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President-elect Jimmy Carter, in the middle, is given a tour of President Gerald Ford’s private office situated next to the Oval Office of the White House in November 1976. Ford is positioned on the right, while his secretary, Dorothy Downton, is on the left.
David Hume Kennerly recollects the initial occasion he captured an image of Jimmy Carter.
It was in 1976, during Carter’s inaugural debate with President Gerald Ford, and Kennerly was not particularly fond of the Georgia governor who appeared to emerge from nowhere to secure the Democratic nomination.
“He was sporting that iconic beaming smile, and I instantly developed a dislike for him, his grin, and what he was attempting to do to my boss,” Kennerly recounted with amusement.
Kennerly served as the primary official photographer for the White House under Ford, who was significantly trailing in the polls against Carter and would ultimately lose the election.
“Carter was essentially a candidate that came from the sidelines,” Kennerly expressed in an interview with CNN. “He had not been present on the national platform, yet he had spent years preparing for this. In hindsight, it was among the most remarkable campaigns ever conducted in America. … Naturally, I failed to recognize that at the moment since I was Ford’s photographer.”
Throughout the years, Kennerly’s perspective on Carter evolved — much of this was influenced by the demeanor exhibited by Ford, who treated Carter with kindness during the transition of power and would later become his ally.
“They became familiar with one another and realized there was more to appreciate than to criticize, which was very motivating for me,” Kennerly remarked.
Individuals display campaign placards in Milwaukee during October 1976.
Ford and Carter stroll together outside the White House in November 1976. Carter prevailed in the election earlier that month.
As Ford’s principal White House photographer, Kennerly gained privileged access to numerous events from the transition, including Carter’s visit to the White House a mere 20 days following the election.
“It was the initial occasion Jimmy Carter had ever entered the White House, which is quite astonishing,” Kennerly remarked.
Kennerly vividly recalls one panoramic image he captured in the Oval Office, featuring Carter and Ford exchanging handshakes.
“That was the instance when Ford leaned over and stated, ‘Jimmy, I haven’t truly congratulated you on your win.’ And there was no one else present apart from just me and them,” Kennerly reminisced. The two individuals are positioned quite far from the lens, rendering the Oval Office appear remarkably expansive, and Kennerly interprets it as a symbol of their responsibilities.
Another of Kennerly’s beloved photographs from that visit features White House chief of staff Dick Cheney, a future vice president, giving Carter a disapproving look.
“He genuinely did not appreciate Carter. I mean, none of us did,” Kennerly expressed. “Ford was actually quite calm about it, but we had all cherished President Ford and somewhat took it to heart. The evening he lost the election, I was very moved by it.”
During the visit, Ford even showed Carter around his personal office.
“His private secretary, Dorothy Downton, looks at Carter as if he’d just stepped out of an alien spacecraft,” Kennerly commented regarding the photograph at the top of this article. “Ford extended the offer of that private office to Carter, which is literally just through the door, adjacent to the Oval. But that depicted how welcoming he was, and that’s the customary practice.”
Carter and Ford participate in a White House reception prior to Carter’s inauguration in January 1977. From left are Carter and Carter’s spouse, Rosalynn; Ford and Ford’s spouse, Betty; Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and his wife, Happy; and Vice President-elect Walter Mondale and his spouse, Eleanor.
Carter enjoys a cup of coffee at the White House reception before his inauguration. Most outgoing presidents have attended the inauguration of their successors, according to David Hume Kennerly, Ford’s chief White House photographer and a presidential scholar at the University of Arizona.
Kennerly was also present capturing images when Carter returned to the White House for his inauguration in January 1977. Carter and Ford were at a reception with their spouses, sharing coffee before proceeding to Capitol Hill for the swearing-in ceremony.
Although Kennerly could not accompany them to the Capitol, he managed to set up a camera with a wide-angle lens within the presidential limousine. A Secret Service agent sitting in the front utilized a cable release to manage the shutter for Kennerly during the journey.
“In the end, when I retrieved the footage, (the agent) remarked, ‘Oh, I don’t believe the images are very impressive; they barely interacted with each other.’ I responded, ‘No, that’s actually positive!’ ” Kennerly remembered. “When I presented Carter that photograph, many years afterward, he mentioned it was a rather uncomfortable journey.”
At the Capitol, Kennerly was merely a few feet away from Carter post-swearing-in. As Carter saluted the audience, Ford is visible on the left side.
