Historic moments pepper each year of American history. From historic legislation and technological breakthroughs to war and natural disasters, no year is without its share of highs and lows. Our nation's leaders are tasked with facilitating some of these historic moments, negotiating for a more peaceful world, and providing relief during times of crisis.
Photographs of American presidents capture some of these consequential moments for all time and serve as a lightning rod to memories of some of the country's most defining, tender, stoic, and even silly moments.
Stacker rounded up one iconic presidential photo from each of the last 100 years. From inspecting fight planes to posing with Elvis Presley, keep reading to see which you remember from history class—and which historic moments you lived through.
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Fifty prominent members of the New National Woman's Party congregate at the White House on April 6, 1921, to ask for President Warren G. Harding’s aid in passing an equal rights bill in the next Congress. The bill would give women full equality in the government.
President Warren G. Harding records with a sound-catching megaphone attached to a gramophone recording machine in 1922.
President Warren G. Harding shakes hands with New York Yankee player Babe Ruth during an April 4, 1923, visit to Yankee Stadium.
President Calvin Coolidge inspects a world flight plane at Bolling Field in Washington D.C. on Sept. 9, 1924.
A delegation of Indigenous tribal leaders gathers at the White House in Washington D.C. on Oct. 23, 1925.
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President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge with Andrew Mellon and others on the White House lawn in 1926.
President Calvin Coolidge, named Chief Leading Eagle by Sioux members in 1927.
President Calvin Coolidge with President Herbert Hoover in 1928.
President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou watch a World Series baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Athletics in Chicago on Oct. 1, 1929.
President Hoover is shown at his desk in the White House on Dec. 20, 1930, signing the bills passed by Congress authorizing appropriation of $45 million for loans to farmers in drought-stricken areas and a bill appropriating $116 million for emergency construction. These funds were designed to bring relief to the unemployed. This is the first photo taken of President Hoover in the White House, and captures the first telephone to sit on the desk of a president.
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Far from the cares of state, President Hoover was snapped quietly reading and smoking as the U.S.S. Arizona ploughed through the waters on the first leg of a presidential trip from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Ponce, Puerto Rico, on March 26, 1931.
President Hoover makes a campaign speech in Huntington, West Virginia, on Oct. 22, 1932.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover ride in a convertible on the way to the U.S. Capitol for Roosevelt's inauguration, March 4, 1933.
Elliott Roosevelt, son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is one of the first to greet him on the observation platform after the special train pulled into Hyde Park on Aug. 26, 1934. The President was en route home for a 30-day stay. During that time, the ancestral Roosevelt home was used as a "summer White House.”
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill in the White House. Roosevelt is flanked by Sen. Robert F. Wagner (l) of New York and Rep. David J. Lewis of Maryland. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins (black hat) can be seen behind the president.
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President Roosevelt visits a farmer who is receiving a drought relief grant in Mandan, North Dakota, in August 1936.
President Roosevelt smiles as he eats a sandwich from a tray in the back of a car on a visit to the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington on Oct. 7, 1937. Frank A Banks, supervising engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation at the Dam, sits on his left.
President Roosevelt speaks during a radio broadcast from his Hyde Park home, the night of Nov. 4. In his speech, the president called upon the nation's voters to elect New Deal candidates, giving particular endorsement to Gov. Herbert H. Lehman and Sen. Robert. Wagner, both of New York and up for reelection. The president, shown here seated behind a cluster of microphones, also warned against the dangers of fascist or communist dictatorship.
A smiling President Roosevelt sits at the wheel of his convertible in Warm Springs, Georgia.
President Roosevelt shakes the paw of his Scottie dog Falla as his wife Eleanor knits beside him at their Hyde Park estate in New York, circa 1940.
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President Roosevelt is seen here on Dec. 8, 1941, as he asks Congress to declare a state of war against Japan for its "unprovoked and dastardly attack." On the right is his son, James Roosevelt. In the background are Vice President Henry A. Wallace (left) and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. Both the Senate and the House complied with his request almost immediately.
President Roosevelt speaks to the world on Feb. 23, 1942, over one of the most elaborate radio hookups ever prepared for a "fireside chat." In the speech, he warns that the United States, scorning a "turtle policy" of "not sticking our necks out, will carry the war to the enemy." The president is seen pointing to a map to emphasize a point.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the garden of the presidential villa Casablanca during the historic Casablanca Conference Jan. 14–24, 1943.
President Roosevelt in conference with General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Admiral William D. Leahy while on tour in Hawaiian Islands in 1944.
