

Born New Kent County, Virginia

In 1749, Martha Dandridge married

Daniel Parke Custis, the wealthiest

planter in the colony. Seven years

and four children later, she was a

very wealthy widow. She married

George Washington in 1759, pulling

him upward in Virginia’s social and economic strata.

Martha was viewed by contemporaries as a quiet,

reserved woman capable of managing an estate, a

comfortable fit for an ambitious planter. She

contributed to her husband’s climb to national

leadership in numerous ways. During the

Revolutionary War, Martha stayed with her husband

in the army’s winter encampment; she was a great

comfort to George and a major factor in his being

able to keep the army intact. She was also, along

with her husband, influential in setting the

atmosphere and tone of the presidency, which was

so important to the new republic.

Rembrandt Peale based his portrait on his father’s

(Charles Willson Peale’s) 1795 likeness, adding a

“porthole” as he did in his

George Washington

view across the room.

Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860)

Oil on canvas, probably 1853

Gift of an anonymous donor

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 13

John Adams, 1735–1826

Second president, 1797–1801

Of all the Founding Fathers, John Adams

was perhaps the most intellectual and

accomplished. He helped craft the

argument supporting the independence of the

Continental Congress and later served on the

diplomatic mission that ended the Revolutionary

War. When George Washington chose him as his

vice president, Adams complained that his lack of

official duties meant that he occupied “the most

insignificant office that ever the invention of man

contrived.” Nevertheless, he used the position as

his ticket to the presidency and was elected in 1796

after a bitter campaign against Thomas Jefferson.

During Adams’s single term as president, political

posturing and bickering inhibited him at home, and

France’s interference with American commerce

created a challenge for him abroad. Adams

managed to keep the nation at peace, but he left

the White House largely discredited on all sides.

When Adams was vice president, he had portraits

done by the artist John Trumbull, who based this

painting on one of those original portraits. Trumbull

incorporated the likeness into his depiction of the

signing of the Declaration of Independence that is

on display in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

John Trumbull (1756–1843)

Oil on canvas, 1793

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 14

Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1826

Born Shadwell, Virginia

This work replicates an unusual profile

portrait of Thomas Jefferson that Gilbert

Stuart painted in 1805, at the beginning

of Jefferson’s second presidential term. The

neoclassical composition “in the medallion form”

was suggested by Jefferson, who later wrote that

the original portrait (now owned by Harvard

University) was “deemed the best which has been

taken of me.” Jefferson’s relatives also admired the

profile, and in 1836, ten years after Jefferson’s

death, the painter Charles Bird King made this copy

of the work for them.

Charles Bird King (1785–1862), after Gilbert Stuart

Oil on wood panel, 1836

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 15

Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1826

Third president, 1801–1809

Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration

of Independence, founded the University

of Virginia, and wrote Virginia’s Statute for

Religious Freedom. He was also a philosopher,

inventor, gentleman farmer, and scientist. During

his presidency, the nation bought a vast land

holding west of the Mississippi River. Known as the

Louisiana Purchase, this acquisition from France

doubled the size of the United States and led to the

remarkable findings of the Lewis and Clark

Expedition (1804–1806). Although Jefferson once

called slavery “an abominable crime,” he

consistently enslaved African Americans, including

his late wife Martha’s half-sister, Sally Hemings,

with whom he had several children.

Known as the “Edgehill Portrait,” this painting on

mahogany, by artist Gilbert Stuart, was the result of

two sittings. Jefferson’s brightly lit forehead stands

out against the muted gray-green background, as if

to emphasize his bold intellect.

Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828)

Oil on wood panel, 1805/1821

Owned jointly with Monticello, Thomas Jefferson

Foundation, Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia; purchase

funds provided by the Regents of the Smithsonian

Institution, the Trustees of the Thomas

JeffersonFoundation, Inc., and the Enid and Crosby

Kemper Foundation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 16

James Madison, 1751–1836

Fourth president, 1809–1817

James Madison coauthored, with

Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the

Federalist Papers (1787–88), a set of

eighty-five essays arguing for the

ratification of the Constitution, which remain among

the greatest expressions of American political

thought. Concerned that the Constitution tilted too

far toward the interests of the federal government

and neglected the individual, Madison wrote the first

ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights.

As president, Madison tried to keep the United

States from becoming embroiled in the conflicts in

Europe, but after the British seized American ships

in an effort to halt U.S. exports, the War of 1812

began. Despite its controversial origins—and

conclusion—this “Second American Revolution,” as it

was sometimes called, ended European interference

with the United States and created a strong sense of

American nationalism.

Chester Harding (1792–1866)

Oil on canvas, 1829–30

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 17

James Monroe, 1758–1831

Fifth president, 1817–1825

James Monroe continued the Virginia

dynasty of Democratic-Republican

presidents that had been interrupted only

by the tenure of John Adams. As one of the last

Founding Fathers to remain politically active in

1820, most people considered him to be unopposed

in his bid for a second term. His success reflected

the Era of Good Feelings—the period following the

War of 1812 that was marked by the temporary

suspension of two-party factionalism. The Monroe

Doctrine, the enduring legacy of his administration,

articulated opposition to European meddling in the

Western Hemisphere and became a keystone of

American foreign policy.

When Monroe was first elected, in 1816, the

majority of voters did not know what he looked like.

His friend John Vanderlyn, who had recently

returned from studying art in Paris, painted two

portraits of him. Monroe gave one to his friend

James Madison and kept this one. With the careful

rendering of Monroe’s features, the highly finished

surface, and the clarity of lighting, Vanderlyn’s

painting exemplifies the French neoclassical style

that was prevalent at the time. The image was

quickly engraved for public dissemination.

John Vanderlyn (1775–1852)

Oil on canvas, 1816

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 18

John Quincy Adams, 1767–1848

Sixth president, 1825–1829

John Quincy Adams, who like his father

bristled with intelligence, narrowly

defeated the popular military hero

Andrew Jackson in the election of

1824. Adams’s qualifications for the

presidency were many, including his tenure as

James Monroe’s secretary of state, yet his often

tactless temperament and refusal to compromise his

high ideals put him at odds with the emerging

democratic movement.

The populist Jackson then secured the presidency in

the 1828 election, denying Adams a second term,

but the voters of Massachusetts elected Adams to

the House of Representatives in 1830 and

consequently revived his political career. His

commitment to supporting anti-slavery advocates

and defending their right to petition Congress won

him many admirers beyond his Massachusetts

constituency.

Having a keen interest in art, particularly

portraiture, Adams had high expectations and

doubted George Caleb Bingham’s ability to produce

“a strong likeness” of him. Adams, however, was

pleasantly surprised with the results.

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879)

Oil on canvas, c.1850, after 1844 original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 19

Jackson to Buchanan

Democracy and Expansion

The Jacksonian era is characterized by a burgeoning

democracy that coincided with the growth of

production and trade, and Andrew Jackson

personified the raw energy of the nation during

western expansion. By extending the electorate to

include all white men—not just land-owners—

Jackson sought to empower “the ordinary

American.” His emphasis on individualism remains a

hallmark of American society, but his legacy has

been smeared by his decision to remove Native

Americans from their lands. The federal policy

toward Native Americans that developed under

Jackson effectively enacted genocide, and it has

dimmed his reputation as the “people’s president.”

In the late 1840s, against the backdrop of a

dramatic population increase and mounting

questions of citizenship rights for African Americans,

Native Americans, and women, a wave of reform

movements arose, setting the stage for intense

partisan clashes.

Image Credit:

Andrew Jackson, c. 1836

Attributed to Henry R. Robinson (active c. 1833–

1851)

Reproduced from the original (NPG.82.26)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 20

Andrew Jackson, 1767–1845

Seventh president, 1829–1837

Andrew Jackson’s life was colored by

struggle, conflict, and aggression. The

orphan of impoverished immigrants, he

was the only American president to have been a

prisoner of war or to have killed a man in a duel.

After serving as a general in the U.S. Military

during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, he

became a national hero.

During Jackson’s presidency, he signed the Indian

Removal Act into law, defeated the National Bank

through the power of the veto, and threatened to

use military force to preserve the Union when South

Carolina challenged the federal government. Once

viewed as a symbol of the country’s expansive

democracy, Jackson is now a controversial figure for

his uncompromising nationalism and punitive Indian

policies.

Thomas Sully only painted Jackson from life on two

occasions, but he made many portraits of him. This

work was a gift from Jackson to his friend Francis

Preston Blair.

