• Visitors From the East: President Buchanan Greets Visitors from Far Away, 1860
    Peter Waddell
    delegation
    White House Guests
    First Family
    This 2011 oil on canvas painting by Peter Waddell depicts President James Buchanan with his niece, and White House hostess, Harriet Lane greeting three Japanese visitors to the White House. The Japanese diplomats arrived in the United States in the spring of 1860. The visit was a response to the 1852-1854 expedition to Japan by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry that resulted in an open trade treaty between the two nations. ***Interior use only for publications***
  • George Washington Presiding at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia
    Howard Chandler Christy
    Event
    This painting, completed by Howard Chandler Christy in 1940, depicts President George Washington presiding over the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Independence Hall. Washington served as the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The first president was in office from April 30, 1789 until March 4, 1797. At the center of the painting, Benjamin Franklin is seen conversing with Alexander Hamilton. Just beyond them, sitting at a table to the right of the canvas, is future president James Madison.