BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Glorious Burden

DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Glorious Burden:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIAHG1_160311_005.JPG: The American Presidency A Glorious Burden
2. SIAHG1_160311_012.JPG: Ulysses S. Grant purchased this carriage from Meeks Carriage and Wagon Repository during his first term in the White House and rode in it to his second inauguration in 1873. Meeks bought back the carriage after Grant left office, and it was used in several parades and historic celebrations before being donated to the Smithsonian in 1968.
3. SIAHG1_160311_018.JPG: Creating the Presidency
4. SIAHG1_160311_023.JPG: The Continental Congress
5. SIAHG1_160311_032.JPG: The Constitutional Convention
6. SIAHG1_160311_034.JPG: George Washington's field telescope, used during the Revolutionary War
7. SIAHG1_160311_037.JPG: George Washington, who served as convention president, used this small trunk to preserve the papers of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. In 1796 he deposited the documents and trunk at the Department of State.
8. SIAHG1_160311_043.JPG: George Washington, an Inspiration for the Presidency
9. SIAHG1_160311_048.JPG: Establishing the Presidency
10. SIAHG1_160311_051.JPG: Commemorative clothing button made for Washington's first inauguration
11. SIAHG1_160311_069.JPG: Washington's First Cabinet: The executive branch began modestly with regular conferences between George Washington and his four executive secretaries. These meetings eventually evolved into a standing cabinet, a body not specified in the Constitution; yet once established, it became a permanent feature of the executive branch. This engraving of the first cabinet was done from an original painting by Alonzo Chappel in 1789.
12. SIAHG1_160311_080.JPG: Hepplewhite mahogany armchair purchased in 1790 from Thomas Burling, a New York cabinetmaker, for the Presidential mansion
13. SIAHG1_160311_085.JPG: Furnishing the Presidential Mansion In creating the appropriate personal style for the presidency, George Washington modeled social manners and outward trappings after the southern gentlemanly way of life he had known in Virginia. With no established official residence, Washington outfitted the presidential home in Philadelphia himself, with furnishings intended to give the impression of elegance, dignity, and stability. Washington chose items that were both refined and simple, hoping to strike a balance that would project respect for the office while suggesting the egalitarian principles of the Revolution.
14. SIAHG1_160311_088.JPG: Engraving of George Washington's home in High Street, Philadelphia, 1830
15. SIAHG1_160311_091.JPG: Miniature cabinet portraits of George and Martha Washington, painted by John Trumbull in 1795, towards the end of Washington's presidency.
16. SIAHG1_160311_107.JPG: George Washington's Farewell Address The true test of America's young democracy was not the election of its first president, but rather the transfer of the office to its second, John Adams. Near the end of Washington's second term he published his famous farewell address, in which he urged all Americans to support the newly formed nation and put aside regional or party divisions. "Your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other."
17. SIAHG1_160311_110.JPG: According to family tradition, George Washington worked on his farewell address by the light of this brass candle stand with reflector.
18. SIAHG1_160311_122.JPG: Bandana featuring excerpts from George Washington's farewell address
19. SIAHG1_160311_136.JPG: Celebrating Inaugurations
20. SIAHG1_160311_140.JPG: The Oath of Office
21. SIAHG1_160311_151.JPG: This image of James Buchanan taking the oath of office in 1857 is the oldest known photograph of a presidential inauguration. More than 150,000 people attended his swearing-in ceremony and the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. James Monroe began the tradition of taking the oath of office outside the Capitol in 1817 and since then the public has enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to witness the peaceful transfer of power.
22. SIAHG1_160311_159.JPG: Pennant from Herbert Hoover's inauguration
23. SIAHG1_160311_177.JPG: Why change the Inauguration date? In 18th-century America it seemed reasonable to set aside four months between the election and the inauguration. This would provide enough time to tally the votes, to have the electoral college members send their ballots to Washington, and for the president-elect to organize the new government. But in the modern world of communications and politics, four months was an eternity in which crises could arise or the outgoing administration could do untold amounts of mischief. In 1933 the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution changed the date of presidential inaugurations from March 4 to January 20.
24. SIAHG1_160311_187.JPG: Overcoat and top hat worn by Grover Cleveland at his first inauguration on March 4, 1885
25. SIAHG1_160311_197.JPG: The Inaugural Ball Starting as single affairs, inaugural balls have grown into many distinct festivities. In 1997, Bill Clinton hosted fourteen official balls. Some balls were selective; others were open to anyone who paid the admission. Some were formal affairs, whereas at James Polk's two-dollar ball for "pure Democrats," a foreign minister's lady reportedly was seen dancing with her gardener. Jimmy Carter thought "ball" sounded too formal and called his celebrations "parties." While the number of balls has multiplied, there remains an exclusive atmosphere that proclaims that this is a celebration for the newly instated political elite.
26. SIAHG1_160311_201.JPG: James Polk's inaugural ball: Scrambling for supper at James Polk's 1845 "pure Democrats" inaugural ball at the National Theatre, from Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis, 1886.
27. SIAHG1_160311_210.JPG: Invitation to Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball
28. SIAHG1_160311_221.JPG: Presidential Roles
29. SIAHG1_160311_224.JPG: Paper fan with portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his 1933 cabinet
30. SIAHG1_160311_226.JPG: Chief Executive A president serves as the government's chief administrative officer, with the responsibility to see that the laws are faithfully executed. He also appoints officials, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The chief executive heads an enormous bureaucracy that became more complex as the federal system grew and increased its functions. Through the cabinet and federal agencies, the president has the power to influence virtually every activity of the national government.
31. SIAHG1_160311_228.JPG: President James K. Polk used this ivory-handled letter seal in the White House. The size and role of the federal government was so small in the mid-19th century that during the hot Washington summers Polk let his cabinet secretaries return home while he ran their departments. He personally answered the mail, filled out forms, signed commissions, and issued purchase orders.
32. SIAHG1_160311_244.JPG: Onyx-and-brass pen stand believed to have been used by President Chester A. Arthur
33. SIAHG1_160311_249.JPG: Folder and blank telegraph forms used by President Chester A. Arthur
34. SIAHG1_160311_256.JPG: President Thomas Jefferson's polygraph, made by Hawkins and Peale. Patented by John Isaac Hawkins in 1803, a polygraph's pens create simultaneous copies of a writer's manuscript. Jefferson acquired his first polygraph in 1804 and suggested improvements to Charles Willson Peale, owner of the American rights. Jefferson owned several polygraphs, and replaced them as improvements were incorporated into the design. A prolific letter writer, he called the polygraph "the finest invention of the present age."
35. SIAHG1_160311_261.JPG: President Dwight D. Eisenhower's reading copy of his 1960 State of the Union Address, containing notes and last-minute changes.
36. SIAHG1_160311_266.JPG: The authors of the Constitution envisioned a president above partisan politics. In George Washington, they chose an individual who scorned political parties, calling them "potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government." They hoped that Washington's successors would emulate his example. They were wrong. The system they created encouraged, if not demanded, a rise of political parties to articulate and broker differences, and required successful presidents to be effective party leaders. For political parties, the presidency is the highest prize. There are coattails to ride into office, and there is patronage to dispense to the "boys."
37. SIAHG1_160311_279.JPG: Cast of Abraham Lincoln's hands Abraham Lincoln first ran for office at the age of twenty-three and spent his life as a political activist and strategist. His skillful touch rallied Republican leaders to the cause of preserving the Union. Leonard Volk took these original casts of Lincoln's hands on May 20, 1860, two days after the Republican Party nominated the former Illinois congressman as its presidential candidate. Lincoln's right hand was still swollen from shaking hands with congratulating supporters. Volk wanted the right hand to be grasping an object, so Lincoln went out to his woodshed and cut a piece from a broom handle, which is preserved in the artist's cast. From the earliest elections, political parties and local candidates have recognized the importance of linking their campaigns to the head of the party's ticket. This has given the presidential candidates tremendous power to shape their party's agenda and serve as its spokesman.
38. SIAHG1_160311_297.JPG: Manager of the Economy One of the major reasons for calling delegates to Philadelphia in 1787 was to resolve economic problems arising from the Articles of Confederation. We expect our presidents to maintain prosperity, resolve disruptive strikes, keep employment full and the various markets healthy. Even though his power to control the economy is actually quite limited, woe to the chief executive who governs during an economic downturn and is perceived as ineffectual or indifferent. The politician in each president knows what it takes to remain popular. In the words of political consultant James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid."
