Harry Benson Installation

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with President John F. Kennedy

London, 1961

She was the toast of London and Paris when the president and first lady visited Europe in the summer of his first year in office. Crowds would shout, “Jackie, Jackie,” everywhere they went. They were greeted with such enthusiasm that the president began to refer to himself as “the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris.” Shown here as they leave a church service during their visit to London.

During their visit all of Fleet Street waited outside the home of Mrs. Kennedy's sister, Princess Lee Radziwill, until The First Lady popped her head out for a photograph. I was there with all the other waiting London photographers. At that point in my career, I never thought that years later Mrs. Kennedy would call to ask me to photograph daughter Caroline’s wedding.

Coretta Scott King and the King children

Atlanta, Georgia, 1968

On April 4, 1968, amidst rising racial tension, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. America was shocked, stunned, and again thrown into the nightmare of violent death and public agony, not five years after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.

Being on an assignment nearby, I immediately flew to Memphis and then on to Atlanta to cover the funeral. Arriving in advance of the plane that was carrying the body of the slain civil rights leader, I moved out of the photographer’s allotted area onto the tarmac for a moment and caught one frame of his widow, Coretta Scott King, and their children as they prepared to step down from the plane.

MLK Funeral Mourners

Atlanta, Georgia, 1968

The procession from Dr. King’s parish, the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, to the cemetery was led by a mule-drawn wooden cart carrying Dr. King's body. Hundreds and hundreds of mourners followed, including many recognizable faces from the political arena and the entertainment world. Dr. King’s family were joined by Harry Belafonte, Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr., Rev. Jesse Jackson, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey and future president Richard Nixon to honor the slain leader as Mahalia Jackson sang King’s favorite hymn for the mourners.

Grieving Man with Flag

Washington National Airport, 1971

Walking through Washington National Airport on my way to catch a shuttle flight back to New York City, I noticed a man, obviously in pain, sitting with a folded American flag on his lap. He told me his son had been killed in Vietnam and had just been buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His grief was overwhelming and to me it was the story of the Vietnam war.

President Gerald Ford

Alexandria, Virginia, 1973

Congressman Ford's nomination for vice president had just been approved by the Senate when I photographed him at his home outside Washington D.C. He liked to get up early, before the rest of his family awoke. He would fix breakfast, read the papers in solitude, and then wash his own dishes.

President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn with daughter, Amy

The White House, 1978

In the private quarters on the second floor of the White House, the president and first lady prepare for a state dinner while eleven-year-old daughter, Amy, ready for bed in her pajamas, intently watches.

First Lady Hillary Clinton

The White House Blue Room, 1994

When I photographed Mrs. Clinton in the Blue Room in 1994, she was proud to hold a lovely tulip named for her by the government of the Netherlands. I always liked photographing first ladies in the same room when I could. The interesting point in this photograph is the can of hair spray sitting on the gold leaf table behind her. Mrs. Clinton was annoyed to say the least when she discovered one of her staff had forgotten to remove it before the photo was snapped. Born in Chicago in 1947, Hillary Rodham attended Wellesley College and is a 1973 graduate of Yale Law School where she met and married the future president. She continues to be active in the woman’s movement, most recently being a producer of the successful musical, Suffs, which opened on Broadway in 2024.

President Ronald and First Lady Nancy Reagan

Bel Air, California, 1998

The last time I photographed the Reagans together was on April 16, 1998. Standing side by side, I called out from behind the camera, “Give her a kiss.” Smiling, the president looked at me and said, “I can do that all right,” as he turned and gave Nancy a kiss.  

President George W. and Laura Bush

Austin, Texas, 1999

On the porch of the Governor’s mansion in Austin with descendant of his mother’s famous dog, Millie, by his side, the President and First Lady elect were preparing their move into the White House for the next eight years. The 43^rd president had not an inkling that ultimately 9/11, the search for Osama bin Laden, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would be his presidential legacy.

President Barack Obama

The White House, 2009

During my day at the White House in 2009, the president stood outside the White House to shake hands with fans. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to photograph First Lady Michelle Obama on this day, hopefully I will get the chance some time.