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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Today we visit the National Archives forsome presidential history.

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VOICE ONE:

President George W. Bush will begin his second term onInauguration Day, January twentieth. But Inauguration Day has notalways taken place on this date in wintertime.

George Washington gave the nation's first presidentialswearing-in speech in the spring. He spoke on April thirtieth,seventeen eighty-nine, in New York City.

Part of Washington's handwritten speech will be shown at theNational Archives, in the city named in his honor, this week throughJanuary twenty-fifth. Visitors can see the first and last pages ofthe speech. They can also see the Bible on which he placed his handduring the swearing-in ceremony.

VOICE TWO:

George Washington had led the American colonies to freedom fromEngland in the Revolutionary War. Now he spoke of what he called the"difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country calledme." He also pointed out that as the first president of the UnitedStates, he had no example to follow. Years later, America'sthirty-third president, Harry Truman, recognized an example of whatthe job was like. Being president, Truman said, was like riding atiger.

Now he and others who rode thattiger are the subjects of a collection of presidential photographsat the National Archives. Some pictures in the exhibit show thepressures of America's highest office. Others show the pleasures ofpolitical life. Still others record family times or lightheartedmoments, like Ronald Reagan enjoying a laugh on the presidentialplane, Air Force One.

VOICE ONE:

The exhibit is called "The American Presidency: PhotographicTreasures of the National Archives." It is presented by U.S. News& World Report magazine. It is the first exhibit in the LawrenceF. O'Brien Gallery. The newly named space opened in December.Lawrence O'Brien was an adviser to presidents Kennedy and Johnson.The photographs demonstrate the development of camera art over thelast one hundred fifty years. Most of the forty pictures are inblack-and-white.

VOICE TWO:

A photo from eighteen fifty-seven shows James Buchanan during hisfirst year as president. The photographer was Mathew Brady, one ofthe nation's first great photographers of historical subjects.Buchanan sits in a chair next to a table covered by a cloth andtopped by books. A feather pen sits in ink. The chair is turnedhalf-sideways from the camera. Buchanan has one leg crossed over theother. The nation he led was divided over slavery and the rights ofstates. Four years later, America was at war with itself. Theslave-holding South rebelled against the Union.

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Abraham Lincoln guided the nation through the Civil war. Anotherphoto by Mathew Brady shows President Lincoln at a military camp inAntietam, Maryland, in eighteen sixty-two. Lincoln stands betweentwo other officials. But their presence does not seem nearly asimportant compared to the very tall president with the very tallhat.

Both sides in the war suffered terrible losses at Antietam.Southern troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee withdrew.This gave the Union a chance to declare a victory. It also gaveLincoln a chance he had been waiting for. He announced that slavesin the South would be free as of the coming January of eighteensixty-three. The Civil War lasted from eighteen sixty-one untileighteen sixty-five.

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VOICE TWO:

William McKinley was president from eighteen ninety-seven untilhis death in nineteen-oh-one, when an anarchist shot him.

The National Archives exhibit shows McKinley during a visit tohis hometown in Ohio. He reaches out to greet children. He lookshappy and at ease. The image we see is really two pictures. Thesewere made to be looked at side-by-side in a device called astereoptican. This way pictures appeared to have depth.

Theodore Roosevelt followed McKinley in office. One photographshows Teddy Roosevelt in front of a huge tree. He loved the open airand he loved to hunt. But he also recognized the need to protectwildlife and nature. During his eight years in office, he createdmany national forests and other protected areas.

VOICE ONE:

A picture of Herbert Hoover shows him fishing in California.Another shows him speaking at a political meeting. Hoover waspresident from nineteen twenty-nine to nineteen thirty-three. Duringthis time the stock market crashed. This led to a worldwide economicdepression.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt followed Hoover in office. ThisRoosevelt was known as F.D.R. He was distantly related to Theodore.He helped raise the spirits of Americans during the worst of theGreat Depression. In fact, he was elected four times. After that theConstitution was amended to set a limit of two terms.

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The great camera artist Edward Steichen captured Roosevelt's facefrom the side. The picture is an image of strength. Yet mostAmericans did not know that Roosevelt needed help to walk. He wasdisabled by a polio infection. Pictures of him in his wheelchair orwearing leg braces were rare.

Franklin Roosevelt died unexpectedly in April of nineteenforty-five. Vice President Harry Truman became president. He led theUnited States through the final months of World War Two. PresidentTruman often spoke from the back of a train as he campaigned forelection in nineteen forty-eight. In one picture, he talks to acrowd at a train station in a small Southern town. Young people siton the station roof as they listen.

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Dwight Eisenhower was commanding general of the Allied forces inEurope during World War Two. He was a military hero. In nineteenfifty-two, he was elected president. A photograph in the exhibitshows President Eisenhower and his wife Mamie at a celebration oftheir thirty-ninth wedding anniversary. He has his arm around hershoulder. She has a bright smile on her face.

Photographer Paul Begley captured this image in the summer ofnineteen fifty-five at the family's home in Gettysburg,Pennsylvania. In September of that year, President Eisenhowersuffered a heart attack. But he recovered and was re-elected innineteen fifty-six.

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VOICE TWO:

In nineteen sixty Americans elected John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Inone of the pictures at the Archives, J.F.K. watches his youngdaughter playing in his White House office. Caroline and her youngerbrother, John Junior, often provided light moments forphotographers.

Another photo shows L.B.J., LyndonBaines Johnson. Johnson took office after the murder of PresidentKennedy in nineteen sixty-three. In the photo President Johnsonholds his dog Yuki. Both have their faces turned upward. They looklike they are singing together. Johnson's little grandson looks onin surprise.

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Richard Nixon is one of the few presidents pictured in color inthe exhibit. He was elected in nineteen sixty-eight.

A picture shows President Nixon with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai.The premier is showing the president how to eat with chopsticks. Thephoto was taken during the historic Nixon trip to China in nineteenseventy-two. That trip helped open relations between the twocountries.

On August eighth, nineteen seventy-four, Richard Nixon became theonly American president ever to resign. In doing so, he avoided thepossibility of removal from office over charges in Congress ofpolitical crimes.

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The pictures in the collection show presidents at work, at restand at play. In three photos side-by-side, Jimmy Carter and hisyoung daughter Amy run toward a helicopter at the White House.

Another picture shows President George H.W. Bush walking on theWhite House grounds. The Washington Monument stands tall in thebackground. This photo is from January of nineteen ninety-one, fivemonths after Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait. Mister Bush appearsdeep in thought. He had just approved a decision to go to war.

"The American Presidency: Photographic Treasures of the NationalArchives" continues through February twenty-first, in Washington,D.C. Internet users can find out more at the Web site of theNational Archives and Records Administration: nara.gov.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Please join us again next week for THIS ISAMERICA in VOA Special English.