39. SIAHG1_160311_299.JPG: Hooverville During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the homeless built ramshackle dwellings on empty lots across the country and named these "towns" Hooverville after the president they felt had abandoned them. This one was in Seattle.
40. SIAHG1_160311_302.JPG: National Recovery Administration Poster Herbert Hoover's failure to aggressively meet the challenge of the 1930s depression ended his political career, while Franklin D. Roosevelt's willingness to experiment with untried solutions made him a hero to many Americans for generations. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) created in 1933 was a keystone of Roosevelt's New Deal program. It aimed to set standards for production, prices, and wages in every industry. It specified maximum hours, minimum wages, safety requirements, and the right to unionize, centralizing economic power in the executive branch as never before. Although declared unconstitutional in 1935, the NRA opened the door for ever-increasing federal oversight of the economy.
41. SIAHG1_160311_309.JPG: Buttons protesting Ronald Reagan's firing of members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981 for violating laws against federal employee strikes.
42. SIAHG1_160311_316.JPG: "Full dinner pail" lantern from William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt's 1900 campaign
43. SIAHG1_160311_319.JPG: President Grover Cleveland portrayed as a bartender serving a free (trade) lunch to the workers of the world, from Judge, 1888.
44. SIAHG1_160311_324.JPG: Pullman strike photograph In the name of national security or preserving the general welfare, presidents have used their office to settle labor disputes or affect business practices. Both unions and companies have suffered the consequences of presidential wrath. In 1894 President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops in Chicago to break a strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company that was threatening to disrupt the nationwide rail system.
45. SIAHG1_160311_331.JPG: Button from William J. Clinton's 1992 campaign Candidates run on the promise of creating sustained economic prosperity, and the public expects them to deliver. One of the ongoing debates in American history has been the degree to which the government should protect local industries versus encourage free trade. At times this hotly contested issue has dominated presidential elections.
46. SIAHG1_160311_334.JPG: Herbert Hoover breadboard, probably from 1928 campaign
47. SIAHG1_160311_338.JPG: National Leader Americans ask their presidents to do more than govern; they expect them to lead. No aspect of the chief executive's job is more important than articulating the nation's principles, taking on new challenges, providing comfort and inspiration in times of crisis, and, in Abraham Lincoln's words, appealing to "the better angels of our nature." Presidential leadership has often been met with contentious political debate. But when Americans look back in history, this is the main quality they use to judge a president's tenure in office.
48. SIAHG1_160311_340.JPG: Political cartoons Although stricken with polio and not able to walk unaided, Roosevelt's condition usually was either disguised or ignored. These drawings from 1933 and 1941 are original cartoons by Clifford Berryman for the Washington Evening Star.
49. SIAHG1_160311_347.JPG: Lewis and Clark compass In 1803 Thomas Jefferson organized an expedition, headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the Missouri River and routes to the Pacific Ocean. The Louisiana Purchase made the journey more critical. In the spring of 1804, the Corps of Discovery set out from St. Louis to survey the Northwest. This pocket compass used by William Clark is one of the few surviving scientific instruments from the expedition. The brass-and-silver compass set in a mahogany box was made by Thomas Whitney of Philadelphia.
50. SIAHG1_160311_352.JPG: Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the White House in 1933 confronted by the nation's worst ever economic depression. About one-quarter of the work force was unemployed, industrial production was down by a third, and the bank system was collapsing. Overseas, the economic situation contributed to the rise of fascist governments. The pragmatic Roosevelt boldly experimented with the power of the federal government to address these urgent problems. His greatest accomplishment was his ability to lead, inspire, and assure Americans through many dark years as he projected a gallant, even joyous, spirit. "I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." So began, on March 12, 1933, the first of about thirty informal "fireside chats" that Roosevelt delivered over the radio. His ability to communicate directly and personally through this new medium, addressing each listener as a respected friend, gave Franklin D. Roosevelt a powerful tool to shape public opinion. This Columbia Broadcasting System microphone was used for FDR's fireside-chat radio broadcasts.
51. SIAHG1_160311_368.JPG: Lyndon B. Johnson became president following John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Not willing simply to continue Kennedy's reforms, which were largely stalled in Congress, Johnson declared a war on poverty and racial injustice in America. Using his considerable political skills and a good deal of arm-twisting, Johnson pushed through the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination in employment, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Civil Rights Act barring discrimination in housing. These were the most significant civil rights laws since the Reconstruction legislation following the Civil War.
52. SIAHG1_160311_369.JPG: President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist John Muir at Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, California, 1906.
53. SIAHG1_160311_379.JPG: Chaps worn by Theodore Roosevelt on his ranch in the Dakota Territory, 1884-86 "The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1907, addressing the Deep Waterway Convention, Memphis After the death of his first wife in 1884, Theodore Roosevelt sought the "vast silent spaces" of the Dakota Badlands and the recuperative powers of a strenuous life. He purchased a small ranch and reveled in being a cowboy. Three years later he was ready to resume his political quest in the East. The experience gave him a love and appreciation of nature that made him champion the conservation movement once he became president. Under his leadership the government transferred 125 million acres of public land into the forest reserves and established sixteen national monuments and fifty-one wildlife refuges.
54. SIAHG1_160311_382.JPG: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project ... will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important ... and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." --John F. Kennedy, May 1961 By the late 1950s the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union included a competitive and strategic race for dominance in space. The Russians, who successfully launched the first satellite in 1957 and the first manned flight in 1961, appeared to be winning the contest. John F. Kennedy sought a bold goal that would inspire and excite the American public, and ensure its commitment to an expensive space program. Buoyed by astronaut Alan Shepard's short space flight in 1961, the president declared before a joint session of Congress the aim of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. in his pressure suit, with helmet opened, prior to the first U.S. manned mission in space. Developed by the BFGoodrich Company from the navy's MK-IV full-pressure suit, it was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1959 for use in Project Mercury. Shepard's May 5, 1961, suborbital flight in the Mercury Freedom 7 capsule lasted a little over fifteen minutes. Although brief, it was a major step in a race with the Soviet Union for dominance in space. Encouraged by the overwhelming response to Shepard's flight, President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of sending a manned spacecraft to the Moon.
55. SIAHG1_160311_397.JPG: Thomas Jefferson's lap desk In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on this portable lap desk of his own design. Featuring a hinged writing board and a locking drawer for papers, pens, and inkwell, the desk was Jefferson's companion as a revolutionary patriot, American diplomat, and president of the United States. The drafts of the Declaration of Independence were among the first documents Jefferson penned on this desk; the note he attached under the writing board in 1825 was among the last: "Politics as well as Religion has its superstitions. These, gaining strength with time, may, one day, give imaginary value to this relic, for its great association with the birth of the Great Charter of our Independence."
56. SIAHG1_160311_410.JPG: Commander in Chief The framers of the Constitution wanted to preserve civil authority over the military, and designated the president "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy." During national crises and war, the power of the presidency has increased to include approval of military tactics, control of the economy, and authority to limit the civil rights of Americans at home. This responsibility has grown dramatically from the time George Washington took up his sword during the Whiskey Rebellion to the day Harry S. Truman authorized dropping an atomic bomb on Japan. The burden of such awesome power rests heavily on every president.
57. SIAHG1_160311_417.JPG: This unremarkable briefcase, used during the Clinton administration, is commonly referred to as "the football." Carried in the shadow of the president, it contained materials that might be needed in case of a military emergency.
58. SIAHG1_160311_421.JPG: On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany, entering the United States in World War I: "The world must be made safe for democracy.... It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts."
59. SIAHG1_160311_446.JPG: Summer uniform worn by Dwight D. Eisenhower Beginning with George Washington, Americans have often chosen military leaders as presidents. These soldiers are viewed as national heroes whose leadership skills have been tested under the pressure of combat and who are prepared to preserve national security. Adding to their appeal, as soldiers they seem to be above partisan self-interest. Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower probably would have been elected regardless of their party affiliations. But mastering the political process is key to a successful presidency, where persuasion is more effective than commands, even for a hero.
60. SIAHG1_160311_451.JPG: Grant's status as a national hero was secured when he accepted Confederate general Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. This towel was used as a flag of truce, and saved by George A. Custer, a Union officer present at the surrender signing.
