People speak out both for and against U.S. healthcare reform at a town hall meeting in Reston, Virginia.

View full coverage of the healthcare debate here.

Larry Downing is a Reuters senior staff photographer assigned to the White House. He shares that duty with three other staff photographers. He has lived in Washington since 1977 and has been assigned to cover the White House , including flying aboard Air Force One, since 1978. President Barack Obama is the sixth president Larry has photographed.

Only two identical aircraft exist in the world which both share the same high-level function. They mirror one another precisely except for the numeric identifier on the tail. One reads 28000, the other 29000.
They’re as sleek as they are majestic. Anticipation runs high when either travels and both are red carpet worthy. They are concealed around-the-clock in a protective cocoon while being constantly pampered at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

“Use of Deadly Force is Authorized” inside the security perimeter ringing around the outermost tips of their wings, and absolutely no one is allowed to enter without permission.

However, the moment the President of the United States, or POTUS, steps aboard, the aircraft immediately transforms from a mild-mannered Boeing 747 passenger jet into an aviation ambassador for the might of the United States, carrying one of the most powerful men in the world to any destination he chooses; all the while in complete luxury.

Welcome aboard Air Force One.

It’s America’s magic carpet and it floats freely through the clouds under a veil of secrecy while transporting essential elements of the White House inside a secure “bubble” to any corner of the world. Surprisingly, there’s an operating room with a doctor in case of a medical emergency and a protective armada of U.S. warplanes shadows its every movement.

Air Force One is the ultimate military jet transport with a simple, yet singular mission; to serve the needs of the President of the United States. Only the president, his family, invited guests, select White House staff, armed Secret Service agents and members of a small press pool are allowed as passengers during flight.

Even the president’s pets are treated as royalty. President George W. Bush used to ferry his dogs and cat back and forth on every trip to his central Texas ranch in Crawford. One of his dogs, Barney, gained a local following after the much publicized biting of a Reuters’ reporter at the White House.

Bush also liked to use a special mountain bike when riding, so it was necessary for an aide to load it onto the back of the aircraft for his use on arrival, just in case. An “Air Force One Travel Pool” always accompanies the president when he’s on the jet.

It’s the tightest and most prestigious of all White House press pools, just 13members total with rotating representatives from each of the disciplines of journalism. These “poolers” are present in all presidential motorcades, on all helicopter movements (but never aboard Marine One), and are housed overnight in the president’s 5-star hotel when his travels take him out of town or country. Reuters assigns a wire service correspondent and a news photographer to travel on board during all presidential travel.

Armed military police and trained dogs make sure no one goes near Air Force One without a complete security vetting process. All personnel assigned to the squadron have a top secret clearance and, in Air Force-speak, “a need to know” before working on the aircraft. All press and their equipment are thoroughly sniffed, scanned and searched before being issued an additional U.S. Secret Service credential which allows him or her to walk on the tarmac towards the jet. That pass is changed by a Secret Service agent on every travel segment of a trip.

Wearing different press credentials is a daily part of White House travel.

The “security sweep” at Andrews Air Force Base involves no less than ten different challenges to each member of the press pool at the beginning of travel. Starting with manifesting by the White House, security continues through elements of the U.S. Air Force, TSA, U.S. Secret Service (both Uniformed Division and Presidential Protective Division), explosive ordinance experts, bomb-sniffing dogs, and finally, Air Force One’s own armed bouncers, their exclusive security force.

Only then are you allowed to board the aircraft using the rear stairs. The front steps belong only the president. That tradition was lost somehow on Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich when he complained to the press of having to use the rear steps after flying as the president’s guest.

Air Force One offers much more than your father’s military transport ever could… Most veterans’ memories of military travel aren’t fond ones. Circumstances made military travel reminiscent of the migratory adventures discovered inside a John Steinbeck novel; tired vagabonds hitching rides inside the wooden boxcars of the steel freight trains while chasing their tumbleweed dreams across the flats of west Texas. GI’s have always been exposed to conditions like those dust bowl hobos of the early 1900’s.

Even by today’s standards military travel is less than glamorous.

Last summer, while former first lady Laura Bush rode in comfort inside her luxury trailer strapped to the floor of a C-17 transport jet, White House staff, Secret Service and press members were left outside in the cold…literally. Frostbite awaits anyone who falls asleep on the steel floor of that particular aircraft without making sensible precautions. It’s a biting cold at 37,000 feet.

