John James Audubon and the American Presidency
Look at the John Syme portrait of John James Audubon that is now included in the White House art collection, and you get a quick idea of Audubon’s gifts as a showman. Today, Audubon (1785–1851) endures in popular memory as the world’s most famous artist of birds. But when he agreed to pose for Syme in 1826, Audubon was still strugg