unflattering photos of past presidents?

February 16, 2020 6:00 PM

So, in this Youtube world there are plenty of snapshots of the current president that get rolled into jokes (memed?), like Trump mis-handling the umbrella at the airplane door. But within the era of photographic / TV history there must be similar photos of past presidents- how to locate them online?

Are these photos 'embarrassing', 'scandalous', 'unflattering', candid, etc.,??? do they just get tossed from the hundreds taken in an event?

I can search for specific examples I recall- like George HW Bush getting sick at the Japanese State dinner. Or Gerald Ford stumbling on a plane. And I know that even FDR discouraged photos that revealed his disability.
But photos of other Presidents? Is there a catalog or magic search term for a pic of Harry Truman in a bad suit? or Kennedy spilling his drink on Jackie?
...other 'out of character'? examples considered... (Einstein on a bicycle?)

posted by pgoes to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident

Gerald Ford falls

George H. W. Bush vomiting incident

US Presidents throwing out the first pitch at baseball games.
posted by blob at 6:57 PM on February 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

Searching for "embarressing presidents" will find a large collection, mostly focusing on Barak Obama and Donald Trump, with matching political snarkiness.
posted by blob at 7:02 PM on February 16, 2020

A photo of Canadian Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield fumbling a football became a metaphor for his 1974 federal election campaign.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:30 PM on February 16, 2020

George W. Bush’s dancing

Al and Tipper Gore’s 2000 convention kiss
posted by sallybrown at 7:42 PM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

Mister T dressed up as Santa Claus. Nancy Reagan sat on his lap and kissed him. White House Press Corps apoplexy ensued.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:50 PM on February 16, 2020 [3 favorites]

I am not sure how to do it, but if you can search the archives of the DrudgeReport, Drudge loves to post unflattering pictures of politicians. Favorite targets that I recall are Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, every Vice President and some of the old white men like McConell and the like.
posted by AugustWest at 10:36 PM on February 16, 2020

Here is a picture I took of HRC that is not so flattering. Below it is the moment HRC voted (presumably for herself) on 11/8/2016. Much better picture the second one.
posted by AugustWest at 11:00 PM on February 16, 2020

When I lived overseas in the 80s, I was surprised to see how many unflattering photos of Ronald Reagan were published in the local newspaper. You might want to look at the photo archives of newspapers that are NOT based in the US.
posted by eleslie at 6:38 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Not a photo and not terribly unflattering, but there is an interesting story about Norman Rockwell and President Eisenhower. Rockwell painted Eisenhower several times, mostly smiling. One time he wanted a different take, and got the President to snap an order. The result showed the stern army officer behind the affable politician. See the middle picture in the top row here.

Eleslie's suggestion is good. We certainly saw plenty of unflattering pictures of Margaret Thatcher back in the day.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:05 AM on February 17, 2020