22 October, 2008

Adlai Stevenson. Meet Barak Obama:

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1952 Journal photographer William M. Gallagher's picture of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson (right) and Michigan Gov. G. Mennen Williams would have been just one more picture of a politician until Stevenson crossed his legs, displaying a hole in the sole of his shoe. The flawed shoe was totally out of character for the aristocratic, intellectual Stevenson, who was having difficulty establishing himself as a candidate of the people in his race against Dwight D. Eisenhower. Gallagher’s shot — taken with camera held at arm's length so Stevenson wouldn't realize what was happening — became one of the great political photos of all time and winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Gallagher was a Journal photographer from 1941 until his death in 1975, at age 52.THE FLINT JOURNAL FILES / WILLIAM M. GALLAGHER

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I believe this photo is for the baby boomers. Great savvy photo.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's really great. Really. And look at the history major... digging up history and making a connection between 2 historic moments. Then interpreting it for the public. Why you might almost be ready for a Park Service job.
But why didn't you make the personal connection to the Flint Journal? That brings the history to a personal level and might make it more significant to us, your loyal(?) readers.

Unknown said...

Great. Way to ruin the Pt. 2. Meanwile I'm trying to figure out how to capture the entire Barak photo and not just his shoes but Blogger margins are ellusive still.

I am so wise said...

Given the Baby boomer generation is viewed as starting in 1946, at least by wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer), how many of them were alive for this picture?

Unknown said...

Well, given that my mother was born in 1946 I can only go by my personal perception. And given that my grandfarher worked for the Flint Journal when this photo was taken it holds special memories for he and my mother and now me. I can't speak for the entire baby boomer generation but I would think that they would know more about this historical footnote than my 30-ish cadres.
But I'll take a demographic poll the next time.