by Kenneth T. Walsh
Virtually unknown to the public or historians, White House photographers have developed amazing access to the Presidents of the United States over the past half-century. In this book, long-time White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh tells their stories, emphasizing observations about the presidents the photographers got to know so well along with other key figures close to those presidents―including the First Ladies, members of Congress, and important world leaders.
This book shows how official White House photographers have morphed into ultimate insiders within the American presidency, allowed to observe and take pictures of nearly everything Chief Executives do related to their job. The "photogs" have often become close friends with the presidents they served. Using these bonds of trust and their own powers of observation, they created fundamental impressions and public images of the presidents through the art of photography. Acting not only as image makers but as visual historians, they have built pictorial chronicles of the presidency―intimate narratives of America’s leaders in public and private, showing how they dealt with everyday life as well as moments of great crisis and opportunity. From children playing in the Oval Office to sending troops into harm’s way, images created by White House photographers can make or break a presidential administration as well as define an era.
Routledge Publishers
Hardback: 978-1138737600
pub: 2017-10-13
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KENNETH T. WALSH
Ultimate Insiders:
White House Photographers
and How They Shape History
"Kenneth Walsh has become one of America's great chroniclers of all things presidential. This new effort, Ultimate Insiders, is a marvelous look at the role White House photographers play in setting the tone and tenor of our times. Highly recommended!"
Douglas Brinkley
Rice University
"Ken Walsh, veteran White House reporter, gives us a fascinating and well-written account of the presidential photographers who have chronicled our presidents. The book looks at the untold story of who these people have been and, in doing so, explicates the power and politics of images that have shaped every presidency in the modern era."
Julian E. Zelizer
Princeton University
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