Now, no Googling!!
Who was the first President to have his photograph taken?
(Or – what the hell. Google if you want. This is a hard one.)
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John Quincy Adams?
That was my guess.
Emily – yes!! 1843.
The History Channel just said so. So it must be true.
clarification requested: while he was in office, or after?
my guess for “while he was in” would be someone shortly before Lincoln – maybe Pierce. Or Polk.
I’m not going to say Lincoln because that seems too obvious an answer; EVERYONE has seen photos of Lincoln.
For “any time during his life,” that would extend the time longer…maybe Jackson?
(I want it to be Millard Fillmore though, just because he’s the Chicago Cubs of the U.S. Presidents.)
ricki – It looks like, from the dates, that the photo of John Quincy Adams was taken long after he left office. He was pres. in the 1820s.
and also – hahahahahah with your Millard Fillmore comment!!
Also, I feel a thrill of … almost disbelief that one can no longer say “the Boston Red Sox of US Presidents …”
I’m kinda still not used to it!
Sorry, Cubs fans … I feel your pain, and I’m rootin’ for you – you have no idea how much!!
Polk’s website says it was W. H. Harrison. (For some reason that makes me laugh. Apparently there is some kind of a history urban-legend that says Polk was first. Somehow I think it’s fitting that Polk’s website debunks that rather than saying “oh yes, of course…that’s the ticket.”)
some About.com site (I don’t really trust them) says Tyler.
According to IPL, Lincoln was the first INAGURATION photo. And they also confirm JQ Adams as the first at any time.
Another fun JQA fact from IPL:
“President Adams regularly swam nude in the Potomac River. Anne Royall, the first American professional journalist, knew of Adams’ 5 A.M. swims. After being refused interviews with the president time after time, she went to the river, gathered his clothes and sat on them until she had her interview. Before this, no female had interviewed a president.”
HAHAHAHAHA I had never heard that story – wonderful!!
Imagine if Pres. Bush were to do that.
One thing’s for sure, it would knock VP Cheney’s little drama off the front page.
It’s a different era, isn’t it?
I need to know more about this Anne Royall person. I am sensing another idea for a one-woman show.
Welcome to my world. Everything must be turned into art!!
I don’t know, ricki, Tyler makes a lot more sense. Unless, of course, WH Harrison’s people were saying to him:
Come on, Bill, you’re gonna die anyway and we’re probably not going to get another Whig into office again, how ’bout let us take a photo of ya. I mean you know Tyler will be a weak president and that hot head Clay will never get elected. Let’s face it were never going to get another famous war hero in our party to win (of course, if one DOES come up we’ll be sure to “off” him to maintain your legacy)
Geez, in my joking about the WH Harrison photo I missed an important point Harrison, most of us know was elected in 1840 and died in April? of 1841… The JQA photo of 1843 couldn’t be the first if Harrison was photographed while alive.
Poor William Henry Harrison.
He decides that he will give the longest inaugural address in history. He stands in the blistering cold and talks for 2 hours. He then gets a chill … and dies two months later. Geez.
Abraham Lincoln
red, that would make an AWESOME one-woman show. She sounds almost like a Nellie Bly type character, at least from that one anecdote.
I knew Franklin also swam in the nude. (I guess in the Years Before Spandex, you didn’t have a whole lotta choice – wear your “linen” and be weighed down, or go commando and risk having some girl-reporter steal your clothes so she can interview you.)
(And hahahaha….if Cheney’s people read this blog, I could almost see one of them dialing up the President’s “handlers” and saying, “Look, we have this great idea for clearing up the little buckshot problem…is W a strong swimmer?”)
ricki – hahaha it would be like Wag the Dog
Can you imagine if Cheney’s people read this blog? Hi, Cheney’s people! My uncle Tony punched Cheney in the face! How ya’ doin’???
How many U.S. Presidents have been brown eyed?
I have been told “none” but can’t find proof on the internet. Please help.
Bob