Press Releases

05/23/2008

For immediate release

Contact:

Paul Colford

The Associated Press

212. 621.1720

Melinda T. Cooke

National Press Club

202.662.7516

National Press Club hosts Associated Press photo exhibit of American presidents

Washington, D.C. -- "The American President," an exhibit of compelling news photos from the Associated Press, will be on view at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, from June 3 to July 12. The display will be open to the public from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The exhibit shows American presidents at war and at ease, in victory and in defeat, confronting national crises and facing personal scandals, running for office and leading the country on the world stage.

Amid the extraordinary voter interest in the 2008 race for the White House, the new exhibit helps illustrate one constant in the ever-shifting media landscape. The coverage of the White House by AP reporters and photographers has been the dominant source of presidential news across the U.S. and around the world.

"The American President" features a number of the AP’s Pulitzer Prize-winning images, including Paul Vathis’ view of John F. Kennedy conferring gravely with his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, at Camp David after the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961; Ron Edmonds’ rapid sequence documenting the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, and White House photos taken by J. Scott Applewhite and others during Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment battle.

The more than 80 photos in the exhibit underscore the need for the AP photojournalists assigned to cover the White House to always keep their eyes on the president, so they won’t miss those revealing, unexpected moments that could easily dominate thousands of front pages and Web sites around the world.

"The American President" includes memorable shots from the AP Images photo library, which contains more than 10 million film and digital images, and pictures taken in this year’s run for the White House by Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama.

For further information, visitors may call the National Press Club, at 202.662.7516, or e-mail mcooke@press.org.

About The Associated Press

The AP dates its founding to 1846, when the heads of six New York newspapers agreed to share the cost of gathering and transmitting by telegraph the news from the Mexican War and other points far from the city. Today, the AP, the world’s largest news organization, operates 243 bureaus in 97 countries, including a state-of-the-art Washington newsroom serving both the AP’s Broadcast News Center and capital news bureau. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP (www.ap.org).

About the National Press Club

The National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,700 members representing most major news organizations. The Club holds more than 2,000 events, including news conferences, luncheons and panels each year, and more than 250,000 guests come through its doors. On the web at www.press.org.