This picture was taken during that 2008 secret visit to Afghanistan after seven frigid hours of flight.

Guests on Air Force One are treated in comforting fashion. Service is reminiscent of the attention passengers received during the dawn of commercial airline travel. The seats are large and recline far enough back to sleep comfortably on long flights. No meals are pre-packaged or sealed in plastic bags and nothing is served from an airline cart; instead meals are cooked fresh by Air Force cooks in the jet’s large flight kitchen and then served on Air Force One’s own china. Full meals and desserts are cooked and created by hand in-flight. The press cabin also offers a large library of movies with comfortable headsets.

Before returning to Andrews Air Force Base the stewards pass out the most prized of all White House travel souvenirs…The Presidential M&M’s. They are exclusive to Air Force One and are limited edition. Each box has the Presidential Seal on its front and the autograph of the current president embossed below it. President Barack Obama’s M&M’s are eagerly anticipated and are due out in late March 2009.

Each passenger later receives a large flight certificate from the White House, signed by the presidential pilot, indicating that they flew as a “Guest of the President” aboard Air Force One. It resembles an undergraduate degree from an American university. Air Force One’s on-time record is perfect and no one has ever filed a claim for lost luggage. The aircraft commander prides himself on one simple fact… you can set your watch to his scheduled arrival time. He’s right!

Only once in recent history has Air Force One been delayed beyond the commander’s control. That incident occurred in the 1990’s when President Bill Clinton insisted on bringing a Beverly Hills stylist out to the readied aircraft before take-off while it sat on the airport’s tarmac in Los Angeles. He wanted to experience a $200 “Christophe” hair treatment. Commercial aircraft waited patiently to take off during the airport’s mandatory Air Force One ramp-freeze while Clinton received the cut.

The nickname “Hair Force One” grew out of that exclusive appointment.

News photographers are allowed to work “under the wing” for all arrivals and all departures of the president. (Photography from behind the main wing is discouraged. The trailing edge of the jet’s wing supports cutting-edge electronic gadgetry not found on commercial aircraft.)

Once aboard, the press pool is instructed to remain inside the designated press cabin at all times. No movement outside of the area is allowed without a White House staff escort and is monitored by the Secret Service agents sitting in the adjacent cabin. Photography is allowed only during “on camera” briefings inside that press cabin.

Air Force One is as much an official backdrop for news photography as is the White House. The exterior colors are visually hypnotic. Every angle is eye candy. First lady Jackie Kennedy chose it all when she resided at the White House.

One of my favorite pictures of President George W. Bush is his boarding the aircraft after a visit to New Orleans on a very hot, sweaty night following Hurricane Katrina. A simple picture…yet, it says a lot. It would be nothing without the majesty of the aircraft.

No news picture will ever top the one taken aboard by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton on the return flight from a bloody visit to Dallas in November 1963 shortly after President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. As LBJ was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States, the former first lady stood by his side with her dead husband’s blood still on her jacket. His body rode home quietly in the cabin of the plane. This picture is from the Johnson Presidential Library and is a huge part of White House history.

That aircraft was a Boeing 707 and its tail identifier was 26000. I flew on that exact Air Force One 15 years later. It would be more than a decade after that before the 707’s would be replaced with the new pair of 747’s. 26000 is now on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Ohio.

To fly aboard Air Force One is a continuing honor and even after 31 years of White House duty, the experience still gives me goose bumps. Every flight is monumental to me.

My first flight was with President Jimmy Carter when he flew to Denver to promote the use of solar energy in residential homes in 1978. Carter’s luck always seemed to sit under a dark cloud. He was handed an umbrella as soon as he stepped off Air Force One in Colorado to keep him dry. It poured rain during the event.

I remember flying with President George H.W. Bush to Somalia to lunch with U.S. military troops on a very quick visit. As we departed Mogadishu the temperature hovered right at 100 degrees. We took off, flew north to Moscow, and arrived before midnight. The temperature in Russia was 20 degrees below zero. 120 degrees difference in less than 12 hours.