61. SIAHG1_160311_455.JPG: Ceremonial Head of State By combining the ceremonial role of a monarch with the responsibilities of a Prime Minister, the Constitution created an executive with symbolic as well as administrative duties. As formal head of the nation, the president may solemnly place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or festively open a fair. These activities at times seem trivial, but they offer important opportunities for the chief executive to connect with Americans who are the ultimate source of presidential power.
62. SIAHG1_160311_458.JPG: John Philip Sousa (bottom left) directing the United States Marine Band at the White House in 1930 for President Herbert Hoover (on bottom step), British ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay, and officials of the Gridiron Club.
63. SIAHG1_160311_470.JPG: Presidential limousine flags
64. SIAHG1_160311_474.JPG: Box of M&M's candy from Marine One
65. SIAHG1_160311_477.JPG: Cards and score sheet from a game of hearts played on Marine One on its way back from the Wye River, Maryland, Arab-Isaeli peace conference, October 21, 1998. The game was between Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste, Press Secretary Joe Lockhart, and President Bill Clinton.
66. SIAHG1_160311_504.JPG: Telegraph key made for President William H. Taft to use in the White House to open the Alaska-Yukon Exposition in 1909. It was used again by President Woodrow Wilson when he opened the Panama Canal in 1913. The marble slab is set with gold nuggets from the Klondike region.
67. SIAHG1_160311_509.JPG: Silver-and-ivory trowel presented to Ulysses S. Grant in 1870 during ceremonies laying the cornerstone of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City
68. SIAHG1_160311_516.JPG: Chief Diplomat The president is both a national spokesman and a world leader. Increasingly, as representative of a country of immigrants with ties around the globe, he is expected to defend America's security and economic interests, and also to promote democratic principles and human rights internationally. Several presidents whose domestic policies were frustrated by an uncooperative Congress have focused their attention on foreign affairs, where their power and freedom to determine policy was less hindered.
69. SIAHG1_160311_532.JPG: Brooch given by the people of Paris to Edith Wilson, who accompanied her husband to the World War I peace-treaty negotiations in 1919. Rene Lalique designed the pin with glass doves perching on diamond-studded gold laurel sprays.
70. SIAHG1_160311_536.JPG: Original artwork for a 1954 newspaper cartoon drawn by Ray Evan Jr. for the Columbus Evening Dispatch.
71. SIAHG1_160311_544.JPG: Silver junk presented to Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 by Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi of China. The gift followed China's forced acceptance of an open-door policy for trade with the United States.
72. SIAHG1_160311_550.JPG: Moccasins presented to Ulysses S. Grant during an 1870s peace conference in Washington, D.C. Along with dealing with European powers, one of the earliest diplomatic issues facing a United States president was establishing and maintaining formal and legal relationships with the Indian nations within the country's declared borders.
73. SIAHG1_160311_567.JPG: The White House as Symbol and Home The White House serves many functions. As a historic building, it contains objects used over a period of two centuries. It is also where the president and first lady preside over ceremonies and official greetings. And it is the home of the presidential family. While the first family needs to remain accessible to the American people, its members also must have space and time to escape from the pressures and scrutiny of their official roles. Balancing their public and private lives has proved one of the greatest challenges facing occupants of the fishbowl that is the White House.
74. SIAHG1_160311_570.JPG: First Lady Grace Coolidge's evening dress One of the White House's most stylish and popular hostesses, first lady Grace Coolidge wore this chiffon velvet evening dress during her husband's administration. The dress, typical of the 1920s' "flapper" fashion, has a detachable train (not shown) and matching velvet shoes with rhinestone trim.
75. SIAHG1_160311_576.JPG: Building the White House John and Abigail Adams moved into a partially completed White House in late 1800. Construction started eight years earlier, based on James Hoban's design in an architectural competition. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson influenced the building's final look. The two-story house was one of the nation's largest. East and west wings and other additions came later. Initially referred to as the President's House, it was called the Executive Mansion when rebuilt after the British burned it in the War of 1812. However, the name White House became popular with the general public and in 1902 Theodore Roosevelt made it official.
76. SIAHG1_160311_578.JPG: In 1952, upon completion of the renovations, Harry Truman was presented with the master key to the White House. The accompanying inscription read: To Harry S. Truman President of the United States of America This key to the White House is presented by the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company In a free society, the key to a man's house symbolizes his and his family's rights to those privacies and freedoms which are the heart and sinews of the American way of life. This key and the locks it operates are products of the skills and ingenuity of American men and women living and working safe in their liberties. With God's help, may it ever be so! April 23, 1952
77. SIAHG1_160311_589.JPG: Souvenir pieces from White House renovation Some materials removed during the Truman-era White House renovation were made available to the public as kits from which mementos could be made. This plaque is constructed of pieces from kit no. 5.
78. SIAHG1_160311_593.JPG: President George Washington inspecting the unfinished White House with architect James Hoban, in a photolithograph based on a 20th-century painting by N. C. Wyeth.
79. SIAHG1_160311_598.JPG: Open to the People Presidents create events that encourage people to feel they have access to the leader of a democratic society. Thomas Jefferson opened the lawn around the White House on the Fourth of July. In the 1840s, musical concerts gained popularity, attracting large crowds in subsequent years. First families have hosted public celebrations that include Easter egg rolls, Christmas tree lightings, receptions, and picnics. These events symbolize the unique relationship between our chief elected official and the voters he serves. No president can afford to appear aloof or distant from the public, although the need for tight security makes direct contact a challenge.
80. SIAHG1_160311_601.JPG: Wooden Easter eggs from White House Easter egg rolls, 1980s
81. SIAHG1_160311_618.JPG: Handmade ornament used on Gerald and Betty Ford's 1975 White House Christmas tree. Brochures with instructions for making some of the different ornaments for that year were available to the public.
82. SIAHG1_160311_620.JPG: Official Occasions As the nation's official hosts, the president and his family are responsible for receiving a wide variety of dignitaries at the White House. Over the years, visitors have ranged from members of the Osage Indian tribe to representatives from China. The format for these meetings varies from receptions and closed-door conversations to balls and state dinners. Important personal relationships and significant decisions can emerge from such gatherings. The challenge is to use the occasions effectively.
83. SIAHG1_160311_622.JPG: Dessert plate used by James and Elizabeth Monroe, 1817
84. SIAHG1_160311_625.JPG: "Woodcock," a game plate from the state china of Rutherford and Lucy Hayes, designed by Theodore Russell Davis and manufactured by Haviland & Company in 1880.
85. SIAHG1_160311_632.JPG: Hand-painted dinner favor used by Benjamin and Carolina Harrison
86. SIAHG1_160311_636.JPG: White House Weddings James Monroe's daughter Maria was the fist child of a president to marry in the White House, in 1820. Her ceremony was restricted to family. Subsequent weddings have become increasingly popular events, and the public wants to know many of the details. More recent White House brides have resorted to elaborate schemes to avoid intrusion. In 1966, Luci Johnson managed to keep her dress design secret until her wedding day. Respecting the privacy of the wedding party must be balanced with taking advantage of the tremendous political goodwill generated from these rare White House occurrences.
87. SIAHG1_160311_641.JPG: Dollhouse made by a White House gardener for the Cleveland children, c. 1896 When George Washington took office, he decided that the president should work and live in the same residence. Every chief executive since has abided by that rule. And while it has made performing the job of president more efficient, it has made family life more difficult. Quiet time and privacy must be seized from or interwoven with official business. Ultimately it is almost impossible to lead a "normal" existence when living in the White House.
88. SIAHG1_160311_645.JPG: Paint set used by Archie Roosevelt, the son of Theodore Roosevelt, around 1903
89. SIAHG1_160311_648.JPG: "Sally," the White House doll, made around 1829 for Maria Louise Adams, granddaughter of John Quincy Adams
90. SIAHG1_160311_652.JPG: Pointe shoes worn by Bill CLinton's daughter, Chelsea
91. SIAHG1_160311_660.JPG: Jimmy Carter's daughter Amy played with this 1979 Cape Cod-style dollhouse with a "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" mailbox.
92. SIAHG1_160311_663.JPG: Harry S Truman's vacation shirt Around 1947, Harry S Truman gave the shirt he wore on vacation at the "little" White House in Key West, Florida, to a friend who teased him about his vacation attire. The shirt was autographed by the Truman family.
