Main Content

James Polk's cabinet

James Polk's cabinet

President Polk and his cabinet assembled in the State Dining Room. An image of dual historical significance: the earliest photographic record of a White House interior and the first photograph of a U.S. President and his advisors. Seated, left to right: Attorney General John Y. Mason, Secretary of War William Marcy, President Polk, Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker; standing: Postmaster General Cave Johnson (center); Secretary of the navy George Bancroft. One of President Monroe's mantels imported from Italy can be seen in the background. Half-plate daguerreotype, approximately 4 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches, attributed to John Plumbe, Jr.

Date of Work
1846
Medium
Daguerreotype
Credit
James K. Polk Memorial

Share

Related

Related
Next The American Presidents Song

You Might Also Like

  • Page

    The American Presidents Song

    The origin of the "American Presidents" by Genevieve Ryan Bellaire is somewhat unique. One year, Genevieve's father asked her to memorize the order of the Presidents of the United States for Father's Day. As she did, she began to come up with rhymes to help her remember each President. After sharing this method with her family, they told her that

  • Page

    The Presidents and the Theatre

    Read Digital Edition Foreword, William SealeThe Man Who Came to Dinner at the White House: Alexander Woollcott Visits the Roosevelts, Mary Jo Binker The Curse of the Presidential Musical: Mr. President and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Amy HendersonFord's Theatre and the White House, William O'Brien The American Presidents and Shakespeare, Paul F. Boller Jr.Opera for the President: Superstars and Song in

  • Page

    Carriages of the Presidents

    Before the twentieth century, the presidents' vehicles were not armored-plated or specially built. Their carriages were similar to those of citizens of wealth. Often they were gifts from admirers. George Washington had the most elaborate turn out of the presidents for state occasions, sporting a cream-colored carriage drawn by six matched horses "all brilliantly caparisoned." Coachmen and footmen wore livery

  • Page

    Presidents at the Races

    No sport created more excitement, enthusiasm and interest in the colonial period and the early republic than horse racing. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson took immense pride in their horses and bred them to improve the bloodlines of saddle, work, carriage and racehorses. Early presidents loved horse racing, the most popular sport in America at that time. George Washington,

  • Page

    The Presidents and Sports

    Read Digital Version Forward by William SealeThe Presidents and Baseball: Presidential Openers and Other Traditions by Frederic J. FrommerUlysses S. Grant's White House Billiard Saloon by David RamseyTheodore Roosevelt: The President Who Saved Football by Mary Jo BinkerHoover Ball and Wellness in the White House by Matthew SchaeferCapturing A Moment in Time: Remembering My Summer Photographing President Eisenhower by Al

  • Collection

    The Historic Stephen Decatur House

    In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and buil

  • Collection

    "The President's Own"

    On July 11, 1798, Congress passed legislation that created the United States Marine Corps and the Marine Band, America's oldest professional musical organization. The United States Marine Band has been nicknamed "The President's Own" because of its historic connection to the president of the United States. At its origin, the fledgling band consisted of a Drum Major, a Fife Major and 32 drums