In this photograph taken by Pete Souza, President Barack Obama and his national security team sit in the Situation Room to monitor a military raid lead by SEAL Team Six on the compound housing Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. The group assembled in one of the several conference rooms that comprises the Situation Room, watching the raid live as it took place in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The military raid resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Seated in this photograph from left to right are: Vice President Joseph R. Biden; President Obama; Brig. Gen. Marshall B. Webb; Denis R. McDonough, deputy national security advisor; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Michael Gates. Standing behind them, from left right, are: Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; national security advisor Thomas E. Donilon; chief of staff Wiliam M. Daley; Antony J. Blinken, national security advisor to the vice president; Audrey Tomason, director for counterterrorism; John O. Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper. A classified document on the table in front of Secretary Clinton has been obscured for security reasons.

This photograph by Chuck Kennedy was taken at a State Dinner held in honor of President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China on January 19, 2011. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the Chinese president for an official State Visit, including an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House grounds earlier in the day. The State Dinner took place in the State Dining Room. Joining the Obamas and Hu Jintao at the central table beside the State Dining Room's fireplace were former President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State (and former first lady) Hillary Rodham Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

In this photograph by Paul Morse, tables are set for a dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. The dinner took place in the State Dining Room of the White House on November 10, 2005 during the George W. Bush administration. First Lady Laura Bush selected pieces of the Ronald Reagan State China Service for each table setting and decorated the tables with centerpieces of vermeil vases adorned with roses. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965 that established both independent government agencies.

This photograph by Cecil Stoughton is of President Lyndon B. Johnson at the speaker's podium in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol addressing a Joint Session of Congress on March 15, 1965. Johnson delivered the delivered his "Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise" speech, which urged the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The speech was broadcast nationwide.

In this photograph First Lady Dr. Jill Biden stands on stage with singer-songwriter Jon Batiste at a State Dinner held in honor of President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic on December 1, 2022. The State Dinner was part of Macron's official State Visit with President Joseph R. Biden, and was preceded earlier in the day by a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn and a joint press conference with Biden and Macron in the East Room of the White House. The State Dinner took place under a tent on the South Lawn and included decor in red, white, and blue - the common colors on the flags of the United States and France. Batiste performed for the honored guest. This was Biden's first State Visit as president. This photograph was taken by Matthew D'Agostino for the White House Historical Association.