Presidential Reception Moments

Candid and posed images of a couple at diplomatic receptions and events, showcasing formal attire and intimate interactions in elegant settings.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wait in the Green Room before hosting a Diplomatic Corps Reception in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 5, 2010.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wait in the Green Room before hosting a Diplomatic Corps Reception in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 5, 2010.
148 assets in this story
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Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman meets with U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2021.
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First Lady Michelle Obama greets service members after a Toys for Tots service project at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Toys for Tots Distribution Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2013.
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President Barack Obama greets guests during a Federal Judges Association reception in the East Room of the White House, May 6, 2014.
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wave goodbye to President Shimon Peres of Israel on the North Portico of the White House following the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony and dinner in his honor, June 13, 2012.
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U.S. Air Force General Roger A. Brady, commander U.S. Air Force in Europe, stands in the background while First Lady Michelle Obama talks to service members and their families during a Veterans Day dinner at the Officers Club, Ramstein AB, Germany, Nov. 11, 2010. The First Lady made a surprise visit to Ramstein during her return from a nine-day tour of Asia to show her support for service members and their families during this Veterans Day.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hosts the annual Department of State Retirement Ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on January 28, 2014.
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Visit of figure skating star Michelle Kwan to State, where she joined Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes in the Treaty Room for the announcement of Kwan's appointment as the first American Public Diplomacy Envoy. In the role, Kwan, a five time World Champion and two time Olympic medalist, will reach out to international young people by visiting their schools and clubs to speak about leadership and to engage them in dialogue on social and educational issues.
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First Lady Michelle Obama and First Lady Akie Abe of Japan are greeted by Obama family pets Bo and Sunny in the Ground Floor Corridor of the White House, April 28, 2015.
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President Barack Obama talks with Thelma Maxine Pippen McNair, mother of Denise McNair, after signing H.R. 360 in the Oval Office, May 24, 2013. The legislation provides for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to commemorate the lives of the four young African American victims of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in September 1963.
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President Bush meets with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
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Event honoring the Washington National Opera in the Benjamin Franklin Room, with appearances by Secretary Condoleezza Rice and other Department officials
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President Barack Obama attends a reception hosted by HRH Charles, Prince of Wales during the NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, Sept. 4, 2014.
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President Bush meets with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
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President Barack Obama signs the prosthetic arm of Sgt. Carlos Evans, USMC, after greeting wounded warriors in the East Room during their tour of the White House, March 6, 2012. First Lady Michelle Obama first met Evans, who was injured in Afghanistan while on his fourth combat deployment, during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2010.
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Annalena Baerbock, Bundesaussenministerin, und Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Generaldirektorin der Welthandelsorganisation, im Rahmen der Eroeffnung der Konferenz der Leiterinnen und Leiter der deutschen Auslandsvertretungen. Berlin, 04.09.2023
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President George Bush with Secretary Condoleezza Rice at Summit of U.S. University Presidents on International Education, Dean Acheson Auditorium
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President Bush delivers the state of the union
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Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Dr. Eric Lander as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in the Vice Presidents Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House.
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Condi Rice, Robert Gates and Peter Pace speak to the media
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President George W. Bush touring offices in Main Interior, meeting Department officials and staff
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President Barack Obama fist-bumps Make-a-Wish child Juan Blanco in the Oval Office, Oct. 6, 2010.
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First Lady Michelle Obama attends a Memorial Day ceremony with Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) families at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 26, 2014.
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Barcelona....12...7....2002....Closing of the international AIDS conference Barcelona 2002. Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela....Photo Yolanda Cardo....Archdc.
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Welcoming ceremony upon the return of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) from the Far East, 11:15AM. Welcoming ceremony upon the return of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson from their trip to Southeast Asia, during which they visited Vietnam, Laos, India, Formosa (Taiwan), and the Philippines. President John F. Kennedy speaks into microphones; photographers, reporters, and Secret Service agents stand by. Also pictured: Vice President Johnson; Mrs. Johnson; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Carl T. Rowan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn (Texas); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); Congressman Carl Albert (Oklahoma); Senator George A. Smathers (Florida); Senator Everett M. Dirksen (Illinois); Ambassador of Nicaragua and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Dr. Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa; Executive Secretary of National Aeronautics and Space Council, Edward C. Welsh; Assistant Chief of Protocol for Visits and Public Events, Samuel
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama stand with the honorees at the 2010 International Women of Courage at the U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. March 10, 2010.
