![]() ![]() ![]() The final version was unveiled in November 1989 by President George H.W. Nancy Reagan liked Shikler's painting of her in a red dress, but she thought her husband's portrait lacked that "twinkle in his eye." Reagan's portrait unveiling was delayed because he and his wife, Nancy, didn't care for the first effort by Aaron Shikler, who had painted the official portraits of President John F. But Reagan agreed to resume the tradition after he left office in 1989. As a crusader for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, she "has earned the admiration of our nation for her courage and complete candor," Carter said.Īt Carter's request, there was no public unveiling of the White House portraits of him and his wife, Rosalynn. Ford, who had just left four weeks of alcohol and drug rehabilitation. "In my case, considering what Kinstler had to work with, he did well," he said.Ĭarter, who had defeated Ford in the 1976 election after Watergate, praised Ford as "a man who led our country in time of crisis and strain and who bought capability and knowledge to heal our wounds. The former president said he saw the final portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler only moments before the ceremony began. The official unveilings of presidential and first lady portraits began in May 1978, when Democratic President Jimmy Carter hosted former Republican president Gerald Ford and Betty Ford. "He liked it better," said a federal official. In 1984, he donated a new portrait by James Anthony Wills, who had painted President Dwight D. The painting turned up on a White House wall in 1981, "placed without fanfare," news services reported.īut Nixon wasn't satisfied with the painting. He finally had one done by Alexander Clayton, showing the former president sitting at his Oval Office desk. Nixon didn't have time to sit for a portrait before he resigned in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. But between the two paintings, he wrote, those who knew Johnson "will recall with fondness 'the other one' - the real one." In her portrait, also with the Capitol in the background, Johnson looks "unbelievably pleasant," Sidey wrote. Johnson switched to Elizabeth Shoumatoff, who had painted the official portrait of President Franklin D. "The mouth that Hurd has painted is firm, even capable of meanness," and the Vietnam War and Watts riots are reflected "in the furrows of the brow and eyes." In the portrait, "Johnson looms like some hulking cow hand," wrote Time magazine columnist Hugh Sidey. Johnson refused to accept his portrait by noted artist Peter Hurd, who showed him standing in front of the Capitol and holding a book. He complained that it made him look more like a meek kitty than "the powerful president." He chose artist John Singer Sargent to paint a new one that made him look more macho. In 1902, Roosevelt detested his portrait by French artist Theobald Chartran so much that he hid it in a closet and then had it destroyed. But sometimes they aren't happy with the initial results. "Presidents and first ladies typically select their respective artists before leaving the White House," the association said. First lady Dolley Madison famously saved the painting when she and President James Madison fled the president's mansion as the British torched the place in 1814 during the War of 1812. The presidential portraits in the White House date back to Gilbert Stuart's iconic painting of George Washington. The nonprofit group has been funding the official portraits of presidents and first ladies that hang in the White House since 1965. The unveiling ceremonies, which began in 1978, are traditionally "bipartisan events with warm greetings and collegial speeches exchanged by the president and their predecessor," according to the White House Historical Association. ![]()
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