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DAY 270 | SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY |
Presidential Presence
WHAT ARE WE REALLY LOOKING AT?
Creating presidential presence is a practiced, formal process. Clothing, stance, physical and verbal responses and gestures all come together to create a particular visual image. Coupled with choices made by a presidential staff about where, when, and how a president meets his public, a presidential appearance is formed. This presence is used to sway public opinion, push an agenda, and highlight topics of interest to the president and first lady.
Photography plays a huge role in creating what the public sees and understands the president to be—the camera is used to communicate the power of the office.
One of the earliest photographs taken of a president in office was of President James Buchanan, our 15th president. The photograph was taken in 1857 by Matthew Brady.1 Consider the idea of never seeing your president except through drawings and paintings, and then suddenly having a photograph to view. Consider also that deception can be at play in presidential photos. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was stricken with polio in 1921 and held the office of president from 1933 to 1945—his inability to walk was concealed and managed through photography, with a willing press and photographers in on the deception.2, 3 —MLR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover in convertible automobile on way to U.S. Capitol for Roosevelt’s inauguration, 1933; courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.