Allied leaders are shown at the Yalta Conference held at the Livadia Palace, Livadiya (near Yalta), Soviet Union (later Ukraine), February 1945. Seated are, from left, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (seated left), and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin. Behind them are British Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham (directly above Churchill's right sleeve), British Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal (in profile, behind Churchill), and American Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (behind Roosevelt, with shoulder braids).
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President Harry S. Truman congratulates five servicemen who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in ceremonies held on the White House lawn on June 14, 1946. Left to right after the ceremonies are Sgt. Alejandro R. Ruiz, Barstow, Texas,; Sgt. Beauford T. Anderson, Soldier's Grove, Wisconsin.; Pfc. Dirk J. Vlug, Grand Rapids, Michigan.; President Truman; Sgt. John Meagher, Jersey City, New Jersey; and 1st Lt. John H. Leims, USMC, Chicago.
A stickler for keeping in shape, President Truman, "coach" of the Truman Athletic League organized by the newsmen who covered his trip, leads the club in calisthenics aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on the 12-day cruise from Rio de Janeiro, on Sept. 20, 1947.
President Truman laughs as he holds an early edition of the Chicago Tribune for Nov. 4, 1948. The newspaper’s headline jumped to an erroneous conclusion as early election returns came in.
President Truman watches through his binoculars as a battalion of paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division floats to Earth on Oct. 5, 1949. Truman visited to see a demonstration of new Airborne techniques developed since World War II.
U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur greets President Truman upon his arrival Oct. 15, 1950, at Wake Island for their conference on the Korean War. Truman went on to fire MacArthur in April 1951.
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President Truman seated in White House library, with "The Buck Stops Here" on placard in foreground, circa 1950.
President Truman (left) awards General Dwight Eisenhower with his fifth Distinguished Services Medal as Mamie Eisenhower looks on at the White House in Washington D.C. on June 6, 1952.
Speaking before the United Nations on Dec. 8, 1943, President Eisenhower proposes that all the atomic powers of Russia include or pool at least part of their atomic resources for peaceful purposes. With a warning that the nuclear arms race threatens to wipe out civilization, the president urged that nations with atomic know-how contribute nuclear materials to an international agency to be set up under U.N. sponsorship. Eisenhower flew to New York from the Big Three Conference in Bermuda, where he won British and French approval of his idea.
President Eisenhower throws out the first ball on April 13 to officially open the 1954 baseball season.
From left, Soviet chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikolai Boulganine, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, French President of the Council Ministers Edgar Faure, and British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden pose in the garden of European center of the United Nations during the Conference of Geneva on July 20, 1955.
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President Eisenhower, American general and 34th president of the United States, on his reelection as president Nov. 5, 1956.
President Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower pose with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during the latter's royal state visit to Washington D.C. on Oct. 17, 1957.
President Eisenhower poses in the White House with civil rights leaders on June 23, 1958, following the conference on problems of school integration and other matters. Shown from left are: Lester B. Granger, secretary of the National Urban League; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., president. of the Southern Leadership Conference; E. Frederic Morrow, White House administrative officer; President Eisenhower; Asa Philip Randolph, vice president of the AFL-CIO; Attorney General William P. Rogers; Rocco Siciliano, assistant to president.; and Roy Wilkins, NAACP executive.
President Eisenhower receives a lei in celebration of the statehood of Hawaii, April 13, 1959. Hawaii became the 50th state after the passage of the Hawaii Admission Act.
A meeting between President Eisenhower and President-elect John F. Kennedy on Dec. 7, 1960, in the White House.
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Pictured at the White House on May 5, 1961, are Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Arthur Schlesinger, Admiral Arleigh Burke, President John F. Kennedy, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and their children John, Jr. and Caroline, at their summer house in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on Aug. 4, 1962.
John Kennedy Jr. plays in the Oval Office on Oct. 15, 1963.
President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Young, James Farmer on Jan. 18, 1964.
President Lyndon Johnson greets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965.
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President Johnson inspects a Marine at Cam Ranh Bay Air Force Base in Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1966, during the Vietnam War.
President Johnson reads a document as General William Westmoreland waits on Nov. 16, 1967.
President Johnson with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara meet in the White House Cabinet room on Feb. 9, 1968, during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
Pictured from left are Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the crew of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission. The crew was subjected to a period of quarantine upon their return to Earth. Through the window of their mobile quarantine facility, they hold a conversation with President Richard Nixon on July 24, 1969.
President Richard Nixon shakes hands with Elvis Presley on Dec. 21, 1970, in the Oval Office of the White House.
