Vice Presidents

Vice President Kamala Harris greets members of the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha after speaking at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on July 10, 2024 in Dallas, Texas

Discover the Special Meaning Behind Kamala Harris’ Pearls

The vice president, who will give a speech at the Democratic National Convention to accept the presidential nomination Thursday night, often wears jewelry connected to her historically Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha

The archive was found by a direct descendant of Herman Matzinger, the doctor who performed McKinley's autopsy.

Newly Discovered Papers From President McKinley's Assassination Are for Sale

The archive belonged to Herman Matzinger, who performed the autopsy on the 25th president and conducted a bacteriological analysis to rule out the possibility of poison-tipped bullets

Though historians today generally agree that Harding died of natural causes, suspicions to the contrary lingered for decades.

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden during an event marking National Small Business Week in the Rose Garden.

White House Urges A.I. Leaders to Consider the Technology's Risks

Before a meeting with industry executives, the Biden administration rolled out a new plan for tackling the rapid development of artificial intelligence

In 1804, jurors in New Jersey indicted Vice President Aaron Burr for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Burr’s friends persuaded state officials to drop the charges, but their success had nothing to do with any immunity that Burr enjoyed as an executive officer.

What the Nation's Founders Said About the Indictment of a Former President

Alexander Hamilton wrote that a commander in chief removed from office would be "liable to prosecution and punishment"

President John F. Kennedy meets with William Fitzjohn, Sierra Leone's charge d’affairs in Washington, in the Oval Office on April 27, 1961.

The African Diplomats Who Protested Segregation in the U.S.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy publicly apologized after restaurants refused to serve Black representatives of newly independent nations

Jill Biden addresses a crowd at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History on January 25. Inaugural ensembles by Gabriella Hearst (left) and Alexandra O'Neill (right) stand next to her.

Jill Biden's Inaugural Attire Is on View at the Smithsonian

The day and evening ensembles are now the centerpiece of the American History Museum's popular "First Ladies" exhibition

Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson at his desk in November 1957

When Lyndon B. Johnson Chose the Middle Ground on Civil Rights—and Disappointed Everyone

Always a dealmaker, then-senator LBJ negotiated with segregationists to pass a bill that cautiously advanced racial equality

Since the 1920s, this unique piece of history has only been displayed publicly three times.

This Civil War–Era Eagle Sculpture Was Made Out of Abraham Lincoln's Hair

The unusual artifact also contains tresses from First Lady Mary Lincoln, members of the president's cabinet and senators

Abraham Lincoln (left) claimed first place, while William Henry Harrison (right) came in 40th.

Who Were the Best and Worst Presidents Ever—and How Do Historians Decide?

C-SPAN's 2021 ranking places Trump near the bottom of the list. Obama, Grant rises higher, while Lincoln holds steady in first

Visitors explore during a sneak preview of the newly renovated Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Museum in Independence, Missouri. The $29 million expansion took 2 years to complete.

At the Harry Truman Library and Museum, Visitors Get to Ask Themselves Where the Buck Stops

Interactive exhibitions pose questions about the decision to drop the nuclear bomb, the Red Scare, Truman's foreign policy and more

Geraldine Ferraro and Walter Mondale by Diane Walker, 1984

Walter Mondale Never Won the Presidency, but He Changed American Politics Forever

A trove of Smithsonian artifacts document the man who was first to put a woman on the presidential ticket and reshaped the vice presidency

Rioters enter the U.S. Capitol's rotunda as chemical irritants fill the corridor on January 6, 2021.

Curators Seek $25,000 to Repair Artworks Damaged in U.S. Capitol Attack

Rioters vandalized six sculptures and two paintings, in addition to smashing windows, breaking furniture and spraying graffiti

Artist Simon Berger created the portrait by strategically hammering cracks into a pane of glass.

Kamala Harris Portrait Draws Inspiration From the Glass Ceiling She Shattered

Artist Simon Berger created the unconventional likeness of the vice president in just one day

Robert S. Duncanson's Landscape With Rainbow (1859) “carries with it an unmistakable ray of hope,” per the Los Angeles Times. “Rainbows typically appear after a storm has passed, not before.”

Smithsonian Curator Reflects on Joe Biden's 'Poignant' Inaugural Painting

Eleanor Harvey posits that the 1859 landscape's message of hope resonated with First Lady Jill Biden, who helped select the artwork

Gorman's inaugural poem contains lines stating “But while democracy can be periodically delayed / It can never be permanently defeated.”

Meet Amanda Gorman, the U.S.' Youngest Inaugural Poet

The 22-year-old revised her original composition, "The Hill We Climb," in the aftermath of the January 6 storming of the Capitol

Artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons spearheaded the creation of When We Gather, a three-minute short film marking Harris' inauguration.

How Seven Women Artists Are Celebrating Kamala Harris' Historic Inauguration

The group's upcoming short film, titled "When We Gather," honors the achievements of women who preceded the vice president

Portrait of Charles Curtis

Who Was Charles Curtis, the First Vice President of Color?

A member of the Kaw Nation, Curtis served under Herbert Hoover, but he left a troubling legacy on Native American issues

The Library of Congress recently completed a major digitization effort, making collections of 23 U.S. presidents' papers available online for study. From left: Calvin Coolidge, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Harrison and Thomas Jefferson; behind: Jefferson's June 1776 draft of the Declaration of Independence

Library of Congress' Presidential Papers, From Washington's Geometry Notes to Wilson's Love Letters, Are Now Online

Four newly added collections mark the conclusion of a two-decade digitization project

The election of 1800 didn't invent the idea of a peaceful transition of power from one set of ideals to another, but it did engrave the United States into history as a democracy.

How John Adams Managed a Peaceful Transition of Presidential Power

In the election of 1800, for the first time in U.S. history, one party turned the executive office to another

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