I traveled with his son twice on secret missions to Iraq. On the second trip, after the Air Force issued armored vests to each member of the traveling press moments before touching down in Baghdad, we were instructed that President George W. Bush wanted us to leave them on the ground before we left Iraq. He wanted to be sure combat soldiers in harm’s way would have the newest body armor.

Another striking memory for me was President Bill Clinton’s visit to Vietnam after the U.S. elections in 2000. While Air Force One banked into its final turn towards Hanoi, I noticed dozens of brown bomb craters lining the green countryside on our approach. The closer we flew towards the runway, the more craters I counted. U.S. Air Force pilots are quite familiar with that flight pattern. American B-52 warplanes dropped thousands of bombs over the area during the Christmas Bombing of Hanoi in 1972; all during the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War. The next morning Clinton stood in front of a large bust of Vietnam’s wartime hero, Ho Chi Minh.

An example of the ease of travel Air Force One enjoys was during the 2005 trip of President George W. Bush to Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. After attending the somber Vatican funeral with two former U.S. President’s, Bush loaded his wife onto Air Force One and together they flew from Rome, Italy, to Waco, Texas. Imagine calling a travel agent and requesting that same non-stop service?

Air Force One earns its wings daily during the busy travel schedule of the last year of any president’s Administration. He schedules the entire year traveling to say goodbye to anyone who will join him for lunch.

I remember President Bill Clinton’s final journeys to India, Africa, Asia, Europe. Bush’s goodbye exodus was equally long. In 2008 White House travel took me to: Thailand, Korea, the Beijing Olympics, Israel (twice), the Palestinian Territory, Saudi Arabia (twice), Afghanistan (with the first lady), Slovenia, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

My only complaint is that we DON’T get Air Force One frequent flyer miles…

For a portfolio of Larry’s work click here.

As I take my last pictures of George W. Bush as President just days before Barack Obama’s inauguration, I reflect on what it was like to cover the 43rd President of the United States for the past six years.

I would characterize President Bush as a person of single-minded determination, a man guided by a moral compass to protect the nation, all the while bringing a style of Texas swagger into the oval office. We shared a passion of mountain biking and on several occasions I was fortunate enough to ride on his ranch in Texas where, away from the prying eyes of the press, I witnessed a man who loved the sport, always rode fast at the front of the pack and showed genuine interest in those around him.

Two of my favorite pictures center around perhaps the most definitive legacy of  Bush’s presidency – the war in Iraq.

On an unannounced clandestine trip into the Iraqi desert province of Anbar in 2007, Bush is seen casting harsh shadows onto the desert sand made with dramatic side lighting in front of two humvees. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appear to symbolically follow Bush into the desert night, both as second-term appointees following the controversial departure of Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld.

Another image that I think defines the man as commander-in-chief is this simple composition of Bush looking very presidential among heavily-armed soldiers during his visit to Fort Irwin in the Californian desert in 2007.

It was rare for Bush to let his guard down in public but if you follow one of the most photographed people on earth long enough, it’s just a matter of time before an unguarded moment presents itself and you have to be ready to capture it. Bush’s goofy facial expression as he strains to open a locked door following a press conference in Beijing was a fleeting moment that I wasn’t even aware had happened until I looked at the back of the digital camera moments later. At the time I got a lot of grief from Bush’s press staff for putting it on the wire as they tried to protect ‘the honor of their president” but it occurred in front of the world’s cameras so it was my duty to record the moment, which later was the fodder of late night talk shows everywhere. The man is only human.

Dancing with Senegalese performers in the Rose Garden of the White House during a cultural event was another rare instance when Bush let his guard down. After being encouraged to get up on stage, he proceeded to lead the group in a silly dance which he may or may not have regretted later, after seeing our pictures.

In photographing President Bush, I learnt to never drop the camera from my eye, because the very next moment could be one of those that will define his presidency for all of history.

Bush has faced many battles in his tenure. Record low approval ratings, a failing economy, the September 11 attacks, a war with no near end in sight, and for the last year, most of the world was looking more to his successor, than to the sitting President himself.

But when I look back over my three years here in Washington, I come away with two impressions of the man in the office.

One impression is that of a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, an insurmountable burden. As from my first image of Bush, making the long, slow walk back to the Oval Office, head and hands hanging low.

