The oldest photograph of a U.S. President: Remarkable 1843 image of John Quincy Adams. . . that he called 'hideous'

A photograph of John Quincy Adams that he described as 'hideous' is now venerated in history as one of the oldest surviving photos of a U.S. president.

The photograph, taken during an uneventful trip to New York in August of 1843, turned up in an antique store in the 1970s and was bought for 50 cents.

It is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery under the care of the Smithsonian.



This picture of John Quincy Adams was bought for 50 cents in an antique shop. It was taken in 1843

Adams was the sixth president of the United States, serving for four years between 1823 and 1829.

In a diary entry dated Aug. 1, 1843, Adams described posing for the photograph during a visit to Utica Female Academy in New York.



After he delivered a short speech, 'The shaking of some hundred hands then followed and on my way returning to Mr. Johnson's, I stopped and four daguerreotype likenesses of my head were taken, two of them jointly with the head of Mr. Bacon - all hideous.'

The daguerrotype was the machine that was used to take the photographs of Adams.

Another photograph was taken of Adams at home in Quincy, Massachusetts, around the same time. Less is known about this photograph, except that it was taken by Philip Haas

He was 76 at the time that the photograph was taken.

In addition to snapping some photos while in New York, Adams also called on an 11-year-old child dwarf nicknamed General Tom Thumb, he wrote.



Another photograph was taken of Adams at home in Quincy, Massachusetts, around the same time. Less is known about this photograph, except that it was taken by Philip Haas.