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Category: U.S. Presidents

Closeup photograph of the spine of three leather-bound volumes, one of them reading "Political Pamphlets"

Thomas Jefferson’s Library…

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Recreating Thomas Jefferson's personal library, which became the DNA of the Library of Congress, has been a fascination for antiquarians since an 1851 fire burned about two thirds of his original books. But for 27 years, one of the Library’s most ardent projects has been to examine its own stacks, other libraries, rare book dealers and antiquarians from multiple countries to replace the burned and missing volumes with exact copies — the same edition, publisher and so on — to replicate the world view that led the author of the Declaration of Independence to pen such a world-changing set of ideas. That effort is now getting as close to complete as it is ever likely to get.

Promotional poster for the "Two Georges" exhibit, featuring the faces of King George III and George Washington.

Parallel Lives: King George and George Washington, Featured in an Upcoming Exhibit

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Because George Washington and King George III were on opposite sides of America’s war of independence from Britain, we have learned to think of them as opposites. Our research for an upcoming Library of Congress exhibition, “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution,” however, has turned up something much more interesting: They were surprisingly alike in temperament, interests and, despite the obvious differences in their lives and experiences.

A lush portrait of two royal boys, lavishly dressed in an ornate room.

Washington’s Plot to Kidnap a British Prince

Posted by: Mark Hartsell

During the Revolutionary War, George Washington approved an audacious plan to kidnap King George's third son, Prince William, then in New York, and hold him hostage -- with all the greatest respect. The attempt was never made, for which the future King William IV was grateful when he later learned of the plot.

A brown, very faded, falling apart leather notebook cover, opened to show front and back

George Washington: Land Surveyor

Posted by: Neely Tucker

George Washington made his living as a land surveyor from ages 17 to 20, an enterprise that took him deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains in what is now Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. His diaries and surveying field notebooks are preserved at the Library, along with the rest of his papers, and are featured in a new exhibit, "The Two Georges."

Medium length photo of Rubenstein standing in front of Joe Biden as the president drapes a medal around his neck.

David Rubenstein, Chair of the Library’s Madison Council, Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posted by: Carla D. Hayden

"On Saturday, Jan. 4, Library of Congress James Madison Council chair David M. Rubenstein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. This is a crowning achievement for his passionate support of our nation’s history and culture and the arts." -- A special blog from Librarian Carla D. Hayden

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter posing with a family with an infant after he taught his Sunday School lesson at the Maranantha Baptist Church in the Carters' hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Jimmy Carter, Nation’s 39th President, Passes Away at 100

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Former president Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. Carter, the nation's 39th president, served from 1977 to 1981. In addition to his international peacekeeping missions, spent much of his retirement with his wife, Rosalynn, helping to build houses for the disadvantaged with the charity Habitat for Humanity. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

The illuminated Capitol Building, shown from a distance, with a blue-black sky in the background.

Inventing the Capitol Building

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The U.S. Capitol building, the worldwide symbol of American democracy, got its beginnings on a piece of paper on the Caribbean island of Tortola, sketched out by a temperamental doctor in his early 30s. William Thornton's "Tortola Scheme" sketch laid the groundwork for a building that has expanded with the nation, growing from the original bid for a modest 15-room brick building into a complex covering 1.5 million square feet with more than 600 rooms and miles of hallways over a ground area of about 4 acres.

John and Jacqueline Kennedy pose on a grassy lawn on their wedding day, her white gown flowing behind her

Black Dressmakers for First Ladies

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Two Black seamstresses have left their mark on White House fashion history, as Elizabeth Keckley and Ann Lowe designed dresses for two of the nation’s most famous first ladies, Mary Todd Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy, respectively. Both designers developed their craft despite the brutal influences of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. This piece tells their stories.

Color photo of a man wearing a colorful shirt, seated at a desk with two computer monitors in front of him showing different images of Abraham Lincoln.

160 Years Later … Where Did Lincoln Stand While Delivering the Gettysburg Address?

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Christopher Oakley, a prominent film animator turned university historian, used his knowledge of computer modeling -- and his research at the LIbrary of Congress -- to help solve a small but important mystery: Where exactly did Lincoln stand while delivering his famed Gettysburg Address?