Thomas Sully (1783–1872)

Oil on canvas, 1824

Private collection

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 21

Andrew Jackson, 1767–1845

Born in the Waxhaw Settlement, South

Carolina

Ferdinand Pettrich grew up in Dresden and

workedas an apprentice for his father, a

court sculptor. After studying in Rome with the

renowned Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen, Pettrich

moved to the United States. The artist reportedly

met Jackson in the spring of 1836. That year, he

created an original marble portrait of the president,

which served as the model for several replicas.

While marble is an intractable medium, Jackson’s

hair is treated with a great dimensionality that

contributes to the drama of this likeness.

Ferdinand Pettrich (1798–1872)

Marble, after 1836 original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 22

Andrew Jackson, 1767–1845

Born in the Waxhaw Settlement,

South Carolina

Beginning with George Washington’s

administration, presidential portrait

medals were created to promote peace and

friendship between Euro-Americans and Native

Americans. Typically manufactured at the U.S. Mint,

these “peace medals” were most often given to

Native American representatives during treaty

negotiations. While some of the original intentions

may have been good-willed, a number of

government policies, particularly Andrew Jackson’s

Indian Removal Act, undermined the purpose of

these medals.

Obverse: Moritz Fürst (1782–after 1841)

Reverse: John Reich (1768–1833)

Silver, 1831–32; medal inscribed 1829

Gift of Betty A. and Lloyd G. Schermer

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 23

Andrew Jackson, 1767–1845

Born in the Waxhaw Settlement,

South Carolina

Thomas Sully painted Andrew

Jackson from life twice, in February

1819 and again in 1824. The 1824

life sketch hangs in the gallery. This

small work, deftly executed in oil on

paper, depicts Jackson posed

dramatically beside a white horse. It may be related

to the 1819 sitting in Philadelphia, which resulted in

a larger canvas in which Jackson poses next to a

white steed.

Thomas Sully (1783-1872)

Oil on paper, c. 1819

Judge and Mrs. B. Michael Chitty

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 24

Martin Van Buren, 1782–1862

Eighth president, 1837–1841

A consummate politician, Martin Van Buren

was clever, strategic, and a master of

political patronage. He helped found the

Democratic Party, which put Andrew Jackson in the

White House, and succeeded Jackson after serving

as his vice president. Van Buren, however, had the

misfortune of becoming president just a few months

before the Panic of 1837—an unprecedented

financial crisis that brought about an economic

depression and earned him the epithet “Martin Van

Ruin.”

Van Buren also faced the growing problem of

slavery in the United States. He attempted to

navigate between those who supported the spread

of the slave labor system and those who called for

its abolition, but this was a challenge. After losing

his bid for reelection, Van Buren noted, “The two

happiest days of my life were those of my entrance

upon the office and my surrender of it.”

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1858 (signed 1864)

Lent by the White House, Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 25

William Henry Harrison, 1773–1841

Ninth president, March–April 1841

The candidacy of William Henry Harrison

indicates that American politics were

moving in a more populist direction as the

country expanded. A two-term congressman and

former territorial governor, Harrison had no

noteworthy political abilities, but for the Whig Party

in 1840, he was the perfect figurehead: a military

hero in the War of 1812 and a frontier Indian

fighter. Harrison’s supporters celebrated his military

prowess and combined it with homespun frontier

imagery, such as log cabins and hard cider, in a

presidential campaign that was unprecedented for

its carnival-like hoopla. While discussion of real

issues was scant, that ballyhoo of the race proved

sufficient in itself to win Harrison the presidency.

Jubilance over his victory, however, was short lived.

On April 4, 1841, exactly one month after delivering

a very long inaugural address in extremely harsh

weather conditions, Harrison became the first

president to die in office. Until recently, the cause of

his death was thought to have been pneumonia, but

now, there is new evidence suggesting that he may

have suffered from enteric fever and septic shock.

Albert Gallatin Hoit (1809–1856)

Oil on canvas, 1840

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 26

John Tyler, 1790–1862

Tenth president, 1841–1845

John Tyler was not elected to serve as

president, but after Harrison’s untimely

death, he became the first vice president

to ascend to the office. For this reason, many

referred to President Tyler as “His Accidency,” and

his authority was frequently questioned. In

September 1841, his entire cabinet resigned in

disgust after quarreling with him over federal

banking policy. Soon afterward, he was expelled

from the Whig Party, whose members would later

mount an unsuccessful bid to impeach him.

Following his presidency, Tyler became a proponent

of Southern secession and was elected to the

Confederate House of Representatives.

In 1857, Congress commissioned George Peter

Alexander Healy to create a series of presidential

portraits for the White House. Two years later,

Healy visited Tyler at his retirement home in Virginia

and created this smaller replica of Tyler’s White

House portrait.

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1859

Gift of Friends of the National Institute

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 27

James K. Polk, 1795–1849

Eleventh president, 1845–1849

The life and career of James K. Polk

reflected the country’s westward shift. His

path followed the frontier as he moved

from his birthplace in North Carolina to Tennessee.

Polk, like most Americans in the nineteenth century,

favored westward expansion and believed that

settlers were destined to move across North

America. As president, he acquired more than a

million square miles of territory for the United

States, in part by fomenting the Mexican- American

War. As one of the most consequential presidents in

American history, the vast expansion of territory

opened up the question of slavery’s future, an issue

that sparked conflict during the period leading up to

the Civil War. Driven and determined, Polk took

office with a limited agenda, accomplished all of it,

and left office, as he planned, after only one term.

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1846

Lent by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington,

D.C.; Museum purchase, Gallery Fund

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 28

Zachary Taylor, 1784–1850

Twelfth president, 1849–1850

Zachary Taylor was swept into the White

House on a wave of popularity resulting

from his victories in the Mexican-

American War, and he began his presidency with the

promise of bringing harmony to the Union. The

ongoing debate over slavery, however, brought the

nation closer to a sectional divide, particularly when

decisions had to be made about whether or not to

allow slavery in states that were forming in newly

acquired territory.

A Southerner by birth, Taylor was in favor of

keeping slavery out of the new Southwest

territories, namely California and New Mexico, and

under his administration, Congress negotiated to

resolve the manifold political issues caused by

slavery. But Taylor’s best efforts were ended by his

sudden death, less than two years into his

presidency.

In this election year portrait, Taylor is presented as

a sedate and uncharacteristically groomed figure.

“Old Rough and Ready,” as Taylor’s soldiers knew

him, usually dressed “entirely for comfort,” wrote

Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant.

Attributed to James Reid Lambdin (1807–1889)

Oil on canvas, 1848

Gift of Barry Bingham Sr.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 29

Millard Fillmore 1800–1874

Thirteenth president, 1850–1853

Millard Fillmore was a member of the

center-right Whig party. Since he left

office in 1853, every U.S. president has

been affiliated with either the Republican or the

Democratic party.

As Zachary Taylor’s vice president, Fillmore presided

over the Senate’s increasingly volatile debates on

the Compromise of 1850, which he privately

supported. When he ascended to the presidency

upon Taylor’s death, Fillmore worked with senators

to push through this complex bundle of laws, which

included the Fugitive Slave Act. The Whig party’s

support of the deeply flawed Compromise of 1850

was its demise. Fillmore lost the support of many

party members who defected to the newly formed

Republican party, and his subsequent bid to retain

the presidency was unsuccessful. Several years

after leaving office, Fillmore sat for this portrait by

James Reid Lambdin. An accomplished artist,

Lambdin painted every U. S. president from John

Quincy Adams to James A. Garfield.

James Reid Lambdin (1807–1889)

Oil on canvas, c.1858

Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fillmore Norfleet Jr.

in memory of R. Fillmore and Elizabeth C. Norfleet

and in honor of our children and grandchildren

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 30

Native American Peace Medals

The United States gave peace medals to Native

American leaders as symbols of diplomacy. George

Washington presented one of the earliest hand-

engraved medals from the 1790s to a Chickasaw

leader. It shows the first president with a chief,

who, in a sign of peace, smokes a pipe while his

tomahawk rests on the ground.

Later examples were based on the Thomas Jefferson

medal. One side features a portrait, and the reverse

depicts hands clasped in friendship, accompanied by

a crossed tomahawk and peace pipe. The United

States did not honor its treaties, but Native Nations

pursued justice through activism, the courts, and

petitioning Congress. They argued that the treaties

recognized their national sovereignty and

empowered them to control their destinies.

All medals are the gift of Betty A. and Lloyd G.