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President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon as photographed by Oliver Atkins on the beach in San Clemente, California, on Jan. 13, 1971.
President Nixon and Secretary of State William Rogers are seen here with Chinese Deputy Premier Li Xiannian during a visit to the Great Wall of China on Feb. 24, 1972.
President Nixon, in a nationally televised address on Aug. 15, 1973, asks for support against "those who would exploit Watergate in order to keep us from doing what we were elected to do." He also proclaimed his innocence of any complicity in the affair. Nixon posed for still photographers after the address, as no pictures were permitted during the telecast.
As he boards the White House helicopter after resigning the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974, Richard Nixon smiles and gives the victory, or “V,” sign.
President Gerald Ford and Chinese Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-Ping reach for food during the last banquet in Peking, China, on Dec. 4, 1975.
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President Gerald Ford dancing with Queen Elizabeth II during a state dinner held in her honor at the White House on July 7, 1976.
At 12:01 p.m. with Gerald Ford, Rosalynn Carter, and Vice President Walter Mondale by his side, Jimmy Carter waves to the gathered crowd after being sworn in by Chief Justice Warren Burger as the 39th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 1977, in Washington D.C.
This photo shows former Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat (L) as he shakes hands with former Israeli Premier Menachem Begin, as President Jimmy Carter looks on, Sept. 6, 1978, at Camp David in Maryland.
Egypt began peace initiatives with Israel in late 1977 when Sadat visited Jerusalem. A year later, with the help of Carter, terms of peace between Egypt and Israel were negotiated at Camp David. A formal treaty, signed March 26, 1979, in Washington D.C., granted full recognition of Israel by Egypt, opened trade relations between the two countries, and limited Egyptian military buildup in the Sinai. Israel agreed to return a final portion of occupied Sinai to Egypt.
President Carter in the TMI-2 Control Room with Pennsylvania Gov. Denton Thornburgh on April 1, 1979.
President Jimmy Carter on April 7, 1980, announces new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for taking U.S. hostages.
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Surrounded by police officers and FBI agents on March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan waves to spectators outside the Hilton Hotel, Washington D.C., seconds before an assassination attempt. Press Secretary Jim Brady is behind the president; agent Delahantz is on the right, and the gunman behind.
Queen Elizabeth II riding with President Ronald Reagan in the grounds of Windsor Castle during his state visit on June 8, 1982.
President Reagan with photos of Cuban missile sites and at a press conference during which he called Russia "The Evil Empire” on March 23, 1983.
President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan are joined by Michael Jackson at the White House Ceremony to launch the Campaign against Drunk Driving on May 14, 1984.
Translators speak into the ears of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Reagan on Nov. 1, 1985, at the Geneva Summit.
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President Reagan informs congressional leaders about the apparent diversion of funds from the arms sale to Iran on Nov. 25, 1986.
President Reagan gives a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany on June 12, 1987.
President Reagan gives the “thumbs up” sign at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 15, 1988.
World leaders gathered in Paris for the G7 economic summit pose in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre. From left: Jacques Delors, president of the Commission of the European Communities, Italian Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, U.S. President George Bush, French President Francois Mitterrand, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and Japanese Prime Minister Sosuke Uno on July 1, 1989.
President George H.W. Bush and General Norman Schwarzkopf ride in a military vehicle in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield on Nov. 22, 1990, during a visit by the president.
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(L-R) Presidents George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon pose during the Ronald Reagan Library dedication Nov. 4, 1991, in Simi Valley, California.
President Bush campaigns in Arlington, Ohio, on Sept. 26, 1992.
President Bill Clinton speaks outside the U.S. Capitol following his inauguration as the 42nd president of the United States, Jan. 20, 1993.
President Bill Clinton jogs along the promenade of Naples during the G7 Summit on July 8, 1994, in Naples, Italy.
President Clinton laughs at Boris Yeltsin's jokes during a joint news conference in Hyde Park, New York, on Oct. 1, 1995.
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President Clinton at JFK International Airport, where he spoke about the crash of TWA Flight 800, talks with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on July 26, 1996. The crash off the coast of New York resulted in the deaths of all 230 crew and passengers. There was much speculation at first that the crash was the result of a terrorist attack; a subsequent investigation blamed the accident on mechanical failure.
Vice President Al Gore (left) and President Clinton look at a computer during their joint, live radio address in the White House's Oval Office in Washington D.C. on April 19, 1997. They spoke on the second national NetDay, designed to bring citizens from across America together with the goal of connecting every classroom and library in the U.S. to the internet by the year 2000.