“He’s the former president right then and there and I’m the former chief White House photographer of that moment,” Kennerly recounted. “I found myself without a job as of 12:01 on January 20, and I instantly commenced shooting for Time magazine. That image was captured for Time.”
While Ford’s successor was just beginning, there was no designated chief official White House photographer for Kennerly. Carter opted not to appoint one. He stands out as the only president without one since Yoichi Okamoto was the inaugural photographer for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963.
“Carter was sort of dismantling the imperial aura surrounding the office that was emphasized by Richard Nixon,” stated Kennerly, now a presidential scholar at the University of Arizona. Kennerly was also frequently in the headlines back then “due to people I was seeing and similar matters. I didn’t appreciate it because it was awkward to be on that side of the lens. However, I garnered a significant amount of attention. A lot of folks recognized me, and I suppose I represented what (the Carter administration) wanted to avoid. Carter was personally handling his own luggage and wearing his cardigan — you know, man of the people kind of behavior.”
Carter maintained a team of photographers — many of whom were employed under Kennerly — but, according to Kennerly, there wasn’t a single individual who had the same level of access to Carter as he possessed with Ford.
“I believe Carter was at a disadvantage without a photographer who had substantial access to him,” Kennerly remarked. “He was a fascinating individual. … I think if you have genuine access to someone and can capture them in action without staging photographs — simply, documenting them at work — I think it provides a better understanding of who they are. My objective wasn’t to portray Ford as favorable or unfavorable, but merely to exhibit him for who he was.”
Following Ford’s presidency, Kennerly managed to photograph Carter intermittently on assignment. He was present in Washington during one of Carter’s significant achievements, the endorsement of the Camp David Accords in 1978, and he successfully persuaded Carter’s team to permit him to attach a camera inside the limousine again as Carter was transported to Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981.
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Citizens gather along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, to receive the Americans who were liberated by Iran in January 1981.
William Daugherty, one of the Americans held captive by Iran, is welcomed by family members at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Seven days later, Kennerly was present at Andrews Air Force Base capturing images of the return of American hostages from Iran. The crisis concerning hostages in Iran had significantly undermined Carter’s prospects for reelection.
“Naturally, Carter’s presidency is largely recalled for that, which is regrettable,” Kennerly expressed. “I assess events within a historical framework. Now that we are many years past that time, Camp David is truly what he ought to be remembered for. Not the hostages, despite that occurring under his administration.”
Kennerly embarked on his journey as a news photographer in 1966, at the age of 19. He became part of United Press International, a news agency, in 1967 and took his first pictures of a president, Richard Nixon, during the 1968 election campaign. He has captured images of the last eleven presidents, including Johnson, whom he photographed post-presidency.
“Politics has truly flowed through my veins and has defined my career,” stated Kennerly, who also received a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his coverage of the Vietnam War.
In 1981, Reagan appointed Michael Evans as his chief White House photographer, a role that has persisted through Joe Biden and his official photographer, Adam Schultz.
Contemplating the role today, Kennerly asserted it differs from its previous form.
A significant aspect of this change is the immense quantity of photographs being shared — “much more material being released, akin to a fire hose of images, purely due to social media,” Kennerly explained. “It has transformed a great deal. However, the mission itself hasn’t really shifted. I believe that all of us who have held this position, our primary objective remains the history of the presidency and its documentation. And that was how I approached it. Ford never expressed to me, ‘I disliked that picture’ or ‘You can’t capture that.’ He truly allowed me to operate freely.”
Following Carter’s passing on December 29 at the age of 100, Kennerly reviewed his archive and expressed his astonishment at the multitude of excellent images he captured of Carter, despite not covering him extensively during his presidency.
He and Carter encountered each other numerous times throughout the years, with Kennerly noting that Carter recognized him and was consistently very kind — even if Kennerly remarked that the former president could be “prickly” at times and was not one to tolerate foolishness.
“He was an exceptionally generous individual. His faith was important to him,” Kennerly stated. “I didn’t develop a close acquaintance with him, but I did witness those attributes of his. He simply conducted matters in the manner he preferred.”
The bond between Carter and Ford strengthened over the years as they worked together on various matters and supported one another’s presidential libraries well after their time in office.
“They exemplify how political adversaries can evolve into genuine friends,” Kennerly commented. “They provide a valuable lesson for the present day, which fundamentally involves two individuals aligning in order to achieve that bond.”
“Gerald Ford has always served as an excellent example for me regarding how to treat individuals and how to make choices. He embodied the ideal of doing the right thing. The same goes for Jimmy Carter.”
