Iconic leadership moments in presidential history

The best and the worst leadership moments of recent U.S. presidents.

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his first radio "Fireside Chat" in Washington in March 1933. Eight years later, Roosevelt would deliver his most historic speech to Congress a day after the Pearl Harbor attack, which he then described as "a date which will live in infamy."

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In April 1961, a U.S.-backed group of anti-Castro fighters landed at the Bay of Pigs on Cuba's southern coast. Within days, the invasion force was defeated. Of the Bay of Pigs invasion, President John F. Kennedy has said "five minutes after it began to fall in, we all looked at each other and asked, 'How could we have been so stupid?'"

President John F. Kennedy delivers his famous speech "I am a Berliner" ("ich bin ein Berliner") in front of the city hall in West Berlin concerning the Berlin Wall, June 26, 1963.

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Vice President Lyndon Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One, Nov. 22, 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Cecil Stoughton / AP

Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. meet at the White House in March 1966. King referred to Johnson's election as president in 1964 as "one of America's finest hours" and supported Johnson as he worked on civil rights legislation. President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Acts in August 1965.

Yoichi R. Okamoto / LBJ Library

President Johnson and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu talk in 1968 at Pacific Command Headquarters in Honolulu at the start of two days of meetings on the Vietnam War. His leadership suffered the backlash of widespread antiwar sentiment across the United States.

/ AP

President Nixon welcomes the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Hornet in the Pacific Ocean, following America's first moon landing.

NASA / Reuters

In 1972, President Richard Nixon visited China to meet with Mao Zedong — marking the first U.S. presidential visit to the country.

Andy Wong / AP

On Aug. 9, 1974, Richard Nixon waves to members of his staff outside the White House in Washington as he boards a helicopter for Andrews Air Force Base after resigning the presidency.

/ AP

President Gerald Ford grants a pardon to Richard Nixon, stating to Congress, "My conscience tells me that only I, as president, have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal this book."

/ AP

U.S. President Ronald Reagan speaks in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, Germany, Friday June 12, 1987, two years before the Berlin Wall would fall.

Roberto Pfeil / AP

U.S. President Bill Clinton with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, left, and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat after the signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accord at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993.

Gary Hershorn / Reuters

President George W. Bush stands at the site of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 14 2001.

Win McNamee / Reuters

President Obama sits with Vice President Biden, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton along with members of the national security team, as they receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011.

Pete Souza / AFP Photo/White House

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Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti of Scotland (L) celebrates as he crosses the finish line ahead of teammate Scott Dixon of New Zealand and KV Racing Technology driver Tony Kanaan of Brazil during the Indianapolis 500 autorace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 27, 2012. REUTERS/John Sommers II(UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT)

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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 27: Christian Slayton, 12 prays to a fallen soldiers memorial as motorcycles from the Rolling Thunder event pass by in Washington, DC on May 27, 2012. Slayton, who is from Raleigh, NC ran out to the makeshift memorial to say a prayer of thanks for all the veterans living and fallen. He said he wanted to thank them for letting us be free and able to have the rights that some countries never had. Riders from across the nation come together every year to ride from the Pentagon over to the National Mall as a rememberance those POW and MIAs in the Vietnam War. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

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Visitors stop to read the names on the Vietnam Memorial at sunrise on the fist day of the Memorial Day weekend in Washington Saturday, May 24, 2008. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 24: Aaron Rubinstein, center, with fellow students, lights candles before the annual Mass for family members of the cadavers used in anatomy studies on May, 24, 2012 in Washington, DC. At right are Steven Kazuska and Meghan Kuska. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

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Cambodian Grilled Corn is basted with a mix of coconut milk and sugar, then grilled until caramelized. Recipe by grilling expert Steven Raichlen, for a Chef on Call lesson. (Michael Temchine for The Washington Post) Freelance Photo imported to Merlin on Fri May 16 15:10:05 2008

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FAIRFAX, VA - MAY 23: US Army Veteran Sandra Strickland embraces her daughter, Heaven, 8, after dinner Wednesday May 23, 2012 in Fairfax, VA. After losing her job, custody of her children and being evicted from her apartment, Strickland moved into a home for homeless female veterans provided by Final Salute, Inc. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

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Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Volodymyr Litvin (Bottom) looks on as deputies of the Ukrainian opposition fight with deputies of the pro-presidential majority during a session of parliament in Kiev, as opposition parties protest a bill proposed by the ruling party which would make Russian an official state language along with Ukrainian. AFP PHOTO/STRINGERSTR/AFP/GettyImages

Ukrainian parliament fight, SpaceX cargo craft, Mars rover Opportunity and more in the day in photos

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Red Panda Bears sleep in the Panda Bear enclosure at the Beijing Zoo on May 22, 2012. The zoo grounds were originally a Ming Dynasty imperial palace and finally opened to the public in 1908. The zoo's history states that during the WWII, most of the zoo's animals died of starvation with only 13 monkeys and one old emu surviving the war. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTONMARK RALSTON/AFP/GettyImages

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National

Iconic leadership moments in presidential history

The best and the worst leadership moments of recent U.S. presidents.

Featured Photo Galleries