24 photos of presidential candidates taken at exactly the right moment
Talia Lakritz
- Presidential candidates are photographed everywhere they go.
- Some candidates, like Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, have been photographed taking much-needed naps during their busy campaigning schedules.
- The Iowa State Fair has also presented plentiful opportunities for candid shots of presidential hopefuls.
Presidential candidates spend months on the road meeting constituents, sharing their ideas, and posing for endless pictures. Some of these photo-ops are planned, while other times press photographers happen to capture amusing moments on the campaign trail.
As the 2020 election season comes to a close, here are 24 photos of presidential candidates that were snapped at just the right moment.
A photographer caught Dwight Eisenhower napping during his 1952 campaign.
The photo was taken while Eisenhower rested after a two-day speaking tour of the South. He was elected in 1952 and served two terms.
Richard Nixon, then Eisenhower's vice president, also dozed off while traveling between Hawaiian islands in 1960.
Nixon successfully ran for president himself in 1968, but resigned in 1972 amid the Watergate scandal.
Children peeked in through a window while John F. Kennedy worked on a speech during a campaign stop in Baltimore in 1960.
"Life" photographer Paul Schutzer captured the interaction. Kennedy was elected that year, but his term tragically ended when he was assassinated in 1963.
This baby didn't seem too excited about meeting presidential hopeful Jimmy Carter.
During a campaign stop in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, Carter posed with 4-month-old Joseph Sumner. Democrat Carter won the 1976 election and served one term.
Ronald Reagan threw back his head and laughed at an audience member's joke during a rally in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1979.
Reagan was elected in 1980 and served two terms.
George H.W. Bush gave a cheesy grin while campaigning during his first presidential run in 1980.
George H.W. Bush served as vice president under Ronald Reagan for eight years before being elected president in 1988.
Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart joked around with journalists by putting a blue pillowcase on his head while campaigning during the 1984 primaries.
Hart, who was aboard his campaign plane at the time of this photo, lost the Democratic primary to Walter Mondale, who was then defeated by the incumbent Ronald Reagan.
Republican Pat Buchanan tried out a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 1996 during the Republican primaries.
Buchanan was on a visit to Walt Industries in Taylor, Michigan, which manufactures accessories and parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He ended up losing the primary to Bob Dole, who then lost to Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton.
George W. Bush got friendly with a parrot mascot at a Mexican Independence festival in Detroit in 1999.
Bush won the 2000 election and served two terms in the White House.
During a campaign trip along the Mississippi River in 2000, Al Gore joked around with his press pool.
Democrat Gore won the popular vote but narrowly lost the election when the Supreme Court halted Florida's recount order in the Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore. He went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize and an Academy Award for his work in the fight against climate change.
While campaigning in Iowa in 2004, Howard Dean participated in a Stella's Blue Sky Diner tradition by getting a milkshake poured on his head.
Dean lost the 2004 Democratic primary to John Kerry.
John Kerry dashed past reporters in a 2004 Fourth of July parade in Cascade, Iowa.
Democrat Kerry lost to incumbent George W. Bush in 2004.
Back in 2008 when Joe Biden was Barack Obama's running mate, he was photographed with an ice cream cone in each hand.
The pair made a campaign stop at the Windmill Ice Cream Shop in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.
On a campaign stop in Santa Ana, California, John McCain's head fit perfectly inside the "C" on the banner behind him.
McCain lost the 2008 election to Barack Obama. After his defeat, the Arizona Republican returned to the Senate.
Obama made a face when he dialed a wrong number while calling to thank campaign volunteers in Orlando, Florida, in 2012.
The image was taken at the "Obama For America" field office in October 2012 as he campaigned for a second term in the White House. He went on to defeat challenger Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney made Wendy's cashiers in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, laugh on Election Day in 2012.
Romney, who lost his presidential bid to Obama, ordered a Wendy's quarter-pound burger, chili, and a Frosty for the last meal on his campaign trail, the Washington Post reported.
Bernie Sanders gave an animated speech in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2016.
Sanders lost the 2016 Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump tried to hold supporters' babies while campaigning in Colorado in 2016, but they weren't having it.
Trump met 3-month-old Kellen Campbell from Denver, who is pictured on the right, and 6-month-old Evelyn Keane from Castle Rock after giving a speech at the University of Colorado.
Hillary Clinton had an unexpected guest at a homecoming football game in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2016 — a giant cutout of Obama's head.
Clinton, who had run against Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008, served as secretary of state in his administration from 2009 to 2013. In 2016, she won the popular vote but lost the presidential election to Donald Trump, who won the Electoral College with 304 votes. Clinton won 227.
A regular campaign stop before the Iowa caucuses, the Iowa State Fair presents plentiful opportunities for candid shots, like Cory Booker's Ferris wheel ride.
The New Jersey senator dropped out of the race in January 2020.
Pete Buttigieg tasted a root beer float while talking to reporters.
Buttigieg, who made history as the first openly gay person to launch a presidential campaign and the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential primary or caucus, dropped out of the primary race in March 2020.
Before Kamala Harris went on stage to speak at the fair, her husband, Doug Emhoff, snapped a selfie and showed off his campaign swag phone case.
Harris ended her presidential bid in December 2019. In August 2020, Biden named her as his running mate.
Amid a swarming crowd at the Iowa State Fair in 2019, Elizabeth Warren shared a pinky promise with a young girl.
Warren dropped out of the Democratic primary in March 2020.
A bee flew close to Trump's face as he addressed reporters weeks before the 2020 election.
Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
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