In November 2007, Bush met with Lance Cpl. Isaac Gallegos during a visit to the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He met with many of the soldiers, visibly scarred and injured from the war under his presidency. Although he seemed very confident in his actions, you could not help but feel that it was a hard eight years as the 43rd President.

The other impression is the playfulness of the man. Fun-loving silliness. The next two images come from the same day on a presidential trip to Africa in February 2008. It was probably the most fun I have seen the President have, and it gave me some of my favorite memories covering Bush. Joining a group of singing and dancing Massai Warriors during a stop at school in Arusha, Tanzania. He really seemed to be enjoying himself, surrounded by people who really were making every effort to make him feel loved and appreciated. He could have been anyone that day, just a guy wrapped up in the beautiful music, having a great time, and living in the moment.

The last photo came on a tour of a plant that manufactured mosquito netting. The girls were working underneath the mesh netting looking for holes and Bush surprised them by popping up underneath the netting to join them. The girls looked up to him in admiration and they appeared to sway in slow motion, like moving through water, calm, and for a brief moment he seemed happy and playful, like the kids themselves.

As his term comes to a close, one wonders what the future holds for him, and the affect he had on the world over the last eight years. After spending months with President-elect Barack Obama on the campaign trail last year, I think we are all anxiously awaiting for him to be sworn in, and to turn a new page. I expect the next four years will certainly be interesting.
In the end, I come away with a greater understanding of Bush and respect for the office he holds, and not sure why anyone would want that job. But someone always steps in, and will continue to face the troubles of the world and maybe find a time to laugh and be happy, just like the rest of us.

Reuters Washington staff photographer Kevin Lamarque made the move to White House coverage in 1999. Before that, he was covering London politics spanning the end of Margaret Thatcher, the John Major years, and the beginning of the Tony Blair era.  Washington proved to be an interesting contrast.  He has covered the final two years of the President Bill Clinton, and all eight years of President George W. Bush.

As one of only two Reuters photographers covering the entire eight years of President Bush’s term, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, most of his time was defined by the latter two.

Early days in Crawford, with both of us looking much younger.

From the beginning Bush seemed a most unlikely President. I have often used the metaphor of a schoolboy who has not studied for an exam showing up on test day. He seemed as surprised as anyone that he actually was in fact president. He gradually grew into the role, though it could be argued that it never was a good fit.

The attacks of 9/11 defined his term in office. For photographers, this meant an end to the lighter side of things. There would be few photos of a President at leisure. No more golf outings, very few cultural trips abroad which are traditionally image feasts for photographers.  Everything took on a very serious tone, and our photos were generally limited to men in suits looking very grave about what was going on in the world.

At Bush’s last G8 summit, looking very much alone in the world.

While things may not have gone smoothly in a political sense, George W. Bush was very likeable as a person. He still goofed around like the frat boy he was portrayed of being. He was very much a regular guy and could connect with the man on the street. That was his strength. And he really believed in what he was doing. There were times that it was hard not to feel sympathy for him, and also times where you could not help but laugh, sometimes with, sometimes at.

Pardoning the turkey at Thanksgiving, Nov 2001. After this photo, the turkey was never allowed such free rein.

Reuters Washington staff photographer Jason Reed is traveling with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama through election day November 4. He and his colleague Brian Snyder traveling with the McCain campaign are posting daily photographers blog entries sharing their experiences and favorite pictures of the day from their campaign coverage.

TRICK OR TREAT! - Obama brings Halloween home.
 
Following a Halloween pumpkin shopping spree in Florida on Thursday (previous blog entry), U.S. Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama brought it home on Friday to celebrate Halloween with the family in Chicago. After carrying his pumpkin off the plane, Obama was soon spotted walking down the street in his neighbourhood, with his 7-year-old daughter Sasha in her ‘corpse bride’ outfit, as they went to visit with neighbors at a Halloween party.

The Obama ‘protective travel pool’, introduced only in recent months, now travels everywhere with the presidential nominee, a tight group of journalists, photographers and a television crew - with one spot being reserved for a Reuters News Pictures still photographer. The protective pool, similar to that of the U.S. president as part of the White House coverage, is in place in the event of news occurring that would require a presence of the media to record it, such as a presidential or candidate statement on an overseas crisis, or after all of the past attacks on U.S. presidents and U.S. presidential candidates, an attempt by someone to harm the candidate. For the most part however, it is just an exercise in endless patience.

