Bush team sits for official portraits at $40,000 a pop: honorable tradition or taxpayer rip-off?
The tradition dates back to the Renaissance, when portraiture was a function of history, an attempt to document for posterity the greatness of great men.
And in the early days of the United States, the founders saw a political purpose in commissioning official portraits. George Washington sat for Gilbert Stuart. Defenders argue that a painting is still the most permanent archive of history.
But with the economy tanking, some are asking if we really need portraits of every Cabinet member and sub-Cabinet official to hang on an agency's walls. Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, told the Washington Post that in this age of digital photography, agencies should consider using photos.
I think most people like the tradition of presidents having their portraits painted. But where does the line get drawn? Somewhere between the president to Cabinet agency to sub-Cabinet -- somewhere along the way, I'm pretty sure that you'd lose wide public support.
But the temptation to try for immortality must be great. When he first took office in 1977, President Jimmy Carter called portraits "unnecessary luxury" and ordered his Cabinet members to use photos instead. But his portrait hangs in the White House, as does Rosalyn Carter's.
Perhaps the quandary is best summed-up by an art historian, David Bjelajac. The George Washington University professor told the Post, "A photograph has an association with journalistic everyday life, whereas a painted image suggests something that transcends the moment."
So, as the Post's Christopher Lee found in a survey of the agencies, the Defense Department is awaiting delivery of former Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's portrait ($46,790). NASA paid $25,000 for a portrait of former administrator Daniel S. Goldin. And the Environmental Protection Agency forked over $29,500 for a portrait of outgoing Secretary Stephen L. Johnson. That's on top of the $19,000 that the National Cancer Institute paid for a portrait of former director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, now head of the Food and Drug Administration.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo credit: Gary Hershorn / Reuters