Schermer

George Washington 1732–1799

Unidentified artist

Silver with engraved decoration, 1793

Thomas Jefferson 1743–1826

Robert Scott (active 1781–1820)

Silver, 1801

James Madison 1751–1836

John Reich (1768–1833)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 31

Silver, 1814–15 (medal inscribed 1809)

John Quincy Adams 1767–1848

Moritz Furst (1782–after 1841) and

John Reich (1768–1833)

Silver, 1825–28 (medal inscribed 1825)

James K. Polk 1795–1849

John Gadsby Chapman (1808–1889) and

John Reich (1768–1833)

Silver, 1846

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 32

Franklin Pierce, 1804–1869

Fourteenth president, 1853–1857

“What luck Frank has,” remarked

Nathaniel Hawthorne when he began

writing a campaign biography of his

lifelong friend Franklin Pierce, the 1852 Democratic

candidate for president. Pierce coasted effortlessly

through elections to New Hampshire state offices

and to Congress and rose from the rank of private

to brigadier general in the Mexican-American War

without firing a shot. Once in the White House,

however, his luck ran out. When fighting erupted in

Kansas between pro- and anti-slavery factions,

Pierce, a Northerner with Southern sympathies, was

unwilling to antagonize his Southern friends or to

use the authority of his office to intervene. As a

result, his administration, which had begun so

hopefully with the Compromise of 1850, ended in

the midst of a series of violent political

confrontations, referred to as “Bleeding Kansas,”

that foreshadowed the Civil War.

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1853

Gift of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable

Trust

Frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian

Women’s Committee

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 33

James Buchanan, 1791–1868

Fifteenth president, 1857–1861

Democrat James “Old Buck” Buchanan

came to the presidency after fulfilling

several other roles. The congressman and

senator from Pennsylvania traveled extensively as

the minister to Russia (under President Jackson),

secretary of state (under President Polk), and

minister to Great Britain (under President Pierce).

Unfortunately, his diplomatic experience abroad did

little to strengthen his effectiveness on the domestic

front.

Two days after Buchanan’s inauguration in 1857,

the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that

African Americans could never be U.S. citizens and

that the federal government could not prohibit the

practice of slavery in any territory. Buchanan

subsequently moved to admit Kansas into the Union

as a slave state, but failed upon facing considerable

uproar from anti-slavery Northerners.

Following Republican Abraham Lincoln’s narrow

victory in the 1860 federal election, Buchanan did

little to prevent the first seven Southern states from

seceding. The Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861,

only a few weeks after he had left office.

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1859

Transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the

A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 34

Lincoln to McKinley

The Crisis of the Union

By the 1850s, slavery had become a moral and

political issue that divided the nation. Shortly after

Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election,

South Carolina, followed by ten other Southern

states, seceded from the Union in protest of having

to free enslaved people. Initially, Lincoln used his

presidential power in an effort to avoid a crisis, but

war proved to be inevitable. As the Civil War

advanced beyond anyone’s expectations, Lincoln,

who viewed the war as a means of preserving the

Union, realized that the unity of the country hinged

on freeing slaves and granting civil rights to all

citizens.

In Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of November 1863,

he argued for another revolution, one that would

bring forth a “new birth of freedom” to restore the

Union and reestablish American democracy. But

because he was assassinated in April 1865, he could

not guide the process of national reconciliation

known as Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s

successor, failed to integrate the four million freed

African Americans into society or structure society in

a way that would ensure their civil rights.

Image Credit:

Storming Fort Wagner, 1890

Kurtz & Allison Lithography Company (active c.

1880–1899)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 35

Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

Sixteenth president, 1861–1865

Abraham Lincoln, a self-educated frontier

lawyer from Illinois, faced one of the

greatest challenges as president:

preserving the Union. He initially framed the Civil

War as a Constitutional crisis over secession, but as

fighting intensified, his aims evolved to include

reunification based on the abolition of slavery. In

1865, when the war ended, he proposed a program

of Southern reconstruction that would require

African American civil rights, but before he could

implement it, he was assassinated by John Wilkes

Booth.

George Peter Alexander Healy painted a life portrait

of Lincoln in 1860, but he had to rely on other

portraits to make this image, one of four he created

after Lincoln’s death. All are derived from Healy’s

1869 group portrait The Peacemakers, which

features the president, Generals William T. Sherman

and Ulysses S. Grant, and Admiral David D. Porter

as they discuss strategy near the end of the Civil

War.

George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894)

Oil on canvas, 1887

Gift of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable

Trust

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 36

Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

Born Hardin County, Kentucky

Leonard Wells Volk made this life mask of

Abraham Lincoln in 1860, before Lincoln

began his run for the presidency. Volk had

wanted to create a bust of him to add to his

collection of American statesmen, but Lincoln did

not have time to pose. Poet and editor Richard

Watson Gilder, who owned a bronze version of the

work, wrote after Lincoln’s assassination, “This

bronze doth keep the very form and mold/ of our

great martyr’s face. Yes, this is he:/ that brow all

wisdom and benignity...”

After Leonard Wells Volk (1828–1895)

Plaster, 1917 cast after 1860 original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 37

Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

Born Hardin County, Kentucky

Looking at this cast of Abraham Lincoln’s

face, which appears gaunt and careworn,

one may think that it is a death mask, but

in fact, it was taken from life on February 11, 1865,

by sculptor Clark Mills. Life masks were popular in

the nineteenth century because they created a

duplicate of the subject’s features. A friend of

Lincoln’s commented on the mask’s ability to

portray “one on whom sorrow and care had done

their worst.”

After Clark Mills (1815–1883)

Plaster, c. 1917 cast after 1865 original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 38

Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

Born Hardin County, Kentucky

Soon after Abraham Lincoln won the

Republican presidential nomination, in

May of 1860, sculptor Leonard Wells

Volk made casts of Lincoln’s hands. The right hand

is shown grasping a sawed-off section of a broom

handle, which Lincoln obligingly fetched from a shed

when the artist suggested that he hold on to

something. Lincoln smoothed the edges of the

wood, reportedly saying, “I thought I would like to

have it nice.” During their session, Volk was already

thinking of using these casts, in combination with

his recently completed Lincoln bust, to fashion a

full-length statue.

After Leonard Wells Volk (1828–1895)

Plaster, c. 1917 after 1860 original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 39

Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

Born Hardin County, Kentucky

In February of 1865, just two months

before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination,

Alexander Gardner created this “cracked-

plate” portrait, now considered one of the most

important and evocative photographs in American

history. Aside from the detail in the center of

Lincoln’s face, much of the picture appears diffused

or out of focus. Deep, dark grooves in Lincoln’s skin

may evoke his weariness at the end of the Civil War,

but he also exhibits a slight smile—perhaps a sign of

relief as the restoration of the Union draws near.

Lincoln had looked forward to continuing his

presidency but was assassinated only weeks after

beginning his second term.

At some point, possibly when the glass-plate

negative was heated to receive a coat of varnish, a

crack appeared in the upper half of Gardner’s plate.

He made a single print and then discarded the

damaged plate, so only one such portrait exists.

Alexander Gardner (1821–1882)

Internal dye-diffusion print copied from the original

1865 albumen silver print, printed 1981

Courtesy of the Polaroid Corporation

This modern copy is being shown to protect the

original from further exposure to light.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 40

Andrew Johnson, 1808–1875

Seventeenth president, 1865–1869

A onetime tailor whose wife had taught

him to read, Andrew Johnson had a gift

for public speaking, which helped launch

his political career. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln, in a

gesture of unity, chose Johnson—a Southern

Democrat from Tennessee but a staunch defender of

the Union—as his running mate to help hold the

Border States. When Johnson succeeded to the

presidency after Lincoln’s assassination in April

1865, it became evident that his view of

Reconstruction, which would return power to the

white Southern planters and allow the former

Confederate states to deprive freed slaves of their

rights, clashed not only with Lincoln’s views but with

the Republican majority in Congress. The resulting

schism led to his impeachment, from which he

survived conviction by only one vote.

The signed but undated painting by Washington B.

Cooper, a noted Tennessee portraitist, was probably

completed during Johnson’s presidency.

Washington B. Cooper (1802–1889)

Oil on canvas, after 1866

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 41

Ulysses S. Grant, 1822–1885

Eighteenth president, 1869–1877

Ulysses S. Grant was a West Point graduate

who had no real ambition to be in the

military: he wanted to be a teacher.

Nonetheless, he served with distinction in the

Mexican-American War. After resigning from the

army in peacetime, he reenlisted during the Civil

War. Following a series of victories, Grant was

brought east by Lincoln to command the Union

armies. His unrelenting campaign against Robert E.

Lee, in 1864–65, finally won the war for the North.