93. SIAHG1_160311_668.JPG: Wooden bowling pin used in the White House during Harry S. Truman's administration, about 1951 Truman installed the first bowling alley in the White House in 1947.
94. SIAHG1_160311_672.JPG: Spencer repeating rifle used by Abraham Lincoln for target practice, about 1864
95. SIAHG1_160311_677.JPG: Book of trout flies in a leather case belonging to Grover Cleveland, about 1888
96. SIAHG1_160311_679.JPG: Deep-sea fishing reel used by Herbert Hoover, about 1930
97. SIAHG1_160311_683.JPG: William J. Clinton's saxophone
98. SIAHG1_160311_693.JPG: Creating a Private Life When George Washington took office, he decided that the president should work and live in the same residence. Every chief executive since has abided by that rule. And while it has made performing the job of president more efficient, it has made family life more difficult. Quiet time and privacy must be seized from or interwoven with official business. Ultimately it is almost impossible to lead a "normal" existence when living in the White House.
99. SIAHG1_160311_696.JPG: Table with inlaid chessboard and ivory chessmen from about 1825, used by John Quincy Adams
100. SIAHG1_160311_699.JPG: President Warren G. Harding wore these elegant silk pajamas made by Chavert & Fils, Inc., of New York and Paris. His monogram is embroidered on the pocket.
101. SIAHG1_160311_722.JPG: Limits of Presidential Power Presidential, or executive, power is not fixed, and it is limited by both constitutional and political constraints. The Constitution prescribes a system of checks and balances whereby the powers of the federal government are shared among the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. In this delicate balance, however, the influences of the three branches continually shift. They are determined by the individuals in the various offices and their ability to affect public opinion, and by the political, economic, and social climate of the day.
102. SIAHG1_160311_727.JPG: Congress The delegates to the Constitutional Convention envisioned the relationship between the president and Congress as both cooperative and antagonistic. They struggled over how to create the proper balance. Governor Morris from Pennsylvania, summing up their challenge, stated: "Make him [the president] too weak: the Legislature will usurp his power. Make him too strong: he will usurp on the Legislature." Over the years the balance of power has shifted back and forth as strong individuals in each branch of government dominated the political arena.
103. SIAHG1_160311_730.JPG: Gavel presented to the Speaker of the House After seeing their carefully crafted programs defeated, presidents must feel that at times Congress wields a gavel as large as this one. It was presented to Joseph W. Martin Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives (1947-49 and 1953-55) by the Republican County Central Committee, San Francisco, in 1952.
104. SIAHG1_160311_735.JPG: Chair used by Henry Clay in the U.S. Senate from 1831 to 1852
105. SIAHG1_160311_738.JPG: Miniature portrait of Henry Clay by J. W. Dodge, 1843
106. SIAHG1_160311_754.JPG: Straw hat belonging to Senator Henry Clay
107. SIAHG1_160311_759.JPG: Chair and desk used in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1857 to 1873
108. SIAHG1_160311_762.JPG: "Daniel Webster Addressing the U.S. Senate on the Compromise Measures, March 7th 1850," by Eliphant Brown Jr.
109. SIAHG1_160311_765.JPG: Clay and Jackson cartoon This 1834 lithograph by David Claypool Johnson shows Kentucky senator Henry Clay sewing President Andrew Jackson's mouth shut. Jackson's fight to destroy the Bank of the United States and his removal of the Treasury secretary led to the Senate's censure of Jackson for abuse of presidential power. Jackson argued that the president, as the only representative of all the people, should rule supreme. Congress did not agree. At the heart of the debate (led by Clay, among others) was the struggle between the executive branch and the legislature over which branch should dominate the government. That struggle continues today, whichever political party is in office. Courtesy of Library of Congress
110. SIAHG1_160311_768.JPG: Court packing cartoon In the mid-1930s the Supreme Court ruled many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal reforms, including the National Industrial Recovery Act, unconstitutional. Roosevelt countered by proposing to enlarge the size of the court and thus, through his new appointees, win more favorable decisions. Both Republicans and Democrats were outraged by this attack on the court's independence and forced Roosevelt to withdraw his proposal. No president since has attempted to directly undermine the court's constitutional autonomy, and the size of the court has remained fixed (since 1869) at nine justices. This cartoon by Elderman appeared in the February 6, 1937, Washington Post.
111. SIAHG1_160311_771.JPG: Robe worn by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist during sessions of the Supreme Court and during the Senate impeachment trial of President William Clinton. Rehnquist added the gold stripes to the sleeves in 1995 after seeing the costume worn by the Lord Chancellor in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Rehnquist was appointed to the court in 1971 as an associate justice and was chief justice from 1986 until his death on September 3, 2005.
112. SIAHG1_160311_775.JPG: The Supreme Court The country's final legal authority is the Supreme Court. It has the responsibility to interpret the law and reject legislation or executive actions it deems in violation or contradiction of the Constitution. Several presidents have seen their powers restricted by court rulings that struck down their programs or restricted their orders. Since Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, they are largely sheltered from political pressure. All a president can do to affect Supreme Court outcomes is try to amend the Constitution or hope that vacancies open up on the court, giving him an opportunity to name more sympathetic justices.
113. SIAHG1_160311_778.JPG: Grounds for Impeachment The ultimate limit on presidential power is removal from office by Congress through "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." As a political rather than judicial process, impeachment may involve partisan motivations. Congress has taken its constitutional responsibility cautiously, recognizing that its abuse would end the delicate balance of power between branches of government. Only three presidents have seriously faced removal. The House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson in 1868 and William J. Clinton in 1998. In both cases the Senate voted to acquit. On the verge of being impeached in 1972, Richard M. Nixon resigned.
114. SIAHG1_160311_780.JPG: House Impeachment Managers This 1868 Mathew Brady photograph shows the House of Representatives managers of Andrew Johnson's impeachment case. In the Senate, where such a case is tried, House representatives serve as the prosecuting attorneys.
115. SIAHG1_160311_784.JPG: Ellsberg file cabinet The Nixon administration established a secret-operations unit known as the Plumbers. On September 3, 1971, they broke into the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. They were looking for damaging information against Ellsberg, who had leaked Pentagon papers concerning the Vietnam War to the press. This file cabinet was damaged in the search. It was the first in a series of Plumbers' break-ins that included the famous escapade at the Watergate Hotel that eventually brought down Richard Nixon's presidency.
116. SIAHG1_160311_792.JPG: John Dean's testimony The testimony of John Dean, former counsel to the president, before the Senate Watergate hearings in June 1973 proved extremely damaging to President Nixon. In one of the turning points of the hearings, Dean was asked "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Dean answered by outlining Nixon's extensive involvement in a cover-up of the Watergate burglary from the beginning, including his authorization of hush money to silence witnesses.
117. SIAHG1_160311_805.JPG: On December 18, 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach William J. Clinton. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the president's testimony in a civil suit and whether he misrepresented his relationship with a White House intern. The debate largely focused on whether his crimes, if real, rose to the level of an impeachable offense. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate of the charges.
118. SIAHG1_160311_808.JPG: We the People Presidential power ultimately derives from the people. Getting elected is just the beginning. Only by maintaining public support does an administration sustain its influence. Popular presidents have the ability to promote their policies, pressure members of Congress, and defend against attacks. Conversely, should a president fall sharply in opinion polls, his administration is weakened.
119. SIAHG1_160311_810.JPG: Cartoon of Grover Cleveland fishing for popularity, from the September 1886 issue of Puck.
120. SIAHG1_160311_814.JPG: Protest buttons and ribbons The most essential right of citizens in a free society is the ability to challenge the decisions and actions of their government and to make their opinions known. The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to peacefully assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. From local protests to marches on Washington, demonstrations have forced presidents to publicly take stands and clarify positions on issues they often wish to avoid.
121. SIAHG2_160311_002.JPG: Top hat worn by Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot Objects owned by or associated with Abraham Lincoln quickly became relics, reminding Americans of Lincoln's greatness and challenging them to keep his ideals alive. One of the Smithsonian Institution's most treasured icons is this top hat, worn by Lincoln to Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination.