President Clinton appears with First Lady Hillary Clinton to make a statement to reporters outside the Oval Office following his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives. Clinton rejected calls for his resignation after the House impeached him on one count of perjury and obstruction of justice on Dec. 19, 1998.
President Clinton returns to the Oval Office on Feb. 12, 1999, after learning that the U.S. Senate voted to acquit him of the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice during his impeachment trial. The charges stemmed from his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Inside the Governor's Mansion Texas Governor George Bush reviews his speech as he awaits final results on election night Nov. 8, 2000, in Austin, Texas.
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President Bush speaks to Vice President Dick Cheney by phone aboard Air Force One on Sept. 11, 2001, after departing Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
President Bush delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Jan. 29, 2002.
President Bush addresses the nation aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, as it sails for Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego. Bush declared major fighting over in Iraq, calling it "one victory in a war on terror," which he said would continue until terrorists are defeated. "In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," Bush said. Bush touted Saddam Hussein's ouster as "a crucial advance" towards stamping out extremist violence.
President Bush wears a traditional Chilean poncho while walking with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) to the official photo session at the La Moneda Presidential Palace during the APEC Summit on Nov. 21, 2004, in Santiago, Chile.
President Bush sits with Patrick Wright on the steps of what was his parents' house, Sept. 2, 2005, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Wright's parents survived the storm despite being inside the home while it was destroyed. Bush visited the town of Biloxi, in parts completely devastated, during his tour of the Gulf Coast to view damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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President Bush walks on the South Lawn with his dogs Barney (R) and Miss Beazley (L) upon return to the White House on Aug. 13, 2006, from a vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.
President Bush vacations at his ranch on Aug. 24, 2007, in Crawford, Texas. “Trailblazer” is the code name the U.S. Secret Service used for the president.
President-elect Barack Obama stands on stage along with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha during an election night gathering in Grant Park on Nov. 4, 2008, in Chicago.
President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head during a family visit to the Oval Office on May 8, 2009. The boy wanted to see if the president's haircut felt like his own. The image has become known as "Hair Like Mine."
President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House as the House passes sweeping health care reform on March 21, 2010.
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President Obama and Vice President Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on Operation Neptune's Spear, a mission against Osama bin Laden, in one of the conference rooms of the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. They are watching live feed from drones operating over the bin Laden complex.
President Obama reacts on Dec. 14, 2012, as John Brennan briefs him on the details of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The president later said during a TV interview that this was the worst day of his presidency.
President Obama speaks on the Trayvon Martin case during remarks in the White House briefing room July 19, 2013, in Washington D.C. "Trayvon Martin could've been me, 35 years ago,” Obama said.
President Obama reads to children from the book "Where the Wild Things Are" during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn, April 21, 2014, in Washington D.C. Obama and the first lady hosted thousands of children for the annual White House event dating back to 1876 that features live music, sports courts, cooking stations, storytelling, as well as the Easter egg.
President Obama marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma Marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 2015, in Selma, Alabama.
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In this file photo taken on Nov. 10, 2016, President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a transition planning meeting in the Oval Office at the White House.
Presidents Donald J. Trump and Barack Obama stand on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with First Lady Melania Trump and Michelle Obama on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington D.C., as Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel deliberates with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the official agenda on the second day of the G7 summit on June 9, 2018, in Charlevoix, Canada. Also pictured are from left: Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, Theresa May, U.K. prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, French president, Angela Merkel, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary, Shinzo Abe, Japan prime minister, Kazuyuki Yamazaki, Japanese senior deputy minister for foreign affairs, John Bolton, U.S. national security adviser, and Donald Trump. Canada is hosting the leaders of the U.K., Italy, the U.S., France, Germany, and Japan for the two-day summit.
President Trump references a map held by acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan while talking to reporters following a briefing from officials about Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office at the White House Sept. 4, 2019, in Washington D.C. The map was a forecast from Aug. 29 and appears to have been altered by a black marker to extend the hurricane's range to include Alabama.
President Trump holds a copy of the Washington Post on Feb. 6, 2020, as he speaks in the East Room of the White House one day after the U.S. Senate acquitted him on two articles of impeachment. After five months of congressional hearings and investigations about Trump's dealings with Ukraine, the U.S. Senate formally acquitted the president of charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress.
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President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris exchange a fist bump in the moments after Harris is sworn in. Harris marked a historical moment: She was the first woman, the first Black person, and the first person of Asian descent to be sworn into the office of the vice president. Biden is seen wearing a face mask, a reminder that his presidency started in the midst of the greatest public health crisis America has experienced in generations.