Grant was ultimately elected president, but the

powers of command he displayed in the army

seemed to abandon him when he reached the White

House. He was unable to manage the politics of

Reconstruction, and his hands-off attitude spawned

an outbreak of federal corruption.

Shortly after his presidency, Grant posed for the

artist Thomas Le Clear. Grant owned this portrait,

while a second, larger version entered the White

House collection.

Thomas Le Clear (1818–1882)

Oil on canvas, c. 1880

Gift of Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant Jr.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 42

Rutherford B. Hayes, 1822–1893

Nineteenth president, 1877–1881

Republican Rutherford B. Hayes lost the

1876 general election by approximately

250,000 votes, yet he was awarded the

necessary electoral college votes after the two

major parties struck a bargain. As a concession,

Hayes withdrew federal troops from Democratic

strongholds in the South, thus ending

Reconstruction and the federal commitment to

African American civil rights. This inauspicious

beginning to his term in office earned Hayes the

nickname “His Fraudulency.”

A Civil War veteran, Hayes called in federal troops

to put down the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 but

privately expressed reservations about his decision.

After the failed Indian Wars of the 1870s, Hayes

began to view the use of force as futile and

tragically destructive for all concerned. However,

rather than granting Native Americans true

sovereignty, he tried to promote their submission to

white authority through the cultural assimilation of

their youth, forcibly sending boys and girls from

Western tribes to boarding schools in the East.

Eliphalet Andrews (1835–1915)

Oil on canvas, 1881

Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art

(Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 43

James Garfield, 1831–1881

Twentieth president, 1881

James Garfield became president during a

period when the Republican Party was

split between two rival wings: the

Stalwarts, who supported a system of nepotistic

patronage, and the Half-Breeds, who opposed such

a system. He tried to unite the party by appointing

members of both factions to important positions

within his administration while staying true to his

own reformist sympathies.

Like Rutherford B. Hayes before him, Garfield

started to implement some modest changes aimed

at curbing corruption and nepotism in the civil

service, focusing mainly on the postal system and

the New York Customs House. While these policies

had little immediate effect, they served to set the

stage for future reforms. Ultimately, Garfield was

unable to accomplish much; less than a year after

he became president, he was shot and killed by

Charles Guiteau, a deranged office-seeker and self-

proclaimed Stalwart.

Ole Peter Hansen Balling (1823–1906)

Oil on canvas, 1881

Gift of the International Business Machines

Corporation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 44

Chester A. Arthur, 1829–1886

Twenty-first president, 1881–1885

When President Garfield was

assassinated, he was succeeded by his

vice president, Chester Arthur. Largely

regarded as a Stalwart, Arthur had previously been

a New York City politician who supported the spoils

system. In office, Arthur surprised even his harshest

critics by continuing his predecessor’s legal battles

against corruption in the postal system and the New

York Customs Service. Arthur also signed into law

the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which

required aspiring bureaucrats to complete merit-

based examinations. To ensure that this new act

would be enforced, he appointed a number of

reform-minded administrators. In the words of one

of his contemporaries, “no man ever entered the

presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted” or

left it “more generally respected, alike by political

friend and foe.”

Ole Peter Hansen Balling (1823–1906)

Oil on canvas, 1881

Gift of Mrs. Harry Newton Blue

Frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian

Women’s Committee

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 45

Grover Cleveland, 1837–1908

Twenty-second and twenty-fourth

president, 1885–1889 and 1893–

1897

Grover Cleveland, the only president to

serve two nonconsecutive terms, vetoed more

legislation than any prior president, earning the

nickname “Old Veto.” He believed in a “hands-off”

government and often rejected bills that favored

individual groups. For instance, he vetoed what he

thought were unnecessary pension bills for Civil War

veterans. After being ousted from office in 1889 by

Benjamin Harrison, Cleveland returned to the

presidency four years later, but the Panic of 1893

plagued his second term. He had to call on federal

troops to suppress labor unrest and did not succeed

in restoring the nation’s economy.

Swedish artist Anders Zorn portrayed numerous

statesmen and society figures during his frequent

trips to the United States. He painted this portrait in

1899, two years after Cleveland had completed his

second term. The sittings took place at the former

president’s estate in Princeton, New Jersey, where

the artist and subject bantered happily for several

days. Cleveland expressed satisfaction with this

portrait, declaring, “As for my ugly mug, I think the

artist has ‘struck it off’ in great shape.”

Anders Zorn (1860–1920)

Oil on canvas, 1899

Gift of the Reverend Thomas G. Cleveland

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 46

Benjamin Harrison, 1833–1901

Twenty-third president, 1889–

1893

Although the United States is a

popular democracy, the American

electorate has shown a predisposition for political

dynasties such as the Adamses, the Kennedys, and

the Bushes. Benjamin Harrison, an Indianapolis

lawyer, came from a political family and was the

grandson of the ninth president, William Henry

Harrison. Benjamin’s political career, like his

grandfather’s, was aided by his military service.

During the Civil War, he raised the Seventieth

Indiana Regiment, which would be instrumental in

the capture of Atlanta. Ending his military career in

1865 as a brigadier general, Harrison became

involved in Indiana politics and was elected to the

Senate in 1881. A compromise nominee of the

Republican Party for the presidency in 1888, he

defeated incumbent Democrat Grover Cleveland in

the general election. Harrison’s presidency was

dominated by economic issues, especially high

taxes—or tariffs—but the growth of government

spending on his watch caused a backlash, and

Cleveland came back to defeat him in the 1892

election.

Theodore Clement Steele (1847–1926)

Oil on canvas, 1900

Lent by Harrison Residence Hall, Purdue University,

West Lafayette, Indiana

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 47

William McKinley, 1843–1901

Twenty-fifth president 1897–1901

Like other presidents elected during the

post–Civil War era, William McKinley

served in the Union army, where he rose

from private to major. He then

progressed from U.S. representative to

governor of Ohio, and finally, to

president. In the 1896 election, he defeated the

populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a

landslide victory, thereby cementing the Republican

Party’s conservative pro-business platform. The

Spanish-American War, which lasted from April to

August of 1898, was conducted under the pretext of

freeing Cuba. The war guided much of McKinley’s

foreign policy and resulted in the United States

acquiring the territories of Guam, the Philippines,

Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—marking the young nation

as a budding global power.

After his reelection in 1900, McKinley was

assassinated by an anarchist at the 1901 Pan-

American Exposition in Buffalo, New York,

underscoring the unending social and political unrest

of the 1890s. McKinley is remembered for his

patience and kindness, and for the dedication he

showed his wife, Ida, who struggled with epilepsy

and the deaths of their infant daughters.

August Benziger (1867–1955)

Oil on canvas, 1897

Gift of Miss Marieli Benziger

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 48

T. Roosevelt to Hoover

Social Reform

Bolstered by waves of immigrants and capital wealth

from post–Civil War industrialism, by the 1890s, the

United States rivaled the great European powers.

The rapid development from an agrarian, rural

society to an industrialized, urban one, however,

created problems that threatened to tear apart the

country’s social order. The growth of working-class

areas in the cities led to overcrowded slums as well

as an underclass. The unsightly consequences of

expansion seemed to betray the very promise of the

American dream.

Industrialists, frequently through violence, beat

back attempts by laborers to organize for workers’

rights. The Panic of 1893 caused devastating

hardship across all levels of society, and groups of

reform-minded citizens began lobbying for the

welfare of the underclass. Theodore Roosevelt, who

took office at the turn of the century, used his

executive power to instigate social and economic

progress. He was a pioneer of modern government

whose legacy transcended his years in office. After

the United States’ entrance into the First World War

in 1917, the economy prospered, and the country

experienced lasting social changes—such as those

prompted by the nineteenth amendment, which

granted women the right to vote.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 49

Image Credit:

Theodore Roosevelt, 1898

Eugene Zimmerman (1862–1935)

Reproduced from the original (S/NPG.76.64)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 50

Theodore Roosevelt, 1858–1919

Born New York City

This bas-relief of Theodore Roosevelt

was commissioned by his friend Jacob

Riis, a noted journalist and

photographer who, at the turn of the twentieth

century, advocated for New York City’s

disadvantaged tenement population. When

Roosevelt served as a city police commissioner

between 1895 and 1897, Riis proved to be a

valuable source of information because he

understood what reforms were needed in the police

department. He was also intimately familiar with the

harsh realities of the slums.

Sally James Farnham sculpted this bas-relief of

President Roosevelt when he was in his second

term. Farnham had the chance to sketch the

president at an informal cabinet meeting and later

made the work for placement in the Jacob A. Riis

Neighborhood Settlement House, which Riis

established in the 1890s. The original settlement

house was sold in 1952, but the organization

continues to operate in Long Island City.