122. SIAHG2_160311_009.JPG: Assassination and Mourning The American political system experiences its greatest challenge when the life of the man elected to lead the country is threatened. The death of a president, especially by assassination, traumatizes the nation and plunges it into a period of questioning, reflection, and ritualized mourning. And, from the peaceful, constitutional transfer of power to the vice president, there emerges renewed confidence in our method of government. Beginning with an attack on Andrew Jackson in 1835, there have been eleven attempts to kill the American president. Four presidents--Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy--died from assassins' bullets. Since 1901, the formal protectors of the chief executive have been the agents of the U.S. Secret Service. Their courage, creativity, and dedication are taxed to the utmost in safeguarding the president.
123. SIAHG2_160311_011.JPG: William Henry Harrison, First to Die in Office
124. SIAHG2_160311_017.JPG: Zachary Taylor
125. SIAHG2_160311_034.JPG: The Long and Final Ride: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln Now he belongs to the ages." --Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, April 15, 1865 First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln decided the president should be buried in Springfield, Illinois, his former home. Before leaving Washington on April 21, Abraham Lincoln's body lay in state in the White House. Then, after a two-hour funeral processional that included soldiers, politicians, diplomats, and freed slaves, he was placed in the Capitol rotunda. Abraham Lincoln's body retraced the train route taken by the president-elect in 1861. Parades were held with caissons, riderless horses, and an array of elected officials. Not until May 4 was Lincoln buried. His train did not just transport him to Illinois, "it transported [Lincoln] to immortality."
126. SIAHG2_160311_038.JPG: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, President and Mrs. Lincoln went to Ford's Theatre with Clara Harris and her fianc�, Henry Rathbone. At 10:15, as the audience roared at the climactic line ("You sockdologizing old mantrap"), actor and Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln and severely wounded Rathbone with a knife. The attack was part of a plan to destroy influential members of the government. Despite breaking a leg as he leaped onto the stage during his getaway, Booth mounted a waiting horse and escaped into southern Maryland. Lincoln, taken to a house across from the theater, died the next morning.
127. SIAHG2_160311_042.JPG: Ford's Theatre playbill from the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
128. SIAHG2_160311_046.JPG: Reward poster For twelve days, John Wilkes Booth avoided capture. The government offered significant rewards for any information that would lead to the capture of the assassins.
129. SIAHG2_160311_050.JPG: Once captured, the Lincoln conspirators were closely and constantly guarded. Iron keys locked their prison cells. Emotions were so strong that, with the exception of Mary Surratt, the only woman, the defendants were bound with these wrist irons even during the trial.
130. SIAHG2_160311_056.JPG: The Death of James A. Garfield When James A. Garfield was attacked on July 2, 1881, the nation was shocked, enraged, and captivated. President for just four months, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau as he was about to board a train at the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Severely wounded, Garfield lingered until September 19. An unsuccessful lawyer, evangelist, and insurance salesman, Guiteau believed Garfield owed him a patronage position in the diplomatic corps, and that the president's political decisions threatened to destroy the Republican Party. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act; it sought to reform civil service and limit the number of patronage seekers like Charles Guiteau.
131. SIAHG2_160311_061.JPG: Alexander Graham Bell's induction balance As the doctors struggled to understand the extent of Garfield's wounds, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, used this machine that he called an "induction balance" to try to locate the bullet. When found, the machine was to sent a sound to the attached telephone receiver. Despite attempts on July 26 and August 1, 1881, Bell could not situate the bullet.
132. SIAHG2_160311_068.JPG: On September 6, 1881, President Garfield was transported by train from Washington to the beachfront home of Charles Francklyn in Long Branch, New Jersey. To ease the strain on the president, a special spur line was built directly to the house where he would reside. Spikes from that spur became valued souvenirs sold to a public desperate for any tangible remembrance of their fallen leader.
133. SIAHG2_160311_075.JPG: The Assassination of William McKinley
134. SIAHG2_160311_082.JPG: Wallet and pinknife carried by President McKinley on the day he was shot
135. SIAHG2_160311_087.JPG: Warren G. Harding
136. SIAHG2_160311_094.JPG: The Sudden Death of FDR Franklin D. Roosevelt held the office of president longer than anyone, more than twelve years. Under his direction, the United States endured two of its most significant and overwhelming crises, the Great Depression and World War II. The nation had grown used to Roosevelt's leadership and was comforted by his presence, thanks in part to the strategic use of radio and his "fireside chats." So when Roosevelt died suddenly at Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945, Americans were devastated.
137. SIAHG2_160311_106.JPG: Sheet music, "He Was Your Friend and Mine" Songs like this one demonstrate a connection between FDR and millions of Americans that helps explain why his death was viewed as a personal loss.
138. SIAHG2_160311_123.JPG: Like a Clap of Thunder: Assassination Attempts and the Sudden Death of the President "A president has to expect those things." --Harry S. Truman, shortly after the attack on his life in 1950 In a democracy that demands access to and accountability from its elected leaders, presidents are vulnerable. There have been eleven attempts to kill the president of the United States. Four presidents have died at the hands of an assassin.
139. SIAHG2_160311_124.JPG: The Loss of John F. Kennedy Millions of Americans can never forget where they were or what they were doing when they heard that John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy's death and the subsequent period of mourning transfixed the nation, in part because television brought the events clearly, immediately, and constantly into American homes. Kennedy's death ended the optimism that emanated from the youth, idealism, and energy of his administration. As the nation mourned, the Kennedy family turned to the rituals and practices of official remembrance first practiced after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
140. SIAHG2_160311_127.JPG: Drum played at John F. Kennedy's funeral This is one of four drums that played a muffled cadence during the funeral procession of John F. Kennedy. His family looked to history to help shape the funeral and mourning ceremonies. The drum was modeled after one used during the American Revolution.
141. SIAHG2_160311_135.JPG: Protecting the President: The US Secret Service The United States Secret Service, established in 1865 to safeguard the nation's currency, is best known as the agency responsible for protecting the president. It took on this duty in 1901, after the assassination of William McKinley. The special agents and uniformed officers' ever-expanding role now includes protecting the president and his family, presidential candidates, and former presidents and guarding executive offices and diplomatic missions. After John Kennedy's death in 1963, the agency increased the number of agents detailed to the president, employed new communications technology, and became more proactive in intelligence gathering.
142. SIAHG2_160311_155.JPG: McKinley assassination note Prior to Theodore Roosevelt's administration, presidential safety was an ad hoc mix of private security, local officers, and presidential confidants. The protection of William McKinley while on an 1897 Midwest trip was handled, quite effectively, by William Williams, director of public safety in Columbus, Ohio. When McKinley was assassinated four years later in Buffalo, New York, the Secret Service formally became the protector of the president.
143. SIAHGB_160318_002.JPG: Assassination and Mourning The American political system experiences its greatest challenge when the person elected to lead the country is threatened or dies. The death of a president, especially by assassination, traumatizes the nation and plunges it into a period of questioning, reflection, and ritualized mourning. And, from the peaceful, constitutional transfer of power to the vice president, there emerges renewed confidence in our method of government. Beginning with the attack on Andrew Jackson in 1835, there have been several attempts to kill the American president. Four presidents -- Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy -- died from assassins' bullets and four others -- William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt -- died from illness.
144. SIAHGB_160318_007.JPG: William Henry Harrison, First to Die in Office Harrison was sixty-eight when he arrived in Washington for his inauguration in 1841, the oldest individual at the time to become president. Some questioned whether he had the stamina for the job. In a demonstration of his vigor, on a wintry March day Harrison rode on horseback in his inaugural parade and delivered his two-hour address without a coat or hat. He caught a cold and died one month later of pneumonia. Immediately the status of John Tyler came into question. Would he remain the vice president, acting as president, or actually become president? Tyler expressed no doubts, and although some tried to challenge him, he immediately assumed the title and responsibilities of the highest office, settling this issue of succession.
145. SIAHGB_160318_010.JPG: Death of Harrison, April 4, A.D. 1841
146. SIAHGB_160318_014.JPG: William Henry Harrison delivering his inaugural address on the east steps of the Capitol, March 4, 1841.
147. SIAHGB_160318_017.JPG: Funeral sermon for William Henry Harrison
148. SIAHGB_160318_025.JPG: Harrison's 1841 lengthy inaugural address was printed on silk as a keepsake for his [mourners].
