George H.W. Bush’s nod to White House ‘photodogs’

Bush composed this nod to press photographers at the request of the AP in 2012, and his comments were used to introduce AP’s “The American President” photo exhibit the same year.

Bush wrote:

Like most — if not all — who have been privileged to serve as president of the United States, I did not always have the warmest of relations with the news media. In fact, it wasn’t until after I left the White House and joined a local chapter of “Press Bashers Anonymous” that I realized every chief executive dating back to President Washington has been routinely criticized and second-guessed by the Fourth Estate. But for me, relations were always much warmer with the news photographers — or “photodogs,” as I called them — who covered the White House. Without exception, the photodogs I knew were a decent, hard-working and good-natured group of dedicated professionals who were passionate about their work. It could be that I loved the photodogs because they wielded their talents behind the camera, and let their work speak for them. Yet, there was something more to it. They were fun, and always so nice to Barbara and me. The men and women who have covered the White House for the AP dating back to the middle of the 19th century have truly had a “front row seat to history.” Through their lenses, succeeding generations of AP photodogs have captured both the ecstasy and agony of the American Presidency, and contributed in important ways to the historical record of each administration. George H.W. Bush

Explore “The American President.”