Bust of MLK Joins President Obama in Oval Office
EmailWell, here’s another way President Obama has put his historic stamp on the presidency. With no fanfare or media attention, President Obama last month added a new decoration to the Oval Office: a 12 5/8" bronze bust of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The work, titled "Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)," is by celebrated African-American sculptor Charles Alston — the first African-American instructor at the Art Students League — who died in 1977. Created in 1970, it was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in 1974. When the Smithsonian lent the bust to the President Bill Clinton’s White House in 2000 to be displayed in the White House Library, that marked, believe it or not, the very first time that the image of an African-American was displayed in a public space in the White House. Pretty astounding, when you think about it, given the bust’s current place of honor. The King bust sits near the fireplace and adjacent a bust of President Abraham Lincoln, with the two legendary Americans facing President Obama when he sits at the HMS Resolute Desk. The Lincoln bust sits where a bust of Sir Winston Churchill — on loan from the British Embassy after the 9/11 attacks, and returned before Mr. Obama’s inauguration — once sat. — jpt
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Believe it or not, I noticed this same bust in a photograph the other day and wondered if it was something new. Thanks for solving the mystery!
Posted by: Groovymarlin | March 18, 2009, 10:05 pm 10:05 pm
Inspiration or identification?
Posted by: RR GOP | March 18, 2009, 10:08 pm 10:08 pm
uhhhhhh Jake if there was no Media attention, then why is it on here..DUH
Posted by: o-DUMB-ah and his cabinet of clowns | March 18, 2009, 10:08 pm 10:08 pm
The MLK,Jr bust most deservedly has a place in the Whitehouse. As did the Churchill bust. The latter was returned to the British, sadly, and the former’s ideals and fundamentals seem to be lost on this Administration.
Posted by: sybilll | March 18, 2009, 10:21 pm 10:21 pm
The (I won’t say my) president is wasting his time going on Leno???? My God what is this country coming to?
Posted by: Justme8811 | March 18, 2009, 10:37 pm 10:37 pm
thx jake, a lovely story. Let’s see if Chuck and Chip can match it in coming days.
Posted by: tw | March 18, 2009, 10:40 pm 10:40 pm
I much prefer the MLK bust to the Churchill bust.
Churchill was certainly a great guy, but Martin Luther King Jr. is a true AMERICAN hero.
Posted by: R Mutt | March 18, 2009, 10:47 pm 10:47 pm
Cracks me up when sheeple feel like they can sign their comments on behalf of “The American People”. That’s some audacious sheeat.
Posted by: Marc | March 18, 2009, 10:55 pm 10:55 pm
Dodd: Administration pushed for language protecting bonuses…
=====
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you got affirmative action nomination, you’ve got to acknowledge in some way to thank the pioneers.
However, now, Dodd has covered his butt – he was just doing the PB0′s fighting dog thing to be a good citizen, and PBO has taken the responsibility for rewarding the AIG bonuses. Then only remaining course left is for PBO to do the Grassley thing.
Bow and apologize, and then, resign and do a harry carry.
Viva our Dearest Leader for his Cluelessness derived from his Nothingness.
Posted by: kat | March 18, 2009, 10:55 pm 10:55 pm
jake? are you writing a home-decor column, or one having to do with politics?
Posted by: antijake | March 18, 2009, 11:09 pm 11:09 pm
Some of you folks are harsh on here! But, every now and then, we all need at least a minute’s break from the economy.It’s been AIG all day. Frankly, I don’t mind knowing that a bust of MLK is in the oval office. I’ve been waiting to know that some of the Bush juju has been swept out into the cold because I had not noticed many changes in the Oval Office in the pictures I’d seen.
Posted by: macnbc | March 19, 2009, 12:08 am 12:08 am
Obama should install a Sarah Palin calender in the White House now, He can get one free from NEWS MAX, he just have to pay for the shipping.
Posted by: Karl | March 19, 2009, 9:52 am 9:52 am
“The (I won’t say my) president is wasting his time going on Leno???? My God what is this country coming to?”
God forbid he find ways to speak to the people of this country, many of whom don’t watch the news. He thinks outside the box. That’s a good thing.
Posted by: silky | March 19, 2009, 10:37 am 10:37 am
To many of us Americans, this is a good thing. It is my hope that our Presidents looks to these two bust everyday for inspiration. Just from what I’ve read here, he’s going to need a bunch.
