This photograph by Marion S. Trikosko captures President Jimmy Carter arriving at Camp David in Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland on November 23, 1979. Accompanying President Carter on the helicopter trip from the White House to Camp David was, from left to right, Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, and Vice President Walter F. Mondale. The group was on hand to meet and discuss the Iran Hostage Crisis, which began earlier that month, on November 4. The hostages would be held for 444 days, until January 20, 1981. Camp David was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then called Shangri-La, as a presidential retreat. President Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed the retreat Camp David after his grandson, David Eisenhower.

This photograph of President George W. Bush greeting firefighters, police, and rescue personnel was taken by Eric Draper on September 14, 2001 in New York City. President Bush visited the first responders to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, meeting the group at what was coined Ground Zero of the horrific events that occurred just days before. Bush toured Ground Zero and gave a speech offering support to the first responders.

This photograph of President Ronald Reagan watching television coverage of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion was taken by Pete Souza on January 28, 1986. President Reagan, along with members of this West Wing staff, watched the coverage from the Oval Office Study, which is located near the Oval Office in the West Wing. From left to right are: White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes, W. Dennis Thomas, Jim Kuhn, President Reagan, White House Communications Director Patrick J. Buchanan, and Donald T. Regan. The Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after it took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven crew members on board.

This photograph of President Donald Trump taking questions from the press was taken by Shealah Craighead on March 14, 2020. Alongside President Trump were members of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, and Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. This press conference was taken in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This photograph by Robert Knudsen shows President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office with reporters during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. On the date this photo was taken, October 23, 1962, U.S. Navy ships moved into place around Cuba to set up a quarantine, which Kennedy ordered with the signing of Proclamation 3504.

This photograph by Cecil Stoughton shows President John F. Kennedy in the Cabinet Room with the executive committee of the National Security Council during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was a thirteen day period in October 1962 when Cold War tensions escalated to the brink of nuclear war over Soviet missile deployment in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul H. Nitze; acting Director of the United States Information Agency Donald M. Wilson; speechwriter and Special Counsel to the president, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy; Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson; Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency William C. Foster; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John A. McCone; Under Secretary of State George W. Ball; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric; and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy is standing at far left, President Kennedy is on the right, looking down, with hands on table, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk stand at far right. Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley K. Smith is sitting against the wall near the bookcase.

This photograph of President Jimmy Carter meeting with advisors in the White House Cabinet Room during the Iran hostage crisis was taken on November 2, 1980.

This photograph of President Jimmy Carter and staff in the Oval Office negotiating an end to the Iran hostage crisis was taken on January 20, 1981.