Sally James Farnham (1869–1943)

Bronze relief, 1906

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 51

Theodore Roosevelt, 1858–1919

Born New York City

Pirie MacDonald described Theodore

Roosevelt’s sitting in 1915 as one of his

most difficult, and it is not hard to

speculate why. Roosevelt had recently

returned from an exploratory scientific expedition in

South America, where he contracted malaria and an

infection in his leg, both of which would plague him

the rest of his life. Moreover, Roosevelt spent the

first part of that year defending himself against libel

charges levied by Albany Times-Union owner William

Barnes Jr., whom the former president had accused

of corruption and political meddling.

In May of that year, a German U-boat sank the

ocean liner

Lusitania

, resulting in the drowning of

almost 1,200 passengers, among them 128

Americans. Afterwards, Roosevelt traveled the

country speaking about military preparedness and

decrying President Wilson’s attempts to stay out of

World War I. He also engaged in unlovely politics,

ridiculing immigrants from Germany and Ireland as

unpatriotic.

Pirie MacDonald (1867–1942)

Photogravure, 1915

Gift of Milton and Ingrid Rose

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 52

Theodore Roosevelt and His

Cabinet

In this photograph, President

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)

sits with the members of his

executive cabinet. The year 1906, when this

photograph was taken, was especially productive for

the reform- minded administration. For example,

Roosevelt signed the Hepburn Act, which increased

federal regulation of such giant monopolies as John

D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company and J.P.

Morgan’s Northern Securities Company. Previously,

these companies and others had been fixing railroad

shipping rates to their advantage.

Roosevelt also signed the Pure Food and Drug Act,

as well as the Meat Inspection Act, to provide basic

levels of consumer protections. As president, he

initiated many new conservation measures,

including the Antiquities Act, which he ultimately

used to designate eighteen new national

monuments. Finally, Roosevelt was awarded the

1906 Nobel Peace Prize for his successful efforts the

previous year to mediate an end to the Russo-

Japanese War.

Harris & Ewing Studio (active 1905–1977)

Brown-toned gelatin silver print, 1906

Gift of Aileen Conkey

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 53

Theodore Roosevelt, 1858–1919

Twenty-sixth president, 1901–1909

An outsize personality who preached the

benefits of the “strenuous life” while also

being among the most learned of presidents,

Theodore Roosevelt gained national prominence as a

civil service reformer, a hero of the Spanish-

American War, and a proactive governor of New

York. After William McKinley was assassinated in

1901, Roosevelt took office and initiated one of

American history’s most reform-oriented

presidencies. His contributions would include

implementing efforts to conserve the nation’s

disappearing natural heritage, instituting some of

the first significant curbs on the excesses of big

business, and building the Panama Canal.

Despite having progressive views on labor and

consumer issues, Roosevelt maintained conservative

views on a number of social issues. For example, he

felt convinced that a declining birthrate among old-

stock Americans threatened the nation as a whole

and therefore opposed immigration, birth control,

and the redefinition of women’s roles.

Roosevelt was a fascinating bundle of

contradictions, above all as a patrician who realized

that unless essential reforms were initiated by

government, American democracy was likely to fail.

Adrian Lamb (1901–1988), after Philip Alexius de

László (1869–1937)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 54

Oil on canvas, 1967, after 1908 original

Gift of the Theodore Roosevelt Association

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 55

William Howard Taft, 1857–1930

Twenty-seventh president, 1909–

1913

William Howard Taft felt determined to

follow in the footsteps of Theodore

Roosevelt, particularly with regard to implementing

domestic reform, but Taft—an indecisive leader—

was largely unsuccessful in meeting this goal. When

he presented his tariff reform package, Congress

put forth more than eight hundred amendments that

made it almost impossible to pass, and he did

nothing to object. He did, however, achieve one

significant reform legislation, the Mann-Elkins Act of

1910, which regulated destructive competition and

unfair trade practices.

Also, ninety-nine trust prosecutions were conducted

while he was in office. Nevertheless, when Taft was

halfway through his presidency, he had become

heavily influenced by conservative businessmen who

criticized the effects of trust-busting on the national

economy. In the end, he reversed his position on

tariff reform and therefore alienated progressives

who viewed high tariffs as the worst offending

characteristic of trusts.

William Valentine Schevill (1864–1951)

Oil on artist board, c. 1910

Gift of William E. Schevill

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 56

Major Acts

President Franklin D.

Roosevelt

Leading Allies to

Victory: Defeat of Italy,

1943

Courtesy British Pathé

and Critical Past

48 seconds

President Lyndon B.

Johnson

Voting Rights Act, 1965

Courtesy Critical Past,

E-Footage, and Getty

Images

1 minute

President George H.W.

Bush

Americans with

Disabilities Act, 1990

Courtesy The CONUS

Archive and George

H.W. Bush Presidential

Library and Museum

1 minute, 8 seconds

Challenges

President Harry S.

Truman

Rebuilding Europe: The

Marshall Plan, 1948

Courtesy British Pathé,

Critical Past, and The

WPA Film Library

49 seconds

President Dwight D.

Eisenhower

Federal Troops to Little

Rock, 1957

Courtesy Critical Past

1 minute, 23 seconds

President Jimmy Carter

Iranian Hostage Crisis,

1979

Courtesy ABCNEWS

VideoSource, Getty

Images, and Jimmy

Carter Library and

Museum

1 minute, 10 seconds

Speeches—Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 57

Challenges (cont.)

President William J.

Clinton

Crisis in Somalia, 1993

Courtesy Getty Images,

Screen Ocean/Reuters,

and William J. Clinton

Presidential Library and

Museum

1 minute

President George W.

Bush

September 11, 2001

Courtesy Getty Images

and NBCUniversal

Archive

1 minute, 10 seconds

President Ronald

Reagan

Ending the Cold War,

1987

Courtesy Critical Past

and Getty Images

1 minute

President Barack

Obama

Marriage Equality, 2015

Courtesy ABCNEWS

Videosource, ITN

Source, and Getty

Images

57 seconds

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 58

Woodrow Wilson, 1856–1924

Twenty-eighth president, 1913–

1921

Elected president after earning a

sterling reputation as the governor of

New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson remained committed

to curbing abusive business practices and improving

conditions for workers. In the wake of World War I,

he tried to create a world order that would choose

to prioritize peace over national self-interest, but his

idealism was dismissed, both at home and abroad.

The frustration Wilson felt from this rejection was

compounded by his failure to convince his own

country to support the League of Nations, an

international organization he had conceived of as a

means for avoiding future wars. He suffered a

stroke in 1919 while campaigning for American

entry into the League and left office in 1921, broken

in both health and spirit. Wilson is most often

remembered as a champion of liberal values, but

recent scrutiny has drawn attention to his regressive

actions with regard to women’s voting rights and

other civil liberties.

In June 1919, John Christen Johansen, a Danishborn

artist living in Chicago, made portraits of the

dignitaries during the negotiations of the Treaty of

Versailles. This sketch, which he made for a larger

group portrait, depicts Wilson just months before his

stroke.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 59

John Christen Johansen (1876–1964)

Oil on canvas, c. 1919

Gift of an anonymous donor

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 60

Woodrow Wilson, 1856–1924

Born Staunton, Virginia

After telling the president, “It takes two to

make a bust,” the sculptor Jo Davidson

asked Woodrow Wilson to sit on the back of

an armchair, close the book he was reading, and

chat. One reviewer, who deemed this bust “a perfect

likeness,” also commended Davidson for capturing

“all the firmness of the face, without any of that

sourness by which some artists unconsciously and

mistakenly make people think they would not care

to know President Wilson personally.”

Jo Davidson (1883–1952)

Bronze, 1919

Gift of Dr. Maury Leibovitz

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 61

Warren G. Harding, 1865–1923

Twenty-ninth president, 1921–1923

Republican Warren Harding, a former

lieutenant governor and senator from Ohio,

entered the White House following an era

of upheaval. He promised to “think of America first”

and restore “normalcy” after a period of sweeping

social reforms, increases in racial segregation, and

the trauma of World War I. Under Harding’s

leadership at the Washington Naval Conference of

1921–22, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan

joined the United States in signing a treaty that

slowed a global arms race. Although Harding

lowered taxes and reduced the national debt, the

Teapot Dome Scandal of 1921–23, which involved

one of his top appointees, marked a lowpoint in his

brief term.