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Visit of figure skating star Michelle Kwan to State, where she joined Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes in the Treaty Room for the announcement of Kwan's appointment as the first American Public Diplomacy Envoy. In the role, Kwan, a five time World Champion and two time Olympic medalist, will reach out to international young people by visiting their schools and clubs to speak about leadership and to engage them in dialogue on social and educational issues.
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010.
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President George W. Bush touring offices in Main Interior, meeting Department officials and staff
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Swearing-in ceremony, reception for Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, with President George W. Bush, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Interior officials, Kempthorne family and friends on hand
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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk from the Oval Office of the White House Friday, March 12, 2021, to the Rose Garden to deliver remarks on the American Rescue Plan.
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June 30, 2014. President Barack Obama meets with President Michelle Bachelet of Chile in the Oval Office.
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President George W. Bush on visit to Main Interior, talking and posing with Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and top aides in and around the Secretary's office
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President George W. Bush on visit to Main Interior, talking and posing with Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and top aides in and around the Secretary's office
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First Lady Melania Trump poses for a photo with 2017 International Women of Courage Awardee Fadia Najib Thabet of Yemen during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2017.
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President Barack Obama with Ernie Banks, Nov. 20, 2013. Banks was one of the first African Americans to play in Major League Baseball when he joined the Chicago Cubs in 1953. Hanks had just received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (BSLOC_2015_3_75)
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President George W. Bush jokes with singer Aaron Neville after the entertainment for the White House State Dinner for the Nation's Governors on February 26, 2006.
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First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks to military children and families during a preview screening of a Veterans Day episode of Disney's "Doc McStuffins," that explores the emotions children face when a parent is deployed, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, Nov. 10, 2014.
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton poses for a photo at the 35th Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., December 1, 2012.
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President Barack Obama is given a pastry before departing Ottawa, Canada during his first official foreign trip, Feb. 19, 2009.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry pose for a photo with the 2014 Kennedy Center Honorees -- singer Al Green, actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks, ballerina Patricia McBride, singer-songwriter Sting, and comedienne Lily Tomlin -- after a dinner hosted by the Secretary at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2014.
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First Lady Michelle Obama and Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Rick Stengel pose for a photo with "Tweet Up" participants prior to the International Women of Courage Awards at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2014.
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The 2016 Kennedy Center Honorees poses for a photo at the Kennedy Center Honors Dinner, attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 2016.
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Foreign Affairs Day 2005 ceremonies, speeches, award presentations in the Dean Acheson Auditorium. The Director General of the Foreign Service, W. Robert Pearson, and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns, were among the speakers and award presenters. Among award recipients were Thomas Pickering, former Under Secretary for Political Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, Jordan, and the United Nations; William Calderhead, former Executive Director of the Bureau of Inter American Affairs; and Patricia Carter of the .
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President William Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton meet US Marine Corps Sergeant Heath Kuhlmann and his wife Monica at the Arkansas Ball. Kuhlmann stood in for the president during the January 12 dress rehearsal of the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Swearing-in Ceremony. Base: Washington State: District Of Columbia (DC) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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President Barack Obama congratulates former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States Senator John Glenn after presenting him with a Medal of Freedom, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, during a ceremony at the White House in Washington.
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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump pose for a photo with 2017 TIP Hero Vanaja Jasphine of Cameroon, whose tireless efforts have made a lasting impact on the fight against modern slavery, at the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report Launch Ceremony, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on June 27, 2017.
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U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo poses for a photo with the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors Awardees - Earth, Wind & Fire, Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt, Sesame Street, and Michael Tilson Thomas -- before hosting them for dinner at the U.S. Department of State, in Washington, DC, on December 7, 2019.
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Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks with U.S. Marine Security Guards at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem on April 8, 2013.