Portraits of presidents of the United States

[3][4] The presidential portrait of George Washington was famously rescued by First Lady Dolley Madison when the British burned down the White House in the War of 1812.

When family members called it the "Mewing Cat" for making him look so harmless, he had it destroyed and hired John Singer Sargent to paint a more masculine portrait.

Roosevelt having reached the landing, planted his hand on the balustrade post, and turned to Sargent angrily demanding "Don't I?!"

[9] The United States Commission of Fine Arts recommended F. Luis Mora to paint the portrait of Warren G. Harding.

At Hoover's request, this painting replaced the original, and currently stands as the official White House portrait.

[12] The Johansen painting now resides at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa.

Unlike most presidential portraits, Kennedy's depicts the president as pensive, with eyes downcast and arms folded.

Painted by Robert A. Anderson, it was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., on December 19, 2008.

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders wrote a letter to the director of the National Portrait Gallery, noting the link between the terrorist attacks and Iraq had been "debunked".

[22] Barack Obama was the first president to have his portrait taken with a digital camera in January 2009 by Pete Souza, the then–official White House photographer,[23] using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

In the photorealistic portrait, Obama is dressed in a black suit with a gray tie, and painted against a minimal white backdrop, a signature of McCurdy's artworks.

At the same time, the official portrait for First Lady Michelle Obama, painted by realism artist Sharon Sprung, was also unveiled.

[32][33] In First Lady Obama's oil painting portrait, she appears in an off-the-shoulder turquoise gown against a warm pink wall, looking "intent but alluring and unmistakably herself.