Presidential Prints

President from 1825 to 1829, Adams was the son of patriot and second President John Adams and his wife Abigail. His proposed programs of federal funding to modernize transportation networks and establish a national educational system, and his support of high tariffs, enraged Jacksonian Democrats in Congress who defeated many of his proposals.  Lithographer D. W. Kellogg of Hartford, Connecticut, produced this print—likely part of a series of American presidents that post-dated Adams’s actual presidency.

A one-time military general called from retirement, 67-year-old William Henry Harrison was able to take advantage of a wildly popular campaign staged by Whig Party leaders, who capitalized on the false perception that Harrison was a common farmer living in a log cabin on the frontier.  A cheering crowd of over 50,000 people lined Pennsylvania Avenue for his inauguration on March 4, 1841.  He confirmed Cabinet appointments and directed Congress to address the country’s dire financial situation before falling ill and dying of pneumonia a month into his presidency.

President from 1845 to 1849, James K. Polk was, at 49, the youngest man up to that time to assume the Presidency. In this hand-colored lithograph by Nathaniel Currier’s firm, he is depicted as the President-Elect in a long line of distinguished and revered U.S. Presidents, beginning with George Washington. A scene of the 1776 Declaration Committee in the center adds to the patriotic sentiment.

Zachary Taylor, a military hero who had acquired the nickname of “Old Rough and Ready,” was chosen by Whig Party leaders to run for president in 1848. His political platform was vague; in fact, he appeared to lack interest in politics, although his major goal seemed to be preserving the Union through compromise. Before any official compromise was reached, however, he died in office on July 9, 1850. This patriotic lithograph equates Taylor with the illustrious men who held the office of president before him.

Franklin Pierce, a northern Democrat serving as president from 1853 to 1857, was seen as a compromise candidate unifying northern and southern factions. Unfortunately, his presidency started out in mourning and severe depression, as his last surviving son had just been gruesomely killed in a train accident. His attempts to satisfy the increasingly bitter factions of the Democratic Party largely failed, turning many in the party against him, making him numerous enemies, and failing to instill public faith in America’s democratic process. This hand-colored lithograph, produced for candidate Pierce, likely would have been re-purposed and sold during his presidency.  

Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Respecting Lincoln’s wishes as the Civil War was winding down, Johnson pushed for the quick return of Southern states to the Union, but his policies to return previous Southern political leaders to power, pardon many former Confederates, and fail to protect the rights of freed slaves enraged many Republicans who dominated Congress and eventually led to his impeachment. This image might have been produced when Johnson served as Lincoln’s military governor of Tennessee.

Grover Cleveland, a bachelor when he took office in 1885, soon met and fell in love with Frances Folsom—the daughter of a close friend—and they were married in June 1886. The new Mrs. Cleveland, at 21 years old (compared with Cleveland’s age of 48) was the youngest first lady in history. The newlyweds received much publicity, including this two-page spread published as a supplement to the national popular periodical Harper’s Weekly. Cleveland, the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms as president, became known for his crusades against political corruption.

Political bosses in New York City did not like Governor Theodore Roosevelt’s reform agenda. But when they sought to sideline his career by thrusting him into the position of President McKinley’s running mate in 1900, little did they know that, a year later, McKinley would be assassinated and Roosevelt would become the nation’s president. Though Roosevelt claimed he would follow President McKinley’s policies, he soon set off on a path of his own—to make the Republican Party more liberal—and average citizens loved him for it.