Completed after his untimely death in office, this

portrait by Welsh artist Margaret Lindsay Williams

bears Harding’s full name above the Presidential

Seal in the upper-right corner. Later, Williams would

become famous for her portraits of Queen Elizabeth

II and other members of the British royal family.

Margaret Lindsay Williams (1888–1960)

Oil on canvas, 1923

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 62

Calvin Coolidge, 1872–1933

Thirtieth president, 1923–1929

At a time that saw the growth of big

government and an increasingly powerful

presidency, Calvin Coolidge stands out as

the last genuinely “small government” conservative

to serve as president. He was famously taciturn,

earning the nickname “Silent Cal,” and his

demeanor informed a governing philosophy that

eschewed intervention except in a civil emergency.

As governor of Massachusetts, his handling of the

Boston police strike of 1919, an emergency that

called for executive leadership, made him an

attractive candidate for national office, and he

became Harding’s vice president in 1921. Following

Harding’s sudden death in 1923, Coolidge ascended

the presidency, and his manner and personal

rectitude helped restore the people’s trust in the

government after the scandal-ridden Harding

administration.

Joseph E. Burgess (1891–1961), after Ercole

Cartotto (1889–1946)

Oil on canvas, 1956

Gift of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 63

Herbert Hoover, 1874–1964

Thirty-first president, 1929–1933

Trained as a mining engineer, Herbert

Hoover was a public intellectual and a

problem solver. As such, he embodied the

new class of expert who applied rationality to social

problems. During and after World War I, his

management of European food relief was a model

program of public administration that solved a

pressing social need. The Great Depression,

however, which began during the second year of his

presidency, proved to be beyond Hoover’s control

and understanding. A believer in the power of

private initiative, he hesitated to involve the federal

government in relief programs on the regulation of

business. Lengthening breadlines and escalating

joblessness finally convinced him to take action, but

his measures were too little, too late. Consequently,

he was defeated by a huge margin in his 1932

reelection bid.

Douglas Chandor (1897–1953)

Oil on canvas, 1931

Frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian

Women’s Committee

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 64

F. D. Roosevelt to Reagan

Negotiating World Peace

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the first and last

president to serve three terms (1933–1945),

orchestrated the greatest expansion of executive

power in American history. Roosevelt’s

implementation of the New Deal—with its many

agencies and bureaucracies—sanctioned

government intervention in the economic and social

crises that stemmed from the Great Depression.

When the United States entered the Second World

War, in 1941, factories went into high gear, which in

turn drove the economy’s recovery.

Harry Truman, who became president following

Roosevelt’s death, was the first to lead the country

in the postwar era. The threat of the atomic bomb

and the ascendance of communist powers brought

on the Cold War, which lasted for more than four

decades. Wars in Korea and Vietnam demonstrated

the lengths to which Truman and his successors felt

that communism needed to be contained. Within

domestic politics, the presidency of Lyndon B.

Johnson promoted civil rights legislation. In the

1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, leading a much-

weakened Soviet Union, began negotiations with

Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush to end the

Cold War.

Image Credit:

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 65

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, 1945

Samariy Gurariy (1916–1998)

Reproduced from the original

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 66

Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Yalta

Despite his failing health leading up to

1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was

determined to end the Second World War.

After he was elected to an unprecedented

fourth term in 1944, Roosevelt threw himself into

discussions with British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. He met

them in Yalta, Soviet Crimea, where they negotiated

the division of Germany, the governance of liberated

Europe, and aid from the U.S.S.R. on the Pacific

front.

The conference resulted in the re-mapping of

Poland’s borders. Free elections in Poland became a

condition of the conference—but Stalin immediately

defaulted. Though Roosevelt expressed his outrage

over the betrayal, he never made it to the follow-up

conference that would have addressed Stalin’s

duplicity. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage

on April 12, just weeks before the allies would

reconvene and mere months before the war’s end.

Samariy Gurariy (1916–1998)

Gelatin silver print, 1945

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 67

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882–1945

Artist Herman Perlman was born in Poland

and lived in Russia until 1914, when his

family immigrated to Columbus, Ohio. In

1924, he moved to Washington, D.C., and

studied art at the Maryland Institute

College of Art in nearby Baltimore. When he created

this likeness, Perlman had already been drawing

portraits, particularly caricatures, for nearly ten

years. Here, he depicts the president as a debonair

yet slightly self-satisfied figure, emphasizing his

patrician background.

Perlman often made caricatures for the

Washington

Post

. When the paper periodically laid him off during

the Depression, he took side jobs for theaters and

other organizations. Perlman drew caricatures of

many public figures, including Andrew Mellon, Will

Rogers, Herbert Hoover, and Dean Acheson. His

subjects were rarely offended by his clever

likenesses. In fact, many autographed the original

drawings, just as Roosevelt signed this portrait.

Herman Perlman (1904–1995) Tempera and

gouache on board, 1935

Gift of the artist

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 68

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882–1945

Thirty-second president, 1933–1945

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose

presidency began in the throes of the

Great Depression, led the United States

out of its devastating financial crisis. During his first

few months in office, he established the New Deal—

a set of ambitious government programs that

supported public works projects, put forth banking

and business regulations, and offered other forms of

federal relief. After the United States entered World

War II in 1941, he decided to seek a third term,

pointing out that one should never change horses in

midstream. In the diplomatic summits with Britain’s

Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union’s Joseph

Stalin, Roosevelt not only prosecuted the war but

helped lay the groundwork for the postwar world.

In March 1945, Douglas Chandor spent several days

at the White House, where he made sketches for a

group portrait of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to

mark their conference the previous month at Yalta,

a resort on the Black Sea. The artist wished the

painting to be “a conversation about peace,” but it

was never realized because Stalin refused to sit for

the portrait. Chandor included the composition for

the painting on this canvas, along with studies of

Roosevelt’s hands.

Douglas Chandor (1897–1953); Oil on canvas, 1945

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 69

Harry S. Truman, 1884–1972

Thirty-third president, 1945–1953

Upon learning of Franklin Roosevelt’s

death on April 12, 1945, Harry Truman

said he felt as if “the moon, and the stars

and all the planets” had fallen on him. That

summer, he faced the daunting task of ending the

war in the Pacific and negotiating with an

increasingly belligerent Soviet Union. Facing Soviet

expansion, he endorsed the Marshall Plan, the

strategy that helped rebuild war-torn Europe.

After winning the election of 1948, Truman’s

presidency began to founder as he was faced with

crises, including the Korean War. By the time he left

office, his reputation had sunk to a near record low.

Yet over time, Truman has been better appreciated

for both his pragmatic flexibility and his honesty. He

is also known for his efforts to end racial

discrimination in the U.S. military.

Truman granted Jay Wesley Jacobs five portrait

sittings in the White House in 1945. The artist

created two portraits. This one, commissioned by

Assistant Treasury Secretary Lawrence Wood Robert

Jr., was intended for the U.S. Senate but ultimately

remained in the Robert family.

Jay Wesley Jacobs (1898–1968)

Oil on canvas, 1945

Partial gift of the William T. Kemper Foundation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 70

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890–1969

Thirty-fourth president, 1953–1961

In 1952, both political parties courted

General Dwight D. Eisenhower as a possible

presidential candidate. A triumphant World

War II hero and a natural leader, the man was

armed with a ready smile and an adept

organizational ability. Under Eisenhower’s

leadership, the United States saw the end of the

Korean War, the construction of the interstate

highway system, and the beginnings of

desegregation in the South. In 1957, he dispatched

federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect

African American students after the desegregation

of Central High School. It was the first time since

Reconstruction that a president sent military forces

into the South to enforce federal law. Having once

been criticized for being too passive, Eisenhower

now draws praise for his consensual and effective

style of leadership. His years in office are

remembered as a time of peace and prosperity.

Thomas E. Stephens (1886–1966)

Oil on canvas, 1955

Lent by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential

Library and Museum, National Archives and Records

Administration, Abilene, Kansas

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 71

John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963

Born Brookline, Massachusetts

When elected to the U.S. Senate in 1953,

Democrat John Fitzgerald Kennedy was no

stranger to the U.S. Capitol Building,

having served Massachusetts in the House

of Representatives from 1947 to 1953. He then won

the Senate seat from Republican incumbent Henry

Cabot Lodge Jr., even though the Republican

candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower carried

Massachusetts in the presidential election.

During his time in the Senate, Kennedy was

especially responsive to constituent issues, despite

suffering major health issues in the first years of his

term. At the height of Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare,

Kennedy condemned the senator’s methods. In

doing so, he risked political backlash in his home

state, where McCarthy was popular. As senator,

Kennedy crusaded for labor reform and civil rights,

concerns that would characterize his political career.

