For 128 years, The Associated Press has documented the presidency in photos, with its photographers capturing some of the most defining moments in American history.
From pivotal moments inside the Oval Office to events on and beyond the White House grounds, AP has witnessed for the world the actions of the president of the United States.
AP journalists have preserved in photographs defining images from every administration since President William McKinley in 1896, including:
- President Woodrow Wilson delivering a declaration of war to the joint session of Congress, bringing the U.S. into World War I.
- President Harry Truman announcing the surrenders of Germany and Japan to end World War II.
- President John F. Kennedy meeting with military leaders to discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- President Richard Nixon saluting his staff after resigning amid the Watergate Scandal.
- President George W. Bush receiving word of the Sept. 11 attacks.
- The attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa.
See a slideshow of AP images capturing the presidency, starting with President McKinley and continuing through President Trump:
President William Mckinley, left, sits with his cabinet during a meeting in the White House in this photo dated 1898. (AP Photo)
President Theodore Roosevelt sits in his office at the White House on Dec. 8, 1908 in Washington. (AP Photo)
President William Howard Taft, center, campaigns for reelection in Trenton, N.J. in 1912. (AP Photo)
President Woodrow Wilson delivers a declaration of war to the joint session of Congress, in Washington, April 2, 1917. (AP Photo)
President Warren G. Harding, and his wife Florence Kling Harding, center, are seen in this 1923 photo as they enjoy a motor boat ride. (AP Photo)
President Calvin Coolidge throws out the ball for the opening game of the 1924 World Series between the Washington Senators and the New York Giants on Oct. 4, 1924 in Washington. (AP Photo)
American aircraft pilot Amelia Earhart receives the National Geographic Medal from U.S. President Herbert Hoover, in honor of her transatlantic flight, on June 21, 1932, at the White House lawn in Washington. (AP Photo)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks from the White House in Washington, April 28, 1942, addressing the nation by radio about how the war will affect every citizen. He called for self-denial and sacrifice. (AP Photo)
President Harry S. Truman (right center), gestures as he tells newsmen details of surrender of Germany during press conference at the White House in Washington, May 8, 1945 attended by 123 reporters. (AP Photo)
President Dwight Eisenhower inspects his glasses before starting his speech at the White House, Washington, March 8, 1960, where he made a nationwide television-radio address, reporting on his South American trip.(AP Photo/Bill Allen)
President John F. Kennedy poses in his White House office with Gen. David Shoup, left, Marine Corps Commandant, and Adm. George Anderson, Chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Oct. 29, 1962. The chiefs met with the president to review the present situation in Cuba and operation of the U.S. naval blockade. (AP Photo/William J. Smith)
The Rev. Martin Luther King, third from right, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was among national figures present on July 2, 1964, as President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)
Richard Nixon says goodbye with a victorious salute to his staff members outside the White House as he boards a helicopter after resigning the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974 in Washington. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
President Gerald Ford congratulates the crews of Apollo and Soyuz after they met in space, July 17, 1975, from his White House Oval Office in Washington as he watched the linkup and then chatted with both crews. (AP Photo/John Duricka)
President Jimmy Carter meets with reporters aboard Air Force One on July 1, 1979, while flying from Seoul, South Korea, to Honolulu. Carter said as a result of the OPEC increase in the price of oil he feels the country is due for a recession with a many as 800,000 Americans out of work. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)
President Ronald Reagan shows his boot following the signing of his tax bill at his California vacation home, Rancho del Cielo, near Santa Barbara, Ca., Aug. 13, 1981. (AP Photo)
President George Bush talks to reporters on Air Force One, March 17, 1989 as he headed back to Washington from Colorado. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
President Clinton walks to the podium to deliver a short statement on the impeachment inquiry in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Dec. 11, 1998. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Chief of Staff Andy Card whispers into the ear of President George W. Bush to give him word of the plane crashes at the World Trade Center, during a visit to the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
President Barack Obama caps his pen after he signed an executive order closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Vice President Joe Biden, second from left, and retired military officers applaud. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Donald Trump, left, accompanied by then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, second from left, White House press secretary Sean Spicer, right, and Senior Adviser to the President Jared Kushner, speaks on the phone with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Jan. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden talks with reporters be he boards Air Force One at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville, N.C., Tuesday, March 28, 2023, en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Explore a full collection of AP photo coverage of U.S. presidents in AP Newsroom.
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