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American Presidents

Peter Hurd's famous portrait of Lyndon Baines Johnson

The Presidential Portrait That Was the ‘Ugliest Thing’ L.B.J. Ever Saw

Lyndon Johnson’s cantankerous nature carried over to even the more engaging parts of being Commander in Chief

The specially commissioned portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama make their formal museum debut.

The Obamas’ Official Portraits Break New Ground With Their Boldness

A picture-perfect reveal ceremony was by turns heartfelt and humorous

Both Kehinde Wiley and Obama said they were struck by parallels in their life stories. “Both of us had American mothers who raised us, with extraordinary love and support,” Obama said.

Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald Capture the Unflinching Gaze of the President and First Lady

The nation’s first African-American presidency is marked by two prominent African-American portraitists

Left: Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Terminal, 6th Street & Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. Opened in 1873, demolished in 1908. Right: View of the Constitution Avenue entrance, north side, of the National Gallery of Art.

Trending Today

Why Doesn’t Garfield Assassination Site on the National Mall Have a Marker?

A new campaign by historians seeks to bring recognition to the site where the 20th president was shot

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F Kennedy discusses results of surveillance missions in Cuba

History of Now

How the Presidency Took Control of America’s Nuclear Arsenal

From Truman onwards, the ability to order a nuclear strike has shaped the office

Tickets to the Johnson impeachment trial were color-coded to indicate dates for the proceedings, which lasted more than two months.

The Fight Over Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment Was a Fight for the Future of the United States

The biggest show in Washington 150 years ago was the trial against the President of the United States

The Magnolia tree, left, was planted on the south grounds of the White House by President Andrew Jackson in 1835.

White House Magnolia Tree Planted by Andrew Jackson Will Be Cut Down

Despite multiple attempts to save it, the tree is in bad shape

President Lincoln depicted on a Christmas card from the 1920s. Christmas wasn't as important of a holiday in Lincoln's time, but his personal Christmas story is worth telling.

President Lincoln’s Last Christmas

The character of American Christmas changed as a result of the Civil War

Apollo 17's Saturn V launch vehicle sits atop pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apollo 17 Was the Swan Song of Manned Space Exploration

Looking back 45 years later, is there hope humanity will once again push beyond Earth? President Donald Trump seems to think so

The Ten Best History Books of 2017

From presidential biographies to a look at the long rise of fake news, these picks will surely interest history buffs

JFK, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnston, First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy and others watching the 1961 flight of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

A Year Before His Presidential Debate, JFK Foresaw How TV Would Change Politics

Television’s first iconic president was remarkably prescient on the subject of TV

President John F. Kennedy in the presidential limousine before his assassination, on November 22, 1963, with his wife Jacqueline next to him.

Good History Takes Time, So Be Patient With the New JFK Documents

There are unlikely to be any bombshells, and it’ll be months or years before historians can draw conclusions from the new files

President Grant gave the pen he used to sign the 15th Amendment to a fellow Civil War veteran, Herbert Preston.

What a Simple Pen Reminds Us About Ulysses S. Grant’s Vision for a Post-Civil War America

President Grant’s signature on the 15th Amendment was a bold stroke for equality

Nine letters written by Barack Obama from 1982 to 1984 are being made available to the public for the first time

Barack Obama’s Letters From Three Decades Ago

As a striving college student and recent graduate, letters by the future president depict a man coming to terms with his identity and future

President Kennedy meets with Gen. Curtis LeMay and the pilots who discovered the Cuban missiles.

JFK Faked a Cold to Get Back to Washington During the Cuban Missile Crisis

The president was in Chicago when he got the news that he needed to make a decision

Amy Sherald was the first-prize winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Sherald’s painting is currently on view at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, which is hosting the exhibition resulting from the Portrait Gallery’s triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition: “The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today.”

Smithsonian Curator Talks Barack and Michelle Obama’s Official Portrait Selection

Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald will become the first black artists commissioned to paint a presidential couple for the Smithsonian

Will the files show who was really behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy?

The Release of JFK Assassination Files Later This Month Has Conspiracy Theorists On the Edge of Their Seats

The material is expected to spark new interest in the 35th president’s death

This March 1843 portrait, taken in Washington, D.C., is the oldest known original photo of a U.S. president.

See the Earliest-Known Photograph of a U.S. President at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018

The museum recently acquired the 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams at the Sotheby’s photographs auction

"Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States" by Howard Chandler Christy. James Madison is at center, seated, to the right of Ben Franklin.

History of Now

Inside the Founding Fathers’ Debate Over What Constituted an Impeachable Offense

If not for three sparring Virginia delegates, Congress’s power to remove a president would be even more limited than it already is

Vinnie Ream was not even 20 when she was commissioned by the U.S. government to create the statue of Lincoln that still stands in the Capitol today.

This Ambitious Young Sculptor Gave Us A Lincoln For the Capitol

Vinnie Ream was the first female artist commissioned to create a work of art for the U.S. government

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