The first form of photography was daguerreotype, which was introduced in France back in 1839. The White House Historical Association explains: “In its primitive stages the daguerreotype, a silvered plate of copper rendered light-sensitive by exposure to iodine fumes, was photographically too slow for practical portraiture.
“Within a year of the announced discovery, however, inquisitive minds in all comers of the globe had devised improvements in chemistry and optics, enabling the establishment of photographic portrait galleries. Daguerreotypes were produced in great numbers in France and elsewhere in Europe. It was in America, however, that photography took on the proportions of a major industry,” the association adds.
Among the earliest practitioners of daguerreotype was John Plumbe, Jr. His 1846 daguerreotype of the official residence of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the U.S., is the earliest known photograph of the White House.
“This photograph, together with views of the Capitol, Patent Office, and Post Office, was discovered in California in 1973 and is now in the collection of the Library of Congress,” the association says.
The first president to have his photograph taken while in office was William Henry Harrison, taken sometime between March 4 and 6 in 1841.
Harrison was also the first to die while in office, having caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. Dying on his 32nd day in office, Harrison served the shortest term in U.S. presidential history.
According to the photographer, “Harrison was ‘delighted with the results.’ In a month’s time Harrison would be dead from pneumonia contracted during his lengthy inaugural address. This likeness of the ephemeral President Harrison has never been found,” the White House Historical Association website says.
The earliest existing known photograph of a U.S. president is an 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams, which was acquired by The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in 2017.
As President Joe Biden marks just over a month in office, here we look at images of different U.S. presidents, captured both during and after their terms.
Theodore Roosevelt
Term: 1901 to 1909
William Howard Taft
Term: 1909 to 1913
Calvin Coolidge
Term: 1923 to 1929
Harry Truman
Term: 1945 to 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Term: 1953 to 1961
Lyndon B. Johnson
Term: 1963 to 1969
Richard Nixon
Term: 1969 to 1974
Gerald Ford
Term: 1974 to 1977
Jimmy Carter
Term: 1977 to 1981
Ronald Reagan
Term: 1981 to 1989
George H. Bush
Term: 1989 to 1993
Bill Clinton
Term: 1993 to 2001
George W. Bush
Term: 2001 to 2009
Barack Obama
Term: 2009 to 2017
Donald Trump
Term: 2017 to 2021
Correction 3/3/21: This article was updated to correctly identify Lillian Carter in a photo caption. A misspelling of Reagan was corrected.
