The 25 Worst Presidential Portraits

(Un)happy President's Day!

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Complex Original

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Portrait painting is a practice several millennia old. Cultures all over the world have long captured the likenesses of notable figures on stone, canvas, and other available surfaces as a way to remember them and honor their achievements and legacies.

In the United States, commissioned portraits of past Presidents are displayed in museums and on the walls of the White House for those very reasons: so that generations to come can look upon the faces of those we elected to lead our country and to pay homage to their efforts. Unfortunately, though well-painted, those portraits can be problematic. Weird lighting, horrible wardrobe, bad hair, and stank faces can ruin the future's perception of who a President was when captured in oil or in photographs and submitted as official entries in our national record.

We've collected some of those official failures in this gallery of The 25 Worst Presidential Portraits.

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RELATED: Comparing Obama's New Official Presidential Portrait With His First One

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25. Ulysses S. Grant

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24. James A. Garfield

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23. Rutherford B. Hayes

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22. George Washington

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21. Grover Cleveland

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20. Abraham Lincoln

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19. Benjamin Harrison

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18. William Taft

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17. Franklin Pierce

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16. James Madison

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15. Calvin Coolidge

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14. James Monroe

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13. Millard Fillmore

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12. Zachary Taylor

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11. James K. Polk

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10. Martin Van Buren

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9. John Adams

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8. John Tyler

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7. John Quincy Adams

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6. Warren G. Harding

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5. James Buchanan

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4. William Henry Harrison

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3. Andrew Johnson

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2. Chester A. Arthur

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1. Andrew Jackson

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