In 1961, eight years after being elected senator,

Kennedy would become the thirty-fifth president of

the United States.

Arnold A. Newman (1918–2006)

Gelatin silver print, 1953

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 72

John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963

Thirty-fifth president, 1961–1963

When John F. Kennedy was assassinated in

1963, the country experienced a collective

sense of grief that it had not known since

the death of Abraham Lincoln. Many

Americans found it hard to cope with the

sudden loss of this youthful, energetic president

whose speeches had inspired citizens to achieve

high ideals. In his shortened tenure as president,

Kennedy proposed landmark civil-rights legislation,

created the Peace Corps, and promoted the goal of

landing on the moon.

In foreign policy, his administration peacefully

resolved a dramatic stand-off with the Soviet Union

over the presence of missiles in Cuba, and he

oversaw the buildup of the American presence in

Vietnam. Elaine de Kooning, known for her gestural

portraits, held several informal sessions with him in

Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1962 and January

1963. The artist was so moved by the president

during these sittings that she went on to create

dozens of drawings and paintings of him over the

next ten months.

Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989)

Oil on canvas, 1963

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 73

John and Jacqueline Kennedy

The 1953 marriage of John F. Kennedy

(1917–1963) and Jacqueline Bouvier

(1929–1994) was the event of the

season. Both were from wealthy,

influential New England families in the

public eye. John was a war hero and rising political

star, and Jackie was a stylish photographer-

reporter, who had covered high-profile events such

as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Portrayed by the world-renowned photographer

Yousuf Karsh in 1957, the Kennedys epitomized the

power couple at the time. That year, Jackie gave

birth to their oldest child, Caroline Kennedy.

Additionally, John F. Kennedy’s book,

Profiles in

Courage

(1956), was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for

biography. Still four years from his presidency,

Kennedy was working in the Senate to pass the Civil

Rights Act of 1957, which would uphold progress

made toward desegregation. Soon after, the couple

began campaigning for his reelection to the Senate.

Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002)

Gelatin silver print, 1957

Gift of Estrellita Karsh, in memory of Yousuf Karsh

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 74

Lyndon B. Johnson, 1908–1973

Thirty-sixth president, 1963–1969

Sworn in after the assassination of

President Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson

was one of the nation’s most ambitious

and idealistic chief executives. He worked tirelessly

to create his “Great Society,” an America where

prosperity and opportunity would exist through the

efforts of a strong federal government. A veteran

legislator and master manipulator, Johnson used his

skills to help pass laws that addressed such issues

as poverty, education, and civil rights. His legacy,

however, was tarnished when he applied a similarly

aggressive approach to his foreign policy in

Vietnam. With his approval rating plummeting, he

chose not to run for reelection in 1968.

Nevertheless, the war continued for another seven

years.

Peter Hurd was commissioned to make Johnson’s

official portrait for the White House, but when the

president viewed the finished painting, he declared

it “the ugliest thing I ever saw.” Hurd kept the work

and gave it to the National Portrait Gallery when the

museum opened in 1968. In exchange, the museum

promised not to exhibit the portrait until after the

president left office.

Peter Hurd (1904–1984)

Tempera on wood, 1967

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 75

Gift of the artist

Frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian

Women’s Committee

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 76

Richard M. Nixon, 1913–1994

Thirty-seventh president, 1969–

1974

Coming of political age during the Cold War, Richard

Nixon used national security issues to gain

prominence in Congress and later served as

Eisenhower’s vice president. After he lost both the

election for the presidency, in 1960, and the race for

California governor, in 1962, it seemed as though

his career may have peaked in the 1950s. However,

as the Democratic Party unraveled over such topics

as the Vietnam War and civil rights, Nixon won the

presidency in 1968.

During his tenure, which was cut short, he focused

on foreign policy, particularly with regard to ending

the Vietnam War and establishing a relationship with

China. The scandal over the Watergate break-in and

the subsequent cover-up morphed into a crisis over

presidential misconduct, and in 1974, he became

the first—and so far, the only—president to resign.

In 1968,

Look

magazine hired Norman Rockwell to

portray the newly elected president. Admitting that

Nixon’s appearance was troublesomely elusive,

Rockwell chose to intentionally flatter him. If he was

going to err in his portrayal, he said, he wanted it to

be in the direction that would please his subject.

Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 77

Oil on canvas, 1968

Donated to the people of the United States of

America by the Richard Nixon Foundation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 78

Gerald R. Ford, 1913–2006

Thirty-eighth president, 1974–1977

Gerald Ford’s rise to the presidency was

historic. Appointed vice president by

Richard Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned

in disgrace in 1973, Ford was then sworn in as

president on August 9, 1974, after Nixon resigned.

He became the first president to hold office without

ever having been elected by the people. Ford

announced: “Our long national nightmare is over,”

and then he immediately set about restoring

credibility to the position. In a controversial gesture

to heal the nation—and to prevent a lengthy trial—

he pardoned Nixon of any wrongdoing. He also

offered amnesty to Vietnam War deserters and draft

evaders. Ford would pay a price for his leniency in

his election campaign in 1976. Although he staved

off a bitter challenge by Ronald Reagan for the

Republican Party nomination, he lost to Jimmy

Carter in the general election.

This portrait by Everett R. Kinstler was painted at

Ford’s request, specifically for the National Portrait

Gallery. The artist based the likeness on sketches he

had made in the late 1970s, when he was working

on Ford’s official White House portrait.

Everett Raymond Kinstler (1926–2019)

Oil on canvas, 1987

Gift of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 79

Jimmy Carter, born 1924

Thirty-ninth president, 1977–1981

When Americans elected Jimmy Carter in

1976, they were voting for a positive change

in executive leadership. Burdened by

escalating costs of living and tired of recent scandal-

ridden politics, they saw Carter as a fresh new face

who would make, in his words, government “as

good as the American people.” A born-again

Christian, Carter touted his human decency to heal

the divisions of post-Vietnam American society while

also promising to fix the economy. Stemming high

inflation, however, proved to be harder than he had

predicted. He also could not do much to ease the

ongoing energy crisis instigated by the cartel of oil

producing nations. In 1978, Carter successfully

brokered a landmark peace accord between Egypt

and Israel, but the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979,

spurred by the U.S. support of the unpopular Shah

of Iran, crippled the last year of his administration.

He lost a reelection bid to Ronald Reagan in 1980.

In this portrait by Robert Templeton, Carter is

shown standing in the oval office, as it was during

his tenure. The donkey statuette on his desk was a

gift from the Democratic National Committee.

Robert Templeton (1929–1991)

Oil on canvas, 1980

Partial gift of the 1977 Inauguration Committee

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 80

Jimmy Carter, born 1924

Born Plains, Georgia

Jimmy Carter sat for his official White

House portrait in Plains, Georgia, soon

after leaving office. This is the life study

that Herbert Abrams made in preparation for that

work. Both Carter and Abrams found the painting to

be very successful. The artist reportedly said that

the White House portrait “fell off the brush. It just

flowed—I knew from the beginning it was going to

be one of my best.”

Herbert E. Abrams (1921–2003)

Oil on linen, 1982

Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Set Charles Momjian

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 81

Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ronald

Reagan, and Jimmy Carter

This photograph captures the first time

that four U.S. presidents gathered in

the White House at once. They came

together in order to make a plan to represent the

United States during an important ally’s funeral. On

October 6, 1981, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat,

the author of significant peace negotiations with

Israel, was assassinated during a parade in Cairo.

Sitting President Ronald Reagan had survived an

assassination attempt earlier that year,and govern-

ment security agencies recommended that he not

attend the funeral. Instead, the U.S. was

represented by a delegation of the three former

presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard

Nixon. Despite their combative election campaigns

and differing ideologies, the presidents ultimately

agreed to come together to honor Sadat. Although

they made a show of solidarity, photographers

noticed Carter’s discomfort during the send-off.

Carter, who considered Sadat a close friend, viewed

Reagan’s decision not to attend as cowardly.

George Tames (1919–1994)

Gelatin silver print, 1981

Gift of Frances O. Tames

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 82

Ronald Reagan, 1911–2004

Born Tampico, Illinois

This photograph of Ronald Reagan

leading his beloved horse El Alamein

undoubtedly captures a lesser-known

side of him. According to Reagan’s

biographer Edmund Morris, to truly

understand the man, one must visit

Reagan’s retreat, Rancho del Cielo. The 688-acre

property is located seven miles up a steep canyon

road from the Pacific Ocean and nestled in the Santa

Ynez Mountains. After Reagan bought the ranch in

1974, it became his favorite home. Despite

objections from aides, Reagan returned there often

during his presidency.