149. SIAHGB_160318_030.JPG: "Columbia Grieving at Lincoln's Bier," from Harper's Weekly, April 29, 1865
150. SIAHGB_160318_035.JPG: Zachary Taylor Success as a general in the Mexican-American War propelled "Old Rough and Ready" into the White House at age sixty-four. With his administration embroiled in the bitter debate over slavery in the new western territories, President Taylor took time out to participate in the July 4 events at the Washington Monument. He was taken to bed suffering from acute gastroenteritis, the result of drinking milk tainted under the hot Washington sun. He died five days later on July 9, 1850. The following day Vice President Millard Fillmore took the presidential oath in the Hall of the House of Representatives.
151. SIAHGB_160318_039.JPG: President Zachary Taylor on his deathbed, published by N. Currier, 1850
152. SIAHGB_160318_046.JPG: The Death of Taylor Sung by Ossian E. Dodge, Esq.
153. SIAHGB_160318_050.JPG: Funeral Honors Zachary Taylor
154. SIAHGB_160318_065.JPG: Following Zachary Taylor's death, local memorial services were held around the country in his honor.
155. SIAHGB_160318_071.JPG: The Long and Final Ride: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln Mary Lincoln decided the president should be buried in Springfield, Illinois, his former home. Before leaving Washington on April 21, Lincoln's body lay in state in the White House. Then, after a two-hour funeral processional that included soldiers, politicians, diplomats, and freed slaves, he was placed in the Capitol rotunda. Lincoln's body retraced the train route taken by the president-elect in 1861. Parades were held with caissons, riderless horses, and an array of elected officials. Not until May 4 was Lincoln buried. His train did not just transport him to Illinois, "it transported Lincoln to immortality."
156. SIAHGB_160318_080.JPG: As Lincoln's body passed through major cities, a series of commemorative activities saluted the fallen president. General D.K. Jackman used this wooden baton and mourning sash while serving as marshal of the funeral parade held in Philadelphia.
157. SIAHGB_160318_092.JPG: Mourners waiting to pay their respects at the public funeral service for Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.
158. SIAHGB_160318_100.JPG: Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday. That enabled many to find a spiritual and personal connection to his death. Some viewed Lincoln's murder as an atonement for the sins of the nation after years of war and bitterness. Countless Americans wore pins, lockets, badges, and rings as public expressions of mourning and memory. This ring with its cameo head shaped to resemble Abraham Lincoln was one way that individuals could publicly express their grief and admiration. Mourning "medalet" with the inscription "Born Feb. 12, 1809/Assassinated April 14, 1865."
159. SIAHGB_160318_107.JPG: The Lincoln funeral train had eight coaches -- six to carry the invited mourners, one for the military honor guard, and one with the body. Those asked to ride the train received special invitations and timetables like the ones displayed here.
160. SIAHGB_160318_153.JPG: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, President and Mrs. Lincoln went to Ford's Theatre with Clara Harris and her fiance, Henry Rathbone. At 10:15, actor and Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln and severely wounded Rathbone with a knife. Despite breaking a leg as he leaped onto the stage during his getaway, Booth escaped into southern Maryland. The attack on Lincoln was part of a larger unsuccessful plan to kill leading members of the government in hopes that the resulting chaos would bring a negotiated peace with the Confederacy. Lincoln, taken to a house across from the theater, died the next morning. On April 15, Andrew Jackson was sworn in as president in his personal apartment at the Kirkland House.
161. SIAHGB_160318_157.JPG: The Ford's Theatre playbill from the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
162. SIAHGB_160318_166.JPG: This is the program of the play of our American Cousin. I was present on that occasion and have preserved it on account of its historical value in connection with the assanation [sic] of President "Abraham Lincoln" April 14th, 1865. Washington DC George Wright
163. SIAHGB_160318_173.JPG: Ford's Theatre, site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, is on 10th Street between E and F Streets in northwest Washington, DC. The theatre was built in 1863.
164. SIAHGB_160318_178.JPG: The public had an insatiable appetite for visual representations, like this newspaper illustration, of the assassination of Lincoln.
165. SIAHGB_160318_180.JPG: Booth and several other Southern sympathizers were the subjects of an intensive manhunt. Booth was located by Union troops in a tobacco barn in Virginia on April 26 and died from wounds incurred during his capture. Either others were tried in a military court. Four were hanged and four received prison sentences.
166. SIAHGB_160318_186.JPG: For twelve days, John Wilkes Booth avoided capture. The government offered significant rewards for any information that would lead to the capture of the assassins.
167. SIAHGB_160318_188.JPG: Once captured, the Lincoln conspirators were closely and constantly guarded. Iron keys locked their prison cells. Emotions were so strong that, with the exception of Mary Surratt, the only woman, the defendants were bound with these wrist irons even during the trial.
168. SIAHGB_160318_209.JPG: Objects owned by or associated with Lincoln quickly became relics, reminding Americans of Lincoln's greatness and challenging them to keep his ideals alive. One of the Smithsonian Institution's most treasured icons is this top hat, worn by Lincoln to Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination. The flag was flown on the funeral train as it traveled between Albany and Utica, New York.
169. SIAHGB_160318_218.JPG: The Death of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated. He was attacked by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, five days after Ulysses S. Grant accepted Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. In death, Lincoln achieved the adoration and popular appeal that eluded him in life. He became a martyr for national unity and equality and a hero to the millions who responded to his death with an unprecedented outpouring of grief. The manner in which American mourned Lincoln evolved into rituals that shaped the way the country reacted to future tragedies, including John F. Kennedy's assassination one hundred years later. "Now he belongs to the ages." -- Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, April 15, 1865
170. SIAHGB_160318_222.JPG: The flag was flown on the funeral train as it traveled between Albany and Utica, New York.
171. SIAHGB_160318_234.JPG: Almost every city in the United States has a street named after a former president. These signs, collected from communities across the nation, demonstrate how Americans interact daily with representatives of the presidency. Washington is the presidential name used most often on street signs, followed by Lincoln.
172. SIAHGB_160318_237.JPG: The Presidency in Popular Imagination The presidency has always been a dominant force in shaping and reflecting songs, movies, and other cultural expressions. As a symbol of and for America, the president traditionally was depicted as a heroic figure, as the nation's moral compass, or as a reflection of the national mood. Changing technologies and changing attitudes have contributed to more accessible and varied characterizations, though they are not necessarily more realistic. The centrality and visibility of the presidency in American society speaks volumes about its importance and influence, and contributes to a common political culture.
173. SIAHGB_160318_240.JPG: The Reagan Safety Net. Hold on till we get in position. Okay, jump!
174. SIAHGB_160318_243.JPG: Watch out for The Man on the White Horse! -- better vote for Stevenson
175. SIAHGB_160318_245.JPG: Born to Command. Had I been consulted. King Andrew the First. Of Veto Memory. Andrew Jackson was a strong president (1829-37) who used the office of forcefully pursue his agenda. Many political opponents, fearing Jackson's use of power, called him "King Andrew." This 1833 cartoon uses that theme to show Jackson, dressed as a king, trampling on the Constitution. While the cartoon garnered support for the opposing Whig Party, it did little to thwart Jackson's desire to increase the power of the presidency.
176. SIAHGB_160318_250.JPG: What a friend we have in Coolidge! The Cash Register Chorus
177. SIAHGB_160318_254.JPG: Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968 on a campaign that promised to return "law and order" to the country. Yet a series of illegal actions and a misuse of presidential power undermined his administration. This 1974 cartoon by Robert Pryor suggests that Nixon became entrapped by the illegal web he himself wove. Nixon was forced to resign in 1974, in part by the content of tapes he had made of conversations in the White House.
178. SIAHGB_160318_260.JPG: "Come along. We're going to the Trans-Lux to hiss Roosevelt."
179. SIAHGB_160318_261.JPG: A Presidential Touch "Brother -- can you spare about 72 billion dollars?"
180. SIAHGB_160318_264.JPG: "Okay, bring in the new guy..."
181. SIAHGB_160318_283.JPG: Crisis in Washington Mr. Coolidge refuses point blank to vacate the White House until his other rubber is found. Calvin Coolidge became president when Warren Harding died in 1923 and he was elected to the office in 1924. Commonly called "Silent Cal" by the press, Coolidge was the frugal and prim New Englander who was often satirized by cartoonists. In this 1929 Life cartoon by Gluyas Williams, Coolidge is pardoned when a lost overshoe threatens to derail the transition from Coolidge to Herbert Hoover.
