“The photographer, Cecil Stoughton, was a ‘transitional’ photographer as presidential photographers go,” says Bredar. “He was still in the armed forces as all previous official photographers had been, but he was the first to start actively capturing documentary style images as opposed to the usual ‘grip and grin’ pictures. … [Here], the president was portrayed as a father in slight repose. This would have been a rarity in the ‘60s. [It was ] rare then to see a president not in a suit and tie, yet here we see what he has in common with us: real family moments.”
Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House/JFK Library, Boston.
Takin' Care of Business: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966-69 (exact date unknown)
"[This is] one of my favorite shots of the entire book," says Bredar. "[Okamoto] took this in the Oval Office after [Johnson's] dog had left a pile. It tells you so much about LBJ. He’s getting down to examine the stool of this dog. Clearly, you can take the man off the ranch, but you can’t really take the ranch out of the man."
Yoichi Okamoto
Flying Paper Planes: Ronald Reagan, 1986
"Reagan was at a hotel in LA, and at one point he’s out on his balcony throwing paper airplanes down to the street below, probably 40 stories below, on White House stationary," says Bredar. "That whole idea is funny. He was a whimsical guy, and it captures this moment. Imagine the person on the street who picks up this airplane, unfolds the paper, and sees the letterhead from the White House."
Photograph by Pete Souza
Love Me Tender: Richard Nixon, 1970
"What’s funny about this image is there are hardly any interesting behind the scenes images of Nixon," Bredar says, noting that the president was uncomfortable in front of the camera. "He wouldn’t allow his own photographer to have any type of access. This one is so ridiculous in its juxtaposition—the King with this guy who is unbelievably uncomfortable with himself. In a way, the [fact that] we don’t have [many] intimate photos is very revealing."
Ollie Atkins.
Love Me Tender, Take 2: Richard Nixon, 1974
“This is one of the rare shots Ollie Atkins took that actually revealed a genuine moment during the Nixon administration,” says Bredar. “It was taken in the Solarium, a room atop the White House residence that serves as a kind of den. Nixon had gathered his family there to tell them that he planned to resign the next day.”
Ollie Atkins.
It’s All Happening: Barack Obama, 2009
“This was inauguration night and pretty early in Pete Souza's gig,” says Bredar. “What's impressive is that even at that stage the president and first lady seem pretty comfortable with him.”
Pete Souza.
The Horse Race: Ronald Reagan, 1984
The previous image is “like this one with president and Mrs. Reagan, which Souza also took. These are genuine moments between the respective presidents and their wives. I don't think a lot of regular press photographers have the kind of access that allows for that.”
Shock and Awe: Bill Clinton, 1993-95 (exact date unknown)
“McNeely [the photographer] said that the president and first lady were listening to a briefing from a staffer aboard Air Force One, but he couldn't remember what the topic was,” Bredar says. “But Clinton, like, LBJ, had a remarkably expressive face and was not afraid to show his emotions, at least in some instances.”
Photo credit: Bob McNeely
How did photographer Yoichi Okamoto capture Lyndon B. Johnson at the most vulnerable and human moment of his presidency? Okamoto became invisible. Sort of. “Okamoto had this strategy where he said, ‘OK, the only way I’m going to get photos is if he doesn’t notice I’m there,’ ” explains John Bredar, author of The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office, the book that inspired an eponymous exhibit at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo.*
“[Okamoto] would get to the Oval Office early, and when president walked in, he would intentionally not respond if the president said good morning. After about three weeks, Johnson wouldn’t even say hello.”
One time, Bredar says, Okamoto joined a Cabinet meeting to take pictures of the president and his advisers. He shot the photos and left the room. A few minutes later, Johnson called him back in. “Gentlemen, sit up straight because this man is going to take your picture,” the president told his Cabinet, obviously having missed that just a few minutes before, “Okamoto was a few inches from his face taking pictures,” Bredar explains, laughing.
The ability to capture these seemingly unguarded moments sets Okamoto—and other presidential photographers like Pete Souza, Eric Draper, and Ollie Atkins—apart. These images often reveal the person behind the commander in chief label: the father, the husband, the son, and the friend, and that’s what makes them so valuable. I asked Bredar to select a few of his favorites. Check out the slideshow above for his highlights from the book and exhibit.
The photos will be on display at the Truman Library and Museum until Jan. 22. (Note: not all of the photos in the slideshow are in the exhibit.) After that they will rotate through other presidential museums.
Correction, Nov. 18, 2011: Because of an editing error, this article incorrectly misstated the location of the Truman Library and Museum as Washington, D.C. (Return to the corrected sentence.)
