Harry Benson Washington DC: Iconic Photographs for the Nation’s Capital, is the title of the exhibition presented for 6 months by Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Ted and Lynn Leonsis.
Located next door to Capital One Arena at 707-709 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, the gallery spans two floors and over 10,000 square feet. The exhibit, which is free and, features over 150 photographs including every president and first lady since Dwight Eisenhower, iconic photographs of athletes including Muhammad Ali, musicians, including a behind the scenes look at The Beatles arrival to the United States, a historic chronicling of the civil rights movement in America.
Alice Paul, 1970
Born in 1885, suffragette Alice Paul was an original women’s rights advocate. The feisty feminist posed for me at her home near Washington, D.C. in 1970 pointing to an original banner demanding an amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. She was a true original with an amazing life story from leading a hunger strike to being jailed several times for protesting in 1917 outside the White House. She later served as the leader of the National Woman’s Party for Equal Rights. – Harry Benson
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, 1962
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy visited London in 1962 during her husband, JFK’s presidency. I read the schedule for the royal family that was published every day and saw that Mrs. Kennedy was to have lunch with Queen Elizabeth… I rushed over to Buckingham Palace and took this photograph as Mrs. Kennedy’s car was about to enter the gates of Buckingham Palace. – Harry Benson
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, 1974
Two cub reporters at the Washington Post newspaper, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, uncovered the origin of the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate compound. Their diligence led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 just shortly after his re-election to a second term.
Photographed in their office at the newspaper, the duo were an unlikely pair with totally different approaches to journalism. Yet, actually that difference was an advantage during their investigation. And with the help of an informant they referred to as “deep throat,” the source of the burglary unfolded before them. – Harry Benson
The 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear, 1966
The 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear, Canton, Mississippi. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is joined by Civil Rights Leader Ralph Abernathy and John Lewis who later served in the U.S. Congress House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020. – Harry Benson
Harry Benson with First Lady Nancy Reagan, 1999
Harry with First Lady Nancy Reagan taken in 1999 at the Reagan’s home in Bel Air, California.
President Obama, 2009
As I had photographed every president since Eisenhower, and LIFE magazine had ended, my colleague at NEWSWEEK Simon Barnett gave me the assignment “A Day at the White House with President Obama.” It was a welcomed assignment. Now I am glad to have gone on to photograph 13 presidents from Eisenhower to Biden. – Harry Benson
Ethel Kennedy & Joe Biden, 2018
In April 11, 2018, my wife Gigi and I were celebrating with our friend Ethel Kennedy on her 90th birthday in Palm Beach, Florida. I happened to take a photo of Ethel as she watched her grandchildren sing “Happy Birthday” to her. Along with her daughter Kerry and a Democratic congressman on her right, seated to her left the future President Joe Biden intently watched the performance. – Harry Benson
Donald & Melania Trump, 2014
In 2014 before he became president I photographed Donald Trump with his lovely wife Melania in their New York penthouse apartment in Trump Tower. – Harry Benson