182. SIAHGB_160318_294.JPG: Speaking of sanctuaries...
183. SIAHGB_160318_300.JPG: Foreign policy
184. SIAHGB_160318_302.JPG: Since the early 19th century, presidents have been a favorite subject for cartoonists. Here Harry Truman is surrounded by a group of political cartoonists during a gathering in the White House rose garden on October 3, 1949.
185. SIAHGB_160318_306.JPG: The Cinderella of the Republican Party and her naughty sisters
186. SIAHGB_160318_309.JPG: Back to Normalcy The Candidate for Reelection "I'll have to figure out some kind of a new slogan." -- Alley in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal
187. SIAHGB_160318_313.JPG: The Cartooning of the Presidency Using drawings or cartoons to comment on the actions of a president is a tradition nearly as old as the nation. Political cartoons were the creation of the politically partisan press in the early 1800s. They became staples of weekly magazines during the 19th century, and, eventually, a cornerstone of the modern newspaper industry. Cartoons help make complex issues and personalities more accessible. They often have a great impact on attitudes about a chief executive. Many presidents felt like 19th-century New York politician William "Boss" Tweed: "Stop them damn pictures... I don't care much about what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures."
188. SIAHGB_160318_316.JPG: An Available Candidate. The one qualification for a Whig president.
189. SIAHGB_160318_326.JPG: "Whose Move?"
190. SIAHGB_160318_327.JPG: Farmer Garfield Cutting a Swath to the White House
191. SIAHGB_160318_331.JPG: The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) reinvigorated the arena of political satire and cartooning. Roosevelt's features, especially his wide mouth and constant movement while speaking, were a cartoonist's delight. This early-20th-century cartoon by Gustav Brandt for a German magazine captures the essence of Teddy Roosevelt, champion of the "square deal" for the American people.
192. SIAHGB_160318_340.JPG: Criminy folks enough already! You aren't supposed to read the thing. You're supposed to look at it!
193. SIAHGB_160318_349.JPG: The Presidency in Movies and Television The presidency has always been an element of feature films, although movies depicted actual or fictional presidents have rarely been box-office successes. Early silent classics included Lincoln, the Lover (1914) and The Birth of a Nation (1915). Some films sought to glorify -- Young Mr. Lincoln, starring Henry Fonda, Sunrise at Campobello, and PT 109. Others explored the ambiguity of the office -- Seven Days in May, Nixon, and Dr. Strangelove. More recent movies, like Air Force One, Deep Impact, and The American President, turned the president into an action hero, a romantic leading man, or a symbol of all that is right -- or wrong -- in America. Television has treated the executive office with less reverence. In the early years, programs like Producer's Showcase and Philco Playhouse began to examine the American political system. By the 1970s, several depictions of the presidency attempted to demystify and to explain, including Eleanor and Franklin, Collision Course, and The Missiles of October. More recently, NBC's The West Wing tried to both entertain and educate its viewers about life in a working White House. And Saturday Night Live has lampooned the presidency for more than three decades.
194. SIAHGB_160318_368.JPG: I had to wait awhile before I saw this captioning mistake come around again. "or face the probability of loosing my baby." I guess "loosing" would be one was of describing childbirth but.... I reported it.
195. SIAHGB_160318_383.JPG: Presidential Facts George Washington (1789-1797) has not been the leading character in a major theatrical release, although he has been represented in minor roles in many movies. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) is the third most represented president in movies; Charlton Heston played Jackson twice. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) has been represented in more than 150 films, making him the most frequently portrayed president. Rutherford B. Hayes's (1877-1881) wife Lucy was the first president's wife to be called "first lady." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) was the first living president to be portrayed as a main character in a Broadway play; George M. Cohan played Roosevelt in I'd Rather Be Right, which debuted in 1937. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and his family were the first presidential family to be satirized on a record album available for popular distribution; The First Family, released in 1962, featured Vaughn Meader as Kennedy.
196. SIAHGB_160318_385.JPG: George M. Cohan's What A Man
197. SIAHGB_160318_391.JPG: The Presidency in Song The presidency has been memorialized in nearly every genre of American song. Campaign ditties are written to captivate the voters, blues recordings express racial frustrations and hopes, and Broadway musicals often provide a lighthearted treatment. An astonishing number of America's premier performers and songwriters have explored the subject. Few of the songs are memorable, but they demonstrate the importance and the visibility of the president.
198. SIAHGB_160318_392.JPG: James Whitmore as Harry S. Truman in Give 'Em Hell, Harry!
199. SIAHGB_160318_395.JPG: Bob Booker and Earle Doud present The First Family featuring Vaughn Meader with Emily Doud, Naomi Brossart, Bob Booker, Norma MacMillan
200. SIAHGB_160318_399.JPG: Our Teddy's Home Coming March
201. SIAHGB_160318_400.JPG: Capturing an Essence: The Presidency as a Souvenir Collecting souvenirs is a centuries-old phenomenon that evolved from religious pilgrimages and migrations of communities. It sustains memories and captures the essence of a journey, event, place, or individual. Maintaining a memory of the presidency through a keepsake allows people to honor or own a piece of the presidential past. Souvenirs range from relics to expensive and unique items to cheaper, mass-produced toys, games, and mugs -- "star-spangled kitsch." Except for iconic items, most of this material is quickly forgotten or discarded by the purchaser of recipient. But it reveals much about changing notions of how a president can and should be remembered. "A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable." -- Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams, 1817
202. SIAHGB_160318_404.JPG: Franklin Roosevelt is steering the ship of state in this bronze clock from about 1936. While it was common knowledge that Roosevelt suffered from polio, he was usually portrayed without leg braces.
203. SIAHGB_160318_408.JPG: Not all toys and dolls are humorous or benign. Souvenirs can provide an opportunity to criticize the president or his president. This dart game from 1967 reflects opposition to Lyndon Johnson's decision to escalate the war in Vietnam. The voodoo doll from the 1980s was popular with those who criticized the economic policies of Ronald Reagan.
204. SIAHGB_160318_413.JPG: This dart game from 1967 reflects opposition to Lyndon Johnson's decision to escalate the war in Vietnam.
205. SIAHGB_160318_415.JPG: Ceramics with presidential pictures have been useful campaign items and gifts since the days of the Early Republic. The mug with Thomas Jefferson dates from about 1801, the pitcher with William Henry Harrison and the words "Our Country's Hope" from 1840, and the James Madison pitcher from about 1810.
206. SIAHGB_160318_419.JPG: The exciting new game of the Kennedys
207. SIAHGB_160318_422.JPG: Commemorating the presidency through toys and games is not a new practice. As America celebrated its centennial in 1876, companies created games, like this one from the McLoughlin Brothers, to encourage children to learn the history of the presidency. The popularity of President John Kennedy led to the production of his board game in 1962. One of the most successful toys associated with the presidency is Lincoln Logs, which lets children build log cabins that look the way the public imagines the early home of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln Logs was invented in 1916 by John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Original Lincoln Logs The All American Toy
208. SIAHGB_160318_426.JPG: Miniature plastic sculptures of the presidents, manufactured by Louis Marx & Co, and hand-painted by Joe Wiley as a young boy in the 1960s.
209. SIAHGB_160318_435.JPG: A George W. Bush figure pops out of a jack-in-the-box that plays "Hail to the Chief" when its crank is turned.
210. SIAHGB_160318_440.JPG: Centennial Presidential Game
211. SIAHGB_160318_454.JPG: The image of George Washington has probably been in more advertisements than that of any other president, selling everything from coffee to soap to baking powder to soft drinks. In the early 20th century, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company used Washington's image, which represented values such as integrity and patriotism, to sell its product. Alluding to the first president's stature as a founding father, the advertising called for Americans to "smoke or chew" this "greatest American" tobacco.
212. SIAHGB_160318_455.JPG: Consuming the Office: Presidential Images in Advertising Presidential images have been used by advertisers since the 19th century to encourage people to buy products and services. The chief executive is a symbol of progress, optimism, and personal achievement -- valuable characteristics that influence consumers. Having the president's image in an ad, especially that of Washington or Lincoln, helped legitimize a product and separate it from the competition. The presidential name or representation instantly made an item recognizable and in demand. In the 20th century, an unwritten rule has discouraged the use of an image of the current president to advertise goods.