He had learned to ride horseback in the late 1930s

while serving in the U.S. Cavalry Reserve. The

president’s joyful quotation of Xenophon’s

Art of

Horsemanship

conveys his love of horses: “There is

nothing quite so good for the inside of a man as the

outside of a horse.”

Harry Benson (born 1929)

Chromogenic print, 1983

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 83

Ronald Reagan, 1911–2004

Fortieth president, 1981–1989

The ascension of Ronald Reagan, a former

actor and governor of California, marked

the revitalization of the conservative

western wing of the Republican Party that many

thought had died with the defeat of Barry Goldwater

in 1964. As president, he challenged many of the

liberal programs that had dominated the federal

government since the New Deal, and throughout his

presidency, he strove to cut the size of government.

Reagan unapologetically reduced social welfare

programs and encouraged a conservative social

ethic regarding the role of religion in public life and

reproductive rights, but his conservative stance led

him to largely ignore the AIDS crisis. Finally, in

foreign policy, Reagan guided the United States

through the end of the Cold War. When he left

office in 1989, the Soviet Union was already falling

apart, but it did not officially break up until two

years later.

Everett Raymond Kinstler (born 1926)

Oil on canvas, 1991

Gift of Everett Raymond Kinstler

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 84

G. H. W. Bush to Obama

The Contemporary Presidency

No single figure characterizes the contemporary era,

but foreign affairs continue to ask much of American

presidents and of the nation they serve. After the

attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush waged a global

“war on terror” that set aside traditional diplomacy

in favor of U.S. military intervention abroad. During

this time, the country’s urge to strengthen

homeland security has led presidents to introduce

new surveillance techniques and anti-terrorism laws

that have, in turn, tested privacy laws developed in

the pre-digital age.

War continues to influence the twenty-first century

as the United States follows a doctrine that relies

upon both shield and sword. At the same time,

public reactions to every issue, at any given

moment, have become nearly instantaneous by way

of social media. Partisan divisions are as high as

they were in the 1850s, affecting debates as wide-

ranging as climate change, immigration, and

healthcare. Nevertheless, as we reflect on the past,

we can anticipate that the nation will continue to

overcome obstacles and move toward ensuring

citizenship rights for all Americans.

Image Credit:

George W. Bush, 2005

Jerry Spagnoli (born 1956)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 85

Reproduced from the original (NPG.2005.13)

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 86

George H. W. Bush, born 1924

Forty-first president, 1989–1993

A decorated naval aviator in World War II,

George H. W. Bush went on to a successful

career in the oil industry of West Texas.

Subsequently, high-level governmental positions,

including the directorship of the Central Intelligence

Agency and the vice presidency, gave him one of

the most distinguished résumés. He was the natural

Republican nominee after Reagan and easily won

the 1988 election over Massachusetts governor

Michael Dukakis. In addition to successfully

managing the complicated policy transitions

prompted by the collapse of the Soviet Union and

the end of the Cold War, he marshalled a U.S.-

backed military coalition to eject Iraq’s army from

Kuwait after the invasion of 1990. The First Gulf

War, as it is now known, was a dramatic and

comprehensive triumph, one that signaled the

recovery of the American military following the war

in Vietnam. Even with Bush’s victory in the Persian

Gulf, however, domestic politics—especially his

breaking of a pledge not to raise taxes—lowered his

popularity, and Bill Clinton easily defeated him in

1992.

Ronald N. Sherr (born 1949)

Oil on canvas, 1994–95

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Krueger

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 87

William J. Clinton, born 1946

Forty-second president, 1993–2001

Elected governor of Arkansas at age thirty-

two, Democrat Bill Clinton first came to

national attention as the leading reformer

of an impoverished Southern state. Clinton’s

presidential administration curbed the federal

spending deficits of the 1980s, eventually achieving

a surplus in revenues; negotiated the North

American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated

most tariffs and trade barriers between Canada, the

United States, and Mexico; enacted welfare reform;

and spearheaded a successful U.S.-led NATO

intervention in the Balkan Wars. Proposals such as

universal health care, however, failed. Clinton’s

second term was marked by several scandals,

including lying while under oath about a sexual

relationship he had with a White House intern. For

this, he was impeached by the House of

Representatives but was not convicted in the Senate

trial.

Chuck Close based this portrait on a photograph he

took for the cover of

New York

magazine. Using a

grid system, Close often translates the visual

information found in photographs into abstracted

likenesses.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 88

Chuck Close (born 1940)

Oil on canvas, 2006

Lent by Ian and Annette Cumming

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 89

George W. Bush born 1946

Forty-third president, 2001–2009

Republican George W. Bush lost the

popular vote to Democrat Al Gore, but

became president after a protracted period

of ballot recounting, the legitimacy of which was

ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. During his

first year in office, the apocalyptic terrorist attacks

of 9/11 disrupted the nation’s sense of security and

ushered in a new era of war on global terrorism. The

Bush administration swiftly mounted military actions

in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During his second term, Bush faced domestic crises

that significantly impacted his legacy. His

administration’s slow response to the massive

devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005

and to the cataclysmic financial crisis of 2008

caused widespread outrage and sparked interest in

change.

Bush selected Connecticut portraitist Robert

Anderson, with whom he attended Yale University,

to create this painting for the National Portrait

Gallery. The president requested an informal image,

posing in shirtsleeves at Camp David, the

presidential retreat in Maryland.

Robert Anderson (born 1946)

Oil on canvas, 200

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 90

Barack Obama, born 1961

Forty-fourth president, 2009–2017

Barack Obama made history in 2009 by

becoming the first African American

president. The former Illinois state

senator’s election signaled a feeling of

hope for the future even as the U.S. was

undergoing its worst financial crisis since the Great

Depression. While working to improve the economy,

Obama enacted the Affordable Care Act, extending

health benefits to millions of previously uninsured

Americans. Overseas, he oversaw the drawdown of

American troops in the Middle East—a force

reduction that was controversially replaced with an

expansion of drone and aviation strikes. Though his

mission to kill al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden

was successful, his pledge to close the Guantanamo

prison went unrealized.

Artist Kehinde Wiley is known for his vibrant,

large-scale paintings of African Americans posing as

famous figures from the history of Western art. This

portrait does not include an underlying art historical

reference, but some of the flowers in the

background carry special meaning for Obama. The

chrysanthemums, for example, reference the official

flower of Chicago. The jasmine evokes Hawaii,

where he spent the majority of his childhood, and

the African blue lilies stand in for his late Kenyan

father.

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 91

Kehinde Wiley (born 1977)

Oil on canvas, 2018 NPG.2018.16

Gift of Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith

Kern and Kent Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and

Donald A. Capoccia; Clarence, DeLoise, and Brenda

Gaines; The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc

Meadows; Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker;

Catherine and Michael Podell; Mark and Cindy Aron;

Lyndon J. Barrois and Janine Sherman Barrois; The

Honorable John and Louise Bryson; Paul and Rose

Carter; Bob and Jane Clark; Lisa R. Davis; Shirley

Ross Davis and Family; Alan and Lois Fern; Conrad

and Constance Hipkins; Sharon and John Hoffman;

Daniel and Kimberly Johnson; John Legend and

Chrissy Teigen; Eileen Harris Norton; Helen Hilton

Raiser; Philip and Elizabeth Ryan; Roselyne

Chroman Swig; Josef Vascovitz and Lisa Goodman;

Michele J. Hooper and Lemuel Seabrook III; The

Skylark Foundation; Cleveland and Harriette

Chambliss; Anna Chavez and Eugene Eidenberg;

Carla Diggs & Stephen M. Smith; Danny First; Peggy

Woodford Forbes and Harry Bremond; Stephen

Friedman Gallery; Sean and Mary Kelly, Sean Kelly

Gallery; Jamie Lunder; Joff Masukawa and Noëlle

Kennedy Masukawa; Derek McGinty and Cheryl

Cooper; Robert and Jan Newman; The Raymond L.

Ocampo Jr. and Sandra O. Ocampo Family Trust;

Julie and Bennett Roberts; Paul Sack; Gertrude

Dixon Sherman; Michael and Mary Silver; V. Joy

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography — page 92

Simmons, MD; Andrea Lavin Solow and Alan P.

Solow; John Sykes; Galerie Templon; Henry L.

Thaggert III

Last

Updated

Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography

Prompt to Clone This Smithsonian Institution America’s Presidents Biography

Apply this example's core structure, strategic pacing, and structural hierarchy directly to your own topic.

What are you generating today?