Participation in the protective pool requires hours of patiently waiting for any chance of news and always requires an extremely early morning wake up time, even when the only thing to cover is the senator traveling one mile from his hotel to a local gym in the wee hours of the morning for a workout before starting his official engagements for the day. As with some recreational presidential movements in the Bush administration, Obama gym trips are “off the record” and not something we can photograph, a rule ordained by this particular campaign. We are there just ‘in case’ a newsworthy event or occurrence develops to cover that is not planned. If something truly striking or newsworthy other than him just walking in and out of a gymnasium occurs we will certainly photograph it and have pictures of it on the wire within minutes regardless of the “off the record” rule.

Another example of this protective coverage that rarely produces newsworthy pictures is when the president (or in this case the senator) goes out to a dinner at a restaurant or private home and the White House or presidential campaign media pool sit in a van outside for hours at night while our subject is inside enjoying his meal. A good suggestion for those wanting to experience this hurry-up-and-wait existence - be sure to bring an iPod and/or a good book!
 
Not expecting to see Senator Obama during his few precious hours at home with his family for Halloween on Friday, which is a much needed break from his busy campaigning in the remaining days of this election, the protective pool stood by just down the street from his house, now a miniature fortress of U.S. Secret Service roadblocks and fences in an upscale Chicago neighbourhood. As Halloween night unfolded, cute little kids started wandering around the streets with their parents, knocking on doors and seeking candy and chocolates from generous neighbours. In a departure from the norm of kids dressed as ghouls and witches, we couldn’t believe our luck when a boy came on the scene, dressed as none other than Barack Obama. Bored and looking for something to do, some local press and the Obama press travel pool pounced on the chance to ‘interview’ the boy, who took it all in his stride and asked people ‘Can I count on your vote?’
 

As the light faded and night drew closer, we heard that Obama himself was on the move. Jumping into the travel pool bus, we quickly learned that Obama was going to visit with neighbors at a Halloween party a couple of blocks away, and he was going to walk the few blocks to get there!

After circling in the bus once around the block we spied Obama with his daughter Sasha already on a sidewalk near his home, and we all poured out of the bus to take advantage of the precious few seconds that he would be visible, before respecting his request that we be as unintrusive of his time with his children as possible. We shot a couple of pictures and left him alone. A Polish television crew, operating independently of the campaign staff chaperoned travel pool across the street, and who claimed not to have understood enough English to understand the situation, pursued Obama down the street, inspiring the presidential nominee to break into a run.

The accompanying journalists all speculated on the reason why the stroll became a jog. It was an unusual moment that was uncharacteristic for a man who has a reputation for keeping cool under pressure. Who would have guessed that it was the press that would spook Obama on Halloween?

For the account from the Reuters news wire of the incident see: Rare flash of anger from Obama on Halloween night.

Every year since he took office in 2001, President George W. Bush has taken a summer vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, a small town that has come to identify itself as the “Western White House.” This year was different, though. Only once during his 13-day vacation in Crawford did Bush appear before the news media and only once did he use Texas as a base to make a daytrip. The president was rarely seen, even though his name and face is everywhere in town. Crawford brimmed with White House personnel, Secret Service agents and members of the media even as Bush remained out of sight.

It made me think, what will it be like for Crawford when Bush leaves office next year and life returns to some sense of normal?

I took the opportunity to explore the town a little bit, as it was only my second visit. I did, in fact, find images of the president everywhere — in life-sized cardboard cutouts, hot sauce bottles, coasters, mugs and glasses. There were even bobble head dolls, paper dolls and action figures. I found a town that was very proud to have Bush as their neighbor, but a little tired of the traveling circus that comes with him. I was told that the mayor never gives interviews and the manager of the local coffee shop didn’t want to talk to me either.

Thankfully, the owner of a local souvenir shop was happy to chat about her town and her famous neighbor. Interestingly, she hoped Bush may consider coaching a local baseball team after he leaves the Oval Office. For me, the sentiment was a nice little surprise and a measure of just how much affection and even accessibility the people of Crawford feel for a man who’s often there, but not really there.

To view the audio slideshow, click here.