DAY 200

SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY

The First Family

CONTROLLING A FAMILY IMAGE

The White House News Photographers Association was created in 1921, President Harding’s first year in office. During President Hoover’s first year, 1929, the photographer’s association got their first office in the White House West Wing. These photographers snapped the president at work, on official business, and occasionally at leisure. Control over photographs of the First Family was a constant battle.¹

Some presidential families didn’t mind family photos while others demanded privacy and control over what photos were released. The Grants (1869–1877) didn’t seem to mind one bit that family photos were being taken. Chester Arthur and Grover Cleveland banned the taking of photographs of their children. Edith Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy took absolute control by hiring their own photographers who released a photograph only upon approval of each of the First Ladies.

The Hardings were one of the first of the First Families to actively seek out photo opportunities that placed the family in a good light. However, Harding and other presidents led dual lives that were referred to as public and private. Gambling and drinking were not photographed or addressed by the press because they were considered part of their private lives.² —MLR