213. SIAHGB_160318_461.JPG: The California citrus industry began to market its products throughout the nation in the early 20th century, thanks in part to quicker and more reliable transportation. Many shipping and advertising labels for oranges and lemons pictured idealized images of California. But the Victoria Avenue Citrus Association decided to use the image of Abraham Lincoln to evoke feelings of familiarity, pride, and nationalism.
214. SIAHGB_160318_470.JPG: Advertising cards were created by wholesalers as attractive items that retailers could give customers to remind them what brands to purchase. In use primarily from the years just after the Civil War through the early 20th century, these cards quickly became collectibles. Companies used presidential images like those of John Adams, Grover Cleveland, Chester Arthur, and Ulysses Grant -- here gracing cards about Sweet Home Soap -- to encourage the acquisition of their product. This prompted sales, and the advertising cards allowed people to collect a bit of the presidency for themselves.
215. SIAHGB_160318_484.JPG: In the early 20th century, the image of Theodore Roosevelt was popular among advertisers. His vigor, enthusiastic personality, and credibility as both president and war hero lent legitimacy to any product. Here Roosevelt's reputation as an international adventurer is used to sell ABA travelers' checks.
216. SIAHGB_160318_495.JPG: George Washington Returns Home George Washington set the pattern for many presidents when he chose a quiet retirement at his beloved Mount Vernon. There he spent time with his family, tending to much-needed repairs on the property and receiving visitors from around the world. While always a gracious host, Washington at times felt overwhelmed by the constant stream of often-uninvited guests.
217. SIAHGB_160318_497.JPG: This easy chair was located near Washington's bed. He sat in it not longer before he died. The upholstery is not original.
218. SIAHGB_160318_502.JPG: Life After the Presidency There is no prescribed role for residents after leaving office. Their activities often depend on their standing in the eyes of the American people, stature within their party, or desire to continue in the public realm. Retiring presidents do not want their prestige used in a manner they feel is inappropriate, nor does the incumbent want to be upstaged by the previous officeholder. Former chief executives must approach the challenge in their own way. There are no universal answers, only individual attempts to find a level of contentment after having held the most powerful job in the nation.
219. SIAHGB_160318_507.JPG: Presidential Facts Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) established the University of Virginia, including designing the buildings, setting up the curriculum, and selecting the faculty. James Madison (1809-1817) helped found the American Colonization Society for gradual abolition and the resettlement of slaves and free blacks in Africa. John Tyler (1841-1845) became a member of the Confederate House of Representatives. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) created a nationally syndicated column for the McClure newspaper chain, "Thinking Things Over with Calvin Coolidge." Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974), on one of many overseas trips, visited the Soviet Union in 1986 and met with Mikhail Gorbachev; Nixon was credited with bringing the Ronald Reagan administration and the Soviet leaders closer together. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) established the AEI World Forum, where political problems and business policies are discussed at annual gatherings.
220. SIAHGB_160318_510.JPG: John Quincy Adams Remains a Public Servant A year after leaving office, John Quincy Adams won election to the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts. During his seventeen years as a congressman. "Old Man Eloquent," as Adams was called, actively supported the antislavery movement and promoted the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution. Adams was the only former president to serve in the House, and Andrew Johnson the only one to serve in the Senate.
221. SIAHGB_160318_513.JPG: Ulysses S. Grant Distances Himself from Office Ulysses and Julia Grant, accompanied by their son Jesse, traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, and Africa after the inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes. During the last years of his administration, the worst economic depression yet experienced by the nation damaged Grant's popularity and encouraged this grand tour. During their trip the Grants were greeted and honored with gifts by local dignitaries, including Pope Leo XIII. Their travels in the late 1870s last more than two years and soon were followed by visits to Cuba, the West Indies, and Mexico.
222. SIAHGB_160318_515.JPG: Ulysses S. Grant 1822-1885 In 1885, shortly before Grant died of cancer. He spent his last months working feverishly to finish his memoirs, to provide money for his wife after his death.
223. SIAHGB_160318_522.JPG: A glass-jar ballot "box" used in the late 1880s. The image of the glass ballot box became a symbol of democratic self-government.
224. SIAHGB_160318_530.JPG: The Grants received these objects while on tour. The gold casket was presented to them from the city of London, and the cloisonne vase was a gift from Chinese viceroy Li Hung Chang.
225. SIAHGB_160318_536.JPG: John Quincy Adams served as a congressman from Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives from 1831 until his death. On February 21, 1848, attempting to address the House of Representatives, he collapsed in his chair. He died two days later in the Speaker's Room in the Capitol.
226. SIAHGB_160318_539.JPG: Adams led the fight in Congress to accept the bequest of James Smithson of England to establish an American institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." This British sovereign is one of the original coins bequeathed to the United States. Smithson's legacy prompted Congress to establish the Smithsonian Institution in 1846.
227. SIAHGB_160318_549.JPG: Pennant from Teddy Roosevelt's unsuccessful 1912 Bull Moose campaign
228. SIAHGB_160318_553.JPG: Sheet music for "African Hunter: A Characteristic Jungle Symphonie," by Edwin F. Kendall Justice
229. SIAHGB_160318_557.JPG: Theodore Roosevelt 1858-1919 On the Progressive Party campaign trail in New Jersey, 1912.
230. SIAHGB_160318_559.JPG: Theodore Roosevelt Remains "Vigorous" Noted for his advocacy of the "vigorous life," Teddy Roosevelt did not retire quietly. He traveled to Africa in 1909-10 with naturalists and taxidermists from the Smithsonian to acquire hundreds of plants and animal specimens for the institution's collections. Then he toured Europe, and returned to the United States as popular as ever. Unhappy with the administration of his successor, William H. Taft, Roosevelt eventually formed an alternative Progressive Party. He did not win the national election of 1912, but remained visible, writing books, traveling to Brazil, editing magazines, and campaigning for the Republican presidential nominee in 1916.
231. SIAHGB_160318_562.JPG: William Howard Taft 1857-1930 Signing the oath of office as he became the tenth chief justice of the Supreme Court, 1921.
232. SIAHGB_160318_564.JPG: William H. Taft Serves the Country -- Again Yale University appointed William H. Taft the Kent Professor of Law after he retired. Later, he lectured and wrote articles for national magazines. In 1920 Taft actively supported Warren G. Harding's bid for the presidency. One year later Harding appointed him to the Supreme Court as chief justice of the United States. Taft is the only president to serve as chief justice. He held the position, and that of chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, for the next ten years.
233. SIAHGB_160318_567.JPG: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890-1969 Playing golf in Baja, California, 1963
234. SIAHGB_160318_571.JPG: Dwight Eisenhower Enjoys His Leisure Immensely popular as president, Dwight Eisenhower retired to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, after leaving office. Many claim he would have been elected a third time, if not for the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution barring more than two terms as president. Eisenhower wrote his memoirs, supported the Vietnam War, and endorsed Richard Nixon's 1968 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Golf was his passion, and scoring a hole in one in 1968 was an accomplishment that gave him great delight.
235. SIAHGB_160318_573.JPG: President Dwight D. Eisenhower's golf bag and clubs used during his retirement in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
236. SIAHGB_160318_587.JPG: Getting out the Vote For all the cynicism about politics, Americans have a deep pride in the democratic process. During the 1800s, Americans transformed presidential elections from the concerns of a limited elite into a massive expression of popular will. Although virtually every group in the United States has demanded the right to vote, many Americans who have this right do not exercise it. In recent presidential elections only about 50 percents of the voting-age population went to the polls. In the past, local political parties were primarily responsible for getting out the vote. Increasingly, national special-interest groups have sought to motivate their constituents, who often seem indifferent to the pleas of the candidates.
237. SIAHGB_160318_594.JPG: The Ultimate Power The president of the United States is one of the most influential individual in the world. Yet his power is derived from the will of the people at the ballot box. By voting, American citizens have the right, or rather, the obligation, to choose who holds this office. And through their vote, they temper and limit the power of the presidency. The uniqueness and strength of the presidency come from the fact that the chief executive is made accountable by the American public through the vote. Ultimately, presidential power emanates from the consent of the governed.
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Description of Subject Matter: The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
This exhibition explores the personal, public, ceremonial and executive actions of the 43 men who have had a huge impact on the course of history in the past 200 years. More than 900 objects, including national treasures from the Smithsonian’s vast presidential collections, bring to life the role of the presidency in American culture.
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