# Clinton and Bush Presidential Portraits restored to the Grand Foyer **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 10, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611 "2021-03-10T13:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/1 "2021-03-10T13:00:15Z")
Trump had these taken down and stuck in a back room, replacing them with Republican icons McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. It was another of his tradition-breaking practices. Normally the most recent president’s portraits are displayed there. Biden’s team had them restored. Of course, the one who definitely should be there was Obama. The article puzzled me by saying Obama “does not have a White House portrait of his own.” Really? Then what was that famous picture of him, seated and floating among a bunch of plants, which Trump notably refused to hang in the White House? Evidently although “official”, it’s not necessarily a “White House Portrait.” Hopefully, Biden will put up an Obama portrait, whether it’s this one or not. > **[Bush And Clinton Portraits Hidden By Trump Are Once Again Displayed In White...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clinton-bush-portraits-white-house_n_60479bb5c5b64433749fc071)** > > The portraits were removed from the White House's grand foyer during the Trump administration and relegated to a little-used room, far from Trump's sight. > **[President Barack Obama (painting)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Barack_Obama_(painting))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > President Barack Obama is a 2018 portrait of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, by the artist Kehinde Wiley for the National Portrait Gallery. It received a mixed response from the media and the public. > In October 2017, it was announced that Wiley had been chosen by Barack Obama to paint an official portrait of the former president to appear in Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery "America's Presidents" exhibition. The pain... ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/2 "2021-03-10T19:17:14Z")
Hopefully Biden will restore tradition and get Obama’s official portrait up - isn’t that always done with a change of presidents? I’m thinking he must have sat for a portrait, but as far as I can find it was never put up. EDIT: It sounds like there is a portrait, it just never got unveiled or put up: [Trump Refusing to Unveil Obama's Portrait at the White House](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-refusing-to-unveil-obama-portrait-at-the-white-house-2020-5) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/3 "2021-03-10T22:19:15Z")
I suppose the next question is, will Biden put up Trump’s portrait? An argument could be made either way. – I wonder if Trump’s had one made. Though there’s always the infamous Not Really A Charity Donation portrait. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/4 "2021-03-10T22:25:21Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > **I suppose the next question is, will Biden put up Trump’s portrait?** > > An argument could be made either way. – I wonder if Trump’s had one made. Though there’s always the infamous Not Really A Charity Donation portrait. - Is facing the wall allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/5 "2021-03-10T22:29:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Evidently although “official”, it’s not necessarily a “White House Portrait.” Yeah, it was specifically commissioned for the National Portrait Gallery, whose collection of portraits is distinct from the White House’s collection. From their website: “As the nation’s only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, the “America’s Presidents” exhibition lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery’s mission to tell the country’s history through the individuals who have shaped it.” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/6 "2021-03-10T22:30:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Is facing the wall allowed? How about facing a jury? ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/7 "2021-03-10T22:31:37Z")
“Wanted” poster? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/8 "2021-03-10T22:36:01Z")
But we don’t want him . . . ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/9 "2021-03-10T23:20:06Z")
> [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](#): > > Hopefully Biden will restore tradition and get Obama’s official portrait up - isn’t that always done with a change of presidents? I’m thinking he must have sat for a portrait, but as far as I can find it was never put up. > > EDIT: It sounds like there is a portrait, it just never got unveiled or put up: [Trump refusing to unveil Obama’s portrait at the White House](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-refusing-to-unveil-obama-portrait-at-the-white-house-2020-5) I hope Biden returns to tradition and resumes holding the ceremony. Unveiling Obama’s portrait would a wonderful “Fuck You, Racist Prick” to Trump, and since the tradition will have been restored, the next President can unveil Biden’s portrait. Eliminating a Trump diaper shitting portrait, because he fucked the tradition up, and fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/10 "2021-03-10T23:32:12Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Eliminating a Trump diaper shitting portrait, because he fucked the tradition up, and fuck him. - If Trump did actually did sit for a portrait, it should be put up simply so it doesn’t become a political tradition to not do so. If he didn’t, put up an empty frame. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/11 "2021-03-11T00:27:28Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If Trump did actually did sit for a portrait, it should be put up simply so it doesn’t become a political tradition to not do so. Yeah, much as I don’t want to see Trump’s smirking face hanging on the White House wall, we as a nation should not try to pretend that he didn’t happen. We elected that godawful travesty of a President, and his Presidency should be given the same official recognition that all others get. (All the more so if he threw a toddler tantrum and refused to recognize his own predecessor in that way.) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/12 "2021-03-11T01:05:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If Trump did actually did sit for a portrait, it should be put up simply so it doesn’t become a political tradition to not do so. > [@Kimstu](#): > > Yeah, much as I don’t want to see Trump’s smirking face hanging on the White House wall, we as a nation should not try to pretend that he didn’t happen. We elected that godawful travesty of a President, and his Presidency should be given the same official recognition that all others get. Yeah, that’s the argument for. It’s a pretty good argument. The best one I can make against is to say explicitly that it’s his punishment for refusing to put up Obama’s. And/or for the attack on Congress. Is John Tyler’s portrait up? ETA: apparently so. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Official\_presidential\_painted\_portraits\_in\_the\_White\_House](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Official_presidential_painted_portraits_in_the_White_House) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/13 "2021-03-11T01:11:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > We elected that godawful travesty of a President, and his Presidency should be given the same official recognition that all others get. On the other hand, we could follow the example of our Allies in Germany, who’ve decided that a certain former chancellor of theirs doesn’t need an official portrait hanging in a place of honor. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/14 "2021-03-11T01:18:00Z")
I think we should honor Trump in a manner befitting his administration. We should announce that his portrait will be hung on the wall. And then we won’t built the wall. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/15 "2021-03-11T01:27:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > it should be put up simply so… I say it should never be. Trump refused to respect Obama, So Biden reaches back to where the chain was broken and fixes that. After that, since the traditon has been resumed, the next President looks back to the previous guy, Biden. Trump fucked it up, Fuck Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/16 "2021-03-11T07:14:34Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Trump fucked it up, Fuck Trump. Gotta agree with Kimstu here. Assuming he provides one, Trump should get his place. We don’t get to forget he was our shitty-ass President - we need to own that rather than pretend it didn’t happen. A little bit of national humility is in order. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/17 "2021-03-11T07:57:30Z")
And if Trump _doesn’t_ provide one, they can hang a commission from Jim Carrey. [![](https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SEPT-29.jpg) ](https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SEPT-29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/18 "2021-03-11T14:02:59Z")
If we do have to stomach a portrait of DJT, for the love of all that’s holy DON’T let Jon McNaughton paint it. And hang it in the men’s room or pantry or something. Good to see Biden put Bill and George back in a better place. But is there now a White House portrait of Obama? Surely DJT wouldn’t have the class to unveil it but Barack has waited long enough. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/19 "2021-03-11T14:21:10Z")
I remember reading somewhere that Trump never sat for a portrait. Didn’t have the patience or something. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611/20 "2021-03-11T14:24:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > for the love of all that’s holy DON’T let Jon McNaughton paint it. Oh, come on! I think they should use the one of Trump and Melania riding a Harley. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-and-bush-presidential-portraits-restored-to-the-grand-foyer/937611.md?page=2)