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The article analyzes the decision of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan to display the portrait of Calvin Coolidge in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Reagan was described to be a passive, detached, and hands-off executive although he focused on critical matters such as tax reductions, defense build-up, and U.S.-Russian ties with fervor. It reveals that Reagan read the Autobiography book, speeches and other biographies of Calvin Coolidge and appeared to emulate him. It states that Reagan via Coolidge's advice renewed the self-confidence of the U.S.

The article focuses on the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), which jointly reopen in the old Patent Office Building on July 1, 2006 after a six-year, $283 million renovation. The directors of the two museums are interviewed. Both directors state their desire to make the museums accessible to visitors, to get them to see art as a way to tell a story about the history and culture of the United States. The ground floor features landscapes in order to recount part of the story of the United States. The expanded museum features official portraits of American Presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton and also features photography of ordinary people, sculptures, and modern art forms like holograms.

Presents a portfolio of portraits and brief profiles of the forty presidents who have guided the United States of America through two hundred years of peace, war, hardship, and prosperity. INSET: Vice presidents..

Focuses on an old photograph, currently owned by Robert and Joanne Hoffman of Pittsford, New York, and ponders whether it is the first photograph of Abraham Lincoln. History of the daguerreotype that came out of the estate of Alice Hay Wadsworth; Wadsworth's connection with Lincoln's assistant White House Secretary; View of historian Joseph Buberger; More.

Discusses the author's independent discoveries of a pair of previously unknown portraits of Abraham Lincoln. Details of the research that indicates that one of the paintings may be the first ever painted, before Lincoln achieved national prominence; Research into the background of the paintings, both by artist Philip Jenkins; Insight learned from the portraits.

Presents portraits of United States President Abraham Lincoln. Includes photographs as a Congressman-elect; Photographs as a lawyer and debater; Photographs as a presidential candidate.

Features Ollie Atkins, personal photographer to the President of the U.S. Ability of Atkins to capture the drama inherent in the portraits of President Richard Nixon; Way in which he was appointed to his job; His description of photographing several U.S. presidents.

Comments on the Presidential privilege of hanging portraits of prior Presidents in the White House. President George Bush's selections; Comments from former Presidents on the tradition.

Focuses on the 70th anniversary celebration of the periodical at the National Portrait Gallery, whose centerpiece is the hall of Presidential portraits. Description of the Presidential portraits; Comments on support for Israel among personalities including American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations leader Lane Kirkland; Attendees to the event; Dining and dancing in the cross-generational party.

The article discusses portrait artist Chuck Close and his tapestry portrait of U.S. President Barack Obama. Close served on Obama's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and photographed Obama for the portrait to auction for campaign funds. Also discussed are Close's portraits of former Senator Hilary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, and former Vice President Al Gore.

Presents the last photograph ever taken of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. Explanation by painter Elizabeth Shoumatoff of how her assistant, Nicholas Robbins, took the portrait the day before Roosevelt died in April 1945; Last words that Roosevelt spoke.

Reports on `To the President: Folk Portraits By the People,' an exhibition of portraits of American presidents held at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Samples of portraits and sculptures of different presidents.

Presents letters to the editor referencing articles and topics discussed in previous issues. Request for visitors to visit South Dakota despite the flood that affected the state in 1972; "Toward an Educated Elite: The Soviet Universities," which focused on the Soviet approach to education; Appraisal of the paintings of several U.S. Presidents in the spring issue.

The article reports on proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress to change the portrait on the U.S. fifty dollar bill from U.S. President Ulysses Grant to U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

The article discusses the reasons behind former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln sporting a buzz cut in a portrait by an unknown photographer made around February 1865. It mentions that during that time sculptor Clark Mills had asked Lincoln to pose for a life mask. However, Lincoln, reliving the painful experience of peeling off a hardened plaster mask five years before along with some of his hair, took precautionary action and cut his hair and beard.

The article presents a photograph of beardless U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as well as recounts the impact of his sudden change into his iconic bearded statesmen. The original photograph was taken by Samuel M. Fassett in Chicago, Illinois, on October 4, 1859. Fassett claimed that Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln regarded the picture as the best likeness of her husband. An account of the Lincolns' transfer to the White House is also included.

The article focuses on U.S. President George Washington and his work for the U.S. The only American president ever to be unanimously elected, Washington may have been such a revered leader because he not only showed his strengths, but also wasn't afraid to show his human fears. Courage in the face of adversity must have been his motto. People memorialize the places where he stayed. His likeness stirs the patriot in all the people of the U.S. and appears on the most common currency, the dollar bill. There are nine paintings of Washington in the National Portrait Gallery.

Presents photographs of the images of U.S. President George Washington which ornament the national portrait gallery. Popularity of Washington during his lifetime.

Presents the portrait of United States President George W. Bush by artist Scott Gentling. Image of Bush perched on the edge of a desk in a blue business suit; Unveiling of the portrait at the Texas State Capitol; Artistic works of Gentling.

Reports on Maryland painter Simmie Knox's contract with the White House Historical Association to paint the portrait of Bill Clinton. Other celebrities whose portraits were painted by Knox; Comments of Knox on painting Clinton.

Reports on the Washington D.C.-based National Portrait Gallery's traveling exhibit featuring portraits of United States presidents as of October 2000. Portraits included in the touring exhibit; Presidents' reactions to their portraits.

Reports that former presidents of the United States posed for official oil portraits that captures their character for posterity. Description of the portraits of several United States presidents; Background on the artists commissioned by the government to do presidential portraits; Location of the portraits; Procedure for selecting an artist to do the portrait.

Presents observations made by portraitist Everett Raymond Kinstler while sketching United States President Bill Clinton, in the president's White House Oval Office. How Kinstler prepared for the painting of the portrait; Comments from Kinstler; Who is recalled by Kinstler to have given the president the opportunity to exercise his own art form.

Reports on artist R.B. Kitaj's pastel portrait of United States President Bill Clinton. Hanging of the portrait in the hall of Oxford University; Comments of Kitaj on Clinton.

Reports on New York `Press' newspaper John Strausbaugh's discovery of celebrity/president photographs. Elvis Presley with ex-President Richard Nixon; Nixon with the Carpenters; Marty Allen with Betty Ford.

The article offers two news briefs related to presidential portraits and pets in the U.S. It mentions nanobamas which is a portrait of Obama made by a mechanical engineering professor John Hart to commemorate the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama in the U.S. It also mentions the promise of Obama to his daughters on welcoming a new puppy to the White House.

Focuses on the controversies associated with a photograph of U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife during a vacation in a deserted Virgin Island. Comment of Clinton on the photograph; Privacy issues raised in the photograph.