Posted by: fed up in nyc | March 19, 2009, 11:43 am 11:43 am
“IT is change we can all believe in”
Not me.
Outraged in Vancouver, Washington
Posted by: Marie | March 19, 2009, 11:44 am 11:44 am
So, if a German-American wins the Presidency will we see a bust of Hitler? Or how about a bust of Napoleon if an Italian-American wins? So obsurd!
Posted by: Mona | March 19, 2009, 12:27 pm 12:27 pm
“So, if a German-American wins the Presidency will we see a bust of Hitler? Or how about a bust of Napoleon if an Italian-American wins?”
So what’s sadder about this right wingers; the comparison of Hitler to MLK or thinking Napoleon was Italian?
Posted by: Ryan C | March 19, 2009, 12:39 pm 12:39 pm
Comforting to know he at least has a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN, MLK, watching over liberal decisions even if it is in spirit only; perhaps it will serve as a gentle reminder that the greats of greats were also Republicans.
Posted by: Parallax View | March 19, 2009, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
Sad.
Some of the reactions here tell me more than I wanted to know.
Posted by: Danny | March 19, 2009, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
“Comforting to know he at least has a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN, MLK,”
MLK’s father was the Republican, even initially endorsed Nixon in 1960.
MLK Jr wanted to be non partisan though he felt the Kennedys were the better bet for ending segregation though he had misgivings about them as well.
Posted by: Ryan C the original | March 19, 2009, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm
I think a bust of Lennin would have been more appropriate.
Posted by: Butch.F | March 19, 2009, 2:31 pm 2:31 pm
That bust looks a lot like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Roberts!
Posted by: sadsack | March 19, 2009, 2:56 pm 2:56 pm
“That bust looks a lot like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Roberts!”
Who is Clarence Roberts?
Posted by: Ryan C | March 19, 2009, 3:02 pm 3:02 pm
Not true ryan C, MLK was a Republican look it up..
Posted by: Parallax View | March 19, 2009, 7:56 pm 7:56 pm
“Not true ryan C, MLK was a Republican look it up.”
MLK Sr was a Republican who even endorsed Nixon until the Kennedys got his son out of jail.
MLK Jr, who is the MLK that we are most familiar with, was not a Republican.
Frances Rice just made it up as part of a GOP effort to reach out to African Americans by demonizing Democrats which fell resoundingly flat.
The truth?
The King Center in Atlanta says there is no proof that King was ever a Republican.
In “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” which was published after his death from his written material and records, King called the Republican national convention that nominated Goldwater a “frenzied wedding … of the KKK and the radical right.”
“The Republican Party geared its appeal and program to racism, reaction, and extremism,” King said in the book.
Posted by: Ryan C | March 19, 2009, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
If Hillary was President she wouldn’t be worring about a bust, she’d be getting this country back on track. Obama is “present”, just “present”.
Posted by: from Ohio | March 19, 2009, 9:46 pm 9:46 pm
American Idol?
Posted by: from Ohio | March 19, 2009, 9:49 pm 9:49 pm
Napoleon WAS Italian, genius.
Posted by: Odumbo | March 19, 2009, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
OK Groovymarlin, ever curious as to the ultimate reason the country is in the shape it’s in? Just browse some of these posts.
Re. the story… It’s neat to see some of the little things, human interest things, that go on in this administration, which by the way, will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest in our nation’s history. Congress will be overturning the Twenty-second Amendment before “that one” is out of office LOL.
Posted by: kambul | March 20, 2009, 9:24 am 9:24 am
“Napoleon WAS Italian, genius.”
The Island of Corsica was French territory well before Napoleon was born there.
Genius…
Posted by: Ryan C | March 20, 2009, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
The aide that made the original mistake about the gift exchange should read ‘HMS Resolute’ by Elizabeth Matthews and help the President to make ammends when he meets the Queen in April by giving a US Navy document regarding RESOLUTE and her return to Britain. The gift of the ship in 1856 was a very Obama-like gesture of ‘unclenching the fist to shake the hand’ and the $44,000 invested then by Congress has paid a fantastic peace dividend ever since- a lesson to all politicians.
Posted by: Wiliam Cavendish | March 20, 2009, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm